From NOEBIE.net
I thought I should pin some links to the top here for people who arrive at this site from my Instagram.
Here is the Tarot site: Cards of Light
Our community Kirtan site is here: Key City Kirtan
My site about spiritual practices is here: Shyamatara Das
You can find additional links up in the main navigation.
Thanks!
As you may have seen in earlier posts here, I began a daily meditation practice in the Spring of 2019, and it has changed my life dramatically. In July of 2020, I had a sudden realization that the good things coming into my life were the fruit of seeds that had been planted decades ago, and that my life belonged to a particular spiritual lineage. This lineage has found expression in my life and practices most often over the years in the form of Marian Devotion.
I have also had an attraction, for decades now, toward the Tibetan Buddhist lineage of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I have borne a tattoo of the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” on my arm for many years. I knew the literal translation (“I Bow to the Jewel in the Lotus Blossom”), but had very little understanding of its deeper meaning or significance.
In July, I came to learn about the Compassionate Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, to whom the Om Mani mantra belongs. I learned the story about him shedding a single tear, which became a pond, from which bloomed a lotus, from which emerged the Green Tara – Mother of all Buddhas, Guiding Star, Guardian of Souls, Compassionate Liberator. Behold, the Jewel in the Lotus!
One of Mary’s titles is “Stella Maris” or “Star of the Sea.” Compassionate Mother, Guiding Star. Does any of this sound familiar?
I took the name Shyamatara Das, as a way to honor this lineage, in all of its expressions, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and beyond.
As I began to write about my experiences with spiritual practice, I realized that it might be helpful to gather some of the essays and resources into a website entirely devoted to such topics. In September, I created the first post at ShyamataraDas.com, noting that the site is a vehicle for sharing “thoughts, spiritual practices, techniques and resources for living a full, beautiful life.” It will include material on a wide range of topics: service, bhakti, meditation, plant-based cooking and more.
I hope that you will find something of interest there.
New Website Project
On February 16th of 2019, I began drawing a Tarot card each day for personal and spiritual development. One year later, I launched a new Tarot-centric website Cards of Light | Bright Blessings of the Tarot.
It’s still early on, but I’ll be publishing lots of essays, resources, links and more there. If you’re curious about the Cards, head on over and take a look.
A little over eleven years ago, I began a Typepad site and blog called Noebie’s Outpost, with a subtitle something along the lines of “dispatches from my corner of the electronic frontier.” I had in mind the romantic image of a listening post at a radio shack in some far flung locale. The picture at right is all that remains of that project.
I eventually moved that content to a static site built on DotMac, and shortly after that, I began blogging on the Radio Userland platform, and renamed the site The Daily Dispatch. Initially, the blog was hosted on Salon, I believe, and then at some point migrated to a self-hosted version. For awhile, and at times since, I truly did publish daily, but not so often in recent years. I moved to WordPress for new content in late 2011. It had long been my preferred platform for website development.
I’m going to make a renewed effort to publish here daily, or at least several times a week. As has been my practice almost from the beginning, the content will include a wide variety of material from a wide range of sources. I’ll continue to write the occasional essay or commentary, link to articles or news stories of interest from around the Web, and also publish some poems, quotes, memes, videos, &c.
I hope that you’ll find something of interest among the posts here, whether original or curated. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.
I’m happy to announce a project I’ve been working on for awhile now: the Chicago Southland Jacobin Reading Group.
Taking readings from Jacobin Magazine, it’s an opportunity to engage with socialist ideas in a lively, open, and non-doctrinaire environment. There are no dues to pay and no formal membership requirements. Just bring your interest, your mind and your voice. The group provides an intellectual and social space that cuts across organizational boundaries, and you don’t have to be a Socialist to join in.
Our regular meetings are planned for the third Tuesday of each month, at Feed Arts and Cultural Center, 259 S. Schuyler, Kankakee, Illinois. The first meeting is planned for August 18, 2015.
If you think you may be interested in joining us, email me to noebie@gmail.com or request to join our Google Group.
Here’s the reading group website: Jacobin Reading Group – Chicago Southland | Reading in Revolt.