It's Always So Nice To Receive ... Posted by Mia Tagano, Sep 15 2017 It's always so nice to receive heart felt messages of appreciation. This one is directed to DailyGood but really it is for us all :) "Dear Daily Good folks, I have been receiving your daily emails for quite some time now. The last few months I have been going through some challenging times with family relationships and my need to recognize behaviors of mine that have been damaging and unhealthy. Several weeks ago I began a practice of reading your DailyGood emails every day (something I had not done consistently in the past) and have been amazed at how exactly they were saying things I needed to hear at that moment in time. Today's was so "spot on" that it made me stop and reflect on how incredibly supportive and healing your emails have been through this painful time. And the fact that you don't even know that! So I want to take ... Read Full Story

Absolute And Relative Realities Posted by Anuj Pandey, Sep 14 2017 [A particularly poignant reflection from last night's rich Awakin Circle -- by none other than Yaniv! :)] I was thinking how the origin of this teaching on emptiness arose at a time when perhaps there was too much of an emphasis on external forms, gods, rituals and so on. Emptiness became a counterbalance. In that sense, another equally valid way of saying that everything is empty is saying that everything is God. And that also has its own trappings. That got me thinking if there is another way to frame this. In the juxtaposition between the absolute and the relative, what's another way of how we can describe the absolute without relative-izing it? We can say that absolute is what is always true, and relative is what is sometimes true and sometimes not. The absolute is what always Is and the relative is what is sometimes. One of the trappings we keep making in our ... Read Full Story

Back-to-School Acts Of Kindness Day! Posted by Trishna Shah, Sep 13 2017 Like most kids in London, our girls were so excited about starting a new school year last week, seeing old friends, making new ones and continuing to develop a love for learning and growing. Summer Wish List: Acts of Kindness Day Tops the Charts! At the start of the summer break, I had made a wish list with my daughters, who are 6 and 4, of all the different types of things they would like to spend time doing during their holidays. Of course the list was longer than what we were ever going to have time for, but it was so nice to give them a chance to express their wishes, as the school year can often lack space for creativity and openness. One of the items on the top of Sareena's wish list was to have an acts of kindness day! A couple of years ago, she had joined a bunch ... Read Full Story

Interns Serve Lemonade! Posted by Vishesh Gupta, Sep 10 2017 On one fine Saturday afternoon (a couple months ago now), summer interns and mentors collected to share some lemonade with the community (at St. James Park in San Jose)! Here's what happened: At noon, our crew began setting up. Isabel, Sneha, Selena and Audrey were there at noon with tables and supplies. Priya, Maya, their brother Om, Shyama and her siblings were all there helping and getting the table ready. At 12:30pm, all of us had an opening circle to share our intentions for the day. By this time about a hundred people had already lined up for lemonade and snacks - I suppose they all knew the drill :) However, as we began giving lemonade to people, we found ourselves... unsatisfied. After all, the purpose was to use lemonade as a context to connect with those in the park! Someone remarked, "This feels sort of like a handout." And it wasn't just ... Read Full Story

The Kin In Awakin Posted by Kozo Hattori, Sep 07 2017 Last night at Awakin Circle Santa Clara, the Awakin Reading was a poem by Parag Shah for his sister. I don't have any sisters, but the first person who came to mind was Pavi. Pavi is my sister because she treats me like a brother--looking out for me, checking in on me, sending me prayers and blessings, and sharing sympathic joy or compassion with what I am experiencing. Then I realized I had other sisters. Guri is my older sister. She is firm in her insistence that I take care of myself. Trishna called me from London when I was having a real tough time in Hawaii during my illness. It was like we suddenly became family. Audrey is like a cute younger sister. She brings so much joy into our family. It felt wonderful to think about all the sisters that I now have even though I come from a family ... Read Full Story

Internal Cleaning By External Actions Posted by Trupti Pandya, Sep 05 2017 “So long as you do not take the broom and the bucket in your hands, you-cannot make your towns and cities clean.” – Mahatma Gandhi Last week after a lot of persuasions, Jaimit shared about an act of kindness he did last year around Diwali. After a full day of work, he was on his way for a bible reading session. He felt the urge to use the washroom and started looking for one. He found a public toilet and just before entering the premise he saw a man urinating and carelessly spoiling the walls which had a slogan on it saying “Swatch Bharat” (Clean India). He felt disturbed looking at the irony and apathy that citizen’s show for public spaces. With that sentiment, he went inside the public toilet and found it difficult to use because of the filth. He almost had to run outside for fresh air as he ... Read Full Story

The Gift Posted by Tejas Doshi, Sep 03 2017 A bunch of us gathered a few weeks back to share a meal at the beloved home of a friend. The conversations throughout the afternoon while preparing our meal, enjoying the meal, and sharing stories afterwards were blessed. At one point, after reading The Gift by Khalil Gibran, Harshida aunty invited everyone to share a story about a gift that we have received and that has impacted our lives for good in one way or another. Amongst a few wonderful stories shared, including a story about a math teacher by Prahallad, I was encouraged to share a story of an angel, an unknown old man, who awakened the joy of reading in my life. It was during the year 2000-01, when I was staying in a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, with my uncle who was going through a critical medical issue that called for a major surgery. During my six month stay ... Read Full Story

The GIFT Of RADICAL Love Posted by Trupti Pandya, Sep 03 2017 All revolutions are spiritual at the source. All my activities have the sole purpose of achieving a union of hearts- Vinoba Bhave Arun dada had gone to Cyprus as a shanti sainik (Peace maker) during a time of communal tension between the Greeks and Turks. The Sun was about to rise, he was out for his morning walk. On his way he saw a bunch of boys laughing at him may be because of the way he looked or may be the way he was dressed that is what he said. He kept walking in their direction towards the hill top. As he went close, one boy ran inside the nearby tent and brought out an air gun and pointed at him. Dada did not know if these boys were Greeks or Turks, he did not speak their language. Dada went close while the gun was still pointing at him. ... Read Full Story

Reflections On Loving Your Enemy Posted by Somik Raha, Aug 31 2017 Awakin Readings recently featured a timely piece: Loving Your Enemy. I found the reflections to this piece quite remarkable and wanted to start a conversation on this. In response to the question, "What does loving your enemy mean to you?", Kristin Pedemonti inspired me with her reflections, "Love your enemy to me means seeing that underneath their anger or maltreatment is often fear and under the fear is hurt. Allowing oneself to sift through the anger, fear to get to the hurt often reveals common values and shared humanity. I've been seeking to hold this space of compassion for all for quite some time and especially since our election here in the US. I am saddened to see dear friends say hateful words of their opponents rather than see the human in front of them. I have posted as much as I can about holding compassion and understanding the hurt that lies ... Read Full Story

Questions On Right Livelihood Posted by Aryae Coopersmith, Aug 25 2017 [We had a very energizing "Right Livelihood' call last weekend. Below are group's notes about the questions that were raised. As a follow-up, most everyone was keen to attend a second circle to dive deeper and some folks have initiated smaller-pod conversations as well. Looking forward to the emergence!] Right Livelihood: where we are materially sustained by doing what makes us come alive, in a way that helps alleviate suffering in the world. What did you want to be when you grow up? Colleen shared, “A friend of mine asked that and I remember looking at a book I filled out when I was in kindergarten and I wrote that I wanted to be a piano teacher. I am gaining inspiration from my young self because I believe that at some level, we know what we want. I don't play the piano now, but I think what I liked about my piano ... Read Full Story

Smiles From West Portal :) Posted by Anne Veh, Aug 25 2017 Our spirited Kindness Team gathered for another Kindness Circle with the senior class of SF Waldorf High School yesterday! Photos coming soon -- and in the meantime, one of the teachers found this spontaneous post on a neighborhood social network -- about the random acts of kindness that the students did together! :)

Knowing 20 Answers Without Asking 20 Questions Posted by Hafeez Jaffer, Aug 24 2017 [My share at last night's Awakin Circle!] Any time you're having a bad day and somebody asks you how you're feeling and you say fine -- that's a good litmus test of who is *not* a heart connection. A loved one will assess the situation and say, "No, you're not fine. Tell me what's up." My two year old and I have a game we play -- 20 questions. I'd ask her questions and she tells me when it's the right question. :) "Are you tired?" She would just shake her head. "You want your food?" "You want to be go to bed?" "You want to go outside?" And finally when I ask her the right question, she'll nod head and giggle and I'll know I've got the right question. Over time, I learned exactly what her preferred schedule was. And now, we're so deeply connected that we don't even need to talk ... Read Full Story

How Do I Love Trees? Every ... Posted by Brinda Govindan, Aug 23 2017 How do I love trees? Every single day I give thanks to at least one (usually more) tree. I marvel at their leaves, their bark, their life-giving oxygen and the carbon they take from the air to build themselves into magnificence. How do I love trees? I plant a seed here and there, trusting nature to its miracles. I gaze upwards at their soaring majesty, I touch their feet (or rather roots) in reverence. I hug them. I caress their bark. I walk among them every day, feeling humbled and grateful for their being. I give thanks to my grandfather, whose spirit I feel in every forest I walk in, for he was a protector of forests and a devotee of the science of trees.

Moving From Outcome To Intention Posted by Bela Shah, Aug 23 2017 How do I stay present when things become too stressful? This was a question posed to me by a college student that I've been mentoring as part of my current work. What follows is how a question about stress management turned into a conversation about intention and the changing nature of reality. Like many millennials, while this student is over committed with coursework and extracurricular activities, she also feels a deep sense of responsibility to help others. As a Fellow in our program, she is inspired to build a community of support for refugee students and help them through the college admissions process. In addition to preparing for the LSAT, she is also nervous about a fundraiser that she has organized for refugee students, where she's committed herself to raising $100,000. Knowing this about her, I wanted her to understand the deeper source of her stress. In our results oriented society, individuals ... Read Full Story

Connecting Heart To Heart In Service-- Karma Kitchen Posted by Ani Devlia, Aug 23 2017 It is beautiful and heart-warning to witness again and again how simply holding space for an intention in unconditional generosity can move different people to tap into the inherent well of generosity which is deep in all our hearts to serve others and give of ourselves in creative and inspiring ways. Last week's Pop-Up Karma Kitchen was a heart opening experiment which took place at London's first "Happy Cafe", The Canvas Cafe. We were warmly invited back by Ruth, the owner -- who is wonderfully experimenting with generosity with ways in which the Cafe space can be utilised as a blank Canvas to bring about positive social change -- to be part of the Canvas Cafe's Summer of Change Festival. Small Things with Great Love... A spirited team of almost 20 volunteers, (with a wait-list of 12 others) -- almost all of whom had never served or dined at Karma Kitchen ... Read Full Story

From My Heart To Yours ...  Posted by Ani Devlia, Aug 23 2017 The invitation to last week's Karma Kitchen event in London included links to RSVP to serve, or to dine, as well as suggested ways to be involved, such as making pay-it-forward gifts for the kindness basket or writing anonymous Love Letters ... One diner, who would have liked to have volunteered at the event yet had found the practicalities would not work for them, expressed their wish to serve in another way, by writing 10 Anonymous Love Letters, which they later refer to as Letters "From My Heart To Yours", to connect with and share loving kindness with another person, an act of service to hopefully uplift the heart of the recipient as well as warming and filling their own heart with gratitude and joy. In an email afterwards, they expressed all the details of the thoughtful process of aligning their head and hands with their heart, ... Read Full Story

Wood Pigeon Chopping Boards! Posted by Mita Shah, Aug 22 2017 I've recently turned my yoga classes in London into an experiment from "transaction to trust", and the feedback has been incredibly heart warming. This has got me venturing into kindness in all kinds of other arenas... Yesterday night, around 10 pm, we decided to put some wood pigeon chopping boards with a Smile Card each, on the wall in front of our house. The little note on it said, "A gift for you…please take one, :-), thank you." While we were outside last night, a group of youngsters stopped to have a chat with us and took some saying ‘God bless you’. Since it's been warm, the windows of our house have been open. As a result, we've heard many surprised passers-by who have paused to check out the chopping boards. We would often peep out of the window to see their surprised smiles and hear their laughs! Some construction men at 6am this ... Read Full Story

Sunflowers In April: Architecture For Greater Inclusion Posted by Nipun Mehta, Aug 22 2017 [Post Charlottesville events, a friend emailed me various existential questions around his social service work on inclusion. Below was my response. The images are paintings by a famous Indian painter named Raza who only draws traingles and circles. :)] We can fundamentally organize our solutions as triangles, circles, or mobius. Triangles are hierarchies that are optimized for efficiency, via transactions. They are very narrow in focus and hence brittle. Circles are optimized for many-to-many possibilities through relationships. Yet, as they mature, they create exclusion with an in-circle and out-circle. In ServiceSpace, we speak of a third option, a "mobius strip", as a more suitable metaphor -- where the outside is in at times and inside is out at times, like the conveyor belt at an airport. How, then, do we create a mobius strip? In any context, that's a very pertinent design question. ServiceSpace approach has been to be leverage technology for efficiency, leverage ... Read Full Story

Building Community In Your Neighbhorhood Posted by Brinda Govindan, Aug 17 2017 This week's Kindful Kids Newsletter theme is Building Community in Your Neighborhood and I think it's really important to model for our children how to cultivate change right in your own backyards (literally)! I wanted to share some practical ideas for bringing a sense of community to your neighborhood -- all of these ideas have been tried and tested in our neighborhood and worked wonderfully! Organize an international potluck block party to celebrate diversity (everyone brings a dish celebrating their heritage; everyone brings own utensils, chairs, congregate in a driveway or street, kids play freely in the street which you block off to cars) Take turns to host a movie night for neighborhood kids Host a gingerbread making afternoon/other baking activity for kids Support/organize a kids lemonade stand for charity (or gift economy, pay it forward!) Share produce from your garden--leave in front of your home with a "free" sign or let neighbors know they ... Read Full Story

Laddership News: Laddership News: The Nuances Of Gifts Posted by Jane Murray, Aug 15 2017 This month's 'Laddership Newsletter' was just posted online. This month the focus is on the vastness in the tiny word: "gift". Birju and Sonia bring two different lenses to what we may mean by 'gift' and what it looks like when space is held for it to emerge.