Welcome to the Myra House Holistic Living Center -Come, bees! Come, butterflies!
On a bright Sunday morning in April, the ears of my heart opened to a short poem by Emily Dickinson:
In the name of the Bee-
And of the Butterfly-
And of the Breeze- Amen!
It was a perfect invocation for us to the garden. Many things happened this spring and was as busy as previous years. As always, spring is a time of renewal and change. But this year, spring seemed even more active. All the soil beds were planted with vegetable seedlings that are now growing abundantly. Thanks to our two years of farming experience, we were finally able to recognize the edible greens that were best suited for the Inland north Claremont weather. They are lettuce, peppers, zucchinis, cucumber, basil and egg plant. Two dozen lavender bushes found their niche near the north side fence. The variety of tomatoes was placed along the west side of the farm fence. The avocadoes and figs are thriving, which is a new occurrence in comparison to past years. Every task including the Earth Day event has been well taken care of by residents, especially our newest residents, Natalie and Lauren.
We become happy when our hearts are filled with gratitude. Thanksgiving dinner was that sort of event where we gathered with hearts full of gratitude. Family and friends from different religious traditions—Unitarian Universalists, Jewish, Buddhists, atheists as well as Christians—came together to feast, share and sing. Our happiness reached its peak when we sang carols and Christmas songs around the piano after dinner. The scene was not a dream. That lovely moment needed no further explanation to the question, where is God on earth? We truly felt the divine presence in our midst as we became one community in a choir of melody. A fruit basket was displayed in the middle of the dining table filled with apples, pears, lemons, oranges, jujube dates and pomegranates we had just picked from our garden. The basket held the season’s bountiful fruits and it symbolized the multiple things we were grateful for. As I reflect on what I am most grateful for, three things are most prominent.
Myra House Sustainability Fest!
The second of the Annual Sustainability Lecture Series
We are celebrating three wonderful events:
1) The 10 year Anniversary of Myra House Holistic Living Center Inc. & Summer bounty
2) The second year of the Sustainability Lecture Series
3) Last but most certainly not least, Sue Carlisle’s Birthday, who is one of the biggest supporters of the Myra House mission.
When: Sunday, August 25, 2013
4:00 – 4:30pm: Garden Workshop
“Sustaining Natural Cycles of Fungus, Bacteria, Insects and Worms for the Soil,” given by Guntram Ramutis, Ph.D., Environmental Research Scientist at the University California at Riverside.
Everyday has been Earth Day since the farm project was started a year ago. Like farmers, our hands hardly take a day off from the daily responsibilities unfolding each season. We water, trim, weed, till, sow, plant, harvest, replant and make composting teas. However, because of all of these accomplishing works, we were blessed to have a feast-like event on the last Sunday of April.
How splendid our Earth Day celebration was! Numerous blooms were busting out and fresh shoots were flourishing in the garden. It was a perfect day to capture the highest zest of the spring season. “Sacred Singing and Soulful Soup” was held by James Jolicoeur’s artistic zeal and facilitating efforts. A radiant gold color banner stood straight up from the ground to the sky affirming a celebratory “peace” on earth. Designed by Cori Griffin, the banner stood at a size of 2 feet by 10 feet. read more…
Counting blessings…
Among the countless things that I am grateful for this past year of 2012, the Living Water farm is on top of that list. The micro-size farm was created in the northeast corner lot of Myra House. Its core insight was inspired by an image that can be traced back to 2005. In that year, I travelled to Europe to visit monastic communities for my doctoral study. During my stay at Taize, an ecumenical community in France near the city of Cluny, I took a day off for a road trip seventy miles away to a city called Dijon. This is where the Abbey of Clairvaux, a Cistercian monastery founded by St. Bernard in the early twelfth century is located. read more…
The Living Water Farm
| “It’s best to be like water, nurturing the ten thousand things…”
This text is from an old sage who lived in Asia during the 6th century. We often read this during our Sunday night Zen prayers at the Myra House. As we hear the sound of the waterfall in the garden, my meditation draws me to see into the real essence of water: to nourish all to the end with an unyielding drive. |
Podcasts
Just recently, Sung Sohn was interviewed by Jubilee Economics where he discussed his vision with Myra House and how he worked to achieve the dream of building the holistic community that it is today.
To read more, read the article, or download the podcast.
Be Present
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Easter, unlike years before, falls on the last Sunday of April. Due to this belated arrival, the seasonal change is more evident in the garden. The cold winter is gone and we keenly appreciate the splendor spring brings to the Myra House — numerous unblushing blooms, intense sweet fragrances, new stems, fresh garden leaves and ripened citrus fruits, The nature in our garden vividly teaches us: |
Dreaming a New Year…
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The end of 2010 marks the beginning of the 11th year for Myra House. I feel unfathomable gratitude as I gaze upon the willow tree in our garden. The Weeping willow originated from Asia as her botanical name implies, Salix babylonica. The tree was just a bare root when she was planted ten years ago. Observing the willow tree, she seems to exemplify the Eastern proverb:
“無爲以’無不爲, while not doing anything, nothing is unaccomplished”. |
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” -Greek Proverb
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This field trip of the spring semester revolved around the Santa Monica area with 2 major stops. First stop was the Santa Monica farmers market which was a sensory stimulating experience. With the freshest and most colorful of fruits and vegetables accomponied by an abundance of free samples, it was a perfect start to the day. |
With the ocean providing the all-loving backdrop, the scene is one of these which synchronizes perfectly with the imagination of what one visualizes the california lifestyle to be. Beautiful people, organic food and lots of words combining to create an ever evolving sculpture, the Santa Monica farmers market.
The second stop was a nonprofit community garden called Ocean View farms. A beutiful plot of land located on a hill in Santa Monica, the community garden is thriving with over 300 indiviudal plots and about 450 people on the waiting list. Shown around by an amazing gentlemen named Ed, we were granted access to a relatively private enviroment which we were thankful for. The attention to detail and beauty of it all was truly inspiring as tending to a small plot of land is an activity that offers little reward in the typical sense of the word when relating to the current societal context. The main driver of work is solely monetary these days and it gave great hope as to the positive shift in mindset which is occuring between the earth and the human species, which has temporarily taken itself out of the laws of nature and believed to exist outside of that which is naturally so. With the impacts becoming more evident, a recoil movement to harmonizing with the natual laws is in full effect and orginazations like Ocean View farms and the Myra House are creating amazing enviroments for learning and self expression.
