Jan 25, 2010

aligning with the nature





it's been snowing heavily and lightly, just non stop in where I live ... that many trees can't hold the weigh of snow on them and collapse on houses and on the power lines which cause us no power at home.


our appliances rely on the electricity. our place had no power for three days due to neighbors trees fell on power lines, ... dark & cold, no computer, no phones, no heater & no shower ... at some point even no water ... we suddenly exposed to the nature, as if naked & unprotected who don't know the nature although the nature has been there all the time.


I grew up in a beach town in Japan that I didn't experience much snow. when I lived in NYC, yes, they have tons of snow through winter yet in the big city ... just once in a while I experienced the power was out but not that long. this is my fourth winter since I moved in Mount Shasta, California, and it is my first experience of having no power at home for the whole three days ... though I stayed at my friends' office & home for two nights who had power back on ... it's been quite a journey ... as if chasing the electricity ...


I heard people were saying they were kind of expecting this tree falling on the power lines that would cause no power sometimes as we heard the snow storm would be hitting us. yes, the events were occurred as expected ... but I began to wonder ... how many years or even decades people have been experiencing this winter events by heavy snow ... and how many winters people have been fixing the same problem with the same old idea ... cutting the branches & trees to prevent them to fall on the power lines ... to save the power lines so to cut trees. ...... every winter we expect this to happen anytime, and taking care of the same routine, dealing with the same issue every time this event happens. why can't we come up with better solutions ? ... thus, we could simply enjoy this magnificent view of winter ... the nature paint & sculpt the landscape stunningly with this one material (element) the snow ! ... and that ... their creativity & beauty evoke & upgrade our aesthetics within with aw ...


it is simply our nature that to grow & expand, and that is also the nature of the Earth, ... and that is the nature of the universe ... yet humans are blindly passing the old routines to younger generations to deal with & take care of by the same solutions that cause the same problems. Earth is simply evolving, that is her nature & that is the universe's nature, and that supposed to be our human nature ... yet human evolution has been depending on money supply and we just keep saying "because it costs a lot to fix the problem." ... but Earth & Universe would say that to fix the problem is not money but resources, the resources within Earth & the resources within our intelligence, the creativity ... and that fix & refine our world.


Earth is the wealthy being, and so are we ! the wealth is already within us. we tend to see the natural harshness as a disaster ... but maybe, Earth (& Universe) is simply calling & evoking our true wealth to meet the Earth's true wealth ... "come on, catching up on us, playing hard with us to enjoy our true nature of growing, expanding & evolving with us !" yet we have been led to pay our precious attentions to the outside of us, outside of our nature ... by the media that almost only bring us the bad news & gossips ... that our precious attentions are led to attune with what media brings to us, ... we are out of us.


... where we are now as to see our life/history span through a linear view ... is not only by the Earth's evolution, but also we the universe's creation ! ... we are all creating this beauty on Earth altogether by our refining thoughts of now that bring us the time & space called future. we all have the infinite abundance within us, and the nature within us that simply eager to expand & evolve ... the nature have been communicating us & reminding us to dig within & to have fun altogether ... align within and that aligns with all & one. ... we then might question what about the Earthquake like just hit Haiti ... just because of Earth & our evolution, would it be ok to lose many people's lives & homes ? ... but it is not that the nature, evolution, is harsh, it is simply us that need to align within.


it was a long time ago, when I still lived with my family in Japan. our place was kind of like an animal rescuer. it was not our business but somehow we encountered those animals that injured sometimes. one time, a wild pheasant showed up injuring his wing. we kept him until his wing got better. Japan as we all know experience earthquakes so often. we noticed that an earthquake occurred after the pheasant made the squeaking sounds. in the beginning, the period between an earthquake & his squeaks was like a few days or could have been longer a part but the longer he was captured in our place (we didn't mean that, though) the shorter the period had become. by the time when he was almost ready to fly back to nature, an earthquake occurred right after he squeaked. (yes, we have mild earthquakes that often sometimes) we were saying that he was losing his instinct as he was not living with his own nature. ... if we humans are really connected & aligned with our intuition & our own nature, the source, we must be able to sense if an earthquake should be occurring sometime soon. we might have to let go of our material possessions but we must be able to save ourselves ...


the nature ... of Earth & Universe ... and within us ... are expecting us to catch up, align & communicate with the simple nature ... of growth, expansion & evolution, that bring back our true health & wealth ... and the intelligence ...... within our cells & souls, and Earth, and that returns to the universe ... and which is within the spiritual ecosystem ... and be kind & considerate, which simply refine & expand our creative minds ...




“We can’t solve problems 

by using the same kind of thinking 

we used when we created them.”

- Albert Einstein














nothing to do with Raw Food promotion on the interview
but simply the wonderful information for our health provided





when we think of Earth first
we will meet the sweetest us
within our hearts







all rights reserved & deserved




.

Jan 15, 2010

Ame no Uzume



Drumming That Evokes True Source
dedicated to Ame no Uzume
[ a r t ]



the painting above ... it came from my great admiration to one of Shinto Gods, Ame no Uzume.

Shinto (神道 - way of God/gods) is believed as a religion of Japan by many but I don't really think Shinto is a religion. it is believed & worshiped as the Origin of Japan ( or even a world ) in Japan that there is no founder of Shinto. the basic of teaching of Shinto seems similar to Native Indians', like seeing a god in every breath ... like a mountain, river, rock, stone, breeze, wind, air, water, sea, flower, so on. ... if you go to Japan, you will see those Torii, shime nawa, jizou, (jizou is likely more Buddhism) etc, to worship the spirit (god) in the area or the element.


Ame no Uzume is a female god ... a goddess, you would say, ... but in Japan, we barely use the word "goddess" to Japanese female gods somehow ... we use "god" to both male & female gods ... and use "goddess" when we refer western female gods such as Venus, Aphrodite, etc. ... I don't think Ame no Uzume is acknowledged as one of the higher gods in Japan and very known or believed as Okame or Otafuku also who brings laughter, sensuarity, and happiness.


if you are into some kind of Goddess perspectives of life, you might know Amaterasu (Oomikami) the Sun Goddess of Japan ... then you might also know the story that Amaterasu hid herself in a cave because she was hurt by his rambunctious brother Susano-o, that the world went into dark as the Sun god hid herself. ... Amaterasu is a very sensitive subject to bring about as she belongs to the ancestor of Imperial Family of Japan. so I would like to speak of Amaterasu here as a Myth, ... that Ame no Uzume is the one who made the great contribution to bring Amaterasu out of the cave, thus, the world has Sun again.


the story of Ame no Uzume goes like this, ... while Amaterasu hid herself in a cave, so many gods gathered & tried to bring Amaterasu out of the cave but none succeeded. then here came Ame no Uzume, and she totally made herself useful & resourceful to just have thrown herself in the spot to gather all the attentions from all the gods around her, except Amaterasu. Ame no Uzume turned a little tub on the ground and started dancing & drumming with her feet on the tub. she was just performing on the tub which was exposing her breasts & her kimono was tagged up to her hip which was also exposing her genital. her performance was simply erotic yet funny that pleased all the gods around her to relieve the great laughter ... Amaterasu wondered why all gods were having such great enthusiasm without her that she peeked the outside. all gods of course noticed the leak/stream of the light came out of the cave, that they were able to bring Amaterasu (Sun) back to the world.


there is the another story of Ame no Uzume, that she was also tasked another one to accomplish. when Amaterasu' grandson was to go down to check the world between Heaven & the world of Death (or Dreams) which was Japan (Earth) and they saw the huge streak of light from the world below them. Amaterasu told Ame no Uzume to find out who the light/god was because Ame no Uzume was taoyame [手弱女] which means a woman who is sweet & humble but also easy-going, thus, the god wouldn't feel intimidated by how Ame no Uzume looked. and it was a god of Land, Saru ta Hiko who was there to guide Heaven gods to the path to the world of Land. some area of Japan also consider Saru ta Hiko as a Sun God as he was emitting such stream of bright light in the Myth. ... later in the Myth, Ame no Uzume married to Saru ta Hiko ... which is worshiped as the first international (dimensional) marriage in some area of Japan.


.....



at some point of my life after I came to the united states, I suddenly began to hear about Amaterasu so often. people started asking me about Japanese God & Amaterasu, some others started referring me as Amaterasu who just stayed in her own cave holding her light ... yes, I was having a difficult time to meet who I really was myself. during such time, I was seeing those healers and channelers to heal myself. one day, when I was seeing one of the counselors, she was questioning me who Amaterasu was as she was channeling, and as soon as she said it, she was having goose bumps all over on her that she just knew it was something great spirit although she had no idea who Amaterasu was, then told me that Amaterasu was around me. ... I kind of puzzled a bit then remembered I was crying & feeling her agony & relief when I was reading the article about Amaterasu a couple of years before the counseling, that somehow I became so tuned in with the Amaterasu in the article I was reading ( link to the article ) ... that I was some how able to accept that she was around me (& us) ... but that moment with the channeler led my thought further what this Amaterasu showing up in my life really meant. and I began to re-read about Amaterasu again & there Ame no Uzume jumped into my spirit ... and my heart and to evoke the deeper meaning of the soul I chose.


each god in Shinto has their unique quality & personality, they hold kind of one world or a story or an image with them ... but Ame no Uzume seems different, at least to me, that she holds such flow compare to other gods who hold much in solid & stubborn image & dignity. (if you read about Shinto gods, you might find them all immature as they hadn't experienced the lives on Earth much) but Ame no Uzume seems as if she was just open to the (re)quest of the environment, to adjust & adapt, holding no judgment & attachment, making herself just so useful & resourceful to the (re)quest, the environment. ... what she did was, she just overturned the tub & tapping the tub with her feet, but that is said to be the origin of drumming in Japan, and her performance is said to be the origin of theatrical arts, include traditional & comedy, the show business, of Japan, ... the traditional ones such as kyogen ( 狂言), Kagura (神楽) and Kabuki ( 歌舞伎 ) Noh ( 能 ) etc ... she also is believed as who brought the origin form of Shamanism of Japan. her influence is also permeated into the striptease business in Japan ( reference link ) that her influence has evoked great enthusiasm & joy of show business/rituals, & performing art, of Japan. she did not only brought back the light into the world by having gotten Amaterasu out of a cave, but also planted the seed to unfold the pleasure within the world by just being attuned with the environment & dancing with the flow. and marrying with Saru ta Hiko also seems to me is the marrying between Heaven & Earth. ... to me, Ame no Uzume holds such a key for all the humanity to liberate the true pleasure, the sacred pure ecstasy, to dig into our potentials on Earth. not to dig into Earth for our true creativity but to dig deeper within oneself to be useful & resourceful to its own quest, ... that I have painted my wish into my painting with my total admiration to the role of Ame no Uzume for the world to be open to seek true bliss in every (re)quest ... as I do know for sure that I was not only one who resonate with Amaterasu in this inhumane world in which we hold the cave within our hearts to hide & trap our true beauty & pure enthusiasm of bright joyful beings ...


... as I decided to write about what's behind my painting of Ame no Uzume ... "drumming" began to show up ... like ... information of drumming & drumming videos & drummer began to jump into my days, ...as Ame no Uzume was to be the origin of drumming in Japan, in where I vision as if she was awakening the light that buried deep inside the Earth by drumming on the planet ... as many of our hearts need the profound beats to awaken the true light within every single cell in a body, our true spiritual creative being-ness to liberate from every cell within our souls ...


wishing everyone to hold Ame no Uzume ... to dance within ... to meet the pure ecstasy of the embodied being on this beautiful sensual planet Earth ... so I also contained the Japanese letter, dance (舞) in the painting ...



May True Health, Wealth & Intelligence be Back to Earth


all rights reserved & deserved


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michael jackson - they don't care about us
he was really holding the bright will
to share his even-more love with the world
he was about to expose that ...

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 .sudan 365 - a beat for peace
"Sudan365 is a year of campaigning for Sudan.
It has been organised by a coalition of groups
including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Save Darfur, FIDH, Refugees International,
Darfur Consortium and Arab Coalition for Darfur."

.



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Japanese Taiko Drumming (Kodo)
there are many Japanese Taiko performers
Kodo is quite sophisticated

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amaterasu by tamasaburo + kodo
video supposed to be part 1 but there seems no part 2 up loaded yet
so there is no Ame no Uzume part in this video.
their performance is very serene,
although not eventful & you wouldn't understand Japanese
but I am sure it will grab your very deep attention
... & 10 minute would feel so short to you
tamasaburo the japanese famous kabuki actor plays amaterasu ...

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