KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: "Seeing" Posted by Ameeta Martin, Aug 27 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: "Seeing" Souls. Our souls ache to be seen. Regardless of our age, gender, race or sexual orientation, we need to be able to see and be seen on the inside, not just as we're socially or physically embodied. If we and others don't access or shine light on our souls, our bodies rebel and announce our untended souls' existence through disease. Let's all look beyond the surface to heal ourselves and others. - Ameeta

Inspiring Link Posted by Andy Smallman, Aug 24 2019 Just finished moderating Michelle Kinder's Awakin Call. What a great experience and joy it was for me to hear her practical suggestions for socially conscious leadership and ways parents and educators can prioritize the social-emotional growth of children!

Michelle Kinder: Conscious Leadership From The Inside Posted by Preeta Bansal, Aug 21 2019 This week's Awakin Call guest: 'Michelle Kinder: Conscious Leadership From The Inside OutReflection questions: Our guest this week has come to believe that "No matter how wonderful a program is, if it is done as a bestowing – a certain group of people making decisions for another group – that is never going to bridge the divide in our city.” Does your work fit within this paradigm of "bestowing," and how do you plant seeds for a deeper mindset or consciousness shift to address underlying structural issues?

Happiness & Success From A 17-Year-Old Posted by Vishesh Gupta, Aug 20 2019 At the start of the summer, 17-year-old Arnav asked how he could be of service. We didn't plan to do a summer internship, but after reading his application essay and his core value on integrity, it was too hard not to be moved to explore how we could ripple more smiles into the world together! Over the last couple months, he interviewed everyday heroes and love warriors about their service journeys. He spent the summer experimenting with daily acts of kindness, daily stillness through meditation (or trying to :)), serving virtually with projects like KarmaTube, and diving into research on intrinsic motivations, compassion, wisdom, and happiness. On top of that, he got up at odd hours on weekends and holidays to spread smiles at local events -- like a unique conference and gardening at Banyan Grove! All this, too, while working an engineering camp job, completing a hackathon, hosting out-of-town-family, and leading ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Holy Moments Posted by Ameeta Martin, Aug 20 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Holy Moments. Moments of inspiration and meaning surround us every day, yet do we actually process, reflect or be in awe of them? We witness beautiful sunrises and touching moments daily but tend to dwell more on the negative moments. Awe, or the sense of wonder or reverence, can transform every moment into a "holy moment", and in the process transform and purify both beholder and beheld. - Ameeta

Grandma Chronicles Aka Elder Wisdom ~ John: ... Posted by Mia Tagano, Aug 19 2019 Grandma Chronicles aka Elder Wisdom ~ John: How did you become such a happy person? Obaachan: I am happy because I don't have much time before I die. Me: You mean, so why be sad? (as in- no time for sadness) Obaachan: Yes. ... I don't hate no one. NO ONE. I have no hate. I have good friends. You are my good friends. I have good children too - Irene, Gracie, Joann, Larry and Bobby. Me: Gracie is my mom :) Obaachan: Really? Me: I'm your grand-daughter :) Obaachan: You are?! Oh, how nice! Me: Would you like to call Gracie? Obaachan: Okay! Me: Hi Mom! John: Hi Grace! Obaachan: Gracie! Where are you? Come and visit! Grace: I will soon :) Obaachan: Be good okay? Be nice to people, forever okay? Grace: Okay, I will. Forever :) Mia: Okay, Mom, we love you! John: Love you, Grace! Obaachan: We looooove you! We won't forget you. Grace: I love you all too :) There was more but this was the heart of the conversation - "The heart of the matter" -#lovematters ðŸ’ž    

Nuggets From Kern Beare's Call Posted by Chris Johnnidis, Aug 18 2019 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Kern Beare. Kern Beare is the founder of Pop the Bubble, a personal initiative born in the wake of the 2016 election to help heal our national divide. “Tucked inside my cozy Silicon Valley ‘bubble,’ I'd become disconnected, oblivious to the experiences of millions of my fellow citizens,” Kern said. So with his 23-year-old son, Kern mapped out a cross-country route to Washington D.C. to talk with people of different backgrounds. Following their one-month, cross-country “conversation road trip”, they gained vital insights around our relationships with one another, and the need to develop radical new skills to heal our nation. With these learnings in mind, Kern created a free, half-day workshop to help participants gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics that turn conversations into conflicts, and to look "beyond" our personal story to access more easily and deeply our ... Read Full Story

3937007 Steps Posted by Joao Perre, Aug 17 2019 Dear Pilgrims*, My phone is smart, very smart. Today while enjoying my morning stroll, I received a notification telling me that I had achieved 3000km. According to the “intelligence” not so artificial inside my mobile, it equals to almost four million steps. Good that I was not counting them, I thought. Such a moment triggered in my mind curiosity and the need for some reflection. Was that a lot? Could I have done more? How did this distance contribute to my development as a person? And to the people, I walked with? What would I choose as highlights from the first eight months of the year? It is more comfortable to walk than to answer these questions inside my head. But worth it to give it a try. Was that a lot? No, not really! It sounds endless, but according to an old Irish proverb, Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the ... Read Full Story

P.K. Mehta In Memoriam (1930 - 2019) Posted by Rahul Brown, Aug 15 2019 [P.K. Mehta has been a friend of the Servicespace ecosystem from its very beginning, even playing a key role in arranging for Nipun's first public talk. Yet the debt of gratitude we owe him is much greater due to his professional contributions. If you've ever been on a bridge or tall building during an earthquake, chances are you are alive because of Kumar uncle-- a fact I myself learned at his funeral. His groundbreaking innovations in his field remain the worldwide gold standard high performance, low emissions concrete, with his textbook translated into many languages and still in use decades after its publication. Much like his material contributions provided a sort of basic substrate that permeates all our lives, his blessings and quiet generosity provided another sort of basic substrate that allowed tremendous good work to happen in the world, and continue for decades to come. He passed away last ... Read Full Story

Nuggets From Mandar Apte's Call Posted by Esha K, Aug 14 2019 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Mandar Apte. Mandar Apte is a former corporate leader and a chemical engineer who is bridging the field of meditation to promote non-violence in the world. He has taught meditation to thousands of people including police officers, victims of violence, returning veterans, inner city youth, corporate employees and educators. It is remarkable that he made this transformation from being a chemical engineer to being a filmmaker. In 2016, he started this remarkable project called From India With Love which brings victims of violence in the United States to travel to India to explore the ancient message of non-violence in the world. He produced a documentary film of the same name and he has been screening that film along with various non-violence boot camps that he engages in with the Los Angeles Police Department. He's also been leading these boot camps ... Read Full Story

Kern Beare: Learning To Live Together Posted by Chris Johnnidis, Aug 14 2019 This week's Awakin Call guest: 'Kern Beare: Learning To Live Together Reflection questions: How has a "difficult conversation" helped to pop your bubble and help you see across difference? What were the characteristics of a successful "difficult conversation"?

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Back To Posted by Ameeta Martin, Aug 13 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Back To School Kindness. August is back-to-school time for many. As a new beginning and a reset of sorts, it can be more than about just new clothes and school supplies. We can encourage children to be aware of how others are feeling, and to act with loving, intentional kindness whenever possible. And "it's always possible" (the Dalai Lama). Children hold the key to the change. Let's all help. - Jane

London Update: Aug/Sept 2019 Posted by Trishna Shah, Aug 12 2019 Aug/Sept 2019 - London Update You're invited to join Awakin Circles in Brighton and Shoreditch this month and all other locations will resume from September. In this update, we offer you inspiring articles, interviews, blog posts and more to nourish your journey. Awakin Circles: Brighton, Shoreditch, Harrow, Pimlico and Mill Hill Each month, you're invited to join Awakin Circles at locations around London, where we meditate for the first hour, engage in a circle of sharing based on a reading, and conclude with a home-cooked vegetarian dinner together. Wednesday, Aug 14th at 7:15pm (Brighton) (RSVP link) Thursday, Aug 22nd at 7:00pm (Shoreditch, Central London) Wednesday, Sept 11th at 7:00pm (Harrow, Northwest London) Wednesday, Sept 18th at 7:00pm (Pimlico, Central London) Thursday, Sept 26th at 7:00pm (Mill Hill, North London) To RSVP, visit Awakin London and use the drop-down box in the top right corner to select a date/location. Seeds of Inspiration ... Read Full Story

The Healing Dance Posted by Bhumika Patel, Aug 12 2019 She danced into the room, the sunlight danced across the water, the words danced on the page. Historically, dance has been used to rid the poisons of body, both mental and physical. Physician Carl Hammerschlag, describing his time among the indigenous peoples of the American South West, recounts that the second question he was asked by a Pueblo elder, following “Where did you learn how to heal?” was “Do you know how to dance?” He is then told, “You must be able to dance if you are to heal people.” Dance is sense-making. Lamothe said, “As long as humans walk the earth, dancing remains the practice by which humans acquire the eco-kinetic knowledge needed in order to participate consciously in creating a culture that honours, abides by, and upholds the movement of the earth in and around us. Last month the theme for HeArt circle was body awareness through dance movement. Roots ... Read Full Story

Nuggets From Sister Marilyn Lacey's Call Posted by LuAnn Cooley, Aug 10 2019 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Sister Marilyn Lacey. Sister Marilyn Lacey is the founder and director of Mercy Beyond Borders, a non-profit that partners with displaced women and children overseas to alleviate their poverty. For 25 years, she has worked with refugees in the U.S., Africa, and Southeast Asia, and spent time in war-ravaged places, including the Lao-Thai border, Sudanese and Somali camps in Kenya, and with internally displaced persons in the Eastern Equatorial region of Sudan. She has dedicated her life to making the world a more welcoming place for persons forced to leave their homelands because of war or persecution. In 2001, Lacey was honored by the Dalai Lama as an "Unsung Hero of Compassion” for her life of service with refugees. “I didn’t set out to be a leader,” Sister Marilyn says. “I just saw what needed doing and I did it. ... Read Full Story

Maitri Warriors @ Surat:) Posted by Trupti Pandya, Aug 10 2019 “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”- M.K.Gandhi One day while Angulimala was on his way to the village to ask for alms, he saw a pregnant lady in a lot of labor pain. The condition was either the child or the mother might not survive. Angulimala’s heart was moved after looking at the suffering, so he went to Buddha and asked what he can do to support them? With a compassionate smile, Buddha asked him to retrospect all the good that he has done in this lifetime and share the merits of it. Angulimala took a few moments to retrospect his past life and realized that he has only afflicted pain and has done no good to humanity. When Angulimala shared this with ... Read Full Story

The Boiling River Posted by Somik Raha, Aug 08 2019 This is a recent radio program I heard about The Boiling River. The story is of an American geoscientist with Peruvian roots, Andres Ruzo. He heard from his grandfather incredible stories about a "boiling river." When he became a geoscientist, he wanted to find it and everyone believed it to be a myth. He persisted, and went to find it with the help of a shaman. He found that he was getting terrible insect bites while no one else in his group was being targeted in that way. The shaman said, "Oh yes, the jungle is protecting itself against you. It's because of the knowledge you bring -- people with that knowledge have hurt the jungle in the past." He joined the shaman in a ceremony to connect with the jungle in a different way. The next day, he had no insect bites! He ended up finding the boiling river and it ... Read Full Story

Buddha Root Farm And Understanding Mahayana Buddhism Posted by Birju Pandya, Aug 07 2019 "You have stumbled upon the 5 schools of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, in the lineage of Master Hua." After the first day of retreat, where I was constantly asking questions, Rev Heng Sure said this to me as a precursor to lots more sharing in the coming days. These were very meaningful days in my life. I recently returned from my first meditation retreat that was not in the SN Goenka tradition. Lots of learnings from this and I thought it would support me to process through writing. The retreat was in the tradition of Rev Heng Sure, who so many have been inspired by in our community. The retreat was their yearly 'Buddha Root Farm' retreat in rural Oregon (the picture above is the path to our campsite). Several folks in our ecosystem have attended before (including my partner!) but it was my first time. Master Hua lecturing in 1975 Master Hua ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: One Small Posted by Ameeta Martin, Aug 06 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: One Small Difference. It's easy to feel discouraged when the breadth of our problems seems overwhelming. After all, how much can one person actually do to combat violence or global climate change? But individual change can collectively make huge differences. We can each plant a tree and avoid plastic use. Even minor shifts in our diets can impact carbon emissions. Let's each start with one small change. - Ameeta

Moved By Love: Walking Together Posted by Shaalini Srinivasan, Aug 05 2019 Latest issue of 'Moved By Love' newsletter is themed Walking Together. Every moment is an opportunity to connect with each other; to walk together on this journey of life. This month, we share stories of many journeys that intersect, touch, influence and then ripple out. As Ram Dass said, ''We are all just walking each other home.'' Home to our wholeness; home to our interbeingness.