tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59741880838977346612024-03-13T09:32:25.296-07:00An ExperimentMy Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-22519202279937230062023-12-13T10:18:00.000-08:002023-12-13T10:18:16.015-08:00Grief and Grace<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zxct4XesWZldkRr4BXcV2r3lzOukoB-GMaoglnx2tTN0qwgB7Y36yOS8Ui1i7w0hm9s8ptkNcr3o3yUA1QtwM0bVLknYZmYCe7hI_AJ-Q3BPg9DUWUumNgemIFiq35TZfVNyXe15k9ytwqmwlATT17sNi-sWHUeBHMiXWB0xSHcJ-bN8HVMJOLPPpCTx/s1024/grief%20and%20grace.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1024" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zxct4XesWZldkRr4BXcV2r3lzOukoB-GMaoglnx2tTN0qwgB7Y36yOS8Ui1i7w0hm9s8ptkNcr3o3yUA1QtwM0bVLknYZmYCe7hI_AJ-Q3BPg9DUWUumNgemIFiq35TZfVNyXe15k9ytwqmwlATT17sNi-sWHUeBHMiXWB0xSHcJ-bN8HVMJOLPPpCTx/w396-h359/grief%20and%20grace.png" width="396" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i>Bone dry, they say</i><p></p><p><i>the summer takes its toll</i></p><p><i>then summer turns the wheel across seasons</i></p><p><i>and 'climate' is a term used</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Bone dry, they say</i></p><p><i>calculators come out</i></p><p><i>it's a crisis, </i></p><p><i>bring your 'fixing' energy</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>My body spasms, as i let out a gasp</i></p><p><i>this is what heartbreak feels like</i></p><p><i>the tears fall out</i></p><p><i>drops from the sky</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>What is it that we have not allowed ourselves to feel?</i></p><p><i>what is not ok?</i></p><p><i>if we only knew, the piercing unlocks the clouds</i></p><p><i>let it rain</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Given my orientation towards both ecology and inner life, <a href="https://www.whyweseek.com/interbeing-thich-nhat-hanh/">the poem</a> Clouds in Each Paper by Thich Nhat Hanh really speaks to me. What it evoked in me was the connecting of the somatic life with ecocide. In the way of animism, there is no schism.</p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-88519812226758152802023-12-04T12:47:00.000-08:002023-12-04T12:47:29.249-08:00Our friend Tashi<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis48Z3_dekfAqN_uS8DKmvz5Bj1VUvSfWMyMe4_3x68UI-U-5OfE5_e1-DhXS_m4NaHxdhfFfMpZA3sN8kBg54SwPq21dvNKfif_EZNhsnZ-IjjxNusikLQHDaF7FCQw5j8yEU6yXAOauzb7E4kmvb66OHzSjJ6spl_ilWXwoEcZm0AHWdsh3RU3Tn1WM6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="727" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis48Z3_dekfAqN_uS8DKmvz5Bj1VUvSfWMyMe4_3x68UI-U-5OfE5_e1-DhXS_m4NaHxdhfFfMpZA3sN8kBg54SwPq21dvNKfif_EZNhsnZ-IjjxNusikLQHDaF7FCQw5j8yEU6yXAOauzb7E4kmvb66OHzSjJ6spl_ilWXwoEcZm0AHWdsh3RU3Tn1WM6=w337-h448" width="337" /></a></div><br /></div><p></p><p> 'No pain, no pain!'</p><p><br /></p><p>Tashi <a href="https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-issues-for-2007/april/other-titles-in-tibetan-buddhism/#:~:text=Ani%3A%20Ani%20is%20Tibetan%20for,which%20means%20%E2%80%9Cspiritual%20teacher.%E2%80%9D">la</a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">has always had a jovial sense of humor in the time I've known him. In this case, he was describing his teacher's disagreement with the modern cultural approach of 'no pain, no gain.' After years as a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">devoted practicing </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">Catholic, and decades as a monk, he came across his teacher, Kyabje Tashi Norbu, who was a lineage holder in the Jonang Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhist) tradition. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.awakin.org/v2/calls/436/tashi-nyima/bio">Tashi la</a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">described the decades he spent meditating in his previous tradition as one of a wandering - he would go to his teacher after weeks of silent meditation</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">, and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">ask 'what is the right way to practice?' and the enthusiastic response would come back - 'that's it!' meanwhile he is thinking '</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">WHAT'S</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> IT?! </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;">The Jonang approach was quite different, in a variety of ways. It was named about 1000 years ago as a rediscovery of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monastic following the lineage of <span class="gmail_default">Maitreya, </span>Nagarjuna, <span class="gmail_default">Asanga, and Vasubandhu, </span>and originally, <span class="gmail_default">the </span>Buddha. The first monastery was in Jomonang, Central Tibet, and so 'Jonang.' A couple of notable points about it below. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">First is the core of the teaching that stands out - the concept of '</span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5974188083897734661/8851981222675815280%23&source=gmail&ust=1701287536793000&usg=AOvVaw1DR8msEDzs01iYbD0npeBe" href="https://greatmiddleway.wordpress.com/zhentong-other-emptiness/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">shentong</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">' - or 'other emptiness' - which interestingly aligns quite strongly with my experiences of the teachings of Master Hua's </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5974188083897734661/8851981222675815280%23&source=gmail&ust=1701287536793000&usg=AOvVaw1DR8msEDzs01iYbD0npeBe" href="https://www.birjupandya.com/2019/08/buddha-root-farm-and-understanding.html" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">conception</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> of Chan. Shentong names that while 'ultimate reality' cannot be described or understood on 'this side of the mind,' that does not imply nothingness - and in fact nothingness can be quite a pitfall in understanding as it can lead to design patterns of nihilism. That's part of why the lineage translates to the 'Great Middle Way' - great because of it's width, that all are included as Buddha(s); middle way, as in, beyond the story of essentialism or nihilism (or '1 and 0' or 'light and dark' etc). Many other unique aspects (most specifically the full 6-branch</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">V</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">ajra Yoga </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">teachings), but my understanding is still quite early :)</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Second is the design characteristics of the tradition. For a variety of reasons, it's a tradition that is run quite differently than most others. It is decentralized - no titular leader, no central monastery. It is run with minimal financial orientation. It is not deeply concerned with preserving its teachings - instead more of a sense of 'leave no trace' and 'nature knows what to do.' The monastics themselves are also not positioned as teachers, but rather as 'dharma friends,' as Tashi la refers to himself as well. Not much on elaborate rites or ceremonies, more of a focus on what is essential in sharing.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">These aspects are somewhat linked - about 500 years ago, this tradition was persecuted by the</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">c</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">entral Tibetan administration <span> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">(specifically the 5th Dalai Lama), naming it as heretical. While that has now been recanted by the current Dalai Lama, for a long time the Jonang lived as persona-non-grata in Tibet - including things like shuttering monasteries, forced conversions, and book burning. In 1959, while other lineages fled the country, the (small) Jonang community did not. So only recently was Jonang received as the 5th living tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.</span></p><p><br /></p><p>It was this tradition that Tashi la came in touch with over 20 years ago, and due to that (along with introduction by dear dharma friend Ari), my own connection to this lineage and teacher that has supported my path immensely. </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">Around that time, Tashi Norbu asked Tashi la (whose monastic name is Tashi Nyima) to move to Dallas, TX - with no resources or contacts. Incredulous, Tashi la went, with love in his heart. It was unclear to him how it made sense to engage there, of all places. And yet, once there, came one after the other unique circumstances that led to the growth of a </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5974188083897734661/8851981222675815280%23&source=gmail&ust=1701287536793000&usg=AOvVaw1DR8msEDzs01iYbD0npeBe" href="https://greatmiddleway.wordpress.com/about/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">community</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> of practitioners. Coming together </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5974188083897734661/8851981222675815280%23&source=gmail&ust=1701287536793000&usg=AOvVaw1DR8msEDzs01iYbD0npeBe" href="https://greatmiddleway.wordpress.com/ongoing/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">online</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> and in-person, this group looks to embody dharma through sandwich drives for the homeless, supporting prisoners against the death penalty, animal welfare efforts, and much more, along with the inner work. As Tashi la described - '</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">t</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">he higher</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">the view,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">t</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">he f</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">ine</span><span class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">r</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">the conduct.'</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Over the last many years, Tashi has supported animal welfare and plant-based communities with <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbWyt7guRyAVkoas8UiSJyBwSdsJdI1PdKZEx98831NBygiA/viewform">retreat after retreat</a>, and his Puerto Rican background has him uniquely able to share dharma teachings in Spanish as well. His sharing of Buddhist scripture (sutras) have been some of the most powerful and clear explanations, supporting personal application, that I've ever come across. </p><p><br /></p><p>One example - why 'no pain, no pain'?! I was listening to a 'phowa retreat.' Phowa is the Tibetan practice of engaging with the death process in an active manner such that the experience is another moment to practice an aspiration of liberation for the benefit of others. The traditional way this is taught is a sort of extreme calculus - maintaining awareness through the death process as one's senses are bombarded, such that there is enough awareness and equanimity to act with wisdom and skillfulness for what seeds sprout next. That is why the Dalai Lama has a daily 'death meditation' practice for multiple hours!</p><p><br /></p><p>The Jonang teaching doesn't refute this. But it does name some meaningful perspectives. One of the core aspects of being a human is the innate belief in striving as a necessary prerequisite for 'attainment' of anything of value - it is easier to believe that good stuff comes to those who work HARD. no pain, no gain! but - that is just a view. and under certain contexts (eg grounded in virtue/ethics, etc), other views may be skillful - such as the view that hard work is also an illusion, there is no ultimate self to work hard with, and entrusting one's path forward to a definitive aspiration of service for others is as meaningful as the more intensive work. No pain, no pain :)</p><p><br /></p><p>Like this, so many shifts in context. Earlier this year, Tashi la had some emergent medical conditions arise, and for a while it did not look promising for survival. Here's a <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tuesdays-with-tashi-help-confronting-death/id1623414700?i=1000607341231">fantastic interview</a> he did on this subject - it's not often you get to hear a Buddhist teacher describe a personal experience of the early stages of the dying process. Through it all, a willingness to engage for the benefit of others - thanks to this process, I have since included the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIz_OVhHaG4&t=7s">Medicine Buddha</a> prayer as part of my own ongoing practice. In fact, a more broad death and dying practice overall, with a connection of the <a href="https://www.birjupandya.com/2023/11/a-hack-for-human-context-window.html">nervous system</a> as a tool to <i>be with</i> life.</p><p><br /></p><p>Over the years, I've tried to see how to share Tashi la's spirit with more folks, so here's another one of my humble attempts :) He reminds me all the time, the value of leaving no trace, along with the practical import of not overly broadcasting teachings given uniqueness of every practitioner such that not all messages have meaning for all people. I'll end as <a href="https://greatmiddleway.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/brief-recitation-for-daily-practice/">he does</a> - may all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering; may all embrace happiness and the causes of happiness; may all abide in peace, free from self-grasping; may all attain the union of wisdom and compassion, Om Ah Hum So'Ha :)</p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-81372631694681324912023-11-21T14:23:00.000-08:002023-11-21T14:24:46.673-08:00A ‘hack’ for the human context window<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjp3OB6TXo3QwdOdO8eXDzWwtcQEGdOruYYGS2GNoi4CISkm4j9NKVeZw5atL0wwuweyd3H85sFsDUJfJUPxIC1G6AthZ-twLsNUuPr0Hv-nDjrZsFILH1HMmSZlDhXSPn8C4MYLnIEWAk_ERSoCl2Fs4xYaOrS-EKMiNgFtjcrvlU4Kq_x7PFVR3N6IKvH" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1280" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjp3OB6TXo3QwdOdO8eXDzWwtcQEGdOruYYGS2GNoi4CISkm4j9NKVeZw5atL0wwuweyd3H85sFsDUJfJUPxIC1G6AthZ-twLsNUuPr0Hv-nDjrZsFILH1HMmSZlDhXSPn8C4MYLnIEWAk_ERSoCl2Fs4xYaOrS-EKMiNgFtjcrvlU4Kq_x7PFVR3N6IKvH=w634-h446" width="634" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">‘Can it help me with due diligence?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the question I heard recently as I
was connecting with a friend on the topic of emerging AI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a topic I’ve been following for some
time, but only recently would such a question start to seem viable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reason we are here is due to computers being able to
bring so much data together, in a manner that so much mimics neural
architecture, that its responses to our inquiries can start to seem human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend wanted to push that further – in
venture capital, when you’re looking to invest in a company, the pathway
towards the decision is called ‘due diligence’ – the process of developing a
view on the opportunity based on relevant context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That includes many topics – company
leadership, financials, the industry and market, competitive advantages, and
well beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what if we can just put
those data points in a pot and POOF – out comes good investment decisions?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, that concept is science fiction – but there
is an interesting pathway ahead, connected to what is called the ‘context
window’ in AI terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The context window
is the amount of information the computer can take in at once prior as part of
any response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of the difference
between a preschool age child and an adult, in terms of the amount of context
that can be held at one time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
case of the computer, this context window has been increasing rapidly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year it maxed out at the rough
equivalent of 5 pages of text.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of
last week that number is about 300 pages – enough to fit an entire book in, ask
the computer for an in-depth summary, and get it immediately – in fact,
possible to ‘interview the book.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Humans primary system of context is through the logical
brain, which can hold much less context (less than a page), but we augment this
by connecting to lots of data – books, conversations, numbers, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take it in with the attempt to integrate,
within our limited context window, in the most efficient manner possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that system is pretty solid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In terms of making investment decisions, it
is still more capable than the 300 pages for AI to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we can expect to see the context
window number for computers to increase exponentially in coming years – moving
from 1 book to 10 books to 100 books number of context, and beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s important to name that this level of
context wouldn’t be as an external ‘reference’ (which is already possible to
near infinite levels) – our equivalent of consulting an encyclopedia – but
rather as integrated, equivalent to referencing our own life story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems our context window supremacy is
going to be short-lived.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is another system of context in humans – the nervous
system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1807390115">articulated and studied</a>
in a variety of contexts and domains, but seldom in a manner that places it in
any way level with logic – generally having it seen as untrustworthy at best
and malicious at worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But increasingly, that view is changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folks like Antonio Damasio in neuroscience,
Peter Levine/Gabor Mate/Staci Haines in psychology, and lots more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a shift afoot – we are not thinking
machines; we are <a href="https://instituteforpr.org/part-one-not-thinking-machines-feeling-machines-think/">feelers
who think</a>. And it makes sense – the feeling of what happens carries orders
of magnitude more information than the thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we have a context window that can be
much, much larger than what a computer can take in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be leveraged, but is also fraught.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s a reason many of us have been told in our lives that
we can’t trust our emotions when making decisions – that logic and rationality
are the gold standard towards sound decision-making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many contexts where our nervous
systems can be hi-jacked!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally,
we have built an entire culture disconnecting and dulling ourselves with
regards to our bodies, feelings, and sensations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pathway of re-membering, from what I’ve
seen, is non-linear – but really benefits from ethical grounding, a general
sense of other-orientation, and an orientation towards self-inquiry/agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With those ‘preliminaries’, here is a teacher
of the Kagyu Tibetan lineage describing the process of ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldh6PeVtaQw">befriending our beautiful
monsters</a>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is a world in psychology called Somatic Experiencing,
which is an articulation of how one can connect with feelings and sensations as
a pathway to even bypass thinking and narratives entirely, on a path of
psychological healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for
this is multi-fold, but it includes the understanding that leveraging that
larger context window can be an <i>upstream</i> way to shift personal
narrative, without even necessarily <i>engaging</i> the narrative.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the last several years, I have taken these insights,
combined with practices connected to eastern Dharma, towards leadership and
service, with friends in the spaces I work in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specifically, towards
relationships, conflict, decision-making – places where the limited context
window of the thinking mind becomes more evident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’ve found clarity emerge, again and
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Self-driven, based on curiosity
towards discovery, and over time, a greater sense of fluidity with the embodied
self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of decisions being made,
pathways forward emerge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than
conflict being something to be avoided or beside the mission, it shifts towards
being an opportunity for a dance of self-discovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The body has more space.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And along with these types of high leverage uses of the
nervous system, comes due diligence!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve also seen, again and again, more easeful capital allocation
decisions when engaged with in a somatically informed manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leaders who feel aligned with their path
forward, such that the second guessing simply dissolves – regardless of what
comes later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is possibly inevitable for AI to grow its
context window massively in coming years, but the tremendous context possible
to be derived from the feeling of what happens remains a meaningful offering
germane to those humans among us who cultivate the sense.</p><p></p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-59418406787077569382023-10-27T15:37:00.001-07:002023-10-27T15:38:57.614-07:00Sensemaking: Debate, dialogue, inquiry<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1cPJtdin4KIQyvBCt0C97PdkZxnkosuD1FslfWyUMe8qjVgefXgsag2mECM5mUjYl-0ztIaqUGDX1nDK9mi06tiNI9FuhzL3NUYSQaZiFDdYXWW2-KjykDfV-JzOia3sBTStOBHa5tGobIIYz5GOVVGeaisUjZDyP4a1UDsD8-O7RYVnDzu5saJsMhLm/s612/istockphoto-1273328619-612x612.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="612" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1cPJtdin4KIQyvBCt0C97PdkZxnkosuD1FslfWyUMe8qjVgefXgsag2mECM5mUjYl-0ztIaqUGDX1nDK9mi06tiNI9FuhzL3NUYSQaZiFDdYXWW2-KjykDfV-JzOia3sBTStOBHa5tGobIIYz5GOVVGeaisUjZDyP4a1UDsD8-O7RYVnDzu5saJsMhLm/s320/istockphoto-1273328619-612x612.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Today’s world, on a good day, often defaults to debate and
argument as the primary modes of learning in relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As someone who has found immense value in the
practice of inquiry, particularly influenced by Tibetan Buddhist traditions (yogacara and tantra in particular),
I'm writing today to name how much I have benefitted from forms of relating
that are less seen in our culture. These are forms of engagement that I learned
later in life, yet they've profoundly impacted my life. This is an example of
the many aspects of life that are simply 'water' for us fish, and we swim
without the pause of exploring other paths, as they are not shared.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Debate: The Battle of Ideas<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What It Is<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Debate seems like a gold standard in the modern West—a
battle of ideas. Multiple individuals or parties come together to present their
strongest arguments in favor of their ideas while attempting to undercut the
opposing side.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Value<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Debate offers a multi-faceted understanding of an issue and
provides audiences with the opportunity to form their own opinions. It steers
clear of character attacks and focuses on the strength of ideas.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blindspots<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, debate has its limitations. It often emphasizes the
strength of the speaker over the strength of the idea, assumes objectivity, assumes
discreteness (not integration), and focuses on differences rather than common
ground.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="0" style="color: #374151;" width="100%" />
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Dialogue: The Journey to Shared Understanding<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What It Is<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dialogue is an exploratory form of engagement best
articulated by David Bohm in his conversations with J. Krishnamurti. It
involves no set agenda and aims to develop shared meaning.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Value<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dialogue offers a space where there is nothing to 'win' and
nobody to 'beat.' It fosters creativity, assumes subjectivity, and has a
depolarizing effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It holds an
intention to integration of viewpoints that cannot be discovered individually.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blindspots<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite its merits, dialogue can be influenced by unequal
power dynamics and may require skilled facilitation to prevent 'groupthink' or
lack of integrative paths.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="0" style="color: #374151;" width="100%" />
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Inquiry: The Path to Self-Discovery<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What It Is<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Inquiry is a form of engagement that centers on reflective
self-discovery in community. The discussion serves as a 'shared witnessing' of each
individual's grappling with their unconscious inner life, including
motivations, patterns, trauma, and beyond. It’s a deeply vulnerable space.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Value<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Inquiry offers transformative potential by engaging
'upstream' of rationality towards feelings, sensations, and intentions. It
takes deep ownership of one's experience, to the point of deconstructing one’s
viewpoints.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blindspots<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, inquiry may remain abstract and not actionable. It
requires extraordinary levels of psychological safety and may placate or push
away feelings rather than simply experiencing them. Also, without strong ethical foundations, the path forward from deconstruction can be disharmonious.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Practical Challenges and Approaches in Modern Contexts<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In today's world, the practical application of these forms
of engagement, especially inquiry, faces several challenges. For instance, the
rarity of inquiry as a form of public discourse is due to its requirement for
deep vulnerability, making it less suitable for public settings. Moreover, the
contextual nature of inquiry makes it difficult to discuss meaningfully outside
of the specific situations in which it occurs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To navigate these challenges in manifesting inquiry-based forms of relating, I've found the following
strategies helpful:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Designing for Psychological
Safety</b>: Before any conversation, creating causes and conditions that
support people being able to share things they’ve never consciously thought,
much less heard themselves say – lots of seed planting. In most cases, the lack of safety is the main driver for why inquiry is not possible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Self-Discovery as the Core</b>:
Approaching each conversation with the mindset that the space is there to
support <i>me</i> in discovering more about myself. The manifestation of curiosity
is a major driver, both internal and external.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Real-Time Awareness</b>: Paying
attention to nervous system activation as it happens. Instead of assuming
something needs to be addressed in the 'other,' ask oneself, 'What is this situation illuminating about my unconscious patterns?'<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Ownership of Experience</b>:
Describing and feeling sensations, feelings, and narratives as one’s own,
without attributing them to the 'other.' Allowing for possibility that others
need to be 0% different than they are now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Emergence of Possibilities</b>:
Allowing for the emergence of actionable steps or insights from this new
context. Whether it's something to say, do, or intend, the possibilities are
infinite but can include timeliness and action.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve been experimenting with inquiry-based approaches in
leadership domains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have seen again
and again that in these contexts, as there is ownership, there can be a felt
sense of heartbreak – the sensation and realization that the world perceived as
‘out there’ was, all this time, self-created in a significant way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And from the expansiveness of that insight, emergence of steps forward.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I also increasingly find a challenge in talking/sharing about specifics here. While I have many stories to name, I also find these spaces sacred and honoring them means not being specific. That being said, I have seen folks in many conflict-type situations 'flip' into expansive love with the gift they've been given in the form of conflict. Others who struggle with a perceived decision to make, only to have the decision dissolve. I've seen this in partnerships, in parenting, in workplaces, in broader relationships - relating becomes a container where, with shared agreement, one brings the ashram mindset. Of course, the real experience is in the moment moreso than the words - if that's of interest from a leadership dimension, reach out, and we can explore.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Modern Context</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the age of social media, workplace dynamics, and even friend/family
relationships, the structures and agreements we operate within often limit our
psychological safety and, by extension, our capacity for self-discovery. We are
in a world where being truly vulnerable can result in out-casting, or
create difficulties within our governance systems. However, the power to change these
structures starts with our social design choices, at every moment, down to the questions we will ask our next conversation partner and the mindspace with which we hold what is shared. And so we do the work of
cultivating spaces where such interaction may be possible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a world often dominated by attack, argument, and
sometimes debate, the transformative potential of dialogue and inquiry is
immense in my eyes. While debate serves its purpose in presenting multi-faceted
views, it often falls short in fostering true understanding and integration.
Dialogue, on the other hand, offers a collaborative space for shared meaning,
and inquiry takes this a step further by centering self-discovery as the core
of relating. These forms of engagement offer not just alternative ways to
interact but also pathways to deeper understanding and self-discovery. If you’re
reading this, I assume you’re experimenting in these areas yourself – perhaps
some part of this may support your path also. May such practices support a compassionate
and wise world!</p><p></p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-40391103575436399702023-09-08T12:01:00.001-07:002023-09-08T12:01:14.946-07:003 turnings, 4 aspirations, 1 vehicle<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/MET_1991_384.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="380" height="541" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/MET_1991_384.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><p></p><p>Haven't written much in the last several years. I've mostly been listening. Feeling now more of a movement towards articulation, more for the sake of my own ongoing integration.</p><p>Today, I'm sharing my reflections on Buddhism, not as a monastic but as a sincere layperson who has been fortunate to dip my toes into multiple lineages, through teacher and scripture, with a particular focus over these last few years. I offer these thoughts in the hope that they might resonate with others on a similar journey, fully acknowledging that the path is as individual as the person walking it.</p><p>Of course I'm also not a monastic - my experience is that of a sincere layperson who is motivated to offer an articulation that may not be available as readily elsewhere for my community. It is also an articulation borne of exposure to multiple lineages and a curiosity towards integration. For this particular share, I've de-emphasized the Buddhism-flavored rhetoric as from my lens this is simply a framework for living into/discovering nature that one can experiment with personally.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The 3 Turnings</b></p><p>Depending on who you talk to, Buddha said different things. In fact, who the Buddha even was is different based on interpretation (ie, not just a singular human born 2500 years ago). To that end, I've been exposed to different lineages of teachings that I've seen defined as 3 turnings.</p><p>The <b>first</b> turning is spoken of as foundational. It is the turning that outlines what virtue is (and the importance of practicing it), what concentration is, how wisdom can be a practice. It is the place where foundational concepts such as 'no self', 'discomfort', and 'constant change' are outlined. Frameworks such as the 4 noble truths, 8 fold path. And more subtle teachings around deep mental states, the ties that bind us to conventional paradigms.</p><p>The <b>second</b> turning is fundamentally spoken of as ''emptiness teachings." This is where the outlines of the implications of the first turning are named. Where paradox becomes visible. The possibility of 'sudden enlightenment' as concepts of time unravel, along with designing for causes and conditions towards a 'gradual enlightenment.' Articulations of what it means to live deeply into the path, as framed under the idea of the Bodhisattva path.</p><p>The <b>third</b> turning builds on the first two. It's primary concern is an articulation of what lies beyond the 'covered' perception that is ordinary consciousness (clouded by our afflictions). It also articulates a 'Buddhist unified field theory' of sorts - connecting the mundane experience of consciousness through to primary ground (the 3 natures, 'consciousness-only'). There are also deeper explorations into specific aspects of that mundane experience - in the collective sense (time/space, big bang, broad forms of sentience) and the personal sense (death, sexuality). </p><p>The first turning seems to be focused most strongly in traditions most held in Southeast Asia. The second turning in East Asia. And the third turning in Central Asia. To be clear, this is not to say there isn't intermixing, there is plenty, but more describing the 'center of gravity.' The idea here is not fundamental disagreement, just nuance and focus - one of my teachers named that Buddha's intention was for the teachings to find themselves in the hands of a practitioner in order - first, then second, then third - as a skillful means. </p><p><br /></p><p>One story that helped me understand the reasoning behind this felt like it was worth sharing. Important to name that it is just a helpful framing, not deeply real. Imagine a Buddha explaining the nature of a car to enterprising monastic mechanics :)</p><p>In the first turning would be comments such as 'what is a car? a car is an idea in the mind. and when one looks into the idea, one simply sees parts - one sees engine, tires, seats - and it's only the integration in a particular way that creates the idea of the car. how many pieces need to be taken away before the idea breaks? look into that inquiry yourself.' </p><p>A super meaningful teaching to help guide the understandings of the first turning! But there's a limit. Imagine the monk mechanics response - 'oh! I get it now! there IS NO CAR! there's only engine, tires, seats...' It is partially that sentiment that the 2nd turning teachings are a response to. Imagine the Buddha now saying 'while there is no car - there is also no tires, seats, engine. look deeply into it and you may find nothing anywhere to hold onto.'</p><p>Again, quite meaningful, cutting essentialism out at the core - no place to cling. And yet a limit here as well. Imagine a response as 'thank you! I see - there is no car, there is no engine, tires, seats... there is nothing!' and this creates another pitfall. the clinging to nothing - the path of nihilism. And so Buddha's response is the third turning - 'whatever is on the other side of what you can perceive, I cannot tell you and you cannot know, and yet, that does not imply nothing.'</p><p>The purpose of this story, as I understand it, is simply to outline 1 key reason why each turning was articulated (at a highly simplified level). the first in order to pierce solidity, the second to address essentialism, and the third to address nihilism- the middle way.</p><p>Who cares??? Well, for me, these approaches continue to be foundational, with one reason named in the next framework...</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The 4 Aspirations</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZT4X1dqGPtRLs8Q5Rn5ltwHTlwZ-BKL7ldd74E1ekLz8TAWgu30hBVXdcn7XaHRjTx0h_D8GUTBjzSIqKkatlpr9ExptqpC_DaB1zBjeUpmQq9gaz9F28fcgOn6DmSnjvydcsWSb_IJua-NipiqyaaNxbwpYMKrdr7sj3HjK8jMcSFdpYQ1kI0cyII-G/s1300/120074263-buddhist-symbol-for-life-path-with-lotus-flower-inside-zen-symbol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="1300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZT4X1dqGPtRLs8Q5Rn5ltwHTlwZ-BKL7ldd74E1ekLz8TAWgu30hBVXdcn7XaHRjTx0h_D8GUTBjzSIqKkatlpr9ExptqpC_DaB1zBjeUpmQq9gaz9F28fcgOn6DmSnjvydcsWSb_IJua-NipiqyaaNxbwpYMKrdr7sj3HjK8jMcSFdpYQ1kI0cyII-G/s320/120074263-buddhist-symbol-for-life-path-with-lotus-flower-inside-zen-symbol.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Being a former consultant, I much appreciate coming across frameworks that are MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) - that's what was articulated in this framing of the 4 aspirations. It states that all life fits into at least 1 of 4 categories of aspiration (conscious or not):</p><p>1-<b>A better life</b>. more money. more fame. more pleasure. less pain. less obstacles. less confusion/dis-ease. Most all life would fit into this.</p><p>2-<b>A better birth</b>. some say heaven. or to be born in a 'higher caste,' whatever that means in your society. or to be a God (perhaps a lesser God, but regardless).</p><p>3-<b>Personal liberation</b>. a response to seeing conditions of cyclic existence. ups and downs forever, and having an intention to get off the ride.</p><p>4-<b>Collective liberation</b>. the intention that supporting all 'life' (to the extent it is perceived as separate) in getting off the ride, at their pace, is worth prioritizing over priors.</p><p>One could even frame the blurring between 3 and 4, as the idea of a separate self may get fuzzy as one cultivates - and yet the lineages specify the difference at the level of intention - that the generation of compassion for all beings is specifically what is invited in that 4th aspiration, and of course that has far-reaching effects.</p><p>Mahayana is that which keeps the 4th aspiration as primary - that is not a religious comment, as I believe it applies to framework for living, it's simply a precise articulation of meaning. Mahayana means 'great vehicle,' and what makes it great isn't that the people are chosen or similar, it's the aspiration. </p><p>Buddhism is a framework of understanding life such that no matter which of the 4 speak to you, it'll support your wishes. It just so happens that getting out of the way such that life unfolds may have certain characteristics...</p><p><br /></p><p><b>One Vehicle</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e9lebCoC1565VGc6HUUIhjK63FpCCXQw7uoN_LQZt20wGrZFlv6fC7en0LZXBIVyNqIJrWaHuQvbWfc6qNp1FDx1asS0lPDd-JkwhhDIxedrTNa0iR4guYLW01JRR_v8SqRlgWUOsRPq7VLo8Jr3iT1dnOmBdSo6JdX2VspqDI_wEvAW_DnLjJDrSzUc/s1080/96142764_2494602550789755_5271017013655896064_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e9lebCoC1565VGc6HUUIhjK63FpCCXQw7uoN_LQZt20wGrZFlv6fC7en0LZXBIVyNqIJrWaHuQvbWfc6qNp1FDx1asS0lPDd-JkwhhDIxedrTNa0iR4guYLW01JRR_v8SqRlgWUOsRPq7VLo8Jr3iT1dnOmBdSo6JdX2VspqDI_wEvAW_DnLjJDrSzUc/s320/96142764_2494602550789755_5271017013655896064_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>My practices over the last few years have brought focus to this key teaching. It is part of what makes the path so inclusive, although it may also be perceived as daunting. The idea is </p><p>-that all life is enlightened - whole in wisdom and compassion - but clouded due to patterns of attention</p><p>-the patterns of attention are bound to end, wholly and completely, at some point - every sentient being you come across is future Buddha, fully manifesting what may currently be clouded</p><p>-there is no other path. all other paths named (the 4 aspirations, etc) are skillful approaches towards one vehicle, wherein YOU are manifesting collective liberation</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course the specifics of this can be articulated over eons :) I recently heard from a teacher that for all the scriptures/sutras out there, only 3% have been translated into English. We are still at the forefront of discovery of some of the most ancient and comprehensive frameworks of life we have. </p><p><br /></p><p>And for me, what I've articulated here is a sort of high-level only, a map of how one may engage with the inner life - of course there are so many directions of inquiry. In future shares, I hope to articulate more about teachers and lineages, along with my personal grappling's. The primary lineages these articulations are from are Thai and Burmese (Theravada) traditions, Chinese (Guiyang Chan) tradition, and Tibetan (Jonang Vajrayana) tradition.</p><p><br /></p><p>May whatever good that comes of this articulation be for the benefit of all. And may I become more skillful in articulating through the practice!</p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-78289294307759340392021-04-05T21:21:00.002-07:002021-04-05T21:21:55.379-07:00Reflections on the Inner Challenges of a Ghastly Future<p> Originally posted with <b>Omega's Resilience Funders Network</b> here-</p><p>https://omega.ngo/reflections-on-the-inner-challenges-of-a-ghastly-future/</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDK64T8qx_d2gKmxO25JsbpPFlLRoTQsPjH8CiGiOxy8mnzqDKvFjp71oypPljFFELvqckgujo1ZL4rl1-nzXq7QbTch8JwfmkkMibKNYrUwePylB19wV6SfRB9mWrak7vh_6QtcacYO4/s1024/Untitled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="1024" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDK64T8qx_d2gKmxO25JsbpPFlLRoTQsPjH8CiGiOxy8mnzqDKvFjp71oypPljFFELvqckgujo1ZL4rl1-nzXq7QbTch8JwfmkkMibKNYrUwePylB19wV6SfRB9mWrak7vh_6QtcacYO4/w548-h223/Untitled.jpg" width="548" /></a></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The recent group discussion around the ‘<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419/full" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Underestimating the Challenges of a Ghastly Future</a>’ (UCGF) paper felt quite lively and meaningful to me, grateful for the opportunity to attend! As I took in the discussion, I had a few reflections come up, which I offer below in the spirit of furthering the dialogue.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The first time I came across the idea of ecological overshoot was about a decade ago, in 2012. I was working in the field of impact investing and came across a person who, in almost hushed tones, mentioned to me that the climate scientists we were hearing from (who were already concerning), were just the ones being platformed. There were others, whose research and ideas weren’t being trumpeted, whose findings were more dire. He also shared with me leaders of other ways of connecting to ecological wisdom – for instance, he asked me if I had heard of the <a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-06-06/collapse-now-and-avoid-rush/?s=03" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Archdruid, John Michael Greer</a>. This sent me down a rabbit hole.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Since then, I’ve been diving deeper into an inquiry of breakdown. It has included elements of my own, as I saw the fragility of my own psyche in the face of such large questions. In recent years, I have found community around this inquiry, and have seen much larger numbers of people become ‘collapse aware’ at some level. I’ve had the opportunity to <a href="https://www.awakin.org/calls/507/deb-ozarko/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">interview</a> some of the <a href="https://www.awakin.org/calls/499/michael-dowd/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">pioneers</a> of an inquiry that’s born of allowing in some of these uncomfortable findings.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As part of this, I’ve been actively involved with the work of <a href="https://jembendell.com/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jem Bendell</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/scholarswarning?lang=en" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Scholar’s Warning</a>, and <a href="https://www.deepadaptation.info/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Deep Adaptation Forum</a>. These are oases that seem to be grappling with similar questions – how to invite the scientific community to more directly speak their truth. With Covid-19, the mainstream view was to present the science with a cautious tone meant to maximizing the saving of lives, not necessarily to keep up lifestyles. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case with ecocide, for a variety of reasons.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The <a href="https://jembendell.com/2021/02/18/should-we-discuss-our-anticipation-of-collapse/#more-2270" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">early research</a> on the topic of climate grief seems to be that talking about these issues, in broad and narrow forums, supports individual and community wellness, despite the intensity of the topic. There are even <a href="https://www.bigseeds.co.uk/grief-tending-in-community/love-and-loss-in-the-age-of-the-anthropocene/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">those</a> who say that it is the difficulty to name these possibilities, and experience the grief that accompanies them, that forms the basis for their manifestation. Of course, human development exists on a spectrum, and not all may benefit from engagement, but I have seen how this same topic framed in multiple skillful ways can reach across values divides.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In recent times, I have been <a href="https://www.deepadaptation.info/blog/plant-the-seeds-get-out-of-the-way" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">exploring</a> how cosmology plays a role in how we metabolize breakdown. In the eastern traditions, cyclicality is fundamental – just as there is a spring, or a Satya Yuga, or a True Dharma Age, there is a fall, or a Kali Yuga, or a Dharma Ending Age. But of course the soil does not go anywhere. Regardless of the times, there is something that transcends. In Mahayana traditions, they speak of the importance of a Bodhisattva approach to life – a path of unconditional service with no aim to optimize outcome. Perhaps that concept is prescient for these times.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #474347; font-family: "open sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica-Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.85em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What the UGCF paper brings up in me is an inquiry of ‘how to be,’ as much or more than ‘what to do.’ In our community, we know of many who are engaging with deep collective leverage points, from systems of <a href="https://richardheinberg.com/museletter-336-capitalism-the-doomsday-machine-or-how-to-repurpose-growth-capital" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">economics</a> to systems of <a href="https://www.dailygood.org/story/2389/reimagining-scale-a-quantum-view-of-social-change/" style="border: 0px rgb(110, 106, 110); box-sizing: border-box; color: #a81010; font: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">governance</a> – whether in those domains or the more mundane, the inquiry remains relevant to me. As for me, I’m currently taking these questions into the embodiment domain – feeling tones, shadow work, grief work, and creating the space for others to head in a direction where the logical mind alone may not explore. I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on what came up for me in this broader discussion, hope to listen and learn from others as well.</p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-75640517799869672852021-02-08T13:36:00.000-08:002021-02-08T13:36:12.987-08:00Interview with Deep Adaptation Forum<p> https://www.deepadaptation.info/blog/plant-the-seeds-get-out-of-the-way</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZHvVDyEOnt57rLgvvlCbWC022WtnGi3AFdMAhceWyGOGIi1XG0aWiTqpQdBETbN2YBDewMjDhcEGAUMggcpntyjZ_N-nQypMBzGcvNIAWSwAHcZthcCUA411rL9QGrdMC1r9YzVGStBl/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1500" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZHvVDyEOnt57rLgvvlCbWC022WtnGi3AFdMAhceWyGOGIi1XG0aWiTqpQdBETbN2YBDewMjDhcEGAUMggcpntyjZ_N-nQypMBzGcvNIAWSwAHcZthcCUA411rL9QGrdMC1r9YzVGStBl/w528-h221/image.png" width="528" /></a></div><p></p><h1 class="uk-margin-top uk-margin-remove-bottom uk-text-center uk-article-title" property="headline" style="background-color: white; color: #43b38b; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 40px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px !important; text-align: center !important;">Plant the Seeds, Get Out of the Way</h1><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kMZsIDXxSQ0jjskJWO3Wq3p7Tei7EPGZ/view?usp=sharing" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">View the video</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: Recently you and I have been collaborating on a document and the word “collapse” came up, which is used all the time in Deep Adaptation and is all over the website. And you made a comment about the word “collapse”, questioning that word. And since it seems so foundational to how we communicate in DAF, I jumped at the chance, like, “Let’s explore this!” So I’m just completely open to hearing your perspective and having that conversation.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">BIRJU PANDYA</span>: Lovely, thank you for the invitation to share. I’m curious what will emerge here as well.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">I came across the Deep Adaptation concepts through my own journey, both personal and professional. Professionally I’ve been involved in work at the level of systems: financial systems, ecological systems, and how they work together. I was born and raised in the [United] States, but my background is in Eastern schools of philosophy and mythology. I’m raised a Hindu and Indian by background, and also very interested in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. And that’s really informed some of my inquiry on this word “collapse.” Within these schools there’s this deep rooting in outcome-less action, and to engage in service without holding a view that you’re even a separate person who is doing something. There’s nothing to get, no world to save, no enlightenment to achieve. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">I find that to be really handy right now. Because I feel like, when one learns about the context our civilization is in, one feels this urgency of action. “We need to do big things. We need to act quickly and decisively.” We hear this all the time. And to me that’s like a finger trap, because now we’re just doubling down on the same thing that got us here: time scarcity, scale-oriented thinking, abstract thinking. So, to me, the elegance of Deep Adaptation is it’s a skillful pathway to perhaps release someone from that Westernized view.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">There’s a psychotherapist named <a href="https://www.awakin.org/calls/495/karla-mclaren/" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Karla McLaren</a> who wrote a book on emotions, and, actually, the helpfulness of emotions like depression. She said depression is a reminder that something needs to die—but it’s not us. Likewise, there’s this conflation between human beings and this Westernized way of life, that something needs to die—but is it human beings? Or is it this worldview?</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">My friend, <a href="https://www.commonweal.org/staff/michael-lerner/" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Michael Lerner</a>, runs a cancer clinic here in the Bay Area. He says that stage IV cancer is a “rough initiation”, and the purpose of a rough initiation is not to survive it. I think that’s really powerful. Collapse can happen at any level—it can happen for a person with cancer. But what’s actually collapsing and what’s born again? If your cosmology is linear and ends with death, you would perceive breakdown in that same biblical, apocalyptic lens. And I guess it’s unsurprising that the culture that would create efficiency and brittleness would also create such a worldview. Whereas the wisdom traditions I’m connected to would say: “We’re going to follow principles of living systems, and living systems don’t follow that cadence.” There’s a seasonality to it. And just because you’re in one part of a season doesn’t demand that your existence is bound by that season.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: I love it, I love it. I want to go in a couple of directions, but, first, this one: when you saw the word “collapse”, how would you have changed that wording?</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: My worldview is grounded in the theory of human development. As a society, we’re really good at acknowledging that you make neurological connections and integrate perspectives for a certain period—but then you turn eighteen and that stops. Not really! Ken Wilber talks about <a href="http://pialogue.info/definitions/spiral_dynamics_aqal_simple.jpg" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">integral theory</a> and how there’s empirically different stages of what people can allow in without shutting down. So there’s different words I would want to use depending on the stage of perception your audience is in. For certain people, the shock, the finality of the word “collapse” is what it takes to get them out of their own head. But for someone else, you might call it the end of life as we know it, or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Kali Yuga</a>, or <a href="https://www.buddhistdoor.net/dictionary/details/dharma-ending-age" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Dharma-Ending Age</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: I did <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5SCoSFvJkc" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">a video</a> last Monday [13 December 2020] with Eric Garza about trauma and how our nervous systems get dysregulated. We lose that sense that this is natural history, that this goes on for centuries, millennia, and we’re just part of it. That kind of ease of being is so alien to people who’ve been steeped in the Western culture. What would you say Deep Adaptation Forum could offer to kind of ease that anxiety and introduce this other mindset?</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: Yeah! For me, it’s not even this other mindset in the sense that it’s like a light switch of one or the other, but more like a dimmer or something even multi-dimensional. It’s supporting the process of becoming that I think we are in. Each one of us is inviting in and integrating more perspectives as we grow. That’s a natural process, as much as planting a seed leads to a plant. And we can get in the way of that process. As a society, I think we’ve created structures that are really good at getting in the way of that process. So, at some level, the inquiry I’m holding is how to support the dissolution of <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BytZ17LRokM8dURVb0N2LWk5SEE/view" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">false solidity</a> to allow for this natural becoming. It’s not us doing anything: it’s us getting out of the way of ourselves.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">An important piece of that is community, being around people where they are also engaged with this question. That’s what Buddha would call noble friendship. How can we create containers where noble friendship at an intimate level is possible? </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">Another piece of it is practices. There’s two bands of consciousness that I think pulls in Deep Adaptation kinds of rhetoric: one is a person who just shuts down from it and says, “Oh my God, I can’t even look here.” And then there’s people who are like, “Oh my God, what do I do?” There’s a lot of heady energy being held, because that’s kind of what society has created. But heady energy doesn’t lead to shifts in patterns of behavior. What <em style="color: #292929;">practices</em> do is help people get more embodied through day-to-day action, to connect in with their hearts, with their hands, as it relates to their own resilience. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">If you [asked] me ten years ago, “Do you want to invite a different sense of knowing? Well, <a href="https://www.awakin.org/people/hs/index.php?pg=essay" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">you should bow</a>.” I’d be like, “What?” But if you said “Did you know [that] every time your heart is above your head, the blood flow in your system changes? The way neurological connections happen in your brain changes?” I’d be like, “Huh, okay, now I’m willing to listen more.” Not because it’s any more true, but because my band of consciousness demanded that form of communication.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: That’s great, I love that. Your first point around community: it does feel like Deep Adaptation Forum is a community where people are attracted in different ways to different practices. There will be pockets where it’s a bit headier and then others where it’s more spiritual. And some people are concerned that maybe there’s too much online community and people are avoiding their neighbors. That maybe we’re putting loads of time into Zoom calls with each other around the world and avoiding what’s outside the door.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: What comes up for me, and holding aside COVID in the hopes that 2021 is different, is my volunteer experience. I’ve been an active volunteer with several organizations for a while, but one that I hold very dear to my heart is a group called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7q_uu-qBrg&" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">ServiceSpace</a>. And one of the driving factors that invites a theory of change for us is this inquiry onto emergence. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">For those who may not be familiar, the concept of <a href="https://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/emergence.html" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">emergence</a> is to not plan out in a strategic sort of way—which is hard for me as a person who is classically educated and got an MBA and that sort of thing. But to really invite in this possibility that nature knows what it’s doing. It’s like trying to grow a jungle on a barren piece of land: there’s the Miracle Gro pathway, and there’s the pathway where I’m going to create the conditions for a mycelial network to happen and then get out of the way. And I saw this play out at ServiceSpace when one group that was using our online orientations decided to open their doors once a week for an <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=2295" style="color: #399c75; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">in-person mindfulness practice</a>. This excitement caught on and, twenty years later, there’s a hundred places doing the same thing, inviting their local community in on their own process of becoming.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: I like that. Yeah, some people have had ideas around: we support one another online and we create community, but also with some commitment to planting seeds outside our front door. And maybe making that part of our practice is that we’re doing it outside the door.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: Right? Literally planting seeds outside the door could be a practice. But if you have a heady orientation, you’ll say, “Well, that’s no good because the system is collapsing, and planting a few seeds doesn’t do anything.” But if you have a cyclic worldview, you’ll say, “Well, the seeds that I plant here are actually planting seeds in here [points to heart].” It’s shifting my neurology, which changes every action I take going forward—including things that may happen after this body’s not even around.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: I know a lot of people who are stuck in that, “But what’s collapse gonna look like? I need to know what it’s gonna look like.” And it’s about creating spaces where people can be uncomfortable and learn how to let go of that concept. I suppose that would be a practice because it’s a bit like a meditation where your mind wanders and you bring it back! You start thinking, “If I do this, how’s that going to make things better long-term? Can you guarantee…?” And then you stop and come back to, “I’m planting seeds for the next cycle, the next season—whatever it is.”</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: I love what you’re saying. And this capacity for anxiety and fear: we’re not going to be able to think our way out of that. There is no amount of information that can be provided that will allow a person to transcend their relationship with anxiety. It will be an embodiment process, where their container just continues to expand.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: We have some people responding to collapse with prepping, and others who don’t want to talk about prepping. They want more loving responses, less [of the] “How do I survive alone in the woods? How is my family going to survive collapse?” It feels like this approach shows that, if you let go of any goal, this outcome of survival, and, instead, you’re more grounded in the seasonality, then maybe your natural movement will be towards generosity and service.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: I think what you’ve described is beautiful. The way that I would play it back is more nuanced than a dichotomy of self-orientation or service. It’s more like, if we could possibly loosen the death grip of one worldview, so that one percent of something else could come in. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;">Personally, I prep! However, any prepping I do is community-based. The two words that I’m guided by are resilience and regeneration, applied at the level of the self, community, and ecology. What does resilience look like at each of those levels? Well, it includes some amount of food when you live in a just-in-time system. You want to try to have that food, not just for you but for your community. But you also want access to a shoulder to cry on. What does grieving look like? Are you able to grieve? Are you able to find joy without having stuff? That’s all part of resilience. And then there’s the regeneration component: how do I regenerate my capacity to find inner peace, my capacity to be in community even as things shift, my capacity to ground myself in what is beyond the seasonal? Is there a wisdom tradition that will help me do that?</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">DAF</span>: It’s a loving response, wanting everyone around you to eat and to love.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; margin: 20px 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">PANDYA</span>: Take your prototypical approach, like, “I need to get as much ammo as I can.” When that’s the kind of rhetoric and practices that one invites in, it’s a closing off of one’s inner selves. Forget whether you live or you die later: in this moment, you’re dying! So what are the pathways that allow that to shift as a community, as a culture? I think that’s a really important question. And the answer isn’t just to radically open up. I think the answer is way more nuanced and tailored for where individuals and communities are in their own growth-development journey. But we can’t simply ignore that a growth-development journey is happening. It’s happening, and the more we can get out of the way of it, the more there’s a possibility of that continuing—whether or not the human race is how it occurs.</p>My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-64901779277055794772019-08-04T13:30:00.003-07:002019-08-06T09:14:32.969-07:00Buddha Root Farm and Understanding Mahayana Buddhism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"You have stumbled upon the 5 schools of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, in the lineage of Master Hua." After the first day of retreat, where I was constantly asking questions, Rev Heng Sure said this to me as a precursor to lots more sharing in the coming days. These were very meaningful days in my life.<br />
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I recently returned from my first meditation retreat that was not in the SN Goenka tradition. Lots of learnings from this and I thought it would support me to process through writing. The retreat was in the tradition of <a href="http://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=406">Rev Heng Sure</a>, who so many have been inspired by in our community. The retreat was their yearly '<a href="http://oregon.berkeleymonastery.org/">Buddha Root Farm</a>' retreat in rural Oregon (the picture above is the path to our campsite). Several folks in our ecosystem have attended before (including my partner!) but it was my first time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Hua lecturing in 1975</td></tr>
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<a href="http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/Buddhism/VenHua/dharmatowest.htm">Master Hua</a> actually conducted the first retreat at this site in 1975, 13 years after arriving in the USA as one of the first people to bring Mahayana practice to the west. So many people in our community have shared about him and what he invited into existence (including an entire town, <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=20707">City of Ten Thousand Buddhas</a>, +25 lineage locations globally, first-time text translations, and uncountable ripples). More recently, the retreat has been held yearly, including families and a pace that felt as much like a 'camp' as anything else.<br />
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This was not the '10 days of silence' process I was used to! I was intrigued to hear the spectrum of practice that this community can hold. Whether it was weekly 45 min meditations and sutra <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/DharmaRealmLive">lectures on YouTube</a>, or Buddha Root Farm-style retreats, or more intensive retreats (including a yearly 21 day meditation for 20 hours/day!) The point was not intensive for the sake of intensive, but rather to build the capacity to serve whatever the conditions that may arise.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Half Can' for Food and Basic Needs</td></tr>
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In addition to Rev Heng Sure, 5 other monastics were a part of the retreat - 3 monks and 2 nuns, who provided a sort of backbone to the daily activities. And the activities taken on were unique from my lens. While my background of familiarity with eastern traditions is more connected to Theravada Buddhism (along with a few Indian traditions eg Hinduism and Jainism), the lineage here is that of Mahayana Buddhism. In many ways, there are parallels with the monastic traditions of the others (eg eating once a day, living very simply, developing inner understanding), and in some key ways, there are shifts in framing. I wanted to outline my understanding of those shifts as I think they are meaningful, particularly from a ServiceSpace context.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Chan' Hall for Practice</td></tr>
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The growth of 'Eastern' ideas in the west seem strongly connected to the hippy movement in the USA, particularly focused on the coasts. Of course there were ideas that were shared earlier (eg Vivekananda's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda_in_California">visit to the west</a> 120 years ago), but a sort of mass rooting seemed to have begun in the 1960's. On the Buddhist side of that coin, that has led to a few viral memes that today, 50+ years later, seem to be all over the place. Interestingly, they seem to be components of Theravada Buddhism (mindfulness/sati) and Vajrayana Buddhism (tantra). It may not be commonplace to note that these 'memes' are from much larger schools of practice, but there it is :)<br />
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That being said, there are 3 major branches of Buddhism, not 2 - and the 3rd is Mahayana Buddhism, which is what Buddhism became as it traversed the Chinese subcontinent and onwards. Zen is a subcomponent (and its viral meme, zen as a design aesthetic :) For some reason the Chinese manifestation of Mahayana has really not grown in awareness in the west very much. Several potential reasons for that, including limited information sharing due to government, translation difficulty, the non-intuitive nature of the teachings, and the shift in focus of Chinese mainland practice towards 1 form of practice (chanting/mantra <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/pureland_1.shtml">Pure Land</a> practice).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the Rains at Buddha Root Farm, Oregon</td></tr>
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Because of this, I had little understanding of what I was in for in this retreat! So, I asked A LOT of questions :) Below is a bit more of where I'm standing at this point, recognizing that it is still very early in my journey here, but hopefully of some value to share.<br />
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<b>3 key areas that strike me as major shifts from Theravada practice to Mahayana practice</b> (without making anyone wrong)-<br />
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<b>1- Maha Prajna Paramita</b><br />
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The Theravada canon consists of that which was written in the original language of Gautama the Buddha (Pali), although it was written long after Buddhas life. In the Mahayana canon, there are many more sutras/suttas that were put on paper after the Pali period (so the earliest text would be in Sanskrit or Mandarin). According to the Mahayana tradition, those sutras (or teachings) also included teachings which expanded on teachings of what was shared earlier for those who aspired to become Buddhas themselves. The earlier teachings focused on how to get free from suffering; the expanded teachings connected that freedom to all living beings.<br />
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One key grouping of teachings, consisting of about 40 sutras, is called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita">Maha Prajna Paramita</a>, or the great perfection of wisdom. Of the many teachings therein, some of the most well-known are the Vajra (indestructible/diamond) sutra and the Heart sutra. In our retreat, we touched on these texts in particular. While difficult to summarize the takeaways using language (and there are others better suited anyways), a key piece to note here is the idea of emptiness as an abiding insight in parallel to sense-based experience. The teaching was shared via nested paradox. No becoming, no object/subject dichotomy, no linearity to time, and so on (including, eventually, no dharmas). Not as an intellectual concept but rather a lived experience. If you're interested in more, here's the <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/prajparagen2.pdf">original translation</a> of Master Hua's text explanation (they are retranslating now because its missing a lot in old languaging)<br />
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In some cases, these sutras were discovered quite recently to the modern world. For instance, the Vajra sutra was virtually unknown until 1900 (!) and then unknown to the west until the 1960's.<br />
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Along with this insight was the naming of the possibility of so-called 'instant insight' (which of course is only instant from 1 vantage point), leading to stories like that of Master Hua's teacher, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOyjaYSk0Zw">Master Empty Cloud</a> and the canonical <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-oWjQeDGOM&list=PLIIDc2zUth8TQ8rzZOsPkovEpz5PIFMO_&index=142">6th Patriarch Sutra</a>. The reason that Rev Heng Sure shared this (aside from it being meaningful given global situation currently) is that even if the insight cannot be lived moment-to-moment, there is a possibility of holding sense-based reality a little less tightly if there can be a tiny glimpse elsewhere.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev Heng Sure (left) holding space in circle</td></tr>
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<b>2- Five Schools</b><br />
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In my Theravada practice, the key areas focused on sila (ethics), samadhi (concentration), and panna/prajna (insight). Here, forms of practice focus on 5 schools and 6 perfections. The five schools are chanting/Pure Land, Chan meditation, Vinaya (ethics/conduct), Sutra study, and 'Secret' school (matra/mudra/mandala). The 6 paramitas are generosity, ethics, patience, energy/vigor, concentration, insight. The variety of practice focus leads to many pathways of growth and reminded me of the multiple approaches to insight from a Vedic perspective (eg raja yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga).<br />
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My upbringing was heavily influenced by my father, who I would say came from a rationalist, scientific, and atheist perspective (it has since evolved). Coming from this place, the Goenka ji tradition was exactly the one I was open to. It went out of its way to present a form of inner cultivation that a mind based on science, logic, and rationality could accept. And over the years, I've seen my energy field soften, and I've seen how a broad set of practices have supported (including Goenka vipassana). And so there I was, curious to practices of bowing, chanting, and beyond that I am open to in ways that I'm not sure I could have been earlier in my journey.<br />
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<b>3- Bodhisattvas</b><br />
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Though the concept exists in Theravada, in Mahayana it is center stage. What's behind it is the approach of 'one vehicle' - that the enlightenment spoken of in earlier suttas, 'becoming' an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/arhat">arahant</a>, is a step on the path, but not necessarily the end. In a universe imbued with interbeing, a personal enlightenment could be a partial one. In the Mahayana context, there is only one way through - the path of the Buddha. That is to say, we are all future Buddhas - not just whole in wisdom, but also whole in compassion. And what that means is taking on a path that honors that interconnection rather than pull back from it - through a path of service. A Bodhisattva takes on a vow to not cross the threshold of transcendance until all living beings first cross - and there are many such 'entities' beyond Gautama the Buddha. This doesn't negate the idea of a personal enlightenment, but rather 'enmeshes' the possibility that personal and collective aren't distinguishable at that level of insight.<br />
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There was an interesting story to this effect shared. A Bodhisattva was meditating and being bit by mosquitos. Simultaneously 3 directions of thought came up for the meditator - 1) a wish to expand the flesh of the body so that all the coming mosquitos could have their fill without issue; 2) an intention to bind to the consciousness of each mosquito such that those biters would be the first ones the meditator would take across the threshold of nirvana; 3) a holding of the paradox of the existence of the mosquitos, the meditators wish to 'liberate' the mosquitos, and a deeper emptiness where neither exists. This was a powerful story for me as any one of those perspectives seem a big stretch to hold!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guan Yin, like many Bodhisattvas, holding the feminine form in highlighting compassion</td></tr>
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And like this, many Bodhisattvas, including perhaps the most well-known in the west, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin">Guan Yin/Avalokiteshvar</a>, who is known as the Bodhisattva of compassion. Each one taking vows that would (in theory) last eons, connecting 1:1 with the 'four noble truths' outlined by Gautama Buddha-<br />
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<b>'Pithy' Noble Truths</b><br />
1-The truth of suffering<br />
2-The truth of the origination of suffering in attachment<br />
3-The truth of the cessation of suffering through ending attachment<br />
4-The truth of a path to follow that leads to this cessation<br />
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And since that language is pretty imprecise for what we're talking about-<br />
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<b>More 'to the point' Noble Truths </b> <br />
1-Life is not constantly satisfactory<br />
2-Reactivity to sense-experience causes this seemingly unavoidable dissatisfaction<br />
3-Reactivity is not inherent, it can dissolve<br />
4-There is a pathway for this to happen, its simple but not easy :)<br />
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<b>Bodhisattva vows as correlating with the truths</b><br />
1-Beings are numberless, I vow to save them.<br />
2-Reactivities are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.<br />
3-Opportunities for ending reactivities are boundless, I vow to master them.<br />
4-The pathway laid before me is unsurpassed, I vow to become it.<br />
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Quite a powerful set of intentions to take on! Especially in a context where there are only 2 guiding forces for what one becomes - inertia/habit and vows.<br />
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<b>Mahayana in Society Today, and the ServiceSpace connection</b><br />
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My understanding is that part of the reason Theravada came earlier to the west is because of the openness of Southeast Asian countries - westerners were able to go visit Thailand and Burma etc, and coming back became the Jack Kornfields and Sharon Salzbergs we now know. Similarly, my understanding is Vajrayana came to the west because His Holiness the Dalai Lama became a sort of political and spiritual leader beyond that of the country he was displaced from. From that came the Richard Davidsons and Richard Geres. And of course we have Zen as a Mahayana 'offshoot' that became well-known through folks like Phil Jackson (although the tradition shifted significantly away from its previous tenets due to Japan governmental policy in late 1800's). But, when it comes to broader Mahayana, we in the west do not seem to have such iconic names or concepts, at least to my eyes.<br />
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This is interesting to me because there are several aspects of Mahayana practice that feel deeply resonant to me. I'm also noticing how much the world of ServiceSpace seems aligned with this approach. <b>It seems to me that of a few different ideas that could spread through society from this tradition, highest potential could be the Bodhisattva concept.</b><br />
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<b>From a ServiceSpace perspective, the parallels with a Bodhisattva approach are strong.</b> The intention of selfless/empty service outlined both through the Vajra sutra text as well as through Bodhisattva vows feels deeply connected to concepts such as 'pilgrim heart', 'change yourself, change the world', and 'laddership.' The 6 paramitas lead with generosity, patience, and vigor, key components of 'gift culture.' It adds up to an invitation to serve, not from the perspective of benefit for the 'other', or to 'save the world', or even to 'enlighten oneself', but for insight into transcendence. Cultivating within and service to others becomes 2 sides of the same coin. To parallel the <a href="https://danielscharpenburg.com/2016/05/05/paradox-in-the-diamond-sutra/">paradox</a> of the Vajra text, there is nobody who serves and nobody to serve, that is why it is called service :)<br />
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And all of this is held by Rev Heng Sure as an elder in the ServiceSpace ecosystem. I have witnessed him, heard stories about him, his bowing pilgrimage, and personally benefited from his presence for many years, yet I hadn't grasped the more specific underpinnings of the tradition he has been cultivating in for +40 years. What I found in holding that inquiry felt so alive that I thought others may also appreciate some of the fruit!<br />
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In closing, below is the 'song' that has become ubiquitous in this tradition. Sung daily to close activities, it carries an <a href="https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-dedicating-merit/">intention of sharing everything</a> that one is/has for the benefit of others, even intangible merit, so that all beings may be happy and free :)<br />
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My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-82690092890343762732019-06-18T08:34:00.000-07:002019-06-18T08:34:16.600-07:00Why We Named Him Iver<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our son's name, Iver, solidified in our minds a few days after his birth.<br />
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Several weeks prior, we had been gifted a poem at my wife's baby shower. The poem was from <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/my/profile.php?mid=3944">Harshida auntie</a>, who has played a significant role in both our lives for many reasons. And the poem was by Khalil Gibran, called '<a href="https://poets.org/poem/children-1">On Children</a>':<br />
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<img height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bEUQNWQpnhOS6m5prZFBn5uSnU6xd71ep31zqw3tMDIXnxxO5_rmmqMUPsgwGXJ-2FGcnHCGR-J9SAsAmd_o3pvFfEpK5ADd02nWwZgWmB4-V0a0s_lnquPIH6KXzq67lNPrGGkzZm2aqxwKSv0ywuVeyI8fvU8Z6eiHM6B0RV6OAAKACq1KkV4Po6E_fgbictbP4PM2_U1axRKTbtENvH_aMTXPFsKO6-LIChdjIUBRWLHfoXwzwFWULXaUruObNKipfNKC5hKSiKGqJm0snBTFWTZ1xatNV5jPcY2Hk7XSOglinDYefBMh9hptzwcKi5OaZ7CpsYjKb32w1G7FDIme263IXQYCxb4zO7cJt3SbelCevB_Qfg9J2dZkc2IGKzCWVCKLNeUDNb3_J-dV6URkf_jVmW3BhOBwtq_D__eZbi2e9GIvO0svVz8sIjbH_yl5H94e8uMT55jCwrHCyL8mtZoaKmOVPQHYfwHWwZ8C-mcwr6vhyBOXvORvN4vsPIHafN5HwGFVxKwh5Z4bNcDwFg3OgtQ-KLWhkSibpgeVYe_dBA9o2AIF3bZhpOmG1z6Kwn6BQoiUsj4tUzQIVEOER7xIlnyNXgFs5TBoVBJ1U5eSpYexefe8sDK7eitGwzCAe_1S4Ezlrm58K4Dqtc0-010rY_arJG3wPNt5zzYBK5rZvbhZz8_HQaKMSSK2X1VxmqeLO0a9ehqTxUOzicoH6g=w1348-h1796-no" width="480" /><br />
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The poem continues to hang in Iver's room, and in the first year was right above the changing table for the repeated reminder :) While we much appreciated the poem, there was no direct connection to a name at the time.<br />
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However, after he was born, we were sitting with a small list of potential names. We had an intention of carrying forward a name from my wife's background, a Scandanavian or Nordic tradition, knowing that his last name would come from my lineage. And upon looking through, we saw Iver, meaning 'archer' from the Scandanavian tradition.<br />
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Our intention is that name acts as a reminder (for all of us!) that while the 'bows and arrows' are what we see in the journey of the family, the grace of the archer is what is behind it all. </div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-14722797090520851702019-06-10T12:55:00.002-07:002019-07-08T10:25:35.477-07:00Regenerative Agriculture, Veganism, and Inner Transformation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img height="360" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/76/cb/1d/76cb1d16564680d7ac375b73c9635dc5.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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For the last decade of my life, I've had elements of my work connected to the food system. As I journeyed on this path of 'waking up' in terms of my relationship to food, I have seen so many systems and approaches to potentially take on. Of course we have seen innumerable 'diets' and super-foods and questions of privilege and beyond. I wanted to focus on a couple approaches that I've seen and been involved with - <b>regenerative agriculture and veganism</b> - which some would say are antagonistic but I'm not so sure. Part of the impetus to reflect on this topic came from being inspired by <a href="https://www.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2017/03/regenetarians-unite/">this post</a> from Dr Bronner (there's a tremendous amount of value there which I won't discuss, highly recommended read). <b>The point of this reflection is to name that both approaches have value in terms of their affect on earth/mind, both can co-exist, and both have a relationship to the journey of inner development. </b>This is not a post about health impacts. In some ways, it is an explanation of the embodied life I have been living.<br />
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As context, my own background has been using multiple forms of capital in support of both movements through <a href="http://armoniallc.com/">Armonia</a> and <a href="https://mobius.life/">Mobius</a>. In both areas, I have felt like a cross between a foreign substance and a bridge. I find myself engaged in activities that support people in increasing their plant-based food consumption, reducing meat consumption, increasing regenerative meat consumption, and increasing regenerative plant-based food consumption. I am multi-generationally a vegetarian (trending both vegan and regenerative), yet I have also helped with the growth of <a href="http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/holistic-management.html">holistic management</a> of cattle to build soil across the world. It's this unique background that is what had me thinking it might be of value to offer an integrated perspective.<br />
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First off, regenerative agriculture and veganism do not strike me as an apples to apples comparison. The former is an approach to producing food, the latter is a dietary/lifestyle choice. That being said, there has been a conflation in recent times of 'regenerative' and 'animal agriculture' - eg regenerative meat, dairy, eggs. Similarly, there has been a conflation in recent times of veganism and processed foods (nut milks with locust bean gum, impossible burger, etc). Both conflations are not crazy in that <a href="https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?u=66df320da8400b581cbc1b539&id=9854da9172">processed food</a> consumption seems to be rising in the plant-based world and the most <a href="https://regenorganic.org/">well-known</a> regenerative products tend to be animal products. And this whole inquiry gets more confusing with cellular agriculture, creating things like <a href="https://cleanmeat.org/">clean meat</a> and <a href="https://www.perfectdayfoods.com/">cows milk without cows</a>.<br />
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<img height="131" src="https://www.drbronner.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/regen_feature_pic.jpg" width="200" /><img height="135" src="https://cdn-a.william-reed.com/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/publications/food-beverage-nutrition/foodnavigator-usa.com/article/2018/11/15/certified-plant-based-logo-may-have-broader-appeal-than-vegan-stamp-says-pbfa/8840722-1-eng-GB/Certified-plant-based-logo-may-have-broader-appeal-than-vegan-stamp-says-PBFA_wrbm_large.jpg" width="200" /><br />
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The <a href="http://www.regenerativeagriculturedefinition.com/">regenerative approach</a> has had plenty written about it, in short the primary question they are asking is 'how can we support nature to have the system as a whole have more life?' On the <a href="http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/engage-mail/everyday-ethics-the-challenges-of-being-vegan">vegan/plant-based side</a>, the primary question asked is 'how can we minimize the needless suffering of sentient life?' I think both questions would of course resonate with everyone, it's a question of what is primary. Of note that right now, less than 1% of people eat a fully vegan or regenerative diet, but many more folks who are interested in the values behind these approaches and are trending in their direction.<br />
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The main point here is that all of this, all of the approaches we're looking at in society, is a manifestation of people <b>waking up</b>. People are realizing they have been eating (and living?) with a limited conscious awareness of what they are eating, its impact on themselves, their community, their ecology. That process happening is what unites all these folks - and important to keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of food produced/consumed in USA (and the world) still reflects this lack of conscious awareness. This is not to blame any party (we're all in different stages of waking up in different parts of our lives, with different creative constraints), but rather naming that if this is the case, all the more reason to appreciate and value those who are asking questions of waking up.<br />
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While the overlap on intention to grow in conscious awareness may be there, what do to about is not so clear. What I've seen in my work is noticing that plant-based approaches have a pragmatic view in looking to <b>reduce harm in the current system</b>; regenerative approaches are asking how we may be able to <b>transcend the current system</b>. To me, both make sense. The current system is highly entrenched, kills >100 billion land animals/year in gruesome ways, provides cheap/unhealthy food while causing untold imbalance - making even a 2% dent in that seems like a major win. AND, the current food system is degrading the environmental system as a whole, such that its only a matter of time till we have an environmental collapse regardless of slight reductions in consumption; building another approach that works in harmony with environment after the inevitable, even if only 2% take it up right now, seems like a major win. Of course, both approaches have the possibility to shift the entrenched system very quickly also.<br />
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<img alt="File:Production still from "Final Straw, Food, Earth, Happiness" shows rice harvesting on a natural farm.jpg" height="265" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Production_still_from_%22Final_Straw%2C_Food%2C_Earth%2C_Happiness%22_shows_rice_harvesting_on_a_natural_farm.jpg/800px-Production_still_from_%22Final_Straw%2C_Food%2C_Earth%2C_Happiness%22_shows_rice_harvesting_on_a_natural_farm.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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These approaches are not either/or. It is possible to be a 'regenerative vegan' - to support nature, have a system with more life, and not contribute to the intentional killing of sentient beings. There are approaches trying this today, not just <a href="https://veganic.world/">veganic</a> agriculture but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_farming">natural farming</a> and lots of <a href="https://www.sweetfarm.org/">other</a> <a href="https://www.vegansociety.com/sites/default/files/GG%20Case%20Studies.pdf">alternatives</a>. Most calories eaten globally, <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ba07/b6e9f3cb6e77239d0e81de9aee8173595403.pdf">about 75%</a>, are from cereal grains (corn, wheat, rice) - they are mostly not grown in a regenerative way, but <a href="https://regenerationinternational.org/2016/05/26/superwheat-kernza-could-save-our-soil-and-feed-us-well/">could be</a>. The pathway to eating in this way runs straight through the underlying values of capitalism. While it may be biologically possible (and healthy) to eat and live in this way, it is not financially profitable to produce - in our system, this means it is not viable. That raises interesting questions about our collective values - and what happens if those values evolve.<br />
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<img height="240" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/07/11/opinion/livestock-shadow/livestock-shadow-articleInline.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<b>Where Inner Transformation Intersects</b><br />
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Worth noting is the '<b>shadow</b>' of these approaches. If anyone, in the process of waking up, holds to this idea that 'this is it, i have found the right answer' - we quickly open up our blind side in regards to where we may miss the next level of integrated approach.<br />
As it relates to plant-based eating, this could include:<br />
-<a href="http://www.supersummary.com/the-third-plate/summary/">contributing to a degrading system</a>, thus contributing to the extinction of countless life going forward. 'not as bad' does not equal 'good'<br />
-shaming-based approaches and the ramifications of being seen as fringe in society because of it<br />
-contributing to the needless death of countless non sentient life (eg soil microbes)<br />
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as it relates to regenerative approaches, this could include:<br />
-contributing to the killing of sentient beings, usually relatively early in their life<br />
-contributing to the maintaining of dominion over sentient beings<br />
-engaging in what has been called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/16/theres-no-such-thing-as-humane-meat-or-eggs-stop-kidding-yourself">psychological refuge</a>, where we feel good if 10% of our consumption is regen/humane, even if 90% is not<br />
-difficulty to compete in current mass-market on price (eg getting into big drivers of CAFOs like McDonald's)<br />
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and of course there are some across the board:<br />
-contributing to loss of jobs in conventional paradigm<br />
-contributing to the continuation of financialization of life as the default approach<br />
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And it is this shadow that leads to an uneasy coexistence. Everyone's looking at the missing pieces of the other, and the places where the worldview doesn't overlap (eg, 'but killing is natural!' ... 'one bad day of slaughter is one too many!'). There are 2 different worldviews here - one is that natural ecology is supreme and reverse engineering that is folly; the other is that the level of suffering in the conventional system is so obscene that any approach is worthwhile to take on in addressing it. And so we have solutions like mom-and-pop farms and genetically-modified burgers, all interested in addressing the tremendous disharmony externalized by the current system.<br />
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The point here is that its a <b>long journey</b> and we all may have a ways to go as we walk each other home. My dietary choices (and beyond) do not reflect any sort of purity either, nor am I advocating for it. I am, however, interested in walking towards the collective of values that seem present in these approaches. The pathway there <b>may not be straight-line</b> - there are ways to reduce animal suffering that are not regenerative; there are ways to regenerate the whole that involve suffering along the way; there are ways for the system to shift that follow an emergent path. By supporting people to walk the path of their own development, I've seen people who manage animals shift their <a href="https://vimeo.com/293352305">relationship to slaughter</a>; i've also seen advocates of plant-based living start to inquire about how to make sure those plants come from the wisdom of nature; i've even seen folks developing cellular agriculture asking about organic growth medium.<br />
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Again and again, those who walk the path of inquiry and growth continually develop and shift in their thought, speech, and action as it relates to this broader topic. I won't share specific people as this is continual and in-process, but it includes leaders in both movements. The pathway there seems to be strongly related to relationship and love, which creates the psychological safety and trust to continue the growth journey (as opposed to 'fight, flight, freeze'). I have to be willing to die to my need to be right, to die to my need to think I see the full picture, to die to my assumption that the 'others' myopia doesn't exist in me as well. If you're interested in this path and work in this space, i'm part of a team that hosts bi-annual farm animal advocate <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=27886">meditation retreats</a> in the spirit of gift culture, happy to share more with you.<br />
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To me, the key question is 'are we continuing to grow in our cultivation and understanding?' There's <a href="https://www.dailyevolver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Altitudes-of-Development.jpg">plenty of human development models</a> that break down what it means to not get stuck in a way of thinking. Forcing a person to think in a way they are not ready for doesn't seem to produce harmonious results - seems more skillful to support the journey of waking up and help folks keep growing in their upward cycle of wisdom rather than get stuck (which might manifest as 'i am right!' or 'they are wrong!' vs 'how could it be that there is an integrated approach here that speaks to all?')<br />
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That's the path I've been on. Even as a person who has never (consciously) eaten meat, I couldn't avoid that 97% percent of humanity does on most days, and the details of it are tough to swallow. I also couldn't avoid that my dietary choices were ensuring we'd have <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/">no viable topsoil</a> within a couple generations. Each day is another attempt to dive deeper into how to integrate these and more perspectives into compassion and wisdom. I've included below the end of the Dr Bronner's post with his suggestions on taking next steps on that path, along with continuing to ask nuanced questions.<br />
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Wishing you a continually unfolding food experience that supports your inner journey!<br />
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1. Regenetarian omnivores and vegetarians are willing to spend more for, and eat less of, meat, dairy and eggs, sourced only from correctly pastured and fed animals.</div>
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2. A boycott of “bad meat” is a hallmark of the regenetarian ethos. Animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) fed conventional carbon/water-intensive grain are an environmental and ethical disaster, inefficiently converting plant into animal protein and calories, especially in the case of feedlot (vs grassfed) beef.</div>
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3. Regenetarian vegans are committed to eating regenerative organic grains, legumes, and vegetables, and modelling the discipline for their regen omnivore comrades to just say no to bad meat. The scale of death that attends overuse of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers on non-target wildlife in conventional cropping systems makes eating regeneratively a vegan imperative.</div>
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For everyone who believes in the power of regenerative agriculture to restore soil and rebalance the earth, I recommend you become a regenetarian. To start, I suggest you go vegan for 21 days to learn how to live life easily on a regenerative organic plant-based diet, and then:</div>
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1. Reintroduce a lower level of meat, dairy and/or eggs. Eating only meat, dairy and eggs certified by the Global Animal Partnership 4 or 5 (pasture based); Animal Welfare Approved; and make sure that it is cross certified to USDA organic standards as far as feed; OR</div>
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2. You know your local farmer inside out and they are raising animals humanely on pasture as well as using organic feed/grass only, and you eat only meat, dairy and/or eggs sourced from them OR</div>
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3. Stay vegan entirely.</div>
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My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-28005159370446826652019-04-16T08:24:00.000-07:002019-04-16T08:25:28.863-07:00Regenerative Living: The Banyan Grove Toilet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo_XLHvpicbJOGf4jA7Ab9I5sh-_7n_Cq4-3ZwmZQxKU2ehQOQ83iE14kdxSGMxzkU26so6eALV65lhfEiq8c4lYCM6xtQLi1noLL2K2gWhWZ-py7FlDviCV_zMOrDLt8_NNqhKfNtzoN/s1600/37164289304_ab58b92df7_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo_XLHvpicbJOGf4jA7Ab9I5sh-_7n_Cq4-3ZwmZQxKU2ehQOQ83iE14kdxSGMxzkU26so6eALV65lhfEiq8c4lYCM6xtQLi1noLL2K2gWhWZ-py7FlDviCV_zMOrDLt8_NNqhKfNtzoN/s320/37164289304_ab58b92df7_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.servicespace.org/about/banyan/">Banyan Grove</a> is a relatively new gathering place in the ServiceSpace ecosystem. I think it's pretty great :) Yes it looks good, but for me, <b>the approach</b> is what really speaks to me, and I wanted to highlight one place in which that approach plays out - the toilet.<br />
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In my world, we talk a fair bit about this concept of regeneration. It's used a lot in some agriculture circles. The concept is fundamentally about leaving something better than we find it. And the path there is about understanding nature - that over time, abundance inevitably arises when we surrender to nature. The below graphic is one that'll I'll keep referencing to this end.<br />
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<img height="505" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/640/1*IFHiDsVU-Yxhx_kjUA-TCw.jpeg" width="640" /></div>
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<b>The Toilet System</b></div>
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On the Banyan Grove volunteer team, I've been the one most focused on sanitation. I've felt like I won a sort of prize as that shook out, given that <a href="http://www.awakin.org/calls/132/jayeshbhai-patel/">many</a> of my inspirations focused on sanitation for those who had none, and even setup a <a href="https://yourstory.com/2018/01/toilet-garden-ahmedabad">Toilet Cafe</a> to bring awareness! We stand on the shoulders of giants :)</div>
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At Banyan Grove, one could say that the water system is not in abundance. That is for a variety of reasons, but primarily because the 'out' line of water, the septic system, is not connected to a city system. It is fundamentally 'off grid.' So that means we can't just add it to a city's use and have it average out. The off-grid system is made for an 'average use' by common USA standards. And within the 'average use' paradigm, that means the average family uses about 80 gallons of water a day - more than half a days total water use, for flushing alone. Those 80 gallons relate to about 4 gallons flushed into an industrial processing system for every use of toilet. Once it's processed, we don't drink it - it actually takes a long time to make it back to be usable water. In <a href="https://www.servicemasterrestore.com/blog/water-damage/what-is-blackwater">industrial systems</a>, we treat this water with chemicals to just make it usable for non-human things, like industrial or agricultural uses (where most water goes nowadays), and is part of the reason why we are 'running out' of freshwater. We would call this a <b>conventional, degenerating</b> system - and unfortunately this is more than 90% of all toilet systems in the western world. At Banyan Grove, this approach doesn't really work, so we had to be creative.</div>
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What you'll find at Banyan Grove are 3 levels of 'choose your own adventure' as it relates to toilets. They are not exhaustive or holistic, but a manifestation of working with the circumstances that are available. Each are a major step up from prior approach, and perhaps a paradigm shift, transcendent of the previous. </div>
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The 1st are toilets in the house. They have been retrofitted to be 'ultra low flow' - what that means is that instead of 4 gallons of perfectly good water being put down the drain at every flush, there is now 1 gallon. 75% reduction in water 'wastage' - yay! The toilets look not very different from what you would normally see in the western world, and a lot better in resource usage. We would call this a <b>green</b> system, which is to say it is 'less bad.' Actually, it's significantly less bad, and a large step up from most systems out there... AND, if we used only that at Banyan Grove, we would not be able to handle the total effluent that would come into the system. </div>
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<img height="179" src="https://na.rdcpix.com/2105227372/71b6f94047b1abf9a6b46197e90ab9ebw-c0xd-w685_h860_q80.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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That's actually a great metaphor for society more broadly also - the way of thinking espoused by green approaches fundamentally has our civilization still heading towards a cliff, but now at a slow jog rather than a sprint :) And there are even more green options out there - .75 gallons a flush! .5 gallons a flush even! and if we push that logic to its logical conclusion, we find that of course the best possible solution would be for us to die - then finally we will have achieved 0 gallons a flush. I don't mean to be overly negative about green solutions - I am grateful for them, but not as the ultimate solution - rather as a functioning bridge on a path. It is a solution that in its implementation is 99% the same as a 'conventional' toilet, and should thus be easy to behaviorally adapt to, and yet provide major benefits.</div>
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But of course there is the 2nd level! At Banyan Grove, that means a system that exists outside a house. There, you'll find solar, waterless toilets. Run by solar panels installed on the roof, they incinerate waste at a temperature of over 1000 degrees, leaving just a fine dust of ash - which can actually support flower growth in the garden :) We would call this a <b>restorative</b> system. Aside from the obvious benefit of not using a single drop of water, the toilet also is not dependent on a grid electrical system (which in most cases is powered by coal). Furthermore, it functionally operates quite similarly to a 'conventional' toilet. Amazing! But there are drawbacks. </div>
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One drawback is functionality. It's not as simple to use as a conventional toilet. One needs to put a small filter in the toilet bowl before utilizing. instead of a flush mechanism, there's a pedal to step on. instead of a push flush, we now have a button that results in a 'whirring sound' of a lot of heat being generated :) Additionally, as we dive deeper into its function, we find a limit to it's eco-friendliness. solar panels are amazing - compared to coal. that being said, they also are created using plenty of precious metals (which we are running out of and do not have a circular system to handle waste) and have a life span of about 30 years. That's a long time, but far from the timescales of nature. Eventually, even a solar, waterless toilet results in mountains being blown up and quarries being dug up for precious metals, and at some point, it's not clear that even that approach would do the trick. As I said before, I don't mean to be negative about this approach - it is amazing! and it has limits to it.</div>
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And that brings us to the 3rd level :) Another system that exists outside the house. On the surface, it is simple as grass. Inside some bamboo curtains are some hay bales for urination - a compost toilet. We would call this a <b>regenerative</b> system. Here, we find that not only is no water used for processing, but we use no additional energy at all. Once the hay bales are saturated, they are moved using human labor (pitchfork and a wheelbarrow) to function as compost (not for human edibles just yet, but not far away). </div>
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Again, there are drawbacks. It doesn't smell the best. It doesn't look like a conventional toilet at all. Manual labor is involved in processing it in order to maintain usability. And yet, it is a different approach entirely, not just in manner but in paradigm. Using the hay bales, every time the toilet is used, the world gets more compost, better soil, more life being supported - one can make an argument that every toilet use is now an act of service! Whereas, in the conventional system, toilet use is thought of as something that degrades our resources. </div>
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These are the options available on site at Banyan Grove, and they are all of value. It now turns out that as it relates to water and septic at this location, we happen to have <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/427443-the-world-has-enough-for-everyone-s-need-but-not-enough">enough for everyones need, but not everyones greed</a> :) This doesn't mean everyone uses the hay bales, but rather that everyone stands at the edge of their comfort zone, and we trust each other to commit to our personal and collective growth. After all, each of these 3 options is far beyond the conventional system in use today, and more than espousing a 'right answer,' the ServiceSpace approach is about inviting inner development and then trusting.</div>
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The financial costs vary for personal implementation of these septic approaches, but over 10 years all are personally and collectively cost effective over the traditional approach, as far as I can tell. Interestingly, the most regenerative approach also requires the least financial input, and of course creates the most wealth as a result (through soil building and cycling water). And yet, again, more than 90% of systems are trapped in the conventional approach. Why is that???</div>
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<b>It's Not About the Toilet :)</b></div>
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This gets me to the point of why I felt compelled to reflect on this topic. It's actually not about toilets at all. The toilets are a metaphor :) There is a shift in living that occurs from all of these admittedly wonderful approaches. In each case, joyful utilization requires some sort of shift to happen, <b>but it is only the 3rd option that is in deep alignment with nature</b>, and consequently strongly regenerates ecology. </div>
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And regenerating ecology is what it will take to actually feel abundance in our life - if we deplete natural stock and then keep repeating an abundance mantra, it may not do us much good. It's not just septic systems. The food we eat can be produced in a regenerative manner (fyi, 'organic' certification is basically a <b>green</b> approach). The clothes we wear, the same. The products we use, the waters we swim in, the forests we breathe in, the medicine we take, and beyond. It all touches the environment, and there is a way to engage with it so that by using it, we have engaged in an act of service. Of course, at this point that is not a collective reality - but also at this point, for the most part its rarely even conceived of. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="108" src="https://regenorganic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/food-system-certifications.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The upcoming regenerative organic certification aims to bring this approach to food</td></tr>
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This starts to get important when service is applied to approaches where the system continues to degenerate, or is green. Seeing from this lens, there's plenty of examples of how big and small approaches fit into an approach that has varying amounts of surrendering to nature. the <a href="https://seedfreedom.info/nothing-green-in-the-green-revolution/">green revolution</a> was about service, but not necessarily about regeneration. Today, we <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/after-a-14-billion-upgrade-new-orleans-levees-are-sinking/">build levees</a> on fundamentally non-viable cities and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/15/the-age-of-robot-farmers">create robots</a> to pick strawberries in service to the hard lives of migrant farm workers. On the other side, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/04/13/711144729/can-this-breakfast-cereal-help-save-the-planet">kernza</a> is quickly turning into a viable regenerative grain. It's all 'service' - and like the toilet analogies at Banyan Grove, I'd say it's all of value - but not because it's a final solution. Rather, it provides a scaffolding for humanity to step forward in wisdom and understanding, and to keep stepping forward beyond the initial step.</div>
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But that's not the crux of it either :) The elder, <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3456">Satish Kumar</a>, has talked about the 3 forms of wealth that are 'real' in the world - Soil, Soul, and Society (ie, everything else is a collective agreement that we can withdraw). I'll build on that to speak to what I believe he is referring to - Ecology, Inner Transformation, and Community. <b>It's not just ecology that benefits from a shift to a regenerative lens, but the other two as well</b>. </div>
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<b>ServiceSpace's Regenerative Role</b></div>
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In the context of community, there are many 'technologies' within the ServiceSpace world that are utilized to support regeneration. It's an interesting question to ask - what are the lessons from nature that are applicable to community? Holding space, being in circle, talking stick, supporting ripples, assuming value, integral nonviolence, service, generosity, gift culture, and so many more. As time has gone on, we've seen more relationships, deeper relationships, depolarization, and continued emergence of what is referred to in shorthand as '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7q_uu-qBrg">many to many</a>.'</div>
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And the same approach to the inner landscape. What is in deep alignment with the evolution of human nature? There are many ways to engage with the inner life which are degenerative, which are sustainable, and which are regenerative. Again, we see the <a href="http://www.dailygood.org/story/1300/let-s-make-virtue-viral-nipun-mehta/">ServiceSpace approach</a>, utilizing broad tools of meditation, compassion, gratitude, kindness, and beyond. To be so bold, I would say it's an inquiry into love :)</div>
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The kinds of exemplars in the ecosystem speak to a sort of ultimate trust in nature, whether <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=27212">Vinoba Bhave</a> (community) or <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=1666">Masanobu Fukuoka</a> (ecology) or <a href="http://nipun.servicespace.org/blog.php?id=755">SN Goenka</a> (inner development). Learning how to skillfully get out of the way so nature can do its work may be the core of regeneration, and it may be applicable moreso in life as a whole than in any particular area.</div>
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Yes there are <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/about/">projects</a> going on in ServiceSpace, but the point of them is not in the doing alone (especially considering the gift ecology approach) - they are vehicles to engage with a life of regeneration. Learning to trust nature, witnessing abundance arise as we practice the tenets of a regenerative life, and thus diving into a virtuous cycle supporting a transformative process.</div>
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Which brings me to the earlier question - why is it that most toilets are the opposite of regenerative? is it that people just don't know, and if they did, everything would change? Evidence shows this isn't the case. The solutions are out there, the explanations are out there, but they are not utilized. What holds us back seems internal and communal. This is a core of why I feel called to offer in my particular context - in my experience, it has been the journey of inner regeneration, that then flows to community regeneration, that then flows to ecological regeneration. </div>
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What it takes seems to be the inner practices, and over time, we see the qualities arise that allow for other components to head in a regenerative direction. In my case, it's a slow process (and I mean that not just in a self-deprecatory way), but, like nature, it seems to grow in non-linear ways. Metaphorically, we all get to choose the practices that support the edge of our comfort zone, and grow from there - whether it's food, relationship, meditation, or the simple toilet!</div>
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My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-60812456205822807632019-04-15T15:52:00.002-07:002019-04-15T15:52:42.178-07:00Sharings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some conversations in recent years that happened...<br />
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<a href="http://lifteconomy.com/blog/2017/1/21/birju-pandya-what-if-going-to-work-was-about-becoming-a-better-person">Lift Economy conversation</a> and <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=7515">Greater Good conference</a></div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-2596614573465703042019-04-11T21:01:00.000-07:002019-04-11T21:01:31.915-07:00Years have passed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pdYq_bFrBQ1-9v6GgNZN1bOTygkInIcZa2d05v_dBeevxmAExQjuOIYueUTf3uTDNZibiaEInipJBjL8BWqjSi46C2KtfzXcFmzky-0mY7BcfULlUt_y9ELnbVlFRDChzTsAckboAea9/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="626" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pdYq_bFrBQ1-9v6GgNZN1bOTygkInIcZa2d05v_dBeevxmAExQjuOIYueUTf3uTDNZibiaEInipJBjL8BWqjSi46C2KtfzXcFmzky-0mY7BcfULlUt_y9ELnbVlFRDChzTsAckboAea9/s320/Untitled.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's been a few years since i've written in this format. Partly related to a bit of a block. I'm not sure if there is much of meaning to say. And what I do have to say doesn't seem best suited to a medium such as this. I have written a little on the <a href="https://www.servicespace.org/my/profile.php?mid=102797">ServiceSpace platform</a> in the intervening time. I've also done a fair bit of journaling. But I think mostly it is related to life's pace. I'm now the father to a wonderful baby boy, who is 18 months old :) Though I won't be sharing much about him on this medium as his story is his own to share.<br />
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I think I do want to write again, but more from a perspective of helping me see me. Others may of course read along the way, this is not meant as a journal :) I think of times in my life, usually when I'm in the process of something - maybe driving, or exercising, or feeding my son - and i'll think of a topic that is meaningful to me. And I'll think 'oh, i really want to write about this. to process it through prose.' and i think that's why i'm writing this now, and whatever comes out later. less about polish, although i do have a lifetime of bullet point thinking to work through!<br />
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One of the topics that has been a guide for life in these last few years is gratitude. Just how much there is to be grateful for, and paradoxically just how much there is to grieve. To my body, they feel related in some way. I don't mean this just in a macro sort of way, but in a 'my life' sort of way. the list for what i'm grateful for in my life is long, and very micro. while i had seen it before, i'm not sure i had felt it. what it feels like to be in touch with the first conscious breath in the morning. to see my parents for a video chat. to touch my family. to simply know that certain dear ones exist. to hear a poem that i can't really understand, but something in my heart aches anyways. it's not owed to me. it can go at any time. i'm not sure i'm really in touch with that.<br />
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And grief. to be willing to feel it. to tear up, to sob. for whatever reason, whether the underlying driver is my separate self feeling hurt and small or my separate self slowly dissolving into a glorious whole. i've been appreciating the opportunity to feel it consciously, to the extent i can metabolize it. trauma, my own, my inheritance, our inheritance. where i don't feel seen. where i feel scared. and where i feel lifted and looked around and wondered how i could have lived a whole life and missed <i>this</i>. <br />
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All this to say i'm going to be writing a little more. that's my intention at least. and it'll be less coherent, or meaningful, or complete, or depolarizing.... that actually sounds really good to me :)</div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-76790303191155351372018-09-17T10:55:00.000-07:002018-09-17T10:56:19.175-07:00Animal Rights Retreat FAQ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Below is detailed FAQ for the upcoming Pollination Project retreat for Farm Animal Advocates-<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Why meditate? </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Here is </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://hbr.org/2014/03/mindfulness-in-the-age-of-complexity&source=gmail&ust=1488264936118000&usg=AFQjCNE6gXv_WCfpEuHPeU6v5Z4L2wFoaA" href="https://hbr.org/2014/03/mindfulness-in-the-age-of-complexity" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">a link</span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> from the Harvard Business Review on Mindfulness in the Age of Complexity and an </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_people_change?utm_source%3DGGSC%2BNewsletter%2BAugust%2B%25232%2B%2B2015%26utm_campaign%3DGG%2BNewsletter%2B2%2B%2B-%2BAugust%2B2015%26utm_medium%3Demail&source=gmail&ust=1488264936119000&usg=AFQjCNEEjIxjn4YR7Ck8sjGnnjaAwJ6W8A" href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_people_change?utm_source=GGSC+Newsletter+August+%232++2015&utm_campaign=GG+Newsletter+2++-+August+2015&utm_medium=email" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">book passage</span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> by the man known as the happiest man in the world through brain scans who is vegan and an animal rights advocate. Organizationally, </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://nationswell.com/7-workplaces-mindfulness-benefits/&source=gmail&ust=1488264936119000&usg=AFQjCNE9TufIzkdwKMMsQSJfw7qKEBz8Mg" href="http://nationswell.com/7-workplaces-mindfulness-benefits/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">this blog</span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> discusses places where employees are benefiting from mindfulness and </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_increase_compassion_at_work&source=gmail&ust=1488264936119000&usg=AFQjCNHzUQG7PltJikjPirarYFjkrKLgvQ" href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_increase_compassion_at_work" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">this one</span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> where mindfulness promotes a more compassionate workplace.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Why go on retreat? </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Since ancient times all wise cultures have known the value of retreat. Time in retreat allows us to step out of the complexity of our life, to listen deeply to our body, heart and mind. Meditation retreats offer practical instruction and group support for discovering inner understanding and freedom. The retreat will combine the fertile atmosphere of silence with extensive time for meditation and walks in nature, supported by systematic teachings. Careful guidance and training is offered in meditation. <b><i></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">A retreat provides an opportunity and a caring container for undertaking intensive meditation, like an immersion course in a language. The central practice is mindfulness, which enables us to see the ways we create difficulties in our lives and to discover a freedom of heart in the midst of all things. The mindfulness practice on retreat will be accompanied and complemented by training in loving-kindness meditation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Most of the retreat is held in silence; retreatants do not speak to one another. Writing and reading are also discouraged, so that retreatants can better stay with their own present experience as it unfolds, moment to moment. In this silent and mindful environment, awareness sharpens, the body quiets, the mind clears, and space opens for insight and understanding to develop.<br /><br />With no diversions there is nothing to distract us. Since there is no place to hide from ourselves, there is a good possibility that we will know ourselves better after a retreat than we did before. Self-knowledge and understanding grow as we see that we can live each moment either with inattention, fear and judgment, or with clarity, kindness and wakefulness. By cultivating the power of awareness, clarity and kindness, we discover our path to liberation, inner freedom and a peaceful heart.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Can I participate in less than the full retreat?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">You are required to attend the full retreat. Requests for late arrivals or early departures must be approved by the teacher(s) before the retreat.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Will we be in silence during the retreat? Why?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">During most of the retreat the participants will be in silence while the teachers will offering guided meditation and teachings, as well as be available for individual or group meetings.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The result is a pervasive silence that serves as a foundation for the meditation practice and creates a palpable and nourishing atmosphere of stillness. Most people come to cherish the silence of retreat. Even those who were intimidated by it in the beginning often find such peace in the silence that they are reluctant to give it up at the end. As people become aware of its richness, they come to look forward to silence rather than fear it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Retreat silence has many benefits. Because social conversation keeps the mind active, periods of not talking help the mind rest. Silence settles the many emotions that are activated by talking, listening, and even in the anticipation of talking. As our mental and emotional lives calm down, our bodies relax.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Silence allows for a heightened sense of intimacy with the world. In sustained silence our senses become more acute, and both the inner and outer world can appear to us with greater clarity. For example, we may begin to notice the birdsong we previously failed to hear, or we may tune in to our quieter thoughts, which normally get drowned out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">For most people, the silence of a retreat creates a space in which they can see themselves more clearly. Rather than being actively distracted by work, relationships, the internet, music, or various external events, they have an opportunity to notice overlooked feelings and concerns. The sustained periods of silence give people a chance to observe the subtle, important motivations and values behind how they live. As you relax into the collective stillness, participants often discover that being together with others in silence allows for a rich sense of connection that is more satisfying than if they had spent the same time engaged in conversation. Rather than knowing others through the stories of who they are, what they do, and what they have done, the silence highlights our shared humanity and a direct feeling of empathy and rapport. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">How are the teachers compensated?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">The retreat will be using the system in practice over thousands of years of paying forward the generosity teachers offer in sharing their wisdom called </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/dana-in-the-western-insight-meditation-movement/&source=gmail&ust=1488264936119000&usg=AFQjCNHFzYFKRWz5NZ0l4VEfB25yyyPVMg" href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/dana-in-the-western-insight-meditation-movement/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">dana</span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;">.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">What clothing should I pack? What other essentials should I bring? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">We will be sending an email to attendees in the weeks prior to the retreat that outlines these elements.<b></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">What if I get sick on retreat?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">We have first aid on hand and there is access to local area hospitals if needed.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Is it possible to stay extra days before or after retreat?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">We can discuss on an individual basis.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Can I arrive early on the day the retreat starts?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Yes, but rooms will not be available until 3<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_721404238" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">pm</span></span>.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Can I arrive late and/or leave early?</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">We ask that you stay for the entirety of the retreat.</span></div>
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My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-13676904076779677582016-02-06T21:36:00.001-08:002016-02-06T21:36:19.684-08:00"Honeymoon"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hB8gQJ0v8xr2D2UYZYeBKh6CWZI7EGETD5r5hvo0Zo8F567QSh-ibkhlUp1Ap0jdPW_Bnsko_ZRGEg4Bb1sAixSfRbCm3ZxkGNGhLbtkR1-YdkUA5i0p8_7T1eQiq3xP3lTb7qEYDyxe/s1600/smile.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hB8gQJ0v8xr2D2UYZYeBKh6CWZI7EGETD5r5hvo0Zo8F567QSh-ibkhlUp1Ap0jdPW_Bnsko_ZRGEg4Bb1sAixSfRbCm3ZxkGNGhLbtkR1-YdkUA5i0p8_7T1eQiq3xP3lTb7qEYDyxe/s640/smile.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I'm actually not a big fan of the word 'honeymoon.' To me, it implied indulgence, or even willful ignorance of the state of the world. Over the last several months, that perspective evolved as I saw the opportunity to have more space for dialogue with Anne-Marie, and even the possibility to reframe the experience towards our shared values. Several months ago, we were both beyond surprised when we were gift bombed a honeymoon - completely open, do with it as we please. We reflected on it for some time, and took a leap in receiving :) We came up with a trip that smacked of indulgence at one level, and heart-connection at another.<br />
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India, then Thailand. First, we would connect with our family that taught us the value of service to others. Then, deepen relationship with inspiring individuals devoted to inner cultivation. And finally come to a space to expand our understanding of living in ecological harmony. What follows is a bit about a few of the many inspirational people we met in our travels, as we came away enriched through exposure to their hearts.<br />
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<b>Archan Trivedi</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJaPQsTX_-ti77uIosO13XG7adm9HMEFG6ujkv7jcI43IkXDoGRNQWtoAQ-wKGml2z4VaeYTaQ6XmCuVKjrUcjRnsOmCsnwRNDfyuMnwJjyKS4j3bYQ3t8eud57BM1Yq6JPJuP6ueWtup/s1600/11215866_904852216256766_7004640934501885470_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJaPQsTX_-ti77uIosO13XG7adm9HMEFG6ujkv7jcI43IkXDoGRNQWtoAQ-wKGml2z4VaeYTaQ6XmCuVKjrUcjRnsOmCsnwRNDfyuMnwJjyKS4j3bYQ3t8eud57BM1Yq6JPJuP6ueWtup/s320/11215866_904852216256766_7004640934501885470_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Archan bhai is on the right here, and on the left is Amitabh Bachchan, a well-known Indian actor. My family has had a long relationship with him. When Anne-Marie and I arrived in India, my parents had planned for a gathering to introduce her to my local family - so we had the pleasure of reconnecting with Archan bhai. It was a 'small gathering' of a few hundred :) and Archan bhai began our time together with a performance.<br />
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He has had a most amazing journey - himself a well-known actor/singer in his state of Gujarat. And along with that, he would volunteer his time with the local slum children, teaching them to dance and sing as well.<br />
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Several years ago, he was diagnosed with blood and lung cancer with middling survival chances, and 2 things happened together. One, the Gandhi Ashram community was there supporting him through the process of treatment in every way imaginable. Two, he himself shifted his approach to one of even deeper service. Every conversation from then on began and ended with 3 words - I love you. He has said it over a million times, and he no longer has cancer. Just being in his energy field was a joy for both Anne-Marie and I! Here's a short video of him sharing that bit himself-<br />
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<b>Cows</b><br />
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How many? +6000. It is part of a broader animal sanctuary that is within a Jain spiritual community on the border between Gujarat and Rajasthan. The community was started with the help of <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=18319">Parag and Mita</a>, who held an intention of a place of nonviolence where human and non-human could cultivate.<br />
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These animals live for 14 years, and they are fed every day (for more, <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/NTNHKQkyDaZTh9uVA">here's a video</a> I took). They are not milked and they are not killed. The average cow in the US lives 2 years, about the age of an adolescent, before they are slaughtered. The common reason given for this (beyond human taste for meat) is economic. <br />
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Certainly, these folks have chosen to forgo tremendous economic gain with their choices, but given that their compass is driven by a more holistic form of wealth, and led with compassion, the choice starts to make sense. Interestingly, when they share this message with people who come there, they are met with the same compassion, and the animals are actually cared for without a financial shortfall.<br />
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<b>Sant Amitabh & Jitendra</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLJlJC2iKRj6dGXFTZNh83l875Xx5oQ1MCvo75y9WRSUdjwRpocBMNKeSnvlqNlx8595CzJipiXSU9xJJn6p9jfhSv_-iMZ44rY6kAwE242Q-7enEMjWkYmeZsDtrtR1m_cf8gszeitme/s1600/MtAbu-SantAmitabhGroup.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLJlJC2iKRj6dGXFTZNh83l875Xx5oQ1MCvo75y9WRSUdjwRpocBMNKeSnvlqNlx8595CzJipiXSU9xJJn6p9jfhSv_-iMZ44rY6kAwE242Q-7enEMjWkYmeZsDtrtR1m_cf8gszeitme/s640/MtAbu-SantAmitabhGroup.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
You'll see Sant Amitabh in the center on the chair and Jitendra as the darker-skinned man in the back left. <br />
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Sant means saint in Hindi. A few days after meeting Archan bhai, a few of us took a trip to Mt Abu, a sacred mountain in Rajasthan, where one of our stops was at this ashram. Sant Amitabh was originally a Jain monk, but after 30+ years of that, he discovered the value of meditation for the insight and peace he was longing for (Jain monastic practices placed less emphasis on meditation). And so for the last 40+ years, he's been focused mostly on being present in his inner journey, and offering insight to anyone who came by.<br />
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Jitendra was one of the volunteers at the ashram. Himself a 70 year old man with decades of inner practice and service, his energy was a revelation. Anne-Marie and I may have never seen a man with that context be so ready and willing to serve so humbly. Endless energy (cooks for everyone, fights you to clean up, and wins), caring (never focused on himself, even when we ask him questions, he shifts the inquiry to how wonderful others are), and humble (on multiple occasions, fully prostrates before Audrey, 40 years his junior, in love and respect). We left the space feeling like we'd received a crash course in how to combine inner practice and outer service!<br />
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<b>Kiran Patel</b><br />
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Just to the left of me is Kiran bhai. Most people who know me have heard me share about <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=231">Jayesh Patel</a>, who I've been inspired by for years. As we left Mt Abu, Jayesh bhai told us about his elder cousin, who we had to meet. <br />
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Kiran bhai runs a Gandhian school in rural Gujarat. Calling it a school feels like a misnomer - its really a network of schools, educating +30,000 children, all for next to no money and geared towards the poorest of the poor. It was actually his fathers mission - to combine the worldly activities of education with the spiritual teachings of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo">Sri Aurobindo</a>. A mission continued by Kiran bhai and his brother. <br />
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The rural-based school focused on teaching Gandhian lessons of self-sufficiency, ecological stewardship, inner cultivation, and service to our fellow man. I asked him how this can be done financially, and he says he'll do whatever he needs to, including taking jobs on the side, always with the intention of doing everything to support the children. In a land where GMO's, pesticides, and 'conventional agriculture' is taking deeper root by the day, this man is educating thousands in a different way, driven by a heart of compassion.<br />
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<b>Uday and Ragu</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTRZn5k-EYVA4RI55-sJV_u5uLuidpcsFp6LEn9HN4YhYXgMbnoShymv3rmE4SprW9nFFPDyNtwcTiptxk65eO-5rQDkc20E5G7c8W96u2hmtoRrIv0U0puNkXX_Y1lTmubX4L5lvNYDK/s1600/IMG_4337.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTRZn5k-EYVA4RI55-sJV_u5uLuidpcsFp6LEn9HN4YhYXgMbnoShymv3rmE4SprW9nFFPDyNtwcTiptxk65eO-5rQDkc20E5G7c8W96u2hmtoRrIv0U0puNkXX_Y1lTmubX4L5lvNYDK/s640/IMG_4337.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Uday bhai and Ragu bhai were both in the house as we got back to Ahmedabad in time for the beginning of the first ever 'Sabarmati Festival.' The original idea was to draw attention to the artisan crafts that this region of India is behind, but on this evening it was a showcase of the continuing work in the line of Gandhi. <br />
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This was highlighted by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrVHarNCaYA">Nimo's</a> performances throughout the evening, but also included talks by these 2 super inspiring individuals. One of whom is a <a href="http://www.thebetterindia.com/4813/tbi-heroes-ahmedabad-no-rickshawalo-personifying-love-all-serve-all/">rickshaw driver</a> and does it with a heart of love and no price tag. The other is the head chef at <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=169">Seva Cafe</a> in Ahmedabad, again all heart and no price tag :) <br />
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Click this link to hear Uday bhai's talk - <span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">https://goo.gl/photos/NqSwYUMGuQfqLAha8</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">And this link to hear Ragu bhai's talk - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">https://goo.gl/photos/jv3wrShx79Z7zyZeA</span><br />
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<b>Suresh Parmar</b><br />
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While my time with Suresh bhai was limited due to illness, his story was nonetheless super inspiring - and to have him leave all that to come visit me bedside and give me a footrub with the same energy that he has <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=18541">revitalized an entire village</a> armed with $10/month and love in his heart (link highly recommended :).<br />
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<b>Rongrit</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9t-uxdt14T9ilywhydj47Dg-OLPgXJGjKsawOO4e_GcYc_I2N9J0fhif2uov4ppklzZEqCqJnjDIK2BHxDkbVmxBCXNnNdz4wmjdK064XE-Pfut17Ll__n2QPc0hJ-29H1QJl9PuTqnps/s1600/IMG_20160115_141721526.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9t-uxdt14T9ilywhydj47Dg-OLPgXJGjKsawOO4e_GcYc_I2N9J0fhif2uov4ppklzZEqCqJnjDIK2BHxDkbVmxBCXNnNdz4wmjdK064XE-Pfut17Ll__n2QPc0hJ-29H1QJl9PuTqnps/s640/IMG_20160115_141721526.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Rongrit is directly next to me here. He is a monk in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition in Thailand (Chiang Mai, specifically). We met at a Buddhist university, where everyday there is a practice called 'monk chat' - where monks sit outside on park benches and meet lay people to answer any questions they may have on any topic. <br />
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So here was a monk who had been practicing for 10+ years with much earnestness. We spent the day together and Anne-Marie and I peppered him with many questions on what it means to live such a life in a country that is 95% Buddhist. In some ways Rongrit would not stand out at all - his appearance, his demeanor, everything is geared towards not being seen as 'somebody.' And yet, to actually come close and <i>inquire</i> - and we started to see embodied insight towards living a life in constant service.<br />
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Of the more interesting reflections we heard from him - in this country of Buddhist practice, only 2 out of the 3 themes were put into action. Ethics, Concentration, and Insight. Laypeople practiced the first, monks practiced the first two. However, insight/Vipassana practice was reserved from most folks, and Rongrit even mentioned that he didn't feel ready to take the practice on. There was a sacredness that these things had that I felt was less present in western practice. You could be a monk your whole life and never practice the crown jewel of the practice - Vipassana meditation. Meanwhile us lay people can be initiated into practice in <a href="http://dhamma.org/">10 days</a> or less. I was left reflecting on what is lost when I cultivate such a mind of impatience.<br />
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<b>Tony</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_yXEgS81UoEpsjkPb4XjgUOVXp_GwJ-YEwNLSEtHIuoU9qTut9KawbKprJ_Crd0yEAFQruVubejLzpM2WxPcy3fZ9GZAVCufIWrtPu10fxWW7SGJhtXrZln1a5fxlCsGuUO6tElNR6lA/s1600/tumblr_nya12dITYk1ueeblho2_540.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_yXEgS81UoEpsjkPb4XjgUOVXp_GwJ-YEwNLSEtHIuoU9qTut9KawbKprJ_Crd0yEAFQruVubejLzpM2WxPcy3fZ9GZAVCufIWrtPu10fxWW7SGJhtXrZln1a5fxlCsGuUO6tElNR6lA/s640/tumblr_nya12dITYk1ueeblho2_540.jpg" width="360" /></a><br />
Another monk Anne-Marie and I 'ran into' while in Thailand (either our good luck or Thailand has been doing some amazing things!) 24 years old, been a monastic for more than a decade. <br />
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We asked him what led to that choice - he says he hadn't even heard of Buddhism, but he did know that to ordain meant a free education, and he signed up. Imagine that - i know of a few countries where if you're a young man seeking a free education, the nationally recognized route is to put oneself in the line of violent action. Over the years, Tony actually started to feel connected with what he was being exposed to, and took it more and more seriously. He is now teaching at a local school along with his other duties.<br />
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We asked if he saw himself staying ordained through his life, and he mentioned interest. Interestingly, he mentioned how Thai monastic practice felt to him as the most watered down, and a part of him longed for Myanmar/Burma and Laos, where the traditions were more directly connected to a life of insight and a spiritual practice rather than a religious one.<br />
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<b>Peggy Reents</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwmXl83U0qA7vrwzLx37LGlb17nU7dUmCRXsA571Qzs-gXK3T4suL7x-r00SkQHlsOKKaodoHYYJlfBQdOiTkDpxjU0hNZ5-Fvd12HYCLFzNCmzl1Fx0RfmRXqhNp-LsMn61tsiE4nhth/s1600/IMG_20160116_102601321.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwmXl83U0qA7vrwzLx37LGlb17nU7dUmCRXsA571Qzs-gXK3T4suL7x-r00SkQHlsOKKaodoHYYJlfBQdOiTkDpxjU0hNZ5-Fvd12HYCLFzNCmzl1Fx0RfmRXqhNp-LsMn61tsiE4nhth/s640/IMG_20160116_102601321.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Anne-Marie and I originally came across <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb4_uorsNcg">Peggy</a> because of her connection to her partner <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=2747">Jon Jandai</a>, whose TEDxTalk had deeply inspired us years ago. We had planned visit to visit Punpun Resilience Center (Punpun means '1000 varieties' in Thai) and learn from them both while also going through an earthen building course. Life intervened. I was beset with a stomach bug and Jon was traveling. And yet, we started to build a relationship with much to learn. <br />
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Peggy is originally from Colorado and had strong interest in ecology and activism. In her travels she met farmers who were living in service to the land, but none like Jon Jandai. Jon told her to 'be poor.' Farming with a mindset of voluntary simplicity. The seed-saving center that is Punpun came from that mindset - and yet, every year was an abundance from nature as they served the land. And with that mindset, was a shift in what was valued. She had more time, more spaciousness. Punpun evolved to be not only a center for ecology but also a center for intentional community. A center for inner inquiry. <br />
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We left the center feeling like we had not even scratched the surface, and the biggest learnings were not related to the tangible, despite all the mud pits that Anne-Marie stomped through! :)<br />
<br />
---------------------------<br />
<br />
These are just a few of the SO MANY PEOPLE that just blew our minds for a few weeks in January 2016. If interested in more, we took many pictures, a subset of which <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/4CXELHpMq8igkxJb6">are here</a> :) As if our gratitude weren't deep enough, I feel that we are carrying the hearts of all we met as we continue our best to grow within back at home in the bay :)</div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-61943121392153591152015-08-22T22:27:00.001-07:002015-08-22T22:27:54.345-07:00Commitment and Vows<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I_qP8V5rkDg/VdlZxrEsXgI/AAAAAAAA9W8/X_pTy_IPJmY/s1600-h/image13%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="image13" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image13" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JQiBxJ7A8ZE/VdlZyRwOudI/AAAAAAAA9XE/DvCSqUOvtfg/image13_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="391" height="293"></a></p> <p>A few weeks back, my best friend and long-time partner, Anne-Marie, and I took on lifelong vows to support each others life journey :) It was a small gathering with an intention of simplicity, joyfulness, and sacredness. Our day was anchored by a short ceremony and a meditation/sharing circle. In the ceremony, both Anne-Marie and I committed to the vows that are shared below. They are iterated from the inspirations of <a href="http://nipun.servicespace.org/blog.php?id=116">Nipun/Guri</a> and <a href="http://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/teachers/zopa/advice/pdf/weddingceremonyeditedkm.pdf">Lama Thubten Yeshe</a>. The intention was to invite vows to support the inner transformation of ourselves and our partners towards compassion and wisdom.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mqCxeQ8a4zA/VdlZzIR9t5I/AAAAAAAA9XM/WtTDM_LSYdE/s1600-h/image5%252520-%252520Copy%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="image5 - Copy" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image5 - Copy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cvqOKB8cRxI/VdlZz5bN4PI/AAAAAAAA9XU/Yxj9wmcSp_4/image5%252520-%252520Copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="386" height="289"></a></p> <p><b> <p>Anne-Marie and Birju, do you pledge to help each other to develop your hearts and minds? cultivating generosity, gratitude, patience, enthusiasm, concentration and wisdom as you age and undergo the various ups and downs of life? and to transform these vicissitudes into the path of love, compassion, joy and equanimity? <p> <p>Recognizing that the external conditions in life will not always be smooth and that internally your own minds and emotions will sometimes get stuck in negativity. Do you pledge to see all these circumstances as a challenge to help you grow, to open your hearts, to develop in authenticity, to see your own unconscious, to accept yourselves, and each other; and to generate compassion for others who are suffering? Do you pledge to avoid becoming narrow, closed or opinionated, and to help each other to see various sides of situations? <p> <p>Understanding that just as we are a mystery to ourselves, each other person is also a mystery to us. Do you pledge to seek to understand your selves, each other, and all living beings, to examine your own minds continually and to regard all the mysteries of life with curiosity and joy? Do you pledge to hold the spirit of awe and reverence for the mystery of life? <p> <p>Do you pledge to preserve and enrich your affection for each other, and to share it with all beings? To take the loving feelings you have for one another and your vision of each other's potential and inner beauty as an example, and rather than spiraling inwards and becoming self absorbed, to radiate this love outwards to all beings? <p> <p>When it comes time to part, do you pledge to look back at your time together with joy and gratitude-- joy that you met and shared what you have--and acceptance that we cannot hold on to anything forever? <p> <p>Do you pledge to keep awareness of the disadvantages of ignorance, anger, aversion and clinging attachment, to apply antidotes when these arise in your minds, and to remember the kindness of all other beings and your connection to them? Do you pledge to work for the good of others, with all of your compassion, wisdom and skill? <p> <p>Do you pledge to work to develop the wisdom of understanding the nature of reality and existence – going beyond the relative and apparent towards the unchanging and subtle? Do you pledge to grow in understanding of nature’s law? <p> <p>Do you pledge day to day, to be patient with yourselves and others, knowing that change comes slowly and gradually, and to seek inspiration from your guides and not to become discouraged? <p> <p>Do you pledge to continuously strive to remember each others inner beauty, as well as the inner beauty of all living beings? To support and grow the qualities of love in each other? <p></b> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5w5YLUIrX5U/VdlZ0cTww7I/AAAAAAAA9Xc/vDJFzC2jsmI/s1600-h/IMG_1621%252520-%252520Copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1621 - Copy" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1621 - Copy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dzFD11qXcWQ/VdlZ04897VI/AAAAAAAA9Xk/vm53A-117-E/IMG_1621%252520-%252520Copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="221" height="389"></a></p> <p>I also read a short reflection as part of the ceremony:</p> <p>Anne-Marie, I love you! You have helped me understand what the word love even means. I understood it not because of an intellectual definition, but by having it shown to me through your embodiment of it. How you treat me, how much you listen, that you suspend judgment, offer invisible acts of kindness, speak caring words, pay attention to our subtle interactions, and so many other things that’s its hard to categorize into a list, even though I want to. </p> <p>Small things, like quickly taking my car to get washed so I look decent in front of my boss and family! And big things, like doing intensive meditation retreats together and moving across the country to support my life’s calling. I so appreciate you, and I feel grateful to make a commitment to support your well-being for my life. That is my intention, and I intend to work so that I can be better and better at putting those intentions into action. Thank you for choosing me as I choose you.</p> <p>-----------</p> <p>May all grow in compassion, courage, and wisdom!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_36EhGt_kXo/VdlZ1ltk5zI/AAAAAAAA9Xs/xKXOXJuiHbQ/s1600-h/9%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="9" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="9" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X2rk2NFieVk/VdlZ2HypU_I/AAAAAAAA9X0/LJVKbhuyGbU/9_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="388" height="260"></a></p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-16471230043811918872015-06-13T13:13:00.001-07:002015-06-13T13:13:32.819-07:00What I’m working on; What I’m learning<p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Berkeley_Sunset_-_Flickr_-_Joe_Parks.jpg" width="456" height="285"></p> <p>It’s been nearly two years since I moved to the bay area! I <a href="http://birjupandya.blogspot.com/2014/02/moving-to-san-francisco.html">wrote a post on my own evolution</a> when I first arrived, and thought it was time to update with some of the fruits of the time here.</p> <p>Coming from a perspective of wanting to ‘change the world’, I’ve been in a journey to understand what it means to focus on ‘being the change’ as a primary driver in life. That means developing a sense of self-compassion when I can see ways to practice love more deeply, but not having the inner capacity at this time to actually do it. It means actively growing my inner capacity. And it means doing things in the world, but not holding on to the work product as the point – rather, the person I am becoming through engaging in the work is primary. Given this approach, <em>what</em> i do is de-emphasized next to <em>how</em> i do it. The ‘how’ of patience, of unconditionality, of love, of supporting the edges, of trust, of growing ‘real’ wealth (ecology, community, wisdom/compassion).</p> <p>Relationships continue to be most important in this for me. Group contexts of <a href="armoniallc.com">Armonia</a>, <a href="http://www.nesselinc.com/live-generously.asp">Nessel Development</a>, <a href="http://rsfsocialfinance.org/values/purpose-values/">RSF Social Finance</a>, <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/about/team.php">ServiceSpace</a>, and many others who share the wish of inquiry: how do we engage with the world of money while being primarily motivated towards inner transformation? </p> <p>Below, some seedlings that have sprouted as I’ve been able to work with a host of friends, colleagues, and mentors in the spirit of love. None of this work is ‘mine’ as I see it, but I am grateful to be connected to an ecosystem where this is happening-</p> <p>-<a href="http://www.kindspring.org/challenge/">21 day challenges at KindSpring</a>. inviting people into the daily ‘work’ of heart awakening, building off the latest in science and practice. guiding dialogues in the office context based off these practices.</p> <p>-<a href="https://bealocalist.org/well-being-business-lab">Well-Being in Business</a> and Finance. groups of business leaders who want to live into a different values set with each other. no more competition to see who is most sustainable. no more ‘business case for sustainability’. having real wealth more important than having financial wealth. inviting a profound shift within by supporting each other and practicing together.</p> <p>-<a href="http://www.laddership.org/">Laddership</a>. reframing projects that wish to make the world a better place. 6 week group process that is building new concept of the entrepreneur who knows that changing the world is possible when the inner revolution (wisdom, compassion) connects with the outer revolution (innovation, creativity, discipline, ecosystem).</p> <p>-<a href="http://www.servicespace.org/about/work/">Work+Transformation</a>. small monthly tidbits to bring light to how this longing for a consciousness shift is everywhere if we’re looking for it.</p> <p>-<a href="http://www.awakin.org/calls/">Awakin Calls</a> + <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=16477">Circles</a>. dialogue spaces with thought leaders who are interested in how concrete action intersects with personal transformation </p> <p>But again, the ‘how’ is more important to me than the ‘what,’ and what I am becoming more important than external outcome. Each of these projects could probably be ‘scaled’ with investment capital and reach exponentially more people. That is not the ‘how’ that resonates with me; in fact, it is an example of a <a href="http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4666">system</a> that I wish to slowly disengage from through building my inner capacity. So these projects are simply offered out of love, as best I can. I can only hope for more access to wisdom, to double-down on a process that is aligned with the will of nature.</p> <p>As many in my generation, I wonder what box to put myself in sometimes. I have been a consultant, an investment person, a technologist, among other hats. My formal titles make less and less sense in the dominant paradigm. I feel myself more fluidly swapping in and out of hats. If any box feels most alive right now, it’s that of friend.</p> <p>My personal learnings continue to form the leading edge of my journey. I feel committed to a life partner, <a href="http://www.awakin.org/calls/188/anne-marie-bauer/">Anne-Marie</a>, who teaches me the art of love daily and with whom I can focus on bringing shadows to surface. I moved from San Francisco to Berkeley (hence the picture up top) about 6 months ago and finding the sense of community/family as a revelation. My contemplative practice, and my conversations continue to veer towards the heart, towards the implicit, and towards deconstructing ‘myself.’</p> <p>I want to end by bringing to mind names of dear ones in holding gratitude at this moment. My experience is that we are all in ecosystem, I am astounded by that beautiful, invisible net that connects us all…may all beings be happy.</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-50125927374863694252015-04-17T14:03:00.001-07:002016-02-07T01:15:25.007-08:00Dhamma Service<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img src="http://www.intromeditation.com/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/294125_2039698359264_1448436450_31648442_259976020_n.jpg" height="275" width="284" /><br />
Over the last 10 days I had a unique opportunity for which I’m feeling very grateful! I attended a 10 day Vipassana retreat with my partner Anne-Marie and both my parents. While it was not Anne-Marie’s first time with this, it was for my parents, and as I’ve <a href="http://birjupandya.blogspot.com/2011/10/latest-vipassana-meditation-experience.html?authuser=0">shared before</a>, it can be an intense process. <br />
<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vWGGpUzIqQQ/VTF0_3yDplI/AAAAAAAA500/RGgaeJl0R5c/s1600-h/IMG_20150412_083542756%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_20150412_083542756" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wDaczJsahiM/VTF1A3ngVlI/AAAAAAAA508/OlyEzxEjdAk/IMG_20150412_083542756_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="222" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_20150412_083542756" width="391" /></a><br />
For the first time, I experienced this course from the perspective of a ‘server’, which meant I was in the kitchen mostly washing dishes and chopping veggies for 10 days. It was a rare mixture of work and concentrated practice, as I’d get 4-5 hours of sitting meditation daily, and 10 hours of kitchen time. While I came grateful to be able to serve my family in this way, I quickly realized that I had it reversed. Their choice to be in the course was actually in service to me so that I had the opportunity to offer to the 140ish other people at the course. Thousands of dishes washed and hundreds of pounds of veggies chopped later, I’m feeling so many of the benefits of this way to serve. Additionally, every night we would have time with the course teachers to learn more of their perspective, which was especially valuable for me. Picture below taken on the final day (when noble silence ended)<br />
<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bP5PPW1yftw/VTF1BkW1icI/AAAAAAAA51E/66cd98n1cSU/s1600-h/dhamma%252520servers%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img alt="dhamma servers" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a9GVjxscxKo/VTF1C9oiQXI/AAAAAAAA51M/cAKKNlrI0QQ/dhamma%252520servers_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="185" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="dhamma servers" width="479" /></a><br />
Beyond my own experience, I have been inspired to see how much my family has been moved by what this practice of Vipassana is, especially my parents given it was their first time. At this point, we are all meditating a couple hours daily, we’ll see how that evolves over time <img alt="Smile" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OfEC_HH24as/VTF0-ye8saI/AAAAAAAA50s/Yh0qWzkkV00/wlEmoticon-smile%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" /> Many more insights as is always the case, I’m left with a quote by a monk I met in Dallas – ‘you don’t know if you had a good meditation until afterwards – are you more compassionate? more loving? more equanimous? more aware? then yes, you had a good meditation’<br />
In gratitude for the practice!<br />
<img src="http://rahulbrown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/nirvana-via-vipassana.jpg" height="159" width="477" /></div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-40116571893262116862014-10-09T23:51:00.001-07:002014-10-09T23:51:49.101-07:00Gifting<p><img src="http://www.waccobb.net/forums/waccobb/keep90days/2013-08-09_18-05-23.png" width="382" height="361"></p> <p>As I’ve been growing in my journey of gifting, I’ve been feeling more resonant with certain types of gifts over others. In thinking about why that is, I’m finding that gifts deeply aligned with values of interconnectedness, nature-based wisdom, and unconditional love seem to be what makes my heart sing most. Gifts that invite us to transcend the delusion of the tangible despite their tangibility :)</p> <p> </p> <p>Some ideas to that end (from gross to subtle, in each case inclusive of mentioned values), would love thoughts from others-</p> <p>- food </p> <p>- hands (labor work)</p> <p>- reusables </p> <p>- books</p> <p>- art (handmade) / design</p> <p>- offerings from the marginalized</p> <p>- seeds / compost / plants</p> <p>- hugs / touch</p> <p>- coursework</p> <p>- joint work (eg doing a 21 day challenge together) </p> <p>- connections / introductions </p> <p>- links (stories/videos/music/ideas) </p> <p>- smiles / words</p> <p>- personal vulnerability (real-time, written, giving cherished possessions, receiving with grace) </p> <p>- psychological capacity / listening (for when others are triggered or generally in position of need)</p> <p>- psychological depatterning (so as to reduce the conditions for others to be triggered, etc)</p> <p> </p> <p>These are all ‘small things’ that can grow to new ways of being. And for those who are already living into these values, I’ve found the same gifts being helpful, and also more general support (eg money to homeless may go for alcohol, money for middle class may go for ipad, money for compassion entrepreneur may go to spread the ripple of connection).</p> <p> </p> <p>In noticing the spectrum, I feel that the whole thing is of value, and being able to play across the spectrum of giving is worthy of aspiration. A question I’ve been asking recently – how to be in a space of offering, in every interaction, as inclusive of the full spectrum as I can be? A key reason that question arose is that I have received SO MUCH across this spectrum, and the sense of abundance has led to the wish to share with others.</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-49019795369201208692014-02-19T12:20:00.001-08:002014-02-19T12:20:17.937-08:00Moving to San Francisco<p><img alt="presidio.jpg" src="http://www.asla.org/awards/2003/images/merit/presidio.jpg" width="435" height="288"></p> <p>Definitely a belated note, but as of August 2013 I’ve moved to San Francisco! Below is a bit of the journey as to why this move happened after 8+ years in NYC. I’m so grateful for my time there, filled with people who I hope to stay connected to for life (I currently still am there 25% of the time). I currently live and work in the Presidio, picture above.</p> <p> </p> <p>The reason for the move was multidimensional. First, to be closer to noble friend community in bay area as well as parents in Arizona. Second, to shift out of a pace of life/lifestyle in NYC that did not feel healthy or sustainable to me long-term. Third, and most relevant for this post, is the ongoing shift in my life’s work. </p> <p> </p> <p>For the last 4ish years, I’ve been involved in the field of investing for social/environmental benefit. Another way to look at it is that I was looking for an ‘organizational container’ in which to practice the values I was looking to cultivate. Coming from the management consulting world, the idea of melding capitalism with bettering the world sounded powerful. <a href="http://armoniallc.com">Armonia</a> has been the primary container for this and I am eternally grateful for both the relationships and opportunity to delve deeper within, which the group continues to support today.</p> <p> </p> <p>In that period, my own approach has evolved, and I’d frame it as 3 distinct frames of thought. First was the idea of ‘<strong>impact</strong>.’ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_investing">Impact Investing</a> as a term was coined by the Rockefeller folks a few years back and speaks to the broad importance of using the engine of finance to contribute towards ‘the good.’ This <a href="http://www.thegiin.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home/index.html">field has grown considerably</a> in the last few years and includes some amazing people who have helped shape me. However, as time went on, I started to see the limitations of impact – in effect, that impact still needed to follow the rules of the financial system, which is <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=11909">infinite financial growth</a> at any cost. Inevitably, this leads to destruction of non-financial wealth to keep up with growth (eg clearcutting, longer work hours, etc). In regular investing, this means we chop down forests to keep growing consumption. In impact investing, we may still chop down forests, but we’re doing so to build ‘sustainable’ housing. Better than otherwise, but in some ways we are simply slowing down the rate at which we’re running off the cliff.</p> <p> </p> <p>Based off this understanding, the second frame we started to implement was that of ‘<strong>regeneration</strong>.’ What does it take to use financial wealth to build non-financial wealth? We started looking at the roots of non-financial wealth and found soil-building and community-building to be key. A few of the investments this led to was in the field of <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html">Holistic Management</a> along with <a href="http://www.ekoamp.com/">ecosystem regeneration</a>. Of course, to make this work, we still needed to keep the projects financially viable, hence the investment approach was of value. As time went on, I kept feeling that there was a glass ceiling here as well. I was becoming more and more aware of <a href="http://birjupandya.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-risk-to-human-extinction.html">the crises</a> facing the world and was trying to understand why regeneration as we had framed it wasn’t scratching the itch.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the last year+, the frame that has guided my thinking has been around ‘<strong>transformation</strong>,’ specifically inner transformation. In an attempt to ‘do our part’ in serving the greater good, it became more and more clear that entrenched systems (financial, educational, healthcare, etc) were in place to reinforce <a href="http://birjupandya.blogspot.com/2011/06/biggest-epiphanies-of-my-life.html">a way of thinking</a> that was the root cause of our global crises. Tweaking the system wouldn’t fix the fatal flaw, and forcing the system to change wasn’t an option. So I/we started to look into understanding <a href="http://www.berkana.org/pdf/emergence_web.pdf">how systems change</a> and found that it starts within each of us and follows non-linear paths. Helping facilitate a shift in personal-orientation, from ‘me’ to ‘we’ (starting with ourselves) thus became a heavy focus. </p> <p> </p> <p>The interest in transformation has led to development of practices to bring generosity/mindfulness/compassion into the business environment through consistent action and reflection practice. I’m now piloting with the help and support of both Armonia and <a href="rsfsocialfinance.org/about/values/">RSF Social Finance</a> (along with <a href="http://www.servicespace.org/about/team.php?pg=model">ServiceSpace</a>, which has been holding this worldview for some time now). We are even using the gift economy model as an approach to experiment on this and in investments as a whole, talk about a leading edge investment approach! With RSF and ServiceSpace being based in SF and having experimented with these approaches for many years, it became clear that having more time in these spaces was important in the next stage of the unfolding (hence the move).</p> <p> </p> <p>As we’ve played with these pilots, the stories coming out of the process have been amazingly inspiring and in some cases stunning. Entire strategies have been shifted, companies have incorporated ‘gift culture’ into their beyond profit business models, families have shifted their relationships, and we’re at the tip of iceberg. Funnily enough, this all is catalyzed through simple group practices such as a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nipun-mehta/5-reasons-to-be-kind-and-_b_3901024.html">21 day kindness challenge</a>, which actually has some powerful research behind its effectiveness.</p> <p> </p> <p>To be clear, I do believe that impact investing and regenerative investing are needed in this world, and these approaches to social enterprise are the places where I’m connecting today as well. However, to develop products/services ONLY at that level, without addressing inner transformation as mission critical to a social enterprise is leaving something on the table in my estimation. In the coming years, I hope we come to see ‘inner impact’ as the deepest form of impact there is, and something that can be offered and practiced by any business. I plan to step up in my own authenticity as best I can in an effort to create the conditions for this.</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-45079044802199188652011-11-12T15:22:00.001-08:002016-03-13T22:47:35.276-07:00Buddha’s words (as sung by SN Goenka)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img src="http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2010-04/53135921.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.movedbylove.org/projects/tunes/143">These are the words</a> of Gautama the Buddha upon enlightenment, as sung/chanted by SN Goenka. The language is Pali, which was colloquial at the time. Beautiful.<br />
<br />
Anicca vata sankhara, uppadavaya-dhammino <br />
Impermanence is the nature of all conditioned phenomenon.<br />
They arise and pass away, again and again, with great rapidity.<br />
<br />
Uppajjitva nirujjhanti, (2x) <br />
tesam vupasamo sukho.<br />
When past sensations arise and are met with awareness/equanimity, <br />
their cessation brings true happiness. <br />
<br />
Aneka-jati samsaram <br />
sandhavissam anibbisam,<br />
Through countless births in the cycle of existence <br />
I have run, in vain <br />
<br />
Gahakarakam gavesanto <br />
dukkha-jati-punappunam.<br />
seeking the builder of this house; <br />
and again and again I faced the discomfort of new birth. <br />
<br />
Gahakaraka! Dithosi, <br />
puna geham na kahasi.<br />
Oh housebuilder! Now you are seen. <br />
You shall not build a house again for me.<br />
<br />
Sabba te phasuka bhagga, <br />
gahakutam visankhitam.<br />
All your beams are broken, <br />
the ridgepole is shattered. <br />
<br />
Visankhara-gatam cittam, <br />
tanhanam khayamajjhaga.<br />
The mind has become freed from conditioning; <br />
the end of craving has been reached. <br />
<br />
Sabbe sankhara anicca'ti. <br />
yada pannaya passati,<br />
Impermanent are all compounded things. <br />
When one perceives this with insight, <br />
<br />
Atha nibbindati dukkhe. <br />
esa maggo visuddhiya.<br />
then one turns away from suffering; <br />
this is the path of purification.<br />
<br />
Sabbesu cakkavajesu <br />
yakkha deva ca brahmano,<br />
May the holy entities <br />
of all the universes <br />
<br />
Yam amhehi katam punnam, <br />
sabba sampatti sadhikam.<br />
rejoice in this wholesome meditation process performed by us, <br />
which is productive of all happiness. <br />
<br />
Sabbe tam anumoditva, <br />
samagga sasane rata,<br />
May they all, <br />
unitedly devoted to the teaching, <br />
<br />
pamada rahita hontu <br />
arakkhasu visesato.<br />
be without negligence, <br />
especially in giving protection. <br />
<br />
Punna bhagamidam c'annam, <br />
samam dadama karitam.<br />
We share with all equally the merit <br />
of this meditation and other wholesome deeds. <br />
<br />
Anumodantu tam sabbe, <br />
medini thatu sakkhike.<br />
May they all accept with joy our sharing, <br />
and may the earth stand witness to it!<br />
<br />
Bhavatu sabbe mangalam x3<br />
May all beings be happy</div>
My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-66587664559848055742011-03-15T21:17:00.001-07:002011-03-15T21:17:31.931-07:00The Top Risk to Human Extinction<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3q8F_nsRaEU/TYA52ZjDSKI/AAAAAAAADCA/0Nc_Xvtoftg/s1600-h/000f07b8_medium%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="000f07b8_medium" border="0" alt="000f07b8_medium" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3q8F_nsRaEU/TYA52xDVwvI/AAAAAAAADCE/wE37cc3Ymtw/000f07b8_medium_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" height="238" /></a></p> <p>I’m going to cut to the chase. Over the next 100 years, I see about 4 categories of events (that we have direct line of sight to) that can end human life on earth. I have left out many broad categories (artificial intelligence, meteors, sterilization, volcanic activity, etc.) as we have no line of sight as to how those events may happen before 2100.  I’ve outlined them below but don’t think that attacking them directly will lead to any success without deeply understanding the root cause.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Chronic risks (take time to develop but are subject to <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/threshold-effect.html">threshold effects</a>)-</strong></p> <p>‘Climate change’, as broken down in 3 categories that connect in feedback loops to each other</p> <p>-<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_protect_our_oceans.html">Ocean degradation/acidification</a>- Mass aquatic extinction due to myriad factors (pollution, gas release, over-fishing, etc.) leading to depletion of fish stocks and unpredictable climate effects</p> <p>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification">Desertification</a>- Mass erosion of arable soil from productive land surfaces through to oceans due to extensive land mismanagement</p> <p>-Rise of greenhouse gases- Rise in atmospheric heat from numerous gases (due to fossil fuel usage, industrial agriculture, deforestation) leading to massive rise in sea levels, and unpredictable/volatile climate effects </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Acute risks (manifestation to extinction in days)-</strong></p> <p>-<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_brilliant_wants_to_stop_pandemics.html">Infectious disease pandemic</a>- Increasingly dense population centers of all forms of human and animal life along with abusive use of antibiotics will continue to raise yearly risk of genesis of exotic disease</p> <p>-Biotechnological virus- Creating a biological virus is increasingly becoming no different than creating a computer virus in terms of the coding process. The cost of development and ease of creation continues to fall</p> <p>-Nuclear emissions/detonations- Still a massive threat considering there are thousands upon thousands out there, uranium is available, enrichment process is less of a black box than ever, and accidental/force of nature errors can occur</p> <p> </p> <p>All these major issues have plenty of people working on them, in the form of what people believe are the ‘root causes’ – poverty, nation-state conflict, terrorism, slavery, poor policy, faulty systems, etc. However, I see a few causes lying underneath these supposed ‘root causes’:</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>‘Secondary root causes’</strong></p> <p>Greed</p> <p>Pride</p> <p>Jealousy</p> <p>Envy</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>‘Primary root causes’</strong></p> <p>Craving</p> <p>Aversion</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Enablers</strong></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex">Pre-frontal cortex</a></p> <p>Opposable thumbs :)</p> <p> </p> <p>What I am seeing is</p> <p>- A lot of people paying zero attention to any of this. </p> <p>- Some people paying attention to long-term risks (but with a sizable populous discounting it completely)</p> <p>- Fewer people paying attention to acute risks</p> <p>- Very few people focusing on ‘secondary root causes’, which is really about teaching people the <strong>golden rule</strong> and following it deeply</p> <p>- Even fewer focusing on the ‘primary root causes’, which is really about developing <strong>awareness and equanimity</strong> to what is happening in the present moment</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been <a href="http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws/changing_our_future.html">working</a> on a couple of the longer-term issues but perceive it as an excuse to work on the primary causes. Whenever I’m asked ‘what can I do to help’, my response is the same – practice meditation. There is a domino effect that comes from bringing awareness to one’s own craving and aversions. It changes EVERYTHING and the virtuous circle is as unpredictable in its harmonious effects as the vicious cycle is in the negative.  </p> <p>The key is in understanding that if primary root cause is not addressed, even if acute risks to humanity are averted today, tomorrow will be an even bigger challenge as the underlying issues have only intensified.  As a side-benefit, focusing on bringing awareness to one’s own craving and aversions makes for a happier life anyways!</p> <p>With that, I will go meditate :)</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-23280709002347523652010-07-16T20:57:00.001-07:002010-07-16T20:57:52.763-07:00Two recent articles<p><a href="http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/view.php?id=2214">http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/view.php?id=2214</a></p> <p>I always thought of volunteering with CF as more about internal change than external, tried to articulate that thought.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/birju-pandya/the-ripple-effect-of-kind_b_643831.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/birju-pandya/the-ripple-effect-of-kind_b_643831.html</a></p> <p>Another discussion on internal change.</p> <p> </p> <p>Keep trying, keep failing, repeat :)</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-59653137366675194552010-05-20T17:08:00.001-07:002010-05-20T17:08:09.664-07:00‘Benefit’ Corporations, the Future of Business<p>I just had multiple conversations today with people who told me that business that cared about more than money would never account for more than 10% of the market.  I hope that’s wrong, let’s work to prove it wrong.</p> <p> </p> <p><a title="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/birju-pandya/benefit-corporations-the_b_583824.html" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/birju-pandya/benefit-corporations-the_b_583824.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/birju-pandya/benefit-corporations-the_b_583824.html</a></p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974188083897734661.post-26627521735860868852010-04-01T11:36:00.001-07:002010-04-01T11:36:10.522-07:00Career transition<img alt="http://ecofrenzy.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/ethicalinvest-categories-image1.jpg" src="http://ecofrenzy.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/ethicalinvest-categories-image1.jpg" width="410" height="353" />After spending a few learning-filled years at McKinsey, I recently decided to move on.  Hard to put into words the gratefulness for the experience.  Of course, the rigor and difficulty that led to the crazy hours and intensity were there, but at the same time there was much to be learned and wonderful people all along the way.  Might share a longer post on my experiences at the organization, but more time needs to pass before I’d be able to have a holistic perspective. <p> </p> <p>I next will be joining <a href="www.armoniallc.com">Armonia</a>, a venture capital firm in the nascent field of “<a href="http://www.globalimpactinvestingnetwork.org/cgi-bin/iowa/investing/index.html">impact investing</a>.”  Impact investing is really interesting – it’s basically the idea that society can use capital markets to promote social & environmental benefit (in addition to financial benefit).  So, just like any VC firm, the job here is to look for great ideas that can generate financial returns, but that’s only 1 part of 3.  If you’ve heard the term “social entrepreneur", you’re familiar with impact investing, because those are the folks that are being invested in.  The Monitor Group put out a <a href="http://www.monitorinstitute.com/impactinvesting/">really great report</a> on this a little while back.</p> <p> </p> <p>Impact investing matters because it’s so needed right now.  There’s many ways service is provided in this world:</p> <p>+ <strong>100% For-profit</strong> (think about how valuable Google or AT&T has in many ways been for society all while purely seeking financial return)</p> <p>+ <strong>Non-profit</strong> (Red Cross)</p> <p>+ <strong>Gov’t organizations</strong> (United Nations, International Monetary Fund)</p> <p>+ <strong>Philanthropic organizations</strong> (Gates Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation)</p> <p>However, even with all of this, there’s a hole.  A lot of times, if someone has a great idea that serves people in a town or a few villages, it’s hard to get more money to do it in other places unless there’s some possibility of financial return for the people putting in the money.  That’s where social entrepreneurs come in.  They create businesses that generate financial return (above 0%) for at least a portion of their investors, thus keeping money coming in and quickly scaling the idea to reach more people in need.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is why orgs such as <a href="http://www.grameen-info.org/">Grameen Bank</a> or <a href="http://www.kiva.org/">Kiva</a> thrive.  They seek to help people en masse, in fact, that is the reason for their existence, but they do it by attracting the money of the masses.  There are TONS of people who would give to a good cause if it actually generated money on top of it.  All of this has been in the public sphere since Bill Drayton started <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka:_Innovators_for_the_Public">Ashoka</a> in the early 80’s, but after Muhammed Yunus won the Nobel Prize a few years ago, it really got a boost.</p> <p> </p> <p>One of the bigger reasons I’m grateful for joining Armonia specifically is its belief in the patient capital model.  Traditionally, investors come in, get their financial returns, then leave.  This doesn’t work well if you have an entrepreneur who has a really promising idea but would take a little while to develop it.  Investors don’t have the time, so they don’t bother investing.  If this is a social entrepreneur, the world has potentially lost out on a solution that could serve many people.  Patient capital recognizes this hole and solves it by not looking at financial returns in a short-term mindset (this is practiced famously by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acumen_Fund">Acumen Fund</a>).</p> <p> </p> <p>Because this is a nascent field, it’s unknown what will happen over the next decade.  I believe it’ll become huge, but I also believe it doesn’t matter compared to the internal shift that happens in myself and others from taking on the challenge.  My friend, a successful social entrepreneur, once told me, “You know Birju, I don’t mind going down, but i’m not going to stop putting my full trust in people.  If I go down doing that, it’s not a bad way to go.”  Indeed :)</p> My Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12248068694590059906noreply@blogger.com2