Monthly Archives: August 2012

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Mellow Yellow Monday for Art and Artists


Vincent Van Gogh was one of the Impressionist artists. The book My Life and Love are One contains excerpts from his letters to his brother Theo. He and Theo were very close and Theo sold as many of Vincent’s paintings as possible. Van Gogh’s art was expressive and his writings were equally expressive. Whether he wrote about art, turmoil or love you can feel his inner passion. Sunflowers were one of his favorite things to paint. He was brilliant and suffered from depression. His art does give a voice to his suffering.

One day, the story goes, Vincent took his easel and paints to a meadow and began a painting and also committed suicide. Recently there has been controversy over the possibility that he may have been murdered. Whatever happened to Van Gogh, he left us with some very brilliant art and writings.

“Since the beginning of this love I have felt that unless I gave myself up to it entirely, without any restriction, with all my heart, there was no chance for me whatever, and even so my chance is slight. But what is it to me whether my chance is slight or great? I mean, must I consider this when I love? No, no reckoning; one loves because one loves. Then we keep our heads clear, and do not cloud our minds, nor do we hide our feelings, nor smother the fire and light, but simply say: Thank God, I love.

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The Path to The One


Creation Picture from The Gathas of Zarathushtra

The Zorathushtra is the Prophet of the Zoroastrian religion. Zarathushtra is believed to be the first in human history to have founded a religion based on the ethical values of Truth and Justice. He taught that there was one God and his name was Ahura Mazda, Lord of Life and Wisdom. It is considered to be the most ancient of the revealed religions.

It is not known exactly when Zarathushtra lived or when the Gathas were composed. The Greeks considered him a very ancient prophet and placed him around 6000 BC.

The language the Gathas were written in is called Gathic or Old Avestan to distinguish them from the later tests, such as the Rig-Vida.

Zarathusthra describes himself as a Zaotar. He identified with oppressed peoples, the poor and downtrodden. His disciples defended the herders and the marginalized.

Even though many declare that there are many differences between religions or spiritual paths; there really are so many similarities. It is as if we could take all the similarities of God/Goddess/Divine Energy and put them all together as if it were a puzzle. I think if we put them together we would have a truer and more accurate picture of The One. I do want to stress that Zarthushtra was the first prophet to proclaim that there is one God. And God demands humans to choose The Truth and live by it. Mankind must also take responsibility for their actions.

In his position as prophet he prayed for himself because he knew that he would suffer much in his efforts to do what was best for mankind. He chose to live in truth and to teach how Ahura Mazda reaches out to all mankind with his blessings.

This is from the Gathas. It is Yasna 43. I think it is very beautiful.

“May that man of innate nobility
progress from good to greater good.
May he instruct us
concerning the straight paths of salvation in this
bodily life and that of the mind.
There are the paths
where Ahura Mazda Himself dwells.
And so your ardent devotee
becomes one like you, O Mazda,
resplendent in Wisdom.”

” Ahura Mazda’s First Thought
blazed into myriads of sparks of light
and filled the entire heavens.
He Himself, in His Wisdom,
is the Creator of Truth which
upholds His Supreme Mind.

When I held You in my mind’s eye,
then I realized You, O Mazda,
as the First and the Last for all of Eternity,
as the Father of Good Mind,
the true Creator of Truth,
and Lord over the actions of life.”

These translations are by Piloo Nanavutty.

I am so amazed and moved at how the different paths take us to The One and that ultimately we have hated without reason, fought wars for no reason, and failed to love others because they were different from us. This is not what humans are supposed to be doing. We are supposed to be living with compassion and love and caring for others. We can choose to change this. It will work to change one person at a time. If each of us live with compassion, love and caring we can make progress on the path to living the way The Eternal wants us to.

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For This One Hour


My father passed 40 years ago, but he left me his dry humor and some well loved books…and a few other things. The one book is called For This One Hour. It is a book that I cherish much as I cherish him.

This poem from The Sanskrit is one of my favorites from the book. Sanskrit is the original language which most other languages are based on. So today I am going to share this precious one with all of you who read my work.

” Listen to the exhortation of the dawn!
Look well to this day! For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
And realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a dream of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn.”

Oak Plantation, New Orleans Acrylic on canvas by Barbara Mattio

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Roses and prayers for the Victims


NBCNews.com
Hundreds pay respects to victims killed at Wisconsin Sikh temple
NBCNews.com – ‎1 hour ago‎
Two women hug as community members pay respects to the victims in the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, at the Oak Creek High School on Friday.

Today is the memorial for the Sikh victims of a mass murder at the hands of a white supremacist. These victims even included a first responder. The Wisconsin massacre is a needless loss of life. It was committed by a lone man filled with hatred for people he didn’t even know. With this hatred in his heart, he entered the Mosque and began to shoot.

We are living in a culture where anger, hatred and violence is the norm. In my state, concealed guns are legal as long as they are registered.

I am not writing here about my feelings about fire arms. I am writing with an aching heart for the survivors and the friends and family of the victims. These were American citizens of Indian descent. They wear turbans but are not Muslim. All though, in all honesty, it wouldn’t have mattered. Innocent people going about their lives, worshiping according to their beliefs.

I am firm in my belief that if we can’t control the hate and anger in our lives, we are doomed as a species. The Buddha says that when you hold onto hatred and anger, it is as if you were holding a glowing ember in the palm of your hand. You are the one to be hurt the most. Your hand will be burned and your soul will be lost.

For those who are not familiar with this religion, it is a monotheistic religion founded in the fifteenth century in the Punjab area of India.

“Heal these spirits, Lord, from all the wounds that their hearts have suffered through this life of limitation upon the earth. Purify their hearts with Thy Divine Light and send upon their spirits Thy Mercy, Thy Compassion and Thy Peace.”

“The life everlasting is hidden in the heart of death.”

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

Bay Village, Ohio rose garden Photo by Barbara Mattio

Bay Village, Ohio Photo by Barbara Mattio

Rose Garden Photo by Barbara Mattio

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Still I Rise


Holden Beach, NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

Women are not born feminists. Some are born tom boys, some are girly, some are born strongly principled. Some girls have a deep spiritual longing.

So then, what makes a feminist? Life creates feminists. Lovers bring joy, happiness and relationship to life. Some of them not only break hearts, they break our trust. Some of them break an arm or a rib or perhaps,”just” tell us we are nothing.

Women grow up and most go to college and some find that some professors don’t like women students. Some women have to be subjected to sexual harassment . Some women are bullied because they aren’t pretty enough or they are smarter than many of the males in class.

Women sometimes get all dolled up and go out with the girls. Some men think this means they are prey and stalk until they can go in for the kill.

All women realize that today we make $.77 for every dollar a man makes. For the same work. In addition, some must work in a hostile workplace.

I became a feminist because of some of the above scenarios and because I read a lot of history. I became aware that women have always been treated as possessions. Women have “needed” to be owned and controlled. I began reading about the European witch trials and found out that millions of women and children were horribly murdered because their knowledge of herbs and knowing which ones to use for healing made them different. This was a very serious matter if the was no man around to keep her in check. You could be in trouble for being good with animals. Today, we call that being a dog whisperer. or a horse whisperer. It used to mean you were a witch.

When I wanted to have a tubal ligation to prevent further pregnancy I had to bring a paper home from the doctor. This was 1972. My husband had to sign it for me to have the surgery. It was my own body. It belonged to me. But society didn’t see it that way, it belonged to him.

Have you ever gone shopping and hid what you purchased in the trunk? Did then later on sneak it into the house and your closet? That is the sneakiness that develops when we don’t have our own money and are not allowed to make our own choices.

We have gotten past the part where women are not encouraged to go to college unless it was to find a husband. Many women today have advanced degrees and still make less than a man or the same work and same degree. Women continue to be the minority in math and the sciences yet millions are capable to earning degrees in math and science.

Young women today don’t understand that they are entitled to be an equal partner in their relationships. They have the right to make their own money, to practice contraception and to have sex only when they want it. They don’t have to cooperate with their partner unless they wish to.

“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But, still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise.
I rise.
I rise.

——Maya Angelou

I dedicate this blog to all of the oppressed peoples in the world. I especially dedicate it to those who have died due to hatred and violence. We won’t give up or go back!

Holden Beach, NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

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To Find the Ecstasy in Your Life


Thoreau, Frost and Whitman were all poets who found happiness in their experience in nature and nature led them to an experience with God. Their writings are very uplifting and filled with wisdom. Some of their poetry is so famous high school students still memorize the words. Some of these have come back to me as I walk in the mountains when visiting my best friend. There is a connection that develops between the experience and the poetry.

 

Black Mountain, NC; Photo by Barbara Mattio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Mountain, NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

Thirty some years ago, a dear friend gave me a book of poetry. The poetry was by Kabir, a fifteenth century Indian poet. He was the son of a weaver and was influenced by Sufis and the ideas of the Hindus. This particular collection of some of his poems is translated by Robert Bly. The originals were written in Hindi. I hope the journey that his words take you on is as amazing of a journey as mine has been. Kabir went into the inner landscape to experience God and the ecstasy of loving The One.

 

“Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive.
Jump into the experience while you are alive!
Think…and think…while you are alive.
What you call “salvation” belongs to the time before death.

If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten—
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing new,
you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now,in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire.

So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
Believe in the Great Sound!

Kabir says this: When the Guest is being searched for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that
does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.”
—–Kabir

Lumberton , NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

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For All the Secret Dancers


“They flew up one spring day
just as the oaks were beginning to bloom,
green and yellow warblers, filling the tree
with music and bright darting movements.
The mother and girl stood outside
and marveled at the sight—–
the mother’s hand steadying her shoulder,
the child swayed backwards, closed her eyes,
opened her mouth, and swallowed the tree
like a spoonful of honey.
She tasted the sweet tasseling blossoms of oak,
felt the flickering wings,
the sway of the branches—-swallowed it whole,
then opened her eyes, and breathed it out again.

But the tree had infiltrated her body
like iron in earth or smoke in wind,
like salt in water she became infused
with its quickening brightness.
She grew old listening to music,
she opened her mouth, and let it run in
until it came out her feet and fingertips,
the flickering motions of color and song,
as bright as jewels.

You can see her in the garden bending over the beds;
suddenly she lifts her face and smiles
as if she is drinking up the sunlight;
she sways above the bean-rows and marigolds,
weaving webs of light with long hands;
or in the morning when she sets the kettle on the stove,
turning in her shuffling slippers,
she lifts the shawl above her head,
and does again the dance of wings and branches.”
———-Virginia Haiden

Photo by Barbara Mattio

Ms. Haiden is a poet and mother of four and grandmother of two. She is a rock hound, gardens, enjoys cooking and jewelry design.

Photo by Barbara Mattio

 

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Mellow yellow Monday with Light


 

“Seek refuge in the True Illumination! For the light of His Wisdom in infinite. Seek refuge in That which is beyond understanding.”
Take refuge in the ultimate Strength, for His pure radiance is above all things. He who perceiveth this Light is set free.”

—Wisdom of the East Buddhist Psalms

In this writings, Buddha did not ever refer to himself as God. He also never mentioned miracles. He showed no interest in being revered . He saw himself as a person who is awake. He did spend his life trying to awaken other people.
He is quoted as saying, ” Whoever sees me sees the teaching, and whoever sees the teaching sees me.”

He was mortal as we are, yet he attained enlightenment and was raised to the rank of an immortal. Today, Buddhism teaches that we can overcome challenges or problems with a positive or peaceful mind. Buddha taught that the mind has the power to create all positive and negative objects in our lives.

Buddhism is the practice of Buddha’s teachings. These are also called Dharma which means protection. Buddha gave human beings eighty-four thousand teachings and Buddhism developed from these teachings. This is the path of compassion and wisdom.

Photo by Barbara Mattio

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The Women’s Bible


Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815-1902, was not only one of the women who worked to obtain the vote for women in the United States. She and Susan B. Anthony made a pair of women who were not going to quit until we had the vote. Elizabeth and Susan also put out a women’s movement weekly paper and there was the Women’s Bible Project. Susan was single and Elizabeth was married with eleven children.

Elizabeth felt that the Bible was not inclusive in its voice. She felt that the Bible excluded women. A committee was formed of ministers, Greek and Hebrew scholars, who devoted themselves to the project. There was a group of thirty women who worked on the revisions. The various books of the Testaments were divided and they reviewed all the passages which concerned women.

These passages were cut out and pasted in another blank book, and the new commentaries were written beneath. This was a huge undertaking in comparison to what it would be today, as it all had to be done by hand.

The inauguration of the women’s movement to emancipate the Bible began in August, 1895. The suffragets felt that the Bible had been used to hold black people and women in the “divinely ordained sphere”. The canon and civil law; church and state; all denominations and political parties have taught that woman was made after man and was made an inferior being.

Charles Kingsley said,  this will never be a good world for woman until the last remnant of the canon law is swept from the face of the earth.” Little did he know that the dogmas and teachings of all fundamental religions work to hold women in  place as second class citizens. Even now in August, 2012.

The Bible was used as permission from God to back the buying and selling of slaves and the ownership of women by the men in their lives. Women’s challenges to their status were referred back to this same Bible. The church determined that slavery and the right to vote only belonging to men was allegedly backed up by scripture. The mothers of the Suffrage movement saw the terrible misuse of these scriptures.

Women in America and England began this work with a large committee. They fought an uphill battle against the criticisms of their society. They proudly pushed ahead knowing that women’s political and social degradation were the results of women’s status in the Bible.

The only parts of the Bible that were edited were the ones concerning women. The Women’s Bible is still in print and available on Kindle also. It is a very enlightening reading experience.

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Praise


Hibiscus by Stephanie and Photo by Barbara Mattio

” Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain,
spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks.
Our peace in his will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother,
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea.
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.”
——–T.S. Eliot

Photo by Barbara Mattio

“Lord, make this world to last as long as possible.”
—-Prayer of an eleven year old child,
on hearing of Sino-Indian border fighting.