MLK’s final days: Rev. Lawson remembers (video)

Amy Goodman (democracynow.org); Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Fifty years ago today in Memphis, Tennessee, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his final sermon, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Less than 24 hours later, Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was just 39 years old. Dr. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. Democracy Now! speaks to Rev. James Lawson, who invited Dr. King to come to support the strike. At the time Rev. Lawson was the pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis. Dr. King called Rev. Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of non-violence in the world.” More
 
1968: 50 Years Later

MLK’s Radical Final Years: Civil Rights Leader Was Isolated After Taking On Capitalism and US War on Vietnam

F Rodeo Drive! "A People's Guide to LA"

Whitney Friedlander, LAWeekly.com; Ven. Piyananda; Wisdom Quarterly

Saffron Days in L.A. (Read excerpts)

Let the tour buses take the throngs to visit Marilyn Monroe's handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater or to press their noses up to the windows on Rodeo Drive and wander Beverly Hills like they're Julia Roberts. 

  

Despite what the entertainment industry would have us believe, the city of Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods have a much richer, often conflicted history than just those landmarks -- and A People's Guide to Los Angeles, just released by UC Press, would like to make sure we don't forget it.

    

Researched for more than 15 years by Laura Pulido, Laura Barraclough, and Wendy Cheng -- three Southern California natives and academics with backgrounds in ethnic studies or sociology -- and cultivated from published and personal accounts of Los Angeles' long-standing political, social, and racial power struggles, the travel guide was released this month and includes 115 sites of interest for the progressive-minded explorer. 

  

"We're looking to reach a whole group of tourists who might find themselves dissatisfied..." More

"Hello" - When Karmin moved from Nebraska to LA, capital of the world

Dharma Punx 66-Day Meditation Challenge

Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly (REPORTING); Against the Stream.org

Morning meditators gather from 7:00 to 8:00 am before heading off the mat and into the world (Seth Auberon/Wisdom Quarterly).

HOLLYWOOD, California - Last week meditators (above) were warming up for the 66-Day Meditation Challenge that begins Tuesday, April 17th at Against the Stream Melrose. Aura (left) once had an idea to challenge herself and others to form a good habit; this is the challenge's second round.

Monday is "Emancipation Day" -- an annual holiday in Washington DC marking the anniversary of the Compensated Emancipation Act, which president Abraham Lincoln signed on April 16, 1862. In this light Dharma Punx Angelenos are going against the stream to meditate and reconnect for a dollar ($1) a sitting.

Tuesday morning Michael Zittel Jan's morning sits go into challenge mode. And for 66 days at Against the Stream a hardcore committment begins: Melrose-Morning-Meditation.

(Seth Auberon/Wisdom Quarterly)

• weekdays from 7:00 am to 8:00 am
• Saturday 10:00 am or 5:00 pm
• Sunday 11:00 am or 6:00 pm

Why 66 days?
It is said that it takes 66 days to form a new habit. If meditation would be that habit, it is located at the other end of this challenge. Drop in to 4300 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles (next to Los Angeles City College). Donations of $1 max per sitting help create a habit that will challenge lives and support the home of Dharma Punx. All effort makes a big difference in life and the life of the center. Sign up free

• Caitriona Reed: "Creative Advantage," Santa Monica
  

Help with Meditation/Concentration

(zshare.net) There's nothing like starting off the day with meditation. Whether it's five hours or simply five minutes. The important thing is to start. After 21 days it will be a habit. There are many positive benefits to amaze one. The entire day becomes different. And there are many ways to meditate. Find the way that suits you best. Working on oneself is always an "inside job." One simply needs to kick it off. If you succeed in meditating by enjoying this track, excellent. May you have peace and joy, friendship and fun: Live your truth, the truth, making it your ultimate statement.

Afternoon Concentration

Enlightenment is not an "achievement." It is a realization of what already is. Our lives are a journey from knowing, to not knowing, to knowing once again. In meditation it becomes possible to move the other way around from subconscious, to self-conscious, to superconscious. This may be called rapid evolution, self-realization through self-transcendence, going from the limited to the unbounded. It is available now. Practice peace.