Tag Archives: spirituality

Being a Bee

Posted on September 9, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I commented on How to Land about Eco Ethics. The underlying principle is deep ecology which shifts us from an environmental anthropocentric and views all living beings as having inherent worth and not merely instrumental value. Deep ecology understand a complex interdependence between all living beings and allows that to guide decision-making. We are part of the Earth and not holding dominion over it in this sense. We can make similar decisions about harvesting, mining, and building as we do but use numerous perspectives in doing so.

James Hatley wrote, The Uncanny Goodness of Being Edible to Bears. He referred to hunters, outdoors people, and survivors of bear attacks. People, who are deep ecologists, revere Nature and understand the risks of entering wilderness. Their view is Nature and what it holds makes us more human and complete, as we are one with Nature and not separate.

I wrote this poem as one way to better understand the concept myself.

Am I more than the sum of parts?

More than just a body, a mind, a spirit?

If so, what role might the bee play?

The one who manufactured honey?

The one I so enjoyed with bread today.

Is he or she part of me?

Or, is there even more to it than that?

What about the clover?

The water and other things used in delectable manufacture?

Can I now take that Bee’s perspective?

Ever so fleetingly,

Does it make a difference?

Might it be a lesson in being more human?

Letting the Bee be part of me?

10 Comments

Posted in Education, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Deep Ecology, Eco Ethics, eloquent questions, James Hatfield, Mindful Practice, nature, philosophy, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Uncanny Goodness of Being Edible to Bears. Bookmark the permalink.

How to Own Land

Posted on September 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

It has been a hectic week and I finished the first week of being a full-time student. My body and mind know this and are telling me it is time to have Sabbath.

I enjoyed the classes this week and they are an eclectic mix: The Tao of Leadership, Eco Ethics and Leadership, and Leadership, Language , and Culture.

In the Eco Ethics class. we talked about challenges faced by humans as we deal with environmental issues from largely a human driven perspective and agenda. It is about ownership and domination in large part and our thinking has to shift. As my figurative dad, Albert Einstein (wild hair, facial foliage, and eccentric behaviour according to students) said, “We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that got us into those problems.”

I came across this poem that shifted the perspective from humans being outside nature to being part of nature. I used a short story with students written by Leo Tolstoy called How Much Land Does a Man Need? Tolstoy challenged the notion of ownership as we understand it in the ‘advanced world’. Morgan Farley’s message is gentler and takes on the perspective of others living in the world with us, not separate from us.

Find a spot and sit there

until the grass begins

to nose between your thighs.

Climb to the top

of a pine and drink

the wind’s green breath.

Track the stream through alder and scrub,

trade speech

for that cold sweet babble.

Gather sticks and spin them into fire.

Watch the smoke spiral into darkness.

Dream that animals find you.

They weave your hair into warm cloth,

string your teeth on necklaces,

wrap your skin soft around their feet.

Wake to the silence

of your own scattered bones.

Watch them whiten in the sun.

When they have fallen to powder

and blown away,

the land will be yours.

19 Comments

Posted in Education, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Albert Einstein, creativity, education, Ethics, Gonzaga, How to Own Land, Leo Tolstoy, Mindful Practice, Morgan Farley, nature, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Breathe

Posted on September 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

When I write in my journal, I can use various creative forms. When I stopped for lunch in Priest River, I wrote and poetry emerged. Since I began pausing and taking three breaths each time I wash and dry my hands, I find I pause similarly other times and the calm it brings is beneficial.

Draw a breath in–

Inhale its energy–

Feel inspired–

Bathe in its freshness.

Pause at the peak–

Bask in a new-found glow–

See the world anew–

Be just in that space.

Release that breath–

Exhale its waste–

Let others use it–

Let the world grow.

Let go of that moment–

Be ready for the next ascent–

Look upwards–

Follow breath’s cycle.

25 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Breathe, creativity, Ivon Prefontaine, Mindful Practice, poetry, priest river, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Life’s Mystery

Posted on September 3, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I registered for a class which doubles as a retreat. The underlying theme is the Sabbath. I began a journal and will write for the next 6 weeks based on weekly Sabbath practices. For the first week, I chose one which Thich Nhat Hanh speaks about. I chose a common activity, one I do mindlessly. Each time I do it, I breathe three times and complete the task.

I feel rushed this summer as I move from one life phase to another. I felt calmer the last couple of days. I began Sunday, my usual sabbath. When I settle like this, I discover paths to questions, thoughts, and wisdom that are not forthcoming when I am busy. The quiet place is like a deep pool which opens up only when I rests quietly.

A gentle breeze

My breath

Crosses a silent pool.

A sacred space

A simple way

Leads me forth.

Wisdom revealed

Questions emerge

Life’s paths opened.

Be present

Listen mindfully

Embrace life’s mystery fully.

8 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, Ivon Prefontaine, Life's Mystery, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thich Nhat Hanh. Bookmark the permalink.

The Poem that Took the Place of a Mountain

Posted on September 1, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Wallace Stevens encapsulated the poetry’s strength. It recognizes each person’s artistry and fuels the rhythm of life. Life is a creative process. Our creations anchor us as we sense our way through life with no visible path and markers. We are adventurers in an uncharted space. No one else has lived this before or afterward. In this way, life is a work of art and takes the place of a mountain. We experience it as a deeply sensual, intimate, and creative voyage that comes from deep within our souls.

There is it was, word for word,

The poem that took the place of a mountain.

He breathed its oxygen,

Even when the book lay turned in the dust of his table.

It reminded him how he had needed

A place to go to in his own direction,

How he had recomposed the pines,

Shifted the rocks and picked his way among the clouds,

For the outlook, that would be right,

Where he would be complete in an unexplained completion:

The exact rock where his inexactness

Would discover, at last, the view toward which they had edged,

Where he could lie and, gazing down at the sea,

Recognize his unique and solitary home.

19 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, learning, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Poem that Took the Place of a Mountain, Wallace Stevens. Bookmark the permalink.

The Layers

Posted on August 28, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Stanley Kunitz wrote this lovely poem about life and the journey we take. I look back and I am tempted to see litter and not layers of good. It seems so much easier, at times, to see the past in this light. Something speaks to me from deep within me and reminds me to consider the good that happens. When I take time and place this at the forefront there is so much more energy given to live and know I am not done with the changes.

I have walked through many lives,

some of them my own,

and I am not who I was,

though some principle of being

abides, from which I struggle

not to stray.

When I look behind,

as I am compelled to look

before I can gather strength

to proceed on my journey,

I see the milestones dwindling

toward the horizon

and the slow fires trailing

from the abandoned camp-sites,

over which scavenger angels

wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe

out of my true affections,

and my tribe is scattered!

How shall the heart be reconciled

to its feast of losses?

In a rising wind

the manic dust of my friends,

those who fell along the way,

bitterly stings my face.

Yet I turn, I turn,

exulting somewhat,

with my will intact to go

wherever I need to go,

and every stone on the road

precious to me.

In my darkest night,

when the moon was covered

and I roamed through wreckage,

a nimbus-clouded voice

directed me:

“Live in the layers,

not on the litter.”

Though I lack the art

to decipher it,

no doubt the next chapter

in my book of transformations

is already written.

I am not done with my changes.

11 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, Stanley Kunitz, teacher as transformer, The Layers. Bookmark the permalink.

The Space of Silence

Posted on August 21, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I got away from writing poetry, but I felt it nibbling at the corners of that part of me throughout this hectic summer. As I get ready for the next part of the doctoral journey, I spent more time writing purpose statements, editing them, and edging closer to something workable. With a full course load in September, I know my schedule will look different. Something I need daily is silence and pauses where things percolate academically and creatively. I got back to my yoga mat more this last week or two and I feel good with the silence that I find in those moments. It is another meditative space where wisdom comes calling.

Rush,

Seek blindly

Grasp and cling.

Be present—

Pause—

Receive each moment’s gift.

Gently wrapped—

A bow in place—

Wisdom concealed.

In spacious silence—

A wordless symphony—

Plays serene melody.

Unrecognized tailor—

Silence stitches—

Weaves life whole.

17 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, reflection, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Space of Silence, Yoga. Bookmark the permalink.

What Ties Me to the Earth Is Unseen

Posted on August 17, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This was a busy day. We head out for the evening shortly to spend time with friends. We ran around to get ourselves organized a good part of the day.

Mark Nepo wrote this lovely poem which is a reminder of the need to slow down and find the silent space of sabbath. The lake offers me a place to light down similar to the heron and find the quiet needed to rejuvenate the spirit. This quiet finds its way into my life without a full awareness sometimes. It just appears and I embrace it as it helps me weave my life together.

My heart was beating like a heron awakened

in the woods, no room to move. Tangled

and surprised by the noise of my mind,

I fluttered without grace to the center

of the lake which humans call silence.

I guess, if you would ask, peace

is no more than the underside

of tired wings resting on the lake

while the heart in its feathers

pounds softer and softer.

11 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, Uncategorized and tagged creativity, Mark Nepo, Mindful Practice, poem, sabbath, spirituality, teacher as transformer, What Ties Me to the Earth Is Unseen. Bookmark the permalink.

Pure Relationships

Posted on August 17, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Today, as I read, I came across this passage from the work of D. H. Lawrence. It is not a poem, but the words have a poetic quality to them and allow me to consider what life is all about. Life is relational and that is not limited to people. I live in relationship to everything I come in contact with. In the busyness of life, this is a gentle reminder to acknowledge the relationships consciously. I witness pure relationships in these acknowledgement, these accomplishments.

The passage has a Zen quality, but it reminded me that until about 300 years ago our souls were inseparable from our physical being even in western culture.

“If we think about it, we find that our life consists in this achieving of a pure relationship between ourselves and the living universe about us. This is how I ‘save my soul’ by accomplishing a pure relationship between me and another person, me and other people, me and a nation, me and a race of men, me and animals, me and the trees or flowers, me and the earth, me and the skies and the sun and stars, me and the moon: an infinity of pure relationships, big and little, like the stars of the sky: that makes our eternity, for each one of us, me and the timber I am sawing, the lines of force I follow; me and the dough I knead for bread, me and the very motion with which I write, me and the bit of gold I have got. This, if we knew it, is our life and our eternity: the subtle, perfected relation between me and my whole circumambient universe.”

16 Comments

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, D.H. Lawrence, leadership, Mindful Practice, poetic quality, Pure Relationships, spirituality, teacher as transformer, western culture, zen. Bookmark the permalink.

Test

Posted on July 21, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Kay Ryan wrote this deeply spiritual and moving poem. It has a Zen, mystical quality. I am sure there is Something or Someone holding everything together. When something disrupts the ocean of universal consciousness and it goes a little off course or yaws, we feel only the slightest pull. A larger energy field absorbs the drops and warps. The adjustments occur in ways so we are not tested beyond our limits and find a path to walk.

Imagine a surface

so still and vast

that it could test

exactly what

it set in motion

when a single stone

is cast into its ocean.

Possessed of a calm

so far superior

to people’s, it alone

could be assessed

ideally irascible.