So I finished my album, a work encompassing over 6 years of writing and evolution. I am quite happy with it, especially considering the initial impulse for this was simply posterity and wanting to have a form of my music to give to friends and family. The guy I was working with, Max Adam, did an excellent job recording and mixing it; it just represents such a step up from the personal recordings I have done on my computer or on my tape deck.

I am looking at various ways of uploading the whole thing onto the web, and will post about this once I figure this out, but for now, I am just sending the album to anyone that wants it, no charge. So if you want it, and don't anticipate that I am sending you one anyway, just send me an email, or post a response on this post. All praises, comments, and criticisms are welcome and worthwhile.

Alright, deep peace to you.

It's a funny thing. There I am, moving through my day...mundane, practical, when something profound comes to mind. Something about the truths of service, meditation, caring-friendliness, evolution, etc., and my mind immediately thinks of the blog, and all you out there. I think of sharing these valuable jewels through writing and conceptual expression.

But this mind-motivation is almost always quickly overcome by a heart-motivation, in which the desire to simply share this face-to-face, through being and presence, trumps a desire to write about it. i think of how quickly i can convey one of these spiritual truths with just a gesture or a smile, or a kind word or skillful action, and then i compare that to the amount of words and time spent staring at a screen that would translate to, and i just don't write about it.

I am not quite satisfied with this approach, so i am committing myself to shorter, more frequent blogs where i can simply mention these experiences without having to write a treatise every time.

Ok, peace and ease.
eka

I have planned a series of posts in the next week or so. I wanted to first start with pictures from New England, as fall shifted into winter. A very beautiful, if not manic, fall this year. Enjoy!


Early fall in the Lehigh Valley







Ahh, the fall farmer's market and craft fair. Beautiful.





The Farm Center and fall colors at Hampshire College




Fall becomes Winter








Thanksgiving at Sirius






Winter work at the community




The embrace of deep winter










Well, that seems like enough photos for now. Next post on the unfolding of the spirit semester Nikki and I just finished.

Hope and Healing

Hello all.

I just wanted to put up some pictures taken over the busy christmas break. I was able to see many friends, some of whom I had not seen since before leaving for South America.

First I saw my heterosexual life mate Doug, his wife, and young child Emory Swift...as well as Doug's mom Emma and other members of the family. Very nice time, good catching up, speaking of the future through the present, enjoying the moment.

Family

Emory and Lasagna

The boys playing...

The 'Go Mind' of Doug and I

After a day of reconnecting, I got a chance to spend some quality time with Shira, a good friend from college. She joined our family in christmas celebration: eating, sharing, laughing, meditation and yoga.


So those are the pics for now. Wedding of the ceremony and party that occurred on the 22nd between my step-sister Helene and good friend Aaron will be up once we receive them from the photographer.

Peace,
Eka

Warm greetings to all on a frigid, frost-covered December morning. My surroundings certainly have changed a bit since my last post, deep in the steamy, life-filled jungles of northern Peru. I have meant to write at various times, but life is always seeming to take up all of my time...how rude!


But truly, life has been over-full as always. Just this morning, I had my first professional lesson for the Shakuhachi Zen flute that Helene gifted to me about two years ago. Just last night I faced a long running fear and performed two songs and a spoken word at a local open-mic night. Last week I gave a 50 minute presentation in John Gerber's Sustainable Agriculture course on the role of agriculture in community as concerned my travels in south america.

Hey, that's me!

But even all this business only makes up a small part of the many, many doings since leaving south america. What has been of the highest priority, requiring the most amount of consistent energy, is the personal and communal work I am doing with Nikki, my sister. I mentioned in my last post of the clarity I had gained during my work with Don Juan and ayahuasca. The clarity concerned returning to the states, to my 'primary relationships', where I could begin to strengthen and purify these relationships, simultaneously uplifting myself and uplifting others (in as far as they themselves wanted it). Throughout this work, I have been striving to follow the signs (thank you Alchemist) with an open heart and a focused mind. This approach to life certainly makes things interesting.

Had you told me while I was in the amazon that in one month I would be doing exterior pressure washing and painting in my hometown of Bethlehem, PA...well, I would certainly have laughed. Yet this job fell into my lap, through family connections, and in a truly serendipitous way I came to meet my employer Pete, a fellow seeker that helped me as I helped him. Sometimes I would just laugh as we prep'ed a house while listening to a book on cd about the Essential Tao, or talking about the meaning of true living and right relationships over a quick lunchbreak. I am very grateful for this experience, and how I did very little to bring it about except receive it and run with it.

Pete, Paint and Flowers

And so, after a month of working with Pete on some ery satisfying work, I headed back up to the Pioneer Valley, which has become a somewhat stable home of sorts. In the next post, I will speak to the specifics of the work my sister and I are doing at Sirius (with pics), but for now I will leave with images I was waiting to upload of the Amazon, and some of my painting job in Bethlehem.

LightLifeLove
~eka

The Sacred Amazon River

Typical Iquitos Bus

My favorite picture of Iquitos

The Beautiful Reality of the Open Market


And the Shaman's Market

My healer and his family

Team Purge :)

Playing Futbol in Iquitos

Ila resting after a ceremony

Journey into the Jungle

Areas of Slash-and-Burn :(

A short break...

Our Jungle Home

And our host family

Painfully-cute children

And monkey

The Ayahuasca Brewin

And the Ceremony Hut

Jungle Beauties:
I asked her if it was dangerous; she replied, 'Oh yes, very...'

There were butterflies the size of your face...

Shy Bird

Our serene bathing spot

Some Jungle Scenery: