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LATEST NEWS
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Songs In The Spirit of Interfaith Compassion
Grammy-winning folk singer, Carrie Newcomer, sang her soulful song "I believe," on the daily wonders we might encounter. (As a bonus, she also shared 'Stones in the River,' singing, "I can live divided or bent / Conspire in my own diminishment / Or believe in the better world I've dreamt / That grows from inside out.") Wakanyi Hoffman, ubuntu wisdom scholar, offered a beautiful 'Song for Mother Earth' which combines the Indigenous Wisdom and Christian traditions in which she was raised. The Baha'i sacred poet and mystic, Chelan Harkin, brought a poetic excerpt from her book, The Prophetess, in which she invokes, "the mapless wildlands of the new frontiers of love." Nemo Patel, a service-oriented hip-hop artist whose music and its heartfelt messages have touched more than 100 million people from all walks of life worldwide, joined us as well. He shared some of his faith journey - and the stirring song inspired by this journey, "Dear God." And Reverend Heng Sure, one of the senior-most Western Buddhist monks alive, who served on the founding team of United Religions Initiative, offered a profound song, "She Carries Me" as well as a Dedication of Merit. Read more about the Interfaith Compassion Challenge here.
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How Death Cafes Celebrate Life “Grief is this wild animal that is not predictable, but as humans we like to feel control and have approaches and ways to do things, but working with death and grief is all about being in the moment, not trying to put a fixed process on anything,” said Anthea Grimason, an end-of-life doula and Death Cafe host. Death cafes, thought to have begun in East London nearly 15 years ago, give people who are grieving a space to share and listen to one another's questions and experiences around death. Today, it is estimated there are approximately 19,000 death cafes around the world. Read the full story here.
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To Graduate, Take A Climate Change Course This fall, UC San Diego implemented a new graduation requirement that will impact about 7,000 graduating seniors in 2028. To meet the requirement, students will need to take a course with a minimum of 30% climate-related content and includes two of the following criteria: scientific foundations, human impacts, mitigation strategies, or project-based learning. “The most important thing is that UC San Diego wants to make sure we’re preparing students for the future that they really will encounter,” said Sarah Gille, a physical oceanographer and member of the committee creating the innovative graduation requirement. Read the full story here.
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“He urged people not to be afraid to speak, emphasizing that those who confessed would not be prosecuted, nor would there be any shame for sharing how you had been hurt.” Almost immediately, a young man came forward and admitted to a crime that seemed unforgivable, yet he was forgiven that very evening. “By the will to acknowledge, apologize, and forgive…together,” they were able to move forward to restore community, no longer imprisoned by their past. [Read the full story here ...] For more about the work to architect peace, check out a recent Awakin Call with practical visionary and peace maven Libby Hoffman here. |
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A small sampling: that it is crucial to distinguish between compassion and empathy; that our profound nature is compassion, consideration, and unconditional love for others; that we should not confuse happiness with pleasant sensations -- rather, that happiness is a way of being; that pleasure exhausts itself whereas compassion gets deeper and more stable; and so much more. Enjoy a delightful final question about his favorite mantra, and a few smiles. [Read or watch the full video clips here ...] |
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I once tried an improv class to see if that would finally help calm my stage nerves. It didn't. But I did learn something amazing. If an actor is trying to show the audience that they love someone, they can do this by spending a lot of time looking at that someone. Returning their gaze to their object of love, again and again, glancing, tracking, noticing details. To us sitting in the audience, this looks a lot like love. We see where the actor's attention is going, and we intuitively sense their care. Even a child would sense it. The simplicity of this really hit home. What we look at is what we care about! A great metaphor for noticing is "gymnastics of the attention." It comes from Simone Weil, who taught philosophy of science at the Lycée for Girls in Le Puy. She used the phrase to talk about teaching as ... [Read more] Seed questions for reflection: How do you relate to the notion that what we practice looking at is what we care about? Can you share a personal story of a time you got really curious about how much of what you saw was directed by habit or external influences versus your own personal practice? What helps you slow down to be curious about your choices? |
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The Logger Who Learned The Value Of Living Trees In a years long journey from logging to eco-tourism, Roberto Brito, found a new way to support his family and his community. "I realised that through that standing forest, I have access to education, technology, a future for the young people living here, and I still contribute to the preservation of our planet in relation to climate change." Read the full story here.
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Watching My Friend Pretend That Her Heart Is Not Breaking In "Watching My Friend Pretend That Her Heart Is Not Breaking," Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer offers a moving poem about grief and the opportunity to treat each other with tenderness. Watch below: |
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"What can we do to stay resilient in the face of this election? One way is to check in with ourselves daily to make sure we’re doing the things that sustain our health and well-being, while remaining empowered to make a positive impact on the election itself." UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center offers eight inquiries that can help us navigate stress during the elections -- from checking in with the body and mind to proactively seeking out good news to a gratitude practice and beyond. [Read more ...] |
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Why do we send flowers? To make up for what is intangible? Those feelings we can’t hold in our hands and present as a gift to our loved ones? And why is it that the placeholders we choose — the dozen red roses, the fragrant white lilies, the long-stemmed French tulips — are so fleeting? Hold on to them for too long and you end up with a mess of petals, pollen and foul-smelling water. After my boyfriend’s death, I went about trying to find closure. I wrote letters and set them on fire. I went to a therapist, then another. I went to yoga and tried meditation. I moved to Colorado, then Oregon. I went so many places and carried him along with me to each of them. I have done so much holding. There’s a picture I took of him just days before I left for college, two months before ... [Read more] Seed questions for reflection: How do you relate to the notion that the fleeting nature of life is what makes it precious? Can you share a personal story of a time you found life valuable precisely because of its fleeting nature? What helps you appreciate impermanence? |
Throughout the 21-day Interfaith Compassion Challenge held this fall, big-hearted guests joined weekly calls with their songs and stories inspiring compassion and a deep recognition of the interconnected webs woven between all things. Below are a few samplings of the magic!
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