Home For Good in Oregon

Informational gathering on Oregon Dept. of Justice's

Home For Good in Oregon program

Speaker: Rev. Furlton Burns, First Covenant Church

Regional Re-entry Chaplain

Friday, September 21, 7 pm

Portland Dharma Center, 2514 SE Madison St.

DRZC and BPF Portland invite any who wish to know more about Oregon Dept of Justice's program "Home For Good."

Ex-prisoners are less likely to commit crimes again if they are integrated safely into the community. "Home For Good" is Oregon's program that includes faith communities in that effort. Prisoners need the Three Refuges when they are in prison, and they need the Refuges when they are released. The time is ripe for a Buddhist welcome for them when they are released.

This could be the beginning of a Buddhist participation in Portland. Rev. Furlton will give information on the program, on becoming a chaplain and/or a volunteer in the program.

For a solid Buddhist program to flourish in Portland, participation by interested Buddhists across Sangha lines will be needed. Dharma Rain Zen Center is willing to take point, and welcomes potential volunteers from other communities.

It is the hope of BPF Portland that this could be the first in a series of Engaged Buddhist cooperative efforts. We will be glad to serve as a conduit for other aspects of Engaged Buddhism.

That link again: http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/TRANS/religious_services/rs_hgo_program.shtml

Aristophanes' Peace

The Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon is presenting Aristophanes' Peace. It is outdoors, so showings are at 4 pm and some are at noon. BPF Portland has been invited to table: those tending the table are allowed in free, and other BPF members are offered tickets for half-price.

We could use some volunteers to tend our table for Saturday showings, and the weekday noon showings.

From the Reed College website:

Peace, directed by Keith Scales, is based on one of Aristophanes’ “wittiest and cleverest comedies.” The goddess Peace, long held prisoner by War, is rescued and restored to the world by a farmer riding a beetle—in this instance, a VW bug. Tickets: $20 general, $15 senior, $10 student; free to Reed students, staff, and faculty, with a current Reed i.d. Tickets at the door, or phone 503/258-9313.

September 8 & 9, 15 & 16, 22 & 23, and 29 & 30: 4 p.m., Cerf Amphitheatre.

September 20 & 21, and 26–28: noon, Cerf Amphitheatre.

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This year BPF Portland was a co-sponsor of the event remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki here in Portland. I went to this for the first time. This was the 45th Annual Commemoration.

NW Tibetan Cultural Association Chanters began the ceremony with chants for peace from HH The Dalai Lama. There were speakers. They weren't just speakers...they were people who've walked their talk for years. I think they said Carol Urner from WILPF was in her eighties. There were singers, the Aurora Chorus. There was ceremony. There was an interactive art piece.

The first thing I did when I got there was create my peace prayer flag for the art project. There already were many flags that had been created at street fairs, school events, and other events.There were around 300 people there, I figured.

Many of my photos were too blurry due to low light. The dancing art piece called Harmos was an extra thing after the whole ceremony and speakers, so it was pretty dark by the end. The creator took words from the peace prayer flags and wove them into a poem that she intoned while the child dancers made the lotus bloom. I finally got around to playing with the photos, so here you have my August 5th experience: