A Joyful Practice

Imagining Paradise w/EXCERPTS (the “missing” Wednesday blessings, music, & excerpt) April 22, 2026

Happy Earth Day! “Happy Riḍván!” to those celebrating “the Most Great Festival”. Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone Counting the Omer and/or celebrating and/or observing the Second Week of Pascha!

Happy Poetry Month!!

This is the “missing” (and backdated) compilation post for Wednesday, April 22^nd. It includes new content, some “renewed” content, and excerpts. This post contains passing references to violence. My apologies for not posting before the practice. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra        (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

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“The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,”

— quoted from Book I of Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books by John Milton (published 1667)

Imagine paradise. Not paradise in a religious, spiritual, or philosophical sense; no, imagine paradise here on earth. How does it look? How does it smell? What does it sound like? Is there jazz and/or classical music? Who is in paradise with you? Are you having conversations with different people about one thing or a lot of things? What does paradise taste like?

Finally, how did this place become paradise? Sure, you just conceived it just now in your imagination. And, as the old saying goes, “What man can conceive, man can achieve”. But, how do you make it reality?

Speaking of which: A week or so ago, I was listening to a podcast where someone was talking about the difference between optimism and hope, from a clinical, scientific lens. They were saying that, psychologically, people who are hopeful act very different from people who are optimistic in that people who are optimistic believe that things will just work out in the best way possible. In this way, optimistic people are like pessimistic people in that both groups believe things will work out in a certain way with no extra effort on their part. Hopeful people, on the other hand, put in the work. Today, we are very much focused on people putting in the work.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

— quoted from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (published 1962)

Today (Wednesday) was Earth Day, the second day of Riḍván (“the Most Great Festival” in the Bahá’i Faith); the second week of Pascha (in Orthodox Christian communities); and “two weeks and six days” (for people who are Counting the Omer). After so many stories about suffering (and the end of suffering), these observations are very much related to the hopeful parts of the stories. In fact, this is the time of year when the Universal House of Justice issues a Riḍván message that is simultaneously encouraging people to continue with their grassroots efforts and highlighting how those efforts reflect the messages and declarations that the founder of the Bahá’i Faith, Bahá’u’lláh, waited in the original garden of Riḍván prior to being exiled to Constantinople.

Click on the excerpt title below for a little more of this year’s Riḍván message and an excerpt/link to a description of “the Most Great Festival”.

More Reflections in the Garden (the “missing” Tuesday blessings, music, & excerpt)

“[Alexander Gottlieb] Baumgarten speaks of duties towards beings which are beneath us and beings which are above us. But so far as animals are concerned, we have no direct duties. Animals are not self-conscious and are there merely as a means to an end. That end is man.”

— quoted from “Duties Towards Animals and Spirits” in Lectures on Ethics by Immanuel Kant (Translated from the German by Infield Lewis, B.A., O.B.E., with an introduction by J. Macmurray, M.A.)

Born in Königsberg in the Kingdom of Prussia on April 22, 1724, Immanuel (or Emanuel) Kant was one of the most influential philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason). He wrote and lectured about the theory of knowledge (epistemology), metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, political theory, the philosophy of religion, anthropology, mathematics, physics, and natural law. While it may seem like he focused on a lot of things, he never really strayed away from his primary focus: humankind and how knowledge and reason lead to morality.

Long before Rachel Carson was born (let alone wrote a little book that would inspire a great movement), Kant talked about how the ways in which we interact with Nature (and all the creatures on Earth) reflect how we interact with each other and vice versa. He also made the connection between a child’s behavior with animals and their propensity towards violence as an adult long before it was being tracked by modern scientist.

“If a man shoots his dog because the animal is no longer capable of service, he does not fail in his duty to the dog, for the dog cannot judge, but his act is inhuman and damages in himself that humanity which it is his duty to show towards mankind. If he is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practise kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. [William] Hogarth depicts this in his engravings. He shows how cruelty grows and develops. He shows the child’s cruelty to animals, pinching the tail of a dog or a cat; he then depicts the grown man in his cart running over a child ; and lastly, the culmination of cruelty in murder. He thus brings home to us in a terrible fashion the rewards of cruelty, and this should be an impressive lesson to children. The more we come in contact with animals and observe their behaviour, the more we love them, for we see how great is their care for their young. It is then difficult for us to be cruel in thought even to a wolf. [Gottfried Wilhelm]Leibnitz used a tiny worm for purposes of observation, and then carefully replaced it with its leaf on the tree so that it should not come to harm through any act of his. He would have been sorry—a natural feeling for a humane man—to destroy such a creature for no reason. Tender feelings towards dumb animals develop humane feelings towards mankind. ”

— quoted from “Duties Towards Animals and Spirits” in Lectures on Ethics by Immanuel Kant (Infield Lewis, B.A., O.B.E., with an introduction by J. Macmurray, M.A.)

“But it seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.”

— Rachel Carson accepting the John Burroughs Medal (April 1952) and printed in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson

The following Earth Day excerpt was previously posted.

While the roots of Earth Day can be found in the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, an actual day dedicated to Earth and peace was initially proposed by John McConnell during a 1969 conference hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The very first Earth Day, as he proposed it, was held in San Francisco on March 21, 1970, to coincide with the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, proposed a nationwide environmental teach-in and hired a young activist named Denis Hayes to organize the first national Earth Day, which was held on April 22, 1970. More than 20 million people, including then-President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, participated in the events on April 22, 1970, making that day one of the largest protests in the United States. (The 1970 Earth Day teach-in was the largest recorded protest until the 2020 protest after the murder of George Floyd.)

Click on the excerpt title below for more Earth Day reflections.

What You Notice About the Earth (on April 22nd) *REVISED*

You can also click here for the 2023 post, which also includes a Riḍván description and message (plus a Kiss My Asana offering).

“It seems so hard for some of us to grow up mentally just enough to realize there are other persons of flesh and bone, just like us, on this great, big earth. And if they don’t ever stand still, move, or ‘swing,’ they are as right as we are, even if they are as wrong as hell by our standards. Yes, Miles, I am apologizing for my stupid ‘Blindfold Test.’ I can do it gladly because I’m learning a little something. No matter how much they try to say that [Dave] Brubeck doesn’t swing—or whatever else they’re stewing or whoever else they’re brewing—it’s factually unimportant.

Not because Dave made Time magazine—and a dollar—but mainly because Dave honestly thinks he’s swinging. He feels a certain pulse and plays a certain pulse which gives him pleasure and a sense of exaltation because he’s sincerely doing something the way he, Dave Brubeck, feels like doing it. And as you said in your story, Miles, ‘if a guy makes you pat your foot, and if you feel it down your back, etc.,’ then Dave is the swingingest by your definition, Miles, because at Newport and elsewhere Dave had the whole house patting its feet and even clapping its hands….”

— quoted from “An Open Letter to Miles Davis” by Charles Mingus (published in Down Beat Magazine, November 30, 1955)

I have said before that apologizing can be like hitting a reset button. It can be healing. However, when I originally read the quote above, I read it out of context and didn’t realize that it wasn’t as healing as it sounded (out of context). When I first read it, I knew nothing about Leonard Feather and his “Blindfold Test”, a series of interviews during which he played musical selections for jazz musicians without them knowing anything about the selection. For the Blindfold Test, musicians were asked to guess who was playing, offer some commentary, and give each selection a (quality) rank from one to five. The musicians would also talk about their own work as a jazz musician.

Even though I read the open letter by Charles Mingus Jr. I didn’t know the full context. I still don’t; because, even though I found Miles Davis’s 1955 Blindfold Test (and a bunch of others), I couldn’t find the 1955 Charles Mingus interview that both men referenced as a bone of contention.

The fact that I couldn’t find the aforementioned interview is a little odd considering that, fourteen years after Charles Mingus died, his collected papers — including scores, sound recordings, correspondence, and photos — were acquired by the Library of Congress. They called it “the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library’s history”. Maybe the interview is there. Maybe not. What is clear, with a little more context, however, is that the letter is not a complete act of contrition. Quite the opposite, in fact, It is a desafinado (“slightly out of tune”) note between two musical geniuses who were known for the volatile temperaments.

“What you don’t know, you don’st even sense
Is that those [who sing] out of tune do also have a heart”

— quoted from the song “Desafinado” by Antônio Carlos Jobim (composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça) 

Born April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, Charles Mingus Jr. was musician, composer, bandleader, and author who promoted the concept of collective improvisation. While he became famous as an upright bassist, he also played piano, trombone, and cello. He started fusing jazz and classical music when he was a teenager and gospel music and blues also influenced his style. He eventually played and composed everything from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz (with small and midsize ensembles) to post-bop and progressive big band.

For over 30 years, he played and collaborated with jazz giants like Duke Ellington (who was one of his childhood inspirations), Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Max Roach, and Eric Dolphy, Russell Jacquet, Teddy Edwards, Maurice James Simon, Wild Bill Davis, Chico Hamilton, Howard McGhee, Lionel Hampton, and many many others.  Just before he died, Charles Mingus collaborated with Joni Mitchell on a studio album featuring Ms. Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Peter Erskine, Don Alias, Emil Richards, and actual wolves (howling). When they were composing the album, they Mr. Mingus and Ms. Mitchell held “experimental sessions” with Eddie Gómez, John Guerin, Phil Woods, Gerry Mulligan, Dannie Richmond (doing narration), Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, and Stanley Clarke.

“You, with your music, forgot the main thing
That in the chest of those out of tune
Deep in the chest it beats quietly
In the chest of those out of tune
A heart also beats”

— quoted from the song “Desafinado” by Antônio Carlos Jobim (composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça)

Charles Mingus Jr., who was of mixed race heritage, married four (maybe five) times and had such an explosive temper that he was known as “the Angry Man of Jazz” . In addition to times when he would cast members of his band off stage, he once got fired by Duke Ellington because he couldn’t control his temper. In January 1963, he received a suspended sentence for punching the jazz trombonist Jimmy Knepper. His injury left Mr. Knepper unable to play as he had before the assault and temporarily ended the two men’s collaborations. (Although they would work together again in 1977, and Mr. Knepper would be an active member of the Mingus Dynasty, the ensemble formed in 1979, after Mr. Mingus’s death.)

In addition to having anger issues that affected (and probably influenced) his work. Charles Mingus dealt with clinical depression and suffered from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). After Eric Dolphy unexpectedly and tragically died (after falling into an undiagnosed diabetic coma) in West Berlin, Mr. Mingus was unproductive for five years. His ALS eventually led to him not being able to play. He spent the last years of his life composing and supervising recordings — including (perhaps) the one where the wolves howling in the background remind us that nature is still there/here.

“Of the darkness in men’s minds
What can you say
That wasn’t marked by history
Or the TV news today
He gets away with murder
The blizzards come and go
The stab and glare and buckshot
Of the heavy heavy snow
It comes and goes
It comes and goes”

— quoted from the song “The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey” by Joni Mitchell 

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “0422020 Earth Day”]

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

“In these troubled times it is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. There is modern truth to the ancient wisdom of the psalmist: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.’”

— quoted from Rachel Carson’s original submission to “Words to Live By” for This Week Magazine (1951)

Click here to read my (very short) 2025 Earth Day post about looking up.

### Gaia / Terra / Bhūmi /Pṛthvī Pachamama / Papatūānuku / Ìyá Nlá / Mother Earth ###