The word 本 běn, meaning “root”, had been an important part of my cultivation, particularly these past couple of years. Recently I went to a Catholic Mass with people that were always a part of my life as a child, and I couldn’t help but begin to reflect.
As I grew older I wanted to break free from the religion and “Italianocity” of my upbringing. Now in my mid-forties, I find beauty in the timeless ritual of the Mass and want to hug those people in the church and tell them I love them.
The night after the Mass, I went to my father’s nursery where I made a fire and sat. As a youth, I also wanted to break free from this land. It is where I worked, cutting grass, watering plants, digging up trees and filling the holes. I found myself now, as an adult, crying to the land and telling her how grateful I am.
A few days later my family went to Princeton to watch a traditional Persian folk band that came from Iran to play music for Noruz (Persian New Year). To watch my wife (an Iranian) becoming emotional over missing the land, alongside the joy of our son dancing to the music of his ancestry, brought forward so many emotions.
I was so impressed by these artists, I looked them up on Princeton’s site. This is what it had to say about the group’s name, Rastak:
“‘Rastak,’ in Farsi, means a newly born plant that grows at the bottom of a tree. Sometimes it grows taller and stronger than the main tree itself. So, it can be interpreted as a plant with its roots in the ground, containing all the essential elements of life, when it is fully grown.”
I would love to share some of the cultivation practices that I have learned along the way about cultivating our roots as well as becoming or recognizing our being as a “rastak.”
Join me (Paolo) on Wednesday, April 16th from 6-7:30 pm to explore our roots, and become rooted in our own being. The talk will focus on the concept of “root” through the lens of Chinese medicine and will include a meditation practice to get in touch with our ancestral, terrestrial and cosmic roots.
$20 suggested donation. Sign up online or contact us— spaces limited!
