Saturday, April 10, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
From Evan: Back from Brazil
Sure, you’re welcome to post whatever you’d like to on the blog. To add something to my original post;
About David – first, he just kept coming to mind in a very intimate way, actually more intimate
than I was ever with him in form. It wasn’t an intentional thing on my part at all. Sometimes with the images there was an energetic component, a gentle, supportive presence. Hard to explain, but it was palpable and happened repeatedly. As you say he did have a connection with what’s happening there, if from a distance. In any event I think he would’ve felt much at home
in the unique healing / spirit / psyche environment known as the Casa de Dom Ignacio where
John of God offers his healings.
You’re welcome to include my name on it if you like.
Glad to hear you are doing well and a week with Snatam sounds beautiful. She will be here in Ashland in a couple weeks, I always try and make her shows but alas this year I’ll be in CA working.
Wishing you safe and supportive travels to Hawaii, may we all find peace in the endings and beginnings that unfold before us.
love -evan
Hi Ananda,
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the lengthening days in the northern hemisphere.
I recently returned from Brazil, where I spent a month with friends, and also experienced the healing work of John of God. It was a good trip for me in many ways, andgetting outside the American cultural bubble was a real breath of fresh air. The thing I want to tell you is that I really felt David’s presence in Abadiania, which was unexpected and somewhat mysterious to me. He came to mind/heart many times and in different ways, sometimes quite strongly. In fact I can’t help but wonder if he’s connected to the healing work that is going on there somehow, as there are many beings beyond this reality that do the work there. It was quite something to experience first-hand, also difficult to explain but very powerful. Strange as it is, I think David would have felt right at home with the whole scene there. I heard stories of spontaneous cures from various illnesses and witnessed a few physical surgeries, which were intense but helpful in dispeling doubts that something extraordinary is happening there.
Mostly I just wanted to share this with you, hope you’ve had a good winter and finding your way withnew directions and possibilities.
all the best, love -Evan
About David – first, he just kept coming to mind in a very intimate way, actually more intimate
than I was ever with him in form. It wasn’t an intentional thing on my part at all. Sometimes with the images there was an energetic component, a gentle, supportive presence. Hard to explain, but it was palpable and happened repeatedly. As you say he did have a connection with what’s happening there, if from a distance. In any event I think he would’ve felt much at home
in the unique healing / spirit / psyche environment known as the Casa de Dom Ignacio where
John of God offers his healings.
You’re welcome to include my name on it if you like.
Glad to hear you are doing well and a week with Snatam sounds beautiful. She will be here in Ashland in a couple weeks, I always try and make her shows but alas this year I’ll be in CA working.
Wishing you safe and supportive travels to Hawaii, may we all find peace in the endings and beginnings that unfold before us.
love -evan
Hi Ananda,
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the lengthening days in the northern hemisphere.
I recently returned from Brazil, where I spent a month with friends, and also experienced the healing work of John of God. It was a good trip for me in many ways, andgetting outside the American cultural bubble was a real breath of fresh air. The thing I want to tell you is that I really felt David’s presence in Abadiania, which was unexpected and somewhat mysterious to me. He came to mind/heart many times and in different ways, sometimes quite strongly. In fact I can’t help but wonder if he’s connected to the healing work that is going on there somehow, as there are many beings beyond this reality that do the work there. It was quite something to experience first-hand, also difficult to explain but very powerful. Strange as it is, I think David would have felt right at home with the whole scene there. I heard stories of spontaneous cures from various illnesses and witnessed a few physical surgeries, which were intense but helpful in dispeling doubts that something extraordinary is happening there.
Mostly I just wanted to share this with you, hope you’ve had a good winter and finding your way withnew directions and possibilities.
all the best, love -Evan
Monday, March 8, 2010
From a happy reader
David LaChapelle's book is really a find for me that brings balance to my I Ching practice. Of all the I Ching books I've seen, it is the most poetic, clear and gentle. In LaChapelle's words I hear the voice of a wise and joyful teacher who points me in the direction of the Truth, both personal and universal. He allows for mistakes, sudden inspiration and transformation. I love the way he links each hexagram together to give a sense of their ebb and flow. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the I Ching or spiritual growth.
To Devin (layout design, Chinese medicine element keeper)
I am sorry you have lost your teacher, but am glad he left this incredible book. I hope it gives you comfort and continued guidance, as I know it does.
Let me know how you are doing.
Thank you!
Blessings,
Erin
To Devin (layout design, Chinese medicine element keeper)
I am sorry you have lost your teacher, but am glad he left this incredible book. I hope it gives you comfort and continued guidance, as I know it does.
Let me know how you are doing.
Thank you!
Blessings,
Erin
Monday, February 8, 2010
Dear Ananda,
I have read almost all of David's work. Anne and I were having lunch yesterday, and we were reading David's book together. I was so touched as so many descriptions of spiritual truths rang so true. Anne and I were really in awe of his powerful imagery and spiritual knowledge. I know it is hard for those David left behind, but our gratitude for his brief presence in our midst is immense! Thank you for the opportunity to see more of his work. Thank you for your loving efforts. Respectfully, M (anonymous)
I have read almost all of David's work. Anne and I were having lunch yesterday, and we were reading David's book together. I was so touched as so many descriptions of spiritual truths rang so true. Anne and I were really in awe of his powerful imagery and spiritual knowledge. I know it is hard for those David left behind, but our gratitude for his brief presence in our midst is immense! Thank you for the opportunity to see more of his work. Thank you for your loving efforts. Respectfully, M (anonymous)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Community Creative Corner Coming!
GUESS WHAT!
A NEW BLOG
WILL SOON RUN SIDE BY SIDE TO
CELEBRATINGDAVID.BLOGSPOT.COM
UNTIL IT'S CREATED...
THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:
DAVID'S LOVE
YOUR CREATIVE GIFTS
THE WAYS YOUR LIGHT CAME OUT A LITTLE BRIGHTER
WHEN HE SAW ...
YOU ARE INVITED
TO CONSIDER THE FULLNESS OF YOUR EXPRESSION
THE WAYS YOU SPEND TIME THAT BRING YOU JOY
GIFTS OTHERS REFLECT OF YOU(NESS)
TIME DISAPPEARS WHEN YOU ARE ... ? ...
DIVINE REMEBERING OF
WHO WE REALLY ARE ...
leave comments :)
with love
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Hymn of Changes by David LaChapelle
To purchase a copy
contact ananda@jeffnet.org
or PayPal $42 (postage included in price) to
ananda@jeffnet.org
A Contribution from Stephen Griffies
Hi,
During the Silverton retreat Aug2008, I was awake one night for a few hours in the library (as was Barbara Cecil, as I recall, also downloading some ideas) contemplating information, entropy, energy, and consciousness. In sum, I was downloading a conjecture that a rational description of consciousness would involve notions from information theory. As consciousness, using David's broad sense of the term, forms the underlying foundation for reality, information theory in turn must play a basic role in describing our universe through the laws of physics.
The notions regarding information theory and consciousness are not new nor unique, but they seemed to gel in my mind through a convergence of past thoughts, osmosis from the retreat, and David's ability to open portals to new mind states.
Shift ahead 1.5 years.
Friday at work, I found an article on my desk, placed there by a friend who shares my love of compelling theoretical physics ideas. The article is titled "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton" by Eric Verlinde, one of two Dutch twins, both renowned leaders in string theory. (His brother Hermann is a Princeton physics professor.) In this article, which you may find on the web and throughout the blob-sphere, Verlinde describes gravity as an emergent phenomena, much as pressure from a gas emerges from the zillions of molecules hitting the side of a container. Gravity is thus not a fundamental force of nature, rather it emerges from something deeper. Verlinde is the first to pose some nontrivial and semi-concrete arguments to support this conjecture. The connection to my retreat experience is that central to the "deeper something" in Verlinde's paper is information. Specifically, gravity arises as an "entropic force" associated with the maximization of entropy related to the information contained in the position of material bodies (or something like that...).
Information theory has been around since the 1940s (Claude Shannon at Bell Labs invented it to help understand the transfer of information through electrical circuits), and has arisen over time to be of such a fundamental nature that it now, potentially, is at the root of how physical reality (e.g., the forces that make up our physical world) works. That, to me, is a mind blower, with that late night in Silverton a tiny tip of the iceberg of what appears to be unfolding in the physics community...
I remain amazed with the elegance and deep insights in Verlinde's paper, which, though nontrivial to grasp, is readable in essence by nearly anyone with a basic graduate physics education (OK, so not everyone has a physics graduate degree, but still, it does not require a specialization in string theory nor loop quantum gravity!). Interestingly, his paper appeared just over 100 years after Einstein's insights regarding special relativity.
There is a nice article in New Scientist about Verlinde's ideas
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527443.800-the-entropy-force-a-new-direction-for-gravity.html?page=1
Thanks for indulging me as I share this synchronicity. A significant portion of my excitement sits not so much with the details of Verlinde's ideas (which will take me years to digest), but with the wondrous connections that David orchestrated, with that orchestration continuing to unfold in elegant ways.
Deep love,
Stephen
--
Stephen.Griffies@Gmail.com
During the Silverton retreat Aug2008, I was awake one night for a few hours in the library (as was Barbara Cecil, as I recall, also downloading some ideas) contemplating information, entropy, energy, and consciousness. In sum, I was downloading a conjecture that a rational description of consciousness would involve notions from information theory. As consciousness, using David's broad sense of the term, forms the underlying foundation for reality, information theory in turn must play a basic role in describing our universe through the laws of physics.
The notions regarding information theory and consciousness are not new nor unique, but they seemed to gel in my mind through a convergence of past thoughts, osmosis from the retreat, and David's ability to open portals to new mind states.
Shift ahead 1.5 years.
Friday at work, I found an article on my desk, placed there by a friend who shares my love of compelling theoretical physics ideas. The article is titled "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton" by Eric Verlinde, one of two Dutch twins, both renowned leaders in string theory. (His brother Hermann is a Princeton physics professor.) In this article, which you may find on the web and throughout the blob-sphere, Verlinde describes gravity as an emergent phenomena, much as pressure from a gas emerges from the zillions of molecules hitting the side of a container. Gravity is thus not a fundamental force of nature, rather it emerges from something deeper. Verlinde is the first to pose some nontrivial and semi-concrete arguments to support this conjecture. The connection to my retreat experience is that central to the "deeper something" in Verlinde's paper is information. Specifically, gravity arises as an "entropic force" associated with the maximization of entropy related to the information contained in the position of material bodies (or something like that...).
Information theory has been around since the 1940s (Claude Shannon at Bell Labs invented it to help understand the transfer of information through electrical circuits), and has arisen over time to be of such a fundamental nature that it now, potentially, is at the root of how physical reality (e.g., the forces that make up our physical world) works. That, to me, is a mind blower, with that late night in Silverton a tiny tip of the iceberg of what appears to be unfolding in the physics community...
I remain amazed with the elegance and deep insights in Verlinde's paper, which, though nontrivial to grasp, is readable in essence by nearly anyone with a basic graduate physics education (OK, so not everyone has a physics graduate degree, but still, it does not require a specialization in string theory nor loop quantum gravity!). Interestingly, his paper appeared just over 100 years after Einstein's insights regarding special relativity.
There is a nice article in New Scientist about Verlinde's ideas
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527443.800-the-entropy-force-a-new-direction-for-gravity.html?page=1
Thanks for indulging me as I share this synchronicity. A significant portion of my excitement sits not so much with the details of Verlinde's ideas (which will take me years to digest), but with the wondrous connections that David orchestrated, with that orchestration continuing to unfold in elegant ways.
Deep love,
Stephen
--
Stephen.Griffies@Gmail.com
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
David's Drawings
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas Ananda!
I wanted to tell you while it is still fresh. I had a dream last night of you and your beloved David.....it was very, very real.
It was when he first returned back to Silverton with his cancer in full steam. I had a chance to tell him that he would pass...but in my dream it wasn't too late if he would just start chemo sooner.
Do I tell him or let his journey be what it is?
He told me to let him be, to let be what would be, that all would end as exactly as it should. It was proundly peaceful, beautiful and relieving for me....
What a beautiful Christmas gift David, thank you!
I hope you and Cheryl are having a wonderful day!
Love you both so much!
BJ
I wanted to tell you while it is still fresh. I had a dream last night of you and your beloved David.....it was very, very real.
It was when he first returned back to Silverton with his cancer in full steam. I had a chance to tell him that he would pass...but in my dream it wasn't too late if he would just start chemo sooner.
Do I tell him or let his journey be what it is?
He told me to let him be, to let be what would be, that all would end as exactly as it should. It was proundly peaceful, beautiful and relieving for me....
What a beautiful Christmas gift David, thank you!
I hope you and Cheryl are having a wonderful day!
Love you both so much!
BJ
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Hymn of Changes is HERE!!!!
The boxes of A Hymn of Changes are in!!! What an amazing feeling to finally see David's words and our work in print
David quote
Quote from David's book for Solstice
by MF, Boulder CO
Light up the lights for this Winter solstice night.
Today I went to a friend’s house to work on deer hides to make drums. After soaking for days in a water and ash solution, the hides are tacked to a board. The fat and deeper layers of flesh are scraped off, and then flipped over. The hair is then scraped off. I was only able to help for a little while since it was a work day for me.
Since I came in the middle of the process and left after about 40 minutes, I didn’t think about a ritual honoring these deer. (My friend) got the raw hides from a taxidermist.. They would have been discarded. In any case I thought of the story that David wrote about Deer in his book “Mountains of Light, Pathways of Love”. After reading it, I remembered that I had wanted to share the quote about grief.
Today I felt the grief of David’s death, and just the pure missing him. So it seems appropriate…..
“There is a grief which weighs down the spirit and there is a grief which is the cry of the soul. When you have lost someone you truly loved, then your grief is a gift. This is the grief which reaches beyond this world and opens a doorway to the path of light. This path is the journey of the soul. Yours is such a gift, and I would ask for it in return for my fur.”
by MF, Boulder CO
Light up the lights for this Winter solstice night.
Today I went to a friend’s house to work on deer hides to make drums. After soaking for days in a water and ash solution, the hides are tacked to a board. The fat and deeper layers of flesh are scraped off, and then flipped over. The hair is then scraped off. I was only able to help for a little while since it was a work day for me.
Since I came in the middle of the process and left after about 40 minutes, I didn’t think about a ritual honoring these deer. (My friend) got the raw hides from a taxidermist.. They would have been discarded. In any case I thought of the story that David wrote about Deer in his book “Mountains of Light, Pathways of Love”. After reading it, I remembered that I had wanted to share the quote about grief.
Today I felt the grief of David’s death, and just the pure missing him. So it seems appropriate…..
“There is a grief which weighs down the spirit and there is a grief which is the cry of the soul. When you have lost someone you truly loved, then your grief is a gift. This is the grief which reaches beyond this world and opens a doorway to the path of light. This path is the journey of the soul. Yours is such a gift, and I would ask for it in return for my fur.”
Rudolf: Silverton community dinner
My first Christmas without David in body... at a community dinner at the ski rec center
the nose BLINKED !
:)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Morning I Ching throw
Devin Hormann-Rivard met David when he was about 5 years. He kept in touch with his spiritual guide throughout his life and participated in many retreats over the years. After graduation from Naropa University in Boulder he was called to join us in Silverton, helping support David's healing process, to be of service and to learn from his mentor. David's distinct assignment for him was an invitation to take his outdated I Ching book he had published years earlier to the next level for a revised edition. Over the last 6 months, the book has been taken through reformatting, editing, re-editing, design, re-design and publishing stages, and has been officially shipped out from the publisher!!! I will receive the hot-off-the-presses box of books any DAY now... Thursday or Friday this week!!!!
This undertaking truly would not have been possible without the dedication and form-holding capacity Devin brought to the project. David's passing ripped through Devin as painfully as for any of us, especially given that he had specifically moved to Silverton be close to him. He took David's request for the republish to heart and made a steady daily practice of designing and formatting the new layout (not to mention learning the advanced computer software just as diligently to do so). His relationship and practice of throwing the I Ching regularly, as well as his field of study, offered clarity about the complexities of Chinese principles and turned out to be invaluable in David's absence... for all the integrity issues involved in producing another artist's works.
This post is for Devin, seen in these images below on a crisp Colorado camping morning... Throwing the I Ching with Quinn Joyce, sweet young neighbor and friend.
Thank you Kind Warrior
A poem by Devin relating a slice of his experience in Yosemite at David's memorial
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Slideshow has new online location
David's pencil drawing series slideshow by Carlos Delgado has been moved... to view, click HERE or on pencil image. Cards of each image are available. Email your order to ananda@jeffnet.org
Friday, November 20, 2009
Sharing from the heart
Nov. 20, 2009
lots of requests to know "how I am"... thanks for asking I know Im behind
I am frazzled and reworked,
new and sincerely puzzled
loved and loving
... emotional
INSPIRED
dancing with courage and fear
listening
Wintering (mostly) in Silverton
Missing Amma tour
Sad I cant keep up with everyone
Newly exploring FaceBook
Tired
New snow sparkles in my eyes, new flush on my face
teaching yoga and learning bellydance
theraputic sessions with skilled friends (thank goodness)
feeling art & movement workshops in my future... after some settle
Have way too much stuff (mine and D's from Ashland and Hawaii, his PARENT'S things)
Paperwork, email & phone are the time-consuming toppers... still much to do
Recently created a retreat plan for a local group, some new and old facilitation skills integrating
every day is a bow
and yet...
when will things feel normal?
when will I find a balance between extremes: like feeling tired of answering the question " how are you" but hurt just the same if no one asks...
ready for things to move on without him one minute, then just as pained when I'm out on errand and the pulse steadys on at the grocery or post office as if the world is the same
I know i need more quiet yet there is much stimulation
...more nature, less laptop
I get out on brilliantly sunny white walks in the hills... the contrast of hot sun and cold ground
Taking many pictures and building a portfolio for later times.... its the most fun treat right now
Im in a sweet something with a new/old "friend"
... it's supportive I think, Im enriched in new ways
and also aware of the raw element ... careful yes....
Important part is Tara expressing through me
And creative partnership with eye for photo images
loving David and letting him go
sharing his creative voice with emerging book
he's been giving me space but staying close if that makes sense
New language we now speak
Ibn expresses David often too
Tell me your unrelated segments of streaming thoughts some time ...
With love in my heart, Ananda
Yosemite Memorial, August 2009 "Relinquishing ceremony" offered by elders.In this photo: Onnolee Stevens with initiating dragonfly necklace from Barbara Cecil. Photos by Cara Cruickshank (thank you so much!)
lots of requests to know "how I am"... thanks for asking I know Im behind
I am frazzled and reworked,
new and sincerely puzzled
loved and loving
... emotional
INSPIRED
dancing with courage and fear
listening
Wintering (mostly) in Silverton
Missing Amma tour
Sad I cant keep up with everyone
Newly exploring FaceBook
Tired
New snow sparkles in my eyes, new flush on my face
teaching yoga and learning bellydance
theraputic sessions with skilled friends (thank goodness)
feeling art & movement workshops in my future... after some settle
Have way too much stuff (mine and D's from Ashland and Hawaii, his PARENT'S things)
Paperwork, email & phone are the time-consuming toppers... still much to do
Recently created a retreat plan for a local group, some new and old facilitation skills integrating
every day is a bow
and yet...
when will things feel normal?
when will I find a balance between extremes: like feeling tired of answering the question " how are you" but hurt just the same if no one asks...
ready for things to move on without him one minute, then just as pained when I'm out on errand and the pulse steadys on at the grocery or post office as if the world is the same
I know i need more quiet yet there is much stimulation
...more nature, less laptop
I get out on brilliantly sunny white walks in the hills... the contrast of hot sun and cold ground
Taking many pictures and building a portfolio for later times.... its the most fun treat right now
Im in a sweet something with a new/old "friend"
... it's supportive I think, Im enriched in new ways
and also aware of the raw element ... careful yes....
Important part is Tara expressing through me
And creative partnership with eye for photo images
loving David and letting him go
sharing his creative voice with emerging book
he's been giving me space but staying close if that makes sense
New language we now speak
Ibn expresses David often too
Tell me your unrelated segments of streaming thoughts some time ...
With love in my heart, Ananda
Yosemite Memorial, August 2009 "Relinquishing ceremony" offered by elders.In this photo: Onnolee Stevens with initiating dragonfly necklace from Barbara Cecil. Photos by Cara Cruickshank (thank you so much!)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
old summer shots from now winter snowy Silverton
Summer of 07
the building of the "medicine fence"
new nursing human embodiment
creativities emerging
friendships forming
lives and materials changing form
s e v a = selfless service
the building of the "medicine fence"
new nursing human embodiment
creativities emerging
friendships forming
lives and materials changing form
s e v a = selfless service
A hard photo...
prepare...
Difficult time, march 2008, 15
ashland oregon
David in pain beyond our comprehension
a kind heart transformation
helping others by taking on some pain and burning rapidly
not rapidly enough / a toll on the body
found in every tradition
this service to humanity
D came with his issues
like the rest of us
but
for this loved creature
the ancestors, guides, spirit helpers and light streams
were in his dear favor
as was Ghigs Razi with her class in the February cold
with love songs on Valentines Day
... angels...
Difficult time, march 2008, 15
ashland oregon
David in pain beyond our comprehension
a kind heart transformation
helping others by taking on some pain and burning rapidly
not rapidly enough / a toll on the body
found in every tradition
this service to humanity
D came with his issues
like the rest of us
but
for this loved creature
the ancestors, guides, spirit helpers and light streams
were in his dear favor
as was Ghigs Razi with her class in the February cold
with love songs on Valentines Day
... angels...
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In any case bless this day of David's book flying into the world another layer, the many lives entwined in a huge event as is the superbowl and the bird who yesterday flew it'self right to it's death as it hit my glass window. I burried it and said a prayer for death and rebirth, earth and sky...