Buddha in Chains..

“You can come to truth only when you are absolutely nude; when you have discarded all clothes, all philosophies, all theologies, all religions; when you have dropped all that has been given to you; when you come empty-handed, not knowing in any way. When you come with knowledge you come already corrupted. When you come in innocence, knowing that you don’t know, then the doors are open — then you will be able to know. Only that person who has no knowledge is capable of knowing.”

OSHO

The rainbow of truth…..

O.K. …  It’s the ol’ Christian/Muslim fundamentalist vs. EVERTHING else.

I just can’t imagine how someone in our modern day society, with all our information and technology, can be so swept away, so rigid, so unyielding, so unable to entertain there are other opinions and beliefs in the world??? This is the cause of wars, religion causes most of the problems, and fighting around the globe. One person saying theirs in “the only way”. Christian fundamentalists say this all the time. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and asked for salvation, you are doomed to live in Hell the rest of your days.

Bullshit.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this is just absolutely crazy, brain washed, Jim Jones kool aid drinking, thinking to me. What about that little Chinese lady squatting in the garden. She loves her family, works hard, is a friend to everyone. She is kind and sweet to neighbors and compassionate to all. She doesn’t curse, is extremely happy, polite and conscientious, and always laughs her troubles away. All she has ever done is GOOD. She is a Buddhist, not a Christian or Catholic.

But…..she is going to HELL??????

Oh I guess, she’ll find herself  in hell then with The Dalai Lama, The Maharishi, Thich Nhat Hahn, Krishna, and Mahavira just to name a few. I’d say pretty interesting company.

How can someone believe this is true? It seems unfathomable to me. But, I guess they do. What really bothers me is that they think theirs is the ONLY religion, and wouldn’t even entertain listening or reading anything else. Isn’t this what we call brain washing? When the doctrine is so regimented that nothing else is even respected…..on the contrary it is belittled, and scoffed at.

I try to have respect for everyone’s belief, it is such a personal issue….But I’ll admit it……

I do have a problem with these kind of self serving Christians who are cloaked in the “right religion”, they thoughtlessly throw a bible verse, dismissing the offending person as the devil, bigoted, close minded, or even calling you the aniti-christ, is their usual response.

This fundamentalists mind set, whether Muslim or Christian is an accepted response to God’s powers and is actually an intimidation to thinking clearly. They are swept away in terror and the horror of burning alive, etc.

My understanding is that Jesus Christ was an enlightened being like many others before him, and many to come after. He was a loving, compassionate teacher, who befriended even the worst of the worst. Do you think that the loving Jesus would say some of the things that come out of the mouths of these fanatics…..I think not.

My take……I get something out of every religious book or quote I happen to read. The kindness and compassion of the Dalai Lama IS as real as Jesus Christ’s. The understanding and guidance of  Thich Nhat Hahn is equal to Lao Tsu. If people want goodness and kindness they have to be willing to accept it, opening their minds and hearts to the world we live in.

There is NOT JUST ONE WAY!

The world comes in many colors, many beliefs, and many faces.

I’m an old hippy who happens to believe the rainbow has more than one color in it. I must have patience and compassion for those with a closed door of a mind.

A couple of quotes from The Dalai Lama…..

“The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind. It enables us to remain undisturbed, even when the situation is really difficult. It gives us a certain amount of inner peace, which allows us some self-control, so that we can choose to respond to situations in an appropriate and compassionate manner, rather than being driven by our disturbing emotions.”

“The quality of everything we do: our physical actions, our verbal actions, and even our mental actions, depends on our motivation. That’s why it’s important for us to examine our motivation in our day to day life. If we cultivate respect for others and our motivation is sincere, if we develop a genuine concern for others’ well-being, then all our actions will be positive.”

 

IMPORTANT new bill re:artists rights!

Four Things to Know About the Nutty New Droit de Suite Bill Introduced in Congress Last Week

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Courtesy EricMagnuson via Flickr

Capitol Hill

by Shane Ferro

Published: December 21, 2011

Imagine you are an artist, and you sell a painting to someone for $10,000. Ten years later, your popularity has spiked and that someone sells your painting at auction for $1 million. The price appreciation is great for the collector, but under current U.S. law, it’s not so great for the artist — he or she receives none of the proceeds from the resale. Now two Democratic congressmen, House representative Jerry Nadler of New York’s 8th District and Senator Herb Kohl from Wisconsin, are trying to change that.

The pair introduced a bill in Congress last week that would guarantee an artists’ right to resale royalties — or droit de suite, to use the French term — for visual artwork bought on the secondary market. This law already exists in Europe, where it will expand even further in 2012, and it’s already (a much-flouted) state law in California. But certain artists and their advocates would like to see it go federal in the U.S. One major difference between the new proposed legislation and the other models is that the Nadler-Kohl bill would restrict royalties to works bought at public auctions through houses that bring in revenue over $25 million per year — only big fish like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips de Pury, Heritage, and Bonhams, in other words. Secondary-market sales through galleries, dealers, and online auction sites like ebay are all exempt, as are auction house private sales. Those restrictions aside, the bill proposes an exorbitantly expensive royalty — a full seven percent tax — that is far higher than its European counterpart, and is likely to forever change the secondary-market landscape in the U.S. if passed.

On the surface, the Nadler-Kohl bill seems rational — it’s a populist response to the corporate behemoths that rule the art world and give collectors in the 1 percent a platform on which to throw millions of dollars back and forth between one another. But the problem is that it goes too far and is likely to backfire. The tax is substantial enough to cause the auction houses to change their business model rather than pay it, and in the end it would serve to either line the pockets of the establishment while punishing struggling artists, or push even more of the auction market to Hong Kong. ARTINFO studied the text of the proposed legislation and pulled out five things you need to know about it and its consequences.

IT WILL DRIVE THE MARKET TO MORE PRIVATE SALES

The exclusion of private sellers from the bill is an attempt to circumvent one of the major arguments against droit de suite in Europe, which is that it disproportionately affects smaller galleries and dealers because they are ill-equipped to shoulder the administrative costs of paying the royalties and tracking artists down — unlike the major auction houses. The problem is, the biggest sales done in the art world often happen in the back room. The rumored top three art sales in history (“rumored” because private sales don’t need to be disclosed) are Jackson Pollock‘s “No. 5, 1948,” which was sold privately by music executive David Geffen through Sotheby’s for $140 million to an anonymous buyer in 2006; Willem de Kooning‘s “Woman III,” which was sold (again) by Geffen to hedge fund giant Steve Cohen through megadealer Larry Gagosian for $137.5 million in 2006; and Gustav Klimt‘s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” which was sold privately through Christie’s by Maria Altmann to cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder for $135 million in 2006.

While the thrill of the packed auction room certainly boosts hammer prices for Christie’s and Sotheby’s, it’s clear that they can also pull in impressive sums privately. A massive tax is likely to push even more big-ticket items behind the curtain of private sales, or into the hands of secretive dealers like Gagosian who have an interest in keeping quiet about who’s buying, who’s selling, and what prices are like at the top end of the market.

IT’S NOT A SLIDING SCALE

One of the craziest things about this bill is that it institutes a flat tax on the auction houses — the rate is seven percent whether a work sells for $10,000 or $10 million. In Europe, droit de suite is determined by a sliding scale, much like buyer’s premiums at auction houses. For work sold for more than €1,000 and less than €50,000 the royalty is four percent, but as the price goes higher the percentage charged for the royalty goes down. At the low end, sellers of works that reach prices of more than €500,000 ($651,000) are only taxed .25 percent. Assuming prices are always in dollars to avoid exchange rate confusion, the auction house that, say, sold a painting for $1 million in London or Paris would be responsible for a few thousand dollars in European droit de suite taxes. Under this proposed legislation, if Christie’s or Sotheby’s in New York sold a painting for the same amount, the auction house would be responsible for $70,000 in taxes.

A difference of more than $50,000 in tax for selling a $1 million work of art in New York versus London is far more than enough to defray the cost of shipping the work to Europe for auction. As a result, New York’s long-held dominance in the contemporary art auction market could be imperilled, with much of the inventory being shipped to London, or even better, Hong Kong, to be sold at their respective contemporary auctions.

COLLECTION AGENCIES WIN, ARTISTS LOSE

The essence of the bill is this: after an auction, the house has 90 days to pay a collection agency the royalty. That agency can then take up to 18 percent off the top for its own operating expenses. Half of what’s left goes into an account that will be used to fund various art nonprofits. Then, and only then, does the artist get a cut — now down below 3 percent of the purchase price. For the minimum price of $10,000, the artist would get $287.

The problem with this is that collectors buying in the primary market are going to expect to have to pay the full seven percent royalty if they resell a work. If they expect to get seven percent less back if they resell the work, they probably won’t be willing to pay as high a price in the primary market, meaning that the artist would lose out on the first transaction. The vast majority of artists never see their work get resold at auction, so they only lose out on the first purchase of their work.

THE CAVEAT

The one caveat to all of this analysis is that it relies on basic economic theory, which has one major flaw: it assumes rationality. If you have ever been to a flashy contemporary art sale at one of the major auction houses, rational is the last word you would use to describe it. As art advisor Todd Levin told ARTINFO in regards to the European droit de suite question, “I get that the economists are looking at this strictly as a dollar-and-cents thing, but I don’t think that the economists get how the collectors think.”

Danger: truth at work!

The twinkling eyes of Osho. I love this photo, he looks so mischievious, like he has probably just ripped someone wide open with one statement exposing their soul to the Universe.

Check out what programs are available this winter at www.Osho.com

If you cannot get to India, read a book, or listen to a discourse.

I guarantee it will change your life, no kidding.

Osho is one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, and the least known.

“We have to learn a totally new language, only then can this old rotten humanity be changed. We have to learn the language of health, wholeness, happiness.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      OSHO

Funky Blocks are coming soon…..

This one is for you Teresa…..Inked out Funk! The latest direction in my www.alohablocks.com series. The first of many “funky blocks” to come

Help these Osho Sannyasins!

Rashmi and Rajnish at AVANI, a sannyasin-run NGO in the Himalayas,
urgently needs your ONLINE VOTE, to win a grant for their new clean energy
project.
If you haven’t already voted may I please ask you to log on and vote
here:
http://www.sparktherise.com/projectdetail.php?pid=4238The
project will provide clean energy, livelihoods and help in forest regeneration.
It’s potential for upscaling could lead to quality of life improvements for tens
of thousands of remote villagers living in the world’s highest
mountains.

Avani have been working for 14 years in villages in these
mountains, providing solar lighting and developing natural textile production.
Inspired bu Osho’s vision, Rashmi and Rajnish emphasise trust, respect and
self-sufficiency in their relationships with local people. I have seen what they
have done for myself, and am truely inspired!

Logging on and voting takes
a couple of minutes.
Click the green ‘VOTE’ button.
Fill in the pop up
box, with any name and password you want.
Retrieve the email from the email
address you gave.
Click on the link inside it.
That’s all.

Nirvana…..

An article written about my art, I will let you know soon with a link to the NEW ART Magazine in Los Angeles!

HAPPY Holi

Hey artists, how amazing would it be to be in the middle of all of this. The JOYOUS celebration of Holi in India. I will be here next year for this!

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram hare hare

Wooooo hooooooooooo!

Osho…my sannyas,

I first heard about Osho from my son. He was in India touring around the country and ended up at the ashram in Pune. At first I had terrible visions of my son shaving his head, wearing red robes and giving up his freedom to join some wierd ass cult.I was all the way on the other side of the world, how would I protect him….my “Mom”  mind started spinning.  I freaked out. Why? I am an open minded hippy from the 60′s, why would I have such a reaction? He happened to call home for a birthday or Mothers Day or something, and I’ll never forget it he said…”Mom, just go buy a book of his and read it, and then we’ll talk”

I immediately went to The Bodi Tree in L.A. and found about 40 books by this Osho fellow. I read and fell instantly in love, this man was saying everything I had felt, and opened my mind to open thinking, and more importantly NO thinking, just meditation.

Well that was the beginning of my life long love affair, and why I became a sannyasin.

Thanx T I am eternally grateful,

love, Mom

www.Osho.com

Earth house $5,000

Cash, that most basic element of our economy, can be in abysmally short supply for new young families scraping by on marginal jobs.

Sustainable housebuilding may not be foremost in their minds.

But one young couple in Wales managing on an annual income of just $10,000 went ahead and built their own cheap home anyway, sustainably, mostly out of materials from “a rubbish pile somewhere.”

They had wanted to spend as much time as possible at home while their two children were young. Their nearby woodlands ecological management work would have been impractical if they were paying a mortgage.

So they enlisted some help from family, and sometimes just from people passing by, and from any of their friends who stopped by to visit:

The result was their very low impact homemade house. A hand built unique setting for a charmed life for their two young toddlers. I’ll bet they’ll remember this first home for the rest of their lives.

Four months of hard work and they were all 4 moved in and cozy.

Total expenditure? $5,000. Tools? A chisel, a chainsaw and a hammer. Building expertise? Simon Dale says:

“My experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around in-between. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverance and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.”

Sustainable design and construction:

1. Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
2. Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
3. Frame constructed of fallen trees from surrounding woodland
4. Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally very easy to do
5. Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
6. Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
7. Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture compared to cement
8. Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
9. Other items were reclaimed from “a rubbish pile somewhere”: windows, wiring, plumbing

(Maybe there should be a new LEED rating just for building so inexpensively: Sustainable Financing. This is one mortgage bill that’s not going to be haunting their mum and dad for years.) Inside there’s a wood-burner for heating – waste wood in the old-growth forest is locally plentiful.To get the most of the heat, the flue goes through a big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly releases the warmth.

There are just a couple of solar panels – just enough for for lighting, music and computing. It’s a simple life. A skylight in the roof lets in enough natural feeling light, and water is fed by gravity downhill from a nearby spring. There’s a compost toilet. Roof water collects in a pond for gardening

Says Simon: “Our house is unusual but the aesthetic appeals to lots of people and perhaps touches something innate in us that evolved in forests.”

Want to try making one too? Simon will show you how or check out other green homes for more ideas and inspiration like this post on building a cob house.

Images: www.SimonDale.net