Blessed Be from the Deer Park Temple

Looking out from an auspicious spot, we often have an overwhelming level of conviction. It seems to come from embracing a wider perception. When the horizon retreats behind hill after hill, of which you have a commanding view, it would be odd if one did not feel a sense of both awareness of and participation in ones' surroundings. The Deer Park Temple near Madison, Wisconsin is one of these auspicious places. Serene and tranquil, nearly surrounded by nature, the wild is invigorating to visitors and the views of the countryside are amazing. Oddly enough, my brother and sister-in-law drive past this place twice every day on their way to work and back, but had never entered the driveway. It took me being with them, and being intent on visiting, that got them to stop. I saw the Wisconsin Public Television special about the building of the Deer Park Temple and have always wanted to go. This is a truly special place and is worth putting on your list of things to see when in or around the Madison area.

I have been designing on a set of assumptions throughout my entire life. These sets of data regard the rising and setting of the sun, the seasons and ironically, the forms of this temple fit quite well into the template that I worked up. The ratios of south facing overhang and portico could have been designed by my hand. The biggest difference is that I envisioned glazing over the southward aperture and this design is open. Perhaps if there were a weather curtain of sorts that would only be used during inclement weather or after nightfall, it would become more active solar. The intricate beauty of this design is both timeless and cutting edge. Both massive and spare, ornate and simple in equal measure. Again, at this location, the words of Ram Dass rang true in my mind's ear. first he gave us a source of reference by using Ha Fiz's poem. The fish trap exists because of the fish, once you have gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. "Words," Ram Dass continued, "exist because of meaning, once you have the meaning, you can forget the words. Where is the man who has forgotten words, so that I might have a word with him?" Being a young child I had every instinct to throw my hand in the air, (I had been trained well in school.) and run to him just to be in his presence. (I was still a bit wild at heart in the bi-centennial year 1976). Instead some overwhelming pressure to conform kept me from doing either. Instead I sat quietly by my mother's side, not wanting to call attention to one of the few females in the room and wondered why many of the adult men in the audience had nervous giggles and childlike behavior at the remark . Later I surmised that they had been completely unaware of either of these concepts and that they certainly were not sure what they would have to say in the off chance that they did begin to make sense of meaning not requiring words. The whole point seemed to be painfully missed by most there because the truth of the matter is that we just need to BE and it will all happen. Ram Dass claimed that we need to be together, but as my chronic readers will understand, the world has been subjected to the shrink wrap of the internet. Light speed communication exempts us from the need to be proximal. Be the person who makes you the happiest and you will soon find liberation from the lies that bind you to dysfunction. This may sound "finger pointy" but I acknowledge that It goes for me too, I'm guilty, but don't harp on it, continue to punish myself for these digressions and I try not to keep the ruse alive when I notice it.

When we find ourselves in a place...ready to move on, but stymied by our ego, it is well to remember the wise words of my friend Jim Baker, "When every key has failed, it is a good thing there's still the skeleton key." There are times that courting the angel of death is not only good for us, but essential. We all get wrapped up in our fictitious sense of ourselves, some even believe the lies to be true, but the only thing that can allow us to take that one step beyond what we were able to perceive or to do before, is to release the power that the lies have over us to create something in the way of relationship with the world around us. I have personally "executed" at least one "me" that needed to leave this plane of existence, so I can speak with authority that the lies we tell ourselves must die if we are to live.

Wise men and women have said for hundreds of generations that on our deathbed we will never pine for the pennies we squandered, or remember a single transaction made with greedy desire or deceit in our hearts. We will remember the days filled with the happy faces of the people we have loved, the warmth of our brethren and the tears of joy that we have shared in the warmth of one an others company that will make those last moments tolerable. Would it not be best if we would all live a little closer to the angel of death if for nothing else but to feel these sentiments more acutely and more urgently?

We are struggling under a cacophony of lies and deceptions that threaten to rear the world apart at the seams. Surely, there are those among us who have the quiet awareness of time and perception on their side. Can we not take one brief moment to allow ourselves to listen? Simple things, BEing, hearth, home, place. These are all that matter. The economic crash has brought millions of families closer together if only because they cannot afford to live apart. It has reduced travel and allowed a renewed connection to the land that is unprecedented in history. more people returned to the land to farm last year in America than in any year ever, in our history. Things are looking up, let's just hope that those young families will take the time to BE, first and foremost and from there, I have great confidence that they will do the right things as well as leaving the wrong things undone!