Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Giving Back Where He Belongs

Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition. — James Baldwin

~~~~ Good News of the Day: When most people think of the American dream, they imagine all this country has to offer them. But for 40-year-old Hamid Chaudhry, a Pakistani immigrant and owner of a Dairy Queen in Reading, Pa., that dream isn’t just for the taking. “I’m part of the society,” Chaudhry tells CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman. “And when you belong somewhere, you have to give back.” A few years ago, after becoming a U.S. citizen, Chaudhry moved to Reading with his wife, a doctor. They have two children. For most people, that would be enough responsibility. But Chaudhry wanted more. He began by offering his services to Cumru Elementary school principal James Watts. Chaudhry offered to host the school fundraisers. He eventually began fundraising for other organizations as well: Soccer teams and Crime Stoppers. All told, Hamid has said “yes” to more than 100 community organizations.
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~~~~ Be The Change: Bloom where you are planted.

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The Decision-Making Flaw in Powerful People

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. — Lao Tzu

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: The decisions made by powerful people in business and other fields have far-reaching effects on their organizations and employees. But new research finds a link between having a sense of power and having a propensity to give short shrift to a crucial part of the decision-making process: listening to advice. Power increases confidence, researchers say, which can lead to an excessive belief in one’s own judgment and ultimately to flawed decisions. This is among the first studies to examine whether power — defined as an individual’s “capacity to influence others, stemming in part from his or her control over resources, rewards, or punishments” — reduces or increases a person’s willingness to heed advice. Strategy+Business Magazine shares further. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169A7E2:C3009629A010612CA8336EA4F8E316DCB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: In making your next significant decision, listen to the part of yourself that listens to others.

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Quote of the Week | Review Your Life Now

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Teachings by Pema Chödrön, taken from works published by Shambhala Publications. Photo by ©Andrea Roth. Forwarded from a friend? You can subscribe to this e-mail emailList, and be sure to include both your old and new addresses. If you no longer wish to receive the Heart Advice e-mails, click here. If you can’t see the images, click here.

Kindness Daily: Trusting in the Force of Kindness

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Trusting in the Force of Kindness October 25, 2011 – Posted by toonerific I printed flyers that said “May you have a wonderful day! This is a random act of kindness.” They had hearts on them and a nice pattern (very feel-good). I put them under the wipers on some cars. When the deed was done, I started wondering if people would toss them on the ground and then I would be contributing to littering. Or, I thought they might throw them away and not recycle them. Because my intentions are pure (or that is what I strive for), it bothers me more that the repercussions of my deeds might not be completely without adverse results. I think I need to meditate a bit more and just chillax, as the kids say. I need to trust in the force of kindness. “Drop-and-runs” are anonymous by nature. But, I like to think about how people react when they receive the kindness. I imagine today, people will notice the flyer and get a little annoyed at first, as people tend to do when something is left on their car. I purposefully did not leave it on cars at meters because I didn’t want them to think it was a ticket. Some people, I imagine, would see it and look immediately for what it was advertising. I didn’t put anything else, even my website on there. In fact, I felt the need to write “This is a random act of kindness” so as not to confuse people. So, then they might look at it like it had some hidden camera woven in the paper or look around for a TV crew taping their reaction. They wouldn’t see any of that, still be skeptical and toss it. However, I imagined that most of the people would see the flyers and it would put a smile on their face. Maybe some would take them and tack them up at work or show them to others and put smiles on other’s faces. As I drove away from one parking lot, I thought I saw a lady in my rearview mirror pick up her flyer and stop for a moment looking at it. I didn’t see what happened next. Maybe for my next “drop-and-run” I will hide in the bushes to see people’s reactions. Maybe I’ll drop in on someone I know like a co-worker and see if they say anything. Add/View Comment >> About Newsletter Kindness Daily is an email that delivers today’s featured story from HelpOthers.org. If you’d rather not receive this email, you can also unsubscribe. Similar Stories A Loaf of Bread, by Anon A Little Time On The Elevator, by Star Shopping In The Rain, by Aurelia Listening to God’s Voice, by rrkh7 Giving someone a chance to recharge, by KingHartuc Helpful Links Smile Cards: do an act of kindness and leave a card behind to keep the chain going. Smile Decks: 52 cards with a kindness idea on each! Smile Groups: share your own stories, make friends, spread the good. Smile Ideas: loads of ideas that can support your drive of kindness. Unsubscribe If you’d rather not receive these stories by email, you can remove yourself with two easy clicks. Community

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A Case Study of Anonymous Giving

But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. — Matthew 6:3

~~~~ Good News of the Day: “Giver Girl” and her husband “Giver Boy” came up with a simple yet powerful idea: donating $52 to a different charity every week for a year. After each experience, they post their moving reflections, invite others to join in, and maintain total anonymity. The brilliance of their project is captured in a week when they spontaneously decide to make that week’s gift a $52 tip to a waitress serving them. After leaving the tip, they decided to ‘run away without watching (their) waitress’s expression.’ “That’s it right there. That’s generosity. Giving in a sacrificial way with the intent of blessing others while seeking nothing in return — not even recognition, gratitude, or praise. And this lesson is the biggest gift that Giver Boy and Giver Girl have sent out.” Rev. Charles Howard, University Chaplain at UPenn, shares an inspiring case study of anonymous giving.
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~~~~ Be The Change: Write a note of encouragement and support to Giver Girl and Giver Boy. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169A6AA:C3009629A010612C3383FEE9CFAFE157B4B847859706E37D&

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InnerNet Weekly: That Which is Looking

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. That Which is Looking by Adyashanti [Listen to Audio!] Only when you turn attention to awareness itself, there isn’t anything behind it. That’s what returning to the source means. It means that nothing is next. There’s nothing behind it. With a thought there’s always something behind it. There’s always the awareness of thought. So awareness is behind it. With a feeling there’s always something behind it. With the conditioned tendency there’s always something behind it. There’s always awareness behind everything that’s perceivable. Everything that’s thinkable. There’s always something behind it: namely that awareness. Spirit. To ‘look within’ doesn’t mean to look for something really amazing to happen. To look for the states of consciousness to change. That’s not what look within means. Have any of you looked within like that? I’ve spent so many hours looking within that way – not thousands, tens of thousands of hours looking within. And I was looking … the same way we look outside. You know, like we’re looking for something. And so you look inside. It’s a great teaching, but then what do you do? You tend to look for stuff. Look for really groovy spiritual stuff to happen. Right? It’s the same looking. It’s not really different than looking for a million bucks, or a hot looking guy or gal or success. It’s just looking for inner stuff. And there’s a world of inner things and experiences, just like there’s an outer world of things to look for. But the inner world, it’s not any more real or significant then the outer world. So to look within doesn’t mean that, to look within in a way that you’re looking for something. Looking for a treasure. It means to go to the root. And the root is the looking itself. To turn within is to turn to that which is looking. So that we find out for ourselves that there isn’t anybody that’s looking! Looking is looking. There isn’t someone there called ‘me’ that’s behind awareness that’s aware. Awareness is aware. It’s the opposite: I’m not aware; awareness is aware of me. And this is quite a shock when you really come upon it! This is really ‘one without a second’ as Ramana (Maharshi) used to say. That the self is one without a second. Without a second means: nothing behind it. No deeper return to go to. You’ve returned to your natural state. In Zen we used to call it ‘taking the backward step.’ We (generally) want to take the forward step: to pursue, to seek, to find. But the backward step is very simple … return to what you are. Till that flash of recognition dawns, that awareness itself is what you are. Just like the flash of lightning in an empty sky – a spontaneous flash! The easiest thing in spirituality is for it to become complex, instead of simple. But this is a very simple thing which is why it can penetrate so deeply. So quickly. So immediately. –Adyashanti Share the Wisdom: Latest Community Insights That Which is Looking Conrad wrote: I love your question Somik. I frequently think of that which I am looking for is that which is looking. After reading Adyashanti my reaction is the same as above, plus that the spiritual is no d… ganoba wrote: Boom.Nothing.Silence.There are no words in any language that can describe it.Yet there are scholars who create a mist of words, so that others don’t get it…. Share/Read Reflections >> Wednesday Meditation: Many years ago, a couple friends got together to sit in silence for an hour, and share personal aha-moments. That birthed this newsletter, and later became “Wednesdays”, which now ripple out to living rooms around the world. To join, RSVP online. Some Good News Secrets of the 100-yr-old Marathoner Why Do Some People Learn Faster The Limitations of Positive Thinking Video of the Week I Will Be a Hummingbird Kindness Stories Remembering an Anonymous Friend, 15 Years Later A Pay It Forward Revolution at School Trusting in the Force of Kindness About Back in 1997, one person started sending this simple “meditation reminder” to a few friends. Soon after, “Wednesdays” started, CharityFocus blossomed, and the humble experiments of service took a life of its own. If you’d like to start a Wednesday style meditation gathering in your area, we’d be happy to help you get started. InnerNet Weekly is an email service that delivers a little bit of wisdom to 68,568 subscribers each week. We never spam nor do we host any advertising. Archives, from the last 10+ years, are freely available online. You can unsubscribe anytime, within seconds. A Gift Economy offering of CharityFocus.org (2008)

Year of Dancing with Life – Week 03

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Week 3 : Subjective vs. Objective Suffering To receive Phillip’s weekly teaching, click here: http://www.lifebalanceinstitute.com/ dharmawisdom/dancing-with-life/ teaching/subjective-vs-objective-suffering May your study of this material deepen your meditation practice and inspire your dance with life. If you are interested in studying Dancing with Life in more depth, sign up to receive your on-line study guide and other supplemental materials.

The Limitations of Positive Thinking

We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are. — Anais Nin

~~~~ Tip of the Day: “Perhaps the statement that best exemplifies positive thinking is “When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.” It seems so self-evident that this is a good thing that we never question the wisdom of the adage. But it does not take a whole lot of digging to unearth the flaws in this reasoning. First, did fate really hand you a lemon or was this merely your initial, unthinking response? Second, is a lemon really a bad thing, something that you would rather not have, but now that you do have it you will somehow salvage something by making lemonade? Finally, it is quite stressful to be handed a lemon until such time as you figure out how to make lemonade. Do you really have to go through this phase?” Prof. Srikumar Rao shares further about the limitations of positive thinking. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169A376:C3009629A010612CB94AC74FAF468FF4B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: See what happens today when you check your tendency to label things as “bad.”

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A College Degree 23 yrs After Memory Loss

It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards. — Lewis Carroll

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: A freak accident involving a ceiling fan may have taken Su Meck’s memory of everything that happened for the first 22 years of her life, but it did not rob her of her determination. Since the accident that left her with amnesia, the 45-year-old from Maryland, has had to relearn how to walk, talk, read, write and drive. But Meck, whose identity was once as a mother and homemaker, carved out a place for herself as a college student. She went from having been reduced to the mental capacity of a young child to graduating from Montgomery (Md.) College with honors in May, earning an associate degree. “It was very confusing to me because everybody was telling me who I was before, and that wasn’t who I am now. It was almost like I’m a different person,” said Meck. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169A30E:C3009629A010612CC14578A419928466B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Wake up to possibility, especially in the midst of loss.

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Smile Newsletter: Remembering a Friend, 15 Years Later

Oct 23, 2011 “It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little – do what you can.” — Sydney Smith “After parking my car at the supermarket or discount store, I look around to see if anyone, especially an elderly person or mother with small children, has almost finished emptying their shopping cart. Then I ask them if they would like for me to take their cart into the store with me so that they won’t have to walk it to the cart-return area. Guess what? I have never been turned down, and have always been thanked for doing so.” — Loyal [ share your story >> ] You can also contribute comments on each story! Remembering an Anonymous Friend, 15 Years Later >> Everyone’s Using Smile Cards >> A Chain of Kind Events, Started By a 3rd Grader >> More Stories >> “As a child, I used to collect all the good quotes (kindness, friendship, right behaviour quotes, etc) that I encountered in my routine life in my ‘quotes diary’. The purpose was merely to find nice quotes at one place to write on cards that we used to give our friends on special events. But I now realize that my diary served a greater purpose. Writing and repetitive reading of those quotes instilled in me a sense of righteousness, kindness and justice which is the foundation step of my motivation to be kind all along my life.” –sachineha What is a “smile card”? It’s a game of kindness — do something nice for someone and leave a card behind asking them to pay it forward. To date, 968,222 cards have been shipped without any charge. The ‘Smiles’ newsletter is emailed to 84,826 subscribers with the intent of spreading more smiles in the world. You can unsubscribe anytime. get smile cards | donate | write to us