CURRENT MISSION

Practical, pragmatic application to survival . . . including sustainable future.

ABOUT ME

Tough, funny, kind, bold.

PHILOSOPHY

Where is the unity in a world of a thousand truths? Where is the grace in a godless man? A Yogi tea bag told me once: "We're not humans being having spiritual experiences; we're spiritual beings having human experiences." Somewhere in all of this is the infinite expression of God alive in the hearts of all us children. But to say we experience life through the lens of this ontological certainty, this knowledge that a foundational truth shines through all experience, what does this mean? Recognition of the universality of being (the oneness of infinity and infinity of oneness) is a personal discovery, and therein retains its heterogenous character. Now perhaps divine transcendence of the realm of Maya is yet possible. Perhaps. But if so, love is the path to such a God. By compassionate openness to incompletion of all forms--conflict, segregation, conflicting truths, pain--we become actively engaged in the awakening of all life. The awakening of life is the quest of all being, including our own. http://yaa-coub.livejournal.com for the most important things about me

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Will fix cars for shelter!! =)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The only way I travel, though I'm new to the ".com." Wherever I've been throughout space and time, I've found that if I am friendly, then I am not alone. Even in the most unmarked and topsy-turvy 3rd world street "grid", I'd pick a smile before a map any day. Throw your keys, cash, and care out the window. If you want comfort and safety, pack your bags with love, openness, kindness, and freedom of heart. These will keep you warm at night. These will do the trick.

Interests

Spontaneous music with newfangled instruments; campfires and clapping; oceans and lakes; kayaks and packs; spiritual exploration, from salvation to bliss; co-op living; Mandarin Chinese; Haiti & Kreyol Ayasian; non-fiction reading for self-fiction living: economic development, global public health, occupational therapy, landmine injury, prosthetics/orthotics, political/intellectual history, yoga, organic gardening, peak oil, international finance, macrobiotics, off-the-grid living, Democracy Now!

• yoga
• meditation
• gardening
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• survival
• music
• backpacking
• economics
• history
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSICIANS: van morisson, erin mckweon, nick drake, bjork, pearl jam, beth orton, stevie wonder, stereolab, jean-luc ponty, alice coltraine, nina simone, yes, sergei rachmaninov, aswad, bob marley, fela kuti, papa wembe, innocence mission, habib koite, mady kouyate, daisy may, alanis morrisette, pj harvey, propagandi, joni mitchell, marvin gaie, zap mama, seal, mos def, talib kweli, black star, gift of gab, blackalicious, michael franti, digable planets, bob dylan, cat stevens, bob dylan, cat stevens, kula shaker.

MOVIES: Akira Kurusawa's Dreams, Amelie, The Long Engagement, Red Sorghum, The Take, Maria Full of Grace, Pretty Dirty Things, Beijing by Bicycle, Control Room, Fast Runner, Motorcycle Diaries, Hotel Rwanda, Syriana, Traffic, Dog Day Afternoon, Scar Face, Bamboozled, Spike Lee, JKF, Suicide Club, Peace Propaganda and the Promised Land, End of Suburbia, The Corporation, Money Masters, The Truth and Lies of 9-11.

BOOKS & JOURNALS: Confessions of an Economic Hitman (J. Perkins), Permanent Peace: How to stop terrorism and war, now and forever (R. Oates), Disabled Village Children (D. Werner), Harpers Monthly, Mother Jones, New Left Review (ed. T. Ali), Blood Brothers (E Chacour), Bush in Babylon (T Ali), Pathology of Power (P Farmer), End of Poverty (J Sachs), Development as Freedom (A Sen), Their Eyes Were Watching God (ZN Hurston), The Lancet, Playing the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (T. Morrison), God of Small Things (A. Roy), Skinny Legs and All (T. Robbins) Orientalism (E. Said), Wretched of the Earth (F. Fanon), Gilgamesh (ancient), Hero with a Thousand Faces (J. Cambell), Tao De Ching, Baghavad-Gita: As It Is, Phenomenology of Perception, Spell of the Sensuous, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Theatre of the Oppressed, Unthinking Eurocentricism, Eyes of the Heart (J. Aristide), Synchronicity (C.G. Jung), The Undiscovered Self (C.G. Jung), Legacy of the Heart: The Spiritual Advantage of a Painful Childhoodã

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Beijing's black market economy. Kenya's utopian forested hillsides. Haiti's lost orphan children. New Orlean's resilient communities. Manhattan's wandering street kids. Toronto's diverse restaurants. Oregon's luscious ecosystem. The Kalamazoo River Watershed: my home. Samadhi: The divine heart of all Being.

Teach, Learn, Share

Gardening; management of physical disability; healing with natural foods, herbs, and vitamins; understanding global politics and economics from a backpacker's perspective; amputation and rehabilitation in a 3rd World context; meditation & yoga.

Countries I’ve Visited

Haiti, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Kenya, Taiwan, United States

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