Koanic Verses

"The problems of the Earth must be solved on the Earth"

                        Carl Sagan

"The Earth is a Mosque."
                        The Prophet Muhammed

Today I arrived Calabar...for the first time. My trip is sponsored by a Christine K, our trip is passion powered. Several of her fellow Zen practitioners have flown in from Switzerland. One them Anne is the head of the Lausanne based Center for Zen and Leadership. Most of them are visiting Nigeria for the first time.
We are here to pray. To pray for the rain forest.
Calabar's profundity is centered completely on its being a marvelous haven to Nature.
A vanishing Nature. There're "plans" underway to rip apart Calabar with another human My Way. A My Way" that will bring "industries", "jobs", "development"...after an exchange of N 350 billion ($900 million).
And collateral wood.
While we wait for our evening repast I ask Benedette (we pondered horology when inbound) if she had called her family back home.
"...We feel no news is good news, if I call they might think something is wrong."
 Also Lausanne based, she's a clinical physiologist who helps brain trauma patients.
"Over here its quite the opposite..if you don't call that's when there's trouble."
Switzerland a piece of peace - 150 years of peace, the placid eye of the 20th century - is suddenly contrasted with centrifugal Nigeria.
"When I was was young I remember entering my principals office, there was a Buddha statue on her mantle. I went home and asked my mother can I have a Buddha statue she replied what do you want with a statue?" "Then I didn't know that God is formless."
She chuckled.
"Are being bold enough to order your food now." Christine said.
"We've order our meals almost 40 minutes ago."
"Well sometimes hotels here don't like to keep food that might waste so they have to literally cook it."
"Yes I know they said it would take 40 minutes for Eba to be ready." 
Later after some Germanic banter they laugh. Christine turns to face me.
"I've to try to understand their Swiss German. It's like pigeon English."
Anna turns to me. "We met a very senior official at the National Assembly."
"He was close to a head of state during the military...from the way he spoke you could see he was still traumatized. If concerted efforts are not made at healing, it (ego) will return. Are their any reconciliation efforts in Nigeria?"
"When I was in Jos earlier I did hear some peace messages on radio..but I don't know if it was a government or private station."
Anna slowly nodded "That's good."
She's split between Ipad and I.
"We're all tasked ourselves to blogging our experiences." Christine passes famished, fatigued fingers through her scalp. Then she extracts a smart looking camera and shoots me. A gentleman with a scalp of snow fired a warning shot earlier. Then they turn to fire each other.
"Einstein called photographers light monkeys."
"Life monkeys?" Christine questioned.
"Light monkeys." I monkey mouth some pigeon German at slightly slower than light speed to overcome the thumping background.
"What is your perspective on Boko Haram." Anne now looks at me very grimly.
Silence. Then.
"This is the Islamic dark age (the "dark ages" of Europe did have some light).
Its like we've flipped coins with you once again."
"Who stands to benefit from this?"
Pause.
"In the previous administration they were some generals who stole money meant for weaponry. Have you heard of Dasuki?"

"But conspiracy theories abound. From Western interests to a population reduction strategy. History repeats itself. Yusuf Muhammad the founder of Boko Haram was a disciple of Sheik Jafar. Sheik Jafar was a very influential sheik in northern Nigeria. As Yusuf became more radical, he (Jafar) warned him to cease his militant preaching."

I cease to contextualise. "From a certain perspective, Jafar would be seen a Wahabi influenced. He studied in Medina."
"Nigeria's orthodox sheiks did wish for an Islamic society but they never advocated violence."
"Yes." Christine concurred. "Despite influences from Saudi Arabia and Iran, most of the scholars never advocated violence."
"History is interesting have you heard of Uthman Bin Fodio?"
My hands start to wave history cycles above the table as I turn to face Anna once again.
He established the Sokoto caliphate. The one of his disciples Yunfa opposed him."
Enlightenment returned her face.
"Are you an Iman."
"Every Muslim is an Iman, but I don't lead a congregation, it takes years of study to interpret the Qur'an."

Anna eyes interpreted Christine's body. Slowly she rises up, walks across the table to relieve Christine's stomach empty head via massage, from her calm frame and fingers flow out Anna Gamma rays firstly into Christine neck but a few minutes later into our stomachs as heaven sent sandwiches and "freedom fries" descend to our front view seats.

Christine sees my x rays eyes and beckons to my hands, "follow your stomach". 

After the extinction. She says. "Its getting late."  Then asks for relief. 

Anna and Benedette flow followed. I still await my offal soup and bread. Across the table from me is a spectacled woman about the same age as Anne, also ipadding.

"Have you ordered your meal." she asks.

"Yes I'm having soup...there's no rice in the hotel."

"There's no light in the hotel?" said a man who had a chain and tanned skin very anxiously.

"No there no rice in the hotel." The light monkeys had many different forms.

9/9/2017

The next day we left for lunch at about 11:45. Karin met me at the lobby earlier and told me about a trip Christine had planned: a sample of Nigerian delicacy. Many restaurants across Nigeria are dubbed "Calabar" via gastronomic thought affirmations. Earlier I spotted this outside my window. 

Vultures and Piapacs -Birds of a Feather

As await our taxi in the foyer, Anne tells me of her mission in Bosnia, and her encounter with a sufi Iman who had been an Iman since 16. 

"Have you been to Jerusalem?"

"No but I pray very desperately to visit their."

"Its so scared the spiritual energy there is so great"

She becomes pensive.."I can understand why they fight over it."

"Thy light is in all things, thy love in all beings." Anna slow repeats a zikr learnt from her Bosinan friend. Then she choruses. "Hu Allah Hu Allah Hu Allah Hu" 

"La illaha illalah, la illa illalah." I reply. 

A landcrusier drives to pick us up, a few minutes later we exit the gate. 

"Did you see the vultures perched on the street lamps?" (Christine's room is next door.)
"No..did they come for you?"
 I smile, "Its a good sign...some of them are endangered."
"Are vultures really endangered?"
"Some species...yes."

"Can you take a shot of us, Usman...just press the grey button. " Christine shotgun is passed from her to hands to me. 

"Swiss Cheese"

The weather is very appropriate. Our inbound flight was delayed by rain yesterday, its deep rainy season in Nigeria. They road is traffic dry. We approach a Zenith bank. The Murtala Muhammed highway is Calabar's main through fare, the air is now sticky occasionally mist descends and then the occasional sun breaches.

"Is it true that punctuality is Swiss."

"Do you think the European union will survive..."
"Initially yes...it was a peace project. The French and the Germans had been fighting for many many years. But now there are other tensions...there is a very different pace of life in Greece in Italy in Spain."
"They're more lax there?"
A man sitting next to her replies, "Ya in Spain when its hot 7 o'clock in the morning becomes 9"-he might have said nien- or perhaps he was being punny.

"A lonely planet author wrote once you step into West Africa time slows down." 

"Punny man and Ann smile warmly.

Our driver is a law student at the University of Calabar. He married a lawyer so that the could argue in-laws. He parks and Christine pops out for cash. 

"My friend the Iman in Bosnia says that is money comes and they become rich the persecutions will return." Anna says to me.

"How?" I wonder speak.

 "If true healing does not take place, if true contact aren't made between people then it (ego) will return."

"Here people are poor, the youth unemployed." reflecting on this later in the day I wonder if money could just be as neutral as the Swiss.

Once I step outside my room to head to Anna's room I see one of our party with a chair slung over his shoulder. I return to haul a chair from my room. Christine sees me and waves a welcome
She starts a chair census.
"The room is big enough for, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve" Count Christine continued..."thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen seats." "Fifteen" and "Sixteen" were obscured by a mini bar. I turned and faced punny man's lightly oval glass and glassy eyes.
"My name is Usman. What's your name." With hand on heart conservation is created.

"Ruedi." A reindeer floats into my mind.

"Ruedi, how are you Ruedi, your name is Ruedi...they say if you want to remember someones name you have to repeat it."

He nods (acknowledge of the power of "they")
"Is this your first time in Nigeria?"
"Yes we came to Abuja on Monday...have you worked with Christine before."
"I first met her at about...8 years ago at the 1st interfaith conference on climate change. There's an organisation called the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. They are based in Brimingham in the UK."

 "Do they have a branch here?"

"No the are trying to avoid the globalisation model. They are based in the UK and saw the developmental paradigm that Muslim countries were blindly following was wrong. Their scope is the Muslim world."
Marcus (snow scalp) a civil engineer who worked in Nigeria 37 years ago takes a seat. Christine face brightens up as two men one in a Safari suit, black rimmed glasses, done with 50 plus strong laps around the Sun and the other in a white shirt and a white wrist band sit. The former opposite me and the later leans a fatigued frame on the dry mini bar.
"You didn't tell me we were heading to the forest. Christine...have you arranged transport?"
The man in Safari spoke sweet passive aggressive.
"Yes we should be going with three cars."
"I think we'ill need three." the country man with the white band spoke his eyes doing a population census.
Another countryman came in, then followed Benedette and Karin and Heniz. The Calabar interfaith canton were in conclave. After some logistics, Christine opened the symposium.
"I am really pleased we could all come for this interfaith gathering. It is remarkable that we have representatives of Islam, Christianity, and Buddism here today. Let me introduce myself my name is Christine after some time I decided to study Hausa, then I came to Nigeria and studied in BUK, Nigeria has gone on and on and on, I worked for the BBC for 12 years I then decided to join the Heinrich Boll society, we advocate climate change, gender justice and social justice."
She turned and faced Anna. I mediate with Anna who has come from Switzerland. As Zen Buddhists we mediate in silence, this helps us to connect to all of Being. We will mediate silently and Anna a Zen master will help us come out of silence. But I think it would be nice for us to all introduce our
selves first."
Christine passed the torch, to her right. The man in Safari commenced his introduction. "My name is Odey Oyama. We have been fighting the destruction of the forest. I am a graduate of Schumacher college. Where Resurrengce magazine is published."
Finally a Nigerian who had studied at Schumacher college!
I studied with Satish Kumar I don't know if any of you know him...he trekked from India to America."
"Yes." Monkey mouth breaches the green peace.
"And he started his journey penniless..relying only on human goodwill."
"Do you know him?" Odey replied me.
"Not personally...he delivered tea packages to the leaders of Russia and America during the cold war."
"That's the Zen spirit" Christine nodded in acknowledgment and silent admiration.
"It was an extraordinary experience. I also studied with Vanada Shiva...she's a very powerful woman. We lived communally...and meditated daily.
"A big multinational came hear to steal wood...".
A passive pause to recall crusades past was followed by sweet aggressive.
"...we fought them...WEMCO a Chinese multinational."
Then Anna's turn came. "My name is Anna Gamma. I have been a clinical psychologist for over 40 years. And have been involved in interfaith peace and reconciliation work for over 25 years. I have done work all over the world; in Bosina and in the Middle East."
Anna's arms slowly churned out Zen brush strokes in the air.
"I run a small Zen and Leadership center in Laussane, Switzerland."
"I'm Benedette, I'm a clinical physiotherapist. I also live in Lausanne"
"My name is Karin, I work as a historian and live in Basel a city with over 300 languages. We are all have to find ways to live with each other."
"My name is Marcus, I am a retired civil engineer. I worked in Nigeria 37 years ago."
"My name is Ruedi. I'm in the pharmacutical industry."
"My name is Usman Modibbo, but currently I'm undergoing a name change to Usman Isa. I work as a system administration in Nigeria's Petroleum sector.
...Since I was a child I felt very connected to the universe, I had always felt uneasy about industrialisation and as I was about to travel to study in England I came across EF Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful." and "The Case Against the Global Economy." by Jerry Manader. Islam has a deep environmental message but I don't think you are the right audience for this message.
A moderate laughther waves out of us.
"Unfortunetly there is not much environmentalism amongst Nigeria's muslims. But I can say that in Nigeria there is one organisation called the Islamic Green Club and Empowerment Initatives, that meets in Abuja regularly, we realise that enviromentalism must be accompanied with poverty  reduction."
"We hope our efforts will blossom. Insha Allah."
"Insha Allah." Chrouses.
"My name is Umo. I'm the founder of Peace Point Action. We campaign tirelessly on the super highway. We have led peaceful demonstration aganist it and against the destruction of the over 180 communities that have been living there. There is a meeting we are having in South Korea that I'm supposed to attend but I might not be able to go because of the tensions there."
"My name is William Itorok." William Itorok was the Catholic ingredient in our communion. "I am an environmentalist because I was born in the forest, I was born in Oban, we were told as childern to respect the forest. They are trees their worth worshipping."
He spoke with Catholic passion.
"Next time you should invite the animists as well Christine. They dance."
"I too can dance." Anna quipped.
"No you are too old for their type of dance." He objected in a professional manner, Willam Itorok Effiom is a lawyer LL.B (Google that!).

"We have a prayer that we do, it is a spiritual hymn containing verses from many traditions. What we will do now is meditate in silence and then we will sing the hymn before proceeding."
Anna hands out a pamphelt. Spritual xxxxx.
"Please feel free to join in where ever you feel comfortable with. The chorus is transcendent."
"First let us all close our eyes and enter silence."
Silence. Darkness (all light monkeys banished). We close our eyes and lower our heads.
The blackness continues then Anna spoke.
"Silence is a universal language. And there's a place were we meet and were we are one, beyond our differences. I invite you to open your heart and mind to the boundless body of silence where we meet in peace. And respect. Here we gain the strength for our common work, our engagement to safeguard our Mother Earth and humanity."
Slowly the room and its inhabitants morph out of nothing. I was probably the last to emerge from mother silence.
"Another earth is coming, she is on her way, she is on her way."
"Unite..be one...be one...unite..be one..be one." The word in the black and white
pamphlets become very colorful.
Anna, Christine, Benedette and Karin sing angelicly. Odey was meeken. "Its very nice but we have to get going." he spoke passively.
We all arise and head to the lobby. I decided to remain behind with Anna.
"That was very nice, what you said." I spoke as she went turn her door keys.
She smiled, her body moves in stark opposition to her age. Are you an open minded Muslim."
My mouth stays closed but my head nods. "Some of the meetings I've had with other Catholics have
been very parochial."
A small crucifix dangles from her chest. Anna and her fellow Zen disciples are in fact Christians with Zen beliefs. Or maybe they are Zen monks without wimples. "Rumi gave us a very beautiful metaphor on religion, the four blind men and the elephants. Each feel a separate part the elephant and thus interprets it in his own way. There's a lot of space between an elephants legs...so I think there must be a fifth blind man, the atheist who feels that empty space and cries hey their nothing here."
"That's a good one." Anna laughs as we descend to the lobby. We head out of Calabar in a convoy of three cars. After we enter Akpabuyo local governement. From here the town thins and the bushes start to thicken along with memories of adventures past. "I have been to the Afi mountain ranch with my Childern." Christine recollected. The Afi mountain ranch home to Pandrillus a Drill conservation project run by an American couple, Liza Gadsby and Peter Jenkins.
"It would be a shame if the Lisa and Peter retire and we they don't get people who can replace them." They first arrived on their conservation mission in 1988. It was time for them to hang their jungle boots. Unfortunately empathy and apathy for the Calabar forest and its inhabitants had grown in indirect proportion. Pandrillus does accept volunteers. Only serious (heavy) monkeys will be accepted. A warning your stay in Calabar might go on and on and on. 😊

The Road

The Territory

Cute bungalows hymn to the quiet life on both side of road. Our convoy slows down and veers to the right. Outside a green bungalow with a pink coated veranda wall is an elderly man with very defensive black rosary-crucifix around his neck, squarish glass, sandals and denim pants. He is the chief of the community.

"This is were the Super high way passes through. Starting from Bakassi, all the way to here and..."

Umo body turns and then his arms stretches with his voice into the dense horizon.

"...beyond. 180 communities have been forced of their land." 

"180!"

"Yes they just woke up one morning and saw bulldozers." There is a gap in between the trees on both sides of the road. A cacophony from the caterpillars with very human legs. With the community leader our chief we cross the road and march on the fallen grass land. Roughy one hundred meters away is are defiant palms trees that create a barrier between where us and where no man has gone before. The air is gentle the sun warm. As we walk the clearing narrows to a bush path.
"Watch out!" Williams points at the earth. A moving line of black morphs into the workers of the world.
"Look, Ants." someone exclaimed. A path bisects our path, slowly we step over the column and march much less industrially. Benedette flicks at the ants in her sweat pants.
"If any bite you just squeeze." Willlam voiced out a decree. I wonder if Benedette's buddist beliefs would make that objectionable.
"Pick up a bee from kindness and know the limitation of kindness."
"I'm okay." Her two feet are now earthed.
"If you want to distract them you just place a piece of paper, white paper on their path....it summons them to court." William spoke with a Solomonic wisdom and let out a laugh.