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Yuka Saionji: Story From A Hiroshima Pilgrimage On a reunion call during the recent Interfaith Compassion Challenge, Yuka Saionji Matsuura joined us to share stories of hope and forgiveness from her pilgrimage to Hiroshima. Yuka is the Deputy Chairperson of Byakko Shinko Kai, a spiritual organization dedicated to world peace and raising the consciousness of humanity During her deeply moving talk, she shared, "We believe everyone is a divine spark, and to see it from that perspective, doing something so against your divine spark, doing something so apart from the truth of who you are, causes so much pain and so much struggle." Watch her full remarks here:
You can also watch a brief video about the Symphony of Peace Prayers and watch as Yuka leads a peace prayer from her tradition. |
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Living into All the Honey: Embracing Grief and Joy "How the churning of opposite feelings weaves through us like an insistant breeze leads us wordlessly deeper back into ourselves ..." In a moving video, poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer reads from her new collection of poetry All the Honey. Watch below. |
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Inner Green Deal Podcast: Transforming Act of Giving
Tamsin: "... acts of surprise kindness are happening all the time. They just don't get the airplay. But they are out there." Nipun: "To me, this is the solution to it. What should I do? Do a small act of kindness. And it sounds so small, but it challenges your whole existence ... and I think if you try it, it opens up a whole new field." Listen to the full conversation here. |
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Why do we do it? Why do we nag and criticize ourselves? Why do we launch scud missiles of negative words and thoughts against our self-images? Perfectionism is one reason. We expect ourselves to be perfect, and when we aren’t, we shame ourselves. We dig trenches of negativity that tell us we’re bad. Flawed. Broken. We commit treason against our inherent goodness. Driving ourselves to achieve, to be good, and to become better is a good thing. It allows us to set and reach goals, to pursue our dreams, and to make the world a better place. But that drive can become imbalanced when ... [Read more] Seed questions for reflection: How do we relate to the notion that affirming and accepting ourselves purposely lowers the unattainable bar of perfectionism? Can you share a personal story of a time you were able to love yourself unconditionally? What helps you accept the good, messy and teachable parts of you? |
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At Forum Alpbach at the end of August, Nipun shared stories of a sparrow -- and offered heart pins to the crowd. One among them was Jojo. When he was asked by his club to share his experience at Alpbach, he invited students from around the world to come together in this beautiful way!
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Rachelle recently joined us for an Awakin Call where she led us through a meditation, shared some of her music, and so much more. You can watch the call here - and catch a special performance she shared during a recent Interfaith Compassion Pod call. |
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Love is the highest form of acceptance. Judgment is the mechanics of non-acceptance. Some may say that without “good judgment” there would be no “discriminating wisdom” but discriminating wisdom is the process of weeding out the causes of suffering and choosing love, “the greatest good”. The mind ... [Read more] Seed questions for reflection: How do you relate to the notion that it is the momentary absence of desire that gives rise to the state of satisfaction? Can you share a personal story of a time you met desire with compassion and a satisfaction in momentary beauty? What helps you weed out the causes of suffering and choose love instead? |
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Sister Marilyn Lacey: Stirring Stories of Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey, founder of Mercy Beyond Borders, has spent decades working with refugees in Haiti and Sudan. As part of this work, she has created opportunities for at-risk women and girls to access education and leadership training. Learn more about these heartful efforts here. During a recent Interfaith Compassion call, Sister Marilyn shared four first-hand stories of deep compassion. Watch the video here.
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Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business As a mother with young children, Betye Saar couldn't walk in protests. Instead, she began creating art as a weapon against issues such as racism and sexism. Check out this brief inspiring video about her process - including her integration of found objects. |
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She started remembering the coyotes, rabbits, deer, birds, a great pine tree, and amazing sunset orange poppies. She remembered playing with friends on a trampoline, and neighbors who lived next to the lot who brought grandkids and the best baked goods she had ever had. Turns out the lot wasn’t so empty after all. She said, “The only problem is, I didn’t realize just how much I enjoyed it until it was slowly being taken away. I think that’s the same with everything in life. Sometimes, you might not realize just how much you appreciate something until it’s no longer present.” [Read more ...] |
The Inner Green Deal podcast is a commercial free offering that features guests in conversation about the human dimension of sustainability. On a recent episode, podcast host Tamsin and ServiceSpace founder Nipun Mehta talk about the transformative act of kindness.
