Sangha of Auspicious Companions

August 31, 2011

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The Doctor Who Would Not Give Up

Dr. Richard Olney is racing to finish what is almost certain to be his last research paper. The 63-year-old neurologist is considered one of the country’s top clinical specialists for ALS, popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is also the reason Olney is in a hurry to finish his paper: He was diagnosed with it in 2004 and now has almost no muscle function left. But Olney’s most enduring contribution to the ALS field may have less to do with the details of his final study than the commitment he has shown, relentlessly attacking a disease that will soon kill him. It’s a lesson of persistence and personal bravery that clearly has impressed his own doctors. “I think about it every day,” Lomen-Hoerth said. “How he continues to work, his will to work.” This inspiring article shares more. { read more }

Be The Change

Is there something you’ve been meaning to give the final push to? Work on it today.

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August 30, 2011

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School Superintendent Gives Up $800k

Some people give back to their community. Then there’s School Superintendent Larry Powell, who’s literally giving back. As in $800,000 — his expected compensation for the next three years. Until 2015, Powell will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students, all for $31,000/yr. “How much do we need to keep accumulating?” asks Powell, 63. “There’s no reason for me to keep stockpiling money.” The man who started his career as a high school civics teacher, who has made anti-bullying his mission, wants to ensure that his pet projects survive, and hopes his act of generosity will help restore faith in the government. There’s even more to Powell’s story: he contracted childhood polio, leaving him with lingering post-polio syndromes. But his view? “It’s the most spectacular thing that has happened to me in all my life,” Powell said. “People stepped up to help me be successful.” { read more }

Submitted by: Sharon Krause

Be The Change

Do you have something in excess? Share some of it today.

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August 29, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

Money and Life: Ecologizing Growth

The words economy and ecology share the same root — the Greek word meaning household. Could a change in how we view economic systems create a change in how we view ourselves? Ecologize Growth is a five-minute video based on the documentary ‘Money and Life’, and seeks to answer that question. This micro-film is a challenge to the commonly accepted infinite growth paradigm of the modern economy. It brings in the voices of several luminaries — Jean Houston, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Lynne Twist — who explore old and new perspectives and belief systems about money and how all of these can affect society’s shared well-being, co-creative potential and evolving consciousness. { read more }

Be The Change

“Our common future depends on creating a democratically accountable money system that operates as our servant, not our master.” David Korten in this short reading called ‘The Flow of Money.’ { more }

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August 28, 2011

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Study, Practice and Serve: Peter Senge

Peter Senge is a senior lecturer at MIT, and the author of The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. The Journal of Business Strategy named Senge one of the greatest influences on business strategy over the last 100 years. In this dialogue with Dr. Prasad Kaipa, Senge talks about how his own internal development helped him develop a perspective on systems theory: “I think the terminology I would use is ‘a continuous process of reflection’. I’ve always thought of only two questions that have mattered to me personally. One is what is really needed in the world and the second is what’s really important to me and how these two intersect. It’s always been a reflective process — spiraling around these two poles.” { read more }

Be The Change

Study, practice and serve.

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August 27, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

How Nature Affects the Brain

“For the first time in three days in the wilderness, Todd Braver is not wearing his watch. “I forgot,” he says. It is a small thing, the kind of change many vacationers notice in themselves as they unwind and lose track of time. But for Braver and his companions, these moments lead to a question: What is happening to our brains? Braver, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, was one of five neuroscientists on an unusual journey. They spent a week in late May in this remote area of southern Utah, rafting the San Juan River, camping on the soft banks and hiking the tributary canyons. It was a primitive trip with a sophisticated goal: to understand how heavy use of digital devices and other technology changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects.” { read more }

Be The Change

Take a small retreat into nature (however you define it).

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August 26, 2011

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A Morning When Everything Fell Into Place

“I finally found a Motel 6 about twenty-five miles east. When I got there around 11pm, from the cars and people I saw — it was still warm outside, maybe 85 degrees — I got the impression I was deep in gang territory. A young couple checking in at the office counter ahead of me added to this impression. I was nervous and felt out of place, but ended up getting a good night’s sleep. In the morning, as I was carrying my bags to the car, there was a young man standing in the parking lot. I glanced at him and after a few more steps looked at him again. ‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘Good morning,’ I responded. And then, continuing to look at me with his smile, he said, ‘Have a blessed day.'” So starts an extraordinary everyday story. { read more }

Be The Change

Explore a situation today with no assumptions, and see what opens up.

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August 25, 2011

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The Inner Landscape of Beauty

For the late Celtic mystic John O’Donohue, the visible world isn’t all there is — it’s “the first shoreline of the invisible world.” The question of what should I do, is secondary to the question of “how should I be?” In short, spirituality isn’t an esoteric notion, but an accessible, natural response to the landscapes of beauty around us, and within us. His unique perspective, captured in this rare interview, is informed by a rich life experience, including a career as a Priest, a PhD scholar of existential philosophy and ancient Celtic wisdom, a corporate business consultant on leadership and creativity, and a modern poet and visionary. { read more }

Be The Change

Explore more of John O’Donohue’s words on beauty and wisdom. { more }

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August 24, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

OneSeed Expeditions: Traveling for Good

When you are 22, the world is your oyster. For Yale University graduate Chris Baker, that oyster contained a pearl, which was the idea for OneSeed Expeditions. OneSeed is now a way to take an amazing trip and give an entrepreneur in Nepal the seed money needed to start a business. As President of the Yale Mountaineering Club, Chris was inclined to start a business that would marry his passion for Nepal and love of climbing. OneSeed Expeditions germinated following his fellowship with Kiva.org, where he worked closely with a microfinance institution in Nepal and learned how he could create trips that could also assist the people of the region. { read more }

Be The Change

The next time you take a trip, look for a small way to give to the local community you are visiting.

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