Celebrating David La Chapelle

For David

2010-10-09T21:37:00.001-07:00

For David LaChapelle
by Julie Pigott

Deep Breath

The last time I saw him
I brought sage and
a feather wrapped in red

Grieving
I bowed before him
tried to speak

“STOP,” he commanded
“Take a deep breath
and start again.”

So I took a long deep breath
and another
while he waited

“A gift from eagle, left
on the beach for you,”
I spoke, offering the bundle

Nodding in gratitude
trembling hands lifted the
eagle feather

Picked up sacred sage
took a long deep breath
and another

While I waited

-By Julie Mae Pigott

Happy Birthday David, October 8th

2010-10-07T23:58:00.001-07:00

On this day you were born...

... we give thanks for your loving and ever-present be-ing

2010-08-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

David on Facebook

2010-08-24T00:31:00.003-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=521596161&v=wall&story_fbid=429636806161#!/pages/David-LaChapelle-bard-writer-mystic/137112699646514?v=info&ref=ts

David's breath in Alaska, an honoring by Rory Finney

2010-08-24T00:19:00.005-07:00

YOU TUBE VIDEO of filmmaker Rory Finney's journey to McCarthy Alaska in honor of David's connection to this powerful land. Really not to be missed...

2010-07-25T16:26:00.002-07:00

"Consciousness is the recognition that you are a vehicle of the universe unfolding." - David LaChapelle

more HERE

Ashland, Boulder and Princeton circles on July 21

2010-07-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

From: Barbara Cecil (Ashland)
Date: July 22, 2010 7:37:45 AM MDT
To: Ananda Elise Foley
Subject: yesterday and today and tomorrow

Dearest Ananda, I wanted to write to you about our gathering last night at Carol and Paul's. You were so loved and cherished there. Please know the home home you have here. (Ashland)

We chanted, through open heart and eyes brimming over. Present were Carlos, Huly, Serena, Melanie, Carol Carlson, Carolyn, Paul, Carol, Steve, Rita, Norton, Suzanne, Michael, Carol H., Sandra Faulk, Jeralyn. Many more wrote in who were present in spirit. It was a needed, exquisite time of remembering specific moments in our personal and collective lives here, articulating the nature of the seeds planted in each of us, finding peace with unfinished segments of the story, seeing the truth of one another as the truth of David was pieced together through all the ways we have known him. We chanted Om Nama and We Are Coming Home. I would say the enduring river of spiritual connection with our own Selves and with David was strengthened.

Please know Ananda, that you are ever present as the weave of the past, present and future braid through your new life. Hugs, Barbara

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Linda Weber (Boulder)
Date: July 22, 2010 9:20:12 AM MDT

Subject: Re: our circle

We had a celebration and remembrance circle for David on Tuesday night. It was sweet and beautiful with chants and a talking circle and of course meditation.

Yesterday I drove up Sugarloaf mountain just outside of Boulder in order to sit on the side of the hill at the same time that Silverton was having its ash ceremony. A few miles up the road I had to pull over and sit for there was a camel munching on brush near the other side of the road. A CAMEL. Not a llama, a camel. It was the kind with two humps. Never have I seen one in the area and I was stunned. A camel in the Rocky Mountains? How really strange and funny. The animal turned its head and looked me straight in the eye for a few timeless seconds. I sat and watched it for a little while as it went back to its eating, and eventually went on to my sit where I prayed and rattled. Last night, a friend of mine reminded me that David had quite a sense of humor. Yes he did, didn't he.

care and love,

Linda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: "jan Birchfield" (Princeton)
Date: July 22, 2010 3:21:22 PM MDT
To: "'ANANDA Foley'"
Subject: excerpt for sending

Ananda, I just got your voice mail, and it would be fine to send out what I wrote. I spoke to someone from the circle, who suggested that I include the story of how the intention for that circle arose. If you have not yet sent something out, please send what I wrote, below. It was sweet to hear your voice! Much love, jan

This month, I had the honor of spending time with Amma. During a question and answer session with her in Boston, someone asked, “Amma, I have heard that when someone dies, if we continue to mourn them we can actually keep them tied to this plane of existence. Is this true?” Amma responded, “It is natural to feel sad when someone we love dies. However, if we do not release our sadness we actually do hold them close to this plane of existence. The greatest gift that we can give someone when they pass away is to pray that their soul moves to the highest level of consciousness possible. Releasing them from our grief is important for this reason.” I immediately thought of July 21st - the anniversary of David’s passing - and decided to devote our celebration of his life to the healing and upliftment of his soul, and the release of any residual attachment or unfinished business that keeps us tied to him.

I bought 12 white balloons, and filled the living room with them. Candles were lit and flowers were set out. I invited the circle to use this as an opportunity to offer prayer, that David's soul might transcend to the highest plane possible. We chanted alleluia with joy - great joy. We meditated together, and it was a soaring silent meditation. We then went outside to a fire in silence, saged, and prayed to the 7 directions. About 10 people turned and prayed to the directions with me, and so each time I turned, I spoke the direction. After praying to the north, I lifted up my arms and said, "Father Sky, hear our prayer." About 3 seconds went by, and in perfect timing we began to hear the rumble of thunder. There had been none up until this time. The thunder gently rose in pitch, gathering energy, lasted for about a minute, and subsided. It was absolutely stunning. We were all utterly transfixed. I had put out corn meal and tobacco, with an invitation that people offer to the fire a pinch of each, with a prayer either for David's transcendence, or to release any attachment to him or residual mourning. The invitation was to do this either in silence, or out loud. I then kept a steady drum beat, deep in meditation. People went up one at a time, and most of the prayers were in silence. There were 3 prayers that were not, but what was amazing was that these were all offered in another language - Arabic and Spanish. After this found its completion, I continued the drum beat, and said that prayer and healing coming from this earthly plane to the spirit world comes only through humans, and that it was therefore a great gift to offer a spirit out of the body, healing from this plane. I asked people to meditate on the drum, sending its medicine to David. The drum broke out from the rhythm that had been held, and went into a more ecstatic rhythm, with a few chants arising as well. This found its conclusion. We sat in silence for about 10-15 seconds, and all of a sudden it thundered, and began to rain - large cleansing rain drops. All elements were present - air, earth, water, fire - in unity. We began to laugh, and ran inside, and the dining room table had been set with tea and sweets, and so we moved right into informal celebration. People sat together in small groups and talked for about 20 minutes or so. Jeff asked if he could read something, and so we regathered for a short time, and I invited anyone that had something that they wanted to read or say to do so. Jeff read beautifully, and Cynthia read a story she had written. We all went back over the thunder moment, and there was great joy in the room. I asked Samar to end with an Arabic prayer. We were holding hands, and she said, "first I have to kiss Yvonne." She smacked Yvonne with a kiss, and told Yvonne to pass it on. The kiss went around the circle, followed by Samar's prayer, and then “om, loka samasta...”

It was such a celebration of David's life, and we were full of gratitude - grateful for the wordlessness of the evening, the opportunity to serve him, and the chance to enjoy the way in which he had tied all of us together through his love for us. Throughout the day I kept saying to myself, "we are celebrating David's rebirth day." Ah ho.

Much love, jan

Silverton Ash Ceremony

2010-07-25T12:21:00.003-07:00

Silverton Ash Ceremony
San Juan Mountains, Colorado
July 21, 2010
photos by Becky Joyce, post-edit by Ananda

See more photos at: http://ashceremonyjuly21.shutterfly.com/

more photos on Sutterfly, click HERE

Friends came from Durango and Silverton, but as far as from Boulder, Moab and Cortez. We circled the stone memorial site together three times and invoked strength from the seven directions before settling into a shady aspen grove. I shared about being midwife for David's passing one year before. We chanted a song Dolores loved about how Spirit dances in the form of aspens... replacing some words so it went "the spirit of David comes to see me, in the form of a beautiful dancing green aspen" (x2). "His eyes fill me with peace, his dance fills me with peace" (x2). Then we chanted "Halleluia" for some time and sat in silence during the moments David was releasing from his body, around 1:50PM, last year.

I introduced Dr. Chuck Salka (to my right in photos) and shared how he was an important and heartful midwife for me the day David passed, in his care, during our office visit. How impressed I was that he made the three hour roundtrip drive to join our circle. I continued sharing how time flowed after he'd passed; how I'd sung and cried and washed and blessed his joints and organs with prayers of humility, releasing his body to Divine Mother with careful attention to each part of his tired body like the prayers on individual mala beads. I asked our circle to hold hands and join me in praying the same prayers of release Id prayed that day, and to then throw our hands up to the sky to release him to higher planes. Immediately after we did this, a great wind came swiftly and powerfully answering through the trees and all around us... we held still to listen...

Some shared about their love for David and his gifts in their lives before we moved to the stone circle. There, each took time with ashes and blessings and appreciations, releasing as best we could our attachments to David's physical form, letting go and remembering. Dolores' sister Pat carried ashes of all three (David, Dolores and Ed) to the four corners of the land, once intended for the family's home, now officially designated LaChapelle Park.

A deep bow of appreciation to Peter Dever who has built the stone circle with hard work and with so much honor of the LaChapelles. He held space for our ceremony from a place of deep care for this land, this memorial site and his friendships with Dolores and David.
Becky Joyce took all the pictures, except this last one below where I luckily captured a fragment of her beauty and strong bond to Dolores and David too. Quinn her two year old son was lucky to have David present at his waterbirth, at home, across the street from our house in Silverton. I was honored to attend births of both sons, newborn Liam is held in the love of Dillon's heart in this shot and much of that sweet day...

After this we enjoyed cookies, fruit, juice and sparkle water while being visited by heavy clouds and fat raindrops and then brilliant sunshine. Dillon and Kyle cooked us up a tasty pasta dinner later that evening and shared the video of their recent wedding at the feet of Mata Amritanandamayi. Last year, David got to taste the light of their new union and offer his enthusiastic blessing too before he would join the great ocean of love from whence he came...

2010-07-12T15:01:00.001-07:00

From: Linda Weber, Boulder, CO
Subject: join us whether you are near or far
Date: July 3, 2010 11:47:30 AM MDT

Greetings to you!
Please join us wherever you are in marking the eve of David's passing -- Tuesday, July 20, 7:15,
which is our (the Boulder sangha's) regular chant/meditation night. We will sing David's Alleluia and also share in other ways,
and we will feel you with us as we sit in circle. It will be sweet.

If any of you are in Boulder and want to join us physically, we will be at Sue's co-housing common house "living room."
You can get directions from me or from her.

My special request is that you hold Ananda close at this time.

much love and blessings,
Linda
www.earthskycounseling.com

"When Love comes suddenly and taps on your window, run and let it in..." — Rumi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Jan Birchfield, Princeton, NJ
Subject: RE: join us whether you are near or far
Date: July 3, 2010 12:18:43 PM MDT

Thanks for letting us know!
We are also having a circle for David on July 2st from 7 – 9, eastcoast time, and would welcome support.
Love jan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: John Steiner
Subject: Re: join us whether you are near or far
Date: July 4, 2010 6:53:52 AM MDT
Dear Ones:
In remembrance of one of the truly great spirits of this lifetime...
Whose presence like the wind, the rain, the sun, and awareness itself, is never absent.
Always love, John

Approaching July 21

2010-07-11T16:05:00.003-07:00

David LaChapelle
October 8, 1952 - July 21, 2009

As the anniversary of the date David LaChapelle merged with Existence approaches, you are requested to hold the care of his kindness, and his dedication to spiritual inquiry and service, close to your heart. Ananda, companion and friend, will offer an ash ceremony the day of his passing, July 21, 2010, at LaChapelle Park in Silverton, CO.
You are invited to join, in person, or non-locally through focus of heart and mind. We will share silent meditation during the time he was letting go of his body, approximately 1:45PM. This will be followed by ceremony merging David’s ashes with those of his parents, Ed and Dolores LaChapelle.
Originally owned by the family for their homestead, LaChapelle Park is now preserved and was designated by the Town of Silverton in 2008. Stone Artist Peter Dever has created a gathering place, circle of stones, memorial site over the last few years where your eyes and mind may rest on the gifts we can each feel grateful for.
Stay for sharing and refreshments if possible. Come rain or shine (no such thing as poor weather, only poor planning of clothing).
Gather by 1 PM with time to settle. Please do not arrive during the meditation.

Contact Ananda for directions/questions:
ananda@jeffnet.org

Screenplay by David, upcoming republication by Stephen Griffies

2010-07-10T16:30:00.001-07:00

Photoshop blend by David LaChapelle.
Unauthorized use of Yogananda photo for purpose of sharing, not sales. Do not replicate.

Do you know anything about David's play Passing Through, and can contribute to the preface section in the upcoming publication? Please contact Stephen Griffies through ananda@jeffnet.org. He is also interested in talking to people with context of Yogananda's journey to Juneau in 1924 or with background in Kriya Yoga who can connect him with Self Realization Fellowship. If you participated in readings of Passing Through and can tell us some about the process, please let us know.

David as "Basil" in The Rita Lila

2010-05-01T09:19:00.006-07:00

David shows up as "Basil" in The Rita Lila by Rita Ann Shankara

From The Rita Lila: A Western Yogini’s Journey to Bliss, the spiritual memoir by Rita Ann Shankara:

From Chapter 29, Samadhi, Surprises, and Gold:

After the tea break that evening, Basil talked about courage, discernment, and guidance. He advised: “Whatever is arising, don’t cling to its phenomenon and don’t hide in your strategies (‘being sick all the time’ is one strategy), but rather, stand firmly in your being, in the unraveling. Have the courage to BE with what is emerging, and the discernment to know what you are experiencing.

“In this time of dissolving form, in this declining empire, ask yourself, ‘What am I called to do?’ and listen to your inner guidance. There is a lot of anxiety out there in the Collective, but if you take in nourishment (friends, food, practices, prayers), and listen for guidance, then you will be able to navigate through – no matter what happens. All of the information in this age produces anxiety that is both contagious and crippling… As yogis and yoginis, it is our responsibility to continually calm ourselves so that we not only lessen our personal anxieties, but we also lessen the amount of anxiety that we contribute to the Collective Anxiety.”

As the evening ended, Basil told a short story for me:

Once there was a firefly of Consciousness buzzing around inside a cupboard. She couldn’t figure out how to get out – she was buzzing around lighting up motherhood, career, parents visiting… but she couldn’t see the instructions. Then she closed her eyes and thought of God, and when she opened her eyes she saw the instructions: “Open Here.”

In the following days, I still felt sick to my stomach and my head also hurt, but as I contemplated the teachings from that night, I began to take courage. I started focusing my attention on surrendering to each and every experience.

From Chapter 43, Hawaii Retreat:

“Rita, for your enlightenment program, all you need are these two things: 1. The mind becomes that which it dwells upon, and 2. By placing the mind on the highest state, you become the highest state.

“Putting your mind on energetic structures helps you to open. You have to gain strength in keeping your gaze on the highest state. Remember that we reinforce conditions by dwelling on them – we are all doing this. We are all there, oscillating and learning to put our concentration on things that expand us.

“We each come in with veils of doubt that we can only each burn through on our own, through meditation. After you burn through them, you understand why they were there. However, you have to get out of your own misery to be sensitive enough to feel those higher dimensions.”

David's rough draft for Sadhana publication

2010-04-27T09:24:00.003-07:00

“Ask and you shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened within you. For everyone that asks, receives, and they that seek find, and to those that knock it shall be opened.” - Christ

Sankalpa and Sadhana by David LaChapelle

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William sound it was in large part because of a peculiarity of steering super tankers. They are such large ships, carrying so much weight, that their motion takes a considerable time to turn. Even if the rudder is turned completely it can take twenty miles of ocean for the ship to come around and change course.

This process is called a trim tab effect and is a useful analogy for how we might go about changing the direction of our vehicle in sadhana. We, not unlike supertankers, carry a large weight of conditioning, habits and repetitive attention paths. Changing the direction of these of habits is not unlike the massive movement of a turning super tankers. Only sustained intent, carried forward for a long time, can effectively change the course of our motion.

Personal will plays a significant role in the the steering of the vessel of our lives. The correct application of this will is an action which the yogi’s named sankalpa.

Sankalpa is an intent which slowly shifts the subtle patterns of our mind and body and begins to align them with our essence. Because our essence is consciousness itself this action creates a powerful resonance which lifts us beyond our usual capacity. If our intent is correct, then eventually the magnetics of this process changes our conscious values and aspirations by slowly tuning them to the more refined planes of existence.

Intent is a powerful force which creates the condition under which our other qualities manifest their potency. Because of this correct intent is an important adjunct to our sadhana.
If our intent is to find the correct partner, make money, manifest a talent or other tangible accomplishments of life then we will most likely achieve these goals with the application of our sankalpa.

However the relative manifestation of these capacities may not be in the most harmonious alignment with our soul’s growth.

Out of the discord of our essential loneliness we may manifest an endless search for a partner, or be constantly restless in our existing relationship. If we invoke our sankalpa in the direction of fixing this “problem” then we may siphon off the aligning energy of our intent from its deeper purpose.

The highest form of sankalpa is the intent to know the absolute. By adopting this as a consistent position then the obscurations to our clear view begin to gradually melt away. This process occurs because our sankalpa is a function of our personal power. As we begin to consistently align ourselves with our essence the vibratory quality of that state begins to refine the function of our third chakra. This refinement leads to a spiritualization of our personal power. This process of refinement means that we have less and less of our own sense of independent action. Instead our actions begin to align, by resonance with, with a deeper intent than our own. As the energy of our third chakra is purified of personal intent it is able to support very high states of perception and feeling. As we see more clearly and feel more compassionately we are guided intuitively, and immediately, to take actions which are in alignment with a more transcendent intent.

At this stage of action we become instruments of a profoundly connected universe. The wisdom of this connectivity guides our individual decisions so that we are in alignment with the needs of the evolving whole.

Actions manifest in different historical epochs in accord with the needs of consciousness at that time. Thus courage in ancient Rome will have a different flavor than courage in modern times. Faith in Egypt several thousand years ago, will have a different patina than St. Francis’s era.
Because of this evolving structure of manifestation we are constantly asked to update our own qualities that they might be in alignment with the present state of manifestations.
The resistance to this realignment of purpose has caused much alienation and bloodshed throughout human history.

Our daily practice is the testing ground of our intent. As you sit to meditate the sankalpa that you hold creates the foundation for the unfoldment of your experience. Because of this we need to examine carefully the nature of our intent.

What is our motivation for practice? Is it to get high? To remove pain in the body and mind? To serve other beings? To surrender to absolute?

The color of our intent creates the riverbanks for the flow of our sadhana during our practice time. The more our sankalpa,THE APPLICATION OF OUR PERSONAL WILL, is in resonance with our essence the wider the river bank becomes.

Critical to this practice is to truly surrender the outcome of our practice. If we are holding on for a particular outcome, based on our relative need, then we skew the flow of the river and limit its depth. If we approach our practice with a true intent to surrender to the will of the absolute, then the conditions of our experience are set by a standard that is nearly impossible to summon through personal effort. [GIVE A GREAT BEING’S CORRECT MODELING]

The key to this process is a relaxation of tension in the belly and solar plexus. As we become soft in the belly, yielding to the flow of current through us, we can sense into the core of our root strength. This root strength is in vibratory relationship to the flow of iccha shakti, or the manifestation of will in the universe. This alignment allows the foundation of our practice to support revelation of higher states of perception and compassion. In such a state we become absorbed in the flow of a greater manifestation and the tension of our personal existence begins to ease.

Repeated contact with this realm of deeper intent works a subtle transformative change on the actions we perform in our “normal” state. By magnetic adjustment, the filaments of our third chakra are aligned with our higher centers and there is an accompanying tranquility as we have less and less personal resistance to our essence.

2010-04-27T08:42:00.003-07:00

Photo image by David. Created June 14, 2009

a portrait by Carolyn Ingalls

2010-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hawaii home and retreat space

2010-04-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Just found this picture: the fruits of our hard work landing in Hawaii Spring 2006... new paint, ugly floor we ripped up and sanded and refinished, the furniture we made or found at thrift stores, the room divided into dining space for 20 and a temple section for meeting (David built the frames, I sewed the curtains), the way all the colors came together, the couch I recovered and sewn pillows ... all ready for our first group ... May... this same time of year

Reflections on Hawaii. By Maria (Adi) Benito

2010-04-16T20:44:00.001-07:00

Dear sisters, I wrote this on the plane back to Princeton. I wish to share with you. In love and in death , there are mysteries and in both there is healing. The quality of our gathering was very feminine and magical, such as the owl represents, the owl that came in on our last day together. The medicine I received washes over me like the caresses of a wise mother, a loving sister, one who is not perfect yet; yet sees with no judgment: a sisterhood medicine. To be welcomed with flowers, a lei of beautiful scent, to welcome a tired body and a tired soul, to be the pillar to allow for tears to flow. To be lifted from the ashes to my truest essence, to see the shadow and the light, and to hold them both; a metaphor. Before departing, crows appeared and a sense of shadow-material emerged. Crows are the guardian of ceremonial magic and healing. In any healing circle, crow is present. Crow guides the magic of healing and the change in consciousness that will bring about a new reality. Crow has been thought to represent the shadow within, the quest within. And it truly was so. The healing circle began with the spread of ashes of David's. Much grief had been shared before the ceremony, therefore we were ready to welcome a new reality. We meditated on the I-ching throw that we collectively did at the memorial site. Revolution turning to abundance. We meditated and reflected how to move forward and keep David alive in our worlds. The healing circle saw many reflections, another healing within the healing, and a satsang with a teacher who not knowing us, exposed some shadow material and held a light for new adventures. Her advise to me was "go outside the box"; "say yes only when it brings you in connection with God"; a true teaching. Without saying so explicitly, my dear sister understood how my quest was that of purpose... a blessing. With much love, Adi

STORAGE !!!!

2010-04-13T21:09:00.008-07:00

Almost home again from recent trip to Hawaii (in Santa Fe now on my way back to Silverton first time, to stay, since December).

Returned to the land in North Kohala where, 3 years ago, David and I stored the many items we'd built and sewn by hand to create a home, live-in teen teaching space and retreat center at the sugar-planation-fixer-up-er we rented for a year in 2006

After everyone for Hawaii memorial had gone, I faced two solid weeks pulling it all out, parting with and hauling 8 full truck loads for give-away (rather than nickle and dime-ing each object, very relieved, every object kept value for me that way), wiping down, cleaning out, throwing out, shipping home, going back for more.

We'd also stored our island car, Pueo (after the white Hawaiian owl who'd been our sign for landing here). Before it would sell, had to clean it; before that, get a key made; before that, had someone take the door apart to get the lock to a locksmith miles away.... After several airing-outs, and some spectacular rainbow blessings, Pueo was ready to be adopted by its new family with a second baby on the way... horray! What a great feeling that day.

Very proud of accomplishments of the last few weeks, and fueled by some added inner strength for facing the Ashland 10 x 10, two cabins and another car in Alaska and LaChapelle build-up in Silverton garage...

As "letting go" changes my own life, I send out the message you've already heard plenty... time to reduce, reuse, recycle and stop buying more stuff!

dining set, drapes and hangings by me, altar table by David, carpets, lamps, full kitchen wares, beds, desks, floor cushions, outdoor shower, art materials and art work, books, christmas stuff, pillows, lumber, snorkel stuff, tools, and more tools...

helper elf Shawn, thank heaven he could help, such a big job

the carport David built from 2x4s, and surrounded with heavy tarps for walls, to protect our island vehicle (sat for 2 years before my return to get it running)

one tired soul, two tired soles

Pueo's new family

Goodbye dear friend..

Pueo waiting for me coming home the night i finally sold the car!

Hawaii Sunrise Ash Ceremony, March 22, 2010

2010-04-13T19:34:00.014-07:00

First Ash Ceremony for David
Pololu Valley, Big Island Hawaii
March 22, 2010

O wise one
Ocean of Mercy and Love

O Beloved teacher
lighting the way
to my heart

I bow down to your beauty and your grace
I bow down to Beauty and Grace

- Julie Pigott
( recording available: ananda@jeffnet.org)

Pololu Valley, Hawaii Photo by Linda Merryman

Sunrise. Photo by Linda Merryman

Photo by Linda Merryman

ananda.foley photography 2010

Photo by Linda Merryman

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

ananda.foley photography 2010

Photo by Linda Merryman

ananda.foley photography 2010

Group I Ching throw from David's book
Pololu Valley, Big Island Hawaii

49: Revolution changing to...
55: Abundance

A Hymn of Changes: Contemplations of the I Ching
by David LaChapelle. Ragged Sky Press 2009
(contact ananda@jeffnet.org)

Portrait by Barbara Cecil

2010-04-10T20:51:00.001-07:00

From Evan: Back from Brazil

2010-03-15T12:06:00.003-07:00

Sure, you’re welcome to post whatever you’d like to on the blog. To add something to my original post;

About David – first, he just kept coming to mind in a very intimate way, actually more intimate
than I was ever with him in form. It wasn’t an intentional thing on my part at all. Sometimes with the images there was an energetic component, a gentle, supportive presence. Hard to explain, but it was palpable and happened repeatedly. As you say he did have a connection with what’s happening there, if from a distance. In any event I think he would’ve felt much at home
in the unique healing / spirit / psyche environment known as the Casa de Dom Ignacio where
John of God offers his healings.

You’re welcome to include my name on it if you like.

Glad to hear you are doing well and a week with Snatam sounds beautiful. She will be here in Ashland in a couple weeks, I always try and make her shows but alas this year I’ll be in CA working.

Wishing you safe and supportive travels to Hawaii, may we all find peace in the endings and beginnings that unfold before us.

love -evan

Hi Ananda,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the lengthening days in the northern hemisphere.

I recently returned from Brazil, where I spent a month with friends, and also experienced the healing work of John of God. It was a good trip for me in many ways, andgetting outside the American cultural bubble was a real breath of fresh air. The thing I want to tell you is that I really felt David’s presence in Abadiania, which was unexpected and somewhat mysterious to me. He came to mind/heart many times and in different ways, sometimes quite strongly. In fact I can’t help but wonder if he’s connected to the healing work that is going on there somehow, as there are many beings beyond this reality that do the work there. It was quite something to experience first-hand, also difficult to explain but very powerful. Strange as it is, I think David would have felt right at home with the whole scene there. I heard stories of spontaneous cures from various illnesses and witnessed a few physical surgeries, which were intense but helpful in dispeling doubts that something extraordinary is happening there.

Mostly I just wanted to share this with you, hope you’ve had a good winter and finding your way withnew directions and possibilities.

all the best, love -Evan

From a happy reader

2010-03-08T23:40:00.002-07:00

David LaChapelle's book is really a find for me that brings balance to my I Ching practice. Of all the I Ching books I've seen, it is the most poetic, clear and gentle. In LaChapelle's words I hear the voice of a wise and joyful teacher who points me in the direction of the Truth, both personal and universal. He allows for mistakes, sudden inspiration and transformation. I love the way he links each hexagram together to give a sense of their ebb and flow. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the I Ching or spiritual growth.

To Devin (layout design, Chinese medicine element keeper)

I am sorry you have lost your teacher, but am glad he left this incredible book. I hope it gives you comfort and continued guidance, as I know it does.

Let me know how you are doing.

Thank you!

Blessings,

Erin

2010-02-08T17:38:00.002-07:00

Dear Ananda,
I have read almost all of David's work. Anne and I were having lunch yesterday, and we were reading David's book together. I was so touched as so many descriptions of spiritual truths rang so true. Anne and I were really in awe of his powerful imagery and spiritual knowledge. I know it is hard for those David left behind, but our gratitude for his brief presence in our midst is immense! Thank you for the opportunity to see more of his work. Thank you for your loving efforts. Respectfully, M (anonymous)

Sunday

2010-02-07T09:09:00.003-07:00

Today Princeton friends will gather for their regional release party of David's book, A Hymn of Changes. Wish I was there everyone! Enjoy. It's a beautiful book and carries his poetic understanding of deep currents of human growth and universal elements.

... only just put it together that it's the same day as Superbowl. You'd think David the type to not care or track SB, but he was. While i was in his life at least... always wanted to catch a little of it. We never had TV so this desire usually landed us in gathering places which automatically wakes up the small football fan within. Have to admit, Ive always been more taken with the commercials' creativity...

In any case bless this day of David's book flying into the world another layer, the many lives entwined in a huge event as is the superbowl and the bird who yesterday flew it'self right to it's death as it hit my glass window. I burried it and said a prayer for death and rebirth, earth and sky...

Community Creative Corner Coming!

2010-01-29T18:17:00.004-07:00

GUESS WHAT!

A NEW BLOG

WILL SOON RUN SIDE BY SIDE TO

CELEBRATINGDAVID.BLOGSPOT.COM

UNTIL IT'S CREATED...

THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

DAVID'S LOVE

YOUR CREATIVE GIFTS

THE WAYS YOUR LIGHT CAME OUT A LITTLE BRIGHTER

WHEN HE SAW ...

YOU ARE INVITED

TO CONSIDER THE FULLNESS OF YOUR EXPRESSION

THE WAYS YOU SPEND TIME THAT BRING YOU JOY

GIFTS OTHERS REFLECT OF YOU(NESS)

TIME DISAPPEARS WHEN YOU ARE ... ? ...

DIVINE REMEBERING OF

WHO WE REALLY ARE ...

leave comments :)

with love

Hymn of Changes by David LaChapelle

2010-01-23T23:55:00.003-07:00

To purchase a copy
contact ananda@jeffnet.org
or PayPal $42 (postage included in price) to
ananda@jeffnet.org

A Contribution from Stephen Griffies

2010-01-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hi,

During the Silverton retreat Aug2008, I was awake one night for a few hours in the library (as was Barbara Cecil, as I recall, also downloading some ideas) contemplating information, entropy, energy, and consciousness. In sum, I was downloading a conjecture that a rational description of consciousness would involve notions from information theory. As consciousness, using David's broad sense of the term, forms the underlying foundation for reality, information theory in turn must play a basic role in describing our universe through the laws of physics.

The notions regarding information theory and consciousness are not new nor unique, but they seemed to gel in my mind through a convergence of past thoughts, osmosis from the retreat, and David's ability to open portals to new mind states.

Shift ahead 1.5 years.

Friday at work, I found an article on my desk, placed there by a friend who shares my love of compelling theoretical physics ideas. The article is titled "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton" by Eric Verlinde, one of two Dutch twins, both renowned leaders in string theory. (His brother Hermann is a Princeton physics professor.) In this article, which you may find on the web and throughout the blob-sphere, Verlinde describes gravity as an emergent phenomena, much as pressure from a gas emerges from the zillions of molecules hitting the side of a container. Gravity is thus not a fundamental force of nature, rather it emerges from something deeper. Verlinde is the first to pose some nontrivial and semi-concrete arguments to support this conjecture. The connection to my retreat experience is that central to the "deeper something" in Verlinde's paper is information. Specifically, gravity arises as an "entropic force" associated with the maximization of entropy related to the information contained in the position of material bodies (or something like that...).

Information theory has been around since the 1940s (Claude Shannon at Bell Labs invented it to help understand the transfer of information through electrical circuits), and has arisen over time to be of such a fundamental nature that it now, potentially, is at the root of how physical reality (e.g., the forces that make up our physical world) works. That, to me, is a mind blower, with that late night in Silverton a tiny tip of the iceberg of what appears to be unfolding in the physics community...

I remain amazed with the elegance and deep insights in Verlinde's paper, which, though nontrivial to grasp, is readable in essence by nearly anyone with a basic graduate physics education (OK, so not everyone has a physics graduate degree, but still, it does not require a specialization in string theory nor loop quantum gravity!). Interestingly, his paper appeared just over 100 years after Einstein's insights regarding special relativity.

There is a nice article in New Scientist about Verlinde's ideas

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527443.800-the-entropy-force-a-new-direction-for-gravity.html?page=1

Thanks for indulging me as I share this synchronicity. A significant portion of my excitement sits not so much with the details of Verlinde's ideas (which will take me years to digest), but with the wondrous connections that David orchestrated, with that orchestration continuing to unfold in elegant ways.

Deep love,
Stephen

--
Stephen.Griffies@Gmail.com

David's Drawings

2010-01-05T20:44:00.009-07:00

Just uploaded the PayPal button for cards available of David's drawings, yeah!

Healing Pencil Drawing Series created Spring 2009

Come see the whole slideshow, over 40 images

Quality cards of David's pencil drawings for sale by contacting Ananda
ananda@jeffnet.org

Video slideshow to music HERE

2009-12-25T08:49:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas Ananda!
I wanted to tell you while it is still fresh. I had a dream last night of you and your beloved David.....it was very, very real.
It was when he first returned back to Silverton with his cancer in full steam. I had a chance to tell him that he would pass...but in my dream it wasn't too late if he would just start chemo sooner.
Do I tell him or let his journey be what it is?
He told me to let him be, to let be what would be, that all would end as exactly as it should. It was proundly peaceful, beautiful and relieving for me....
What a beautiful Christmas gift David, thank you!
I hope you and Cheryl are having a wonderful day!
Love you both so much!
BJ

A Hymn of Changes is HERE!!!!

2009-12-21T22:20:00.004-07:00

The boxes of A Hymn of Changes are in!!! What an amazing feeling to finally see David's words and our work in print

To purchase a copy
contact ananda@jeffnet.org
or PayPal $42 (postage included in price) to
ananda@jeffnet.org

winter

2009-12-21T22:03:00.001-07:00

Photos pulled from Integral Yoga Institute of Princeton email
www.iyiprinceton.com

David quote

2009-12-21T21:59:00.003-07:00

Quote from David's book for Solstice
by MF, Boulder CO

Light up the lights for this Winter solstice night.

Today I went to a friend’s house to work on deer hides to make drums. After soaking for days in a water and ash solution, the hides are tacked to a board. The fat and deeper layers of flesh are scraped off, and then flipped over. The hair is then scraped off. I was only able to help for a little while since it was a work day for me.

Since I came in the middle of the process and left after about 40 minutes, I didn’t think about a ritual honoring these deer. (My friend) got the raw hides from a taxidermist.. They would have been discarded. In any case I thought of the story that David wrote about Deer in his book “Mountains of Light, Pathways of Love”. After reading it, I remembered that I had wanted to share the quote about grief.

Today I felt the grief of David’s death, and just the pure missing him. So it seems appropriate…..

“There is a grief which weighs down the spirit and there is a grief which is the cry of the soul. When you have lost someone you truly loved, then your grief is a gift. This is the grief which reaches beyond this world and opens a doorway to the path of light. This path is the journey of the soul. Yours is such a gift, and I would ask for it in return for my fur.”

Rudolf: Silverton community dinner

2009-12-21T21:47:00.005-07:00

My first Christmas without David in body... at a community dinner at the ski rec center

the nose BLINKED !

Morning I Ching throw

2009-12-16T23:53:00.009-07:00

Devin Hormann-Rivard met David when he was about 5 years. He kept in touch with his spiritual guide throughout his life and participated in many retreats over the years. After graduation from Naropa University in Boulder he was called to join us in Silverton, helping support David's healing process, to be of service and to learn from his mentor. David's distinct assignment for him was an invitation to take his outdated I Ching book he had published years earlier to the next level for a revised edition. Over the last 6 months, the book has been taken through reformatting, editing, re-editing, design, re-design and publishing stages, and has been officially shipped out from the publisher!!! I will receive the hot-off-the-presses box of books any DAY now... Thursday or Friday this week!!!!

This undertaking truly would not have been possible without the dedication and form-holding capacity Devin brought to the project. David's passing ripped through Devin as painfully as for any of us, especially given that he had specifically moved to Silverton be close to him. He took David's request for the republish to heart and made a steady daily practice of designing and formatting the new layout (not to mention learning the advanced computer software just as diligently to do so). His relationship and practice of throwing the I Ching regularly, as well as his field of study, offered clarity about the complexities of Chinese principles and turned out to be invaluable in David's absence... for all the integrity issues involved in producing another artist's works.

This post is for Devin, seen in these images below on a crisp Colorado camping morning... Throwing the I Ching with Quinn Joyce, sweet young neighbor and friend.

Thank you Kind Warrior

A poem by Devin relating a slice of his experience in Yosemite at David's memorial

Devin handing Quinn the coins of his destiny

Slideshow has new online location

2009-12-08T16:25:00.004-07:00

David's pencil drawing series slideshow by Carlos Delgado has been moved... to view, click HERE or on pencil image. Cards of each image are available. Email your order to ananda@jeffnet.org

Sharing from the heart

2009-11-20T10:20:00.006-07:00

Nov. 20, 2009

lots of requests to know "how I am"... thanks for asking I know Im behind

I am frazzled and reworked,

new and sincerely puzzled

loved and loving

... emotional

INSPIRED

dancing with courage and fear

listening

Wintering (mostly) in Silverton

Missing Amma tour

Sad I cant keep up with everyone

Newly exploring FaceBook

Tired

New snow sparkles in my eyes, new flush on my face

teaching yoga and learning bellydance

theraputic sessions with skilled friends (thank goodness)

feeling art & movement workshops in my future... after some settle

Have way too much stuff (mine and D's from Ashland and Hawaii, his PARENT'S things)

Paperwork, email & phone are the time-consuming toppers... still much to do

Recently created a retreat plan for a local group, some new and old facilitation skills integrating

every day is a bow

and yet...

when will things feel normal?

when will I find a balance between extremes: like feeling tired of answering the question " how are you" but hurt just the same if no one asks...

ready for things to move on without him one minute, then just as pained when I'm out on errand and the pulse steadys on at the grocery or post office as if the world is the same

I know i need more quiet yet there is much stimulation

...more nature, less laptop

I get out on brilliantly sunny white walks in the hills... the contrast of hot sun and cold ground

Taking many pictures and building a portfolio for later times.... its the most fun treat right now

Im in a sweet something with a new/old "friend"

... it's supportive I think, Im enriched in new ways
and also aware of the raw element ... careful yes....

Important part is Tara expressing through me

And creative partnership with eye for photo images

loving David and letting him go

sharing his creative voice with emerging book

he's been giving me space but staying close if that makes sense

New language we now speak

Ibn expresses David often too

Tell me your unrelated segments of streaming thoughts some time ...

With love in my heart, Ananda

Yosemite Memorial, August 2009 "Relinquishing ceremony" offered by elders.In this photo: Onnolee Stevens with initiating dragonfly necklace from Barbara Cecil. Photos by Cara Cruickshank (thank you so much!)

Evening scenes

2009-11-18T22:05:00.003-07:00

July 21, 2009

Familiar scenes for the beings who tended closely. Durango apartment, photos Im grateful I thought to take the evening of his release-from-the-body ...

old summer shots from now winter snowy Silverton

2009-11-18T21:09:00.008-07:00

Summer of 07
the building of the "medicine fence"
new nursing human embodiment
creativities emerging
friendships forming
lives and materials changing form

s e v a = selfless service

A hard photo...

2009-11-18T20:31:00.007-07:00

prepare...

Difficult time, march 2008, 15
ashland oregon

David in pain beyond our comprehension
a kind heart transformation

helping others by taking on some pain and burning rapidly

not rapidly enough / a toll on the body

found in every tradition

this service to humanity

D came with his issues

like the rest of us

but

for this loved creature

the ancestors, guides, spirit helpers and light streams

were in his dear favor

as was Ghigs Razi with her class in the February cold
with love songs on Valentines Day
... angels...

Loving Shakti Eyes

2009-11-18T19:08:00.002-07:00

a.foley photography, N.Kohala HI 2006

David's Brain

2009-11-18T18:41:00.004-07:00

I have the privilege of searching around in David's brain when I need to... the mac he bonded with last winter... where he gathered so many fantastic images, holy ones, his own photography, research files and scanned documents... what an adventure. If Im brave enough to face the cluttered desktop (cuz still not able to change anything of his inner world) there is a wealth of treasure to behold. He would want you to have a peek time to time, so from now on will blog from his laptop in addition, as the mood strikes. Enjoy this pairing...

These two image files were listed next to each other on his disk, ... interestingly though; by number. In other words not intentionally paired by him. Sweet.

More to come...

Random Sample

2009-11-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Art for Livelihood... building a portfolio

2009-11-07T23:57:00.002-07:00

Art for Livelihood... building a portfolio

copyright a.foley 2009

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copyright a.foley 2009

2009-11-07T23:46:00.006-07:00

Good News Story

2009-11-06T12:04:00.004-07:00

Sweet, grateful tears as I write this. Waves of relief... It's awfully personal, but I wanted to share good news and celebration ... in honor of the balance... for all the hard work we have each put in for David, his life and his pain (or if you've been thru the gamut, in terms of health care and medical coverage. This issue is so up for everyone at the moment.)

I just got a call . The oncologists who treated David in Durango have been wondering how they were going to get paid for all the office visits, chemo treatments and hospital rounds. Insurance company's arms were crossed these last few months... "we're sorry, we dont cover that" ... They said the approach was experimental and research based.

I pasted below some of my response letter
... gripping with injustice and raw with loss but somehow pulled this through... and...

... IT WORKED!

The call I just hung up was to tell me the insurance company will be covering everything... everything except one office visit !

For all the letters and calls over the last few months to banks, credit cards, utilities, Dr offices and insurance companies, I CANT TELL you the relief that SOMETHING came back with affirmation. And knowing the team of docs and staff will be properly covered! Uah!

Huge!

Thanks for listening,
with love, Ananda

Sept. 22, 2009

Re: Request for Secondary Internal Review in response to initial Grievance Response from Golden Rule
Attached: Five photos, in chronological order, of patient's tumor over the course of four months.

Dear Golden Rule Grievance Administrator:

I have received a copy of your letter addressed to SW Oncology regarding the initial review determining benefits for services provided by them to patient David La Chapelle. The letter states no benefits are available.

The photos included consist of five images of David, profiling the squamous cell cancer tumor on his neck, spanning from March 4, 2009 to the day he passed away, July 21, 2009.

The initial review states the reason for a decline of benefits is that the treatment in question (David's chemotherapy) by Southwest Oncology would be considered "investigational, experimental or for research purposes" . The photos are relevant to your second review in that they reveal, without a doubt the successful and complete shrinking of the very large tumor. Let the photos show the very sound and relevant treatment plan carried out by the professionals of SW Oncology.

It was their long-lived body of experience, their qualified and competent skills as doctors, not to mention their up-to-date knowledge base (in a field moving at break-neck speed, that of oncology), that their plan of treatment for David was as successful as it was for entirely shrinking his large tumor. Their methods were, in my opinion (and I have lost my partner and best friend here), sound, safe and not based on experimental purposes or for the purpose of research and investigation. Rather, they were based on experience and education, not to mention the mysterious yet valid skill-set of intuition; an important ally for all doctors. As I say, in a field of information moving as fast as oncology, it is a doctor's key responsibility to go with the best plan for the condition, whether it is or is not yet widely accepted by "most doctors" as your letter indicates. And they must balance that, at every moment, with the "approved" or " accepted" mainstream, which, we all know comes with faults, such as being even slightly outdated.

The motive for treating David with Abraxane/Erbitux is that it was in the best interest of the patient, your client, David La Chapelle, as it exposes the rest of the body systems to the least amount of unnecessary toxicity. Given the mission statement repeated in each of the letters I have received from your offices, you "have made customer service of (y)our top priorities". If that is true, I am confident you want for your clients what doctors want for their patients: sound, safe treatment. Anything else would be a disservice to the customer you are so very dedicated to keeping a "high priority".

Thank you for the time you have given to reading this letter. Please consider me available for any further questions anytime.

Sincerely,
Ananda Elise Foley
Designated Representative for David La Chapelle

Hymn of Changes is coming!

2009-11-05T10:50:00.008-07:00

Receptive mountain shots,
November Full Moon Silverton CO

a.foley copyright 2009

a.foley copyright 2009

a.foley copyright 2009

"The Receptive"
2nd of the 64 Hexagrams
from A Hymn of Changes by David La Chapelle
Revised edition coming DECEMBER 1ST !

The Receptive

The Receptive awaits the movement of Heaven.
With quietness and serenity the Earth receives
the impulses of Heaven
and substance is given to the unseen.
The Receptive mind is still, yet moves with contact.
It gives form to endless impulses without being overwhelmed.
It never tires as it is guided faithfully by trust and surrender.

To cultivate such receptivity
we must have the courage to remain still
and trust that movement will arise as it should
and when it should.

Yielding
Devotion
Faith

The Receptive

Earth above: Devotion, Receptivity Earth Below: Devotion, Receptivity

The womb of matter gives birth to The Creative. The Earth undergoes the labor pains of creation: for millions of years a mantle of matter gathers form and weaves the body of the Tao. The Earth has become a cradle of creation through unending devotion. Across the tides of time, the Earth has woven a constant response to the impulses of the spirit. This unceasing response is born of a profound devotion.

To be truly Receptive is to be remade continually by the heavens: a constant release of what has been generated. In order to undergo such a relentless process of change, firm foundations are important. Trusting implicitly in our own nature, we can surrender without reserve to the impulses of the Heavens. This trust is possible because we are, at the core, no different than the Tao. The paradox of this contact is that we are surrendering to our own being as we surrender to the power of The Creative.

The burning point of contact between The Creative and The Receptive is a dynamic moment of the potential becoming actual, spirit becoming form. Living our lives with such receptivity means being acutely alive with the power of creative action. All too often, people resist the deeply receptive places in their hearts because there is a fear of annihilation. If we are truly Receptive, then we are no longer in control; if we are no longer in control, then we fear we will be destroyed. This root fear is based on a mistrust of the Tao; for if we truly trusted, then we would unhesitatingly embrace The Creative and live our lives as expressions of the truth.

Closing deep upon itself, The Receptive forms a womb. This incubation is a spiraling inwards of intention and will. At the moment of purest intention, our will becomes the will of the Tao. There is a moment of intense receptivity just prior to the descent of inspiration. This fusion of personal will with the Tao is achieved by the discipline of our forms of expression. Artist, writer, dancer, poet, actress, and actor all cultivate the Receptive by virtue of their chosen discipline.

The Earth is heavy by virtue of its mass. An accumulation of matter builds a vortex of receptivity which is the nucleus of a planetary system. This gathering of form is necessary in order to sustain the fires of the creative process. In our own lives this accumulation of form is best done in a spirit of loving devotion. If we gather because of self-serving instinct and not because of faith, then we run the risk of materialism: cloaking ourselves with devices and material possessions to armor ourselves from the demands of The Creative.

A gathering of matter around the still point of the heart transforms our wombs into sanctuaries of love. For the love of creation we are willing to embrace our receptivity and honor the feminine…

with love,
Ananda Elise Foley
PO Box 542 Silverton Colorado 81433

Recent studio time

2009-10-28T21:08:00.003-07:00

earrings from some recent studio time
turquoise copper and silver
gold leaf paper matchbox drawer
inspiration: thank you gift for support from city dweller in Manhattan; something from the rusty high-altitude former mining train town of Silverton... she liked 'em lots. Santa fe beauty came as my reward soon after... something rustic and clay sented in the air...

Behind the Scenes at Silverton studio

2009-10-28T20:41:00.007-07:00

Older pictures, Silverton home studio getting ready for August memorial

Countdown for packing truck to drive to California
Inner photo of David group in Canyon Lands
(names I know: Randy, Diane, Tom, Shoshannah, David, Sue and Shar)

Pictures dusted, centered and ready to get craddled

Card fairies all done with hundreds of hand packaged cards with David's images. Let me send you some - still available, $3.75 each, or packets. They're tingly in a cosmic David way. Include postage please. Thank you for your orders so far, I appreciate your support.

And 150 memorial gift packets coming together, thank you mom!

Tears from a deep place, thoughts...

2009-10-28T11:34:00.005-07:00

How to be with all these things in one body, in one heart... joy for your release, grief for my loss, fist-shaking at God, gratitude for your life....

How to let go, I got to love you like crazy only to have your life veer away from mine

What to do with the questions I have for the day I can sit face to face with God

The songs we sung, your voice

The field created in your presence, unique, un-reproducable.... life blood for so many of us

Your heart still holding mine but the distance makes that easy to forget

The finality, no going back, to the day the infection set in.... reverse the events that started cancer growth in the first place

So many things I cant touch, let alone change about the trajectory, or your life circumstances that set the conditions.

The loss of our friendship, always you felt like family, my best friend

Im fine so much of the time, and in the taxes and legal paperwork I loose sight of the person you are. Your name becomes associated with the mountain of work I wonder if I'll ever summit...

But you are the BE- ing, the life I no longer get to share... That is painfully clear some times more than others, today especially... I've just come from crying deep and hard for the fullness of the loss

When will you just walk through the door, when will we pick up conversations begun, never revisited?

Where does your soul live now that you are free from the body?

How do i know you still love me? or hold me?

No going back, unbearable...

I love you

Ananda
Oct 28, 2009

inspiration in Boulder, weekend

2009-10-27T22:16:00.003-07:00

a.foley photo 2009

a.foley photo 2009

a.foley photo 2009

a.foley photo 2009

Painted 1980's in Boulder

2009-10-27T21:46:00.002-07:00

Thought some of you may enjoy this painting. If anyone knows the artist (Boulder folks?) I can credit her here. Many thanks

Photography Orgasm: Roaptrip to Santa Fe

2009-10-24T11:16:00.005-07:00

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RIP David

2009-10-14T19:40:00.003-07:00

Photo I took at Yosemite memorial ...
...how's that for being touched by an influencial life?

Reid Tippets of Alaska

Karsten and Drake of Ashland OR

2009-10-14T11:28:00.002-07:00

Earlier post: Drakes birth announcement and David dream from Karsten

David student carries her practice, shares with others

2009-10-14T10:50:00.015-07:00

The Rita Lila: a Western Yogini's Journey to Bliss by Rita Ann Shankara is the story the author meeting her teacher, Basil (David La Chapelle) in Ashand, OR in 2003 and the unfolding journey his teachings in her life offered. Over the last several years, she's developed a strong spiritual practice and found remarkable balance in her life from the headaches, insomnia and habitual patterning that earlier kept her from experiencing full radiance and service in the world.

Recent Interview with Rita Ann on YouTube

click on book cover for link to buy book

Sri Om Ma

2009-10-13T22:37:00.003-07:00

Sri Aum

Maaaaaa

The Crown

2009-10-13T13:56:00.003-07:00

Interesting ...

YouTube Video

2009-10-13T13:43:00.009-07:00

Remember singing Halleluiah with David ?

A fun little video for you:

Amazing guitar version of Canon

dream on evening of birthday

2009-10-11T21:10:00.005-07:00

I had a dream about David -- Very tender, saying that this time around (he was back from heaven) he would just allow life to occur (he wouldn't fight it; even the cancer). It was very sweet teaching --allowing life to occur. Love, Cynthia

A David Story of Ancestors

2009-10-11T19:20:00.018-07:00

The Woman and Her Special Birthday:
a David story of Ancestors
by Lisa van de Water

This Story is not a parable, it is based on a real event. In January 2008 some friends and I went to Hawaii for my birthday. David and Ananda came, and he worked with me first on some current fear patterns and then on my ties to my parents.

I did not have to tell David where my ancestors had lived, he knew, and he zeroed in on a place in my mother’s lineage. It was one of the most astounding moments that I had with him (or anyone else). We were not talking about my parents at all, then ‘out of the blue’ (as it seemed to me) he asked if my mother had ancestors in a particular place. I replied, “Well, as a matter of fact, yes.”

We went on from there and visions of my ancestors started appearing, though it was not until I started receiving this Story now that I got all the detail. The exchange did not happen exactly like this, and much was not in words. David and I worked on my mother’s lineage, but as this Story came to me, it included my father as well. Everything after the vision of the ancestors is new, coming slowly in pictures as these Stories do. The chant at the end, of course, is “Om Namah Sivaya”.

Lisa Van de Water

THE SPECIAL BIRTHDAY

Once there was a woman who was having a special birthday. She wanted to celebrate in a warm, beautiful place, one that was very different from the large, dirty city where she was born in the winter. So she and some friends went to a lush, tropical island. They played in the ocean and walked along the green paths. In the evening on her birthday the friends gathered, including a gentle, wise man. There were flowers, food, and some thoughtful presents.

The woman brought out a photo of herself as a little baby. Her mother was holding her, her father beside her mother. She began thinking about her life with them as a child. By this time both had passed away. She remembered that she had not wanted to be like either one of them. Her mother was meek and frightened, and often felt like a victim. Her father had a bad temper and yelled a lot. She became sad and wished that she had had different parents.

The wise man saw her sadness and came over to her.

She complained about her father’s bullying, and said she resented how weak her mother had been. She started to cry. The wise man asked looked deep into her eyes and said, ”Close your eyes, we will go on a journey.” She closed her eyes and he took her to her family’s ancestral lands. She saw her ancestors centuries ago, in their villages with family and friends, lovers and enemies. She saw them fish and hunt, raise children and crops and animals, build homes and fortresses and sacred places, craft everyday tools and beautiful art. She saw them learn and teach and wonder, work and play, dance and lift their voices in song. She saw them rejoice as they welcomed new babies and grieve as they buried the departed.

She saw some of them look farther than their own village, inspired to journey on land or sea; some returned, some did not. She saw some go proudly or fearfully to war, and some stay home, where war very often slashed into their villages and found them anyway. Her ancestors did and felt and thought all the things that people do. They were kindly or mean, honest or cheats, poor or prosperous. Some had short lives, some had long ones. Some died peacefully at home, some of illnesses or accidents, some in the carnage of battle.

After a while, the wise man asked softly, “Do you see your mother? Do you see your father?”

“They are everywhere,” she whispered.

She could see her mother in a playing child, in a young woman rocking a cradle at a stone hearth, in a studious monk working by candlelight, in a frail old grandmother on her deathbed, but also in a man fighting desperately and fiercely to defend his home and family. She could see her father in a cruel invader slaughtering at random, in a self-important and quarrelsome official, in a lonely but proud man who held himself aloof from everyone, but also in a gardener carefully tending plants, and in a youthful lover. She now understood that all the ancestors she had seen, and many more, were part of her parents, and thus were part of her. She no longer thought of her parents as isolated from everyone else, or from herself. She saw them as if they were in a tapestry woven over the ages. Their imperfections, and hers, no longer annoyed her so much.

The journey was over. She opened her eyes.

The wise man had seen everything, and knew that she now had a deeper understanding. He smiled kindly, saying, “Now you see that everyone lives in a pattern going back through history and before, just as you do. Some people you meet may even share some of your ancestors. And if you go back far enough in time, we all share all our ancestors.“ He paused to let that sink in, then continued, “But what matters most is that you have felt a connection, stretching back into the past and reaching into the future, with everyone who has ever lived, or ever will live. Remember that connection, whenever you meet someone. No matter how people seem at the time, they are all your brothers and sisters. You share the breath of life and the dance of the ages.”

The woman was overwhelmed. She told the wise man that she was very grateful for the wonderful vision.

He chuckled and reminded her that her inner journey was not his creation, but her own legacy. He said, “When you are unhappy with other people, remember to open your mind and let your vision expand as far as you can. You will then see them and what they do very differently. You may even see yourself differently.” She tried to imagine everyone’s connections with their ancestors and descendents and with everyone else’s, until it became too complicated, like a gigantic ball of string.

The wise man said softly, “Let go, let it all go.” She sighed with relief and released her ideas about what she had seen. She looked over the ocean to the horizon and the complicated image dissolved into a shimmering light in which everyone - past, present, future - is connected.

The wise man smiled and sang a simple chant about letting go. The woman sang along, and she let the music carry her into a place where she was at peace.

It was a very special birthday.

Obama's Eulogy for Ted Kennedy, Aug 2009

2009-10-09T19:41:00.007-07:00

President Obama Eulogy: 22 min.

On August 29, 2009, David's 40- day memorial gathering at Toualame Meadows, Yosemite coincided with the rich funeral mass for Senator Edward Kennedy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston, MA. President Obama's eulogy remembers the "Lion of the Senate" in a personal speech he wrote himself.

... more young David (Randy) photos for you

2009-10-08T12:53:00.005-07:00

Headed out for a ski with Dolores

Ed and young Randy ... love this image... so much heart

I should send these two to Mothering magazine I know... an inovative baby carrier for sure

Precious joy!

October 8th - David's Birthday!

2009-10-07T02:21:00.004-07:00

David Randall La Chapelle
Born Oct 8, 1952
Denver, Colorado

A Hymn of Changes is COMING!

2009-10-07T01:53:00.009-07:00

Good news - A Hymn of Changes, the re-publication of David's written offering of the 3000-year-old divining modality the I Ching, will be ready for you very soon. Devin H.R. (mostly) and I have been fine-tuning the manuscript almost daily and it has gone through many refining sessions and the careful eyes of detail loving editors (L.McLaren, C.Foley, LvdWater). We will send off digital files for the first galley printing on David's birthday, Thursday of this week, October 8 to see how our progress is coming along and pray diligently we have something you can purchase in time for holiday 2009 gifting... yeah!

High Elevation, Low Temperatures

2009-10-07T00:19:00.013-07:00

When the hospital chaplain walked me out to my car, he carried the bag with David's clothes. Knowing I'd driven my loved one into the doctor's office four hours earlier on that surreal day, he gazed at the dark sky spilling rain and said I was joined by God in my tears. That moment, on cue, the rain intensified and dumped on us so fast we hugged goodbye and I scurried to open my car door to stay (relatively) dry. A moment earlier he'd asked what I was going to do now...? and I'd responded I would be sitting in my car alone, transitioning...

Woosh, that's where I now was... damp, sitting, transitioning... alone

The phone rings and caller ID says it's my mom. I start to put the phone back down... not now mom, its kind of a bad time... WAIT... she is calling at this very moment. I answered and shared the hard news. That afternoon, she packed and drove 8 hours to get to me, and has been within reach, sharing the mountain of duties, ever since. Today was the day, after the fullness and maturing of a full moon just passed, after attempting to leave earlier but being turned back by early snowy windy road conditions, the timing was all lined up for today.

She drove off this morning and I have been palpably aware of the new sensation, one that would have been a grand leap two months ago... I am .... w,with... out him now.

There were people around when he was sick, people coming/ going before that (thank goodness), people around during the loss time, and for all phases of my grieving chapters...

Today was the first day it was just me feeling aware how much my mother's help softened the blow, allowed segments of loss to be delivered in layers....

My dear neighbors the Joyce's, who have been key support during the last years, found their life's movement packing them and transplanting them to Durango this week for work. They're gone. Quinn and Tucker too. Close still? yes ... Dramatically different all of sudden? Very yes.

Aspen leaves, gold and radiant throughout town just last week, stripped down overnight leaving the reminder that it is chill season now... The peaks are coated white. It's stunning, it's fantastical... and it's yet another taste of loss.

It's okay
I'm clear the experiences immediately ahead are about finding fullness in the emptiness. There's no other way to understand this.

I will open my door to Quiet, serve tea to Reflection. Studio Experimentation time, I have longed would ask for my dance card, is close, waiting.... Waiting for '08 tax papers to get sorted and sent away, for legal probate stuff to get resolved, winter's wood to be cut and stacked, and waiting for the book completion.... among other things

Then...

Then... a little precious hibernation - mixed with the sweetness of small-town holiday get-togethers, stillness of snow... and a little catching up on my thank-you-note plate of spaghetti.

Photos taken Sept 30
Wood and fall's show just days ago, before they were winter's trees, bare and explicative of coming cold

Mom's hard work: new linseed coating for house exterior and new "periwinkle" door color... love it with the gold aspen.... (thank you thank you)

First snow on peaks

Autumn Altar at home in Silverton

2009-10-06T23:34:00.008-07:00

David's ashes have a spot in a south facing window with a plethora of sun overlooking the change from aspen glowing color to winter's edgy white

The surface had really filled up with treasures and momentos so I recently started over with fall colors and autumn's essence.

The notable thing about this altar is David passing so relatively soon after his parents, means the window has cradled three La Chapelle altars for ashes in less than 3 years....

the other remarkable fact is that there are two unexplainably and miraculously long lasting orchids defying the laws of physics and gradual deterioration. It's unexplainable... except that the "energy" near the ashes is keeping them going.

The blue vase holds dry remnants of the ever-revolving cast of flowers to grace this cabin since David's passing, but the orchids have held the test of time, ... not just this last month, but since July 21st time... as we repeatedly saved and carried over those two little magenta smiley-faces full of released prana .... amazing

July 26, 2009

2009-10-06T23:28:00.002-07:00

Some joy in the loss...
love in women's hearts

Taken just days after David's passing, July 26
(posting top now, will file back in time when no longer a new post)

Autumn Light

2009-09-29T22:23:00.010-07:00

a.Foley Image 2009 ananda@jeffnet.org

ooo... it's coolin' down at 9,318 ft

Time to load some photos for you...

here are just a few of many breathtaking images that have beckoned me to shoot artfully these days ... it's meditation.. sweet and always educational. Mountain aspen are doing their thing and it is... stunning! See for yourself... they did all the work... can't forget the light... the Light too...

David-ji invested in a good camera when his father passed beyond his own photo-craft this life... and occasionally I could get my hands on the great gadget. Now of course it is his gift and it is allowing me to put together a little portfolio. Ive always loved photography and now it could create livelihood.... another wink from the Light, David and Ed i know it...

Making fires each morning to take the edge off early cold and then the day warms up. Snow only in dustings yet. Aspen sisters are finding the change too. With winds and sun strong this week, the combination made for billions and billions of yellow shiny fluttering sparkles cruising through the air over head, then fly around my feet speckling the earth... And the orange color trees do GLOW))) God is good, good and everywhere.

Life in Silverton right now is all about wood... cuttin', loadin', unloadin', splittin', reloadin', unloadin', stacking... carryin' inside, creatin' magic, later haulin' the ashes...

This year Im "alone" in this wood dance. It dawned on me today, like everyday (again):

he's gone.

From the woodpile, ... today, ...in this moment. It's just me and the woodpile.

My mom has been doing big jobs here, today she was editing the i Ching book tending her cold... and I did have help from my neighbor who supplied the fallen trees and we've worked together... but I feel how "alone" I am now.... as a state of being I must travel through ... a real place I must visit, all-the-while, Im held and provided support for too

My spirit is sad

I miss him... and he wont be coming back, in the way I so often want to see him

... at the same time much is good

and I'm sure he is coming to me as light most often now

My attention lately is on: suiting up for winter (will spend first months here, then journey out); filing postponed taxes for both David and I (my favorite) ; attending mail, probate and negotiations for bills (uh huh); involved in daily decisions about the edits for the republication of Hymn of Changes, David's I Ching book (my mom and Devin do the hard stuff); teaching a weekly yoga class in Silverton (sweet); what else... oh, and objects objects objects... moving, sorting, deciding, stopping at times to feel the joy-devastation- off-gasing from all the memory in each object... then time to head back outside to do more wood.

My mom plans to head back down to Arizona this weekend... a transition we are both feeling in big ways. She's been a rock for me during the hard moments, a gem of a grandmother, in the honoring of the archetype rather than the literal... She has just plain "stepped up" and Im forever enhanced and grateful for her help. We go out together for these beauty blasts, each with camera in hand. A beloved balance for our ongoing list, the tasks that get crossed off and the ones that don't...

with love, Ananda

a.Foley Image 2009 ananda@jeffnet.org

Heart of Longing chant Cd

2009-09-29T22:05:00.009-07:00

Heart of Longing Cd

Thanks to recent orders on the umya site for Heart of Longing i was inspired to carve time to make a batch ... with cover art and printlabels David designed this year and I found the liner notes with descriptions/ meanings of each chant; included too.

$17 includes shipping base rate

ananda@jeffnet.org

A. Foley po box 542 Silverton 81433

Photo from Aug 26, 2009

2009-09-20T19:52:00.003-07:00

Margie and me, matchy-girl-ing. Aug 26, 2009

Just in from Punyavati, thank you for sending Nachiji!

Yosemite Veteran Pilgrims

2009-09-19T22:04:00.008-07:00

Paul & Carol Hwoschinsky, your care and holding as elders, as friends, is a delightful gift to my life... plural gifts... your knowing presence, concern for my wellbeing, creative thinking in terms of the republication of the I Ching book and finances, family ties. Thank you for bringing your light to Yosemite, all of us in your own big back yard... Ananda

Photos just received, taken by Lisa McLaren, aka Punyavati, aka Arunachala Swamiji, thank you! From Lisa: "Anandaji, Fine to post by me - I know the resolution on the iphone pics isn't very good so don't know how that will work but... And thanks SO much for all your communication. I read and contemplate and it's as if the replies are sitting in the wine cellar of my soul needed to mature..... xoxoxo PAL"

a "Glimpse"

2009-09-19T09:40:00.002-07:00

Ananda, I was heartened by this recent "Glimpse" and felt that David experienced this reality. I thought it might comfort you as well. Love, Charlie

The moment of death is a tremendous opportunity, if we understand clearly what is happening and have prepared well for it in life. For at the actual moment of death, the thinking ego-mind dies into the essence, and in this truth, enlightenment takes place. If we familiarize ourselves with the true nature of mind through practice while we are alive, we become more prepared for when it reveals itself spontaneously at the moment of death. Recognition then follows as naturally as a child running into it's mother's lap. Remaining in that state, we are liberated.

Glimpse of the Day from www.rigpa.org

Thank you

2009-09-18T22:52:00.004-07:00

Thank you Melanie Smith and Steve Wolf; Becky, Paul and Quinn Joyce. Your selfless service during one of the hardest stretches was a vital nourishment line to me. Thank you for the countless tasks you muscled and surrendered through, but even more so...

... for being there...

At Ginny's table, Boulder CO. April 15, 2009

June 7 2009

David during the stage your help was daily, hourly, minute-to-minute with me ...closely...

I could not have done it without you

thank you

2009-09-17T11:17:00.010-07:00

Thank you Dani Antman for your skill and holding my grief, your natural love for David and myself, for your work organizing and tracking details with me and holding ceremonial space for the Yosemite memorial. For welcoming my mom and I into your home for a break, getting us to the ocean and sharing your joy for your new California life and for spreading your healing work into the world.

David the Wrestler

2009-09-17T10:10:00.014-07:00

Remember Ginny's eulogy of David as a Mandala?

She wrote so beautifully of the various beautiful expressions of him and his life, it was a stunning piece in terms of the content, and even more so for it's quality of writing and deep connection to David's essence. Some days before the Boulder memorial I was thinking about this mandala and remembering that Ginny's description would be read aloud as part of the ceremony. Inspired, I flashed on the idea: what if we invited a pass of the talking stick where the mandala is filled out even more... David the Healer, David the Mystic...

I knew we might not actually do it, and we didnt, but when I shared the idea with Diane Hullet, she growled "David the Wrestler" and described the time he tackled her and helped shift a looping pattern she was in. It was just the right medicine at the time and she would definitely name that side of him if filling out the mandala from here.

Later the next day, Brenda Zellner shared an important time in her memory of David, when he called the same fierce push-back from her in a wresting match... and so I told her about her shared sisterhood with Diane. Here's Cynthia Yoder's photos from a Hawaii retreat for your wresting-watching pleasure. Go CYNTHIA!

Maybe you too brought out this side of David...?

Maybe you can think of a mandala component not yet named...

Happy On-lookers: Dani Antman & Andrea Luchese

Cynthia and family that same week. Mahalo for sending your photos

Reflections from fellow bard, David Lynn Grimes

2009-09-16T21:21:00.009-07:00

Hi Ananda, thinking of you all in Yosemite enacting David's memorial service, and me here in solidarity in Alaska to the north at the intersection of Prince William Sound and the Copper River, two powerful pulse beats of Mother Earth. David's adventures with me in these realms was profound, and so you can be sure that these earth organs are also sending their respect and admiration for David's great spirit at this time.

I particularly remember the summer of 1989, during the Exxon oil spill, when David and I travelled thru Prince William Sound on the magical spirit vessel the Orca II--which David had been instrumental in helping bring into my life. Knight Island, the heart of the Sound, had opened its fjord arms to the flowing oil, and indeed more oil covered the shores of Knight Island than any other place.

In the spring, about a week after the spill began, I had been imagining the oil as some monster out there killing everything in the darkness--whale and otter, eagle and loon. But suddenly I had a revelation: what if the oil was as frightened as we were? Black blood of the Mother, drilled up out of its home deep in the earth and spilled onto a cold ocean, and where did it go? Straight into the open arms of the Heart of the place. That spring, when the oil was a foot thick on the beaches of Knight Island, you didn't know if you were walking over rocks or dead birds.

Late that summer, after David and I and others made a pilgrimage to Knight Island on the Orca II, David had a dream. In the dream he was rising up through a mist above the beautiful island, and the mist was the spirits of all the animals that had died. They said to David, "It's true, we haven't left yet because we have a message to deliver. And the message is love."

The oil spill happened on Good Friday, a traditional day of sacrifice. And after sacrifice comes resurrection. What truer way to remember David and his past and present and future incarnations: the message is love.

-- David Lynn Grimes

www.davidlynngrimes.com

Boulder Memorial Saturday, Sept. 12

2009-09-16T20:41:00.007-07:00

Hi All,

Photo of at least a few of us who were still around when I got around to taking the picture. Thanks again to all of you for making this such a special gathering. The weekend was a treasure. Love, Randy C.

more photos of memorial in recent posts, scoll down

thank you

2009-09-16T10:50:00.006-07:00

On Sep 16 2009, Julie Pigott wrote: Dear Madame- Please keep me on the list of wild ass women seeking deep spiritual connection through the cosmic vehicle containing in part, chocolate and caffeine!!

Much love to you in the weaving & untangling & creation of your lovely life. Blessings, Julie

From: ananda@jeffnet.org

Subject: Re: Yes!!!

Date: September 16, 2009 11:50:17 AM MDT

Hello deep heart, your love and magic are with me more than you know. I include some colorful love photos of you to show you how much your being fills a space with beauty and prana

I will never ever be able to thank you for all you have brought to my life in this hard transition... coming with Ben to Boulder, providing for our living set up so David wouldnt have to move sooner than it was correct, holding the beings in Yosemite through artistry as well as power-clean-up, offering your midwifery thru sound, music, CD sales support, your overall mama-quality holding my process in the midst of your own loss of your dear friend and teacher...

I hope you know you will continue to be my soul sister and mango-dripping from chin goddess
Bless all that is you! Ananda

Large Mailing List Letter

2009-09-16T01:01:00.005-07:00

Subject: Blog for David La Chapelle

From: ananda@jeffnet.org

Date: September 16, 2009

To: Large mailing list

Greetings
This quick note goes out to you from Ananda Elise Foley, companion to David La Chapelle who passed away July 21, 2009 in Durango Colorado due to cancer. Please forgive my short note if you are hearing this news for the first time. If you are receiving this is it because your name is on a very large data base I created for David 6 years ago when I first began supporting his work

Im writing to invite you to visit a blogsite created for collecting thoughts, sentiments, memories, stories and photos celebrating David's life and contributions. As I used to write updates via emails; first with information about upcoming retreats and, later, about David's health; I have now switched my format of communication to the blog, where you may go online any time to check in and contribute if you like (reminder you can comment anonymously as well).

You are also being contacted to request your help in cleaning up my contact list of exactly 772 email addresses. My role and responsibilities are transitioning so enormously and quickly and I hope to be a crisp as possible contacting only people who wish to be. So please take the time to bounce an email back if you would prefer to be removed from my lists for announcements or from the database altogether. The blog will be an easy way to find me and relevant announcements in the future if you ever change your mind and wish to be added again.

From here I will be focusing on compiling much of David's artwork, as well as some collaboration offerings with my own work; his teachings and publications; photos and timelines to deepen the expression his work brought to the world. His website www.umya.com will be undergoing some construction and will remain a marketplace for these works.

Thank you for being a part of a dear, rich unfolding
...or sharing with us the care of your service, if you've been part of our lives thru business matters

In grateful heart,
Ananda Elise Foley
Creative Artist, Energetic Midwife, Facilitator/ Instructor

PO Box 542 Silverton, CO 81433
ananda@jeffnet.org
www.umya.com
http://celebratingdavid.blogspot.com

Boulder Daily Camera Obituary

2009-09-15T23:08:00.001-07:00

David La Chapelle

Posted: 09/10/2009 02:47:07 PM MDT

Daily Camera, Boulder

David La Chapelle, nationally known author, teacher and healer, passed away on July 21 at the age of 56, due to cancer. David co-founded Wellspring Partners in Health, Boulder's first holistic medical clinic. He became widely known in Boulder in the 1980's for his profound spiritual/psychological work with individuals and groups, including teaching at Naropa Institute and September School.

David taught nationally, including leading hundreds of wilderness retreats. He was an initiate of eastern spiritual traditions and of John Fire Lame Deer, Lakota Medicine Man. David's spiritual insights, unique healing abilities, and deep caring for his clients and students created a profound legacy of three decades of service. He was also a gifted artist and the author of many books.

David is survived by his devoted companion, Ananda Foley. A memorial service will be held in Allenspark on Sept. 12^th. Donations for David's remaining medical expenses may be sent to Ananda Foley, P.O. Box 542, Silverton, CO 81433.

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13309043

Quotes helping me...

2009-09-15T21:42:00.003-07:00

"There is no death of anything save in appearance. That which passes over from essence to nature seems to be birth, and what passes over from nature to essence seems to be death. Nothing really is originated, and nothing ever perishes, but only now comes into sight and now vanishes." - Apolonius of Tyana, first century A.D.

"Bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love. It follows marriage as normally as marriage follows courtship or as autumn follows summer. It is not a truncation of the process but one of the phases; not the interruption of the dance, but the next figure. We are taken out of ourselves by the loved one when he is here. Then comes the tragic figure of the dance in which we must learn to be still taken out of ourselves through the bodily presence is withdrawn." - C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

"We cannot help the birds of sadness flying over our heads, but we need not let them build nests in our hair." - ancient Chinese saying

"The more I observe and study things, the more convinced I become that sorrow over separation is perhaps the greatest delusion. To realize that it is a delusion is to become free. We love friends for the substance we recognize in them and yet deplore the destruction of the insubstantial that covers the substance for the time being. There is no death, no separation for the substance. Real friendship touches and can keep the substances when the surface goes." - Mahatma Gandhi

Quotes compiled by Helen Nearing in Loving and Leaving the Good Life

Memory share

2009-09-15T20:49:00.011-07:00

Subject: Re: David's blog

Date: September 15, 2009 9:24:42 PM MDT

To: ananda@jeffnet.org

Dear Ananda,

What a joy it is to take some time to think of that vision quest so long ago. Thank you for that. I hope you enjoy my memories and can use it in your blog. Blessing to you.

I want to share some sweet memories I have of David. When I was about 10 or 11 years old I joined my sister on a vision quest into the Sangre de cristo mountains of southern Colorado. It amazes me that I still have an almost photographic memory of the beautiful valley in which we camped, the clearing where people meet in circle, and all the wonderful places I got to hike with David. Due to my young age I had the blessing of staying back in camp with David while everyone went out on their solo quest. I felt it was a great honor and a supremely fun time to have David's full attention. We got to climb a nearby mountain and take long walks through the woods. I remember once when we found a large patch of wild strawberry. We spent what seemed like an hour on our hands and knees searching for and of course eating the tiny berry's. And then there was sweet time we spent at the camp tending to the fire. It warms my heart to this day to remember how caring and generous David was of his time and attention. I will forever cherish these memories with him.

Aaron Ingalls (with daughter Chaaya)

2009-09-15T20:34:00.001-07:00

Date: September 15, 2009

To: ananda@jeffnet.org

Dear Ananda, I very much enjoyed meeting and hanging with you.( felt a kindred spirit) Their was comfort and a kind of heart wrenching feeling in being with Davids people, some I haven't seen in so long. I am still so deeply sad and tearful. Keeping open and watchful as I know so much is being given now. Dreams and valuable memorys from the past. Just trying to be present with it all. So many tears.

Hope that our paths cross again.
You have a friend here

Pasted blog post by BJ

2009-09-14T22:53:00.009-07:00

Blog post by BJ

Click HERE to visit her full blog

09/12/2009

Auspicious

It's a rainy, chilly day in Boulder, with a sure whiff of Autumn in the air. My love and I have just returned from the sacred sanctuary of the natural world near Allenspark. We joined in circle there with a community of students, friends, loves, and strangers to a man named David LaChapelle. He was a beloved spiritual teacher of so many for decades. We celebrated him through this memorial on land he knew and on which he'd done vision quests.

Rain came down. We chanted, and laughed and cried. We told stories and sent blessing and appreciation up to him. Auspicious day - I notice how it rains at times like this, sacred days. His companion Ananda sang a song she'd written only this week. Her voice rang out with such sweetness - a gentle surprise. I thought the rain must surely be for her, as her lyrics spoke of flow, rain and birth, and cleansing. The moment the ceremony came to a close, before anyone even left the circle, the thunder began to roll.

We memorialized a brilliant soul. A circle of goodbyeing that was our container that held an abundance of love for him. He shone and taught a great, bright reflection of love to each of us in some way or another.

Endings and beginnings - I am so taken with them and their sameness. I am dearly enchanted by our connection, a constant thread between all of us, whether we see it or not and whether we choose to believe it or not. Beginnings and endings - initiations and completions; I find these to be my soul companions.

We came home frozen to the bone and wet and smelling of woodsmoke. Yum! Ah - and the hot bath welcoming us, enfolding our bodies and readying us into the evening of cuddles and chinese food with the children are all just as sacred to me as our Shiva chant.

Thank you David, for being connected and fanning this fire that is my family.

Peace, BJB

Posted at 06:10 PM

Click HERE to visit BJ's blogsite

Boulder Memorial Saturday, Sept. 12

2009-09-14T21:16:00.012-07:00

Linda Weber started us off with a beautiful Hebrew chant David used to request her to lead.

She and her partner Emily were kind enough to host me in their home before and after the solo time I spent on the land before the memorial. She is also a quest leader and therapist who was my midwife in setting the intention for my journey, holding a line to my process before, during and after the journey, and offering much reflection steeped in a 25 year connection with David.

All together the circle filled to 40 people after I got this shot. Boulder memorial planners, (Russ and Diane Hullet, Laurie Adato, Martha Fisher, Sue Allman, Talia Spencer and Linda Weber) welcomed people to come a half hour early to chant first.

We had the one and only day of cold, wet rain. Most people thought it was perfect and appropriate given that so many did "quests" with David in the cold and wet before he took things indoors and called them "retreats/workshops"... sweet jokes about how with age comes comforts...

The weather made things intense and intimate, deep and passionate as each person needed to stand and project their voice to power our volume over the loud rain-on-tarp background. Two gazebo tents held a potluck of great food offerings and the other, tables covered with photos and some of David's creative offerings we enjoyed after the ceremony.

I know some people got a photo of me I will add when it comes in... this 4th David memorial was emotional and very different for me. The ability to attend and not facilitate or event-plan gave me the opportunity to drop in and feel the actual emotions of a memorial, deepened by the fact that the connections in Boulder are so long-lived and span so many layers of David's depths Ive only heard about and seen the effects of. A real treat... the memorial itself, the solo, but also the two cabin over-nights, the "let down" of shared meals, dirty dishes and late late night talks... my exhale... finally, the other side of something big

Russ and Diane welcomed the memorial on their newly adopted land, purchased from Ginny. David and Ginny guided several groups and quests on this dear land in Allenspark outside of Boulder. Russ has known David over 20 years since teen-hood. Such good, good people...

Flower mandala by Anandala, Sue and Scott's garden, Shoshanna Seligman and David Nicol

Diane welcoming us, sincerely, open heartedly

Jack Zellner, friend of David since 70's

Sue Seecof reading Ginny's eulogy written for Yosemite memorial, we all loved so much (see earlier post for copy, click HERE). A handful of key people read sections for all to enjoy

Brenda Zelner, Jack's wife. Logan Kline long time friend and gifted body worker/healer helped David this spring

...Earth angel takin' it all in...

Valerie worked with David as a teen, quested and cooked for participants

Coincidentally, also a midwifery school graduate sister from same trade school I attended, just one year subsequent...

Aaron and Chaaya. Aaron said he went on quests trips and, oh darn, too young at 10 yrs old to go out on solo by him self... "had to" stay at base camp and tend fire, hang out with David instead. His description: click HERE

BJ and Talia... beaming love. Talia's work is in hospice. She held me this spring thru the deep release layers. More midwifery... more gratitude. Visit BJ's experience of the memorial HERE.

Fun around the campfire with Susie. Chaaya and Valerie's son, Juaquin

Shoshanna and Laurie... is that a bucket o' chicken?

(both have also known David over 20 years)

"... oh...sorry... was this stick pile significant ?..."

Four days to follow my own movements

2009-09-11T15:49:00.006-07:00

Greetings from Boulder

Im on just a quicky little burst out into the world, just came out of a four day solo quest... best thing in the world for this brain and soul... more as I come into the learning...

just wanted to post that that is where Ive been and that I will be back online Sun or Mon

Tomorrow, on the same land ("Pond House" built and loved by Ginny and her husband Roger recently adopted by Diane and Russ Hullet) will be the Boulder memorial. Will post some photos so stay tuned.

And Im still begging... please send me your submissions.... this is OUR blog... so send in your thoughts, letting go process, dreams, and memorial experiences...

Photos from solo time on the land.

PrayerRags (photos of great beings, and David too, by Rory Finney)

Elk Medicine

2009-09-08T00:53:00.001-07:00

Dear Ananda

I got a call a few days before the memorial in Yosemite from my mom, who was travelling in Western PA and saw three elk. Just got the photo from my dad. I remembered that when David’s mom passed away, there was an appearance of elk medicine. I thought that the timing of their elk sighting was lovely and a beautiful sign of the ever-present medicine available to us. It is blurry because it was taken at dusk.