Friday, June 5, 2009

Stomp Festival '09



The Cultural STOMP Festival is Newcastle's annual celebration of community, cultural diversity, the environment and social justice.

The Festival will take place again in Civic Park on Saturday June 6 2009 in conjunction with World Environment Day June 5.

STOMP is a free event and runs from 9 am until 6.30 pm.

The launch event takes place on Thursday June 4 at The View Factory Cafe Bar.

For more information see the Octapod site links below:

For general / media enquiries:
Ph: 0249270470

Email: stomp@octapod.org

Web: http://octapod.org/projects/cultural-stomp-festival

Blog: http://theculturalstomp.ning.com/


On Facebook: Friends of the Cultural STOMP Festival Newcastle:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7212934178

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Gregg's "Prequinox" address, March 2008

A DAWN EQUINOX ADDRESS AT NOBBYS, 15 MARCH 2008

Greetings friends to the 7th such occasion when in spirited unity and diversity we have gathered here at Nobbys to together celebrate the dawning of an autumnal equinox.

In the traditions of Japanese Buddhism the equinox festival is known as Higan, the festival of the “other shore”, the festival that brings to mind enlightenment shining in the seasons and forms of our turning world and welcoming all equally within its warmth.

However it is a rather different “global warming” that is the chosen theme for our gathering here today. As we should by now all be painfully aware, human-induced climate change is underway and carries with it a fearsome potential to devastate this beautifully balanced and wholly inter-connected world we share.

Countless equinoxes have passed with human beings living their lives beside this great river. For the 150 years that the lighthouse has been here at the river’s mouth the coal industry has been the livelihood of so many local folk. Now this has become one of the most significant channels of inflammatory carbon on Earth. Yes, in terms of the veritable fever that is global warming this is now a river of both fire and water.

To state the obvious, to turn things around things will have to change. A huge coal-carrying vessel like the Pasha Bulker being recently stranded not far from here should serve as an appropriately portentous warning. With dangerous weather approaching, ships use echo-location to seek the safety of depth, and metaphorically it is imperative for all of us to do likewise.

Climate change is not a crisis of “environmental management” ultimately soluble by the mere extension of human control over the world around us. In its genuine sense this is an ecological crisis. The word “ecology” derives from the Greek “oikos”, meaning “household” and “home”, and “logos”, meaning “word” and “understanding”. The word-combination opens a homecoming of understanding, a deepening standing in the togetherness that in reality enables and finds all life at home, humanity included.

In mutual depth of meaning ecology naturally echoes the Buddhist term “eko”. Eko literally denotes “changing direction” or “turning toward another”. It signifies openness attentive and conducive to the calling of compassion. The enlightenment celebrated at Higan is none other than this resounding eko of compassion open and altogether. Apart from such compassion there is no genuine understanding, only a homelessness within.

Hence my metaphorical recommendation of echo-location for us all, since eko roundly echoes ecology and both are critically helpful to orient ourselves meeting the challenges ahead. In being deeply at home, richly related to each other and to the wholeness of living Earth, is an endowment of wisdom and resourcefulness appreciative of the true value of belonging. Then let us become who we are and let us realize a future for life in all its wonderfully diverse fullness. Namo Amida Butsu.

Shaku Jo’on Gregg Heathcote
(NB Shaku means “Follower of the Sakyamuni Buddha”. Jo’on means “Pure Music”, describing the way the eko of enlightened mind plays out in our hearing)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Newcastle supports the Aboriginal People

Newcastle City Council congratulates the Australian Government on the eve of its historic apology to the Aboriginal Stolen Generations.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Gregg's Equinox address, March 2006

A DAWN EQUINOX ADDRESS AT NOBBY’S, SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2006

Greetings friends and welcome to our customary multifaith gathering in celebration of the autumnal equinox, the fifth such dawn gathering here at Nobbys where and when sun, river and ocean meet upon the seasons’ especial point of balance.

At equinox day and night are evenly balanced and all in this world of ours are then literally equal under the sun. Each time we gather here I point out the relevant meaning of the Japanese Buddhist festival of the equinox, known as Higan. The word ‘Higan’ translates as the ‘other shore’ and at Higan the grounding world of enlightened truth and beauty draws the turbulent shallows of our everyday world near, helping plumb the great peace and equilibrium in which all naturally have equal share.

Namo Amida Butsu. May the sharp point of this natural balance deeply and delightfully impress all our lives. Namo Amida Butsu. May the rising sun on a day of equinox be a vision to light all our ways, every single day. Namo Amida Butsu.

Shaku Jo’on Gregg Heathcote