Jan 2018: London Gatherings & Local Inspiration Posted by Trishna Shah, Jan 18 2019 January 2018 - London Gatherings It was a joy to kick-off the New Year with many of you at our second Awakin Movie Circle with Phil Borges and his incredibly insightful documentary, CRAZYWISE, which provided us with an in-depth lens into the lives of people who suffer from severe mental illnesses. We look forward to seeing you at upcoming Awakin Circles this month. Awakin Circles: Shoreditch, Brighton, 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. Weds, Jan 16th at 7:15pm (Brighton - New Location) RSVP Here Fri, Jan 25th at 7pm (Shoreditch, Central London) Weds, Jan 30th at 7pm (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. Inspiration from the London ... Read Full Story

Highlights From Compassion In Education Call! Posted by Jane Murray, Jan 17 2019 What a privilege to have had the opportunity to be on the current Education Laddership Circle's breakout call on Sunday with compassion educator and researcher, Timothy Harrison, talking about the science of compassion. That sentence can seem like an oxymoron at first hearing, but Tim was able to explain with great warmth and heart, why those two words must accompany each other as we evolve through these interesting times we live in. The conversation opened with a quick share from the participants on what compassion means in their world, so many reflections: moments in wholeness, a mother’s love, the future...all sorts of perspectives. These reminded Tim of a story from the Buddha, when asked why compassion was important when there are so many other qualities to cultivate. The Buddha replied that in the same way that an elephant’s footprint is so large, that it can contain the footprints of every other animal, ... Read Full Story

Emergence Of Awakin Movie Circles In London Posted by Trishna Shah, Jan 16 2019 In recent years, I've thought about hosting an inspiring movie circle to engage with and learn from each other through a different medium, which can offer new ways to relate and bring up unique insights. In the spring of 2018, when Anne and Rajesh were invited to screen their labour-of-love documentary, Teach Me To Be WILD, at a resonant film festival in England later that year in November, their visit offered us the perfect catalyst to experiment with hosting our first Awakin Movie Circle in London! Awakin Movie Circle in Pimlico & Community Screening at the Museum of Happiness When a few of us had seen the first cut of Teach Me To Be WILD at a ServiceSpace retreat in 2016, we encouraged Anne and Rajesh to bring the film on a journey across the pond to London whenever it was in the flow for them and we were so grateful to ... Read Full Story

Capra Course Alumni Gathering At Banyan Grove Posted by Xiaojuan Shu, Jan 15 2019 This past Saturday, our previous Awakin Call guest, Fritjof Capra, an Austrian-born American physicist and systems theorist, returned to Banyan Grove, where he spent one heartwarming and inspiring evening with the ServiceSpace community in summer. This time he came with a group of systems thinkers, who are Capra Course alumni, to share and discuss their individual and collective passion in waking the world up from fragmentary worldview to systems view of life. Fritjof spoke in 1984, “For the modern physicist, the material world is no longer a mechanic system made of separate objects, but rather appears as a complex web of relationships….” He has devoted his life to transforming the fragmented scientific worldview and introducing systems thinking to all aspects of life since his first book The Tao of Physics published in 1975. Knowing deeply the significance of taking children out to nature or school gardens, in 1995, Capra co-founded ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Give In To Posted by Ameeta Martin, Jan 15 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Give In To Giving. Every spiritual tradition teaches us to be kind and generous, encouraging us that a spiritual life is made possible with a generous heart. According to an East African proverb, "you can share even if you have little." The article below looks at teachings about the spiritual practice of generosity from various spiritual traditions. Generosity is and always has been a core human value. - Ameeta

The Sacredness Of Art In Schools... Posted by Poonam Singh, Jan 14 2019 For 3 hours every week, students in my daughter's public elementary school leave their homeroom classroom to be with students across all grade levels and explore different art themes in small groups. They call this time Arts Focus. Themes include kinetic art, weaving, sewing, photography, drawing, sewing, painting, paper, global beats, 3D art, art and tech among other themes. The whole program is taught by parent volunteers and some themes stay the same and some change every year. Parents commit to teaching a course based on previous curriculum and their particular passions and skill levels. Every year the themes change depending on parents skills and passions. This year there was a parent who is a playwright, so they added a performance and art class. This focus on art keeps the parents and students alive, while teachers get a chance to plan. There is a buzz in the air when arts focus ... Read Full Story

Nuggets From Sally Mahé 's Call Posted by Bela Shah, Jan 13 2019 Yesterday we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Sally Mahé . Sally Mahé is a founding staff member for United Religions Initiative (URI), a global grassroots interfaith network dedicated to promoting enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, ending religiously motivated violence, and creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings. Sally came to this work from the lens of social justice and democracy building. While teaching in an inner-city high school, her passion for teaching civics and democracy was sparked. She soon saw that the spark inside her students – and in all of us – had something to do with the Divine, and so obtained a master's degree in theology and spiritual counseling. She came across the term "spiritual democracy" and felt a bolt of lightning run through her. Her passions for democracy and spirituality – and for nurturing the “deeper values of democracy” ... Read Full Story

Thich Nhat Hanh On Brahma Viharas And Roots Posted by Smita Navare, Jan 13 2019 The following is a description of the Buddha’s teachings on the four qualities of love, from the first chapter of Teachings on Love, written by Thich Nhat Hanh … “Happiness is only possible with true love. True love has the power to heal and transform the situation around us and bring a deep meaning to our lives. There are people who understand the nature of true love and how to generate and nurture it. The teachings on love given by the Buddha are clear, scientific, and applicable. Every one of us can benefit from these teachings. During the lifetime of the Buddha, those of the Brahmanic faith prayed that after death they would go to Heaven to dwell eternally with Brahma, the universal God. One day a Brahman man asked the Buddha, “What can I do to be sure that I will be with Brahma after I die?” and the Buddha replied, ... Read Full Story

Give, In Order To Get Back Posted by Jyoti , Jan 10 2019 During the recent Christmas holidays, I decided to write up my experience of everyday kindness I experienced earlier in the fall term while at work, as a professor at a Catholic Liberal Arts College. It was an act of appreciation for the joys my job brings into my life and a way to amplify what I value by bringing attention to it. I value community and like the way Nipun Bhai articulates it as 'We before Me' and encourages small acts of kindness. I shared the note with my colleague, Brother Charles, a history professor, and director of the Cummings Institute. Bishop Cummings served Oakland for 25 years and this institute named after him is one of the ways the college promotes dialog between faith and reason. Brother Charles said he would share my note with the editorial team for the Institute blog to possibly see if might be for ... Read Full Story

Bayarea: New Story Retreat (+ Global Home) Posted by ServiceSpace , Jan 09 2019 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

One Year After Gandhi 3.0 Posted by Ana Valdes, Jan 09 2019 Mabuhay! Wishing you life fullness. Has it only been a year since Gandhi 3.0 in Ahmedabad? I cannot write about the unique changes without being lost in the many beautiful expressions that confront my heart. Gandhi 3.0 introduced me to ServiceSpace and Moved by Love. The change since then is indescribable. I heard ServiceSpace is a process. It feels more like a drug, a panacea, with intermittent doses through the year. The “S” in ServiceSpace is “Source”, the shift since Gandhi 3.0 is inside. Stories: “Cultivating Kindness ” After I showed our sisters in prison the pictures of the environment in Banyan Grove, they wanted to do the same, to create the same kindness ambiance in prison. We provided them string, markers, and colored card stock paper, and they hung more than 200 love signs around their dormitories. Some of them sleep on the floor due to overcrowding. It became so popular that the hearts were even ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Craving Posted by Ameeta Martin, Jan 08 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Craving Kindness. The world seems to be craving a bit more kindness. A poem titled "Kindness" by American poet Naomi Shihab Nye was the most popular work on poets.org this year. This moving poem, featured in the article below, describes how "desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness." We can all help to narrow this desolate landscape with one kind act at a time. - Ameeta

Gandhian Sculptor Kanti Kaka- Life Is A Game Posted by Kishan Laddha, Jan 08 2019 Kanti Patel, world-renowned Gandhian sculptor, passed away today. He is most known for the bronze statue of Gandhi in Union Square, New York -- but his spirit touched so many of us. "Do you fear death?" Jayeshbhai once asked him. And his response was, "Death is my noble friend." Then, he quoted Sankaracharya: " अङ्गं गलितं पलितं मुण्डं दशनविहीनं जातं तुण्डम् । वृद्धो याति गृहीत्वा दण्डं तदपि न मुञ्चत्याशापिण्डम् ॥ (Rough translation: If we don't mature into the wisdom of letting go, old age becomes a great burden. Then, only death can save us. Whenever I close my eyes, however, I see my dear friend death.") More than 70 years back, Kanti Dada spent few days with Gandhi-ji and made a live sketch of him. As he was working on the sketch, Gandhi-ji was holding a meeting in Wardha ashram with national leaders, and Kanti-Dada muttered that presence of so many people was ... Read Full Story

Two Shifts Inspired By The Ecosystem Posted by Bonnie Rose, Jan 07 2019 As 2019 begins, I have been reflecting on some of the things that have emerged for me over the year. Here a couple of the many of shifts that came to mind, inspired by this ecosystem... Greater confidence in the small and ridiculous. During our Laddeship Circle, Sehr asked me to send her son Danyal pictures of my animals. This evolved into a collection from friends across the ecosystem and beyond, as a book of animal pictures and spiritual poetry. It was ridiculous – small, yet time consuming, costly, a bit like herding cats to get everything lined up. But after sending 50 or so books all over the world, I gave one to my UPS helper, a Sikh gentleman from New Delhi. The look on his face, when he saw the cover, a Water Buffalo photographed by another circle participant, was priceless. “I remember these from my childhood,” he said. And then, ... Read Full Story

Note From A Grateful Author :) Posted by Trishna Shah, Jan 07 2019 We recently received this very sweet note of gratitude in response to the Top 10 Kindful Kids of 2018, and what a surprise to see that it's from the author of one of the articles who is also a Kindful Kids subscriber! So sweet to be reminded that we have so many beautiful people like Anne who are part of this Kindful Kids community, which is committed to inspiring families to be the change they wish to see. Deep gratitude to our team of volunteer editors, Meghna, Shari, Brinda and Kinjal, who continue to share inspiration from this lens every week! Subject: "Grateful Parenting" Message: Dear Shari, Meghna, Kinjal, Brinda and Trishna, Thank you so much!! First, thank you for the wonderful weekly newsletter. I look forward to it each Saturday and list it as one of the recommended resources in my website, "Insights For Parents." I was stunned (and delighted… and grateful) to discover that ... Read Full Story

Conversation: Charles Eisenstein And Nipun Mehta Posted by Joserra G., Jan 05 2019 I'm part of an online course called 'Living in the Gift' with Charles Eisenstein, and one of the first sessions was with Nipun Mehta. :) It ended up being quite popular. Shared below with permission. :) Charles: This conversation was filmed at Nipun’s home in Berkeley, California, but we are just using the audio since the filming conditions were not ideal. Nipun is the founder of Service Space and, in my eyes, the godfather of the “random acts of kindness movement.” Although he would never say it, he is a man who walks his talk. I encourage you simply to take in his stories, as well as the content and tenor of our conversation, and let them work on you. Session 2.1: Conversation with Nipun Mehta Session 2.2: Follow-up to Conversation with Nipun Mehta Among the numerous follow-up stories, here was a sweet one by Jase McDonald ... Two evenings ago, I was cycling ... Read Full Story

Social Capital -- In Standardized Tests?! Posted by Melissa Stephens, Jan 04 2019 A former student just sent me this text message: I'm studying for my first of two standardized tests tomorrow and this popped up, and I remember talking about it last year in class: She circled “Social Capital," which is one of many forms of capital as described by amazing ServiceSpace souls! I teach in an affluent neighborhood, and in our Service Innovation class, we spend a full week on the topic of "Different Forms of Capital" -- to get them away from placing such a high value on money, or "financial capital". :) I love that she remembered this!! How cool to see "social capital" and research on "Close Relationships in the 21st Century" mentioned in something as mainstream as an SAT-like book! :)

Terry Patten, A ServiceSpace Friend, Visionary ... Posted by Preeta Bansal, Jan 04 2019 Terry Patten, a ServiceSpace friend, visionary thought leader who was a recent guest on a powerful Awakin call, and author of A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries, will be offering a free public webinar "A Call for Yin Leadership" on January 9th at 12 Noon PT / 3 PM ET. In the webinar, he will announce and invite people to a yearlong experience into "new, more powerful, cooperative ways of being human" and "to learn and to build a whole new set of capacities" in order to "blossom as social artists." If you are interested in tapping into Terry's integral wisdom via the webinar, please sign up here.

10 Memorable Awakin Calls Of 2018 Posted by Gayathri Ramachandran, Jan 01 2019 As this year winds to a close, volunteers suggested that it might be fun for me to do a post with excerpts/nuggets from 10 memorable Awakin Calls of this past year. The idea resonated, so here is my list. Needless to say, these 10 were rather difficult to choose since there is something resonant or meaningful in almost every call we’ve had. And as all members of the Awakin Calls scribe and editing team can attest -- as we spend a lot of time soaking in these calls, even the calls that first seem to be at the outer limits of our sphere of interest unveil some talisman, that we then hold on to, for nourishment. So with that caveat in place (and the invitation to please spend some time at the site browsing randomly till something calls to you) -- here is a list, from my lens :) Sarah Peyton: The ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Starting With Posted by Ameeta Martin, Jan 01 2019 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Starting With Reflecting. We first had a glimpse of Earth from space 50 years ago. We had to travel far to finally be able to turn the camera back to see and reflect on our own image. This first humbling image of our blue marble revealed how small we were in depthless black space. There are no borders seen from space - just our fragile shared home. Let's start 2019 by reflecting on our common home and humanity. - Ameeta