Occupy Toronto – Day 38 – Threat of Eviction Evening 12:01 AM at Nov. 21st/22nd
Photo By: SkyCave.ca
I’m vacillating between tears and anger, overwhelm and amazement. I’m amazed at what I have seen and what I have participated in this last few weeks. The hope that swells in my heart around the opportunity for the human species (and the rest of existence) to save itself from the brink of annihilation cannot be articulated. I suspect that many who are involved in and support the Occupy Movement feel the same way. Anyone who wants to experience this “awe” that is literally palatable at Occupy Toronto (and I’m sure at all the other Occupations) has to take a stand for what they know is right. This stand comes from deep within us and this stand will be the groundswell that will change the course of history if we allow ourselves to enter into it. You remember those who took stands don’t you – -Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and the little girl in Alabama who wanted to go the same school as everyone else. They changed the course of history and all of us can too if we allow ourselves to feel from deep within our guts and hearts. Don’t waste this opportunity to make a difference and express what your inner knowing is telling you. No effort can be underestimated. Now is the time to act. The heroes of these Occupiers in Toronto and across the globe walk in the light that is in all of us. Most of us have resigned to remain quiet, work hard and hope that things will be better. Understand that things are and will only get worse. We must act now in solidarity with those standing for us in the Occupations. Only then can we say we are living a life of authentic truth and allow our hearts to swell with the hope and knowing that we can be the change we want to see. As the American poet Mary Oliver says, “Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Occupy Toronto – Day 18 – The Expanding Light
First section of the essay entitled
“You Can’t Say That: Transformation and Struggle in the Occupy Movements.”
There is a light in Toronto that for many is not yet visible. Nevertheless, most of us are beginning to see and feel it! If we can only open up to this faint but somehow familiar feeling, it will lead us to its source. You know that place. You were born with it. Whatever trauma we have experienced, personal or planetary, cannot vanquish this place. Yet, for many of us, we have turned away and shut down this precious core of our humanity in order to protect it from the pain and uncertainty of life. It’s time now to give our body/mind a bit of a break, to stop guarding and holding ourselves so tightly, to really breathe and relax. In doing so, it may be that we will touch that core and find our hearts naturally drawn toward St. James Park to Occupy Toronto. Gathered there are beings whose light somehow still burns with hope and aspiration – mostly our young people but all ages with uncensored hearts are there too. Occupy Toronto has re-ignited a light not only for Toronto but one that reflects a re-ignition of a light for the whole world.
From a logical perspective Occupy Toronto should not succeed. The rational view of logic sees only chaos there and from this landscape, Occupy Toronto should not work. It should not be here. But it does work and it is here.
In viewing this movement one cannot just simply use eyes and mind. This must involve whole body seeing or sensing. Being there, you must “see” with your chest, your belly – all of you. If we can “see” with our feet our hands, our heart…, we will experience the evidence and the truth of what is truly happening. Hope, again, will ignite in you. Inspiration, again, will be yours. You remember that, don’t you? If we observe with our whole body and not just from the two small eyes in our head, we become alive and present – meaning and purpose become the natural flow. This is our inherent birthright.
If we let ourselves feel what is happening at Occupy Toronto and forgo trying to analyze it, vitality naturally rises. If we allow our feet to walk freely, to feel the ground, to see everything with new eyes, with curiosity; if we forgo all expectations, our energy cannot help but be renewed. We are inspired to have faith, not only in ourselves, but in each other.
The seed taking root at Occupy Toronto, has been germinating for a very long time, through thousands of years of an imposed vision not only of tyrannical feudal top-down forces but of our own “illusions” – to now sprout and push through the imposed vision of the one percent and indeed of our own making. This seed, this de-occupation as it is now being called is taking form, a flowering perhaps that embodies that light in the core of our hearts. How fortunate to be living in this time of history-making, a time when society is finding the light and inspiration to renew itself, to break free from the darkness and the wars of mass manipulation with all its oppression, to stand with the earth and all its inhabitants.
“This light” and “this oppression” are unprecedented because the enemies, the tyrants, the oppressors, in this darkness are hard to see. For much of it, they are invisible. Indeed, the “enemy”, “the tyrant”, the “oppressor” here is not just the blatant abuse imposed from the outside but it is also our own ignorance – our inner self-critical voice, our judgements, and our attachments. It is like being under a spell that uses our own fears and perceived inadequacies against us. It is like mass sorcery and the sorcerer has conjured a spell discovering that he can imitate our own voices, our own thoughts – like a dream from which we cannot wake. Waking up from this illusory dream is what Occupy Movement is all about.
To move forward, all of us must awaken from this destructive illusion including the one percent. As Marshall McLuhan said, “There are no passengers on spaceship earth. Everyone is crew.” There cannot be peace unless we all do our part and take our rightful seat on this planet.
No matter the road and distance ahead, the journey starts with putting one foot in front of the other foot, placing each foot with care. It is not necessary to think about the second step or even the other foot. This movement is about lifting one foot at a time. Each step is complete. It is complete because it is infused with heart. It is complete because it is infused with compassion. It is complete because it is infused with wisdom. This is not to say that we will be free from taking occasional missteps but that is all part of the enfolding. Each step taken is the right one because it has been taken.
All of this is the light of which we speak. Allow this light to inspire you. Let your body and your heart guide you. Go to Occupy Toronto to witness and feel this unprecedented vision and hope. Come and lend a hand. Come and be inspired. What stories will you tell your future ancestors, about the role you played in vanquishing this darkness, breaking the spell of tyranny and injustice – our own and others? Will your grand-children or grand nephews and nieces hear you telling stories about this critical period of great change and that you were apart of it? For the sake of future generations of all sentient beings, including Mother Earth herself, come and add to the expanding light.”
Theodore Tsaousidis
To follow this blog go to www.sittingatthegate.ca
For more info on Occupy Toronto and the Occupy Movements log on to www.occupytoronto.org
Other resources of interest:
Occupy Calgary Calgary www.occupycalgary.ca Occupy Vancouver Vancouver www.occupyvancouver.com Occupy Kelowna Kelowna http://www.facebook.com/OccupyKelowna @OccupyKelowna Occupy Nelson Nelson http://www.facebook.com/OccupyKelowna#!/pages/Occupy-Nelson-BC/183522835057825 Occupy Montreal Montreal www.occupymontreal.tk @OccuponsMontrea Occupy Quebec Quebec http://occupyquebec.wikispaces.com/ @OccupyQuebec Quebec http://www.facebook.com/occupyquebec Occupy Wall Street New York City www.occupywallst.org
Occupy Toronto – Day 17
Essay on the Occupy Movement – Introduction
Occupy Toronto
Finally completed an essay, called “You Can’t Say That: Transformation and Struggle in the Occupy Movements.” Writing this essay wasn’t an easy task. It would have been easier had I not had to write from within the continuing experience of our own Occupy Toronto movement. Ironically, ideas are more easily managed when one does not have to encounter the reality of the subject one is talking about. The following is a short glimpse of some of the aspects the writing will explore.
I first went to St. James Park to see how I could volunteer – “do my part”. After all, I agreed with the “Occupy” vision and needed to show my support. What I didn’t expect was the impact that this movement would have on me. I didn’t foresee that within a few weeks of working there I would be gripped by what I had imagined my contribution and participation would be, compared against the immensity of what really is required – not only from myself but from our Western society in general. Giving at the office, donating money to charities, buying fair trade coffee and recycling…, although good, is not enough. Dare I say this movement needs your soul?
The Occupy Movement as a vision is simple – fairness, equality, compassion and inclusiveness for all. This “all” includes not only humans, but the whole natural world. That’s pretty simple. Who can argue with that? However, as a movement the need is to be able to address not only the historical reasons for our present condition but also how to move forward without creating further suffering for people and society.
How do we function within a larger society where, let’s face it, we are entrenched and perhaps even addicted to the way things are being done? We are molded within our systems and technologies. We have our jobs, our families, our dreams, our cell phones, our individual ways of functioning…. For most of us, our behaviours have been conditioned over time to fit into the present status quo and ideology.
There is a tendency to hold up self-imposed blinders with the hope that the issues that our natural world and marginalized communities are experiencing do not come to our door. In reality, this is a form of gambling, avoidance and continued self-imposed blindness – because they are already at the door. If we don’t act who will? If not now, then when?
What I’ve learned from being on the ground at Occupy Toronto is that the Occupy movement is not about reducing our footprint on the globe. It’s about not leaving any traces of ourselves at all – only that subtle feeling that you have when you enter a home, or a place in nature, that has been loved and cared for. This is the desired legacy. May it be achieved.
The essay will be broken down and shared in sub-titled sections. The first section of the essay “You Can’t Say That: Transformation and Struggle in the Occupy Movements,” is sub-titled “Occupy Toronto, The Expanding Light”. It reflects my feelings about Occupy Toronto and the movement itself. It is a call to respond.
Occupy Toronto – Day 15
Michael Stone and Theodore Tsaousidis at Occupy Toronto
Michael Stone’s talk was a Vit. B12 shot today.Check Live Stream Library Sat Oct 29 2011 02:45:22 PM (5:20) at http://t.co/0gSZL5cM #occto
Occupy Toronto – Day 8
I went to occupy Toronto to see how I can help, and I’m the one who was helped. There is nothing I can teach these young people. They are helping me to know how to live with hope and vision. All my intentions are only electric currents. True helping is the opening of the heart-mind. Real and useful help is letting go of any ideas and concepts of helping. Real help is when you go to lift a box and you don’t know how you are going to do it and before you, seen or unseen, another set of hands appear. Thus the mystery of Occupy Toronto unfolds.
Where does this faith of young people come from? If you want to see humans emanating light in all its brilliance, come to St. James Park – you can be those hands that will help unfold a just future for all.
Occupy Toronto – Day 5
As I worked on an essay about Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Toronto swelled into life. So on this stormy night, October 19th, I traveled to St. James Park. I wanted to understand what was happening.
My foot touched the ground of the park and the energy of the earth shot through my body. The sheer imagination of these young people glittered off the cutting rain.
I had told myself I would go only to learn and just listen … just listen … but I couldn’t help but speak. I called out “Mic Check … Mic Check” and on the third loud cry, the crowd opened a space of silence … I told them why I came there and I asked them what they would want me to take away. I heard and my heart swelled with joy and pain.
The essay I was beginning to write was full of thoughts about the state of the world but now with that I also perceived something bigger full of possibility and expectancy. This was a deeper vast imagining full of hope, light and aspiration; a renewal, a birth of something as yet unknown. And it will be this something, this “baby” who holds the fullness of this vision. We are all here for the ride, the labour if you will. My visit confirmed my thoughts but also revealed, to my imagining that Occupy Toronto was like a massive geode as yet uncracked. We do not know what will be revealed in the opening; but what we understand of philosophy, psychology or spirituality must make room for a way of re-thinking.
This evening I heard many voices in St. James Park and I invite you to share your thoughts and those of your friends and community as this essay is expanded. We are all a part of this.
Medicine Buddha Toronto 
Theodore, thank you for voicing what so many are feeling. We are not out to tweak the system. We want a new system, one without debt and billionaires.