guess what, friends?!?! amma's USA summer tour is posted on the web! go get a hug!
http://www.amma.org/tours/amma-tours/namerica-jun09.html
seriously though, whenever i feel confused about what my project is or what i am trying to do or what i am going to do, i watch amma. it just makes so much sense!
Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"Meetings with Remarkble Men" - A Film About Gurdjieff
this little gem is brought to you by, blair. i'm gonna miss you, friend. may your spirit find peace and wholeness.
from the youtube description:
Filmed in 1979 by Peter Brook. A classic spiritual movie of G.I. Gurdjieff struggles beginning with his childhood until his discovery of The Fourth Way, an ancient spiritual tradition that used sacred movements as meditation. The story in this film is based on Gudjieff's book with the same title, which is the second book of his trilogy: "All and Everything".
During his long career, director Peter Brook has conducted a wide range of theatrical experiments, pushing audiences and performers well beyond their typical experience of theater, in an effort to achieve not a temporary catharsis but a transcendent, transformative event. As the narrator of THE MAHABHARATA says, "If you listen carefully, at the end, you'll be somebody else."
This interest in transformation that has characterized the latter part of Brook's career continues with this adaptation of the autobiography of famed mystic G.I. Gurdjieff, which stars Dragan Maksimovic. Driven by a sense of unwavering dedication to unraveling the meaning of human existence, he journeys throughout the most unattainable areas of the East, encountering an array of Hindu fakirs, Buddhist monks, whirling dervishes, and gurus of every stripe.
In search of enlightenment, he climbs the Himalayas, walks across the desert on stilts, and uncovers evidence of an ancient order, guards of an arcane wisdom. Most fascinating, perhaps, is the form of dance he created as a form of meditation and later taught in the West. A film that may be best appreciated by those already familiar with the work of Gurdjieff, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN features spectacular photography and a highly evocative score, incorporating various indigenous musics.
- you can watch the whole movie on youtube! this is just part 1! get some popcorn!
in love,
ge
from the youtube description:
Filmed in 1979 by Peter Brook. A classic spiritual movie of G.I. Gurdjieff struggles beginning with his childhood until his discovery of The Fourth Way, an ancient spiritual tradition that used sacred movements as meditation. The story in this film is based on Gudjieff's book with the same title, which is the second book of his trilogy: "All and Everything".
During his long career, director Peter Brook has conducted a wide range of theatrical experiments, pushing audiences and performers well beyond their typical experience of theater, in an effort to achieve not a temporary catharsis but a transcendent, transformative event. As the narrator of THE MAHABHARATA says, "If you listen carefully, at the end, you'll be somebody else."
This interest in transformation that has characterized the latter part of Brook's career continues with this adaptation of the autobiography of famed mystic G.I. Gurdjieff, which stars Dragan Maksimovic. Driven by a sense of unwavering dedication to unraveling the meaning of human existence, he journeys throughout the most unattainable areas of the East, encountering an array of Hindu fakirs, Buddhist monks, whirling dervishes, and gurus of every stripe.
In search of enlightenment, he climbs the Himalayas, walks across the desert on stilts, and uncovers evidence of an ancient order, guards of an arcane wisdom. Most fascinating, perhaps, is the form of dance he created as a form of meditation and later taught in the West. A film that may be best appreciated by those already familiar with the work of Gurdjieff, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN features spectacular photography and a highly evocative score, incorporating various indigenous musics.
- you can watch the whole movie on youtube! this is just part 1! get some popcorn!
in love,
ge
Monday, April 6, 2009
A Fantastic Trip
my poppa forwarded this to me. it's such a good reminder of the power of perspective.
i've been bummin out, confused, unsure, and uneasy. this video gave me some peace. it reminded me of several important things worth remembering:
1. we are not in control
2. the universe goes on
3. we are enmeshed in the fabric of existence
4. there's no such thing as being alone
5. you are a miracle, a total f-ing miracle
6. there are worlds upon worlds within your fingernail
hallelujah.
thanks, dad.
in love (and struggle),
ge
i've been bummin out, confused, unsure, and uneasy. this video gave me some peace. it reminded me of several important things worth remembering:
1. we are not in control
2. the universe goes on
3. we are enmeshed in the fabric of existence
4. there's no such thing as being alone
5. you are a miracle, a total f-ing miracle
6. there are worlds upon worlds within your fingernail
hallelujah.
thanks, dad.
in love (and struggle),
ge
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
School of Seven Bells
ok, so every once in a while i go on a mission: find a new favorite band. this quest, taken up at least twice a year, has proven successful time and time again. here is a list of past winners:
the arcade fire
iron & wine
yeasayer
bon iver
thao nguyen
lewis and clarke
lata mangeshkar
the list goes on and on. well, yesterday, the mission struck. a fire was lit in my heart, and i wasn't going to stop searching the internet until i found something worthy of listening to non-stop for the next several months. thankfully, the universe responded in kind with School of Seven Bells. upon first listening to "Half Asleep" on my dinky little headphones in the library, i was rather impressed. i thought, "wow, maybe these guys are really good." later in the nite, i found myself in keith's room, and we began sharing music. it wasn't long until i brought up School of Seven Bells. we proceeded to listen to "Half Asleep" on his most excellent computer speakers at top volume, and all of a sudden, everything made sense: this is it. these guys are it.
so, if you listen to this music once and you go, "eh, kind of repetitive, a little simple, a little trippy," i understand. but do yourself a favor and mellow out using whatever techniques you deem necessary and put on Seven Bells at top volume with good speakers and try to tell me your life didn't just change a little. the two female vocalists are twins....twins i tell you! they found Benjamin Curtis (any relation to JE?) by watching him play on stage. they fell in love with his playing and he fell in love with their singing (who can blame him).
the last song, "iamundernodisguise," is their new single...and it is arguably their best song!!! they are opening for Black Moth Super Rainbow on May 21 in Chicago!!!! we gotta go!!! it's going to be awesome!!! and it's only 12 bucks!!! caitlin, can me and some friends crash at your place?
oh, and read the lyrics. and visit their myspace page for three other incredible tracks called "Prince of Peace," "TranceFigure," and "Chain." they are all incredible:
http://www.myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells
ok. enough jibber jabber.....listen to the music!
in love,
ge
Lyrics to Half Asleep:
Sometimes I go whole days
listening bored, half sleep
I won't say anything
that's worth a thing to me
One day, suddenly, time
took a turn that once felt so brief
I blinked to see polite ghosts fading quickly
What begins as an unguarded
train of thoughts slowly can become
an addiction to the slumber
of disconnection and the resonance
of memory that no longer has a shape
but keeps you numb through
the hours tills gone is another day
Be aware, my darling
these things I say I mean
are just traces of something
I long to feel again
I see our time expand
in the air almost forcibly,
spreading thinner till it dissolves completely
Lyrics to connjur:
How does someone with nothing end
up with so much to show for it
All kinds of people, places, and things
Your cheap doormats and decorations
And to think it was all just a dream
One fantastic hallucination
Keep on polishing your golden
wall of trophies and self portraits
We'll just smile and wait till he knocks off
your designer rose colored glasses
And you'll see what we see - nothing but
old dust, peeled paint, and broken glasses
A simple imprint, imagine
I was the hill we walked
I was the walk that swung from your leg
I was your words that cast in my thoughts
Those who say dream are just dreams
say words end when you can't hear them
Listen closely as they fade
and witness the worlds construction
Lyrics to My Cabal:
My cabal, he sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
My cabal, won't you come inside
Forget the darkness if just for one night
Possibilities
baited with personal inconvenience
Every time he feels
that baited resistance tugging at his sleeve
he struggles to find who
he struggles to see why
He's weary with a weight
so often confused with authority,
but who's?
He sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
I want to know why
paper is so different
And what happens once these
promises incubated hit the air
I want to know why the
air becomes so thick and impenetrable
and why another set of rules apply, why?
My cabal, he sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
My cabal, won't you come inside
Forget the darkness if just for night
Lyrics to iamundernodisguise:
I am neither breather nor speaker
I am neither walker nor sleeper
I am neither sister brother son nor daughter
Solely in my chest is my heart a drum of water
I am under no disguise
the arcade fire
iron & wine
yeasayer
bon iver
thao nguyen
lewis and clarke
lata mangeshkar
the list goes on and on. well, yesterday, the mission struck. a fire was lit in my heart, and i wasn't going to stop searching the internet until i found something worthy of listening to non-stop for the next several months. thankfully, the universe responded in kind with School of Seven Bells. upon first listening to "Half Asleep" on my dinky little headphones in the library, i was rather impressed. i thought, "wow, maybe these guys are really good." later in the nite, i found myself in keith's room, and we began sharing music. it wasn't long until i brought up School of Seven Bells. we proceeded to listen to "Half Asleep" on his most excellent computer speakers at top volume, and all of a sudden, everything made sense: this is it. these guys are it.
so, if you listen to this music once and you go, "eh, kind of repetitive, a little simple, a little trippy," i understand. but do yourself a favor and mellow out using whatever techniques you deem necessary and put on Seven Bells at top volume with good speakers and try to tell me your life didn't just change a little. the two female vocalists are twins....twins i tell you! they found Benjamin Curtis (any relation to JE?) by watching him play on stage. they fell in love with his playing and he fell in love with their singing (who can blame him).
the last song, "iamundernodisguise," is their new single...and it is arguably their best song!!! they are opening for Black Moth Super Rainbow on May 21 in Chicago!!!! we gotta go!!! it's going to be awesome!!! and it's only 12 bucks!!! caitlin, can me and some friends crash at your place?
oh, and read the lyrics. and visit their myspace page for three other incredible tracks called "Prince of Peace," "TranceFigure," and "Chain." they are all incredible:
http://www.myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells
ok. enough jibber jabber.....listen to the music!
in love,
ge
Lyrics to Half Asleep:
Sometimes I go whole days
listening bored, half sleep
I won't say anything
that's worth a thing to me
One day, suddenly, time
took a turn that once felt so brief
I blinked to see polite ghosts fading quickly
What begins as an unguarded
train of thoughts slowly can become
an addiction to the slumber
of disconnection and the resonance
of memory that no longer has a shape
but keeps you numb through
the hours tills gone is another day
Be aware, my darling
these things I say I mean
are just traces of something
I long to feel again
I see our time expand
in the air almost forcibly,
spreading thinner till it dissolves completely
Lyrics to connjur:
How does someone with nothing end
up with so much to show for it
All kinds of people, places, and things
Your cheap doormats and decorations
And to think it was all just a dream
One fantastic hallucination
Keep on polishing your golden
wall of trophies and self portraits
We'll just smile and wait till he knocks off
your designer rose colored glasses
And you'll see what we see - nothing but
old dust, peeled paint, and broken glasses
A simple imprint, imagine
I was the hill we walked
I was the walk that swung from your leg
I was your words that cast in my thoughts
Those who say dream are just dreams
say words end when you can't hear them
Listen closely as they fade
and witness the worlds construction
Lyrics to My Cabal:
My cabal, he sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
My cabal, won't you come inside
Forget the darkness if just for one night
Possibilities
baited with personal inconvenience
Every time he feels
that baited resistance tugging at his sleeve
he struggles to find who
he struggles to see why
He's weary with a weight
so often confused with authority,
but who's?
He sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
I want to know why
paper is so different
And what happens once these
promises incubated hit the air
I want to know why the
air becomes so thick and impenetrable
and why another set of rules apply, why?
My cabal, he sleeps outside
pulling the shadows over the moonlight
My cabal, won't you come inside
Forget the darkness if just for night
Lyrics to iamundernodisguise:
I am neither breather nor speaker
I am neither walker nor sleeper
I am neither sister brother son nor daughter
Solely in my chest is my heart a drum of water
I am under no disguise
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sam Cooke
everything is good about sam cooke. let his voice shake loose your bones...and your heart. these are two of my favorite sam cooke songs of all time. the first one is the best version of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" that i've ever heard. the second one is, "Bring it on Home To Me," and Pete Weiss and I used to sing it in the Union Square Subway station to raise money for Obama. It's a doosy.
there's so much good sam cooke out there, i feel bad just posting two videos but youtube has a surprising shortage of good videos featuring him. bummer.
however, these do the trick.
listen to that voice...nobody sounds like that.
thank you, sam.
in love,
ge
there's so much good sam cooke out there, i feel bad just posting two videos but youtube has a surprising shortage of good videos featuring him. bummer.
however, these do the trick.
listen to that voice...nobody sounds like that.
thank you, sam.
in love,
ge
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Amma III
i just can't stop posting amma videos! what can i say? they're incredible...
this is a segment from one of the many films that describe her life and teachings. the little girl getting bossed around by her parents at the start of the clip is a potrayal of the young Amma, whose parents would often try to force her to abandon her spiritual practices, which she exhibited at a very young age...then on to those wonderful hugs and kisses!
it brings me to tears every time i watch the faces of those she is hugging. i hope that i get one of those physical hugs some time soon...her own face is pure love.
she is pure love. it's true. it's totally true.
she wants to hug you...right now.
in love,
ge
this is a segment from one of the many films that describe her life and teachings. the little girl getting bossed around by her parents at the start of the clip is a potrayal of the young Amma, whose parents would often try to force her to abandon her spiritual practices, which she exhibited at a very young age...then on to those wonderful hugs and kisses!
it brings me to tears every time i watch the faces of those she is hugging. i hope that i get one of those physical hugs some time soon...her own face is pure love.
she is pure love. it's true. it's totally true.
she wants to hug you...right now.
in love,
ge
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Veena - Jayanthi Kumaresh
the veena is one of the most beautiful instruments i have encountered. it is so unique and special, and jayanthi kumaresh plays it so incredibly. i love the playfulness and intensity of this performance. the third video ends with a raging drum solo as well.
i have a restless spirit today, and this music resonates on that level for me.
to read up on veenas, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veena
in love,
ge
i have a restless spirit today, and this music resonates on that level for me.
to read up on veenas, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veena
in love,
ge
Saturday, January 17, 2009
"Iceland" - Eva Sturm
Friday, January 16, 2009
"Beautiful Flower" - India Arie
amazing. i am not, nor have i ever been, a girl. but i do know that there needs to be more songs and images like this one, to counteract all the poison and sadness.
much love to all women who have survived and thrived and come into their power. we love you and we need you.
much love to all women who still struggle and suffer. we love you and we need you.
and much love to those who are both.
in love,
ge
much love to all women who have survived and thrived and come into their power. we love you and we need you.
much love to all women who still struggle and suffer. we love you and we need you.
and much love to those who are both.
in love,
ge
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Lauryn Hill Unplugged
ok, so i should totally be doing my homework instead of posting, but funk it. this is about lauryn hill unplugged. i honestly assumed that i had already posted these videos because of how incredible they are, but to my surprise, this is their first appearance. and, to be frank, this blog would be pretty empty without them.
lauryn hill got a lot of s*** for this performance and the album that accompanied it. it was panned by critics, getting half a star in some cases. in the fall out afterwards, she fell apart, getting mixed up with a somewhat occultist figure, an awkward reunion with the fugees, and a life that did not make sense given the content of this performance. from all accounts, she fell apart.
you might think, well, this discredits these songs. she must not have gotten it in the way that she said she did. "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" and "I Find it Hard to Say [Rebel]" don't make sense if she did not continue down the same path of spiritual awakening that she was clearly on at the time.
and if you do think that, i can't blame you. i have thought it myself from time to time. but i think that it is not the truth. watching these videos, listening to these songs, hearing the album, you KNOW she KNOWS. but she is still suffering and struggling and questioning so much. she got rid of the clothes, the band, the record deal. she confesses on the album that if her voice cracks, it is because she is not trying to be a "perfect singer" anymore. just honest. she had never performed these songs live before, messing up in front of millions. this is unlike any performance by a pop singer in recent memory, maybe ever. and you can tell that for how enlightened she is at this moment, she is still in so much pain....but i mean, what do i know? who knows what was really going on in her mind? all i can say is, crying to the tune, "I know it's possible. Free, Free, Free your mind," is as real as it gets...
this performance stands as a testament to the beauty, love, and transforming power of the divine. what happened afterwards is a testament to how rough this world is and how it can chew you up and spit you out and lead you astray and every other un-godly thing you can think of. can you imagine what it must have felt like to have this album laughed at by critics, an album on which you bared your soul, crying in testimony to god? i can't. it must have been devastating.
all i can say is, thank you, ms. hill. thank you for sharing with us what you discovered about god and yourself. i'm sorry we didn't understand, though many of us hold on to this album as gospel, as true today as it was when you performed it [i am one of them]. i hope you continue on, through whatever it is your going through, and emerge knowing that you are beautiful and divine. hopefully, you never forgot.
in love,
ge
p.s. if you don't have this album, you should probably buy it. one of the major things it got slammed for was all the talking she does in between songs. but you know what i think? i think the talking the best part...prophetic to say the least...
lauryn hill got a lot of s*** for this performance and the album that accompanied it. it was panned by critics, getting half a star in some cases. in the fall out afterwards, she fell apart, getting mixed up with a somewhat occultist figure, an awkward reunion with the fugees, and a life that did not make sense given the content of this performance. from all accounts, she fell apart.
you might think, well, this discredits these songs. she must not have gotten it in the way that she said she did. "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" and "I Find it Hard to Say [Rebel]" don't make sense if she did not continue down the same path of spiritual awakening that she was clearly on at the time.
and if you do think that, i can't blame you. i have thought it myself from time to time. but i think that it is not the truth. watching these videos, listening to these songs, hearing the album, you KNOW she KNOWS. but she is still suffering and struggling and questioning so much. she got rid of the clothes, the band, the record deal. she confesses on the album that if her voice cracks, it is because she is not trying to be a "perfect singer" anymore. just honest. she had never performed these songs live before, messing up in front of millions. this is unlike any performance by a pop singer in recent memory, maybe ever. and you can tell that for how enlightened she is at this moment, she is still in so much pain....but i mean, what do i know? who knows what was really going on in her mind? all i can say is, crying to the tune, "I know it's possible. Free, Free, Free your mind," is as real as it gets...
this performance stands as a testament to the beauty, love, and transforming power of the divine. what happened afterwards is a testament to how rough this world is and how it can chew you up and spit you out and lead you astray and every other un-godly thing you can think of. can you imagine what it must have felt like to have this album laughed at by critics, an album on which you bared your soul, crying in testimony to god? i can't. it must have been devastating.
all i can say is, thank you, ms. hill. thank you for sharing with us what you discovered about god and yourself. i'm sorry we didn't understand, though many of us hold on to this album as gospel, as true today as it was when you performed it [i am one of them]. i hope you continue on, through whatever it is your going through, and emerge knowing that you are beautiful and divine. hopefully, you never forgot.
in love,
ge
p.s. if you don't have this album, you should probably buy it. one of the major things it got slammed for was all the talking she does in between songs. but you know what i think? i think the talking the best part...prophetic to say the least...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
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