Creating Peaceful Weapons in a Violent World

By Sunny Sundowner (as published int the ) 09/10/09gc issue of the Desert Valley Star (desertvalleystar.com)
Creating Peaceful Weapons in a Violent World
By Sunny Sundowner
At the risk of sounding “moronic,” I wish to add to some of the world’s great oxy-morons, such as “peace force, soft rock, resident alien, passive aggressive, military intelligence, Microsoft Works- (come on Bill, I kid..! Please don’t infect my PC!), by giving you “Peaceful Weapons.” When one of the editors of this fine publication, Dean Gray, asked me to do an article on creating “peaceful weapons” in an aspiration to create “non-violent” communities, at first I got really perturbed and defensive…
OK, that was a joke- and I hope I got you to at least chuckle by now, whether it was confusing or not. While the topic of violence is a serious thing, the diffusing of the mentality that creates it doesn’t have to be, and my timing is good to communicate what hopefully will be seen as more than just “Another Hippie Rant.” However, even if it seen as only that, there is no shame- because even before the wide-spread 40th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock this summer (of Love), “Hippie” has made a big comeback. Take the onslaught in the fashion world of “Hippie Chic,” (the opposite and antidote fashion to the “militaristic camouflage fashion’ of previous decades) and in the world of popular music with the mainstream press reporting that Jason Mraz’s “Hippie-friendly” jam “I’m Yours” may be the longest running song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also, don’t forget that tens of thousands of neo-hippies are headed to Coachella for what I have dubbed “Phish-O-Ween,” when the Grateful Dead spin-off band Phish & their great multitudes “Keep on Truckin’” there for a three-day run this Halloween. And speaking of the “Grand-Daddy of all concerts” of last century, the Phish start their swim into Coachella Valley just a couple of weeks after the “Heroes of Woodstock” psychedelize the valley from an Indio casino. These are but a few examples of Hippie’s re-incarnation (not to mention the economic success of all the new releases of Woodstock CD and DVD Box Sets, and Ang Lee’s wonderful new movie “Taking Woodstock!”)
Not only has the Hippie been calling out for Peace in the World for decades (spawning such whimsical bumper-stickers as “Visualize Whirled Peas”), but we’ve been having fun doing it. When the early-on (1969) incarnation of the “Hog Farm” commune arrived back in New York to help with the Woodstock Concert as part of the Hippie Army (add another oxymoron!), they held a press conference in which they announced that they had elected to work security there, not with batons and mace, but with cream pies and seltzer-spray bottles. Later on Head Hog & Woodstock MC Wavy Gravy, tiring of getting beat up by cops at protests, found relief in appearing in clown and Santa Claus costumes- whatever works, right? (And it did!) At the same time, the “Hog-ified Hippie Harbinger” was bringing “levity” into tense situations, following in the footsteps of Abbie Hoffman and his Yippie cohorts, who had previously attempted stunts to end the Vietnam War, such as massing together in Washington D.C. to try and (unfortunately unsuccessfully) “levitate” the Pentagon! (But it’s the “thought” that counts, right Abbie?)
So my theory incorporates adding another “F” to “Flight or Fight”- “Fun!” And while we’re using the alphabet, let’s back up to the “C’s”- and add “Communication over Confrontation.” This, with skill, can lead to the 3rd “C,” “Compromise.” OK, back the other way, to “G” and “H.” “Having” (a sense of) “Humor” might just be the “Gateway” to “Goodness” in people. I asked the infamous Yogic (“My Other Car is a Yoga Mat”) Comedienne Beth Lapides to contribute anything she could to help me get through this difficult topic, and in a show of not only solidarity but synchronicity, she sent me the following, just as I had written the above: “F and G are so close together in the alphabet, I think that all the fun was turned into gun, by some people who went one letter too far in the alphabet. Of course without F or G you're left with “un” and sometimes “un” is the funniest thing of all - at least we thought so with the Un-Cabaret. (http://uncabaret.com) (I can only add that concepts of “violence” are “Un-natural” to “Higher Consciousness.”)
So let’s take this “Make Love, Not War” rap into some pragmatic applications beyond just having “Fun,” and “Get ‘er Done!” It was at Beth’s presentation, “88% Happy, 100% of the Time!” at Urban Yoga Center in Palm Springs recently that I was reminded of the discoveries of Gregg Braden, a prominent author in (for lack of better term) “New Age Circles” who is bridging ancient wisdom with modern science. His study of the experiments with DNA and Light Photons are astounding to say the least. As Gregg explains in his book, The Isaiah Effect, (where you can find details on these experiments) “basically time is not just linear (past, present and future), but it also has depth. The depth of time consists of all the possible prayers and timelines that could ever be prayed or exist. Essentially, all our prayers have already been answered. We just activate the one we're living through our FEELINGS. THIS is how we create our reality - by choosing it with our feelings. Our feelings are activating the timeline via the web of creation, which connects all of the energy and matter of the Universe. This is the science behind how we can choose a timeline to stay safe, no matter what else is happening.
Remember that the law of the Universe is that we attract what we focus on. If you are focused on fearing whatever may come, you are sending a strong message to the Universe to send you whatever you fear. Instead if you can get yourself into feelings of joy, love, appreciation or gratitude, and focus on bringing more of that into your life, you are going to avoid the negative stuff automatically. You will be choosing a different TIMELINE with your feelings. You can even prevent getting any flu virus, etc, by staying in these positive feelings, which maintains an incredibly strong immune system.
So here's your protection for whatever comes: Find something to be happy about every day, and every hour if possible, moment-to-moment, even if only for a few minutes. This is the easiest and best protection you can have.”
Bringing it ‘full circle,” I must close by repeating the words Jimi Hendrix gave to the remaining audience 4 decades ago at Woodstock, after his “mind-blowing” set of psychedelic sounds: “Peace… and Happiness… Happiness!”

-Sunny Sundowner can be reached at conchustimes@yahoo.com

The "Bhakti Fest"- Flowers from the Seeds of Woodstock

(As published in the 9/03/09gc issue of the Desert Valley Star) By Sunny Sundowner

When I was young- about ten or so years old, my parents took my brother, sister & I out from our dwelling in the suburban O.C. to a mystical retreat center in the high desert, called back then: “The Mentalphysics Institute.” It was like nothing I’d seen up to that point in my life, with it’s “other-worldly” sanctuary buildings. It was founded by Edwin John Dingle, who had visited Tibet in 1910, where he studied for nine months and reportedly learned the East Indian Yogic art of pranayama (breathing control), the remembrance of past lives, and other advanced spiritual disciplines. His “Science of Mentalphysics,” based on Tibetan and other Asian teachings, was begun in 1927 in Los Angeles, CA. The Institute was incorporated in 1933 and land for the 460-plus-acres retreat center in Joshua Tree was acquired in 1941. Dingle, who came to call himself “Ding Le Mei,” was a friend of Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, (one of the first Yogis to come to the West from India, all documented in his infamous work, “Autobiography of a Yogi”) and was the author of many books on spirituality, history and economics. Like Yogananda, he incorporated Eastern spiritual notions into Western Spirituality to create a "Super Yoga of the Western World.” Buildings at this spiritual-vortex-site, now called “Joshua Tree Retreat,” came to include the “Preceptory of Light,” the “First Sanctuary of Mystic Christianity” and the “Caravansary of Joy,” a 700-foot-long residence designed and built by Lloyd Wright, son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
It had been years earlier still that I had been introduced to the singing and chanting of devotional songs to open the heart to Divne Grace: songs that Yogananda had introduced to us here in the West, such as “Hey Hari Sundara!” (“Oh God Beautiful” in English). I was also introduced to Yogic exercise around that time, and when school-mates got wind of these things while visiting my family’s dwelling, I was made fun of as an “oddball” in what I call our “Western Dysfunctional Society’s” schooling system. I had to live with this “stigma” for years, until something happened in August of 1969: Swami Satchidananda (who, like Yogananda, was another “Harbinger of Yogic Methods of Enlightenment” in the West) opened up the Woodstock Music and Art Fair by teaching upwards of half a million people about meditation, yoga and devotional chanting (and “enlightening” untold millions more on the experience through the subsequent movie and media attention). Finally, to my great joy as a young American teen, with this event and others like it I was emerging from “oddball” status to “trendsetter.” East was truly beginning to meet West, as the Swami told the gathered multitudes: “There is a dynamic manpower here. The hearts are meeting. Just yesterday I was in Princeton (NJ), at Stony Brook in a monastery, where about… three hundred Catholic monks and nuns met and they asked me to talk to them under the heading of ‘East and West—One Heart’… I would like you all to join me and our group here in repeating a very simple chant. As I was reminding you of the sound power, there are certain mystical sounds which the Sanskrit terminology says are the bijak-shara, or the “seed words.” We are going to use three seed words, or the mystic words, to formulate the chants... “Hari” is one word. “Om” is another word. (The third word was “Ram,” and the entire festival then chanted the “Hari Om” and “Hari Ram” chants together.) He also informed us, “Here, I really wonder whether I am in the East or West. If these pictures or the films are going to be shown in India, they would certainly never believe that this is taken in America. For here, the East has come into the West. And with all my heart, I wish a great, great success in this music Festival to pave the way for many more festivals in many other parts of this country.”
One of the attendees at that monumental event was a young aspiring yogi from New York who had acquired the spiritual name “Sridhar.” He took these words to heart, as four decades later almost to the day, he and his team of Bhakti Yogis (or devotion practitioners) have created the West’s largest gathering of yogis and devotional-chanters to ever occur in America, the “Bhakti Fest” at Joshua Tree Retreat Center Friday through Sunday, September 11-13. Because of the planned 3 days of around-the-clock chanting, yoga workshops, nutritional vegi-cuisine, yoga-related vendors, healing arts center and more, in the ever-expanding yogic community (with yoga centers now outnumbering Starbucks!) it has been dubbed the “Spiritual Woodstock.”
Besides the most renowned “Yogis of East and West” appearing (live by satellite), Deepak Chopra (made famous by Oprah) and Baba Ram Das (author of “Be Here Now” and countless other enlightening literary tools), the list of Western Indian Kirtan (call and response chanting) performers and yoga instructors is seemingly endless. While you will (basically) have to rely on the new saying, that “a website is worth a thousand words” (www.bhaktifest.com), I will take a moment to touch on some of my favorites (which is difficult to do, in that really “all” of those in the line-up are my “favorites!”). So, in that light- quite some time ago, while listening to internet radio stations like sacredsoundsradio.com, I would experience kirtan divas such as Donna Delory. Like fellow female BF-performer, Wah!, she has such a unique approach in bringing traditional Hindu mantra into contemporary music styles, that it’s easy to see how she must’ve been a great influence for Madonna’s (Hindu music-oriented) “Ray of Light” album, in that she’s been one of Madonna’s back-up vocalists over time! Larisa Stow and Shakti Tribe fit into that same category as Donna and Wah!, and it will be a wonderful home-coming for them, as they are “high desert kirtan pioneers,” having previously performed their “Shakti (“Awakening Power of Divine Grace”)-Saturated” music at this same retreat center, as well as for a (Conchus Times Production) Integratron Spring Equinox Celebration.
Add to these an AH-mazing “unfolding mandala” of other performers such as Jai Uttal, Shiva Rea, Dave Stringer, (Alanis’s twin brother) Wade Morrisette, Wynne Paris, Shyamdas, (Joshua Tree’s own) Art Kunkin and another favorite that the younger generation can’t get enough of: MC Yogi. Like his predecessor (and fellow BF performer) Girish, MC Yogi has not only fused Hindu Kirtan-Style chanting with a contemporary hip-hop style, but he was recently featured (in a ‘what goes around comes around’ fashion) rapping for a Starbucks’ “Community Organizing” TV commercial. With all this and more (and with the additional mention that these chanting yogis in India have been known for centuries as Kirtan “Wallahs”) I look forward to seeing you at the Joshua Tree “Wallah-Stock,” where I invite you to “tune in (to the heart of devotion), turn on (compassion for your-self & others) and drop out (of ego-clinging)” and I guarantee you’ll hear the words “Hari, Om, and Rama” vibrating more than once amidst the 108-thousand mantras and asanas manifesting at the “1st Annual Bhakti Fest!”
-Sunny Sundowner can be reached at conchustimes@yahoo.com

Spirits in the Sky- Sky Sunlight Saxon Tribute (as published in the 8/27/09gc issue of the Desert Valley Star)

The “Father of Garage Rock” and “Flower Power” Sky Saxon meets the “Harbinger of Alt-Rock”- Billy Corgan by Sunny Sun-Downer
Billy Corgan debuted a new song on July 24th of this year at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, called “Freak,” as a tribute to 60’s legend Sky Saxon and there are indications that it will be coming out on the re-formed Smashing Pumpkins album sometime soon. This re-emergence of Billy Corgan with his new (internet-penned) “barely legal” drummer, 19 year-old Mike Byrne, was causing more stir in S.P. circles (and in Rolling Stone Magazine & on various music blogs) than the actual debut of the group Billy formed to perform this tribute: “Spirits in the Sky.” This “Alt-Rock Super Group” was composed of B.C. on guitar, and also featured the 60’s legendary Electric Prunes’ bassist Mark Tulin, as well as equally legendary 60’s band Strawberry Alarm Clock’s keyboardist Mark Weitz, Kevin Dippold on guitar and Catherine drummer-percussionist Kerry Brown (who at one point was married to former Pumpkins bassist D’Arcy Wretzky). Its purpose was to honor the legendary lead singer Sky Saxon of the band called “The Seeds”- who left us ironically a half-day earlier than another famous musician on that June 25th, Michael Jackson. The Seeds’ big hits back then were: “Pushin’ Too Hard,” (which, although apparently about a ‘relationship problem,’ Sky said was dedicated to “repressed society”), “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” (look for “Betty Paige Dances to the Seeds” on you tube, and you’ll probably say something like, “Oh I heard that song on a deodorant commercial!”), “Mr. Farmer” (dedicated to the ‘Hippie Farmers,” [nudge-wink] & heard on the “Almost Famous” movie soundtrack), among others. Not only did Jim Morrison & his Doors band-mates used to stand in the audience of Sunset Strip night clubs back then- mesmerized and influenced enough to duplicate Sky’s “Rock n’ Roll-Shaman” style in their own music, but legends like Muddy Waters have been quoted saying that “…the Seeds were America’s Rolling Stones.” Indeed, Sky’s on-stage persona required lines of police to keep young women from rushing him during performances (a la “Beatles”) at such sold-out shows as at the Hollywood Bowl, where he would drive them “into a frenzy” with songs such as the trance-like (17 minute live version of) “Up in Her Room.” Speaking of the Rolling Stones, when I produced a show 5 years ago at Pappy and Harriet’s with Sky and a recent Seeds incarnation, he told me personally that when he met the Stones back in the 60’s, he turned them on to the concept of “Flower Power” and they then ran with it, even creating an album called “Flowers!”). Since those days, Sky’s popularity waxed & waned to varying degrees, and is greatly documented in the plethora of albums he created with the Seeds, his solo work as Sky “Sunlight” Saxon, etc. (More info: www.skysaxon.com) Just before Sky’s untimely death, Billy Corgan had been collaborating with the Seeds’ front-man on a variety of projects, including an unreleased song called “Choose To Choose Love” (called “Sky Saxon- Choose to Love feat. Billy Corgan” on youtube.com). It’s a very moving experience to watch it, and dare I say, is the forefront of the return of Sky’s notoriety 4 decades later, albeit posthumously. Before Billy introduced the Sky Saxon-inspired song “Freak” at the Echoplex tribute, he said, “I wrote this song, and then thought ‘these lyrics are so weird- I never would’ve written these before I met Sky.” He added, “Sky Saxon came into our lives, and our lives have never been the same,” to the grinning nods of his fellow musicians. This is also seen on the Pumpkins’ website, where Billy says, “This website is going to change. It is going to transform into something that is consistent with the concepts of love, grace, and community. We are not looking backwards anymore, only forward. What makes the things I'm saying here even more real to me is the passing of my dear friend Sky Sunlight Saxon. Sky lived everyday with the concept of LOVE as his guide, and he walked the talk. He was a spiritual warrior who would tell me that Yahowa knew the beauty of our hearts, and that musicians were the living prophets of the world. So in Sky's memory I am going to re-dedicate this website to represent the things he cared about most: love, life, music, his spiritual family, and the protection of all God's creatures, big and small.” When Billy brings his new “Spirits in the Sky” band to Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace this weekend, I pray that even with the added frenzy of Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro being added to the “Spirits,” that the focus remains on the eternal Love-Rock God, Sky “Sunlight” Saxon. (For more info on Billy, go to www.smashingpumpkins.com)

Desire Heart Spirit in DHS!

This is the link to the (less-than-helpful) L.A. Times article that came out Aug. 25 called, "Desert Hot Springs is fighting for its life" (for you to copy & paste)...
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-desert-hot-springs25-2009aug25,0,5740836.story?track=ntothtml

And this is the letter I sent off in response to the LA Times today... If this were one of my articles, I'd title it:
"From 'Desperate Hot Springs' to 'Desire Heart Spirit!'"
(Won't you join me in envisioning their printing it?!) -=0=-


Dear Editor:

Many residents and business owners of Desert Hot Springs are dismayed with David Kelly's report: "Desert Hot Springs is fighting for its life" (8/25/09). While its focus is almost completely on the negative occurrences of this low-desert town, a fraction of the article gave the opposite: some of the positive aspects, from one local spa-owner, of the great healing waters, great climate, mountain views and the "energy vortex" here. We are asking the Times to do a follow up article with its focus on these aspects of Desert Hot Springs and especially its new "Energy Vortex" plan. Modeled after a similar Sedona, Arizona plan, its focus is to revitalize the downtown area with a commerce-friendly shopping and entertainment district based upon the elements of earth, air, fire and water, with lakes, parks, outdoor amphitheater, theaters, etc. (info of which is available by clicking on "vortex specific plan" at http://www.cityofdhs.org). In tandem with the new emphasis on public security in our future is a new beautiful reality we envision for this desert city that has boasted as a slogan, "Desire Heart Spirit!"
Sincerely,
Steven "Sunny" Sun-=0=-Downer
HAALOS Healing Arts Center
"Old Town" Desert Hot Springs CA 92240

HAALOS Benefit! "Remembering Woodstock: Even If You Don't Remember!" 8-15-09gc 7pm

(Image on left): Original Ad in the Los Angeles Free Press (Editor: Art Kunkin)
Next: Swami Satchidananda opens the Woodstock Festival by turning on a half-million people to Eastern Spirituality. Then, next is the AH-Some "Remembering" graphic done by HAALOS supporter Dennis, and of course, "The Radical Three"- Art Kunkin, Paul Krassner, Dean Gray.
HAALOS' WOODSTOCK 40th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: "REMEMBERING WOODSTOCK- EVEN IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER!"












PANEL DISCUSSION with Sixties Icons Art Kunkin (Editor: The Los Angeles Free Press, Alchemy Guru, etc.), Paul Krassner (Editor: The Realist, Yippies Co-founder, Author, etc.), plus Dean Gray (Editor: the Desert Valley Star). Live Music with local artists performing music from '69 Woodstock Concert. Refreshments.
Benefit for HAALOS $13.00 in advance from HAALOS
Also, re; seating- if you're comfortable sitting on the carpet, we'll have some cushions, and you're welcome to bring your own. Likewise, re; chairs- we have some, but you're welcome to bring a fold up lawn chair- just no 'Love Seats' please... (we've had problems).
Also- THIS JUST IN! Paul, in a show of support for his favorite Acu-Pressure spot: HAALOS, will be offering his classic book published by High Times, "Pot Stories for the Soul," for 13 pictures of George "I Grew Hemp" Washington ($13)! And if you're quick, you might get him to sign it! (My favorite story so far is Lynn Phillips' piece about her wild experiences in SF in the sixties, called "Love & Haight.")
$15.00 At the Door- (If Avail.!)
Saturday Aug. 15th 7pm Live Music 8:30pm
HAALOS Healing Arts Center & Empori-om
12078 Palm Dr.
Desert Hot Springs 92240
760-673-7580

-For Woodstock Era Music 24/7 (for free, as it should be) check out www.woodstockuniverse.com & click on the 'radiowoodstock69' button!
-My friend Lisa Law's Woodstock Photography will be on exhibition (along w/Jim Marshall/Baron Wolman/Henry Diltz Woodstock photos) in Venice at Duncan Miller Gallery from 8-15 to 9-25 (http://duncanmillergallery.com)
-The movie on Woodstock Icon Wavy Gravy "Saint Misbehavin' "is coming to Lost Angeles at the Arclight Theater 8-15 thru 8-20
(So Many Woodstock Events So Little Time!)
-Also, please check out: www.artkunkin.com, paulkrassner.com, desertvalleystar.com
and... oh yeah- if you want to contact me by email, i use this one WAY more than gmail (no offense, google!): conchustimes@yahoo.com
Please Share This Info W/Your Friends &/or Enemies! OK? GROOVY BABY!

High Desert Sky Saxon Tribute @ Pappy & Harriet's

Also- this just in! If you're on Facebook (or want to sign up- it's free!) check out Klaus Wille's AH-some album of about 25 photos of this night! copy & paste this link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=107094814462&ref=nf
Email message from Dead(red)Head Karen (wishing success w/the HIGH Dez Sky Tribute) : "Go get 'em Tiger! grrrowwwl..!"
Sunny's response: "SO cosmic that you said that girl-friend..!
That 1st link on my blog is for the youtube video of Billy Corgan & the 'Spirits in the Sky Band' at the Echoplex Sky Tribute doing the Seeds "900 Million People Daily (All Making Love)" that i wanted to do last night at the show- where Sky's lyrics include one part about a tiger stalking in the this jungle tonight! (In my opinion, this is one of the songs that greatly influenced one young man that used to stand in the audience in front of Sky, mesmerized by his 'shamanic vocal talents'... Jim Morrison of the Doors..!) But I did 4 other Ah-some songs (directed by Sky): George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," Sky's "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," & Sky's "Pushin' Too Hard." In the 1st Sky/Seeds song, Host Ted Quinn rapped the lyrics of a song i wrote for Sky, "Enter the Dharma Sky," that was missing for 5 years until Ted pulled it out of the album ("Little Richie Marsh- Starlight Date" Sky's 1st album of 50's doo-wap*) that Sky gave him at the Joshua Tree "Sky Sunlight & the God-Dog Band" Sessions. All four songs are up on youtube now- you can copy & paste this link to see "Can't Seem to Make You Mine/Enter the Dharma Sky": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRN7WUF_XHo
And then, of course you can click on 'Sundowner108's Other Videos' to see the others.
This most recent version of the God-Dog Band (that beautifully backed me up) were (Instant Karma Yoga's) Geoffrey Earendil on percussion, Clive Wright (from Cock Robin/ Harold Budd/too many others 2 list) on lead electric guitar, Gene Evaro on bass, w/his beautiful sisters Shavaughn, Gabrielle & Bryanna (who all gratefully came out of the Evaro Family Band rehearsal in time to make this magic happen)... and many others who joined, like Zaina Alwan, who creates the AH-mazing P & H stage backdrops and... Pappy & Harriet's Robin! There were quite a few others, including, but not limited to, Wally Ingram's family doing back-up vocals on "Stand By Me" (& why didn't Wally come up & get on the drum-set..? I mean since Sam wasn't using them- i'm just sayin'!)& BTW, Wally's daughter Lydia is quite the performer at 4 years old!
(And for a taste of the Evaro Family's music, go to w3.peaceloveevrao.com)
Oh what a Namas-Day/Night! Heart-Felt Thanks to EVERY-ONE from Echo Park to Joshua Tree (not to even mention the AH-some Austin & No. Cal. Tributes) helping the Spirit in Sky to Come Full Circle at the time of his transition. Special thanks of course to the One who, in the middle of the "Loss of a loved one (& subsequent grieving process)" was able to create miracles to honor Sky, Sabrina Saxon! Also thanks to AH-nother Heart-Sister of Sky's, HIGH Desert-Dweller Judy Wishart who not only created an album cover for one of Sky's 80's solo albums (seen up above & to the right of the humble little Sky Shrine behind Ted Quinn in the photo of him giving one of his Sky tributes), but also brought AH-mazing old Seeds poster art & photos of his performance at P & H to share! (She is seen in the last photo, with Sabrina & me in a "Seeds-AH-Tois") Also, as i reminded everyone last night near the end of my rendition of "Can't Seem to..," Sky's 49th Day in the Bardo (in-between state, according to the Tibetan Tradition) is TODAY Aug. 13th! It would be wonderful if all who know & love Sky (even if you didn't meet him in the physical before he left) could focus, in your own spiritual preference (i.e. song, chant, mantra, prayer, meditation, etc.) on Sky merging with the BRIGHT HALO OF RAINBOW LIGHT! *I'M POSTING SOME OF THE PRAYERS BELOW HERE-(for more, email me at conchustimes@yahoo.com)
And I know all of you who couldn't be there physically, were with US in the Dharma Sky- Where SKY is SMILING, real BIG right NOW (about as big as i was last night & will be whenever i remember this night!)...
...just AH-Some!
-=0=-
* If you're interested in this classic 1st Sky LP, it may still be available at: http://www.nortonrecords.com/lps_exclusives.html (& only $10-! i better grab one b4 they're gone!)

Here is just one set of the final prayers in the Bardo Terdol (Tibetan Book of the Dead), that I share w/you should you have the time to read while thinking about Sky Sunlight Saxon on his 49th day (today) and visualize him merging with the BRIGHT LIGHT of LIBERATION. Should you have the interest, all of them are available here:
http://www.summum.us/mummification/tbotd/appendix.shtml



'The Root Verses of the Six Bardos':

[1]

O now, when the Birthplace Bardo upon me is dawning!
Abandoning idleness -- there being no idleness in [a devotee's] life --
Entering into the Reality undistractedly, listening, reflecting, and meditating,
Carrying on to the Path [knowledge of the true nature of] appearances and of mind, may the Tri-Kāya(3 bodies of Buddha-hood) be realized:
Once that the human form hath been attained,
May there be no time [or opportunity] in which to idle it [ human life] away.
[2]

O now, when the Dream Bardo upon me is dawning!
Abandoning the inordinate corpse-like sleeping of the sleep of stupidity,
May the consciousness undistractedly be kept in its natural state;
Grasping the [true nature of] dreams, [may I] train [myself] in the Clear Light of Miraculous Transformation:
Acting not like the brutes in slothfulness,
May the blending of the practicing of the sleep [state] and actual [or waking] experience be highly valued [by me].
[3]

O now, when the Dhyāna Bardo upon me is dawning!
Abandoning the whole mass of distractions and illusions,
May [the mind] be kept in the mood of endless undistracted Samādhi,
May firmness both in the visualizing and in the perfected [stages] be obtained:
At this time, when meditating one-pointedly, with [all other] actions put aside,
May I not fall under the power of misleading, stupefying passions.
[4]

O now, when the Bardo of the Moment of Death upon me is dawning!
Abandoning attraction and craving, and weakness for all [worldly things],
May I be undistracted in the space of the bright [enlightening] teachings,
May I [be able to] transfuse myself into the heavenly space of the Unborn:
The hour hath come to part with this body composed of flesh and blood;
May I know the body to be impermanent and illusory.
[5]

O now, when the Bardo of the Reality upon me is dawning,
Abandoning all awe, fear, and terror of all [phenomena],
May I recognize whatever appeareth as being mine own thought-forms,
May I know them to be apparitions in the Intermediate State;
[It hath been said], 'There arriveth a time when the chief turning-point is reached;
Fear not the bands of the Peaceful and Wrathful, Who are thine own thought-forms'.
[6]

O now, when the Bardo of [taking] Rebirth upon me is dawning!
One-pointedly holding fast to a single wish,
[May I be able to] continue the course of good deeds through repeated efforts;
May the womb-door be closed and the revulsion recollected:
The hour hath come when energy and pure love are needed;
[May I] cast off jealousy and meditate upon the Guru, the Father-Mother.
[7]

['O] procrastinating one, who thinketh not of the coming of death,
Devoting thyself to the useless doings of this life,
Improvident art thou in dissipating thy great opportunity;
Mistaken, indeed, will thy purpose be now if thou returnest empty-handed [from this life]:
Since the Holy Dharma is known to be thy true need,
Wilt thou not devote [thyself] to the Holy Dharma even now?'
[Epilogue]

Thus say the Great Adepts in devotion.
If the chosen teaching of the guru be not borne in mind,
Wilt thou not [O shishya] be acting even as a traitor to thyself?
It is of great importance that these Root Words be known.

Sky Sunlight Saxon Memorial at the Echoplex July 24 2009 g.c.

A PICTURE is worth 1000 words... but a video is worth "900 Millon People Daily- All Making Love..." Billy Corgan covered this Epic AH-mazing Psychedelic Seeds Song- among others, Friday night- check it out here (copy & paste this link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXwLfmc4Qi8
1st image is from the 1968 "Teen Scene." Next is the flyer I put together for our "last-minute" Sky Sunlight Tribute, signed by the original Seeds that were at the Echoplex, Daryl Hooper, Carl Belknap, Don Boomer & even their original road manager, Richie France! Next is the beautiful Sky Shrine put together by the Hostess, Sky's Wife Sabrina Saxon & her friends Lisa & Peter from Sandy Ego. Next is the "Climax of the Evening" photo w/everyone gathered for "Pushin' Too Hard," channeled by (Sky Tribute Artist) Don Bolles. Seeds drummer Carl Belknap is 5th person from the left. Next is the most psychelic photo (as in blurry) of Seeds keyboardist Daryl Hooper just to the right of one of the Go-Go Dancers, while Leighton Koizumi (the other Sky "Tribute Artist") sings his verse. Then Billy Corgan jams on bass in "Yahowa 33" w/Djinn Aquarian, as well as in the next photo- Is that Sky in the 'Orb' by Djinn's guitar? Next is the LA Weekly Aug. 31, 2007 special issue w/cover story on the Source Family w/Djinn on upper left. Then, "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" & old friend of Sky's Rodney Bingenheimer introduces the Electric Prunes with Prunes singer James Lowe right behind him. Next are member of the new Seeds that Sky recorded the "Red Planet" CD with at the time of the Pappy & Harriet's '04 Show: from left, Go-Go Dancer, Mark "Branch" Bellgraph, Rick "Rock N' Roll Avenger" Collins & Sky's long-time guitarist Tommy "Atomic" Azevedo. Next are (from left) Djinn Aquarian, Crystal, Rebekah & Spring Aquarian with some (human-created) "Orbs"- part of the psychedelic decorations everywhere. Next is Rick's beautiful wife Christa Collins performing Sky's "A Faded Picture," from the 'Web of Sound' LP. Then, Yogi John Franzoni, who, not only is the connection that I met Sky through, but also appeared on the cover of the LA Weekly on their special Yoga Studios issue some 2 decades ago, and who Sky is jamming with again on Etheric Tibetan Singing Bowls. Next is Yogi John, (seated) with other Source Family members, known then as "Boaz." Then the the Source Family issue again, with Sky's greeting for me signed with his Source Family name "Arelich"- he always called me "Champion." Then some of Sabrina's Shrine/decoration crew Lisa & Peter from San Diego. Then another Sky Shrine shot, followed by the human-orb (with a tiny Rodney on stage) declaring: " 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky!" (all photos (c) Sunny Sun-Downer)more info: SkySaxon.com SKY LIVES!
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