Nisargadatta Maharaj, Going Beyond Postmodernism's Insanity, Poem for the Earth Warriors.

Warm spiritual greetings, 

1. As the great jnana yoga master Nisargadatta Maharaj said in Mumbai, India, "Remember the instruction: whatever you come across, go beyond." 

2. 40 years after taking responsibility as a global citizen on the earth plane, participating in countless radical environmental and peace & justice campaigns, 23 years of selfless service with groups such as Catholic Worker, Food Not Bombs, and Food for Life, plus creatively writing articles, poetry, plays, and hundreds of published letters, plus being an editor myself involved in publishing, while all the while cultivating a legitimate spiritual life, I have reached a nadir.

The present situation in New Orleans is almost impossible, in terms of establishing the "Neutral Ground Community Center".  Also, I am being disrespected by the liberals in Washington D.C., who are apparently too stupid to appreciate what I've already done there since June of 1991, and they do not want me there because I reflect reality (as opposed to their fantasies of radical social change, which are bullshit).

So, I am going to take the ferry boat ride across the Mississippi River  this morning, and spend the day wandering aimlessly in the French Quarter. 

Beyond that, I have no idea where I am going to go, or what I am going to do.

 I am consciously ending this absurd portion of my life's journey in postmodern America, and going on to a future which is not ridiculously beneath my level of intelligence. Even the liberals in Washington D.C. appreciate this!

3. For now, I share with you a poem that was graciously published on the Warrior Poets webpage.  May you, like myself, never give up.

3.
Poem for the Earth Warriors

by Craig Louis Stehr
Rejoice in the dark phase of Kali Yuga

Nonattachment both to elusive peace

And discomfort in the face of chaos

Liberates the worrying mind

From earth plane’s crazy dramatics

Delusion’s nets release the dolphins

Ensnared in the cold grey seas

To roam free and ride the currents

From season to season beneath the stars

Navigating by moonlight to hidden realms

Only to emerge with new messages

Listen to the songs of the whales

The electric eel brings a warning

Undersea volcanoes echo the instructions

From the center of the earth which is

The real beating heart at its core

Deep within and silent

Witnessing the movement

Of the universal play

Millions and millions of miles

Of vast space stretch out

One beam of light to infinity

Bends and curves to return

To its origin completing the journey

Everything lives in a circular motion

Always returning like giant waves

That form and crash loudly and go back

Shifting sand beds underneath

And rocking the coral reefs

The great white shark is unmoved

It stays above its shadow relaxed and calm

Knowing what’s up and it has known

For a very long time

The reckoning of climate change approaches

Temperatures irregular and sea levels varying

Storms alter fish migrations and the

Undersea plants and deep sea life

All the way down to the ocean floor

In flux in the murkiness with soundings

Rumbling from below bottom dwellers

Emissions escape from fissures and trembling

Are the code of transmissions sent up to the surface

To land dwellers and the myriad species

Trees, plants, mountains, rivers, streams

Frigid air currents and warm clouds

The truth always comes back full circle

We are receiving our instructions all the time.

Craig Louis Stehr

23.XI.’12

Craig Louis Stehr

c/o Jamie Loughner

333 Socrates Street

New Orleans, LA 70114

Telephone: (504)302-9951

Email: craigstehr@hushmail.com

Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving

Warmest spiritual greetings, Arrived in New Orleans Wednesday past, staying now at my friend Bork's 1/2 block from the Common Ground Health Clinic, which she helped get established following the hurricane eight years ago. 

 The rest of the anarchists left awhile ago, yet she remains in the historic Algiers neighborhood, (where the slaves from Africa were brought to prepare them for servitude).

 We are four blocks from Gretna, Louisiana, where a statue of the founder of the Ku Klux Klan stands in front of the courthouse.  

And yet, a free ferry boat ride across the Mississippi River drops one off in the French Quarter; preparation for Mardi Gras has begun, and the big floats are being constructed behind warehouse doors on this side of the river.

     Bork is fundraising to realize a community center in the old
Algiers neighborhood, a place where a sizable number of residents cannot read...although $250 dollars will get you a driver's license...a friend's friend sold one of her daughters recently to a man, and we are surrounded by five drug dealing houses.  

The basketball court nearby is named after the former 1850 plantation owner.  Walking the area is moderately surreal, as one passes an historic cemetery, and then a huge alligator figure waiting to be installed on a float, and nondescript streets with weathered houses from another era, reflecting the fact that historic Algiers has been inhabited since the 1790s, and then a contemporary coffee house selling California brand kombucha beverages, in addition to the cajun-creole breakfasts, and everywhere there are churches, many of the southern revivalist type.  These are jumpin' on
Saturday night.

     Considering that this all sits on a swamp, and was impaired by
Hurricane Katrina, there is nevertheless no visible interest in any
environmental activism related to global climate destabilization.
Any mention of the environment on my part has produced a
conversation about fishing.  What everybody here is really all
about is southern cooking and cheering on the Saints football team.

 Fleur de Lis tattoos are common. Everywhere I go people are
discussing holiday recipes.  The fact that areas hereabout have the
look of being forgotten by time, does not overly concern the
majority of residents, except the more politically experienced, who
are committed to a community center now that the medical center is
established.  

For many activists, none of this is remotely adequate, and they say that the place that was established to "break slaves" needs a radical social overhaul.

     Happy Thanksgiving feasting to the rest of postmodern America!

Craig Louis Stehr
c/o Jamie Loughner
333 Socrates Street
New Orleans, LA 70114
Telephone: (504)302-9951
Email: craigstehr@hushmail.com
Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com

Brahman and the broken chain

ብራህማን 

is 

The missing link 

in the broken chain 

of worldly events 

The word from Garberville

Warmest spiritual greetings, At the moment I am at the Garberville, CA library's public computer.  I've been assisting Earth First!er Andy Caffrey for a month in his campaign for the district 2 congressional seat; which includes lending money (which he is now repaying), cooking for us and for three potluck events weekly, being involved in the downstairs space which is the campaign headquarters office, and countless other details.

     At this point I have given all that I have, and am looking to move on to my next highest good.  One woman whom I interact online with in Washington D.C. today asked me to stop sending her the same message over and over again...she suggests that I essentially regroove my life to get out of the poverty-activist-without- necessary-solidarity-from-others who wants to be back in Washington D.C. on a permanent basis, and who has no housing in the District of Columbia, due to a couple of reasons, all of which are difficult to accept.

     So therefore, I am sending out a new message.  I want you to do whatever you can to assist me in moving on to my next highest good!  I am doing all that I can do now.  Whereas you must certainly be able to positively influence this situation of mine in postmodern America, I am asking you to do so.

     Thank you very much for allowing me to ask you for this, when so much more is possible.
      Love and peace, Craig Louis Stehr

Andy Caffrey's Congressional campaign TV appearances: MSNBC, Leno jokes, TV ads - YouTube

Congressional Candidate Andy Caffrey: 

TV appearances: MSNBC, Leno jokes, TV ads - YouTube- his video appearances and more

Click here

What Are We Waiting For?

A little straight talk 'tween us: 

One really weird aspect of living in postmodern America, is the reluctance of people here to take action in the face of that which does not serve them well.  

In addition to not responding to the global crisis of global climate destabilization, in lieu of the Greenland ice sheet melting, it is most curious why the American people and the United States government do not even recognize this most monumental and critical eco-situation.  But then again, a small percentage of congresspersons just shut down the American government, and nobody is responding particularly, except one woman who attempted to drive through the White House barrier yesterday, and was shot dead as a result.  This is really beginning to become surreal, isn't it?

     Right now I am in Garberville, CA assisting my friend Andy Caffrey who is running for congress as a radical environmental candidate.  Check out CaffreyForCongress.org for details, and of course send money to " Caffrey for Congress" at P.O. Box 324, Redway, CA 95560.
   
  Beyond this, my commitment to surround the Washington D.C. beltway, and the Capitol building, and the White House, performing spiritual rituals to counteract the bogus energy which is spewing out, poisoning the rest of this world, remains undeterred.  Now that I am 64 years of age, I am asking you to cooperate with me so that I am able to do this.  Whereas I have not gotten a fucking thing worth shit in recent memory form the American society, I'd like to be given cooperation so that I may return to Washington D.C. and do what I am spiritually called to do.You are invited to participate with me, of course.

     I want you to give me whatever you can, and please forward this message out to D.C. contacts.  Thank you very much, Craig Louis Stehr

Craig Louis Stehr
Email: craigstehr@hushmail.com
Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com

Garberville Friday Clock Protest

Stood under the town clock in a town
That's four blocks long, holding up
National Geographic featuring rising seas
Due to global warming...now that's hot!

Congressional candidate Andy Caffrey showed
Videos two blocks away, featuring polar ice
Melting and it's a catastrophe approaching
Irreversibility at noon August 21,2017

Green Fuse editor Paul Encimer enjoys being
Off the internet and in the streets, dissenting the
Stupidity of a failed civilization, and I'm right there
Too, calling for a new one based on spiritual reality

Six of us made up today's protest...Where are the
Radical environmentalists in Southern Humboldt?
One passerby says that they're trimming their marijuana
Another says they've taken jobs and are raising babies

Where is everybody?  Paul says that we'll go around and
Maybe the mystery of where the radical frontline here has
Gone will be solved...maybe they're all sitting in trees...
Maybe I need to chant OM by the Eel River, in the breeze

Craig Louis Stehr
27.IX.2013

Congressional Candidacy Responds to Earth in Crisis

September 20th marked the grand opening of the Caffrey for Congress 2014 campaign headquarters in Garberville, CA.  

Andy Caffrey for Congress 2014 

Campaign Headquarters

446 Maple Lane, Garberville, CA 95542

Telephone: 707-923-2114

Email: staff@CaffreyForCongress.org 

Web: CaffreyForCongress.org

   The event went for twelve hours, featuring videos about global climate destabilization, the current political crisis in Syria, a radical environmental critique of the ecological situation, with discussion about organizing strategy and what needs to happen in response to an accelerating implosion of ecosystems, plus the medical uses of marijuana.

    Andy Caffrey’s message is that a voice in congress is critically needed to represent the radical activist approach on behalf of a world in crisis.  He is the only candidate in District 2 who has the experience, and is not beholden to any vested interests, and who consequently will push for effective systemic change immediately.

    Throughout the day, friends and the curious came by to watch videos, enjoy prepared food and coffee, and discuss environmental and peace & justice issues.  There were not nearly enough visitors, and money donations were minimal.  The campaign needs to raise $500 right away to secure the rented campaign HQ space.

    We discussed the reasons for the lower than expected turnout.  Those present concluded that the general public is weary of huge planetary problems, the fact that the economy is hopelessly depressed due to bankruptcy from years of warfare, and this has led to citizens not being responsive, and instead, keeping themselves distracted from serious social matters.

    There was analysis as to where the forces for social change are in District 2, having in years past been so visible.  Earth First! in northern California was discussed, the question being asked where their large scale presence is now.  Why have peace & justice protests gotten smaller?  Has the social conscience become dysfunctional?  

    Why did the weekly Friday protest in Garberville draw only four people?  Where are all of the activists?

    This led to a conversation about the decline in personal spiritual cultivation.  A suggestion was made to encourage individuals to get centered, and then being fully mindful, answer their spiritual calls to action.  Another view expressed is that we need to primarily be committed to this, and know that Divine intervention will take place if necessary; examples of recent Divine intervention worldwide were noted. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, we debated the degree of relevance of conventional political organizing versus radical activism versus Divine intervention.

   All agreed that the presence of the Caffrey for Congress 2014 campaign HQ is crucial, and a weekly Wednesday 7PM Bioregional Conversion community meeting and Thursday 7PM political videos are scheduled.  A primary concern is the fragmented activist community in District 2, and therefore the campaign HQ space is available for individuals and groups to do presentations.  This will ensure that the present fragmented situation is overcome, and a return to the days of strong community solidarity and the circle of concern be realized once more.

    It was the belief of all of the grand opening attendees, that this is most important, and everyone who shares our view is invited to make contact and be involved.
--Craig Louis Stehr, (craigstehr@hushmail.com and http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com)

Andy Caffrey for Congress 2014 Campaign Headquarters
CaffreyFor Congress.org
446 Maple Lane, Garberville, CA 95542
Telephone: 707-923-2114
Email: staff@CaffreyForCongress.org

Serenading the Texas Governor with Protest Songs

Enjoy Occupy Austin and I singing protest songs at the Texas state capitol to Governor Rick Perry, to ensure that we all keep the civil rights that we have left!

Message from Leander, Texas

Warm spiritual greetings,  I am finishing up a stay turned personal spiritual retreat at an artist's compound near Austin, Texas. 

I have enough money to get myself to Washington D.C., to be involved in direct action politics, and beyond that, do spiritual rituals and other practices to counteract the ignorant, hopeless energy of the United States federal government.  I need cooperation...I need a place to go to when I get there...I need others for solidarity...I would appreciate it if you would appreciate this, and respond to this, since I need to make plans for an involved future, soon.
I believe that we need to make something happen!  
I'm ready, 
Craig Louis Stehr

At Beth's Place

Three travelers on the no-path take refuge On the front porch of an Austin area artist's Compound (near Lake Travis), in its construction phase

Everything here is big, just like the Lone Star state's Website says it is.  Huge sky with puffy white clouds Slowly, and I mean very slowly, drift past the front porch.

It's summer and the air is hot and the ground is real dry
Hummingbird feeders are visited, and a circling hawk
Is watching us.  Nobody is moving...only this writing pen
Moves...everybody is slouched into the comfortable
Wicker furniture, following an evening of soft partying
It is quiet here, save for the cooler air which streams through

I took an outdoor shower this morning surrounded by
Red cardinal birds, which are sharing the compound with
A dozen cats, all scampering around over and under
The picnic table, as I got revived from the early morning heat
By clear southwest hill water at the shower station

Hooray for friends!  This would be impossible except that
We all made friendships along the life highway,
Proving that everything good just keeps increasing in value;
Key to removing the hellacious enigma of postmodernism
We create our collective social reality together
Every day.  The result may or may not be "society",
But it's cohesive right now on Beth's front porch

OMing on the outbreath, I watch backing being glued
To an art sculpture, some sort of moonscape looking 
Surface that fits together puzzle-like, maybe destined
For the bottom of an aquarium, this witnessed by two new friends
And one true comrade and fellow traveler on the no-path
As three clouds have now fused, and are barely moving
Past us, like a huge pearl colored ship in the sky

OMing on the outbreath, we are encircled by trees on the surrounding
Hillsides, we sit at the bottom of a shallow bowl in the bush,
The main house is in a Texas forest, grasshoppers are many
But the rattle snakes and scorpions are few; there is
An intensity hereabout that balances the pervasive calm

I glance at my wristwatch, observing that the time is 4:20 PM.
Where did the slow moving day go?  Everything changes here
Just barely, but yet the morning has disappeared altogether
And the afternoon might be next.  It looks fairly stable
Right now, but insect noises are beginning further down
In the trees, and this signals the oncoming of the evening

OMing on the outbreath, OMing on the outbreath...


Craig Louis Stehr
31.VIII.'13
Leander, Texas

Mentings from the Maharaj

Jnana yoga master Nisargadatta Maharaj 

Instructed that reality lies solely in

What is prior to consciousness, and thus

Everything else is a dream appearance

Which has no actual basis, and this includes

A perceiver of the third dimensional dream

Appearance, which proves that nothing has

Ever happened.

Craig Louis Stehr

31.VIII.'13

Leander, Texas

Notations on the No-Path

Washington D.C. streets are still, humid air is everywhere
The resounding echo of two hundred Occupy protesters
Chanting "Whose streets?"  "Our streets!" is now unheard
Traffic drones by the Capitol building, Supreme Court steps
Are empty once more, the shadows have also left

The federal sinkhole within the beltway looks weighty
Airplanes, limousines, taxis, tour buses, all head for the center
With the Washington monument being the central point
And the rest of the district radiates out from it

Three temples have abandoned the region
Three occupiers, three moving temples of light,
Are on the road, seeking way stations on the no-path,
Resting today in Fort Worth, Texas (which is keeping its wealth)

The present is bright and the future is unknown
Tibetan lamas call this "braving the path of the wandering yogi".
I don't know what Chenrezig's compass reading is this afternoon,
But I would advise him not to follow any ley lines
Leading toward the federal sinkhole within the beltway

Clouds drift past the house in Fort Worth
A large orange butterfly flutters overhead
Summer flies alight on this writing tablet
Money arrives on Wednesday, automatically deposited

The journey without destination is renewed
Green energy ensures mobility in the situation
With time aplenty for new creative writing
Today and every day; we are beginning to understand!

What is very important is "writing down the bones"
Sending out the message of the instant to the
Global audience.  There is power in the immediate
That does not wait, much like lightning bolts

This is what creative writing is: a continuous flow of 
Electricity that emboldens and uplifts, charges the
Individual reader and leaves the writer unharmed,
Delivering messages from a nameless source which
Has no limit, wellspring of knowledge and bliss

The message source, the message, and the messenger 
Are unaffected, yet the philosophic current continues
To go out to internet websites, newspapers, magazines,
Recited on the radio, posted onto blogs, and emailed far and near

A continuous stream of primordial energy manifests
Literarily and is transmitted around the world, then
Copied, microfilmed, archived, and filed away
In a box at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

It is there, according to some estimates, 
Forever!  Or at least until the end of the
Kali Yuga, when everything is dissolved
Back into the originating source, prior to creation,
Demonstrating the inherent emptiness of all phenomena

So the writing goes on and on and on, impelled by
An electrical impulse that manifests as a thought form,
Which becomes words that form sentences which
Convey a critical message, instructions to be carried out
On the earth plane, in accord with a divine plan,
Prior to everything, prior to the third dimension itself,
Continuous, unstoppable, a powerful current like a river
Coming down from the mountains, just flowing endlessly
Toward the sea, enlightening all, enlivening all,
Serving all but beholden to none, this river
Performs its task perfectly, and without effort, it shines. 

Craig Louis Stehr
Unnamed Emerging Artist Compound
Leander, Texas

Austin City Limits

Warmest spiritual greetings, After a month of fruitless networking to get a spot in Washington D.C. for we three former D.C. Occupy kitchen working group participants, we left the east coast and co-drove to Tulsa, OK, and then bussed it to Dallas, met by Matt's father who hosted us in Fort Worth.  

We are now guests at an artist's compound outside of Austin, continuing to "follow spirit", and having no idea whatsoever where this will lead to.  

This was definitely NOT what I envisioned when I left the San Francisco bay area, to stay near Pittsburgh, PA, hoping to eventually get niched into Washington D.C. for continued frontline dissent.
     
We three are available, now nationwide!  If this spiritually resonates with you, then please respond to this email.  What more can we do?  

Peace on earth, Craig Louis Stehr

Craig Louis Stehr, craigstehr@hushmail.comAngelica Gatewood, bluethesaurus@gmail.com
Matthew Michel, michel.matthew@gmx.de

Seeking Way Stations on the No-Path

Loving spiritual greetings! 

Craig Stehr, Angelica Gatewood, and Matthew Blankward 

are poised to leave Mt. Lebanon, PA Friday night,

     

We are seeking others who identify with the high mystic nature

of our spiritually going forth, and we are asking you if you would like us to come to where you are.

We are riding with a driver who is going to Tulsa, OK. We have no specific destination either short term or long term, (except that Craig needs to renew his California driver's license by his birthday on September 28th. 

Thank you, We look forward to hearing from you before 7PM

August 23rd, 

or you may try to reach us at the land line at 412-341-

1851.

Craig Louis Stehr, craigstehr@hushmail.com

Angelica Gatewood, bluethesaurus@gmail.com

Matthew Blankward, michel.matthew@gmx.de

We are all pure spirit!

Warmest spiritual greetings.

 Please understand that 

I am.

An impossible situation! 

I am not receiving any social appreciation,

because my spiritualized consciousness demands that

 I  behave. 

in a manner which is consistent with it, and 

therefore, it is possible that 

in postmodern America, 

I am. 

Difficult to understand: 

My reality-foundation, based upon 

the ancient spiritual scriptures 

and practices of India, particularly 

the four principle yogas:

 karma, bhakti, raja, and jnana. 

My view is consequently defined by the realization:

everything is Brahman (or the Divine Absolute).

 We are all pure spirit! 

Thus realized, 

it is impossible for me 

to be 

a materialist. 

I don't care what the postmodern 

American culture wants.

I don't care what the crazy 
military-industrial complex wants, 

 I don't care what anybody else's 

mind wants

It remains impossible for me 

to be 

a materialist, 

I have realized:

 everything is Brahman. 

That's just The way it is.

Chopping Its Head Off!

Warm spiritual greetings, These past two days I have been rereading
the published lectures of Shunryu Suzuki, entitled "not always so:
practicing the true spirit of zen".  Roshi said: "As much as possible, follow your inner voice, rejecting useless things. 

Shunryu Suzuki

 Dogen Zenji said that if your practice is pure enough you will be supported by Buddha, so do not worry about who will support you or what will happen to you.  Moment after moment completely devote yourself and listen to your inner voice."

The commitment to realize a Washington D.C. around the beltway radical environmental protest action is enlightened, steady, and
firm, just like one's back during zazen.  Myself and two others (formerly of the Occupy D.C. Freedom Plaza kitchen working group) are still staying at a house in Mt. Lebanon, PA.  We are eager to move on to D.C. and need a place to go to, and we need others to participate in the D.C. beltway action.

I ask you for the hundredth time: "WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?"
This is the one question that I am unable to answer.  Can you help
me?

Gassho, Craig Louis Stehr, August 12, 2013

Email: craigstehr@hushmail.com
Mailing address: 903 Florida Ave., Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228-2016
Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com