An Awakening

On my desk, I have two Zen calendars, one from the year 2011 and the other from 2013.  Occasionally, I view some of the pages from previous years to once again ponder on the lessons that are to be learned from Buddhism about life and being in the present moment.  I must admit that often the lessons are lost on me.  I do not fully comprehend what being fully "awake" may mean from a Buddhist perspective, but I do appreciate that the need to live more in the present than in the future, or the past, is an important aspect of the faith.  

In my contemplation of my best minute, and in my "awakening" to the appreciation that my best minute may be the minute of the now wherein I can simultaneously reflect on the "best minutes" of the past while enjoying the beautiful marvels of today, I doubt that practitioners of Buddhism would approve.  And yet, there is something to the experience that seems to have merit.  I am wondering whether others have experienced their own "awakening" moment and, if so, if they would be willing to share it with us. 

What experiences have led to your "awakening" and, if you are now awake, are you more attuned to life and the beauty that surrounds us?  

Speaking for myself, it seems that by living in the now one does indeed become more "awakened" to -- more in tune with -- the beauty of the world that exists all around.  But perhaps I am mistaken.  Please "enlighten" me if I am.

In the meantime, allow me to also mention that the journey to an "awakening" is not necessarily a solitary journey.  Indeed, as indicated previously sometimes one must be "pulled from bed", to be able to see the wonders that abound in this world and beyond.   If your journey was not a solitary one, please tell us who your "guide" or "fellow traveler" was or is.       

In my case, my recent "awakening" has been made possible by my girlfriend, who pulled me out of sleep to see the stars.  Who, along your journey, has helped you also to be able to see? 

Peace.

The Best Minute of My Life

This past week (on Monday night/Tuesday morning), I was pulled from bed to go outside and witness a rare astronomical event, the first of four Blood Moons.   On Tuesday evening, I caught up on some of my television viewing by watching the third episode of Cosmos where I learned, for the first time, about the relationship between Edmond Halley, Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, and Isaac Newton and how it was Edmond Halley who financed Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica,one of the greatest scientific treatises of all time.  And today, I am confronted with the news (see below) that a planet has been found that exists in the Goldilocks range (the habitable zone) of a nearby (500 light years away) solar system. 

As I reflect on all these celestial and scientific marvels, I am mindful that any attempt to single out the best minute of my life may actually be subject to Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty in that any attempt to observe the best minute of my life in retrospect is colored by the age and perspective of the observer at the time of observation.  Over time, the validity of the observation changes and the value of the moment can vary.  

Or perhaps it is Einstein's theory of relativity that affects my assessment of what might be the best minute of my life.  The perception of the candidate moments for such a designation varies based upon the observation of the minute at any particular space and time in my life.

However, ultimately, in going through the process of thinking about the best minute of my life, simply thinking about all the moments of joy and happiness that I have experienced brought a great smile to my face.  To realize that I have been fortunate enough to have so many moments indicated that I have had a good life ... a blessed life.   And in the process of mentally reliving all those moments and reaching the conclusion that I reached, it dawned on me that that moment of "awakening" just might be the best minute of my life.  

Peace.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/kepler-finds-new-earth-like-planet-500-light-years-away/

The Best Minute of Your Life

Last weekend I donned by charcoal grey pants and my dark navy blue shirt and resumed my "career" as a Little League baseball umpire.  The games were held at Clayton Community Park in Clayton, a quaint suburb community situated at the base of the Bay Area's highest mountain, Mount Diablo -- the "Devil Mountain."  It was a beautiful day for baseball and the setting was grand.  There was green everywhere.  Indeed, there was such a variety of green, it seemed to me that one would need the 128 crayon box to match the various shades of green that were visible at the park.  Additionally, looming over the center field was the site of the majestic Mount Diablo inspiring us with its size and green grandeur.

The field was a little damp from the previous day's rain, but that did not deter us from proceeding on with the game.  I, along with the kids, was looking forward to renewing this ritual of Spring.  And so, with a great deal of enthusiasm, I commenced the proceedings by using my "umpire voice" to yell, "Play Ball!"

The game was going along quite well without incident until about the fourth inning.  At that time, one of the young pitchers lost his control and accidentally hit the batter on his helmeted head.  I immediately called "Dead Ball!" and motioned for the coach to come over and tend to his player.  The helmet had taken the brunt of the pitch so the player appeared to be okay.  Nevertheless, I walked with him halfway to first base just to make sure that he was okay.

I was about to resume play when the pitcher's coach asked for time out.  I gave it to him and allowed him to go out to talk with his pitcher.  After all, these are 11 and 12 year old kids and, after hitting a batter in the head, it is customary for a coach to talk with his pitcher to settle him down and to get the pitcher to refocus on the task at hand.

As the coach talked to his pitcher, the next batter began to engage in some banter with some fans behind the backstop.  One of the fans noted that the hit batter was the identical twin brother of the batter on deck and asked the on deck batter which one of them was older.  The on deck batter replied, in the smart aleck way that only a twelve year old can, that he was the older one by one minute ,and ...this is were I could not help myself from cracking up ... that that one minute was the the best minute of his life.  The implication being that the best minute of his life was the minute he was in the world before the arrival of his twin brother.

That smart aleck moment was priceless fun for me... but it also got me to thinking.  What is the best minute of my life?  I mean most of us can think of our best year or even our best day, but our best minute?  The exercise that I have engaged in since pondering that question has been a rather illuminating personal experience indeed.  And, in engaging in that experience, I began to wonder what others would say was the best minute of their lives, ... and why.

And so, my friends, wherever you may be.  Please let me know what was the best minute of your life and why?  If you are like me, I think you will find the exercise a rather interesting one.  On the other hand, if you do not have a "best minute", do not despair, another minute is just a few seconds away, and it is conceivable that the next minute to come will be the best minute of your life.

Peace.

P.S. The team that the twins were on lost their game.  But it was a good game.  The next game, however, was even better with the home team winning 5-4 on a thrilling three run inside the park home run.  It was inside the park because the park had no fences and the kid had to run as fast as he could around the bases to barely beat the throw to home plate. What a great day for baseball!

Josephine Odumakin, Nigerian Women's Rights Activist

The mantra from the 70's was to "Think globally, act locally".  In that vein, for today's Women History Month post, I today offer Josephine Odumakin, another International Women of Courage.  You can read more about her work at

http://www.bellanaija.com/2013/03/11/a-courageous-woman-nigerian-human-rights-activist-josephine-odumakin-honoured-with-the-2013-united-state-secretary-of-states-international-woman-of-courage-award/

and a revised Wikipedia bio follows.

Peace.

***

Josephine "Joe" Obiajulu Okei-Odumakin is a Nigerian women's rights activist. She is the president of the rights groups Women Arise for Change Initiative and the Campaign for Democracy. 

Odumakin was born in Zaria, Kaduna, on July 4, 1966.  She grew up in a Roman Catholic household. She received a bachelor's degree in English Education in 1987, followed by a master's in Guidance and Counseling and a doctorate in History and Policy of Education from the University of Ilorin.  She has frequently been arrested for her activism, especially during the military rule of Ibrahim Babangida, and she met her future husband, Yinak Odumakin, while in prison.

In 2013, Odumakin was presented an International Women of Courage Award from the United States Department of State. 

Beatrice Mtetwa, International Woman of Courage

March has been designated as Women's History Month and, in celebration of the month, I offer this first tribute to the international women of courage to Beatrice Mtetwa.  You can find a brief film about Beatrice Mtetwa at 

http://ruleoflawfilmproject.com/?page_id=53

and a brief description of her at

http://ruleoflawfilmproject.com/?page_id=1306

You can also read about her in the edited Wikipedia listing below.  It may take a little time, but I hope you do.

Peace,

Beatrice Mtetwa is a Zimbabwean lawyer who has been internationally recognized for her defense of journalists and press freedom.  The New York Times described her in 2008 as "Zimbabwe's top human rights lawyer".

Mtetwa received her LLB from the University of Botswana and Swaziland in 1981 and spent the next two years working as a prosecuting attorney in Swaziland. In 1983, she moved to Zimbabwe, where she continued working as a prosecutor until 1989. That year, she went into private practice, and soon began specializing in human rights law. In one of her more notable cases, she successfully challenged a section of Zimbabwe's Private Voluntary Organizations Act which allowed a government minister the authority to dissolve or replace the board members of non-governmental organizations. She also challenged the results of 37 districts in the 2000 parliamentary elections. In a PBS documentary, Mtetwa described her motives for her activism as "not because there is any glory or cash to it and not because I'm trying to antagonize the government... I'm doing it because it's a job that's got to be done".

Mtetwa is particularly noted for her defense of arrested journalists, both local and international. In 2003, for example, she won a court order preventing the deportation of Guardian reporter Andrew Meldrum, presenting it to security officials at Harare International Airport only minutes before Meldrum's plane was scheduled to depart. She also won acquittals for detained reporters Toby Hamden and Julian Simmonds from London's Sunday Telegraph, who had been arrested during coverage of the April parliamentary election on charges of working without government accreditation. In April 2008, she secured the release of New York Times reporter Barry Bearak, who had been imprisoned on similar charges. She also defended many local journalists arrested in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election.

In 2003, Mtetwa was arrested on allegations of drunk driving.  At the police station, she was reportedly beaten and choked before being released three hours later without a formal charge. Though unable to speak for two days after the attack, she returned on the third day with a folder of medical evidence in order to file charges against the police officers who assaulted her. Police officers reportedly attacked Mtetwa again in 2007, beating her and three colleagues with rubber truncheons during a march protesting harassment of Zimbabwe's lawyers.

In an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mtetwa described her procedure for averting potential attacks:

"I think I confront the danger immediately before it happens. I always make sure that if, for instance, I'm called in the middle of the night to a scene that is potentially dangerous, I make sure that there are as many media practitioners as possible, particularly to record what will happen there. And in the glare of cameras I find that people don't want to do what they would want to do. So in a lot of ways I think I've been lucky, and I haven't received as much harassment as one would have expected, or as much as other human rights defenders have had."

In 2005, she won the Interantional Press Freedom Award of the Committed to Protect Journalists.  The award citation stated that "in a country where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists, Mtetwa has defended journalists and argued for press freedom, all at great personal risk."  She also won the group's Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.

Mtetwa was also received several awards from legal organizations. In 2009, the European Bar Human Rights Institute awarded her the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize ("The award given by lawyers to a lawyer"), reserved each year to a lawyer who throughout his or her career has illustrated, by activity or suffering, the defense of human rights in the world.  Mtetwa also won the 2010 International Human Rights award of the American Bar Association.  In 2011, she was awarded the Inamori Ethics Prize by Case Western Reserve University in the United States.  And, most recently (2014), she was named a recipient of the International Women of Courage Award that is annually given out by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially for better promotion of  women's rights.  

The Lovings of Virginia

Mildred and Richard Loving on their front porch, King and Queen County, Virginia. April 1965

When Mildred and Richard Loving married in Washington, D.C. in 1958, they didn't think they were breaking the law. Both were from the small town of Central Point, Virginia. Mildred was of African-American and Native American decent and Richard was white. They did know it was illegal for them to marry in their state-as well as 15 others, which is why they left to tie the knot. Within a month of returning home, police burst into their bedroom in the middle of the night and arrested them under the state's anti-miscegenation law. They were sentenced to a one-year in prison term that could be suspended if they left Virginia.

Banished to Washington, D.C., Mildred Loving, who did not consider herself a political person, wrote about her plight to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The American Civil Liberties Union took up the case and brought it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In 1967, in a landmark Civil Rights ruling, the court struck down America's laws against interracial marriage.

On the 40th anniversary of the ruling, Loving issued a statement that read, "I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life."

The "Perfect" Lunch and No Easy Walk to Freedom

During lunchtime today, I left the office to go and pay my monthly YMCA pledge amount. After doing so, I decided to get a bite to eat. I began driving towards Assemble the restaurant over near the Rosie the Riveter Center when I noticed a new restaurant at a nearby strip mall. The restaurant was named Cafe Pascal and I became intrigued. I went to the restaurant and upon entering noticed that they had a live singer singing. Although this was Thursday noon, and this was Richmond, this guy was pretty good. Intrigued even further, I decided to dine at the Cafe Pascal. I actually ordered some French toast and bacon (yes, a bit bad on my part) along with some hot water with a lime twist and I grabbed an old Los Angeles magazine that had an article about the 52 best weekend destinations in the West. I then settled in and listened to the music.

The singer was actually a folk type singer who sang familiar tunes from the 60s and the 70s. Being the Old School nostalgic type, his singing fit right into my mood. I felt happy being there. The French toast and bacon tasted delicious and the hot water with the slice of lime warmed both my tummy and my heart. I grew more mellow. I even noticed the blooming cherry trees located outside the cafe. I noted that the unseasonably warm weather here in California has perhaps caused the trees to bloom a bit early, but at that moment, it seemed so appropriate to frame the day. Indeed, in a Zen like reflection, I thought about the scene from the movie The Last Samurai where the mortally wounded Katsumoto looks up to see the blossoms on a cherry tree and with his last breath says "Perfect." Looking at the cherry tree blossoms outside the Cafe Pascal while listening to the music from the mellow folk and soft rock music of the 60s and 70s, seemed to me to be "perfect."

As I prepared to depart, the singer sang a song that I had never heard before. The song seemed to be entitled "No Easy Walk to Freedom". Mellowed out but intrigued nevertheless when I got back to the office I looked up that song, viewed it, and became even more appreciative of the "perfection" of the day.

And being who I am, I naturally felt inclined to share it -- to share a little bit of perfection -- with some of my closest friends. I felt naturally inclined to share it with you.

Enjoy.

Peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=750QHbksHe8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND-QPvtexGM

Brother martin was walkin with me,
And every step I heard liberty
Tho he’s fallin’, come a million behind!
Glory, hallelujah, gonna make it this time!

Chorus:
No easy walk to freedom,
No easy walk to freedom,
Keep on walkin and we shall be free
That’s how we’re gonna make history

Across the ocean, the blood’s running warm
I, I hear it coming, there’s a thunderin’ storm
Just like we lived it, you know that it’s true,
Nelson mandela, now we’re walkin with you!

(chorus)

In our land, not so long ago,
We lived the struggle, and that’s how we know
Slavery abolished, comin’ freedom’s call
Keep on walking and apartheid will fall!

(chorus)

Oh, bread for the body, there’s got to be
But a soul will die without liberty
Pray for the day when the struggle is past!
Freedom for all! free at last! free at last!

(chorus)

You and me!