March 8, 2021

 From Diane Comey: The origin of the term 'Tree hugger'

The first tree huggers were 294 men and 69 women belonging to the Bishnois branch of Hinduism, who, in 1730, died while trying to protect the trees in their village from being turned into the raw material for building a palace. They literally clung to the trees, while being slaughtered by the foresters. But their action led to a royal decree prohibiting the cutting of trees in any Bishnoi village. And now those villages are virtual wooded oases amidst an otherwise desert landscape.

Not only that, the Bishnois inspired the Chipko movement (chipko means “to cling” in Hindi) that started in the 1970s, when a group of peasant women in the Himalayan hills of northern India threw their arms around trees designated to be cut down. Within a few years, this tactic, also known as tree satyagraha, had spread across India, ultimately forcing reforms in forestry and a moratorium on tree felling in Himalayan regions.

Photo: The village women of the Chipko movement in the early 70's in the Garhwal Hills of India, protecting the trees from being cut down.

______________________________________________________________

Special bows for today: 

• Please offer bows in honor of:
• Jesse Schouboe, dear friend of GJ Scove, who died on 2/27/21 in a car crash
• Please continue to offer bows in honor of:
• Hank Wesselman, brother of Chris Wesselman, who died on 2/15/21
• Roshi Mel Weitsman who died on 1/7/21
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for: 
• Mary Kaye, wife of Les Kaye, who is having minor surgery on March 10th
• Misha's cousin, Kenny, who has been diagnosed with ALS
• Shannon's husband, Gil, who is slowly recovering
• Flip Dibner, dharma brother and friend, who is continuing  chemotherapy treatments  
• David Shaw, who is continuing the process of PT after a stroke

__________________________________________________________________________

Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

• From Rick Moss: I recommend this conversation highly (listen to podcast or read transcript)  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/podcasts/ezra-klein-show-george-saunders-transcript.html

• From Beth Goldring: Interview with Jane Goodall   https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-bottom-line/2021/1/28/jane-goodall-covid-19-environment-poverty

• From Kathleen Dickey: Alan Senauke becoming the new Abbott of Berkeley Zen Center:  https://blogs.sfzc.org/blog/2021/02/10/a-new-abbot-for-old-plum-mountain-zencenter/fbclid=IwAR3eFpaURN8Nn_nUIZVK0bvu5K0RZq7XvYGF_OhHjBKYWwvaCi0GLEjMc4g

• Alisa Tu: interviewed on CBS about vaccinations:   https://www.cbsnews.com/video/only-4-of-all-covid-vaccine-doses-administered-in-us-went-to-long-term-care-facility-residents/#x

• From Diane Comey: Bird songs:    https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/bird_songs_interactive/index.html

• Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org

_____________________________________________________________________

• To leave a comment on this blog:  Here is a quick video on how to--it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg