Podcast appearances and mentions of Gary Snyder

Jack and Ocean continue their deep conversation, exploring how to create positive change in the world without losing our spiritual center and loving essence. Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“Neither meditation nor activism has to be a grim duty. These are invitations to open the heart and be present for everything. In activism you stand up because you care and you love, and then you bring your best to it.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:Activism and creating positive change in the worldHow to save the world without losing yourselfActing beautifully without attachment to the fruitsHow not not to let the immense suffering of the world get to usWes Nisker, Gary Snyder, and saving the world because you love itActing in this world with peace, love, courage, and nobilityHonoring our emotions, grief, and fears, but not letting them control usBecoming what you want the world to beHis Holiness the Dalai Lama and meeting our lives with honesty and joyFighting for freedom and justice, but having fun doing itMaking activism fun, joyful, and beautifulEmphasizing the positives acts in the worldLife changing wisdom from the BuddhaHolding it all in the great heart of compassionAdding your voice, love, energy, and compassionIf your grief is big, hold it from something biggerThis episode was originally recorded for the Food Revolution Network in November of 2024. Discover Your Buddha Nature with Jack Kornfield, an online journey for reclaiming our dignity, compassion, and generosity, beginning June 2.“It says in the Bhagavad Gita, the essence is to act beautifully without attachment to the fruits of the actions. What it means is, you don't get to determine how it turns out, but you do get to plant your seeds of goodness. And as Thoreau says, ‘Convince me you have a seed there, and I'm prepared to expect miracles.' You get to plant the seeds, and eventually, in their own time, they bear fruit. That's not your job. Your job is to make a beautiful garden, to plant beautiful things, and to tend them.” – Jack KornfieldAbout Ocean Robbins:Ocean Robbins is an American entrepreneur and author, best known for his role as the co-founder of Food Revolution Network, Inc. This California-based company is dedicated to advocating for a whole foods, plant-based diet. Check out Ocean's book, 31-Day Food Revolution, to learn more about healing the body and transforming the world. You can keep up with Ocean on his website, HERE.About Jack Kornfield:Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, studying as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies.Jack is currently offering a wonderful array of transformational online courses diving into crucial topics like Mindfulness Meditation Fundamentals, Walking the Eightfold Path, Opening the Heart of Forgiveness, Living Beautifully, Transforming Your Life Through Powerful Stories, and so much more. Sign up for an All Access Pass to explore Jack's entire course library. If you would like a year's worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community members, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.Stay up to date with Jack and his stream of fresh dharma offerings by visiting JackKornfield.com and signing up for his email teachings.“If we don't look, if we don't acknowledge the children who are hungry, if we don't acknowledge not just Ukraine and Gaza, but Sudan, and the Congo, and Myanmar, and the Rohingas—if we turn our gaze away in denial, we can't make a difference. Our heart has to be big enough and our dignity strong enough that we're willing to see it. And then some of us are called to do that work in the way that we can.” – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pre-order my new book Habits of High Performers today and learn the essential principles to thrive in life and work - www.thehabitbook.com In today's hyper-connected world, distraction has become the norm—and it's costing us clarity, focus, and a sense of purpose. In this powerful episode, author and speaker Greg Bennick joins James to unpack the psychology of attention, the link between self-worth and focus, and how we can reclaim our moments to create a more meaningful life.Greg shares his personal journey with ADHD, why kindness is a radical act, and the seven practical strategies from his book Reclaim the Moment—all designed to help you cut through the noise and take back control.Whether you're constantly pulled in a million directions or simply craving more presence in your day, this conversation is your roadmap back to what matters.

What happens when we trace the unexpected influences between seemingly unrelated poetic traditions? In this exploration of German poetry's impact on American counterculture, we discover the fascinating connections between renowned German-language poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Paul Salon with Cleveland's underground literary icon DA Levy.Levy, a Cleveland poet and publisher active in the 1960s who faced obscenity trials and ultimately committed suicide, created work that resonates with Rilke's mystical poetics in surprising ways. Both poets use angels not as mere symbols but as modes of address to readers – inviting us into a space where beauty and terror coexist, where mortality is acknowledged as the very thing that gives life its meaning.As we examine Rilke's "Requiem for a Friend" alongside his more famous Duino Elegies, we see how his approach to mythology established patterns that would later emerge in Levy's work, despite their vastly different cultural contexts. The conversation expands to include translation theory, with insights from contemporary translators Pierre Joris and Johannes Göransson who understand translation not as equivalence but as transformation – every act of writing being itself a translation of experience into language.We also examine how Levy's Buddhist influences connect him more meaningfully to Gary Snyder than to the Beat poets with whom he's often categorized, revealing the complexity of his literary lineage. From Federico García Lorca's concept of duende to the rich ethnic diversity of Cleveland's literary scene, this discussion illuminates how poetry transcends borders while remaining deeply rooted in specific geographies and experiences.Have you discovered DA Levy yet? His work, much of it being republished through Between the Highway Press, offers a portal into a uniquely American poetic vision that draws from international traditions while speaking directly to readers with urgent, transformative power.Links mentioned in the video: https://periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/01/alexander-hammond-benedict-from.html?m=1https://rilkepoetry.com/duino-elegies/first-duino-elegy/http://homestar.org/bryannan/duino.htmlhttps://herhalfofhistory.com/2023/07/13/requiem-for-paula-modersohn-becker-by-rainer-maria-rilke/https://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2024/10/new-from-aboveground-press-fragments-of.htmlhttps://betweenthehighway.org/Send us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon

This episode was recorded on 3/03/25 as a part of Spirit Rock's Monday Night Dharma Talk Series“You are the imaginal cells. You are the ones who are called to hold the vision of a wise society where people respect each other, where we care for the vulnerable, where we understand the universal teaching, ‘Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.' This is you.'” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Staying centered amidst life's struggles Stopping blame and “right and wrongNavigating Late-Stage Capitalism in the 21st CenturyThe Great Turning as an opportunity to reset our lives as human beingsThe Great Turning as a birth process—messy, painful, dangerous, and beautifulRemembering your fearlessness amidst politics and news media Becoming “imaginal cells” of the butterflyTrusting the constant renewal of life and nature Black Elk, Gary Snyder, and the power of loving the earthMeditation and sitting with heartbreakDissolving guilt, fear, and doomscrollingCarrying your light with nobility, respect, and dignityTrusting the big picture, the vast cosmic viewRemembering who you are and living from itThe possibility of a new underground railroadRecognizing that we are the imaginal cells of the worldLearn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in this online masterclass beginning April 7!“Here we are, 21st century, late-stage capitalism, which has gotten to the place where there's further extremes of rich and poor for exploitation. We're at the time what Joanna Macy calls the Great Turning—the great opportunity really for us to reset our lives as human beings.” – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Read by Terry Casburn Production and Sound Design by Kevin Seaman

We're proud to bring you a very special edition of the show this week as we celebrate the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. Toronto Blue Jays great Jose Bautista headlines this year's class along with former big leaguer Erik Bedard, Junior National Team head coach Greg Hamilton and former Women's National Team great Amanda Asay. The Hall's Veteran's Committee also selected Saskatchewan native and All-American Girls Professional League star Arleene Noga and former Montreal city councillor Gerry Snyder. The ceremony is set for June 7. Hear from Bautista and Hamilton as well as family members of Asay, Noga and Snyder in a conference call held on Feb. 12. 1:16 - Jose Bautista 8:04 - Greg Hamilton 12:18 - Amanda Asay's parents Loris and George 21:09 - Arleene Noga's daughter Carol Lee (Noga) Scott 24:23 - Gerry Snyder's daughter Arlene Kenrick and son Gary Snyder

IPC is a published poet, educator, and visionary. He has shared the stage with some of the most acclaimed poets and writers of our time, including Nikki Giovanni, Sherman Alexie, Patricia Smith, Gary Snyder, Nanao Sakaki, Sonia Sanchez, and Saul Williams. For over two decades, IPC has been inspiring, entertaining, educating, and empowering people of all ages around the world. IPC holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and Cognitive Psychology and a Master of Fine Arts in Education. He specializes in art education, concept creature design, and visual storytelling. He has worked with George Lucas and many other high-tech creative franchises. IPC believes that poetry and the power of poetic storytelling are a solid foundation for all other expressive art forms. He teaches poetry as the foundational basis to any artistic endeavor --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thasmokingsection/support

This week we speak with Scott Chaskey, a farmer, poet, author, and pioneer of the CSA movement. His latest book, Soil and Spirit, explores our connection and kinship with nature through farming and storytelling. In this wide ranging conversation we explore the history of community supported agriculture (CSA) in North America, the spread of CSA's around the world, land trusts and the concepts of “ownership” and “the commons”, and the many ways in which we are deeply connected with all living things.  Soil And Spirit by Scott Chaskey http://milkweed.org/book/soil-and-spirit  PLEASE make sure to subscribe to the podcast, download our episodes, and rate them! Your support means the world to us. Thank you! Timestamps [3:21] Shi-Yan and CSA movement in China [10:38] Origins of CSA in the US Quail Hill Farm [13:13] Land Trust and CSA relationship [18:45] NOT owning the farm concept of “the commons” in Europe [27:40] Learning to garden in England [36:26] The Quail Hill Farm CSA, one of the first in the US [54:15] Scott's book Soil And Spirit Kinship with nature  [1:04:48] Hand tools BCS history Tractors [1:15:09] Current state of the CSA movement [1:26:39] The word “peasant” [1:33:39] Rivers and mountains poetry tradition / Gary Snyder poet [1:37:13] The Tree by John Fowles [1:39:10] Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard The Overstory by Richard Powers [1:46:54] Navajo word Hózhǫ́ [1:49:05] Community questions [1:53:32] In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen Sponsors Tessier https://info.serres-guytessier.com/en/tessier-mgi10 Use promocode MGI10 for 10% off and free shipping on your first purchase for the Eastern North American regions (Ontario, the Maritimes, and the states of Vermont, Maine, New York, and New Hampshire).  New Society Publishing Use code market25 for 25% off all books https://newsociety.com/?utm_source=The%20Market%20Gardener%20Podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=Sponsorship  Market Gardener Institute www.themarketgardener.com/introduction  Limited time offer of $99 USD on our online course Introduction To Organic Farming. Links/Resources Market Gardener Institute:  https://themarketgardener.com/  Masterclass:  https://themarketgardener.com/courses/the-market-gardener-masterclass/  Newsletter:  https://themarketgardener.com/newsletter Blog:  https://themarketgardener.com/blog  Books: https://themarketgardener.com/books Growers & Co: https://growers.co/ Heirloom: https://heirloom.ag/ The Old Mill: https://www.espaceoldmill.com/en/ Follow Us Website: http://themarketgardener.com  Facebook: http://facebook.com/marketgardenerinstitute  Instagram: http://instagram.com/themarketgardeners  Guest Social Media Links Scott Chaskey: Website: https://www.scottchaskey.com/  IG: https://www.instagram.com/scottchaskey JM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanmartinfortier Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanmartinfortier 

Susan Ross is an illustrator and artist who worked on Be Here Now. In this podcast she takes us from her native Ohio to Smith College to Woodstock to New Mexico, to Shunryu Suzuki's funeral with Gary Snyder and David Padwa, to Colorado studying with Trungpa Rinpoche. She's in Mexico now still being an artist, practicing Tibetan Buddhism, and working on turtle rescue. Here website is susanrosscreative.com.

Buddha was a revolutionary and he left us with a map of how to effectively live our lives with skillful means. He gave us wise words for effective living through the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, and the Thirteen Precepts. Here Coyote expands on the concept of "life is suffering" to mean life's afflictions cannot be avoided. Stuff happens. Peter Coyote is a master of many crafts, including being an award-winning actor, improv teacher, author, director, screenwriter, and narrator who has worked with some of the world's most distinguished filmmakers, including Ken Burns. He's won several Emmys for his narration and was ordained as a Zen priest in 2011. In 2015, he received transmission from his teacher making him an independent Zen teacher. His books includeThe Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education (Counterpoint 1998/2015), Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle (Counterpoint 2015), Tongue of a Crow: A Book of Poetry (Four Way Books 2021), The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation & Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States (Inner Traditions 2021), Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is (Inner Traditions 2024)Interview Date: 5/3/2024 Tags: Peter Coyote, Gary Snyder, San Francisco Zen Center, David Brazier, David Harris, eight-fold path, 8-fold path, Zen Mates Fuketsu, James Carse, injustice, slavery , Buddhism, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Volunteering is a great reminder that many of the most important things in life don't involve money changing hands.Thanks to Bennett Berardi for this week's hidden lore poem. Bennett is an arborist and honorary goblin moonlighting as a gardener-poet in Nevada County, California. He draws inspiration from forests, fields, and fairy realms as well as the works of Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and the vibrant community of contemporary haiku and eco poets around the world. You can find a trove of photographic baubles, poetic odds and ends, and the word of the day on his Instagram @poem.sowerThanks to Angela M Cowan for writing today's Field Report. Angela is a writer, editor and hedge witch living on a small island off the West Coast of Canada. She loves strange fiction and fairy tales, and can often be found spending too much time listening to mosses and small stones. Her flash fiction has been published in Idle Ink, and poetry is forthcoming in Clarion Magazine. Follow her Substack newsletter Inksmithing for monthly-ish writing exercises, creative inspiration, occasional fiction and general witchery. When she's not wandering the woods, you can find her at www.angelamcowan.com.Thanks to Amanda Milstein for voicing Dr. Minerva Pond. Learn more about Amanda's work at www.AmandaMilstein.com.

Candidate for Arizona State Representative, Gary Snyder talks about his experience in the farming industry. He discusses how he promotes and implements water conservation and soil management best practices into his farming activities. Gary also describes the need for a higher appreciation of water and new technologies to help farmers and the public use water more efficiently. Gary also provides his vision for the future of water in Arizona, and how his ideas and water management knowledge play a significant role in his bid for Arizona State legislation. Podcast Recorded on June 27, 2024

It would feel wrong to place labels on Jane Hirshfield. Language would fail to reach there, ironic for someone who has devoted their life to the practice of poetry and the practice of Zen Buddhism. Jane is a modern master, change-maker, and wise and winsome voice. Origins Podcast WebsiteFlourishing Commons NewsletterShow Notes:The Ritual Process by Victor Turner (09:30)nonattachment (14:00)Poem: "My Skeleton" (21:30)Poem: "For What Binds Us" (28:20, read 33:00)Poets for Science (29:10; 56:30)Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (31:00)Poem: "Let Them Not Say" (32:10)Gary Snyder (32:00)Palimpsest (36:20)Poem: "My Hunger" (42:20)Poem: "I Sat in the Sun" (45:30)Man's Search for Meaningby Victor Frankl (48:00)Neti Neti (49:00)Poem: "Possibility: An Assay" (50:30)Stuart Kauffman's theory of adjacent possible (55:30)The 'assay' form of poetry (56:30)Poets for Science in New York Times (57:00)Poem: "On the Fifth Day" (58:40)March for Science (59:00)Wick Poetry Center and David Hassler on Origins (01:01:00)Nobel Science Summit (01:01:00)Videos of poets in poets for science mentioned (01:02:00)Brian Eno (01:06:30)Lightning Round (01:06:00):book: The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf passion: being an embodied person outside of words; natural horsemanshipheart sing: conversationsscrewed up: Poem: "My Failure"Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri (01:12:00)Find Jane online:The Asking: New & Selected Poems Logo artwork by Cristina GonzalezMusic by swelo on all streaming platforms or @swelomusic on social media

In this episode of Quintessential Listening Poetry Online Radio and YouTube, Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram interviews poet Noreen Snyder. Originally from Columbia City, Indiana, Noreen Snyder is a published author of five poetry books and the founder of The Poetry Club on Facebook. Noreen shares her poetic journey, discussing her themes of love, nature, and life, and emphasizes the importance of writing from the heart. She also talks about maintaining the legacy of her late husband, Gary Snyder, and the support and encouragement he provided during their marriage. During the interview, Noreen reads several of her poems, explores her inspirations, and reflects on the impact of her work on others. They discuss the emotional and healing power of poetry, the role of poets in society, and her upcoming book on grieving. For additional information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231722306137424&set=gm.7829825670369725&idorvanity=2574804195871925

This week's episode features the Earth poet, author, artist, and herbalist, Jesse “Wolf” Hardin. Thomas and Wolf sit down and share a fun-loving, spiritually charged conversation, filled with wise words and many laughs. Truly a master of all trades, Wolf is the Co-Founder of Plant Healer Magazine and the annual international Good Medicine Confluence and carries his wild-natured spirit through every realm of his work and writings. The international Good Medicine Confluence was founded by Wolf and his wife Kiva Rose in 2008, and has since been an annual celebration bringing together an impassioned group of plant healers, culture-shifters, visionaries, and all who fall between for an empowering and transformative journey like none other. Be sure to check out the links included below to learn more about The Good Medicine Confluence and see how you can experience this unique gathering with your own eyes, mind, body, and spirit. As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure, and we'll see you next week to embark on our next journey through the ever-expanding world of herbalism.

Highlights this week. Interviews may be abbreviated. For the date and hour podcast to hear more, see the note 0:00 Lora Ries, Heritage Foundation, on the border security crisis (Jan 29, Hr 3) 13:21 Dr. JoAnn di Filippo, on Pima County Government, excerpt of her weekly update (Jan 29, Hr 2) 27:01 Pima County Supervisor Steve Christy

Pat Hirsch wtih an update on her fundraising efforts for TRAK Ranch. Bob Branch and Gary Snyder, running for the State Legislature in LD 25.

Planet Poet-Words in Space – NEW PODCAST!  LISTEN to my WIOX show (originally aired December 19th, 2023) featuring award-winning poet and activist MARY GILLILAND, who discusses and reads from her latest poetry collection The Devil's Fools and from her forthcoming collection Ember Days. Pamela Manché Pearce, Planet Poet's erudite and entertaining Poet-at-Large, also joins us on the show.  Visit: Sharonisraelpoet.com. Visit: marygilliland.com. Mary Gilliland is the author of two award-winning poetry collections: The Ruined Walled Castle Garden (2020) and The Devil's Fools (2022). Her latest collection Ember Days is forthcoming from Codhill Press in 2024. Mary's poems are widely published in print and online literary journals and most recently anthologized in Wild Gods: The Ecstatic in Contemporary Poetry and Prose, and Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms In Our Hands. After college she apprenticed to Gary Snyder in the Sierra foothills where she studied Buddhism and helped to build a wood- framed public school. Mary retired early from teaching at Cornell in order to devote herself to poetry.  “Mary Gilliland's magisterial new collection, The Devil's Fools, opens in myth and magic, but its vast reach is deeply rooted in her reverence for earth and all earthly creations…. At once eco-sensual and erudite, Gilliland writes a nuanced poetry that richly investigates humanity's contradictory capacities to destroy and to love…. From first to last, I am spellbound by the largesse of vision and the beauty of this wondrous collection.” -- Cynthia Hogue “Mary Gilliland brings to her work the rich flavors of the natural world, yet her destination is clearly news of the inner self, its perceptions, its relationships with others.  She is not afraid of delight, neither does she shirk the hard tasks of anger, pain, and deep caring.” —Mary Oliver

How can we practice with Earth? How can we think with Earth? Can we allow our thinking and our practice of life to become undomesticated, wild, and indigenous again? In this dialogue, Tetsuzen Jason Wirth, philosopher in the academy and Zen priest, joins us to discuss Dogen, Gary Snyder, and the possibilities for a practice of the wild that can heal self and world in mutuality.

Thomas and Panu took stock of their feelings about the world as 2023 came to a close, and invited listeners to do the same. Thomas reflected on two quotes that are important to him and changing ways he has interpreted their meaning over the years: “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few” (Shunryu Suzuki); and “Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there” (Gary Snyder). Panu described a ritual he participated in for the International Remembrance Day for Lost Species, celebrated on November 30. He and Thomas contemplated the importance of rituals, ceremonies and the arts including the recent Future Landscapes project.  The idea of taking stock at the end of the year is echoed in the recent COP 28 meeting and 1st Global Stocktake—a process for countries to see how they're collectively making progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. We know global warming will not be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius / 2.7 Fahrenheit. We need to adapt to a hotter world, take care of the most vulnerable, and keep working to cool the planet down by all means necessary.  

Roxi Power talks with Brenda Hillman, winner this month of the Northern California Book Reviewers' Fred Cody Award  for Lifetime Achievement, about her 11th book of poetry with Wesleyan University Press, In a Few Minutes Before Later.   We discuss her new trans-genre tetralogy about time: how to find calm during the Anthropocene by being in time in multiple ways: sinking into the micro-minutes; performing micro-activism; and celebrating the microbiome. We explore her influences–from Blake to Bergson, Clare to Baudelaire, as well as the less celebrated moss, owls, and wood rats that appear frequently in her eco-poetry.  Alive with humor, witness, creative design and punctuation–what Forrest Gander calls “typographical expressionism”--Hillman's poetry teaches us how to abide in crisis from Covid to California fires, living in paradox as a way to transcend despair. Brenda Hillman shares the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award with with Isabel Allende, Daniel Ellsberg, Michael Pollan, Ishmael Reed, Gary Snyder, Robert Duncan, Alice Walker and others. Winner of the William Carlos Williams Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the International Griffin Poetry Prize (for Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire, 2013), the Northern California Book Award (for Extra Hidden Life, among the Days, 2018) and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Academy of American Poets, Brenda Hillman was born in Tucson, Arizona and has been an active part of the Bay Area literary community since 1975.   She has edited an edition of Emily Dickinson's poems for Shambhala Press, and co-edited and co-translated several books.  She is director of the Poetry Program at the Community of Writers in Olympic Valley and is on the regular poetry staff ad Napa Valley Writers Conference. Hillman just retired from teaching in the MFA Program at St. Mary's College in Moraga, CA.  She has worked as an activist for social and environmental justice. She is a mother, grandmother, and is married to poet, Robert Hass.  Photograph by Robert Hass.

Are aesthetics a kind of philosophy? What is the most important photo of all time? Kris's birthday celebration, shoutout to Jay Springett, starting the day off right, The Miracle Morning, Gus encounters a passed-out junkie, Pat Murphy's Points of Departure, (JDO incorrectly states that Tea with the Black Dragon won the 1984 PKD award; it was actually The Anubis Gates; TWTBD was the runner-up), Thomas Merton, Gary Snyder's The Real Work, calamities that lead to epiphany, (the book JDO is trying to remember is Honest to God by John Robinson), Ralph Eugene Meatyard, every photograph is a self-portrait, D.H. Lawrence's paintings, the Slim Jims' Music for Tall Men Only, inclusive vs. inviting, forced limitation, “deny the veil, enjoy the view,” the Devouring Television, media creating reality, worshipping a Felix the Cat doll, the introduction of widescreen, the irreality of VHS, the return of the Third Man, what is contained in a photograph?, the most important photo of all time, repetition of imagery, the first-world sinister hug, shot-up jukeboxes in quicksand, MK Ultra Imaginative Challenge, the whim of nature, getting down in the baked beans and cream corn, pornographic thought experiment, James Dickey, the magic of guilt, and a Ben Affleck and Matt Damon dream.

Hello to you listening in Danvers, Massachusetts!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday and your host, Diane Wyzga.  These past 9 months or so have felt like the dark night of the soul, over and over and over again. Think the movie Groundhog Day. If this is a crisis of faith, I would say, how do I find the way out? Where is the trail? But, what if there's another way? As in this poem by Gary Snyder:  The Trail Is Not a Trail“I drove down the FreewayAnd turned off at an exitAnd went along a highwayTil it came to a side-roadDrove up the side-roadTil it turned to a dirt roadFull of bumps, and stopped.Walked up a trailBut the trail got roughAnd it faded away—Out in the open,Everywhere to go.”  ["The Trail Is Not a Trail" by Gary Snyder, from Left Out in the Rain. © North Point Press, 1986.] You're invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out What I Offer,✓ Arrange your free Story Starter Session,✓ Opt In to my monthly Newsletter for bonus gift, valuable tips & techniques to enhance your story work, and✓ Stay current with Diane and on LinkedIn.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present: for credit & attribution Quarter Moon Story Arts

Jesse Wolf Hardin joins us for a very special podcast episode with Thomas Dick, to discuss the importance of in-person herbal events. The timing couldn't be more perfect as many herbal events are taking place throughout the country. Wolf poetically describes the tradition and range of herbal events as well as how to choose which herbal event is best for you. Perhaps most touching, Wolf reminds us that herbal events are a space of holding community, sharing knowledge, forming support systems, and building your plant loving family. Whether you're new to herbal events or a seasoned veteran, be prepared to be inspired by the potential of attending an in-person herbal event this year. Learn more about the Good Medicine Confluence taking place in Lake George, Colorado, July 18th-22nd, 2023 Herbal Event Resources: Events as the Backbone of the Herbal Community by Kiva Rose 2023 Herbal Events Calendar   Jesse Wolf Hardin is an impactful author, ecosopher, ecological and societal activist, personal counsel, graphic artist, musician, and historian – a champion of both human and bio diversity, as well as of nature's medicines. Wolf was a leading organizer of and presenter for Earth First!, becoming a featured presenter at hundreds of conferences and universities, and was the creator of cross cultural ecospiritual collaborations appropriately called “Medicine Shows” that melded his powerful spoken word with live music, indigenous presenters, and focused activism. With his wife Kiva Rose, he founded the international Good Medicine Confluence gathering in 2008, along with the in-depth digital magazine for herbalists, healers and folklorists Plant Healer Quarterly.  He is the author of over 800 published articles in over 200 different publications, as well as of over 25 books, his work earning the praises of luminaries such as Gary Snyder, Joanna Macy, Ralph Metzner, Starhawk, and Rosemary Gladstar. He has been featured in The Encyclopedia of Nature & Religion (Continuum 2005) and many other compilations. His published works include early titles Full Circle , Kindred Spirit and Gaia Eros, along with The Practice of Herbalism and http://www.planthealer.org/bookstore.html covering the core whys and hows of an herbal practice, The Healing Terrain on sense of place, cultivation, and the healing power of nature... as well as an inspiring historical novel  The Medicine Bear, a book of herbs and empowerment for kids I'm a Medicine Woman Too! (Hops Press 2009), and The Traveling Medicine Show: Pitchmen & Plant Healers of Early America. His inspiring book The Enchanted Healer also comes in a version for an audience beyond herbalists titled Wonderments, with both being focused on heightened awareness, the senses, plant spirit and the spiritual heart of healing.  His most recent creation is the Hedge Guild Oracle deck and book, iconic art and text bringing clarity to our self exploration and daily options and choices.  The Oracle and most of his Ebooks and softbound books are available through PlantHealerBookstore.com.  Wolf's work is also featured in the lauded Plant Healer Quarterly as well as the free Herbaria Monthly which you can subscribe to on the Plant Healer website.  As Terry Tempest Williams opined, “Wolf's voice inspires our passion to take us further —seeing the world whole — even holy.” Visit Wolf at PlantHealer.org Register for the virtual Fall Free Herbalism Project here: https://info.mountainroseherbs.com/free-herbalism-project   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

by Gary Snyder in Left Out in the Rain, VII Tiny Energies

ADZG 1091 ADZG Monday Night Dharma Talk by Gyoshin Laurel Ross

Or some such wild ass nonsense. Talking about Dharma Bums, Gary Snyder, Aaron Rodgers and how they're all connected.

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I grew up with Alexandra David-Neel's books on my mum's bookshelf. She was part of the myth making process that led to my own fascination with Tibet, as something real, and as fantasy, a description that is often used to define Neel's relationship and presentation of Tibet. She was either a key that helped open the door into the world of Tibet with its Lamas, Vajrayana Buddhism, and enormous mountains and planes, or another in the long line of westerners who turned Tibet into a romantic, western fantasy. In this episode, I talk to Diane Harke, author of Incognito: The Astounding Life of Alexandra David-Neel (Sumeru Press, 2016). We look back at David-Neel, her life, and Tibet. She was also a life-long anarchist, feminist, explorer, and prolific author. We discuss her encounters with the 13th Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama and her legacy in creating an image of Tibet and Buddhism that enticed the likes of Alan Watts and Gary Snyder to venture Eastwards. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/french-studies

This month Mary speaks with Scott Bosse, Regional Director of the Northern Rockies Office of American Rivers, a non profit devoted to clean water and healthy rivers. Since they were recording for the month of February, Scott and Mary took the opportunity to talk about the quality of Love that is at the core of relationship with the natural world. First and foremost, Scott is a champion of wild nature. He's a hunter, angler and gatherer of other wild foods. He is a conservation scientist who currently advocates for rivers and their ecosystems in ways that influence policy and legislation at the federal and state levels. Mary and Scott talk of the love in each of these aspects of his connection with nature. Love also shows up in the way Scott works with local citizens, sports people, businesses and conservation organizations to build support for river protection efforts in eastern Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. In every interaction, Scott brings his devotion to and passion for the wellbeing of all beings, including the people with whom he works. Listen for how Scott anchors his way of knowing in a clear, present and reciprocal love of the natural world. There are clues here for all of us.You can find out more about Scott and American Rivers at www.americanrivers.org .Here are a few of Scott's essays:American Rivers Update from the Field https://www.americanrivers.org/2021/12/update-from-the-field-montana-dam-malfunction-impacts-madison-river/ Smith River Copper Mine https://www.americanrivers.org/2019/07/whats-next-for-the-proposed-smith-river-copper-mine/ And check out Gary Snyder's beautiful writing - especially Turtle Island (1974), the inspiring collection of poems and essays Scott mentioned at the close of the podcast.

A musing on the present moment of awareness that holds everything. 

Beginning with a quote from Gary Snyder, Michael teaches about non-reactivity, letting go of clinging and how awareness is revealed through practice. Recorded on October 6, 2009.

We are thrilled to continue our latest Future of Women Podcast series! In this four-part series, our host Momoko Nakamura takes us around the world to speak with brilliant and creative Japanese women. Today, on our fourth and final episode in the series, Momoko speaks with Yumiko Sakuma about inspiring people to be vocal, active participants in political change. This episode was recorded on November 15, 2021. Yumiko Sakuma writes about contemporary culture, art, fashion, music, and socio-political issues. Based in New York City, she is a regular contributor of reportage, interviews, and travel writing to numerous Japanese and English publications. Among the many visionaries she has interviewed are Al Gore, Robert Frank, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Yayoi Kusama, Ryan McGinley, Genna Rowlands, Gary Snyder, and Les Paul. Her books include Hip na Seikatsu Kakumei, 2014 (Hip Revolution), reporting on the American consumer shift following the 2008 financial crisis; Pin Heel wa Hakanai, 2016 (Take Off Your Heels), a collection of essays about the inspiring women in her life; My Little New York Times, 2018, 365 journal entries about splitting her time between America and Asia during the Trump regime; and Majime ni Marijuana no Hanashi wo Shiyo, 2019 (Let's Have a Serious Talk About Marijuana), an analysis of why the world is moving toward the legalization of marijuana. She also hosts a podcast in Japanese, Konnichiwa Mirai (Hello Future) with Kei Wakabayashi, former editor-in-chief of Wired Japan. Her work has been published in Japan, the US, Korea, and Taiwan. Momoko Nakamura is a cultural conservationist and storyteller, sharing the Japanese art of regenerative living with the world. She roves the Japanese countryside, exploring wisdoms imparted by professionals across the archipelago like ceramists, geologists, farmers, repairers, fermenters, and grandmas. Her community education and experiential programs are intended to help us apply teachings rooted in ancestral heritage into our everyday lives. Momoko hosts the podcast Roots to Fruit, is author of Plant-based Tokyo, and can also be found in the Netflix original series Waffles + Mochi.

We're beginning our 6th year of Turning Towards Life today, and in recognition of this we're having a conversation about 'Soulful Repetition' - those practices we can take up in life that return us to ourselves, and to one another, and to meaning and belonging. How do we take up new practices that can help us remember who we are, where we belong, and what is sacred... and which respond to the depth and love in us in a wider world that keeps telling us that 'self-improvement' and individualism are the most valued prizes? Hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace. Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google, Amazon Music and Spotify. Here's our source for this week: Soul Repetition Repetition is a form of sustained attention, returning us repeatedly to a place, a person, or a practice, that engenders depth and familiarity. It is in the very essence of repetition that we come to know something more intimately, whether a partner, a friend, or our own interior worlds. Any movement toward depth requires repeated contact. Gary Snyder, Zen poet and nature philosopher, wrote that “Getting intimate with nature and our own wild natures is a matter of going face to face many times.” … Repetition is a form of courtship. … Under the fevered pitch of individualism and the heroic ego, the original practices that wove the individual and the community together, have been largely forgotten. Consequently, the ritual of life is reduced into the routine of existence. That is repetition without soul. That is the drone of addiction. That is repetition that deadens. … We live in an ongoing tension between forgetting and remembering. Nearly all enduring cultures developed practices designed to help us remember three central things: who we are, where we belong, and what is sacred. Prayer, meditation, and ritual, are, at root, designed to help us stay awake. These practices serve to sustain the ground of remembrance, which is, in turn, a form of permanence. … Soulful repetition is not boring or bland. It is musical, rhythmic, and enduring. We require touchstones of return to stay connected to what matters to soul and culture. Ultimately, repetition is a gesture of affection, of fidelity. We return again and again to tend what it is we love and by so doing, we keep it alive and vital. Francis Weller https://www.francisweller.net/writings.html Photo by Thor Alvis on Unsplash

I have been waiting years to have this conversation with author, poet, and fly-fishing guide Chris Dombrowski. There is a kinship I feel with Chris's lens on life. He is a top-shelf writer to boot. The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water comes out October 11th, 2022. I have read it and pre-ordered multiple copies for friends and family. If you are a longtime listener, you know I do not ever do a hard sell. Buy this book for yourself. And another for any friend who seeks to live a mindful and creative life in the throes of responsibility to family, self, community, and a little plot of land on the planet. Published by the fine folks at Milkweed Editions, they will ship The River You Touch for free when your order from milkweed.org before October 11th, 2022. Alright, I am getting off my soapbox.  Chris Dombrowski is a poet, author, teacher, and fly-fishing guide. His nonfiction debut, Body of Water: A Sage, A Seeker, and the World's Most Alluring Fish (Milkweed Editions, 2016), was hailed in The New York Times Book Review and drew comparisons to Gary Snyder and John McPhee in the Wall Street Journal; and Orion magazine called it “a spiritual memoir in the tradition of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek". I loved Body of Water and I think Dombrowski's latest book, The River You Touch is even better. It runs its hands through the currents of place, vocation, creativity, and community. In our conversation Chris and I talk about parenting, the calling of a place, poetry of children, accepting the complex humanity of mentors, and the intricacies of sparkling water.  Buy this book. You will reread it and gift it to those who understand that "in a life properly lived, you are a river"*.  Visit Chris's website at cdombrowski.com to keep tabs on his work in the world Follow Chris on social media: @dombrowski_chris Visit Contemplify.com

In 2020, we received ground reports and video from San Luis, AZ resident Gary Snyder that led to the development of the hypothesis and geospatial analysis that led to 2000 mules.Clean Elections USA founder, Melody Jennings, joins us to discuss the group's plans for getting the eyes of 1,500 patriots on the privately funded ballot drop box scams throughout the country during 2022 and beyond.Support the show

Welcome to this week's conversational interview with Earth poet, author, artist, and herbalist, Jesse Wolf Hardin. Thomas and Wolf reminisce on Wolf's activist past, his work as an author, his advice for newcomers wanting to learn about plants, the beauty and excitement of herbalism, and much more. We hope you enjoy this truly special and inspiring talk. Jesse Wolf Hardin is an impactful author, ecosopher, ecological and societal activist, personal counsel, graphic artist, musician, and historian – a champion of both human and bio diversity, as well as of nature's medicines. Wolf was a leading organizer of and presenter for Earth First!, becoming a featured presenter at hundreds of conferences and universities, and was the creator of cross cultural ecospiritual collaborations appropriately called “Medicine Shows” that melded his powerful spoken word with live music, indigenous presenters, and focused activism. With his wife Kiva Rose, he founded the international Good Medicine Confluence gathering in 2008, along with the in-depth digital magazine for herbalists, healers and folklorists Plant Healer Quarterly.  He is the author of over 800 published articles in over 200 different publications, as well as of over 25 books, his work earning the praises of luminaries such as Gary Snyder, Joanna Macy, Ralph Metzner, Starhawk, and Rosemary Gladstar. He has been featured in The Encyclopedia of Nature & Religion (Continuum 2005) and many other compilations. His published works include early titles Full Circle , Kindred Spirit and Gaia Eros, along with The Practice of Herbalism and http://www.planthealer.org/bookstore.html covering the core whys and hows of an herbal practice, The Healing Terrain on sense of place, cultivation, and the healing power of nature... as well as an inspiring historical novel  The Medicine Bear, a book of herbs and empowerment for kids I'm a Medicine Woman Too! (Hops Press 2009), and The Traveling Medicine Show: Pitchmen & Plant Healers of Early America. His inspiring book The Enchanted Healer also comes in a version for an audience beyond herbalists titled Wonderments, with both being focused on heightened awareness, the senses, plant spirit and the spiritual heart of healing.  His most recent creation is the Hedge Guild Oracle deck and book, iconic art and text bringing clarity to our self exploration and daily options and choices.  The Oracle and most of his Ebooks and softbound books are available through PlantHealerBookstore.com.  Wolf's work is also featured in the lauded Plant Healer Quarterly as well as the free Herbaria Monthly which you can subscribe to on the Plant Healer website.  As Terry Tempest Williams opined, “Wolf's voice inspires our passion to take us further —seeing the world whole — even holy.” Visit Wolf at PlantHealer.org  Register for the virtual Fall Free Herbalism Project here: https://info.mountainroseherbs.com/free-herbalism-project Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com  

This week, Dennis Zhou joins us to illuminate the activism, anarchism and agility of the poet Gary Snyder; and Hannah Skoda reports from the Globe on a bold reinterpretation of the life of Joan of Arc.'Collected Poems' by Gary Snyder, edited by Jack Shoemaker and Anthony Hunt'I, Joan' by Charlie JosephineProduced by Charlotte Pardy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan reflects on his journey from photography to English Professor using Gary Snyder’s essay “Etiquette of Freedom” to understand the empowering forces of wildness, wilderness, and being wild. He talks about his relationship with photography, how flash photography is like open class discussions, academia being a constant cycle of proving yourself, what it means toContinue reading "91. Solo Remix: Becoming an English Professor w/ Dan Dissinger"

The poems of Todd Davis sharpen a reader's spirit and focus, on the bloodstained teeth breaking apart the day-to-day doldrums and on the mythic imagination necessary to bear witness to this daunting moment in our species, on our planet.  Todd Davis and I spoke back in 2019 about his book Native Species and he has read his poems in the last two years on the Contemplify Backporch Advent Outpost series. Today we focus on Todd's latest book of poems, Coffin Honey. We step into the rich imagery of characters, landscape, and emotion vibrating off the pages of his work. We also do not shy away from the thick smoke of trauma, poetry as a survival skill, the cost of risking participation in crafting such poems, and much more.  **Before we get started, I want to note that in this episode with Todd Davis we converse about sexual assault and self mutilation, in both personal and mythic stories. If that sounds like a conversation you are not comfortable listening to, we sure understand. Take care of yourself.** Visit Todd's website at todddavispoet.com to slip through the doors of his poetry. Visit contemplify.com

(My audio starts shaky, but gets better after 8 minutes) Bill Porter, aka Red Pine, calls the hermit life, "graduate school for the spiritually inclined." Bill Porter is a translator of Buddhist and Taoist mountain poets that uncross your third eye and waft the scent of a  fine scotch.  What can I say about Bill Porter that he won't say better about himself? I first stumbled on his book Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits while on retreat. His adventures and chitchats with hermits beckoned me to discover more about this hermit tradition and the man captivated by trekking into the mountains in search of monks living off the map. Bill is credited with an uptick of interest in the hermit life in China. Stateside Bill Porter is best known under his translator name of Red Pine, translating the work of Cold Mountain, Stonehouse, Lao Tzu and others over at the granddaddy of beautiful publishing Copper Canyon. We talk about this and more.  To visit Bill Porter, well if you bump into him in his hometown. To find his work online go his publisher Copper Canyon at coppercanyonpress.org.

Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, & Allen Cohen join Alan Watts on his houseboat to discuss change, the evolution of society, and the practicality of 'dropping out.'Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alanIn this episode of Being in the Way, Mark Watts introduces a truly legendary discussion featuring his father Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Allen Cohen. Beaming in from the summer of 1967 on Alan's infamous houseboat in Sausalito, CA, this stacked lineup of free-thinkers, beatniks, poets, environmentalists, psychedelicists, and spiritualists dive into heady and practical conversation around "dropping out" into a freer, more natural, tribe-focused society."What we need to realize is there can be a movement, a stirring among people, which can be organically designed instead of politically designed." – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“I am a poet who has preferred not to distinguish in poetry between nature and humanity.” –Gary Snyder, born on this day in 1930.

In July 2016, Jack Loeffler recorded Gary Snyder reading his updated version of 'Four Changes' in his home. This recorded version was prepared for and included in a major exhibition held at the History Museum of New Mexico at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. The exhibition was entitled 'Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest', and Snyder's rendering of 'Four Changes' aptly conveyed how deeply the counterculture movement helped nurture the emerging environmental movement. The impact of this manifesto is as powerful today as it was a half century ago and could not be more timely. Four Changes at Age 50: A Celebration on the Environmental Movement's First Manifesto of Contemplative Ecology Introduction by Diana Hadley, Jack Loeffler, Gary Paul Nabhan and Jack Shoemaker In the months before the first Earth Day in April 1970, mention of a prophetic manifesto seemed to crop up in nearly every serious discussion of what the nascent environmental movement should be and what values it should embody. That manifesto was conceived and shaped in the summer 1969, as poet Gary Snyder toured a number of college campuses around the United States and then entered into deeper discussions with a number of other poets, visionaries and activists in the San Francisco Bay area. Affectionately called “Chofu” by other radical environmentalists during that time, Snyder gradually refined their collective vision into a ten page draft document that became what we now know as Four Changes. Several features of this manifesto were then, and still are, unique in the canon of writings considered foundational to the environmental movement. Snyder's literary gifts shine through the manifesto with prescient, poetic and playfully comic qualities to them. The tone seemed as fresh and as “out of the box” as Leaves of Grass must have sounded when Whitman first sowed it onto the American earth a century earlier. The manifesto called for a radical shift in our relationship with the planet through changing the way we perceive population, pollution, consumption, and the transformation of our society and ourselves. In this manner, it foreshadowed later expressions of ecological thought that we now call contemplative ecology and deep ecology.  While it was in many ways anchored in Buddhist teachings, it was also precise in its understanding of modern ecological science and respectful of the place-based wisdom of the traditional ecological knowledge of the many indigenous cultures of the world. It did not privilege Western science over other ways of making sense of the environment, but welcomed dialogue and integration of many distinctive expressions.  Four Changes was also rooted in a mature understanding of the political ecology of power dynamics and disparities in access to resources that were ravaging our planet, its biological and cultural diversity. Parts of it were so pertinent to these issues that it was read into the Congressional Record on April 5th, 1970--- two and a half weeks before Earth Day flags were unfurled all around the world. In that sense, it was perhaps the first robust articulation of what we now call a yearning for environmental justice. Still, the tone was hopeful—that humankind could learn to respect, learn from and embrace the other-than-human-world. As Snyder later paraphrased one of the tenets of Four Changes, “Revolutionary consciousness is to be found among the most ruthlessly exploited classes: animals, trees, water, air, grasses.”  It is time to heed the call of the prophetic Four Changes.