Love
and Peace, Family and Friends.
שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.साटीनाम.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Udo.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.
Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Ingatka.Wominjeka.Aloha.
.
.
.
...
It
is a while since I forward you a correspondence regarding my personal and
organisational endeavours. I can provide
that I am well, overall, and I pray and meditate that this correspondence finds
each of you and your loved ones well too.
Over
the past 2 years I spend nearly 12 months, in 2 different stints, locked within
psych wards; with a couple of additional
incarcerations in local jails.
18
months ago, approximately 2 weeks before Christmas, some Case Western Reserve
University security guards and I have a conversation regarding the visitation
of some local youth within an indoor basketball court. After I refuse to respond to increasingly
aggressive interrogation regarding my status as an alumnus of Case, the
security guards grab me and eventually transfer me to the custody of the local
police; where I am subsequently
transported to a psych ward. I spend the
next 5 months, or so, locked within 2 different facilities; and I am released just before Pesach.
Nearly
8 months ago, a couple weeks before Rosh Hashanah, after being threatened with
eviction by Jewish Family Services, I am forcefully removed from a squatters’
camp, and transported to a psych ward. I
spend the next 6 months, or so, locked within 2 different facilities; and I am released just before Holi and Magha
Puja.
For
the past 2 months, I recover from an acute back injury that I sustained during this
most recent detainment.
Between
these 2 detainments, I spend a considerable amount of effort in cultivating
interfaith initiatives locally and internationally. Locally, I work to consolidate my
interreligious community outreach into the formation of a community centre and
hostel, Asona Ashram (also spelled, अΣOאن 冬宮). I also work to construct a micro community,
our UNI Village. Internationally, I
participate in a considerable amount of rapprochement regarding a number of
global interfaith events and initiatives, including the Parliament of the
World’s Religions. I also work to
convene a supplementary conference in Brussels amidst the cancelation of the
Brussels Parliament, initially scheduled for this Northern Summer. Amidst my incarceration, the planning for the
Brussels conference dissipates. I am
also precluded from attending the North American InterFaith Network (NAIN)
Connect in Toronto, due to a lack of international travelling credentials.
My
experience over the past 2 years, and during the past decade, leads me to
deeply consider the nature of my work and the strategy through which these
benevolent objectives are achieved. From
this, I am deciding to reduce my direct involvement within initiatives that
have a high propensity towards incarceration.
This includes my involvement with our Universal InterFaith Action
Network (UIFAN or WเเϕअAنא 天) and our UNI Village.
Despite this transition of concentration, I remain committed to our WเเϕअAنא 天 , to the ACE Plan,
and to our InterFaith Movement; locally,
globally, and Universally.
Within
the past few years, I conduct a significant amount of outreach: engaging individuals and communities where
these individuals and communities regularly congregate. And in doing so, I have cultivated many
tremendous and inspiring experiences and relationships with you. However, during many of the experiences, I am
often the only one of “my kind”: a
stranger acclimating to the norm of a different community. Whilst I intend to continue a fair amount of
this outreach, I am committed towards, and increasingly concentrated upon,
building social environments where we and our communities are able to
congregate together: where strangers are
equally at home, as friends. This is the
aim of our अΣOאن 冬宮.
At this moment, I am again living in
the same Coventry neighbourhood apartment where I live for the past 5 years; publicly subsidised housing provided by
Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. I am engaged in building our अΣOאن 冬宮, which
is currently housed in this apartment.
The idea is to utilise this apartment as a gathering space to share
coffee, tea, conversation, and perhaps even a few board games. In addition to this email, my intention is to
reconnect with many of you, personally, via phone and/or email, to strengthen
our relationships, see how each of you are doing, and invite you to visit our अΣOאن 冬宮. I am currently making preparations to attend
the NAIN Connect in Detroit, in 4 months; the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference in
Chicago, in 6 months; as well as the
Parliament of the World’s Religions next year.
The
bigger idea is to grow this activity into an increasing community environment,
with classes, programmes, holiday observances, guest accommodations, and
additionally. We are working to secure a
house, and to eventually settle in a comparatively permanent structure within
our UNI Village, in the University Circle area (Φ; स.僧伽.С.Σ.ω.S.
.サンガ.ᄉ.س.
.:*.U.ส.ש).
.サンガ.ᄉ.س..:*.U.ส.ש).
We can definitely utilise your
support in this process. For additional
information on how you can help, you are invited to contact me via phone, text,
or email, and of course to visit and talk:
Peter Frank Womack Johannesen Osisi
अΣO
אن冬宮 (Asona
Ashram)
+1 216 534 6949
2724 Mayfield Road, Apt 10
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106
I intend to update this listserv, so
if there are any updates/changes/cancelations you would like to be made, you
are welcome to inform me. The working
email address for our अΣO אن冬宮 is: asonaashram@gmail.com; our blog is, www.asonaashram.blogspot.com. I am concentrating my communications primarily
to posts on this blog and my personal blog, www.righteousmountain.blogspot.com.
As an addendum, I can also provide
that I am in the process of officially changing my surname, from “Womack” to
“Johannesen Osisi.” In brief, this is to
distance myself from the legacy of slavery (“Womack” is my great grandfather’s
slave owner’s name), and to connect further with additional family ancestry
(“Johannesen,” or “Johnson,” is my great great grandfar’s family name, on my mor’s
side; and “John” is my far’s name). As always, you are welcome to simply call me,
“Peter.”
I provide benevolent tidings to you,
collectively and respectively, during Pesach and the approach of Easter and
Ridvan, and the recent observances of Magha Puja, Holi, Holla Mahala, Naw Ruz,
and the New Year within the Mayan Ha’ab calendar, as well as Earth Day and
Universal Days Of Service, in this 甲午 (“Jiawu”
or, Year Of The Horse).
I thank you for your telephone
calls, your visits, your words of encouragement, your thoughts and prayers, and
your patience and consideration over the past few years, and particularly over
these past 18 months. I look forward to
continuing to build and grow with each and all of you in the approaching years,
God Willing, En’Sh’Allah, B’ezrat Hashem, Samadhi, Om.
I thank you for your attention.
With Benevolent Regards,
Love and Peace,
Peter
שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.साटीनाम.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Udo.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.
Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Ingatka.Wominjeka.Aloha.
.
..
...
ૐ.אמן
Shalom(Hebrew).Namaste(Sanskrit).Samadhi(Thai/Pali).Pax(Latin).Salaam(Arabic).Peace(English).
SatNam(Punjabi).Solh(Persian).Kwey(Algonquin).Amani(Swahili).Udo(Ibo).Barish(Turkish).Erieni(Greek).Pache(Italiano).Paz(Espanol).Paix(Francais).
Fred(Scandinavian).Frieden(Deutsch).Siochana(Irish).Mir(Russian).Amin(Urdu).Heping(Mandarin).Heiwa(Japanese).Pyeonghwa(Korean).
Ingatka(Tagolog).Wominjeka(Wurundjeri).Aloha(Hawai’ian).Peace(Common
Symbol).Peace(Common Sign).Peace(American Sign).Peace(American Braille).
Om. Amen.
