I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do."

Georgia O'Keeffe

Photos: Looking down on O'Keeffe's "backyard"; May 25, 2015

Stories are the communication device of the land and the people.

"I will tell you something about stories . . . They aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death . . . You don't have anything if you don't have stories."

Leslie Marmon Silko
Laguna Pueblo

"The stories are the communication device of the land and the people. Through the stories, the ceremony, the gap between isolate human being and lonely landscape is closed."

Paula Gunn Allen
Laguna Pueblo

Photos: Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM, May 23, 2015. The Puebloans who lived at Chaco (c. 850-1150) are the ancestors of Laguna and other modern Puebloans.

Flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free . . .

"I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free. Someone else's vision will never be as good as your own vision of yourself. Live and die with it 'cause in the end it's all you have. Lose it and you lose yourself and everything else. I should have listened to myself."

Georgia O'Keeffe

Photo: Chimney Rock and The Pedernal, near O'Keeffe's house, Ghost Ranch, NM, May 25, 2015

Silence will speak for us.

"There is no need for us to speak.
Silence will speak for us."

Ramson Lomatewama
Hopi

Photos: (Top and Middle) Ceremonial Kiva and Petroglyph, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM; (Bottom) Sagebrush, rain and distant mountain, near Questa, NM; All three photos were taken on May 23-24, 2015

Interest, not happiness, is the key to a fulfilling life.

"I think it's so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary - you're happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous."

Georgia O'Keeffe

Photos: Looking down on the country O'Keeffe painted, Ghost Ranch, NM, May 25, 2015. In the Paintbrush photo, O'Keeffe's home is just behind the red badlands.

The beauty of northern New Mexico mirrors the grandeur of the soul . . .

The high desert of northern New Mexico mirrors my own soul's native grandeur, regal sacredness, simplicity, brightness, and quiet, enabling me to let go of the constrictive ego that causes so much suffering to myself and others.

Photos: (Top) Cliffs at Ghost Ranch, NM; (Middle) Stephen at Chimney Rock, Ghost Ranch, NM; (Bottom ) Formations near Ghost Ranch, NM. These photos were taken on May 23 - 25, 2015

Actually TOUCH the New Mexico country, and you will never be the same again.

"Actually TOUCH the country, and you will never be the same again. I think New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I ever had. It certainly changed me forever. It was New Mexico that liberated me from the present era of civilization, the great era of material and mechanical development. The moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine high over the desert, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend. I had no permanent feeling of religion till I came to New Mexico."

D.H. Lawrence,
English novelist

Photos: (Top) Chimney Rock, Ghost Ranch, NM; (Middle) Ancient Pueblo in Chaco Canyon, NM; (Bottom) Cliffs and Cottonwood trees at Ghost Ranch, NM. All three photos were taken May 23 - 25, 2015

I have been to the end of the earth, and I have found none that are not my friends.

"I have been to the end of the earth, I have been to the end of the waters, I have been to the end of the sky, I have been to the end of the mountains; I have found none that are not my friends."

Dine' (Navajo) Proverb

Photo: Multi-colored cliffs near Ghost Ranch, NM, May 22, 2015

Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky . . .

"Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you the gifts that you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;
May the warp be the white light of morning,
May the weft be the red light of evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!"

Songs of the Tewa

The Tewa are descendents of the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) Peoples who inhabited Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyons of the Ancients, and other ancient pueblos in the Four Corners area. The Tewa live in the following Pueblos: Nambe', Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan), Santa Clara, and Tesuque. The descendents of the Ancestral Puebloans also include the Tiwa, Towa, Hopi and Zuni among others as well.

Photos: (Top) Evening-Primroses and Pueblo at Chaco Canyon, NM; (Middle) Red badlands at Ghost Ranch, NM; (Bottom) Doors inside Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM; May 23-25, 2015

The Beauty Way

"With beauty before me, may I walk
With beauty behind me, may I walk
With beauty above me, may I walk
With beauty below me, may I walk
With beauty all around me, may I walk
Wandering on a trail of beauty
Lively I walk!

Version of a Dine' chant

Photos: (Top) Cliffs near Ghost Ranch, NM; (Middle) Evening Primrose and Ancestral Puebloan Dwelling, Chaco Canyon, NM; (Bottom) Desert Paintbrush and Chimney Rock, Ghost Ranch, NM. All three photos were taken on May 22 - 25, 2015

New Mexico fitted to me exactly.

"When I got to New Mexico, that was mine. As soon as I saw it, that was my country. I'd never seen anything like it before, but it fitted to me exactly."

Georgia O'Keeffe
Landscape painter

Photos: Various scenes from Ghost Ranch, NM and the Chimney Rock Trail. In the top photo, the house in the distance is O'Keeffe's. May 24-25, 2015

Emptines can serve as a window onto another world.

Each life-situation in which we are tempted to feel empty of meaning and purpose is designed to serve as a window out onto a whole new world!

Photo: Window onto a cliff, Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM, May 23, 2015

The Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world.

"Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things, and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at the center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one."

Chief Crazy Horse
Tasunke Witko
Oglala Lakota
c. 1840-1877

I'll be offline for the next four days. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Photos: Bear Lodge, The Badlands, and an alleged photo of Crazy Horse.

My Inter-Spiritual Path

This past week, while camping in the Badlands and hiking in the outdoor areas near my home, I've been pondering the fact that my path really is Inter-spiritual. Like so many seekers these days, my soul is multi-faceted, and I resonate with aspects of several different spiritual traditions. For example, this past week, the beauty of the Lakota country up north, together with a book I've been reading by Russell Means, have nourished amply the indigenous part of my soul. On Tuesday night, I gave a talk for an M.D. on Contemplative Hiking and Wilderness Spirituality, which together form a core aspect of my path. After the talk, a woman came up to me and began sharing about her Buddhist meditation practice, the spaciousness of which never fails to minister mightily to another aspect of my soul. Then, yesterday, I listened to a sermon by Black evangelical pastor T.D. Jakes, sent to me by a friend. One of Jakes' major points was the fact that we are made in the image of A CREATOR, which means that WE TOO are therefore meant to live a life of creativity. This is something I've known for quite some time, but the sermon reinvigorated my understanding in a fresh way.

Some would claim that we can only hit "spiritual water" if we dig ONE well deeply; that is, if we focus on only one tradition. However, I tend to favor the interpretation given by Inter-spiritual author Mirabai Starr, who points out that many of us find ourselves called to dig that single well "with MANY DIFFERENT TOOLS." I still do consider myself a Christ-follower, which means less that I focus the light of my attention on Jesus, and more that I look THROUGH HIS EYES at the world, enabling me to see all beings, traditions and landscapes in a calm, radiant light that melts them all into One. If Jesus truly is a "light, " as many Christians affirm, this means that he humbly works to reveal THE WORLD in a fresh and loving light, rather than training the light narcissistically back on himself. It is indeed true that, for me at least, this self-emptying light is "colored" by the unique personality of Jesus, which contributes to the light a calm and loving radiance. But it is rare that I focus the light back on him or on his words. In fact, I feel I honor Christ best when I follow him in forgetting both he and myself in order to reveal - and learn from - the wisdom of those around me.

On this path, I feel myself called - in union with the self-emptying Christ - to highlight the innate wisdom contained in every tradition, every person, every landscape, and every aspect of life. This past week, that meant highlighting the beauty and goodness inherent in Lakota spirituality, contemplative hiking, Buddhist meditation, and in the sermon of a Black evangelical preacher. In particular, this meant LEARNING from all of these amazing sources of insight, just as God learns more about his - or her - divinity through OUR eyes! I know this path is not for everyone, but for me, it definitely fits!

Photos: (Top) Nelson Larkspur and cascade, Greyrock Trail, Roosevelt National Forest, CO; (Middle) Western Wallflower, Lory State Park, CO; (Bottom) Formations in Badlands National Park, SD. These photos were taken May 16-20, 2015

Vine Deloria's Words of Praise for Russell Means

"As I was listening to Russell Means I continually looked around the room to see the faces of the people as he spoke. Almost every face shone with a new pride, a beatific vision of the tribe as it should be, not as it had become through a century of betrayal. Old men sat entranced and nodded ever so slightly at the different points Russell discussed. I came away from Means' speech with the feeling that Russell is a terribly important man to our tribe. He may be the greatest Lakota of this century and his ability to light the eyes that have been dimmed so long is probably more important for us than anything that anyone else can do. I think it is the pride in living that many Indians have lost, and in the clarity of Russell Means' speech many Indian people found that pride and also found a strength they did not know they had possessed. We should cherish this man as one of our greatest people. History has a way of leveling all the honors of a century and allowing the truly great figures to emerge from the shadows as they really were. I cannot remain silent and allow a chance to go by to honor as best I can a man who gave to my tribe even for a brief moment a vision of something better than what we had. If Russell Means has faults, and we all do, he also has talent and dedication which greatly outweighs the faults and which in my mind make him one of the great Indians of our time."

Vine Deloria, Jr.
Author of "God is Red" and "Custer Died for Your Sins"

Photos: The South Dakota Badlands, Russell Means, and Bison in the Black Hills.

In indigenous societies, to be a leader meant that, materially, you were always going to be poor . . .

"In indigenous societies, to be a leader meant that, materially, you were always going to be poor. This is because you had to make sure everyone else in the community was taken care of. So being a leader was avoided by many men. Leaders had to be chosen, designated, by the Elder Women. So a leader among the men did not rise to the position out of personal ambition, greed for power, or personal insecurities, trying to prove something. These are all characteristics of unfit leaders, which are common today in patriarchal society."

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

Photos: Badlands National Park, SD, May 16, 2015

Perhaps extinct life forms simply didn't want to live on this Earth with humans!

"In the 1960s, an elder De'ne' man from the Northwest Territories of Canada stated to an anthropologist who was intent on civilizing the De'ne' people: 'You white people are very arrogant. You think you are responsible for the extinction of different forms of life. Have you ever considered that maybe those life forms didn't want to live with you?' "

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

Photos: Colorful Badlands and Bison in the Black Hills, SD, May 16-17, 2015

Our hearts affect Infinity!

"I saw that according to Natural Law, my heart is connected to and affects Infinity. With this connection in mind - knowing that your heart has an effect on the Infinite - you see how important it is to have a pure and healthy heart! Our hearts are part of the Infinite, not separate from it."

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

Photos: Badlands Yellow Mounds, yellow Salsify flower, and Bear Butte with Chokecherry flowers; Badlands National Park, SD, and Devil's Tower National Monument, WY, May 16, 2015

Woman is more Holy than Man.

"The Sun is male, Earth is female. The Sun gives energy to the Earth so that life can be created out of her, just as Man gives his seed to Woman. Earth and Woman are the most sacred of beings, they are Holy, because they create life from the energy of the Sun / Man. Because Woman is more Holy than Man, she lives longer, she can withstand more pain, she has more endurance, and she has a unique 6th sense that cannot be explained. Woman goes through two changes in life - from a girl, she blossoms into womanhood, and after her childbearing years she transitions into an Elder. Man, just like the Sun, goes through no changes - from the time he reaches manhood, he just goes and goes until burnout. He is never naturally purified. Man is 1-dimensional compared to Woman."

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

Photos: Bison feast on the emerald-green grass after a fire in the Black Hills, Wind Cave National Park, SD, May 17, 2015. The flower is Sand Lily, and the cone is from a Ponderosa Pine.

We don't build churches; we pray outside, in the Natural World.

"Every good thought is a prayer. That is what we believe. That is why we don't have church. Life is church, the Universe is our temple. To be conscious of the well-being of the Little People, that's a form of prayer . . . We don't build churches, and go inside to pray one day a week. We pray outside, in the Natural World. And our entire life is an act of prayer, because there is Holiness in all things in the Natural World here on Grandmother Earth."

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

Photos: Golden Banner, Bear Lodge, and the Badlands; Devil's Tower National Monument (WY) and Badlands National Park, SD; May 16, 2015