What a beautiful weekend it was. Spring coming into being, St. Patrick’s Day and the NCAA tournament in full swing. That might have been a pretty full weekend. But I live in Nyack, NY and happen to have lucked into knowing some interesting people. So my weekend took some other turns.
First, my friend and colleague Mike Murphy tells me that on Saturday morning a friend of his is coming into town. Would I like to spend a little time with them?
His friends name is Ping. Ping teaches Martial arts and meditation at several colleges in China and the US. He is also a master of the arts himself. I watched a few videos of him doing Tai Chi (the frame seemed out of whack on the video because he was so precise). So I said sure, would love to come.
Three hours later Mike, Chris, and myself had been led by Ping through three separate meditations (one involving looking into the sun- did that one in the town square), and covered an astounding range of subjects: Zen Buddism, Ken Wilber, Sadhguru, Byron Katie, Skin Breathing, The biblical story of Turn the Other Cheek, Digestion, Osho, Ethnic Food in Queens, Crime Lords in Shanghi, the 2 minute exhale, and The Secret. Those are just what I can remember right now. Work in mid conversation body adjustments, visual diagnoses, and a pretty good Indian buffet for lunch, and you get my point.
Ping was a little late to Nyack because he took the bus. Love the idea that on his way over he was just another guy on the bus. Needless to say, I will jump at the next chance to spend time with this amazing man.
Then the next day there is a program at the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack featuring an Andean Healer named Kari Churik. Kari is an Ecuadorian whose mission in life is to preserve the indigenous knowledge for the healing of future generations and the planet. He talked through an interpreter but his message was loud and clear. He beautifully tied together the plight of the indigenous cultures in the face of Capitalist globalization with the growing genetically modified crops controversy. Pleading to let the seed of corn (the indigenous people and the actual seed) retain there uniqueness and diversity. Don’t mess with their divine nature and try to homogenize them and make them fit into the “modern culture” but rather endeavor to have our culture cherish the diversity that the earth has provided. Preserve the uniqueness. It was an amazing talk. He would make a point and there would be gasps of profound recognition from the audience.
Just another weekend in Nyack.