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What I’m Reading: Came the Lightening

Brian K. Noe · March 23, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Came The Lightening Book CoverLast evening, I finished reading Olivia Harrison’s Came the Lightening – Twenty Poems for George.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that my fascination with the Harrisons’ relationship stretches back nearly fifty years now. During the early years of his solo career, I happened on an issue of People magazine with a story about George, and it included a photo of him and Olivia. They looked so incredibly joyful. To my teenage mind, I could not imagine a life more vibrant or exciting than the one I pictured them leading. For quite some time seventeen-year-old me did his best to emulate George’s style and manner, and I was more than a little smitten with this dark eyed beauty who was his new love.

George Harrison was, and is, one of the great heroes of my lifetime. I remain a huge fan of his music, and his philosophy. When the Dark Horse album came out in 1974, I listened to it constantly, fumbling around trying to pick out parts on guitar or bass, singing along “It is He, Jai Sri Krishna!”

I still have that original vinyl record. On the sides of the record itself, the labels with the track listings have a photo of George on side 1 and Olivia on side 2. The smiling eyes are still just as captivating when I look at them today.

Side 1 Label Side 2 Label

Watching the Scorsese documentary Living in the Material World for the first time a few years ago, I was struck by how much deeper and more exciting and vibrant – and tragic and difficult – the Harrisons’ life together had been. Besides George’s musical brilliance, and the incredible balancing act he lived out (maintaining a lifelong dedication to the spiritual path while burning off worldly karmas like Sherman’s march to the sea), what struck me most about the film was Olivia’s grace, poise and intellect. The love they shared shone through every word she spoke.

So I was delighted to find this book. She wrote these poems in part to make sense of their life together, and to make sense of his passing, and her grief. As a result, the book presents a more intimate portrait than a memoir likely could.

Fair warning that it is painful to read some of these poems, particularly Heroic Couple (about the nearly deadly attack on the Harrisons in their home by a crazed intruder) and Came the Lightening (about the moment Harrison left the body).

This is a must read for any George Harrison fan, but it would also be of interest to anyone who is trying to come to grips with loss, the power of love and marriage, the meaning of life itself.

One who is graced to live life (and face departure) on their own terms, as Harrison did, is lucky indeed. We who remain are lucky to find inspiration in his story, and in the loving memories so boldly set to the page in this book.

Filed Under: What I'm Reading Tagged With: Bookish, Books, George Harrison, Memories, Olivia Harrison, Poetry

Every Hare Krishna

Brian K. Noe · March 2, 2023 ·

Goodness is the harvest produced by the seeds of peace, sown by the peacemakers. – James 3:18

Mala and Bagbeneath the blue homespun
rough beads of tulasi
pass between thumb and finger

every hare krishna
every hare rama
is a seed in the field of consciousness

patiently planting
minute by minute
day by day
toward a garden of bliss
for everyone

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Mahamantra, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality

What I’m Reading: An Essential Guide to Kriya Yoga Practice

Brian K. Noe · February 23, 2023 ·

Kurczak Book CoverRyan Kurczak is one of the foremost teachers of Kriya Yoga in the world today. He is the author of numerous books on the subject, he hosts the Kriya Yoga Podcast, and his Kriya Yoga Online YouTube Channel has tens of thousands of subscribers. Ryan teaches in the lineage of Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda. His own teacher, Roy Eugene Davis, was a direct disciple of Yogananda from 1949 until the great yogi’s passing, and Ryan was authorized to teach by Mr. Davis more than a decade ago.

I finished this latest of Ryan’s books a week or so ago. In addition to step-by-step instructions in Kriya Yoga meditation techniques, he presents a concise history of the lineage, along with a survey of essential teachings relevant to the practice from the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

The book is well-titled. It covers pretty much anything someone would truly need to know about Kriya Yoga. Although these practices are best learned under the guidance of an experienced teacher – and they usually take many years of daily effort to learn to do well – there is certainly enough in this book to begin learning, and it will also serve as a reference guide for reviewing philosophy and technique throughout one’s life.

The lineage and teachings of Kriya Yoga is a deep well, and one could spend a lifetime of study and still find something new to learn. An Essential Guide to Kriya Yoga Practice is one of the most thorough, practical, and authoritative works currently available on the subject. I highly recommend it for curious newcomers and seasoned meditators as well, though some of the content may be just a bit dense for someone who is not at all familiar with meditation or similar spiritual practices.

Filed Under: What I'm Reading Tagged With: Bookish, Books, Kriya Yoga, Meditation, Reading, Ryan Kurczak, Yogananda

Books Read in 2022

Brian K. Noe · February 2, 2023 ·

Book CoverI’ve been making a special effort these past few years to fritter away less time in front of the Television, and spend more time reading.

Here are the books that I read in 2022, listed in chronological order of completion.

Just Kids
Patti Smith

Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation
Bob Roth

As Time Goes By
Derek Taylor

Ramayana (Tulsidas)

The Big Reboot
Mike Motor

An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
The Dalai Lama

Words of Wisdom
Ram Dass

Hariakhan Baba Known, Unknown
Baba Hari Dass

Transcendental Meditation: The Essential Teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Jack Forem

Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds
Charles Granata

Kriya Yoga: Continuing the Lineage of Enlightenment
Ryan Kurczak

Whisper In The Heart: The Ongoing Presence of Neem Karoli Baba
Parvati Marcus

The Holy Science
Sri Yukteswar Giri

The Yugas: Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Present and Future Enlightenment
David Steinmetz and Joseph Selbie

Paramahansa Yogananda As I Knew Him: Experiences, Observations, And Reflections of a Disciple
Roy Eugene Davis

The Longest Cocktail Party
Richard DiLello

As you can see, it’s an odd mix of music memoirs, scripture, spiritual philosophy and inspiration, with one book on the history of soccer in my hometown mixed in.

So far in 2023, I’ve followed that same pattern. 🙂

What have you been reading?

Filed Under: What I'm Reading Tagged With: 2022, Bookish, Books

Apropos of Indigenous Peoples Day

Brian K. Noe · October 10, 2022 ·

Settler Colonial Map Chicago

Settler Colonialism in Chicago: A Living Atlas – The city of Chicago was built upon the settler colonial dispossession of Indigenous peoples and lands. That history of conflict, violence, and struggle continues into the present. Read More at Rampant

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Chicago, Columbus, Illinois, Indigenous Peoples, Settler Colonialism

EBook Download: New Handbook for a Post-Roe America

Brian K. Noe · June 24, 2022 ·

Post-Roe Handbook

Robin Marty’s Handbook for a Post-Roe America has been recently updated, and is available for download for less than $10 from Seven Stories Press.

It seems like this might be a good time to take a look at practical steps we can take to offer aid and comfort to women who need it.

Follow this link to learn more.

Here are a few related links.

Handbook Website

Abortion Care Network

Major Booksellers Links

Amazon Link – This one donates a portion of the sale to the Abortion Care Network.

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Bookish, Healthcare Rights, Public Policy, Reproductive Health, Women's Health

Preventing School Massacres

Brian K. Noe · May 31, 2022 ·

With each new school massacre, there is a predictable pattern of reactions that has come to seem almost performative. Much of what is said and written seems little more than hurling insults towards political opponents, utterly without value to either grieving or prevention.

There are some actual, practical, well-researched and replicable steps that our communities can take toward prevention though, and they do not require shouting obscenities, or writing your representatives in Congress, or tilting at political windmills.

Mark Follman is the author of Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. He appeared in April on Democracy Now! to discuss the book, and they recently featured the interview again after the massacre in Uvalde.

You can read an excerpt of the book at the link below from Mother Jones.


Here’s How We Can Prevent the Next School Massacre – Mother Jones. Inside a growing method that experts are using to thwart disasters like the recent Oxford High rampage.

Filed Under: Curated Links, Resources, Video Tagged With: Mass Shootings, Prevention, Public Policy, School Massacres, School Shootings, Violence

13th Tara Mantra (for Peace in Ukraine)

Brian K. Noe · March 2, 2022 ·

I was out on the front porch with the guitar, and decided to do a quick livestream to share a mantra for an end to the war in Ukraine.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE VAJRA DZAWALA PHAT PHAT RAKSHA RAKSHA SVAHA

More info on the mantra is at these links.

Lama Explains the Mantra

The 13th Tara – Tara Mandala

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: Chants, Facebook Live, Guitar, Tara, Tara Mandala, Ukraine, Ukraine Crisis

CDC COVID-19 Community Levels

Brian K. Noe · February 26, 2022 ·

My child and I just had an interesting chat about the easing of mask mandates. Her main concern is that it will create an environment of division at her school, where kids are ridiculed if they choose to mask.

I tried my best to reassure her. I hope that staff and admin will do their best to encourage an environment of empathy and mutual understanding.

We all need to do the same.

For me, this starts with giving up my own reflexive attitudes about unmasked people, associating them with right-wing ignorance and such.

The CDC has designated the county where I live as having a “low community level” for COVID. Their guidance for our county is “Wear a mask based on your personal preference, informed by your personal level of risk.”

It seems to me that those of us who have been saying we “believe in science” and “the CDC is the authority” when it came to immunizations and shots throughout the pandemic, have an obligation to refrain from criticism of folks who follow CDC guidance now by not wearing a mask.

Our household will likely still mask in public for the most part, at least for awhile, as we have a lot of close contact with family members who have compromised immunity. I will refuse to accept anyone giving us grief about that, and you should pray that God will protect you if you are hostile toward my child about it.

But those of us who have been cautious throughout the pandemic, and who framed things largely as a struggle against the ignorance of others, might do well to ease up on judging our neighbors in the coming weeks.

If you’d like to check the community level for your own locale, here’s the tool from the CDC website.

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: America, CDC, COVID 19, Pandemic

Just Kids

Brian K. Noe · January 4, 2022 ·

Just Kids Book Cover

A Memoir By Patti Smith

My wife had given me Just Kids by Patti Smith as a present quite some time ago, and I had not gotten around to reading it until now. Smith’s 75th birthday on December 30th prompted me to pull it off the shelves. Once I started reading I could barely put it down.

This book was written as a tribute to her first great love, Robert Mapplethorpe. All I had known before of Mapplethorpe was the controversy surrounding NEA funding of a retrospective of his work titled The Perfect Moment that was exhibited shortly after his death (from complications of HIV/AIDS) in 1989. I’m thankful to know more about about this unique and gifted creative spirit, who was instrumental in lifting photography to the status of fine art that it only attained during his lifetime.

Over the course of 200 and some pages, we learn about Smith’s own early life, and her journey from Suburban New Jersey to the center of the mid-1970s Proto-Punk scene at CBGB and beyond. We also learn about Mapplethorpe’s youth, and gain some insight into the sexual and artistic sensibilities that informed his career. Just Kids is so much more than simple biography, though. It unveils the complexities of love and art – and lives that are devoted to love and art.

Poetic, inspirational, joyful, sad, informative, direct and starkly honest, this book was a delight, throughout even the darkest moments of its story. Like much of our greatest literature, it offers glimpses into the universal mystery of the human condition by presenting a deeply personal account of a particular life and time.

The edition I have (with the cover pictured above) is a beautifully bound paperback, with lovely leaves, sig configuration and design. Just Kids is most highly recommended, especially to those who are pursuing a creative life, those who value literature, art, photography, poetry or Rock’n’Roll, and those who dream of friendship and love that endures a lifetime.

Just Kids Quote

 

Filed Under: What I'm Reading Tagged With: 1960s, 1970s, AIDS, Art, Biography, Bookish, Mapplethorpe, Memoir, New York City, NYC, Patti Smith, Rock'n'Roll

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