"Bygone Berkeley: Exploring History" (12/12)

Liam O'Donoghue (KPFA.org); Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The sign says "Berkeley" but when here, we are in the Republic of Berzerkeley. Love it.

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Join KPFA FM (Berkeley's Pacifica Free Speech Radio station) at The Shotgun Players Playhouse in Berkeley on Tuesday, Dec. 12th at 7:00 pm.

Liam O’Donoghue brings his unique and engaging take on the past to the stage, when he presents "Bygone Berkeley: Exploring History."

This live and in-person performance is certain to delight not only fans of East Bay Yesterday, but history buffs of all stripes. It's a sweeping collection of characters and topics.

Town vs. Gown: The campus is NOT the city.

It ranges from Dorothea Lange and Byron Rumford to the Berkeley Pier and Telegraph Avenue.

Berkeley has long prided itself as a hub of American creativity and culture. But how did this relatively small city earn its globally recognized reputation as a center of influential experimentation?

Who are the people and events that imbued Berkeley with such symbolic power?

Since 2016, Liam O’Donoghue has been exploring these types of questions through his KPFA program "East Bay Yesterday."

• WHEN: Dec. 12, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
• WHERE: Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage
• 1901 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703

Berkeley In the Sixties (Mark Mitchell)

From the founding of the University of California at Berkeley (Cal Berkeley) to the formation of Tilden Park, O’Donoghue has sought to make the most exciting and interesting chapters of local history relevant to contemporary listeners, to use the past as a lens for understanding the current landscape of the Bay Area.

"Bygone Berkeley" is a survey of these observations — a collection of some of the proudest achievements and most shameful chapters assembled as a narrative that attempts to make sense of Berkeley’s chaotic (anti-war, anti-government) history.

This special presentation is hosted by KPFA and The Shotgun Players and will bring tales of these communities to life with humor, pathos, and charm.

ABOUT: Liam O’Donoghue is the host and producer of the KPFA radio show (and podcast) "East Bay Yesterday" and co-creator of the Long Lost Oakland map.

His journalism has appeared in outlets such as SF Gate, Berkeleyside, Oaklandside, Mother Jones, Salon, East Bay Express, The Kitchen Sisters, and the syndicated NPR program Snap Judgement.

Where else do we hear Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz?

In 2018, he was honored by the East Bay Express as “the best journalist-turned-historian” and presented with a “Partners in Preservation Award” from the Oakland Heritage Alliance.

O’Donoghue has given many presentations on local history at libraries, schools and bookstores, and throughout the Bay Area, as well as at institutions such as The California Historical Society, Oakland Museum of California, and Berkeley City Club.

DETAILS:

• Liam O’Donoghue presents "Bygone Berkeley"
• Date: Tuesday, Dec. 12th at 7:00 pm
• Location: Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage
• 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley, CA 94703
• Get tickets here
• (Choose "Bygone Berkeley" when donating to KPFA)

Love, Be-Ins, and that Hippie Chic (video)

David Hoffman, July 5, 2023; The Hippie Chic, Smothers Brothers; The Mamas and Papas, Ed Sullivan Show; Imogen Eddington, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

1967 Stoned hippies tell ALL to a film crew

(Early Reality TV David Hoffman) The Human Be-In [a kind of Love-In], also known as "A Gathering of Tribes," took place on January 14, 1967, atGolden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

It helped to catalyze the counter-culture movement and set the stage for the "Summer of Love" later that year. The Be-In was intended to unify various elements of the counter-culture movement -- Beatniks, hippies, and anti-war activists -- as well as to provide a platform for various spiritual leaders, philosophers, and musicians to share their perspectives.

The name "Be-In" (be'ing) was a play on words, a reference to sit-ins and other peaceful protests of the time, but implying a more peaceful, passive (non-warlike), communal, and individualistic (creative) intent [just be-ing rather than always do-ing].

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people attended. It included speeches by figures like Harvard Dr. Timothy Leary who famously uttered his phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out" at the event.

Other speakers included Harvard Dr. Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Dass), poet Allen Ginsberg, and Jerry Rubin.

There were performances by local bands like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Participants shared food (provided by the Diggers, a local anarchist collective), danced freely, created spontaneous art, and engaged in peaceful protest against the U.S. War on [peaceful Buddhist] Vietnam.

The Human Be-In was widely covered in the mainstream media. It directly set the stage for the larger and more famous "Summer of Love," which took place in San Francisco later that same year.

The term "Love-In" described a variety of gatherings that promoted peace, love, and unity against the backdrop of the unpopular imperial American Vietnam War and other societal pressures.

While there were numerous "Love-In" events across the United States, the most significant one took place in Easter 1967 at Central Park in New York City.

The Central Park Be-In featured performances by various musicians and bands. Like its counterpart in San Francisco, the Central Park Be-In helped to solidify the hippie movement's ethos of peace and love as a counter to the prevailing societal and political conflicts of the time.

It also helped to popularize the notion of large, peaceful gatherings as a form of social and political protest.

The New York event, together with other "Be-Ins" and "Love-Ins," played a crucial part in setting the stage for larger gatherings and music festivals to follow, most notably the Woodstock festival in 1969.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the United States, about 4% of Americans had tried marijuana by that time. [The number was likely much higher.]

The 1960s and 1970s were key decades in the evolution of public attitudes towards natural marijuana (Cannabis sativa, THC, CBD), but it wasn't until the late 1970s that marijuana use peaked.

Accurate data for drug use during this period is difficult to establish because nationwide surveys on drug use were not as comprehensive or methodologically rigorous as they are today.

It's likely that there was significant underreporting of marijuana use due to its illegal status and associated social stigma.

Who Really Won the Battle of UC Berkeley?

CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; Barbara Garson, Common Dreams, 9-24-14)

Why we protest: Mario Savio on the Operation of the Machine, UCB, Dec. 2, 1964. See Min. 3:20

Barbara Garson, then a student at Berkeley, speaking to a crowd of students in the fall of 1964 (Tom Kuykendal/FSM Archives/All rights reserved).

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Fifty Years Later: Who Really Won the Battle of Berkeley?

As student activists return to campus to celebrate the 1964 Free Speech movement that galvanized for social justice, big questions remain about the direction of higher education since those radical days of upheaval and hope.
 

I’m going back to the Berkeley campus this week for the 50th reunion of the Free Speech Movement. You may have heard in some history class about Mario Savio and the first student sit-in of the 1960s. That was us, FSMers [Free Speech Movementers] at Berkeley.

 

UC Berkeley, clock tower, center of campus with view of Bay Bridge and San Francisco

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Cal Berkeley (berkeley.edu, Aug 19, 2014)

It will feel a bit surreal. The university that had 801 of us arrested is welcoming us back by hanging Free Speech banners on the building we occupied. Home like a victorious football team! But it’s not a real victory because the people that tried to shut us up in the 1960s have a more chilling control over U.S. college students today than they ever had over us. Today it’s not police control, its economic control.

 

But The Free Speech Movement was half a century ago, so here’s a quick “teach-in” on the issues.

 

In the fall of 1964 students returned to campus -- some from a Freedom Summer in Mississippi or a stint with Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers Organizing Committee -- to learn that we were no longer allowed to leaflet at the university entrance.

 

The reason they gave us was trash -- too much litter. But like our leaflets, that flimsy excuse was quickly dropped. When all the religious, political, and social clubs who used the space joined to complain, we were soon assured that the ban would apply only to leaflets that "advocated off-campus actions." The cat was out of the bag. More

Buddha in Berkeley: economics revolution

CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; UC Berkeley; Kathleen Maclay; Leland Wong (californiagoldenblogs.com, 3-19-14) via the Tipitaka Network

The new U.S. greenbacks with their high tech anti-counterfeiting measures (latimes.com)

Advances being made at the world's most prominent public university: Cal Berkeley

That's Berkeley

Golden Scholars: UC Berkeley researchers control cell migration, revolutionize economics with Buddha

Offerings, Thiksey Gompa (Aswin/flickr)

This is the start of a new series focusing on the academic discoveries at UC Berkeley. Getting things started with the non-magic magic of Berkeley is Prof. Brown teaching economics with the Buddha, and others using Oski to help advance tissue engineering and wound healing.

 

California Golden Blogs (CGB)'s new series highlights the research and academic work being done at UC Berkeley. One of the things to love best about this place is its ability to succeed in the world of athletics and academics, so spending more time sharing the amazing work being done by UC academicians and athletes makes sense.

 

Budai (Hotei) and a wad of Asian bills

Coincidentally, the university just released a video on Twitter to promote this balance of success (see above). 

It features prominent Berkeley researchers -- including Jay Keasling, Homayoon Kazerooni, and Robert Reich -- whose work will be discussed later in the series.

 

Some stories that capture Berkeley's spirit include economics professor Clair Brown, who's looking to change the way the world views spending money and focus instead on reducing suffering and helping others. 

To accomplish this, she's helping spread the word and advocate for Buddhist economics. More

Buddhist Economics: oxymoron or idea whose time has come? Kathleen Maclay (Media Relations, 3-13-14) 

“How would Buddha teach Econ. 1?”

BERKELEY, California - UC Berkeley economist Prof. Clair Brown acknowledges that “Buddhist economics” may seem like an oxymoron.
 
Nevertheless, she’s teaching a sophomore seminar on the topic this semester -- the campus’s second such offering over the past year.
 

What's the future of money, Bits or Buddha?

Brown said she created the one-unit Buddhist Economics course after students in her Introductory Economics (Econ 1) class expressed frustration with the relentless Madison Avenue message that more is better, economic growth paves the path to a better life, and “retail therapy” is a quick trip to nirvana [ultimate bliss].

It's sustainable, it's all sustainable!

Nicholas Austin -- an economics major from Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, and a student this spring in Brown’s Buddhist Economics class -- said he was hungry for some fresh ideas about economics after seeing so many students in the field pursue finance careers and “moving money rather than creating a product that will help the world.” More

• Green summit marks growing culture of sustainability
• "Envisioning Human Rights" begins with student art
• Shane Bauer tackles the U.S. "Prison Problem" after Iran
• Berkeley’s David Collier wins Johan Skytte Prize in poli sci
• Berkeley discovery named one of year’s 10 key breakthrough technologies

"At Berkeley" (new film)

CC Liu, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Frederick Wiseman (zipporah.com); KPFK.org

"At Berkeley" is a documentary film by Frederick Wiseman about the University of California at Berkeley -- the oldest, most prestigious, and most radical member of California's ten-campus public university system.

Berkeley is one of the finest research and teaching facilities in the world, excelling most of the world's private institutions while rivaling Ivy League schools. This film shows the major aspects of university life with particular emphasis on the administrative efforts to maintain the academic excellence, public role, and the economic, racial, and social diversity of the student body of America’s premiere public university.

(Mandy Whittles) "Berkeley in the Sixties" documentary of the student movement in Berkeley in the 60's. Uploaded for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.

 

Berkeley in the Sixties

All of this is taking place in the face of drastic budget cuts imposed by the State of California, big business (represented by its hand selected Board of Regents), and competing colleges. The goal of the film is to show how a major American university is administered and to suggest the complex relationship among its various constituencies -- students, faculty, administrators, alumni, the City of Berkeley, the State of California, and the federal government.

 

In a more abstract way, the film looks closely at Berkeley’s intellectual and social mission, its obligation to the state, and to larger ideas of "higher" education. It illustrates how decisions are made and implemented by the administration in collaboration with its various constituencies. Tickets

Rave review (The New Yorker)
Jordan Moore (Nov. 13, 2013)
Frederick Wiseman, one of our greatest and most prolific documentarians, always delves deeply into his subjects. And for his latest, "At Berkeley," that’s truer than ever. He found one of California’s great treasures, U.C. Berkeley, such a rich subject that it required a four-hour film. It is receiving some rave reviews, including one from astute film critic David Denby of The New Yorker. Laemmeles is proud to open the movie at the Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

 

REVIEW (Oliver Lyttelton, The Playlist, indiewire.com) Over the years, veteran documentarian Frederick Wiseman has covered what sometimes feels like almost [every] kind of institution and every aspect of life in America (and occasionally, life abroad too). "Titicut Follies," "Juvenile Court," "Zoo," "Racetrack... More

Berkeley Buddhist Veggie Recipes

Berkeley Buddhist Monastery; Wisdom Quarterly

Grilled Kabobs (berkeleymonastery.org)

  

INGREDIENTS

12 cherry tomatoes

12 sweet mini peppers

12 zucchini cubes, 1/4 inch

12 brown or button mushrooms

12 firm fried tofu or tempeh cubes 1/2 inch

12 smoked gluten (seitan) or veggie meat cubes 1/2 inch

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

2 tbsp soy sauce paste

2 tbsp Taiwanese BBQ saute paste

PREPARATION

Slice zucchini, cube tofu, cube gluten. Mix black sesame seeds, soy sauce paste, and saute paste. Pre-marinate tofu in the fridge for 3 hours before grilling. Skewer all ingredients and brush with sauce mixture. Set the oven to broil (about 500 degrees), grill kabobs, turning if desired. Remove after 3-6 minutes. Serve over rice or salad. Serves 4. More

Harvard Zen

Wisdom Quarterly visits Harvard University and the Cambridge Zen Center

The way to Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center is as colorful as it offerings.

We went to see the scene at the Cambridge Zen Center, where Harvard elites can gather in silence. Until the questions start and life advice is sought.

Cambridge is the penultimate college town. And Harvard Square is its epicenter. MIT geniuses walk by remembering to chew, step, chew, step -- caught up in daydreams of ultimate reality and material sciences.

Garden Buddha at the Cambridge Zen Center (cambridgezen.com)

Modica Way in on the path to Cambridge Zen (Kwan Um school). And its array of heady graffiti is good preparation for the blank wall one will soon be staring at in zazen: Daydreams are as vivid as the imaginations of street artists.

The subway underground, art, Harvard Square, nascent nerd overlords... Mass. is an amazing place. But the jewel in the center of the lotus is surely the Mahindra Humanities Center. Its offering are potent and academic, rivaling UCLA's Mindfulness Awareness Research Center and Berkeley's Buddhist Institute, Dept. of Buddhist Studies, and Buddhist monastery.

Ah, to be bicoastal! Flying east and west, merging cultures, and watching Woody Allen movies in between would be the best of both worlds. The Midwest is the great divide, as most of Wisdom Quarterly's American readers hail from east of the Mississippi as our editors sit staring at the Pacific from under the Hollywood sign.

• The Harvard Buddhist Studies Forum provides an opportunity for faculty, students, and participants to discuss approaches to Buddhist studies that are as diverse as philology, intellectual history, anthropology, art history, literary studies, and religious studies. In addition to being interdisciplinary, lectures discuss Buddhism within a variety of geographic contexts, including South, Southeast, Central, and East Asia. More
  

Institute of Buddhist Studies (California)

The Institute of Buddhist Studies

The institute, begun in 1949, specializes in graduate-level Buddhist studies as well as Shinshu ministerial training in Berkeley.

About IBS - Contact - Admissions - Academics - News & Events - Journals & Publications - IBS Podcast

IBS is a Buddhist seminary and graduate school affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union and associated with the Buddhist Churches of America. Located in the Jodo Shinshu Center in downtown Berkeley, California. IBS offers a systematic educational program specializing in contemporary Shin Buddhist studies and culminating in a fully accredited Master of Arts degree jointly administered by the GTU.

Among the IBS programs are: Master's degree in Buddhist Studies, Jodo Shinshu ministerial training, Buddhist chaplaincy training program, a number of academic journals and publications, and study abroad opportunities with Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan.

Recovering ancient texts of Gandhāra

Bark unto Dust: Recovering the Ancient Buddhist Texts of Gandhāra (UC Berkeley)

Between 1994 and the present, several collections of early Indian Buddhist manuscripts written in the Gāndhārī language and Kharoṣṭhī script have come to light. Significant as the earliest (1st-2nd cent. CE) texts of any type yet to have been discovered in greater South Asia, these texts also provide unparalleled evidence for reconstructing the early history of Buddhist text styles and textual collections.

These early Gāndhārī Buddhist manuscripts are currently being studied and published under the auspices of the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project (University of Washington).

Following a brief overview of the collections and of certain methodological and text-critical issues that these manuscripts raise, this presentation will explore the practical side of working with such manuscripts, from the initial stages of preservation and reconstruction through the process of formulating an edition, translation, and contextual interpretation.

After setting out the specifics of manuscript work, the discussion will turn to one particular manuscript, a fragment of a polemical, scholastic or Abhidharma text that treats the controversial issue, "everything exists." We will examine, as time permits, its contents, its argument structure, and its significance for the emergence of the scholastic commentarial genre and for our understanding of early Indian Buddhist sectarianism. More>>