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We share a primal bond with clay. Both are made of
Earth's raw stuff, both are animated by forces greater than ourselves, both are shaped by designs we did not invent. As we mold clay into the
architecture that shelters us, we discover the blueprints of the soul
supporting and guiding us.
People
think of sacred space as being separate from the world. My experience
is that it provides a gathering place for the whole world. In sacred
space, the totality of forces participate in a mysterious dance of
stirring formlessness into form, lightlessness into light, silence into
sound, renewing the world again and again. To enter sacred space is to enter the paradox of both finding yourself and rediscovering your connection to the whole world.
Design provides vessels for offering. Each shape contains the imagination of its maker. The form of every designed object, from a chair to a concert hall, is a dream made tangible. As matter is structured by desire, it creates containers that receive the energies poured into them before they offer them onward into the stream of existence. In this way, the things we design reflect the vessels of our bodies-hearts-minds as we are shaped by life to offer life into the currents of living.
Architecture
invites us to cross thresholds of experience. It calls us to move
beyond what we know to discover fresh nuances of the spirit-matter
dance. Each portal is marked by twin pillars, embodying the hope and
fear encountered at threshold crossings. Passing between these pairs of
opposites and crossing into interior realms, we enter a unique sense of
place. At these moments, we have the opportunity to see ourselves and
our surroundings with fresh eyes. We can look again at what we thought
we knew and sense it as if for the first time.
Architecture establishes our place in the world. It marks where we stand between heaven and earth. Our dwellings orient us in the four directions of space and where we reside in the flow of time. Each building and room, each monument and plaza, offers us a place to say "I AM. I honor the opportunity to inhabit this world." Then architecture provides the stage to enact what each of us is here to do. It sends out the invitations. All we have to do is join the party.
Our place within the fluid
ecology of the world is truly established when it honors and supports
our interdependence with the whole, dynamic system of renewal. Honoring
our place involves honoring the place of every being on the planet. When
we inhabit a community, we are living within a society that includes
much more than human beings. Everyone is already at the party, the more we learn and harmonize with each others songs the more revitalizing it will be.
Architecture reveals the possibilities of light. Each form offers the
sun's radiance a different nuance of reflection. Each material discloses
a varied tone in the spectrum. The interplay of light and architecture
describes our journey to discover the mysteries of spirit dwelling in
matter.
Architecture has the power to reveal dimensions of the soul that
words cannot describe. Tangible form opens our senses to intangible
qualities of spaciousness and silence. Matter defies gravity and reveals
the animating design of spirit. Our human form enters a resonance with
the universal design guiding the whole creation... Celebrate
architecture!
BEING CONSCIOUS IN A BODY is what I appreciate today. Each morning we wake up to the miracle of inhabiting a physical vehicle for exploring the mystery of this world. As humanity celebrates NASA's Curiosity Rover exploring Mars, I celebrate the ability to rove Earth with curiosity. Being conscious that I exist and that I can explore that existence through thoughts, emotions and my five senses is a wonder that never ceases to amaze me. The seemingly simple act of opening my eyes and perceiving the light, shadow and colors of forms in motion is the result of processes far more complex than any mechanical device invented by the human mind. The ability to savor a sip of morning coffee and the songs of birds in the trees outside my window is a gift that inspires me to explore new possibilities of being conscious in the physical world. It calls me to see through the ignorance and obstacles that cloud much of what we do and find patterns that remind us of the tangible peace, harmony and delight that we can share when we appreciate the simplest of connections between us...Enjoy the gift of being conscious in your body and exploring what your rover is possible of perceiving and creating.
REBIRTH
is what I appreciate today. On the anniversary of my birth in this
world, I'm aware of the countless rebirths that have occurred over the
years. Every breath is a dying of the old and a spawning of the new.
Every word and gesture reshapes us and the world in one way or another.
Some rebirths are like the bright sproutings of new flowers. Others are
more like being washed onto the shore after a storm. Whether, as the
poet Hafiz says we go "kicking and screaming or dressed for dancing,"
life carries us onward through rebirth after rebirth... I think of the
many times I have passed through a time of change and feared the coming
of the next rebirth. All the philosophies and platitudes faded and I
entered the raw experience losing the known and being thrust into the
unknowable. Each time it has been at once daunting and so alive. Each
time, the rebirth peeled away worn our layers of persona that needed to
die so deeper, truer currents of life could be revealed...And what was
revealed was that which does not die and is not reborn—the indefinable
awareness that continues through every fading and dawning. That same,
unchanging awareness peered through these eyes when I was 5 years old,
10, 20, 40...In appreciating rebirth today, I appreciate what continues
and the wonderful mystery of living both...Enjoy what you are
appreciating today...
