Member Area | ServiceSpace

Richard's Interview On Nature Of Aesthetic Thought!

Jun 07, 2020, 3 smiles [Guess what we ran into! Richard's interview last week on the nature of Aesthetic Thought!] This week we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Richard Whittaker about the nature of Aesthetic Thought, the connection of Numinous in artistic expression, and the exquisite sensitivity of the human instrument when unmediated by conceptual association. Richard Whittaker is the co-founder, with Rue Harrison, of the non-profit "Society for theReCognition of Art" and founding editor in 1998 of the magazine works & conversations. Earlier he founded The Secret Alameda [published from 1990-96]. He is also the West Coast editor of Parabola Magazine. Although Whittaker has a background in philosophy [BA] and clinical psychology [MA] and has done graduate work at the GTU in Berkeley, his connections with art go back over forty years including photography, ceramics, painting and sculpture. In answer to the question of why he started an art magazine, Richard says: A central motivation was my ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: UnTickets? (+Teens, Retreat, Six+1 Lessons)

Jun 04, 2019, 1 smiles Dear Friends, Thank you to so many of you who came out for the glorious Jai Jagat shows last month! And this month certainly promises to build on those tidal-wave ripples ... June 8th @4PM, local teens are circling up! As a gifted educator, Andy felt schools should be about learning and not curriculum; about teachers being human and not "certified"; about students being happy, not merely successful. In 1995, he started a "school without a campus" in Seattle. It took off. They made the news for their kindness class. And it continues to thrive to this day. This weekend, Andy is anchoring our intimate Awakin Teens Circle in San Jose! More details/RSVP. June 15-16 weekend, Lee Mun Wah was a Chinese American educator when his mother was shot five times and killed by a stranger at her doorstep. It turned his life upside down, and his inner transformation journey led him into ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: Awakin Teens (+ Gandhi Today, Thousand RSVPs,

Feb 25, 2019, 2 smiles Happy end-of-February! Last month, we had an overflowing "New Story" retreat that Andy recounted as, "Tea leaves don't instantly flavor the surrounding water but do so over time. I've now been flavored by this community's generosity, love, consciousness and kindness-filled spirit at an even deeper level." One of the speakers, Brian Conroy, eloquently described our time together: Living the New Story. As we head into Spring, a few things to look forward to... March 10th is the first Awakin Teens Circle! As these things flow, three folks who carpooled to the last Banyan Grove retreat happened to all be parents of teens -- and have now teamed up to host our first teenager gathering in San Jose! If you've got a teen in the family, or just enjoy story-telling, you can learn more about Awakin Teens Circle. April Retreat: "Is Gandhi Relevant Today?" We are hosting a 2-day retreat in West Marin on April ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: This Wednesday's Speaker: Charles Eisenstein!

Jan 21, 2019, 1 comments, 8 smiles Dear Friends, Happy MLK Day! This Wednesday evening, we are delighted to have Charles Eisenstein as our guest speaker at Awakin Santa Clara. You can RSVP here. Back in 2002, Charles wrote his first book. Five months later, he checked his total sales: five copies. Married, with three kids, he was soon evicted from his apartment, left to wonder: why am I doing this work? For self or service? Soon after, he had a metaphysical experience where he was confronted with a follow-up question: are you willing to work invisibly in service? He said yes. "That was part one of the disintegration of personal ambition. Then, I had to disintegrate the ambition to do big things to change the world. On a five thousand year scale, an everyday act of kindness is no smaller than anything a president does," he realized. As the story goes, the more he let go, the more he was ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: New Story Retreat (+ Global Home)

Jan 09, 2019, 3 smiles Dear Bayarea Friends, Trust that the New Year has you buzzing with possibility! As we kick off 2019, a few local and global tidbits ... In the Bay Area, we're starting the year with a special weekend retreat! -- 'A New Story' -- RSVP here With renowned author Charles Eisenstein, story-telling professor (for 20 years!) Brian Conroy, and many other inspirations (including musicians!), we're delighted to gather and soak in collective wisdom around this topic: Every culture has a story -- a weaving of narratives, symbols, and agreements that help us define and navigate the world. Today's dominant culture tells a story of separation, where we are separate from nature; entrenched in competition; where generosity and trust are exemplars rather than norms. However, this story is giving way to a new one. With growing awareness of ecology's interdependence, complexity theory's power of emergence, and neuroscience of intrinsic kindness -- our hope for the gathering ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: This Wednesday ... Yin And Yang 2.0 :)

Nov 26, 2018, 3 smiles Dear Friends, This Wednesday, we are delighted to host Rev. Heng Sure at our Awakin Circle, just days before he leaves the country for an extended period. You can RSVP here as usual and we'll be limited to the first 85 RSVPs: http://awakin.org/local/sv Our topic will be: Yin and Yang 2.0 -- Balancing Strength and Kindness in a New Paradigm. For those who know Rev. Heng Sure, it is clear that no description of him is ever complete. You have to actually hear his riveting, wisdom-filled stories with animated story-telling voices. You have to feel his humility and how he can relate to and inspire just about anyone, from prisoners to monks, from recovering dot-commers to Macintosh fans, from kids to parents. You have to see how he moves entire audiences to tears with simple songs on his guitar. Originally from Ohio, his life changed with a random phone call while pursuing graduate ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: News About Karma Kitchen (+ Stories And HHH

Oct 31, 2018, 4 smiles Thank you for so many palpable events with Sister Lucy last week! While we were certainly left inspired, she also left feeling so grateful for all your friendships. Here are a few photos, and a roundup of her remarkable stories. Some upcoming local events in the BayArea ... In Berkeley, Karma Kitchen is now officially on retreat. New ownership at the restaurant has opted not to continue our experiment, so we'll be looking for a new home (as the KK beat continues on around the globe -- most recently in Warsaw!) Or perhaps we'll experiment locally in a new direction. Would love to hear your ideas. On Saturday Nov 10th, we are super excited to pilot a day-long Hands, Head, Heart retreat! One of the H's will be anchored by Audrey Lin, another by Preeta Bansal and third by Nipun Mehta -- but exactly which H is a mystery, even to us. :) ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: Zendo Sunday (+ Awakin, Summer, Grace)

Jun 01, 2018, 4 smiles A few upcoming events ... This Sunday is Awakin Circle at Banyan Grove's Zendo -- with a spiffy new backyard. :) Join Audrey, Ari, Fab, Aabha, Richard, Nipun and a bunch others. RSVP here. Next Wednesday, Gary Zukav and Linda Francis are joining us again as guest listeners! To join us, RSVP here as usual. On Saturday, June 16th, we are holding a full-day Educators retreat with some inspired out-of-town guests. Details here: Cultivating Compassion Quotient This Summer, we will also soon be starting a summer internship, in case you know youngsters who want to deepen their service journeys. (Check out our first-ever interns in 2012: Conversation with Neil and Dillan) In Vietnam, we recently held an unforgettable retreat hosted by our inspired sisters -- Giang and Hang. In Philippines, women's prison held a concert with Nimo's songs; and there was a commencement address on grace: Surrender isn't a sacrifice of the known, but rather a ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: This Weekend! (Nimo, Kindful Kids, Turning 23)

Apr 20, 2018, 2 smiles Dear Ones, Thank you for so many wonderful circles last month, from Easter Bowing to literally being graced by Grace. :) Coming up ... This Sunday, Nimo's back in town! We're circling up for an early evening of stillness, stories, and songs at Banyan Grove. RSVP here. Also this weekend: Arathi and Joel are hosting "Our Children Are Our Awakeners" circle with John Malloy in East Bay, as Brinda and a crew of Kindful Kids are spreading smiles at a park in the South Bay! And coming soon ... Next Saturday, Apr 28, Shiv's celebrating his 23rd birthday with 23 acts of kindness -- and you're welcome to join. Next Sunday, Apr 29, friends from Austria, Texas, birthday buddies Shiv and Ami, and many others are serving up lunch at Karma Kitchen in Berkeley, 11AM to 3PM! On May 6th, Xiao's hosting an afternoon Tea Ceremony, followed by our monthly 4PM Awakin Circle at Banyan Grove -- perhaps ... Read Full Story

Banyan Grove: Grace On Sunday (+ Nimo, Tea Ceremony!)

Apr 13, 2018, 7 smiles Dear Friends, We're excited to host a few special events at Banyan Grove in the upcoming weeks ... This Sunday, April 15th @ 2PM, we're thrilled to welcome Grace Dammann & filmmakers for our first film screening in our recently constructed "zendo"! If you don't know Grace, she's a humorous, wise zen practitioner, wheelchair bound doctor, Dalai Lama honoree, and beyond. RSVP here. Next Sunday, April 22nd @4:30PM, Nimo's here! We'll circle up around meditation, sharing, and songs. RSVP here. On May 6th @2PM, Xiao is hosting a Tea Ceremony with Buddhist nun, Mu Deng, from China. RSVP here. And after soaking in the tea, we'll flow into our monthly 4PMAwakin Circle that same day -- perhaps with some stories from Mu Deng. :) We've also upgraded our website with tidbits, photos (including our first black-and-white pic!), upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and more. :) Last month, we had a very uplifting zendo inauguration with Ada and ... Read Full Story

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