The Three Next Odd Monday Events

For three years, my wife Judy and I have been hosting a series titled 'Odd Mondays' (events occur only on odd-numbered calendar Mondays) co-sponsored by the Noe Valley Ministry, located at 1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco (near the corner of 23rd Street). Admission is free, and, the event starts a few minutes after 7 P.M. Here are brief mentions of the next three:

May 9th: Luis Carrillo, retired counselor and author of a memoir,"A Child of No Importance".

May 23rd : Abby Wasserman:writer,artist and teacher.
Maurice Bassan: teacher at the Fromm Institute and author.
Diana Rathbone: San Francisco Chronicle Journalist

June 9th: Innocent Victims of War: In Memory of Marla Ruzicka
Music by Artist in Action Keyboard Player Jonathan Dimmock and Talks by members of Global Exchange and Center for Justice and Accountability, Sandra Coliver and Moira Feeney

More information about each will be forthcoming as we approach each date.

We also meet before the event at 5:30 PM at the Noe Valley Pizza restaurant one block from the Ministry on the northeast corner of Sanchez at 24th Street) for a non-host supper (approx. cost $15). A fee parking lot ($5 for the evening) is available across the street (24th Street between Vicksburg and Sanchez.) Map and public transportation directions available at:
http://www.noevalleyministry.org/contact.html
For further information, contact me here.

Stalking game as a meditation teacher

Hm, keeping up a blog on a semi-daily basis is more time-consuming that I anticipated, so here I am a week later!

Somewhere I read that humans originally learned to meditate by stalking game - i.e. learning to remain totally still and also not to 'think' because an animal can telepathically pick up thoughts focused on them. Also, it turns out that our ears transmit a signal as well as receiving them. Perhaps the animals 'hear us hearing?'
And of course, 'stalking' can be done with a camera and not with a weapon. Hunters / wild animal photographers rapidly discover that directing their gaze at – or their thoughts at – their target usually triggers a rapid departure. Some citation/sources for these ideas:

"Where the Spirits Ride the Wind" by Felicitas D. Goodman, Ph.D.
She advanced the theory that primitive sculptures of shamans teach us postures that can put us into specific trance states. I like her work a lot. She's advanced in age, but her work is carried on by others via The Cuyamungue Institute in Santa Fe. A review of her book can be found at:
http://homestar.org/bryannan/goodman.html
also see
"Ecstatic Body Postures: An Alternate Reality Workbook" by her co-worker Belinda Gore

Animals' telepathy came from Rupert Sheldrake's book 'The Sense of Being Stared At : And Other Unexplained Powers of the Human Mind' – New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2003

I personally have found myself using 'no mind' when trying to approach a wild animal, or for example (and this is a good experiment for anyone) encouraging a butterfly to land on your finger. Stick your finger out when a butterfly is around, but do not think AT the butterfly. Think about what a beautiful day it is, or concentrate on the sky or something else – or just relax and focus on the breath.

As far as the ear as a sound transmitter, I found these via a Google on 'Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions.'
http://medical.webends.com/kw/Otoacoustic+Emissions,+Spontaneous
http://www.ohiou.edu/perspectives/0303/anthologyi.html
and for a history of the discovery:
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/about_us/history/auditory_biophysics.shtml
and also:
http://www.earaces.com/oaes.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic372.htm