Hot Samadhi! I just started blogging again over at My Samadhi is Hot with post entitled, “100 Days of Practice” that talks about a practice vow I’ve recently undertaken. Read about that here and subscribe to hear more about my process and experience over the 100 days.

Love is Under Me. As usual, I continue writing and posting poems on my poetry site, Love is Under Me. If you’re new to that site, you can start with reader’s favorite poems and you can subscribe to get updates.

New Film. I recently wrote and directed a short film for my good friend, Lindsey Wilkinson who did an amazing job editing the film. Her first time, which is so hard to believe. It was shot for a class she took and had to be 5 minutes or less. “Tension of Immanence”. Watch below:

Some of my close friends already know this bit of big news in my life, but many of you do not: I have decided to move to LA/Santa Monica this summer, in August. Of course, I recognize that between now and then anything can happen that might make me change my mind, or obstacles might arise, but my intuition is speaking loud and clear and I trust it. I’m ready for a change and Santa Monica feels a good move to make and the time is right.

It is a big decision, but in many ways it’s quite natural and easy. Though, it is not so easy to part from Boulder and my lovely, amazing friends here, and the community in general. I share many of the feelings in this passage from Gibran in my decision to leave Boulder (though not in the same spiritual vein as he means):

The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould.
Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?
A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that give it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.
-From “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran

I will miss being around so many wonderful people whom I adore, but I also won’t ever feel distant in my heart from them (you). I also see myself returning back to Boulder afterward, but we’ll just have to see.

So, the big questions you might have are: how did this come up and why the move?

It all started with Vince and Emily Horn, two of my most favorite people in the world, who are like family to me, and with whom I currently live. It came up in their lives, and in quite a universe-aligning sort of way (much like it did for me), that moving to Santa Monica was potentially an amazing next move in what they are doing and becoming. I’ll leave it to them to share more about that, but what they are doing is incredibly inspiring and I’m excited about their next steps.

When this came up for them, they said, “Hey, you should come out with us!” And my response was an immediate ‘yes’. Now, they invited not only because we enjoy being around each other and sharing in one another’s lives, but also because they were aware of my aspirations in life, and on a practical level, it’s just easier to move and live in LA with a group. That being said, I’ve also made the decision to move to Santa Monica regardless of Vine and Emily’s final decision, though my heart hopes that it is with them.

Now, as for my personal reasons and desires, as you probably know I am in love with writing and film, and this is what I want to be doing with my life. It started with being a producer on my friend’s, Stuart Davis’s national television show, “Sex, God, Rock n Roll”, which was itself and overwhelming affirmation. This fall I wrote and co-directed my first short film, shooting it with an amazing group of friends. This also was a moving and validating experience for me. I feel I’m in a very important time in my life, creatively, artistically, and spiritually, both developing and emerging. I’m excited to change contexts for a while during this wonderful period of my life.

On a more tangible level, being in Santa Monica/LA will be exciting because I will be surrounded by creatives just like me, presenting opportunities to cultivate new relationships, and who knows, I might find opportunities in film and screenwriting as well. I’m looking at it as an open ended experience, simply putting myself out there without expectations. This is definitely not the stereotypical move to LA that you hear about, going out with whimsical or pipe dreams, without forethought and in desperation. That, I don’t need. With that being said, I will continue PowerUp Productions full-steam, running in Boulder and starting up in Santa Monica, paying my bills the same way I am now. And, I am and will continue to hold my excitement for PowerUp and it’s growth.

As far as how long I will be in Santa Monica, it’s hard to know. I assume that I will be out there for 1-3 years. In that time, along side of PowerUp blossoming, I hope to learn a lot, write several screenplays and short films, direct some of my own, and maybe find myself getting paid for it. But again, we’ll see. I’m relaxed about it all, but also firmly dedicated to developing myself and stepping out as artist.

So, all of this is a 100% go in my mind and heart and I will keep you updated on this as everything unfolds, and I’m excited to share in it with you all.

My Samadhi is Hot is here to melt the face off your soul. It’s for those practitioners who want to go beyond what Hafiz called “teacup talk of God”, for those Soldiers of Love…

Read more in the Samadhi Manifesto and hope to hear from you over there.

(PS – I have some film related posts that I’ll be writing up for this site, as well as a short film that is being shot at the end of this month.)

Happy Birthday, Gwendle!:)

Contact PowerUp Today! Email: info [at] powerupproductions [dot] tv / Phone 303.872.6971

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Also, I will be announcing an incredible offer from PowerUp in the next day or two, so please stay tuned! Oh, and sign up for my new newsletter that will be sent out this week, also designed by Chelsea Brady.

Formally, I am no longer an owner of Buddhist Geeks and sold my ownership back to the company. This decision was very mutual and exciting for both Vince and I. It is allowing both of us to move strongly and more efficiently in the directions we are seeking. In fact, the timing couldn’t be better for me personally. As for me, I’m putting all my energy into film, as a screenwriter and director, as well as a freelancer in online media (until I’m full-time in film). I haven’t written much about my process, but will do so on this blog.

I discovered my love for film more fully over the last year and how much it allowed me to integrate all my talents, interests, and perspectives into one medium; a match made in heaven, so to speak. My contemplative, buddhist geeky path is very much a part of my art and writing, and I’m so excited to explore and express that through film. I hope you’ll join me and share in this new path that I have been cultivating, and of course, keep tuning into Buddhist Geeks!!

I have a wonderful newsletter designed by Chelsea Brady, if you’d like to keep up with my projects and life. Sign up here for some geeky goodness.

Oh, and what do you think of the new logo on this site?? Also designed by Chelsea. PowerUp Productions has a new logo as well and in the next few days, you’ll see a brand new site!

However, I realized what I wanted to say could not be contained in an English phrase – too much paradoxical truth to embody. I then started considering other languages when the perfect idea came to me – I would have Stuart Davis interpret what I wanted to say into the language he created called, “Is”. So beautifully perfect. First and foremost, Stuart is a dear friend and I consider him one of my main mentors. He fully embodies what I am saying with this tattoo. He lives it. Secondly, I knew the inspiration behind Is and its qualities. Stuart has created the language to communicate spiritual truths and realizations that is normally very difficult to do in most languages, and particularly to hold paradoxes within the a single word or short phrase.

So, I sent him a few paragraphs of what I wanted to say and asked him to intrepret it into Is, which he did, creating an entirely new word in Is using roots of Is. The result is what you see below and in the video, pronounced Vray-OI-yah-dauw.

Hey Stu -I’m trying to capture a paradox within this verb. Generally speaking, it’s this non-dual mix of ascending and descending currents (see, you can’t even say that shit right in English).

Love without wanting. This is really only half of what I’m trying to say, more the ascending current, but it applies equally to “all beings”, as well as say, your lover. Both a surrendering and a giving. To love both in the absolute and relative completely openly, without pretense, without expectation, completely letting your love for another person flow without limitations or boundaries.

The other half is being completely fucking passionate about the people in your life, friends, family and your lover. You want to be ravished by them, and you want to ravish them. Perhaps I could say “Love without wanting; ravish without hesitation.”

A big part of this for me is a surrender that is tender, yet passionate. It is NOT some other wordly disconnect. It’s like “Drown” and “Immanence” rolled in one. It would seem like a paradox to people, but both are possible; that’s where it’s at for me.

Ryan Gets Inked – “Is” Tattoo from Ryan Oelke on Vimeo.