OraWorldMandala

Is the latest project I'm working on. In the middle of packing out of Sequim and towards Seattle, SF, and Mexico (where I'll be from 23rd april onwards, for 5 weeks at least, address forthcoming) so this isn't going to be lucid as your recent dreams. But I'm going to paste in some links and documents to give a small sense of what this project is all about.

the website:

www.oraworldmandala.org

a summary of the first experiment
and
an invitation
to follow...

*

First experiment: "Opening an Archive of the Earth"

The first experiment of the OraWorldMandala project, Education for a
Culture of Peace and Non-violence, started on April 2005, in Gujarat,
India, the native soil of Mahatma Gandhi. To date, the ongoing
experiment includes five actions.

Opening

The first action took place on the 23rd of April, 2005. An inter-faith
communion was initiated, bringing together people from various
religious communities to remember the message of love and harmony of
Mahatma Gandhi through meditation, prayer, song, and dance. The action
culminated in an offering of the element "Earth" in which each
religious group brought earth from its sacred places to place in a
large earthen vessel normally used to store grain and water: the
"Archive of the Earth". Over five hundred people representing eight
religious communities, various Tribal peoples, artistic, scientific,
and social institutions, participated in the action at the Sabarmati
Ashram, whose resonance and radiance will spread through the world.

Yatra for a World of Equity and All Religions Prayer

From this seed of peace, on the 18th of December, 2005, a second
action bloomed in the shape of colourful lotus: thousands of paper
petals, created by thousands of children, were installed around the
"Archive of the Earth". The children, including differently-abled and
blind children, led a Yatra (march) for a World of Equity, holding
their petals to their hearts. Through their petals, more than five
thousand children expressed their dreams of Ahimsa in writing,
painting and singing the "Chant of the Wind" to represent the beauty
of a world that still believes in the value of Unity in diversity.
Three days later, at sunrise on the day of the Northern Solstice, the
founders of the ongoing experiment met at the Sabarmati Ashram to
perform the Surya Namaskar (Salutation to the Sun) and the Sarva
Dharma Prarthana (All religions prayer) of Mahatma Gandhi, around the
beautiful flower that bloomed from their aspiration of peace. A
message from his Holiness the Dalai Lama encouraging the continuation
of the action reached this auspicious moment of communal harmony:
"…Harmony among different religions is essential for peace not only in
the world at large, but also in the very localities where we live. In
order to develop genuine harmony, it´s extremely important that we
cultivate genuine respect for one another. I believe that people with
religious interests have special responsibilities in this regard and I
am impressed by the efforts being focused in this direction by
concerned citizens of Ahmedabad…"

The Eye of Truth

The fourth action took place on the 10th and 11th of June 2006 on the
Quemado Mountain (Desert of San Luis Potosi). In accordance with the
Huichol tradition, Reunar or Cerro Quemado is a vision of devotion to
the Sun guided by the Eagle. For the first time in history, the
Huichol people or Wisharica (as they call themselves), opened the
sacred doors of the Cerro Quemado to a large group of people belonging
to different visions and backgrounds. This gesture of love and
tolerance suggests a new approach to the process of social inclusion
that is going on in the country.
Around two hundred people (representatives of the five Huichol
communities, leaders from different spiritual traditions and
movements, managers, scientists, social workers, individuals and the
OraWorldMandala friends) coming from various sites of Mexico met on
the 10th June in the main square of the historical town of Real de
Catorce, to begin the silent pilgrimage to the Cerro Quemado. At
sunset, the people expressed their commitment to ahimsa in a special
moment dedicated to Gandhiji. A text of the Mexican writer Carlos
Montemayor was read to stress the importance of the values transmitted
by the Mahatma. The night was accompanied by sacred chants performed
by an elder Huichol shaman in dialogue with his Gods. At sunrise, the
petals of the colorful lotus created by the Indian children were
offered to the Elders to preserve the purity of a real hope for Peace.
Then the master collected soils of the Quemado that will be later
offered to the "Archive of the Earth" at the Sabarmati Ashram.
Finally, we installed the Eye of Truth: a collective work of art
jointly created by the participants with bamboo and colorful threads
in the shape of Tsikuli, a sacred instrument used by the Huicholes.
This sacred eye faced east and west toward the Sabarmati Ashram
symbolically seeing the principles of Truth circumambulating the
globe.

Reconciliation through the opposites

India and Mexico are located on opposite sides of the globe. On
October 2, Indians commemorate the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi
(1869), father of non-violence and the nation. On the same date, in
Mexico, it is the anniversary of the violent tragedy of Tlatelolco
(1968). On the 2nd October 2006 the fifth action took place expressing
our intention to reconcile the minds and hearts of the participants,
resonating ahimsa within each person, their families, their societies,
and with our Planet as a whole.

Sabarmati Ashram (India):
October 2, 2006, 18.30P.M – Union of the soils from India and Mexico.
The Wirrarika Marakames from Mexico united the soils taken from the
Cerro Quemado in Mexico with the soils offered by the eight religious
communities in Ahmedabad on April 23, 2005. This alliance of the
ancient knowledge of the two countries seals the opening of the
Archive of the Earth. Now the Archive is open to receive soils from
different sites of the world offered by people who share the vision of
a peaceful planet, and are willing to explore their own evolution, and
those of their associated institutions, in fulfillment of that vision.

Mahatma Gandhi Monument, Bosque de Chapultepec (Mexico):
October 2, 2006, 8A.M – Offering your soil for the Planet. Individuals
and groups with different missions offered a handful of soil, in
silence, in a collective Mandala in front of the monument. As October
2, 2006 fell on a Monday, the day of the week that found Gandhi in
silence, we used silence as an instrument to increase the resonance of
our actions, creating a path from violence to Non-violence. A text was
written and read by Rahul Alvarez Garin, representative of the Comite
'68, to stress the importance of Ahimsa today in Mexico and in the
World. The soils which formed the Mandala, will be offered next to the
"Archive of the Earth" in Sabarmati Ashram.

The five actions have been realized and fully documented through the
cooperation, the economic participation and the voluntary work of all
the participants, namely eleven religious communities, forty schools,
colleges, various artistic, social and educational institutions, NGOs,
women organizations, representatives of tribal and native peoples,
artists coming from different horizons and nationalities, individuals
and scientists.

*

An Invitation to Cerro Quemado:

Dear Friends of OraWorldMandala,

On October 2nd of 2006, in the Sabarmati Ashram, Mahatma Gandhi's center of operations for many years, we opened the Archive of the Earth: the union of earth from India and Mexico symbolically marking the cultural alliance between two ancient civilizations on opposite sides of the globe, which have united in the common cause of Ahimsa, non-violence, and respect for all life.
(see http://www.oraworldmandala.org)

The Archive of the Earth is a large earthen vessel, traditionally used in India to store grains or water. Now this Archive is open to receive earth from all over the world, offered by people and institutions who share a vision of a peaceful planet and are ready to explore their own evolution as a means of achieving this larger Peace.

On the other side of the world from India's Sabarmati Ashram, we find the Cerro Quemado in Real de Catorce, the sacred mountain of the native Wisharrika, better known as the Huicholes,. Ont eh 10th and 11th of June, 2006, we performed a ceremony to collect and to offer earth to the Archive, sealing the alliance between India and Mexico.
(see the fourth action, http://www.oraworldmandala.org).

OraWorldMandala has committed to return to the Huicholes for five years -- each year finds us with the Huicholes' elder shamans, collecting the earth of the Cerro Quemado for the Archive, to make together the road to Ahimsa.
Continuing with this commitment, the 2nd offering of earth will take place under the full moon on the 31st of May, 2007. Once again, we will walk in silent pilgrimage from Real de Catorce to the sacred Cerro Quemado, guided by the Huicholes. The installation of the Eye of Truth, a work of art created with colorful threads and bamboo by he participants in the form of a Tsikuli (a sacred tool of the Huicholes) will close the ceremony.

The intention of this second offering of the earth is to promote Ahimsa as the point of convergence among different belief systems, and to benefit the well being of all.

OraWorldMandala invites you, once again to join this action and offering on the 31st of May and 1st of June, 2007, Cerro Quemado (Real del Catorce).