God Boxes

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Japanese Buddhist Temple; a few blocks- but miles away from Honolulu's Wal-mart.

"Soft drink and computer companies play the roles of deities in our culture. They are creating our most powerful iconography, they are the ones building our most Utopian monuments." - Naomi Klein

Temple Guardians

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree."
Albert Einstein

"Kodomatsu" outside of a store. The Bamboo is strong, bound together like families should be, and the evergreen is for longevity, rebirth & growth. A Japanese New Year folk item popular in Hawaii.

Here in Hawaii we have a rather ecumenical approach to faith that is more common in Asia than in the West. Christian prayers are said in Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Samoan, Micronesian, and many other languages. Some Christians will participate in ethnic and cultural practices favored by their ancestors, so that we live in something of a religious "truce zone." Perhaps it's the tropical light, something in the air, or merely the familiarity bred by generations of living together on small islands, but we allow our faith to outgrow the boxes of custom & doctrine that He must keep to elsewhere. Yesterday, my favorite husband accompanied me to the Izumo Taishakyo Mission, a local Shinto shrine built so many years ago that the city and it's highways have grown up all around it. It is customary for such shrines to be open on New Years Day so that people may come for a magical blessing to assure good health and good luck in the dawning year. Though yesterday was January 2nd, the shrine remained open for meditation and the purchase of lucky amulets (omamori) & talismans (ofuda). A Shinto priest was present to welcome us. As we took off our footwear to enter, I enquired about the availability of the blessings which are somewhat akin to REIKI, Qi Gong, or other "energy treatments" (as complementary medicine and the institutes of health refer to them). I was disappointed when he told me that the traditional blessings were usually done on the first day only. Then, pausing, he seemed to re-consider. Taking up his ceremonial pole, from which sheaves of folded rice-paper cascaded, he danced and dangled it above me, touching my head with it, as a profound gratitude for Mystery, Magic, and the ways of my fellow Earth passengers filled me. It was gratitude to the One Source of Love (call it what you will) for so many years of life, for the dawning of a new one, for EVERYTHING! Next, the priest repeated these actions over my husband's head too. Then we two sat together, holding hands, as we admired the art and antiques of the shrine, and imbibed the healing energies of peace therein. We departed in reverence, and well-being. The label on the "box" we had visited was of less significance than the gift of mindfulness that we had received. What ever box YOU keep your God in, if your box if filled with mystery, or even if it seems "empty;" I salute you with my best wishes for healing, magic & joy. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good - O Lord please don't let me be misunderstood." Rock Lyric

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Hope Duels Fear

"A new dawn" by Ted Trimmer

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"New Year's Day is every man's birthday."

- Charles Lamb

"Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true."

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's."

- Henry Moore

Top of Waikiki: cool restaurant!

"I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me." - Anaïs Nin

Here in Hawaii we watch the New Year march across the Earth from Kiribati, and on through: Oceania, Australasia, Asia, Europe, the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and finally - it's our turn! As a new year begins, it is natural to look back and also ahead. At this unprecedented moment in history, fear & hope are duelling in hearts all over the world as never before. New ways of thinking about our lives are emerging from our common longings. "Truly appreciate what you've got," is one of these emerging new "Memes." "Humankind does not live by bread alone," is an older version of that same thought. When we really "get" how little it takes to be deeply content - actually HAPPY - then our freedom begins! One last quote that I believe hints at the way:

" Broaden your mind enough and you necessarily come to mysteries that are so much bigger than everyday concerns that to encounter them is to experience awe, to experience the sacred." - Tenzin W. Rinpoche

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Obama Hawaii New Year's Eve

Yesterday, the president-elect (and local son) took his children to the Honolulu Zoo to see the baby tigers that we visited last week.
http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2008/12/hanukah-tigers.html

Fireworks are "cultural" in Hawaii with our large Asian (and part-Asian) population.

Professionals will "pop" fireworks too, but most locals will be at home making their neighborhoods a smokey fairyland.

Red "Ahi" tuna is lucky food!

Some local families are pounding mochi rice in Usu with mallets; "THWACK!" Don't hit uncle's hand!!

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." - Hal Borland

"For last year's words belong to last year's language; And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

- T.S. Eliot

"And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast, And been bow'd to the earth by its fury; To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,T he regrets of remembrance to cozen, And having obtained a New Trial of Time, Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen." - Thomas Hood

"Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account." - Oscar Wilde

"But can one still make resolutions when one is over forty? I live according to twenty-year-old habits." - Andre Gide

"A happy New Year! Grant that I May bring no tear to any eye When this New Year in time shall end Let it be said I've played the friend, Have lived and loved and labored here, And made of it a happy year." - Edgar Guest

"Of all sound of all bells... most solemn and touching is the peal which rings out the Old Year." - Charles Lamb

"Every man regards his own life as the New Year's Eve of time."

- Jean Paul Richter

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions."

- Joey Adams

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Boat Living & Davo's Art

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Kitty drops in
Flowers from Saturday's Kau Kau Christmas Street Lunch (link to post below)http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2008/12/gilding-pill.html

Davo's Silk Screen "Smooth #4"

DAVO http://www.davoart.net/aboutMain.aspx

"The corner of a room is populated with 5,000 beings of which we know nothing." Tibetan Spiritual Saying

"There is no 'empty' space anywhere, even between the stars. Processes and events are occurring in multiple dimensions everywhere."

Brief synopsis of the latest findings of physics

Many of you kind visitors have asked about "life aboard." It is such an encompassing topic, unfolding on so many levels, that it is almost TOO daunting to describe. Suffice it to say, most of what comes to the average "land person's" mind about living on a boat is WRONG. This ain't no cruise ship! Where would I even begin?! As Dr. Johnson said: "A sailor is a man in jail with a chance of drowning." Conveniences that most "housed" folks take for granted are lacking afloat, such as space, flush toilets, and SPACE! Sometimes it is glorious, sometimes it feels like being floating "trailer trash." I have even described our cement and steel home as a "floating dumpster." And none of this even addresses the finer points of living in a State Operated (poorly) Facility. PLEASE, those of you who have questions, be kind enough to send them to me as comments to this post, and I will build my little Blogpost Boating Biography around the things you want to know: from basic (waste, power, Internet) to personal (nice an romantic, eh?). As you might ascertain from today's quotes I have been exploring Tibetan Spirituality & Medicine and discovering fascinating insights as well as illuminating parallels to other traditions, religions, and cultures. With the intellectual "permission" of our cutting-edge physicists I have been opening myself up to the energies and influences around us, especially in nature. What better place than Da Beach? As I deepen my friendship with this place that I love, it becomes increasingly natural to me to feel kinship with an "animate" world. The inert "stuff" of our modern view is revealing itself as personal, playful, dignified, and a repository of insight & healing. The green Ko`olau Mountains are a constant cathedral above the town; inducing reverence and perspective whenever I raise my eyes "unto" them. The sea's a ceaseless chorus. Birds are clearly messengers from high places, and sky gazing is grazing in a library of light and wisdom. . . Oh yeah! And Davo. I had the serendipitous pleasure of crossing paths with the Maui artist yesterday. Above, you see him holding a favourite print from his latest project. He told me that this one is titled "Smooth" because he was listening to pal (and part-time Maui resident) Carlos Santana's eponymous song as he created it. Then he generously gave it "unto" me! ("You can sell it if you need the money." he told me) Davo's work is at the IMAGES Gallery on Front Street in Lahaina http://www.imagesinc.com/ . He told me that his little hale ('hah lay') on it's little acre shares a boundary with Oprah's huge property. . . So send in those boat questions! Here's the teaser: The day after we moved ALL of our possessions aboard, Hurricane Iniki drew a bead on Waikiki. What happened next? Stay tuned! Just don't ever get into line behind me at the bank ;-) But DO return here to Da Spiral often. Your visits and your comments, even just a "Hi" are wonderful messengers of "Aloha" along with angels and all birds . . . .

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The Merry Year

"The merry year is born
Like the bright berry from the naked thorn."
- Hartley Coleridge

Each age has deemed the new-born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.
- Walter Scott

"We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential."

- Ellen Goodman

“The Fish Dance”

It’s season again for the fish dance. Next time you are walking the Ala Moana Blvd. Bridge over the Ala Wai Canal, pause on the mauka (mountain) side to check out the intricate maneuvers underway by dozens and dozens of fish. The first time I noticed, I thought it was a flotilla of leaves on the water. Then I saw the do-si-do, the alaman left, the schools splitting into separating spirals. Fish are packed so close together that some in the middle are pushed partly up and out of the water. All together now! What are they doing? I don’t know. But back when I was taken to see Nureyev dance at Lincoln Center I didn’t need a knowledge of ballet to be amazed by the way he hung in the air at the arc of an unbelievably high leap. Well these tilapia are just as absorbed and expert in their corps de ballet. Spawning? Eating? Hula competition judged by mantis shrimp? I just don’t know. Do you? There are great new parking improvements at Makapu for those hiking around the slope to the lighthouse. Stop at Costco’s snack bar in Hawaii Kai for hot dogs, pizza, chicken salad, drinks on your way, and then you can park safely away from traffic and walk a paved path around the slope to the amazing view. Tip: full moon night hikes here are memorable and special! If you are inside Costco, or Star Market, or any food store with a fish department, try buying what you see the locals buy; even squid or seaweed won’t kill you. And if you see opihi you’re in for a special treat! It’s expensive for a reason. Like the song says: “Opihi man in the sun, opihi man grab your bag and RUN! Opihi man another swell is coming your way.” People do drown harvesting these delicious morsels from the tidal zones of sea cliffs; in fact I’ve heard this innocent little Hawaiian mussel called “fish of death.” Worth a taste? Continuing up the Saturday road through Waimanalo, with its miles and miles of white sand and turquoise shallows just yards from your car, I saw that the beach park was humming with activity. When you pull into a beach park among all the local folks who are spending their day off with their families do so humbly and with a good spirit. Easy does it. Remember: weekending families are not cultural exhibits or chamber of commerce employees. Regular folks work very hard simply to make it here, and they enjoy their weekend relaxation just as you do. Please understand that the closest beach is like the neighborhood’s living room, even though it’s “public.” Be laid back and you’ll probably meet some new people, or even be welcomed in inimitable Aloha style. Offer to share your stuff first, like a juice to a child, or a slice of pizza to the guy sitting right next to you. I could recount many stories of visitors being invited to the baby luau, the wedding up the block at somebody’s house, given deeply personal tours, or even invited to stay over. Nice people do find each other, bad attitudes: just keep driving! Back in Waikiki, joining the throngs walking, running, gawking, biking, unloading surfboards on Diamond Head Road, I got to thinking that to visitors, DH is a famous visual emblem. But it’s so much more than that to us; for example, we use it to describe seasonal conditions: “Look! Diamond Head is so green!” (Lots of rain) or brown (lots of no rain). To locals it’s not just visual though, ole DH is like a beloved uncle that we playfully climb all over. We hike the trails and enjoy the view FROM Diamond Head (his shoulders). We sit on his lap: DH park one and park two, green oceanfront enclaves made peaceful and private by their lack of parking, brides are photographed here as limos hover. At the foot of the cliffs, below Diamond Head Road, are intimate little beaches where naturists and meditators can be left in peace. So you see, we locals don’t just SEE DH; we play with it, smell the flowers, hear the surf and enjoy the birds. And at the right time of year it’s perfect for spotting whales spouting and splashing out to sea. Even the tightly scheduled tour van groups that pull into the lookout seem to hush at the majesty of the vista, as their harried drivers relax for a smoke. It's the perfect spot to “watch the submarine races,” or simply to loose the grip of hours and minutes. . . Misty Technicolor clouds blowing over the mountains, blue heron, red sails in the sunset. . . Hot shower, cold beer, and warm welcome; how can every pau hana (after work) be uniquely wonderful? Guess they’re just like snowflakes. . . Remember snowflakes? In Hawaii it’s OK to smile at others. Everyone is beautiful here- but it’s from the inside. In our tropical climate makeup runs, but true aloha just glows through your expression, your skin, and your face, like a light from within. . . SUPER FERRY! The Alakai, the largest all aluminum ship built in the USA, is here. We can now take our own vehicles to Maui. We all need to get out on the water sometimes. . . just so we can take our turn. . . doing the fish dance. . . Aloha! Cloudia

Gilding the Pill

Feeding the 5,000
M. Duke (left)

Kitty Look Out! A Giant Mouse!

OOOO A Rainbow!

Bye Santa-

"For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once daily. People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed. Never throw out anybody. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows."

- Audrey Hepburn's 'Beauty Secrets'

"The river looked at Siddhartha with a thousand eyes. . . it seemed to him that whoever understood this river and it's secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets." - Herman Hesse

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case you lose by default." - J. K. Rowling

"Life is a pill which none of us can bear to swallow without gilding; yet for the poor we delight in stripping it still barer."

Dr. Johnson

Street outreach worker, Sharon Black, has fed the hungry people of Honolulu's streets for many years. Her Kau Kau ('food') Wagon provides meals every Saturday at a little park we used to call the "Gateway to Chinatown." Yesterday was her annual Christmas meal for all that would come. Out of her "little" Mz. Black has provided this bounty (top picture) by appealing to restaurants, hotels, and kind individuals throughout our community. Even with my own background as a street outreach worker in these same streets, I had never met the lady face to face . . . till yesterday. I brought my flute to play, saw many familiar faces to wish "happy holidays" to, and ended up holding the leash for one of Sharon's giant Great Danes (a licensed therapy dog - picture above). All the ladies were given bouquets of flowers, and though I didn't eat I was happy to walk away with my own bounty of flowery loveliness. . . Sharon's friend was telling me how much admiration she has for the lady, but feeling honest I reminded her that helping others is addictive, a compulsion. We smiled together at that and wished those waiting in line a Happy New Year . . .

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Oahu Obama Power Outage

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"Morning After" -
All good here!

Shadow's da star!

"Where no one has walked before . . . " Oh never mind!

Another radiant banyan tree with some palm pals

"May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind."

- Author Unknown

"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle."

- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, people cannot live without a spiritual life." - Buddha

"Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call."

- Richard Lewis

As you may have heard by now, we here on the island of O`ahu lost our electric power last (Friday) evening after rare tropic lightning struck the Kahi Power Plant on the rural leeward coast of the island. A festive Friday night turned into an adventure as folks walked the sidewalks and actually spoke to strangers from all over the world. Street artists on battery power like caricaturist Bill McQ in front of the International Marketplace were the only show in town other than acoustic guitarists, ukulele strummers and street walkers. Emergency generators kept elevators available and many local people enjoyed a respite from their frenetic holiday schedules just to be together. By the light of Hanukkah candles, sabbath candles, Christmas candles, emergency candles, and battery operated "torches" & flashlights, people rediscovered each other and themselves. Pets came indoors, sensing something unusual, and slept near at hand. . . Local guy Obama reportedly went to bed early, as usual, while government generators hummed efficiently nearby, maintaining communications and security infrastructure fit for a President-Elect. Just to be sure, Hawaiian Electric delivered additional generating equipment which was politely accepted at the Kailua compound and duly plugged in as 18th back-up. The press corps in Waikiki had the good fortune of being un-plugged from their Blackberrys and having the opportunity to stroll Waikiki Beach by torchlight. The Hilton launched their weekly fireworks right on time, and they were all the brighter for the dark skies and new moon above. This morning power has crept back on weekend cats feet - actually, Hawaiian Electric seems an exemplary outfit, their people quietly competent with modest esprit de corps befitting "local style." Hard hats off to them and to O`ahu motorists who waved each other through unattended intersections with true Aloha. The dawn rose bright. Ah, the light! . . vast schools of fish in the Ala Wai canal are massing, dancing and churning the waters with their seasonal celebration. . . A year is passing, but LIFE goes on.

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