Makeda Dread and the "New Race"

Letting go – Makeda’s Style

Makeda was kind enough to come to the temple to talk to us about her life, spiritual journey and the World Beat Center, which she runs. Before she came, Jeff told us a couple of times that we should be very grateful and honored for her visit. Jeff has a lot of respect for all of the speakers that come to talk to the Dharma Bum Life program; however I could tell that there was something about this lady that he thought was extra special.

Before her visit, I had seen Makeda on TV a couple of times and on the World Beat Center website and I was excited that she was coming to talk to us. Not so much because I thought that she might teach me a life changing spiritual lesson, but because she looked like a fun, free spirited, reggae type of lady who exudes good vibes and that for sure would keep us entertained.

I felt short with my assumption. On the one hand, I was right about her happy and upbeat demeanor and about her ability to keep us amused for over and hour and a half with her life stories and experiences. However, she was also able to teach me (and I think that the rest of the Dharma Bums as well) about using our suffering to let go of it.

That night we learned that this bubbly lady had had a pretty rough childhood. We heard about the times she felt discriminated and how she had to fight harder than most of us to achieve her dreams. We learned that most of her friends had decided to move out of San Diego and that she decided to stay to take care of the parents, despite the fact that it was them who caused a lot of her suffering. But despite the sad stories, this was not a sad presentation. Amazingly, as she talked about her suffering, there was no one bit of resentfulness or anger coming out of Makeda’s voice, in fact it was obvious that she embraced her past misfortunes. Makeda is a talented DJ, successful entrepreneur, love spreading cool reggae lady because she suffered and because she was able to let it go.

That night I started to realize that letting go is not actually a passive thing to do. For a long time, before that night, I had been trying to “let go” by having an “I don’t care if bad things happen to me” attitude because if I stopped caring it would stop affecting me and thus I would stop suffering. My technique worked to an extent, I did stop caring, but the suffering did not stop....I could not understand why, it was so unfair (oh no poor me!).

Makeda’s story taught me that effective letting go is an active empowering action. In order to stop my suffering I must be accountable for it, which means coming up with an effective plan to end it. Makeda does not feel like a victim of her difficult childhood, or her irresponsible parents. She does not use her past to feel sorry for herself and to blame everything bad on the fact that she had it tough. But she doesn’t pretend that she doesn’t care or that it never happened either. She embraces and learns from the pain and uses it to emerge strong and to accomplish her dreams. I am pretty sure that the World Beat Center (a wonderful organization by the way) would not be a reality if Makeda had grown up being spoiled.

So now everything that I have learned in the Dharma Bums Life program comes together. I am lucky enough to have been given the tools to come up with my plan to end my suffering. Yes meditation is difficult and yes finding the will to practice the six perfections can be time consuming, but I am not a victim here, I will not fuel my suffering or bad Karma by complaining even more. I will take this tools and I will use them because it is up to me and that is pretty freaking cool.

Dharma Bum Francesca

Visit with Dale

In the Garden with Julia Dashe

Permaculture presentation by Julia Dashe from the San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project (sandiegoroots.org)

“The first thing anyone should be taught about gardening when they are just beginning, is the process of composting,” Julia Dashe told our group one sunny afternoon while standing outside of the three compost bins at the Morse High School community garden. As we proceeded to ‘turn the bins’ with our shovels, putting air into the mixture, she explained that without the nutrients from the decaying organic matter, the seeds we had just planted could not survive. Compost is primarily formed from green and brown ‘wastes’ – dead plants, weeds, fruit peels, eggshells, dried leaves, paper, soil, a good watering and some mixing. Humidity, high temperature, and red worm castings all come together to produce a beautiful, dark brown batter rich in nutrients to recycle back into the garden.

This important lesson in the growth cycle of the garden can be applied to all of life – the transition from death to life, from destruction to creation, is just as important as the transition from life to death. Without some form of destruction and letting go of the old, there would be no room for growth and development for the new. Because every living being and the systems they are a part of go through numerous cycles of life and death in some way or another, ideally there should be no waste produced by the system. One creature’s poop is another’s house, and one dead animal can feed a whole family. This idea is the foundation to the permaculture movement, a 40-year old theory that began in agricultural design and is now flourishing as a completely sustainable approach to food, community and culture.

The Dharma Bums had the privilege to hear Julia speak about permaculture and sustainable gardening practices. She spoke of the vital need to carry on the once-traditional practices of locally grown food, while also incorporating new eco-friendly ‘green’ techniques so we can use our resources more wisely. For example, the current system allows huge industrial farms to economically plant row after row of the same species of corn, leading to the stripping of nutrients from the soil each year. However, permaculture suggests that we ecologically plant a mixed variety of plant species that can cohabitate with one another, allowing a sustainable and mutually dependent ecosystem to develop. Thus, the products of one piece in the system literally supply the needs of the neighboring elements, while doing little damage to the environment.

My experiences volunteering at the Terra Nova Garden at Morse High School and the City College Urban Farm in downtown San Diego have been truly life changing. Personally, I discovered that my passion and joy for life are recharged when I am in the garden connecting with all of the living creatures around me. I feel more alive when I am down-to-earth and meditating on the interconnectedness of all things, observing how there is an entire micro-ecosystem in just one square foot of dirt. Most importantly, I have taken these experiences out of the garden and into my daily life with the intention of being more mindful about how all of my actions affect the world around me. I believe that by practicing simple techniques that keep the whole system in mind, our society and communities can honor a sustainable approach to agriculture, local gardening, and the entire food system.

~ Dharma Bum Becky

Week 5 - Venerable Master Huei-Guang

Venerable Master Huei-Guang's talk started with a great question: "What is happiness?" and he proceeded to answer that question. Along the way, he covered a great deal of Buddhist thought including the Four Nobel Truths, the four types of enlightened beings, the five skandas and much more.

Though he tackled many deep topics, he kept the talk fun, and he spoke in a way so that we can take the knowledge and relate it to our own practice. For example, he tied the practice of patience into the modern mindset and how it relates to technology.

Finally, he related Buddhist thought to the practice of meditation, and he gave practical advice such as how morality is necessary to support the practice.

At the end of the talk, I felt like I had my head shoved full of the Buddhist Canon yet Venerable Master Huei-Guang looked as fresh as when he started. With good humor, he fielded a variety of questions. No matter how difficult or esoteric the question, he immediately grounded the topic and brought us back to the basics.

Dharma Bum Fred

Dharma Bum Temple Retreat

In one sense, there’s not a lot to write about regarding this retreat. In some ways it was the simplest of all our DBLP activities: we meditated for four sets of thirty minute sessions with ten minute, silent breaks in between.

On the other hand, when one stays still and silent, many complicated and intricate thoughts and feelings can bubble up. These feelings are very individual and idiosyncratic. Thus, there are as many accounts of this retreat as there were participants. This is one account.

In the time just before the retreat began, the early arrivers expressed apprehension at having to sit so much. This was the first half day retreat for the most of us.

Then we were informed that the retreat was silent, and it had all ready begun! From then on I felt as if I were in a kind of bubble or cocoon of silence. As per usual for the Dharma Bums Temple, meditation was regulated by a series of bell sounds. At this point in the program, we were all pros at sitting quietly at the sound of a bell. Another bell put us downstairs. Though we were permitted to eat, read, or whatever else one can do silently and without disturbing one’s neighbors, I elected to mainly just sit and wait, though I did eat a bit.

During the retreat, I was surprised to find that during the breaks, I actually craved going up to meditate. During the actual meditation, I was not really as concentrated as I wanted to be. I spent a lot of it lost in thought. I also smiled a lot and was in a calm and happy mood. I saw each meditation period as another chance to really get it right that is to stay more faithfully with my breath and not to get lost.

This is a purely subjective experience, and it was based on conditions coming together on one particular day. On a different day, I could imagine the opposite: relief during the break times and an eagerness to fill my mind with more reading and my body with food.

As it was, I did enjoy the breaks. I found that I was noticing my surroundings a great deal more than I had before. I never realized that there were so many details on a simple banana from the spotting of its skin to the irregular lines on the inside. Also, I never realized that there were statues of little men above the kitchen cabinet.

After the fourth retreat, Maggie prepared a delicious meal and healthy meal which we ate while continuing our cone of silence. The happiness I felt while eating, to me, was quite profound. This is because during meals I usually would browse the internet, listen to music, or read while eating. I found that eating was always distracting to my other activities and that I was never satisfied with my meals. Even though I would cram myself with food, I was never full, and I always wished I were eating something different. Here, I had no such wish. Each bite was my whole meal as I never knew when the meal would end. I realized that I didn’t need to stuff myself with food. There would be other times to eat. Since this retreat, I have eaten my meals in silence and focused on eating, and I have continued to benefit.

After the meal, we went lawn bowling. I found this activity to be quite strange after meditation. I wasn’t more focused on the game like I thought I would be. However, I did feel like I needed to do less and to be less. It was enough to feel the soft grass beneath my feet and to watch people roll the ball.

The best part of lawn bowling, though, was watching Jeff enjoy himself. Aside from meditation, I had never seen him so ecstatic about an activity.

After this retreat, I would very much like to do another retreat with the exact same schedule especially Maggie’s cooking and lawn bowling at the end!

Dharma Bum Fred

Dharma Bum Temple Retreat

The retreat at the DBT was great. We had no idea what the day would hold, so I walked in with a bit of excitement and curiosity. A 'menu' for the day was posted - a morning spent in silence (meditation, tea, meditation, tea etc) then a silent lunch. What a great shared experience; it felt good to be in a group and not HAVE to talk - I could just read or write or sit drinking tea AND still hang out with everyone. Maggie whipped up an amazing lunch (in like 20 minutes) and I can still hear the sound of others chewing which I don't think I've ever noticed before. I liked mindfully waiting for the food vs. mindlessly diving in.

After all the silence, Jeff announced we were going lawn bowling. I laughed - lawn bowling . . . seriously? How cool is that? We went to the LBClub in Balboa Park and a team of members gave us group lessons. Such a fantastic afternoon in the sun, feeling calm and relaxed, easily chatting with my classmates about meditation and mindfulness. We really had fun cheering each other on and I really found it helpful to talk about all that silence and what came up. I found the discussions very purposeful and there seemed to be little to no 'small talk' - our shared words were mindful. (Although they said they had never played, I still think Maggie & Jeff have been on a lawn bowling team before as they were quite good!)

Dharma Bum Beth

Dharma Bum Lawn Bowling

Week 4 Guest - Peter Romasciewicz

6 Perfections w/ Ken

Week 3 Guest - Jim Bell

Jim Bell is clearly a caring and intelligent man with a passion for the helping the planet. His desire to work for positive change is apparent to those who listen to him speak. He has devoted a lot of time and energy to trying to solve the problems of energy, water, and how to help our small planet survive. I applaud his efforts and would like to see more of his ideas implemented.

Best,
Dharma Bum Chris

Zazen w/ Ken

San Diego Zen Center Retreat

Week 2 Guest - Jo-Ann Jaffe

Jo-Ann Jaffe came to speak about Second Chance which is a non-profit that assists homeless and those who have completed prison sentences in finding employment. The program is so successful, 70% of those enrolled keep jobs for a year or more, that they have moved to a lottery system so they can keep the program small and effective.
In some ways, the program is similar to the Dharma Life Program in that everyone is treated as an adult. Also, in the beginning, they tell their stories on how they got there. Of course, everyone feels that their story is the worst. This was similar to Week 1 of the Dharma Life Program where we read the letters. Just like in the DLP, after all the letters are read, the participants realized that they weren’t alone in their bad luck and that their suffering was universal.
However, the Second Chance participants are not allowed to use their suffering as an excuse to not progress through the twenty one day program. Thus out of seventy-five people a month, thirty graduate. Out of those who do make it through the program, ninety percent keep their jobs after a year. Thus the strictness of the program breeds success.
In fact, the program has zero tolerance for substance abuse. Failing to keep one’s promises to fulfill the program’s responsibilities leads to immediate termination with a chance to reapply for the next time. Many people who have dropped out the first time, were highly motivated to finish the second time.
Though the program is rigorous, humor is highly encouraged. Also, the participants are taught to seek employment that fits their personalities and unique skill sets. Along with the discipline comes an array of resources including cognitive behavioral counseling, career counseling, and advice on how to change one’s appearance to be the best candidate for the job.
In addition to the overview of the program, Jo-Ann shared her own story which was inspiring. In her position in banking, she came in contact with non-profits that the bank dealt with. The more she saw what good the non-profits did the more she felt “her heart unzip”. Eventually, she had earned herself a position in life where it was favorable for her to work at a non-profit. She chose Second Chance because it was a mission she could put her heart into.

Week 2 Meditation w/ Dharma Bum Jake

Week 1 - Surprise Guest - David

Sometimes the best things in life are unplanned. This was true with our first guest in the program, David.

David missed his calling in stand-up comedy. He was an engaging speaker throughout his talk. Unfortunately, this comedy is a way of dealing with his lifelong addiction to alcohol. Therefore, any humor that he had was mixed with the bitter lifetime wasted on drink which corroded his income, his health, and most importantly his relationship with his family.

However, he had the uncanny fortune of a family that would continue to love him despite the scares he put them through. The latest scare being his literal deathbed. He discussed his experiences in the hospital, and the revelation that he had to turn his life around. Supporting him in this endeavor were his family including his niece who had come to San Diego to visit from New York.

In fact it was his niece who suggested that he come into the Dharma Bums Temple for the first time ever. Previously, the closest he had come was the front door. However, he must have felt that there was spiritual support from the Temple as he had spent a lot of time in the previous months outside looking in.

After his speech, he was whole-heartedly welcomed to come sit with the Dharma Bums Lifers. He was invited to come every Friday and Sunday as well, when the Temple is open for public meditations.

We’d like to thank David for his story which contained much pain and sadness as well as a determination to give his family a better life by moving them out West outside the ghettos of New York City. We wish him and his family the best, and we thank him for the unexpected and invaluable contribution to the Dharma Bum Life Program.

Written by Dharma Bum Fred

Week 1 - Application Letter

I was so nervous for the first meeting. Would I measure up with the other bums? Would I fit in?

Then I took a deep breath and realized that I was attending an adult program not going starting high school! Also, I have found through the years that no matter how bad something is, I can always meditate. To learn more about this refuge is one of the reasons I started the program in the first place.

Of course, like most of my fears, hates, and even desires, I found them to be unfounded. Many of the people were familiar. Soon we were talking about what drew us to meditation.

Then came the first meditation bell. The sit was nice not just because sitting can be nice, but also because we learned the value of silence which informed the entire Dharma Bums Life program.

For me, one of the biggest draws to meditation is because I am too full of chatter and too undisciplined. After this first meditation, I felt like the program was for real. Silence and appropriate behavior were expected. This made me very happy.

Finally, we read the application letters. When I wrote mine, I thought, “I hope that they pick me.” I never thought that the letter was going to be read in front of so many people. When I heard other people’s letters, I realized that there was more suffering in the world than I ever imagined. I knew, intellectually, that suffering was all pervasive, but through the letter reading this really hit home because the people who wrote the letters seemed so normal and well adjusted. Now I am learning that no matter how happy and successful someone seems, they can harbor a great deal of pain. Also, though, I learned about how intelligent and spiritually advanced the group was. I was glad to be part of such an amazing group of people.

All my life I had longed for Sangha, a practicing community, and the missing piece of the triple refuge (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) in my life.

Written by Dharma Bum Fred

Introduction to Dharma Bum Life

The Dharma Bum Life Program is founded on principles known as the Six Perfections. These six principles (generosity, morality, patience, diligence, concentration, wisdom) when carried out in life provide the foundation for peace and happiness in every moment. This program will help you develop proper daily motivation, great compassion and impartial loving-kindness.

The practice of learning how to still the body, silence the speech, and calm the mind through meditation is one of great benefit. You will learn how to live a simple, beneficial and happy life through constant application of mindfulness. There will be lessons on how to live comfortably with little money, how to be mindful in regards to the environment, how to work with the homeless, how to redistribute food, how to lead meditation in the community and how to provide general community service where people are in need.

The Dharma Bum Life Program will consist of 18 group meetings at the Dharma Bum Temple, starting June 2nd and ending July 30th. We will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9pm. Program participants will also meet with their own small groups once a week to work on various projects.

In addition, there will be four dharma bum retreats on a Saturday where we will meet withteachers, work on different projects throughout the community, and practice the art of meditation.