The Dance of the Petal

“Zara's notable chrono-sculpture about the life cycle of a particular species of flower is called “The Dance of the Petal.” The species of flower depicted in the sculpture is known as the Zorath iridescent blossom, and it is native to the planet Zorath. The Zorath iridescent blossom is a highly prized plant on Zorath, as it is known for its delicate and beautiful flowers, which are characterized by their iridescent petals and sweet, intoxicating scent.

The Zorath iridescent blossom plays an important role in the ecosystem of Zorath, as it is pollinated by a variety of different insects and birds. The plant is also a major source of food for these animals, as well as for other species on the planet. The plant is also used in a variety of different cultural and medicinal practices on Zorath, and it is highly valued for its beauty and symbolism.

Zara's “The Dance of the Petal” sculpture depicts the different stages of the Zorath iridescent blossom's life cycle, from the seedling stage to the fully bloomed flower. The sculpture is made up of a series of interconnected and interwoven structures that represent the different stages of the flower's growth and development.

To create the sculpture, Zara used a combination of advanced technologies and techniques. She first used specialized sensors and algorithms to track and analyze the movements and behaviors of the Zorath iridescent blossom as it grew and changed over time. She then used this data to create detailed models and plans for the sculpture.

Once the plans were complete, Zara used a variety of different materials and techniques to create the sculpture. She used flexible and responsive materials, such as shape-memory alloys and smart polymers, to create the different structures and forms of the sculpture. She also used advanced control systems to manipulate the sculpture in real-time, creating dynamic and changing forms that reflected the different stages of the flower's growth and development.

The “The Dance of the Petal” sculpture is displayed in a public park in the city, where it is admired by the community and serves as a reminder of the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Other life forms on Zorath, such as insects and birds, are also drawn to the sculpture, as it is reminiscent of the Zorath iridescent blossom and the role it plays in the ecosystem.

The “The Dance of the Petal” sculpture is an important and highly respected work of art on Zorath, and it is a source of pride and enjoyment for the community. It is also a testament to the skill and creativity of Zara, and it is a reflection of the cultural and social importance of the Zorath iridescent blossom in Zorath society.”

[ From a conversation with ChatGPT which is summarized and discussed here: Link to Mastodon thread ]

— Tip me on ko-fi.

Love in these times.

Excerpts from “All About Love” by bell hooks:

When I travel around the nation giving lectures about ending racism and sexism, audiences, especially young listeners, become agitated when I speak about the place of love in any movement for social justice. Indeed, all the great movements for social justice in our society have strongly emphasized a love ethic. Yet young listeners remain reluctant to embrace the idea of love as a transformative force. ... The cultural emphasis on endless consumption deflects attention from spiritual hunger. ... While the zeal to possess intensifies, so does the sense of spiritual emptiness. Because we are spiritually empty we try to fill up on consumerism. We may not have enough love but we can always shop. Our national spiritual hunger springs from a keen awareness of the emotional lack in our lives. It is a response to lovelessness. ... Spiritual life is first and foremost about commitment to a way of thinking and behaving that honors principles of inter-being and interconnectedness. ... Fear of radical changes leads many citizens of our nation to betray their minds and hearts. Yet we are all subjected to radical changes every day. We face them by moving through fear. These changes are usually imposed by the status quo. For example, revolutionary new technologies have led us all to accept computers. Our willingness to embrace this “unknown” shows that we are all capable of confronting fears of radical change, that we can cope. Obviously, it is not in the interest of the conservative status quo to encourage us to confront our collective fear of love. An overall cultural embrace of a love ethic would mean that we would all oppose much of the public policy conservatives condone and support. Society’s collective fear of love must be faced if we are to lay claim to a love ethic that can inspire us and give us the courage to make necessary changes. ... The transformative power of love is not fully embraced in our society because we often wrongly believe that torment and anguish are our "natural" condition. This assumption seems to be affirmed by the ongoing tragedy that prevails in modern society. In a world anguished by rampant destruction, fear prevails. When we love, we no longer allow our hearts to be held captive by fear. The desire to be powerful is rooted in the intensity of fear. Power gives us the illusion of having triumphed over fear, over our need for love. To return to love, to know perfect love, we surrender the will to power.

— Tip me on ko-fi.

The Mud of Happiness

“No mud, no lotus” is a well-known saying from Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village tradition. But what does it really mean? Here is a passage where Thay explains:

“Both suffering and happiness are of an organic nature, which means they are both transitory; they are always changing. The flower, when it wilts, becomes the compost. The compost can help grow a flower again. Happiness is also organic and impermanent by nature. It can become suffering and suffering can become happiness again. If you look deeply into a flower, you see that a flower is made only of nonflower elements. In that flower there is a cloud. Of course we know a cloud isn’t a flower, but without a cloud, a flower can’t be. If there’s no cloud, there’s no rain, and no flower can grow. You don’t have to be a dreamer to see a cloud floating in a flower. It’s really there. Sunlight is also there. Sunlight isn’t flower, but without sunlight no flower is possible. If we continue to look deeply into the flower, we see many other things, like the earth and the minerals. Without them a flower cannot be. So it’s a fact that a flower is made only of nonflower elements. A flower can’t be by herself alone. A flower can only inter-be with everything else. You can’t remove the sunlight, the soil, or the cloud from the flower. In each of our Plum Village practice centers around the world, we have a lotus pond. Everyone knows we need to have mud for lotuses to grow. The mud doesn’t smell so good, but the lotus flower smells very good. If you don’t have mud, the lotus won’t manifest. You can’t grow lotus flowers on marble. Without mud, there can be no lotus. It is possible of course to get stuck in the 'mud' of life. It’s easy enough to notice mud all over you at times. The hardest thing to practice is not allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by despair. When you’re overwhelmed by despair, all you can see is suffering everywhere you look. You feel as if the worst thing is happening to you. But we must remember that suffering is a kind of mud that we need in order to generate joy and happiness. Without suffering, there’s no happiness. So we shouldn’t discriminate against the mud. We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness. When I lived in Vietnam during the war, it was difficult to see our way through that dark and heavy mud. It seemed like the destruction would just go on and on forever. Every day people would ask me if I thought the war would end soon. It was very difficult to answer, because there was no end in sight. But I knew if I said, 'I don’t know,' that would only water their seeds of despair. So when people asked me that question, I replied, 'Everything is impermanent, even war. It will end some day.' Knowing that, we could continue to work for peace. And indeed the war did end. Now the former mortal enemies are busily trading and touring back and forth, and people throughout the world enjoy practicing our tradition’s teachings on mindfulness and peace. If you know how to make good use of the mud, you can grow beautiful lotuses. If you know how to make good use of suffering, you can produce happiness. We do need some suffering to make happiness possible. And most of us have enough suffering inside and around us to be able to do that. We don’t have to create more.”

Excerpt From “No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering” by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay).

— Tip me on ko-fi.

Watering Seeds of Joy and Peace

People were talking about violence in games recently. And the first thing that came to my mind was Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching about what we consume and why and how it influences us.

My feelings about violence in media have changed since I was a child. Back then the only arguments I heard suggesting we could benefit from being careful about how we consume media were from right-wing evangelicals who opposed human rights. I thought rejecting that idea was part of rejecting their bigotry.

But I've come to understand media as part of what we consume, and see how it can water different seeds in us, seeds we might not want to be watering. Fictional violence for entertainment stopped interesting me, and now I actively avoid it. There is more than enough real violence to attend to in the world.

In his book “Love in Action” about nonviolent social change Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the roots of war in our society. Not only the structural causes but the root causes of those structural causes.

He writes:

"There is a deep malaise in our society… The war is in our souls. Many of us are not healthy within, and yet we continue to look for things that only harm us more… We live in a society where we always feel we are lacking something, and we want to fill it… We are always trying to fill our void with something… But doing this only makes us less satisfied, hungrier, and we want to consume more. We feel alienated from ourselves. There is so much anger and fear in us, and we want to suppress them, so we consume more and more things that only increase the level of toxicity in us. We watch films filled with screaming and violence. We read magazines and novels filled with hatred and confusion. We do not even have the courage to turn off our TV, because we are afraid to go back to ourselves. Our society is sick. When we put a young person in this society without trying to protect them, they will receive violence, hatred, and fear every day and get sick. Our conversations, our TV programs, our advertisements, our newspapers, our magazines all water the seeds of suffering in young people and not-so-young people. How can we transform our individual consciousness and the collective consciousness of our society? The most important practice for preventing war is to stay in touch with what is refreshing, healing, and joyful inside us and all around us. If we practice walking mindfully, being in touch with the earth, the air, the trees, and ourselves, we can heal ourselves, and our entire society will also be healed. If the whole nation would practice watering seeds of joy and peace and not just seeds of anger and violence, the elements of war in all of us will be transformed. There are already seeds of peace in those we call 'hawks,' but they need us to water their seeds of peace and understanding or else their seeds of anger and aggression will continue to dominate them. Do not feel discouraged. Just by your way of looking at things and doing things, you influence others. Approach everyone with love and patience, and try to water the positive seeds in them. We have to help each other, being skillful, kind, and understanding. Blaming and arguing never help. In the practice of mindfulness, we nurture the ability to see deeply into the nature of things and people, and the fruit is insight, understanding, and love. Because we have not practiced deeply enough, violence has become the substance of our society… We accept violence as a way of life and as a way to deal with problems… We have to look at the roots of the problem and not just on the surface."

From “Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change” by Thich Nhat Hanh.

— Tip me on ko-fi.