May/June 2002 NW Newsmakers
Community News

Meditation Now - Inner Peace Through Inner Wisdom

Free lecture on Vipassana Meditation by noted speaker S. N. Goenka, the internationally known teacher of meditation, will speak in Portland at Portland State University’s Smith Memorial Ballroom on Tuesday June 18th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. This is part of a four-month tour of North America, beginning on April 20 in New York City, during which he will be teaching and speaking about the ancient meditation practice of Vipassana, a simple, practical way to achieve real peace of mind.

S. N. Goenka, 78, is widely respected as the foremost lay teacher of Vipassana. Eighty meditation centers worldwide offer instruction under his guidance and meditation courses using his approach have been held in 90 countries. Every year, over 100,000 people participate in ten-day meditation retreats under his guidance. Based in India, S. N. Goenka never before has conducted such an extensive visit to the West.

Vipassana means, "to see things as they really are”. Although springing from the teachings of the Buddha, Vipassana, as taught by S.N. Goenka, is a non-sectarian practice open to everyone regardless of background or belief. It is a logical process of mental purification through self-observation.

This visit is a unique opportunity for anyone interested in meditation in its purest and simplest form. The tour is sponsored by the Dhamma Tour Fund and all events are presented completely free of charge. For more information and a complete schedule of the North American tour, www.meditationnow.org or call Meditation Now Tour Information at (206) 524-2978; email: info@tour.dhamma.org

The talk in Portland on June 19 at Portland State University, 724 SW Harrison, will begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. No advance reservations needed. There is no charge for this event. For information, call Chris at (503) 224-4929.

Great Strides Walkathon

On Saturday, May 18th 2002 join more than 50,000 people across the country for a day of fun and fund-raising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to funding the research to find a cure for cystic fibrosis.

The Foundation will be holding its fourteenth annual GREAT STRIDES Walkathon at the Portland Rose Quarter to raise funds to help fight cystic fibrosis, the nation’s leading fatal genetic disease of children and young adults. The 10k and 4k walk includes food, entertainment, a kid’s activity corner and fun stop.

The Walkathon begins at 10am, with registration at 9am at the Portland Rose Quarter Commons, next to the Memorial Coliseum. There is no cost to join the walk, and walkers are encouraged to collect pledges. Put together your own team or walk on your own. Raise $75 in pledges to receive a CF team t-shirt. Many other prizes available!

For information contact Karen Young, Director of Special Events, 5331 SW Macadam, Suite 265, Portland, Oregon 97201. Phone: 503-226-3435 Cell: 503-807-6918 e-mail: oregon@cff.org

Cascadia Wild!, Exploring The Natural World

Cascadia Wild! Is a community-based educational initiative by a community of mentors that creatively encourages personal connection to community and nature. Since 1998, Cascadia Wild! has been providing long-term naturalist training, teaching nature awareness skills, the identification of hazards, animal tracking, edible and medicinal plants, nature caretaking, ecology and the web of communities, wilderness survival, and the language of the birds.

This summer Cascadia Wild! will offer classes to adults in the Arts of Animal Tracking, Wilderness Survival Skills, Mysteries of Time and Space, High Mountain Ecology and the Language of the Birds. These classes will be offered in diverse natural habitats from the coastal, Sitka Spruce forest of Drift Creek Wilderness to the alpine area of Three Sisters Wilderness. We send gratitude to our mentors particularly Jon Young and Tom Brown, Jr. Jon Young has reintroduced the concept of bird language to modern society. For thousands of years our ancestors understood and utilized the "language of the birds" to know where the predators were in the forest. The alarm calls of certain birds would notify them of the passage of the fox or the cougar. This type of intimate understanding of the natural world reveals the connection that Cascadia Wild! strives to teach to youth and adults.

For the first time, Cascadia Wild! will teach summer camps at Forest Park in conjunction with the Ivy Removal Project, Portland Parks and Recreation, and Friends of Forest Park. The summer camps will be available for youth, ages 10-14 and will allow them to experience animal tracking, wilderness skills, edible plants, and the language of the birds for a week in the forest. The first three days of each camp will occur in Forest Park, and the last two days will be an overnight at Oxbow Regional Park. The overnight allows the students to experience the natural world in a more pristine, natural setting.

Each fall and winter approximately 100 new volunteers join Cascadia Wild! to be trained in the Arts of Animal Tracking to complete snow tracking surveys for rare forest carnivores. The volunteers and instructors search for the tracks of American marten, fisher, lynx, wolverine and wolves, as well as prey species of these animals, in the Gifford Pinchot and Mt. Hood National Forests.

For more information about their programs, call 503-233-9533, or email dave@cascadiawild.org or visit www.cascadiawild.org/newpage.swf.

Buffalo Gardens

A new oasis for gardeners has opened in NE Portland. When you go for your weekend brunch on Alberta, stop in at the charming nursery at no. 3033. Done in tones of gold and paprika, the walls are hung with original art work, while the tile floor is covered with a delightful variety of plants, seeds and statuary. Check out the funky pig planter! The adjoining lot houses a great selection of high quality organic herbs and vegetables as well as fruit trees, shubs and more.

It all started when Sandra, a trained chef, working in a N.W. Italian restaurant met Gloria, a server, at the same restaurant. Over time, both realized they shared a mutual interest in gardening and the desire to run their own business. A few conversations later, the seeds of Buffalo Gardens were planted. Sandra and Gloria foresee a future in gardening full time and eventually specializing in heirloom and medicinal plants. You can contact them at 503-288-0220 or buffalogdns@hotmail.com.

Earth Building Workshops

Cob is an environmentally sustainable building material created from Earth, sand and straw. It can be used to create organic, breathing spaces that are in cooperation with the Earth, rather than competing against it. Throughout the month of May, on Saturdays and Sundays, free hands-on workshops will be offered in cob construction at People’s Food Coop. The workshops will focus on learning about the sustainability of our sources of building materials, the techniques involved in the creation of a cob structure, and the aesthetic design possibilities.

Workshops begin at 8:30 am and last until 4:00 pm. Lunch will be provided. Also, from May 10-19, there will be a Natural Building Convergence which will bring five communities in SE Portland together to build natural structures. These structures will incorporate cob and straw bale construction, rainwater harvesting, and living roves. There will be daily lectures, slide shows and round table discussions on topics ranging from alternative transportation, to public art, to natural building. For more information, please contact Joshua Klyber at 503-287-5694 or Joshuaism@yahoo.com.