I VOTE FOR YOU FOR GOD

When your eyes have found the strength
To constantly speak to the world
All that is most dear
To your own
Life,

When your hands, feet and tongue
Can perform in that rare unison
That comforts this longing earth
With the knowledge

Your soul,
Your soul has been groomed
In His city of love;

And when you can make others laugh
With jokes
That belittle no one
And your words always unite,

Hafiz
Does vote for you.

Hafiz will vote for you to be
The minister of every country in
This universe.

Hafiz does vote for you my dear.
I vote for you
To be
God.

from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

I Took It as a Sign

Someone sent a band to my house,
And it started playing
At five in the morning.

I took this as a sign
God wanted me singing!
Then the moon joined in
And a few of the tenor-voiced stars,

And the earth offered its lovely belly
As a drum

Before I knew it,
I realized
All human beings could be happy

If they just had a few music lessons
From a Sweet Old Maestro
Like Hafiz.

From I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy
Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

Today's AbunDance

Did the AbunDance at the Farmer's Market today :))

I traded little paintings created especially for the purpose of trading for fruits and vegetables with the farmers... So-o satisfying and fun! The photo shows today's bounty. Broccoli, mustard greens, daikon greens, Russian kale, red potatoes, yellow potatoes, and another type whose name I have forgotten, two kinds of red onions and a little yellow onion, cantaloupe, tomatoes, red peppers and purple peppers, hot little chile peppers, butternut squash, strawberry/chocolate mousse, and dark rye bread.

Thanks! The container in the upper right with a pink something inside, contained the most delicious Chocolate Berry Mousse, a raw dessert by local company, Body Love Raw Food. Under the pink strawberry fluffiness was the chocolate fluffiness.

The square shape in plastic next to the pink container is dark rye bread from Sammy's.

Greens from, Eric, and Carl, and Quinn, and melons from Antonio... I love this exchange of joyful energies.




Here are the paintings I traded:

for veggies ~


for melons:



for veggies:




for another loaf of bread (not pictured) ~



and

for the Strawberry-Chocolate Mousse (an offering of which Ganesh would surely approve :)

Coffee Press

You can press me
and still,
my essence
will ring true

~ Nicole Raisin Stern

shikantaza

just sit
just sip
the tea is full
then empty
pour again
drink it up
just sit
just sip

~NRS

秋

Autumn wind moves the trees
fresh air
cool breeze ~

No more Yuki

Yuki, my sweet, little Eskimo dog, left this world on April 1st, 2010. Yuki went "to sleep" while I held him in my arms at the veterinarian's. The euthanasia was administered gently, quickly, and painlessly. It was time.

Yuki was my constant companion for 17 years, best friend to Jesse, his cat sister, and big wise brother to little Bodhi, his kitten brother. Now, Bodhi, Jesse, and Yuki are all together again.

My furry family is no more. They were the best.

Yuki was born in February, 1993 and left gently on April 1st, 2010.

Thank you, Yuki, forever.

























The Yuki Set

Yuki-chan

It's a beautiful morning again today, with the scent of orange blossoms wafting in the slightly cool breeze. Yuki is out in front of the house where we are staying; he sniffs the air and stares in one direction for a long time. He stands open-eyed with that quizzical, curious expression on his face that we call "adorable", yet I think his stance and look really spell confusion; he cannot hear anymore nor can he see with clarity. I am guessing that his eyes only sense shapes and shadows.

Yuki cannot hear the birdsong that I call beautiful and he turns around in circles when we walk, unsure of which direction to go, even when I think he will be able to follow my loud guiding claps. He cannot. In the standard dog-to-human calculation of age that we do, Yuki is 119 years old (17 in dog years) - an old man! Yuki has been my dog since I first met one of his puppy siblings at the tender and fluffy age of five weeks, and knew I must have one. Yuki resembled a snowball - hence, the fitting name of "snow" in Japanese: Yuki. We have been with each other all this time.

Dr. Vasant Merchant, Humanities Teacher Extraordinaire

I was up in Flagstaff recently (late February, 2010) and went to see the peace shrine that Dr. Merchant had created at her colorful house on the hill. Her house always reminded me of Himalayan homes I have seen (in pictures) that are hand painted and decorated with Gods, Goddesses and symbols of Peace and Beauty. Dr. Merchant painted and created the beautiful peace shrine with the help of friends and former students over the years.





I was fortunate to have been a student of Vasant Merchant while at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. I took all the Humanities and Religion classes that I could from her in my time at NAU and in Flagstaff (1979 - 1985).

After I moved away, I'd occasionally drop in to say hello and also to participate in a few special events at her house (for example, to commemorate Gandhiji, or Sri Aurobindo, Dr. Merchant's lifetime guru). In this "dog-eat-dog world" some may question the value of a liberal arts or humanities program, but I do not. Thanks to Dr. Merchant and her courses, thousands of us learned about world cultures and religions, especially those of India and the Middle East.

Dr. Merchant's courses attracted the international students of NAU, the non-traditional students (i.e., older students), and many of the Native American students on campus. She honored our learning, our language interests, always was curious to know what we were reading, cared about our individual learning styles and personalities, and was devoted to helping us expand our hearts and minds, which is one grand purpose of a Humanities education.



Dr. Merchant had donated to the Northern Arizona University Library a set of the translations of the Upanishads into French and English by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I remember reading some of these, sitting on the floor in the stacks, wanting to absorb something of this -- or her -- wisdom (and certainly of the wisdom of India and of Asia). In Dr. Merchant's classes, I first learned of Sufism ~ the esoteric heart of Islam, as she called it ~ and thus began my study and practice of Sufism.




Aum - OM or Pranah

Om is the Aksara, or imperishable syllable. Om is the Universe, and is the textposition of Om. The past, the present and the future, all that was, all is, all that will be is Om. Likewise all else that may exist beyond the bounds of time, that too is Om.

** Translated by Sri Aurobindo from Mandukya Upanishad.

The above photo was handwritten in Dr. Merchant's very distinct hand writing that I recall so well from her classes. Often, she would write favorite quotations on the blackboard, lines of poems and other bits of wonderful wisdom by writers, sages, scientists, teachers, thinkers, poets, and philosophers of the world and down through the ages. I clearly remember one of Dr. Merchant's favorite lines from Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore:

Let my Love, like Sunlight, surround you and yet Give you Illumined freedom.

Underneath the quote she had written Tagore's date of birth and death (1861-1941), along with the year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for Gitanjali, 1913, and that he was the first Asian to win this prize (and the first non-European).



It was through Dr. Merchant's illustration and lecture on the lotus that I first became aware of the symbolism of the lotus and that we humans are like lotuses. The lotus that so beautifully opens up to the expansive sky, has its roots in and grows out of swampy, murky waters.



I also remember when our entire class went out to the movies together to watch the Flagstaff premiere of the movie, Gandhi. I remember memorizing Rudyard Kipling's poem, IF, because she handed it out to us and because I really liked it. I also read Plato and Socrates in her class... and learned of the international school at Auroville in Pondicherry, India, where the students all learned their various "subjects" through the medium of several languages, such as French and Hindi for literature, English for History, German (and maybe French, too) for Science, and Sanskrit for the sacred chants and literature of India. The students and teachers all began their day doing yoga together and they ate vegetarian meals sitting in the shade of a circle of trees... these are some things I remember from my classes with Dr. Merchant.



In 1995, an Indian friend from my high school days in the Chicago area, came to visit me in Tucson. We went on a camping trip up north to Oak Creek Canyon and then to the Grand Canyon. We drove in my little red Geo Metro 4-door hatchback and took Yuki along, who was only 2 years old at the time. My friend, Suketu, and I stopped in Flagstaff to visit with Dr. Merchant. We took her out for sushi and she took us back to her house to make us some puris for the road. When I had signed up for my first class with Dr. Merchant, which I think was in 1981, I had excitedly written Suketu to tell him of the Indian professor who I was drawn to for no other reason than that she was Indian. In my letter, I described a rather large woman dressed very colorfully in a sari with thick black hair piled up atop her head, decorated with plastic flowers and wearing bright red lipstick. I told how I had met her. It was class registration time at NAU, which took place on the indoor track. Professors sat at tables placed all around the track and we students walked around the track to sign up and/or find out more about the courses. I was heading for a table when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dr. Merchant. Right then, I changed direction and walked straight to her table and signed up. The rest is history. I took every class that i could with her. My description of Dr. Merchant made Suketu laugh with warmth, for he recognized instantly that this was Auntie Vasant, a colleague of his fathers when Suketu was a young boy. I've always had "this thing" for India... and this was yet another happy coincidence to bring the wisdom of India to me.



I am sure that, like me, thousands of NAU students have similar tales of being inspired to delve further into their hearts' interests by Dr. Merchant's skilful and enthusiastic sharing of many religions and cultures. Most of all, Dr. Merchant loved peace. She devoted her scholarship and insights to nurturing peace as the editor and publisher of the International Journal of Humanities and Peace (IJPH). In the shrine to peace she built outside her home, the phrase, May Peace Prevail on Earth in many languages of the world is inscribed in black on long white placards and posted to poles and on the eaves of her colorful house at the top of her hilltop street in the pines. Here, St. Francis, Ganesh, Hanuman, Saraswati, Sita, Ram, a peacock, et al, coexist. Here, Hebrew, Hopi, Arabic, French, Gaelic, Chinese, Russian, Zulu, Hindi, etc, intermingle. As in her humanities classes, the peace shrine offers a microcosm of internationality where each distinct culture ~ and language ~ is celebrated and allowed to be. I remember an article I read in Dr. Merchant's IJPH began something like this: "Peace is not merely the absence of war." The article invited readers to inquire into the meaning(s) of peace. I believe that Dr. Merchant's legacy is that we - all of us - continue to discover ways to nurture peace in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, between nation-states, and in the world. How do we do this?


Here are some of my ideas to create peace:

Celebrate-explore-inquire-learn-dance-draw-paint-sing-recite-write-teach-open-share-commune-speak-listen-whirl-chant-honor-create-have faith-invite doubt-laugh-think-let go-grow-inspire-aspire-reach out-take in-give-accept-forgive-nurture-nourish-cultivate-understand-build-dream-leap-fly-land-breathe in-breathe out-read-expand-desire-co-create-rejuvenate


≈ Thank you, Dr. Merchant ≈

Vasant V. Merchant, professor emeritus of humanities, died May 8, 2009, in Sedona, Arizona. She was 76.

Dr. Merchant was born Sept. 11, 1933, in Bombay, India. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Bombay, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.
She taught humanities and religious studies at NAU from 1966 until her retirement in 1995.

Dr. Merchant was Editor/Publisher of The International Journal of Humanities and Peace (IJHP).

Slide Show of Dr. Merchant's Peace Shrine

Dr. Merchant's Peace Shrine, Photo Set on Flickr

Happy Year of the TIGER

© Nicole Raisin Stern

Watercolor and pen on Arches cold pressed paper. With Ganesha skate boarding.

Woo-Hoo

Mandala

My mandala... heals me.

Creating circles and mandalas is a self-healing practice. It is one way to literally draw yourself into being, to feel that we have our place in the cosmos amongst the other living beings and things.

I often come to the circle drawing empty, not sure where to begin, sometimes feeling burdened by thoughts. I enter the circle and let it draw me in... I leave feeling whole again and healed.

Mandalas are found in nature and in the nourishment we dish into our bowls, cups, and plates. Look around and you will see that mandalas abound. We live on a living breathing mandala! Caring for our planet Earth through the cultivation of gardens and plants is another way to draw yourself into the mandala ~ the circle of life.

*

Here are a few mandalas in my Mandala Set on flickr.

Ode to Jesse

Jesse =^.^= the Wonder Kitty
Autumn, 1995-January 14, 2010

Jesse was born in 1995; my friend Darci and I got her from the Humane Society when she was 6 weeks old. She loves Yuki, nori, salmon, hunting lizards and birds, and napping. Jesse and Yuki were a pair.

In her 15 years, Jesse travelled a lot with Yuki and me and Darci. Jesse lived and/or travelled in/to Athens, Georgia; Tucson, Arizona; Monterey, California; Charlottesville, Virginia; Northern New Mexico; Ashland, Oregon; and to Ojai and Santa Paula, California. Jesse's formal name was Jesse Jane,

Jesse was a great camper and spent time camping with us in the mountains of Northern Arizona, at the Grand Canyon, through the South (Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas), on the Central Coast of California and in Mendocino County.

Jesse loved rolling in the dirt, napping in the sun, and roaming through the tall grasses like a petite panther or a silky jaguar. She enjoyed laying on my chest or sleeping curled up next to Yuki or me. Jesse loved her big dog brother, Yuki, and often kissed and licked his nose, face, and feet!

Before Jesse, I had never been so close to a cat or even another animal... Yuki and I are close, of course, but Jesse and I were different. When I painted or wrote, Jesse would lay on my shoulders and she'd helped me pick out colors.

I hand-fed Jesse for a few moments everyday. Some of her favorite foods were: broccoli, brown rice, kabocha squash, salmon, sardines, nori, kim, cauliflower, and tuna.

Jesse always waited outside for me to come home whenever I had been gone. Or if inside, she would stick her little head up into the window ~ she always knew when i was approaching, even if I was on foot or on bicycle and not in my car.

Our new kitty, Bodhi, loved his big sister, even though Jesse did not feel quite the same way... However, they were compatible travel cats as we travelled in our car through many states together.

Thank you, Jesse, for always and for everything. We Love you so much.


































Enjoy more Jesse photos at the Jesse Set

Enjoy more Jesse & Yuki together photos at the Yuki & Jesse Together Set