LA LUNA ILUMINA

Blessings from Mirthville to all of you!

Well, we'll get straight to the top story in the tiny world microcosm that is the experiential domain of the authors: The First Family of Earthville! That's right, as many of you witnessed (and indeed officiated!), Earthville's founding friends were finally (in)formally wed in Santa Barbara on the 28th of July! The world's happiest couple were pronounced "married already" by 300 love-gushing - and very patient - friends and family from around the world! We had a wild blessed day, and the warmth is still very much with us. We thank all of you who attended our Global Village Wedding in flesh and in spirit for helping us create such a wonderful day, itself a reflection of the sweetest life we could ever want. For the benefit of those absent (and those present, longing for physically-assisted remembrance), there are some great photos online, courtesy of our friend Rudi Halbright. We hope to get some astounding shots that Kim Fox took up online soon as well.

Extra special thanks go to: the Sheltons and our other friends at Oakleigh, who hosted us; the monks of Gyudmed monastery, who blessed us (see below); all our fine funky friends, who made music, munchies and many many miracles; and superlatively to our angelic parents and siblings, who lost all blood flow to their arms while holding our ad hoc chuppah over our heads during our interminable Quakeresque share-a-thon! And thanks SOOOOO especially much to all of you who honored our union with contributions to Earthville! Our fertile garden of love and empowerment will grow greatly greener with your generous watering! We'll write all of you individually as soon as we can extricate ourselves from this mound of many blessings and overdue chores!

OPEN YOUR HEART FOR EARTHVILLE

As all who know us well know well, one of the strongest sources of inspiration, guidance and support we have found in our efforts to relieve suffering and spread joy has been His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Celebrated and respected increasingly around the world as a spiritual, political and social leader, the Dalai Lama has become a household name throughout much of the world. (And for better reason than most household names, if you don't mind our saying so!) Why all this attention? Because he knows what he's talking about - and how to talk about it - and what he's talking about are the things everybody everywhere wants more than anything (even more than the perfect abs): love, peace and happiness. And because, for the Dalai Lama, these are more than words; they are palpably real and attainable experiences. His message, put simply: All of us can develop inner peace and lasting happiness if we know what to practice and what to leave behind, and the first and most important step is having "AN OPEN HEART."

Given our profound appreciation for the Dalai Lama's message of love, we are honored that Time Warner Bookmark has chosen The Earthville Network as its partner for the promotion of the Dalai Lama's inspiring book, "AN OPEN HEART", to be released at the end of this month! As a part of this partnership, they have provided us with free copies of the hardcover edition of the book and the unabridged audiobook (on cassette), to be used in a giveaway to recruit new supporting members of The Earthville Network.

So, if you've been waiting for a good time to show your support for Earthville's good work in Tibetan refugee communities and around the world, now's your chance to get back something precious for what you give! Join The Earthville Network any time in September and you will be eligible to win a free copy of AN OPEN HEART [while supplies last]! All new "Earthville Citizens" (members of The Earthville Network) who join by September 30 [2001] with a charitable contribution of $18 or more will be entered into a drawing to win either a hardcover copy of the book or the unabridged audiobook. Five copies each of the book and audiobook will be given away, with one copy reserved for the first entry and one reserved for the largest donation.

Your membership contributions will help support our charitable programs like the Tibet Empowerment Circle, which works with Tibetan refugees in India to help them educate and empower themselves and improve their communities. All contributions are tax-deductible in the USA to the extent allowed by law. Earthville Citizens will also receive our monthly email newsletter, La Luna Ilumina, as well as invitations to participate in unique, heart-opening experiences worldwide. In order for you to be entered into the giveaway, we must receive your membership contribution by September 30, so - as the marketers are fond of saying - join The Earthville Network today! (That is, if you feel moved to do so... and/or you just want an awesome book for cheap... ;-)

Drawn from the Dalai Lama's talks to 50,000 people in New York City's Central Park during his four day visit in August 1999, AN OPEN HEART lays out a course of meditations, from the simplest to the most challenging. The audiobook version is unabridged, read by Nicholas Vreeland with an afterword read by Richard Gere.

Join The Earthville Network and enter the book giveaway now!

Read the first chapter of the book or listen to a sample from the audiobook.

Buy the hardcover book or the unabridged audiobook at Amazon.com and some of the proceeds will benefit Earthville's projects and programs.

MONK-Y BIZNIS (REPRISE)

In other Tibet-related news, the Gyudmed monks' visit to Santa Barbara went off with flying colors... er, well, technically, there were first falling colors [the brightly and variously pigmented sand pouring incredibly into place in the mandala, guided by still and skillful hands], alternating with sitting colors [the mandala-in-progress was on display for a week, attracting hundreds of visitors who studied the mandala and other Tibetan art with wonder, and sometimes bought traditional Tibetan paintings, stocking the coffers of the exile monastery in India, while in the evenings the monks gave public talks and performed healing rituals], followed by sweeping colors [when the mandala was completed and prayers recited, the monks abruptly and dramatically swept the painstakingly prepared sand mandala into a vase, while throngs of onlookers craned their necks for a gander, most of them marvelling that they never could've just swept away something into which they had invested so much], and finally sinking colors [as, after an anachronous parade down the main tourist/shopping street in Santa Barbara, cymbals clashing, the colored sand was returned to the sea in a fun and solemn ceremony on the beach].

Many in attendance were touched powerfully and inspired by their personal contact with the monks, and showed their appreciation in many ways, not least of which was over $35,000 in revenue to support the nearly 600 refugee monks in their studies and their work to preserve endangered Tibetan cultural treasures. Thanks and props to Joseph and Diana Bottoms, Bob Roan, all of the family at Hoffman House, Jeff Horton, Chris Chatto, Allegra Heidelinde, Jyoti Subramanian, Daniel Gross, Santa Barbara Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), the O Project, the friendly folks at the Independent, Casa de Maria and our many other friends who helped us get it together here in Santa Barbara - and gargantuan gratitude to Dianne Aigaki and her amazing staff for spending all their energy and taking more out on credit to keep this precious show on the road! Most of all, thanks to the monks, who have dedicated their lives to ending suffering and bringing love and  compassion to all beings. Santa Barbara is glowing with your blessings.

NOT JUST ANOTHER "MIDEAST PEACE TALK"

While we're on the subject of love and compassion [do we ever get off of that? But what else is there worth talking about... i mean, besides our wedding, our dog Maynerd, our enchanting niece Amalia and her brand new baby brother Moses, who just popped out of the oven!], Earthville Ambassador Azriel Cohen co-organized an unprecedented peacemaking event in the south of France under the waning light of the July moon. Exiled Vietnamese Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh, respected worldwide for his embodiment of peaceful principles and nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize, wanted to do his part to extend a peaceful hand to his sisters and brothers in the Middle East. In this spirit, he invited Palestinians and Israelis to come together for meditation and reconciliation at Plum Village, the intentional community he founded in the south of France, which itself was established initially as a haven for refugees and victims of the wartime horrors in Vietnam.

Heeding the call (as he's wont to do), Azriel joined several peace-minded Israeli friends in initiating the "Peace Begins With Me" project (later renamed by Thich Nhat Hanh as "Peace Begins With Myself", presumably as a Buddhist play on the word "self"). Working miraculously quickly, with logistical support from The Earthville Network, the Israel Interfaith Association and other folks on both sides of the Atlantic, Azriel and friends raised sufficient money to send over a dozen delegates from Israel and the Palestinian territories to participate in this life-changing event.

The outcomes were nothing short of revolutionary, albeit on the tiny scale on which all revolutions must begin. The participants encountered each other as real people, and many felt sincere empathy for "the other" for the first time. And they didn't content themselves just to pat themselves on the back just for coming together (which in itself is noble); difficult issues were touched with love and care, allowing some real progress to be made. You can read about it in the participants' own words here.

Of course it's just a beginning - but all great waves take their birth in a tranquil sea.

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And on that note, we'll sign off so we can plunge back into the challenging and exhilarating work that awaits us in the coming moon. We'll have more good news for you then, so stay tuned, toned, and (optionally) tanned - but pray you're never tinned!

With love (and other super sequiturs that sometimes seem like non sequiturs)*

Dara and Mark ACKERMOORE, your newly nuptialized neighbors in Earthville

* parting wishes once again inspired by the gooey prosaic spirit of Jim Santi Owen, long may he love!