Sangha of Auspicious Companions

July 6, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

7 Must-Read Books on Education

Education is something we’re deeply passionate about, but much of today’s dominant formal education model is in need of a paradigm shift. While lots has been said and written about education reform over the past couple of years, the issue and the public discourse around it have been going on for decades. So how does the free speech movement of the 1960s relate to digital learning and The Beatles? Via popular internet publication Brain Pickings, here is a round-up of the most compelling and visionary reading on reinventing education from the past century, including videos that feature Isaac Asimov and Howard Gardner. { read more }

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Share a life lesson with a student.

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July 5, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

The Blind Man Who Taught Himself To See

Daniel Kish has been sightless since he was a year old. Yet he can mountain bike, navigate the wilderness alone, and recognize a building as far away as 1,000 feet. How? The same way bats can see in the dark. Since his infancy, he has been adapting to his blindness in remarkable ways. He has learned to use what he calls “Flashsonar,” or echolocation. He produces a brief, sharp click with his tongue, and the sound waves bounce off every object around him, returning to his ears vastly decreased in volume, but perceivable. Kish has trained himself to hear these slight echoes and to interpret their meaning. Standing on his front stoop, he can visualize, with an extraordinary degree of precision, the two pine trees on his front lawn and the curb at the edge of his street. { read more }

Be The Change

Practice the art of “seeing” something that is invisible to you. Some inspiration on vision-making regularly: { more }

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July 4, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

A 10,000 Year Clock in the Mountains

There is a Clock ringing deep inside a mountain. It is a huge Clock, hundreds of feet tall, designed to tick for 10,000 years. Why would anyone build a Clock inside a mountain with the hope that it will ring for 10,000 years? Part of the answer: just so people will ask this question, and having asked it, prompt themselves to conjure with notions of generations and millennia. If you have a Clock ticking for 10,000 years what kinds of generational-scale questions and projects will it suggest? If a Clock can keep going for ten millennia, shouldn’t we make sure our civilization does as well? If the Clock keeps going after we are personally long dead, why not attempt other projects that require future generations to finish? The larger question is, as virologist Jonas Salk once asked, “Are we being good ancestors?” { read more }

Be The Change

Reflect on your own life, and how you can be a good ancestor.

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July 3, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

A Love Affair With Questions

In this beautiful black-and-white vignette, filmmaker Nic Askew interviews a man named Julio Olalla. Julio candidly speaks about an encounter with his father that changed his life, and what he learned: “Gratitude in so many ways is so dramatically missing in the world today. Without gratitude nothing is enough.” Over this 10-minute video, he reflects on his own experiences, ranging from exploring the spirit of true conversation to the wisdom of falling in love with questions. Watching this everyday hero exhibit a characteristic joie de vivre perhaps inspires a shift from the notion of gratitude as being an expression, to gratitude as being an embodiment. { read more }

Be The Change

Consider all the gifts in your life, and practice embodying gratitude as a response.

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July 2, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

20 Untranslatable Words From ‘Round The World

There are at least 250,000 words in the English language. But to think that English — or any language — could hold enough expression to convey the entirety of the human experience is naive. For example, ‘Toska,’ from Russian, which is a kind of dull ache of the soul. Or ‘Mamihlapinatapei,’ from Yagan, describing the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start. Here are twenty such examples where other languages have found the right word and English is either speechless — or too verbose. { read more }

Be The Change

Learn or share a meaningful word from another language with a friend today.

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An Unlikely Crusader for Food Safety

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July 1, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

A Remarkable Refuge for Birds

They call him the Bird man of Long Beach. “It all started with one little one-legged guy I named Buddy,” ex-marine Dan Lubniewski said. Dan saw the little bird hobbling along, and felt sorry for him. He started feeding him and wound up taking him home for rehab. Apparently, someone had been tying pigeons’ feet together. “They were all tied up the same way, with the same strength,” Dan said. “I didn’t know what I was doing any more than you would have. I had about 40 tools with me them, and no antibiotics. I worked with each one for several hours.” That was the start of Dan’s tireless calling. He has since treated thousands of wounded birds, sometimes even working with Animal Control. “I think I was never happier because of all the lives I’m saving,” Dan said. “It is so rewarding.” { read more }

Be The Change

If you feel moved by his dedication, write Dan a note of appreciation. { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 106,535 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

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