Occupy Heartbreak
November 26, 2012 § Leave a comment
This essay was originally published on The Under 35 Project under the title Heartbreak and Revolution. A version of this piece appears in the January 2013 edition of Shambhala Sun Magazine.
It’s a windy October Wednesday afternoon and I am heading down to Liberty Plaza to meditate at the Occupation of Wall St. My heart is bruised, raw… I feel an ache in the center of my chest, a lump in the back of my throat that I can’t swallow away. It hurts and it hurts and it hurts. The one I loved and trusted has kicked me to the curb. There were words.
“This is not working for me, and please don’t take it personally.”
Ouch. This silly heart, she breaks so easily. I should be used to it. How many times have I nursed this frivolous risk-taker of a heart this year? Four times? Five? « Read the rest of this entry »
Urban Sangha Project at Occupy Town Square
February 14, 2012 § 1 Comment
On February 11th Occupy Town Square at the West Park Presbyterian Church on west 86th St brought together activists young and old, seasoned veterans and newcomers, Marxists, anarchists, socialists, bloggers, screen-printers, dreamers, and me. Walking in I found myself unexpectedly incredibly moved by the atmosphere of camaraderie and, dare I say it, family. It felt so good to be together again in solidarity, occupying the same space, with my brothers and sisters in this struggle for a more peaceful and just world. Occupy Town Square was the easy relaxed conversation and sharing that we’d been missing since Mayor Bloomberg’s brutal eviction of OWS from the grounds of Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park).
Food from the People’s Kitchen! Books from the People’s Library! Performances on the People’s Stage! Think Tank. Dancing. Yelly person yelling. And so much more. It was like being back in the park but indoors! It was truly beautiful.
We met awesome new people and reconnected with old friends as Booker and I passed around flyers for the Urban Sangha Project’s new Thursday afternoon class called Sustainable Activism. It’s a 90 minute class that includes yoga, meditation and dialogue.
Sustainable Activism: Yoga and Meditation Class from the Urban Sangha Project
in affinity with the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street
Join us on Thursdays at noon for an hour and a half of yoga, meditation and dialogue to express and celebrate our work as Change Makers. These classes are a way to get support, release tension, create community and to find some balance so that there is sustainability in their activism.
Join the event on Facebook.
Follow OWSMeditation on Twitter.
Follow Margarita on Twitter.
This post is published as Reppin Urban Sangha Project at Occupy Town Square on PinnedNYC.
#OccupySamsara: Just the Two of Us
December 10, 2011 § Leave a comment
Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky.
When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance.What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear?
Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self.
When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear?See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.-from the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu (author), Stephen Mitchell (translation) « Read the rest of this entry »
#OccupySamsara: What It Is Right Now
December 8, 2011 § Leave a comment
Lately it’s been difficult to write about Occupy Wall Street both for lack of time (what with all the marches, rallies, and meetings) and also because there’s so much to say. It’s hard to know where to start. There are a lot of emotions. « Read the rest of this entry »
#OccupySamsara: 99+1 Meditation at Liberty Plaza
November 22, 2011 § Leave a comment
Yesterday was my turn to lead the daily meditation so I got to Liberty Plaza around 3:15pm. There were two lines of police barricades all around the park but I was already used to it. I walked around till I found the sanctioned entrance guarded by seven private security guards in yellow jackets and walked in. « Read the rest of this entry »
#OccupySamsara: What People See at OWS
November 10, 2011 § Leave a comment
Occupy Wall Street can look like many different things to different people. It can look inspiring – wow, here are at all these people trying to do something positive for the world! Or it can look frightening – ew, what a bunch of no-good dreamers vandalizing a nice park in New York’s Financial District. « Read the rest of this entry »
#OccupySamsara: Lessons from Preschool
November 1, 2011 § Leave a comment
Saturday afternoon at Occupy Wall Street
It’s snowing and raining, hard, three days before Halloween. Thanks, Global Warming (causing extreme weather patterns). « Read the rest of this entry »
Margoshka and the Infinite Process 