Eddie would go
Eddie Aikau was a friend of my primary spiritual teacher Steven Smith. They grew up together in Hawai'i and both surfed. Eddie Aikau's heroics are legendary, especially the fateful trip that saw him swim away on the open ocean to get help for his canoemates, never to be seen or heard from again. Several books and a movie have been made about Eddie's fateful final swim. Eddie Would Go is a rallying cry among Hawiian surfers and islanders in general.
Steven attempts to teach an annual retreat in Burma (Myanmar) in January. Some years the generals let Steven into the country. Some years they don't. He is a friend to Aung San Suu Kyi, the duly elected president and nobel peace prize winner there who has been under arrest off and on by order of the generals for many years.
I am not sure if Steven was able to get access into the country this year to teach his retreat, or not.
What I do know is that Steven arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, the day before the tsunami. Also in the country was a friend of mine and a colleague of Steven's, Sarah Hagarty, who was either teaching or attending a retreat. In any case, Sarah was caught in the horror of the tsunami, but was able to make it out and actually contact me within about 30 hours to let me know she was okay. Although approximately 125 of the yogis and staff were able to reach safety, 10 of those were not, including a young woman and child who were friends to Sarah.
Today, my beloved teacher Steven has made his way to Kho Pha Thong, where he has many friends. I received an email from a mutual friend that Steven is assisting in the recovery of the bodies of many of those friends of his.
In order to honor Steven and to assist those who truly need help, I am now working with the Buddhist Council of the Northwest to get critically needed funding to a temple in Sri Lanka who has spent the last 20-plus years attending to the welfare of locals. I have chosen this route because I am unable to contact Steven and I know that Sri Lanka is one country where the need is overwhelming, and yet has few if any resources to alleviate the suffering of its citizens this disaster has caused. I am working on a local level here to accept monetary donations on behalf of the Buddhist Council of the Northwest, and will send the funding to the BCN. The BCN, in turn, will wire the money directly to the temple so that 100% of the donated funds will actually get to the people who most critically need it.
While clothing and food are also needed, private organizations would normally spend a lot of money getting such donations to the Asian destinations. Much of these donations would wind up sitting and sitting because the infrastructure is gone to deliver these supplies. By actually wiring cash, it allows much faster access to such needs as the villagers require. The monks in the village will then be able to assist where it does the most good to the greatest number of people.
If any of you reading this would like to donate, please contact me off list and I can talk to you about where to send your check and to whom to make it out.
May all beings be free from inner and outer harm.
Steven attempts to teach an annual retreat in Burma (Myanmar) in January. Some years the generals let Steven into the country. Some years they don't. He is a friend to Aung San Suu Kyi, the duly elected president and nobel peace prize winner there who has been under arrest off and on by order of the generals for many years.
I am not sure if Steven was able to get access into the country this year to teach his retreat, or not.
What I do know is that Steven arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, the day before the tsunami. Also in the country was a friend of mine and a colleague of Steven's, Sarah Hagarty, who was either teaching or attending a retreat. In any case, Sarah was caught in the horror of the tsunami, but was able to make it out and actually contact me within about 30 hours to let me know she was okay. Although approximately 125 of the yogis and staff were able to reach safety, 10 of those were not, including a young woman and child who were friends to Sarah.
Today, my beloved teacher Steven has made his way to Kho Pha Thong, where he has many friends. I received an email from a mutual friend that Steven is assisting in the recovery of the bodies of many of those friends of his.
In order to honor Steven and to assist those who truly need help, I am now working with the Buddhist Council of the Northwest to get critically needed funding to a temple in Sri Lanka who has spent the last 20-plus years attending to the welfare of locals. I have chosen this route because I am unable to contact Steven and I know that Sri Lanka is one country where the need is overwhelming, and yet has few if any resources to alleviate the suffering of its citizens this disaster has caused. I am working on a local level here to accept monetary donations on behalf of the Buddhist Council of the Northwest, and will send the funding to the BCN. The BCN, in turn, will wire the money directly to the temple so that 100% of the donated funds will actually get to the people who most critically need it.
While clothing and food are also needed, private organizations would normally spend a lot of money getting such donations to the Asian destinations. Much of these donations would wind up sitting and sitting because the infrastructure is gone to deliver these supplies. By actually wiring cash, it allows much faster access to such needs as the villagers require. The monks in the village will then be able to assist where it does the most good to the greatest number of people.
If any of you reading this would like to donate, please contact me off list and I can talk to you about where to send your check and to whom to make it out.
May all beings be free from inner and outer harm.
posted by Gr8fulTed at 1:56 PM
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