A daily series, Connect! Unite! Act! seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups regularly socialize but also get out the vote, support candidates and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers-that-be. Visit us at Daily Kos every morning at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time to see how you can get involved. The comment thread is fun and light-hearted, but we're serious about moving the progressive political agenda forward.
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If you'd like to join a group, click on a point and a box will pop up showing contact links.
If you'd like to start a group, contact navajo for instructions.
View Interactive Map of Daily Kos Regional Communities in a full screen version.
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Did you ever study Eastern Philosophy ?
It was all over the place for a while there, in the Sixties and Seventies. You couldn't hardly get away from it, at least among the people I was hanging with, and it seemed like every other person you met had read a book on Eastern Philosophy and aspired to be a Teacher or Spiritual Guide. I wrote, in a diary I did about Henry Miller1, that Miller was sort of a proto-Hippie and that most of what we think of as Hippie culture can be found in his writing. Miller rejected the stupidity and vulgarity of the nascent American Consumer Culture. He also rejected religion as practiced in America. He was influenced by the esoteric teachings of a group called the Theosophists; followers of Madame Blavatsky2.
Born in Russia in 1831, Helena Blavatsky traveled the world and claimed to have met the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom" who taught her the principles of Theosophy. She laid these out in a book called The Secret Doctrine which she said was based on ancient Tibetan texts. Here's a quote from Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine by Max Heindel, originally published in 1933:
It should be remembered that the work which we are considering is not by any means the whole of the esoteric philosophy possessed by the Masters of Wisdom, but only a small fragment of its fundamental tenets. The teachings of The Secret Doctrine, however fragmentary and incomplete, do not belong to the Hindu, Zoroastrian, Chaldean, or Egyptian religions; nor to Buddhism, Islamism, Judaism or Christianity exclusively. The book contains the essence of them all. Originating from the same source, all are in these volumes resolved into their original elements, out of which every mystery and dogma has developed and become materialized. The aim of the work is to show that Nature is not a fortuitous concurrence of atoms, to assign to man his rightful place in the scheme of the universe, to rescue from degradation the archaic truths which are the basis of all religions, to uncover to some extent the fundamental unity from which they all sprang, and finally to show that the occult side of Nature has never been approached by the science of modern civilization.
Here we have the notion that there is an Ancient Wisdom which has been lost to us in the West, with our modern "scientific" conception of the universe. You can see how this might appeal to Miller and others who were dissatisfied with the ugliness of industrialization and the Depression and Wars that came with it. If this is what comes from Western thought, why not look to the East for a more humanistic ethos ? This thread was picked up by Jack Kerouac who studied Buddhism and titled one of his novels
The Dharma Bums3.
Interest in Eastern Philosophy continued when people began to seek Enlightenment and Expanded Consciousness through the use of psychedelic drugs. Psychologist Timothy Leary4 took his PhD at UC Berkeley in 1950 and was lecturing at Harvard in 1958.A colleague of Leary's told him about his experience in Mexico with psilocybin mushrooms and in 1960 Leary traveled to Cuernavaca to try them himself. He claimed to have "learned more about ... (his) brain and its possibilities ... [and] more about psychology in the five hours after taking these mushrooms than ... in the preceding 15 years of studying and doing research in psychology." In 1964 Leary, and his associates Richard Alpert and Ralph Metzner, co-wrote a book entitled The Psychedelic Experience based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead5 Alpert later changed his name to Ram Dass and wrote a bestseller called Be Here Now6. And who can forget the Fab Four and their flirtation with Eastern Philosophy as personified by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi7. Guitarist George Harrison had visited India in 1966 to take sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar. In '67 the band attended one of the Maharishi's lectures in London and in 1968 the World's Greatest Pop Vocal Group went to India to study under the Maharishi8. Their experience was ultimately unsatisfactory, but it made a lot of news and got even more people interested in Eastern Philosophy.
Me ? Not so much. Like I said, Eastern Philosophy was all over the place when I was younger, I just never could see what I was supposed to transcend. I don't know what "Spiritual Enlightenment" even means. When I began to study Western Philosophy I even started to resent the use of the term by spiritualists. To me, Philosophy is about logic and language; clarity of discourse, not Enlightenment or Inner Peace. And besides, why would I reject the religion I was raised with only to adopt somebody else's ? Is the Consumer Culture lame ? Sure it is, so I don't participate. I don't need a Guru to tell me that buying products won't make me happy. It's obvious. How 'bout you ...
Did you ever study Eastern Philosophy ?
Latest Updates on Regional Meet-Up News Can Be Found Below the Orange Group Hug.
Let's Build Communities!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events.
We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in.
If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
List of All Existing Meatspace Groups
Where the Kogs Are: Index/Directory of the 130+ Localized Daily Kos Groups
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
by joanbrooker ♥ for New York City
New York City Kos gathered to remember and toast Cedwyn with her favorite icons, sippy cups and butterflies. "She touched so many lives and the loss to all of her friends at DK has been profound."
Here's one group photo:
From left clockwise: ericlewis0, DaveG, MBNYC, thirty three and a third, Mets102, sidnora, blue jersey mom, janosnation, Stacey, and joanbrooker.
Please visit joanbrooker's diary for many MORE photos! Enjoy! You can still REC it. You can join New York City Kos by sending a Kosmail to kathny.
by Sara R ♥ for Koscadia
Koscadia, at it again.
We had a lovely meal together yesterday. The mood was a bit somber as we thought of our absent [Koscadia] friend, Cedwyn. The news of Cedwyn's death did not come until afterwards.
At our lunch, I received a special gift from ericlewis0 intended for both me and Ann, wrapped and framed by llbear. It was the original artwork for the Animal Nuz cartoon of Catwyn receiving her quilt. [Photo can be seen in Sara R's diary]
Here's one photo:
L-R: War4Sale (back of head), Sheila, slampros, watercarrier4diogenes, llbear, ozsea1, loggersbrat, quill, pdxteacher
Please visit Sara R's diary for many MORE photos! Enjoy! You can still REC it. You can join
Koscadia by sending a Kosmail to
Sara R.
Event Organizers! Please contact wink from Netrootsradio.com by KosMail to schedule airtime with them to live broadcast the date of your Event. Wink & Justice will then promote it on The After Show radio program!
Saturday, February 28th
Four Corners Kossacks International Diplomatic Outreach Junket
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Irish Embassy Pub
900 Main Ave • Durango
ORGANIZER: Send Thinking Fella a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. Thinking Fella
2. Hero Machine
3. red moon dog
4. ERRN
5. Mr. ERRN
6. Gary Norton
7. nzanne
8. msaztec
9. relleno
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Maybees:
LucyTooners
Mr. LucyTooners
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Latest diary: Four Corners Kossacks Meet-up: International Diplomatic Outreach
Saturday, February 28th
DC Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Busboys and Poets
5th and K Streets • DC
If you can't make this one, we will resume the 3rd Saturday of the month in March and that meetup will be held at 1 pm.
ORGANIZER: Send NinthElegy a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. NinthElegy
2. patbahn
3. mimi
4. OllieGarkey
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Maybees:
Rachel Colyer
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Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Saturday, February 28th
Texas All-State Meet-up with:
• nomandates: Texas, Then and Now
• Kath Haenschen: Legislative Preview: The Good, The Bad, And The Really Really Ugly
• Meteor Blades: The Power of Year-Round Precinct Organizing
• Denise Oliver-Velez: Motivating Young People to Vote and Run for Office
• Neeta Lind aka navajo: Maximizing the Daily Kos Forum
• Egberto Willies: How to Attract the Most Readers to Your Message
• Chrislove: Organizing Houston and Supporting Local Activism
An afternoon of camaraderie and progressive strategizing with Big Orange flavor!
RSVPs closed, event capacity of 175 seats has been reached.
Wednesday, March 4th
NOTE DATE CHANGE ^^^^^^^^^^
San Francisco Kos Welcomes joanbrooker to Town
TIME: 6:15 PM
LOCATION: Triptych, near Civic Center BART
1155 Folsom Street • San Francisco
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. joanbrooker
2. navajo
3. norm
4. side pocket
5. Richard F.
6. jpmassar
7. citisven
8. Meteor Blades
9. Lorikeet
10. dsb
11. boatsie
12.
13.
14.
15.
Reservation has been made for 15 people only.
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Maybees:
dharmasyd
KC208
Plumbers, party of 3
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Saturday, March 21st?
Motor City Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 7:00 PM or TBD
LOCATION: Taqueria Mi Pueblo
7278 Dix • Detroit (Corktown-ish)
ORGANIZER: Send peregrine kate a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. DoReMI
2. mideedah
3. BFSkinner
4. peregrine kate
5.
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Maybees:
ProvokingMeaning
ChemBob
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Latest diary: Michigan/Motor City Kossacks Weekly Open Thread: Meet-Up, Sat 2/14, 7:00 PM, Corktown(ish) Detroit
Saturday, April 18th
San Francisco Kos Welcomes blue jersey mom to Town
Potluck style BBQ
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: kimoconnor's garden
[Address given privately to RSVPs] • San Francisco
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. blue jersey mom
2. navajo - [2 bottles of wine]
3. side pocket
4. Mrs. side pocket
5. maggiejean
6. kimoconnor
7. dharmasyd
8. norm
9. remembrance
10. Glen The Plumber
11. TLO
12. Lorikeet
13. dsb
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Maybees: |
Saturday, April 25th
DAILY KOS CONNECTS KANSAS CITY
Our first regional Daily Kos gathering.
Join us for a day of camaraderie and progressive strategizing with Big Orange flavor. In a day-long seminar, learn how our Connect! Unite! Act! team maximized the Daily Kos forum to effect change in Kansas state politics. We are going to duplicate that effort across the nation. Participants will focus on organizing from the ground up.
You'll also get a chance to meet the blog's founder, Markos Moulitsas and some Daily Kos writers, such as Joan McCarter, Meteor Blades, David Nir, Jen Hayden and others.
TIME: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Alamo Drafthouse
1400 Main Street • Kansas City
SCHEDULE:
8:00 AM - Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM - Presentations, panels and Q&A's begin
Noon - Lunch served
1:30 PM - More presentations, panels and Q&A's
6:00 PM - After Party
REGISTER HERE: $30 registration fee at Eventbrite
Benefactor level is also available if you plan to attend and buy a scholarship for someone, you and your attendee can have a front row seat. Angel level is also available if you can't attend but want to help someone else attend.
We have five scholarships available thanks to our Benefactors and Angels. Please kosmail navajo if you need a scholarship to attend. |
Grow our network, unite our progressive communities, help win elections!
RSVPs:
1. Markos Moulitsas
2. tmservo433
3. Meteor Blades
5. Joan McCarter
6. David Nir
7. Jen Hayden
8. Monique Teal
9. Neeta Lind aka navajo
10. Cindy Kelly from Women4KS
11. Peter Gogol
12. Jeffrey Zamrzla
13. Brian82
14. C.M.
15. Sandzen
16. kj in missouri
17. artguy4life
18. Chris
19. pyoung
20. Madge Montgomery
21. cdtribble
22. Mrs. cdtribble
23. kd4dean
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Maybees:
ColoTim
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Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26, 2015
DKos Asheville's Roadtrip and Two-Day Retreat to Roanoke, Virginia
From randallt:
After seven successful and engaging meet ups, DKos Asheville's core members decided to take our next gathering on the road. The first reason was that our chef and benefactor for all our meet ups has been Gordon20024 and we wanted say thanks by traveling to be with him instead of having him drive to be with us. We asked and he was thrilled and so the idea was born. Another reason is that it offers us the opportunity to meet more Kossacks from around the region including Virginia and parts of North Carolina to the north and east of us.
Grow our network, grow our community, help win elections.
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TIME: 1:00 pm Saturday till 1:00 pm Sunday
LOCATION: Hotel Roanoke, Conference Center
110 Shenandoah Avenue • Roanoke
ORGANIZER: Send randallt a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. gordon20024
2. davehouck
3. randallt
4. Joieau
5. LamontCranston
6. Steerler Grrl
7. Steeler Guy
8. Otteray Scribe
9. DawnN
10. emmasnacker
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Maybees: |
Latest diary: DKos Asheville: Open Thread
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries
about your event or if you have changes or additions.
EVERYONE is welcome, tell us what you're working on,
share your show and tell, vent, whatever you want.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.