Bayarea: This Wednesday ... Yin And Yang 2.0 :) Posted by ServiceSpace , Nov 26 2018 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

Non-Violence In Action Posted by Steve Setera, Nov 26 2018 In 1996, Ann Arbor, Michigan resident Keshia Thomas was one of a group of locals who gathered to protest a Ku Klux Klan rally. The protest took place in a designated area cordoned off by a fence. But when a fellow protester shouted into a megaphone that there was a “Klansman in the crowd,” a moment of chaos ensued. The man, who was wearing a Confederate flag T-shirt and had what the BBC called an “SS tattoo,” tried to run away, but protesters immediately seized him, knocking him to the ground and beginning to beat him. In a now-famous moment captured on film by photographer Marc Brunner, 18-year-old Keshia Thomas jumped between the protesters and the “Klansman,” shielding him from their blows in spite of his racist regalia. The image went viral, 1996-style, becoming one of Life magazine’s Photographs of the Year, and the young Thomas became a sought-after voice advocating ... Read Full Story

Nuggets From Shabnam Virmani's Call Posted by Rahul Brown, Nov 25 2018 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Shabnam Virmani. Shabnam Virmani is a documentary filmmaker, former journalist, feminist, and singer of Kabir folk songs. In 2003, stung by the religious riots of Gujarat, India in 2002, she set out in quest of the 15th century mystic poet/saint Kabir, exploring how his poetry intersects with ideas of identity, religion, nationalism, harmony, and impermanence. She “ventur[ed] into diverse socio-cultural, religious and musical landscapes, meeting with people who sing, love, quote, revere and make meaning of Kabir” in their lives. In 2009, following six years of journey, Shabnam and the Kabir Project team offered to the world a set of 4 musical documentary films, and several music CDs and books of translated poetry, for reflection and healing. In her quest, the magic of Kabir’s song and poetry began to slowly seep within, and to hold up a transformational mirror to ... Read Full Story

Clair Brown At City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas Posted by Raymond Yeh, Nov 23 2018 At the last ServiceSpace community night in August, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Clair Brown. I ended up with a copy of her book that night, being very inspired and then connecting with her in various ways. We are delighted to welcome her for a guest lecture on "Buddhist Economics" at DRBU on Dec 8th ... and I hope some of you are able to make it as well!

Gratitude Is My Wake-Up Call Posted by Janessa Gans, Nov 23 2018 [On behalf of the entire Euphrates ecosystem, I share gratitude for all of you in the ServiceSpace community. Your example and modeling of these universal values inspires in far more ways than you might imagine. Below is a note I just sent yesterday.] It’s raining today! The welcome drops from heaven are pitter-pattering on my roof as I listen in exultation. So grateful that the weather is finally ending the fire threat and washing the smoke from the air. It’s the first time it has rained since early October; before that, Spring. It’s hard not to blame “Climate Change.” Growing up my dad regaled me with stories of 1972, his first year in Redding when it rained every single day of November except for one day mid-month when it merely threatened to rain. How can one not feel disheartened that, instead of respite from a historic drought, California has been battling ... Read Full Story

From Klesa To Bodhi Posted by Xiaojuan Shu, Nov 22 2018 [From Klesa to Bodhi. A Dharma Realm Buddhist University mid-term paper reflecting on how we may transform afflictions into wisdom through self-cultivation. As wise ones say, "If the mountain were smooth, you couldn't climb it."] Have you ever undergone an excruciatingly painful experience and then a great insight was revealed to you through that pain? When that excruciating pain becomes the center of one’s attention, one’s other mental distractions subside. Thus, one could look deeper into that pain, and an insight might have a chance to surface. As the Sixth Patriarch states in the Platform Sutra, “ordinary people are themselves Buddhas, and affliction itself is bodhi” (27). He assures us that ordinary beings like us all have the potential to awaken to our inherent wisdom that lies in our original Buddha nature, and afflictions are not something to avoid, but nuggets that lead to the untangling of the knots that hinder ... Read Full Story

Poem On The Joy Of Giving Posted by Iwona Khandro, Nov 21 2018 A little angel describing giving ...

Nuggets From Melanie Joy's Call Posted by Rahul Brown, Nov 21 2018 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Melanie Joy. Like many of us, Dr. Melanie Joy, a Harvard-educated psychologist, professor, and vegan activist, grew up without giving too much mind to a behavior that most human beings share: eating animals, and eating some animals rather than others. Have you ever wondered why you can eat a turkey bowl of chili, or hot dog but still love your cat or feel your heart melt at the sight of a baby lamb? This is the question that, after a serious bout of illness causing a stark turnaround in attitude toward eating meat, led Dr. Joy on a nearly two-decades-long quest for an answer. That answer culminated in a now increasingly popular term and concept: carnism. Also arose one of the main motivations of Dr. Joy’s work: raising awareness. “Simply becoming aware […] allows us to reclaim our rationality and ... Read Full Story

Celebrating Birthday :) Posted by Kishan Laddha, Nov 21 2018 Today morning, Two elderly people (who earn by ragpicking) were going for their day long job to collect rag for their earning. On asking how much would they earn, they responded 100 rupees in total (for both for whole day). Jayesh bhai invited our family FROM Gramshree to contribute 5/10 rupees and collected 200 rupees and gifted to these elderly people. They were joyous receiving not just money, but dignity of being identified and loved, so did all the family `member`s of Gramshree. They also shared that, with this offering for next two days they won't have to go for the ragpicking. JB took this opportunity to wish Anandi baa On her birthday, who seeds love and compassion! Later in Leelapur village 250+ elderly women went through eye check up and received glasses and a sari as a token of love. When they would have headache, not realising it’s because of week eyesight, they would take pill and forget. Now they won’t have to do the same. The joy on faces with glasses (through shining eyes) is a gift in itself :)

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Gratitude-The Posted by Ameeta Martin, Nov 20 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Gratitude-The Flow Of Grace. True gratitude is a recognition of nature's flow and grace. It is an understanding that everything that I have is a blessing that was given to me - my possessions, my intellect, creativity and skills. I give because I am passing on what I have been given. The universe's natural flow unlocks when my giving expresses the recognition and deep gratitude of what I have received. - Preeta

Kindness Circle In London! Posted by Ani Devlia, Nov 20 2018 Last Tuesday, on World Kindness Day, Vicky, Shamash and I had an amazing day and Kindness Circle at a local junior school near our home. We were quite blown away by the wisdom of the children! First we started the morning with a couple assemblies. Shamash and Vicky crested a few slides on what kindness means with some fun interactive quiz questions for the assembly, such as “Put your hand up if you think doing acts of kindness can help you live longer.” :) It was so interesting for all of us, including the teachers, because they backed up answers with real statistics. We shared the Unsung Hero video from KarmaTube, which was loved by all. We explored some deeper aspects of the video, too, such as the contagious nature of kindness. Afterwards, we had two smaller Kindness Circles with the older students. They seemed to pass in a blink of an eyelid -- simply ... Read Full Story

Transcript Of Awakin Call With Lobsang Phuntsok Posted by Gayathri Ramachandran, Nov 20 2018 Dear ServiceSpace family, I thought I'd write a quick note to celebrate the fact that once again, the scribe team's collective labor of love has borne fruit, and we have yet another beautiful transcript of a call, one with Lobsang Phuntsok, former Buddhist monk and founder of Jhamste Gatsal children's community, posted onto the Awakin Calls site. If any of you wish for a healthy dose of irrepressible, joyous laughter this holiday season, blended to perfection with humility and insight, I strongly recommend that you listen to this call! Here is one hilarious and wise nugget from this call that has stayed with me -- When Lobsang was asked about his personal grounding practises: "Honestly, one thing that I could say is I do put a lot of effort. Every day, I take at least an hour and a half to two hours, to sit quietly in my room, reflect, and to do ... Read Full Story

Laddership News: Laddership News: The Harvests Of Posted by Jane Murray, Nov 18 2018 This month's 'Laddership Newsletter' was just posted online. One of the guiding principles of service in our ecosystem and in Laddership is 'no agenda': we plant seeds, the ripples of small acts will emerge wherever they will - the results are not the aim....but, just occasionally its nice to be reminded of the incredible results that 'no agenda Laddership' produces :-)

Karma Kitchen Reflections From Coordinators Posted by Elizabeth Pimentel-Gopal, Nov 17 2018 Recently, a journalist wrote with some questions about Karma Kitchen. A bunch of volunteers reflected on them -- and here's a few of the many inspired reflections it spurred, from KK coordinators around the globe -- in Poland, India, Romania, Japan, Austria, Michigan, California, and beyond! What inspires you personally about volunteering at Karma Kitchen? "Karma Kitchen really appears to me as an expedient means to unfold people's inherent human qualities." [Jasky, Poland/France] "The field, that is created - when volunteers come together for an agenda-less service, when volunteers lead with love, when the focus is on the process and not the outcome, the unfolding of magic when everyone is leading with intrinsic motivation to serve.:) this field draws me to karma kitchen to volunteer. It may be physically tiring but mentally very soothing and joyous experience for me. Every Karma kitchen will create enough stories of micro-moments of transformation, deep relationships, love ... Read Full Story

Gob-Smacked By The Hearts, Heads And Hands Assembled Posted by Preeta Bansal, Nov 16 2018 On a random Saturday in November, with thick-ish smoke in the air from the wildfires raging up farther in Northern California, why would someone get up out of bed and bring oneself to a gathering with dozens of unknown people for no apparent purpose and setting forth no agenda? When one can choose to be in any number of places, why choose this one – and, at the end of the day, at 5:30PM, how and why could life feel so different as a ripple of this single choice? Such were the answer-less and awe-filling questions that closed the day, as more than 30 participants and volunteers reflected on what had transpired when they came together last Saturday, November 10, at Banyan Grove for our first day-long “Head, Hands, Heart” retreat in North America. While similar immersions have become a mainstay offering of our ecosystem near the Gandhi Ashram in India, ... Read Full Story

Noble Friendship :) Posted by Payam Salehi, Nov 16 2018 A story from West Wing, that I had shared at the last Hands, Head, Heart retreat ... "This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. "A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. "Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on "Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'"

Gratitude From Sister Lucy Posted by Lynda King, Nov 16 2018 Sister Lucy just returned back home from her whirlwind North America trip, and shared this letter ... My dear Nipun and ServiceSpace Family, Hope you are all doing well! I had a safe journey back home and as usual am back in the office with loads of work. :) Many thanks for introducing me to so many people, on my first visit to Northern California. I trust my visit will build more bridges between Maher and the rest of the world. I really don't know how to thank you all for what you have done for me. I feel humbled that you spared all your precious time to support me and our collective work of love. Being with you was such a spiritual experience, and I feel so blessed. My deep gratitude, and I look forward to meeting all of you again. With love and blessings, Sr. Lucy

Reverence For Emergence: At A Cafe In Warsaw Posted by Nipun Mehta, Nov 13 2018 My flight from Vienna had just landed. I changed clothes in a public restroom, and arrived at a café in downtown Warsaw for a public talk. Four volunteers were setting up coffee and herbal tea, partly nervous about how many will turn up, from the few hundred on Facebook who were “interested”. While I entertain thoughts of holding off jet-lag, a volunteer translator quizzes me about keywords that I’m going to repeat. At one point that evening, I look at the crowd of mostly-non-English speakers and feel this moment of genuine awe. “How in the world did this happen? How did I get here, talking compassion with my brothers and sisters in Poland?” Maybe that awe was building up. Over the previous twenty days, I had zig-zagged through a couple of continents, numerous cities, more than a dozen circles, and thousands of people. No agenda, no staff, hardly any financial currency used. ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Caring For Posted by Ameeta Martin, Nov 13 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Caring For Your Enemy. In these polarized times, there is much talk of the need for civility and understanding. But kindness goes beyond mere acceptance or understanding of the "other"; it is love and a reflection of oneness - with the power to turn the "other" into "brother". How can we tap into the infinite, transformational power of kindness and love in response to acts of hate, as shown in the stories below?- Preeta

Nuggets From Janessa Gans Wilder's Call Posted by Aryae Coopersmith, Nov 12 2018 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting the Awakin Call with Janessa Gans Wilder. Janessa Gans Wilder is a former CIA officer turned peacebuilder. She discovered in the war zones of Iraq that eliminating the “enemy” did not lead to peace – nor did it solve the more immediate problem of counterinsurgency. One month after the Fallujah incident, she had an epiphany while looking out at the Euphrates River -- she drank in the utter stillness of the river, which also flowed under the Fallujah bridge. A question formed for her: "Which one will you choose?’ … I choose the river, I declared silently, almost instinctively, seeing that it was the more powerful force." Janessa’s epiphany inspired her to create the Euphrates Institute as a grassroots peacebuilding connector between East and West, helping to transform people from seeing the “other” as a “brother.” We'll post the transcript of the call soon, ... Read Full Story