Beautiful Comment Received From A New ... Posted by Michaele Premet-Rosen, Aug 11 2018 Beautiful comment received from a new KindSpringer today: "Thank you so much! I think this is going to be a good place for me.I feel surrounded by kind ,loving people already! May you walk gently thru this world,and know its beauties all the days of your life!😄"

Long Arcs Of Time Posted by Anuj Pandey, Aug 09 2018 [At last night's Awakin Santa Clara, Somik shared this powerful story, prompted by the passage, Stop The War.] I really appreciated this passage; in particular, how skillfully the author shifted the focus from the external war to the internal war. That's where the entire juice is. What really struck me in the passage was the way he said, "The way to transcend the war is through developing understanding." I was asking myself, "Well, what is that understanding?" In my own life, I find that whenever I've been at war, the only thing that's helped me move forward is to get very clear about what's real and what's not real. I find that this whole world in our heads is full of constructs that have no reality, and yet that pretty much shapes our decision making. At the same time, our bodies are receptacles of wisdom. We are only now discovering that there are 10 million ... Read Full Story

Gift From A Two Year-Old Posted by Harsha Patel, Aug 09 2018 Last week, I was given a prompt to actively listen in one conversation each day, with friends or strangers. This is the story of a conversation I had with a tiny stranger. A young friend and I met for a picnic in Richmond, in the south west of London. It was a hot day, so we sat under the shade of a large tree, overlooking the River Thames. There were many people sitting on the grass around us. We finished our picnic, packed up and were getting ready to leave. Suddenly, I heard a little voice behind me. I turned around and I saw a small little girl with short, fine blonde hair. She was tiny – perhaps two and no more than three years old, and she was saying something and walking towards me. I missed her first few words, but then I heard “I went to the waterpark”. She was speaking to ... Read Full Story

The Gift Of Hosting A Circle Posted by Dustin Harber, Aug 09 2018 On Tuesday, a dream finally came true: after over two years of inspiration sitting in the “heartquarters” of Harshida Auntie and Dinesh Uncle’s house on so many Wednesdays, I got the privilege to host my own circle and watch the magic of holding space emerge in my own house. So many wonderful souls in Servicespace had planted seeds for this to be possible, and the cushions were no exception. Having sewn some cushions for her own circle, I was greatly laddered by Helen to create some for mine. What a learning experience it was -- I hadn’t touched a sewing machine since seventh grade! She graciously taught me how to cut out fabric and sew the cushions in her home. We had lots of fun laughing when I cut and sewed a few pieces a little too unevenly and when I dumped the contents of a filled bag on the floor ... Read Full Story

Angels Walk In Our Lives Posted by Dimple Parmar, Aug 07 2018 One year back, when we first landed in the US for my late husband Nitesh's cancer treatment, we felt like lost children, helpless and extremely incapable of making it out on our own. Nitesh's health was on a downward spiral and we had no clue as to how we would manage to live in this country with limited means and no support. But then we got connected to the Karia family (Strangers for us at that time Poonam Karia, Parag Karia), who saved us. The past few months have been the most liberating ones, in our lives. Nitesh was showered with abundant love and I was given immense amounts of support, dignity, and respect, things I felt were at times hard to come by back home. They took care of us, clothed and fed us, told us that we could defeat the disease and gave us immense satisfaction by supporting and understanding ... Read Full Story

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Connecting Posted by Ameeta Martin, Aug 07 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Connecting Through Music. We have all witnessed the power of music to heal and connect people. Music can reduce stress and anxiety and its vibrations affect each of us at a sub-atomic level. Just think of the "chills" or "vibrations" you feel when you connect to a piece of music. Music has the power to enrich the brain and human spirit and reveals our interconnectedness. -- Ameeta

Jadi Baa Posted by Suratvanti Ashwin, Aug 07 2018 I am here at Sughad since few days for Dil Darshan Retreat. And I have a lot, literally a lot to blog and put out here, sometime soon. But I have this uncontrollable feeling to share this right away, today. Short, simple and on point. While we all are (or at least I am) looking out for different ways and inspirations and stories out in the world, we had chance to know Jadi Baa (an elderly, sweetest lady working in kitchen, also mostly doing dishes apart from helping in kitchen). Today (07/08/2018), is the first birthday of Pankajbhai's daughter, Khushi. Since many days he was in general excited about going home to celebrate with her and was talking with everyone about going home for that. Two days back while Pankajbhai came and sat with us for dinner, he took out 21 Rs. from his pocket and said to us, with the greatest ... Read Full Story

Minute Of Silence With Greg In North Dakota Posted by Jerry White, Aug 05 2018 [At Gandhi 3.0, I met Greg, who kindly invited me to join speak at TedXFargo last week. At the end, he invoked all of you in gratitude, as we invited the sold-out audience of 2300 guests to engage in a minute of silence! I met some incredible people, including Greg's wife and daughter Harper! Below is the draft of my talk, not as delivered. :)] “MANOPAUSE & THE PERFORMANCE TRAP” I’m only 55, but I’ve already experienced five mid-life crises. Each of them was triggered by a desire to achieve something, to perform. (I’m having another one in front of you now.) My talk today is about “Manopause.” Actually, it’s about a man-on-pause, pondering in my 50s whether I am only as good as I perform. Manopause is different than a mid-life crisis. It’s more chronic. It feels more like an irritating detour or inconvenient passage into new state of Being, beyond doing ... Read Full Story

Finding Hope Through Circles Posted by Sachi Maniar , Aug 05 2018 Yesterday, we witnessed the power of bringing young people together in a circle and creating space for them to share their problems, own up their mistakes and come up with solutions. We are working on a case where 16 children have been alleged of leaking a SSC board exam paper on whatsapp. While the Juvenile Justice Act of India is not retributive but reformative and focuses on rehabilitation through education and vocational training for offenses committed by children under the age of 18, the Maharashtra State Board has debarred these children from giving exams until March 2020. Which means, these 15 year old students will loose out on 3 important years of education. It’s a big punishment for receiving paper on whatsapp. While we are in the process of drafting a letter to the high court, in this matter, children’s parents have been extremely tensed not just for the future of their ... Read Full Story

Intelligence Of The Heart Posted by Joserra G., Aug 03 2018 Two talks on engaging the intelligence of the heart ...

Experimenting With Hosting A Circle :) Posted by Helen Kimura, Aug 02 2018 For the last 3 years I've been attending the local Awakin Circle. I can't tell how profound it has been for me. I had never meditated in my life before Awakin Circle, and I wouldn't even call myself as spiritual. But now, everything is different. I'm just deeply, deeply grateful for the circles, for the loving energy that seems to be created effortlessly each and every week, and for everyone to unconditionally hold space for people like me to 'wake up' and flourish. Although it's taken me a while to figure out some things, the anchoring affect of meditation is undeniable and the ongoing internal growth as a result has propelled me to let go of many attachments. On Monday, feel particularly inspired, I decided to do someone I've never done before -- host a circle on my own! My husband and kids were out, I got my parents to take care ... Read Full Story

Note To Self: Sitting In The Classroom As A Novice Posted by Brinda Govindan, Aug 02 2018 This summer, I signed up for a computer coding workshop, which was being offered by colleagues at my university. I was a little hesitant, having come of age pre-internet, and not having programed anything in about 3 decades! But with the encouragement of colleagues, and feeling excited about exploring something totally out of my comfort zone, I showed up ready to learn and work hard. The first day of the workshop was amazing---we were given ample time to learn the concepts and by the afternoon we were asking our own questions and analyzing data using the tools we had learned. It was exhilarating and empowering and I felt so excited that after the class was over I went home and continued my explorations, and I even emailed the instructor to share that with her! A week later we had another workshop with a different instructor. It was a totally different experience. I came ... Read Full Story

Moved By Love: All We Need Is Love Posted by Shaalini Srinivasan, Aug 02 2018 Latest issue of 'Moved By Love' newsletter is themed All We Need Is Love. "Reason is powerless in the expression of Love," said Rumi and this month's newsletter brings you stories rooted in love. A tribute to Dada Vaswani's 100 years of emanation of love, Somik's reflection on a single meal of love feeding his soul and another memorable retreat where love is the secret ingredient.

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Serving Posted by Ameeta Martin, Jul 31 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Serving Without Fixing. We often offer kindness as a way of "helping" someone. However, it's important to explore our intention behind our kind gesture of "helping". Are we truly trying to "serve" that person or is our help coming from a place of judgment, sense of inequality, and a desire to "fix". Dr. Ramen explores this intention further in our final article below. - Ameeta

Inspiring Link Posted by Ana Valdes, Jul 31 2018 Entheos Retreat, in Manila. Kindness activity and silence.

Our First Awakin Circle In Warsaw! Posted by Iwona Khandro, Jul 31 2018 [We started hosting Awakin Circles in April, and we are happily continuing. Next month it will already be our 5th Awakin Circle! It so enriching, so nourishing, so heart warming and softening, opening and connecting ... we feel blessed to be the hosts! Since English isn't our first language, it took some time to share, but below is the story of our first Awakin Circle. Thank you, all, for the constant inspiration.] Awakin Circle in Warsaw, 21st of March 2018, Warsaw, Poland Five volunteers were eagerly looking forward to their first Awakin Circle, an evening of meditation and community. Guests have been invited and preparations were going on until the last moment, when we all met at a Buddhist center (KDC Warsaw). Girls set up the table ahead of time: vegan sweets made from coconut and millet, mango mousse, carrot cake, fruits, holy basil rose tea. Everything made with loving hearts in ... Read Full Story

Awakin RAK - July 2018 Posted by Pooja Zaveri, Jul 31 2018 The July 2018 session was on a lovely Thursday evening and began with one hour of silence. We had gathered all to live in the silence of time and it just felt so relaxing after being at a buzy day at office. This month on 12 July, 2018, we lost a true legend, Dada Vaswani and remembering one of his famous quotes " People need to know that they are not alone, that they have not been abandoned; but that there is One Who loves them for what they are, Who cares about them truly enlightens us that we should not believe that we are alone but rather surrounded with people who truly loves and cares for us. We need to learn on how to give and be compassionate which will make our sould enlighten from within. We had our reflections on this beautiful passage which was Communication As ... Read Full Story

Awakin RAK - June 2018 Posted by Pooja Zaveri, Jul 31 2018 In June 2018, We began our session on the 29th of the month which was a Friday and it was a blissful evening with lots of reflections on the passage and lots of discussions that followed. Being 6 months already into this awakin journey, I felt so connected with my inner self and so did all the participants that we had no words to express how thankful we all were to the wonderful hosts and Nipun for showing us this. We had our one hour of silence, reflections on the passage Action Without Desire Of Outcomes by Vinoba Bhave where it stated how one can act without having any desire of the outcome which is tough to follow, doing selfless karma and not worrying about the outcomes. The words written in the passage "The main product of work is work itself" really inspired us and made us realize that we need to strive to work only better. ​​​​​ This was then followed by a delicious meal. A big thank you to the wonderful hosts.

Inspiring Link Posted by Sanjeev Verma, Jul 30 2018 To Focus On Students' Emotional Well-Being, India Tries 'Happiness Classes' : NPR This month, Delhi students saw a new course added to their traditionally rigid curriculum. To confront academic pressures linked to India's high suicide rate, public schools are teaching mindfulness.

Defining Radical Generosity Posted by Kendrick Bradley, Jul 30 2018 Recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on how I would define "radical generosity". This is what came up: Radical generosity (siddhi level): Generosity that comes from someone whose heart is so full of love that they simply don't know anything that isn't love. They see know no separation from themselves and another. He who is radically generous knows that when he gives to another he is simply giving to himself and is therefore constantly giving to others as an expression of how much loves himself. Radical generosity (gift level): Giving that is unprompted as one feels an overflowing of energy and decides to share that with others. It is the threshold level of energy in which one no longer feels a need to direct their energy towards self-preservation/fulfillment and can redirects awareness towards the service of others. It is the dawning awareness that we aren't ‘alone in a selfish world’ and ... Read Full Story