Sangha of Auspicious Companions

The Potential for Design

Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults. — Henri Frederic Amiel

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: “Design is an inescapable dimension of human activity. To adapt one of my favorite quotes by Reyner Banham, like the weather it is always there, but we speak about it only when it is exceptionally bad or exceptionally good. Design is also a powerful political tool, as pharaohs, queens, presidents, and dictators throughout history have taught us. It comes not only in very visible and traditional applications — in the national identities expressed by currencies, symbols, monuments, an public buildings — but also in less apparent and yet equally momentous applications such as the design of complex systems, ranging from territorial infrastructures to the planning of new communities, and the translation of technological and social innovation for the use of the population.” Paola Antonelli, senior curator of Design and Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, further explores the potential for design.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169B33D:C3009629A010612CBA3334D1297AFBCFB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Some intriguing words by the great thinker Vimala Thakar, called “Each of Us, a Miniature Wholeness.” http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169B33E:C3009629A010612CBA3334D1297AFBCFB4B847859706E37D&

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Year of Dancing with Life – Week 4

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Week 4: Suffering Is Noble To receive Phillip’s weekly teaching, click here: http://www.lifebalanceinstitute.com/ dharmawisdom/dancing-with-life/ teaching/suffering-noble 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.

Smile Newsletter: What The Geese Taught Me

Nov 1, 2011 Its never too late to be what you might have been. — George Elliot “I was just in town and standing in front of a store. A bearded man came by and politely asked another man who was passing by, “Excuse me, can you help me?” This other man, much more affluent by the look of his clothes, replied in a very rude and abrupt tone, “I dont have time for that right now!!” and kept walking. I suppose he thought the bearded man was going to ask him for money. But that wasn’t the case. After he stomped off this man turned to me and asked the same question. It turned out all he wanted was for someone to unclip a watch that was clipped to the back of his pack so he could go in and buy a battery for it. Not a huge request. I was glad to be able to help after the first man had treated him so rudely. This experience reminded me how important it is to stop, look, and listen.” – Borderjoy [ share your story >> ] You can also contribute comments on each story! Spreading Smiles in Calcutta >> What The Geese Taught Me >> A Pay It Forward Revolution at School >> More Stories >> “I have a seven year old nephew who is one of the most loving, kind, thoughtful, caring, and sharing little boys I know. He wanted to be pen pals with one of my sisters and me and correspond back and forth with us. We’ve been doing this for a couple months now, and I just got a letter from him the other day, which brought tears to my eyes. He told me that I’m his pal and he loves me so much, he can hardly breathe! I was so taken aback by his comment because I was just so astounded that such a young boy would even think of something like that. It surely did make my day. Receiving his sweet letters always brings a smile to my face!” – Sunshinegirl 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, 976,065 cards have been shipped without any charge. The ‘Smiles’ newsletter is emailed to 85,001 subscribers with the intent of spreading more smiles in the world. You can unsubscribe anytime. get smile cards | donate | write to us

Why Do A Billion Go Hungry?

If you desire peace, cultivate justice, but at the same time cultivate the fields to produce more bread; otherwise there will be no peace. — Norman Borlaug

~~~~ Good News of the Day: In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe wrote a remarkable book that started a movement: “Diet for a Small Planet.” Since then, people have been asking her, “Have things gotten better or worse?” She says, both. The number of hungry people has soared to nearly a billion, despite strong harvests; just four companies control three quarters of international grain trade; conditions for farmworkers remain so horrific that seven Florida growers have been convicted of slavery involving over 1000 workers. However, there is another current that is democratizing power and aligning farming with nature’s genius. Take a look at this insightful look into our global food system. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169B22D:C3009629A010612CFC5E6FB18698018CB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Will bio-technology solve the world’s hunger problem or only deepen it? Contemplate the reflections of various experts in the field. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169B22E:C3009629A010612CFC5E6FB18698018CB4B847859706E37D&

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InnerNet Weekly: Finding the Deepest Joy in Relationships

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Finding the Deepest Joy in Relationships by Ezra Bayda [Listen to Audio!] One very helpful tool in both clarifying and working with our relationship difficulties is to return to the three questions: Am I truly happy right now? What blocks happiness? Can I surrender to what is? […] The first question helps identify what we’re actually feeling (often we don’t know). The second question shows us where we’re stuck in our conditioning—our expectations, demands, or unhealed pain. Once we see our expectations clearly, and once we work through our surface emotional reactions, we usually reach that uncomfortable place where we begin to feel our deepest fears — such as the fear of being unworthy, the fear of being alone, the fear of being hurt again, the fear of rejection, or the fear of the loss of control or safety. Our fears may not necessarily be logical, but we still believe at our core that they are the truth, and they certainly dictate how we feel and how we live, thus blocking any chance for true contentment. Finally, the third question leads us directly into the experiential process of coming face to face with our own fears—the fears that are almost always at the root of our unhappiness in relationships. Asking the third question — Can I surrender to what is? — allows us to do the one thing that can help free us from the domination of our fears: that is, to welcome them in and actually feel them. We may think we can’t stand to feel our fears, but the truth is we just don’t want to, primarily because they feel so uncomfortable. But over time we can develop the courage and confidence to stay present with our fears. We learn again and again that it’s awareness that heals; and gradually, the fears, which at one point felt so solid and unapproachable, are now much more workable. As we become more inwardly free from our conditioning and our fears, the love and connection that are possible in relationships tend to flow through us more naturally. As our defenses are lowered, our heart opens, and there is a natural desire to give from the generosity of the heart. We discover that genuine happiness in relationships is not a product of having our expectations met or getting what we want but rather it is the consequence of freely giving in order to bring happiness to another. Nearly every parent has experienced this at some point — their deepest joy coming from giving unselfishly to their children. Unfortunately, this truth is often forgotten as relationships become more complex, and especially as fear supersedes our innate desire to give from the heart.

Year of Dancing with Life – Week 4

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Week 4: Suffering Is Noble To receive Phillip’s weekly teaching, click here: http://lifebalanceinstitute.com/ dharmawisdom/dancing-with-life/ teaching/suffering-noble 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.

Kindness Daily: A Small Gesture Meant a Great Deal

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A Small Gesture Meant a Great Deal October 31, 2011 – Posted by amer This is just a short story but it really brought home to me how very small acts of kindness and even courtesy have bigger effects than we realise. I have a bad back which flares up from time to time. Yesterday I was out walking while carrying shopping bags and my keys. My keys slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. The problem was that because of my back I couldn’t bend down to get them. I was just thinking of how to get around this when two teenage girls came up beside me. Without even speaking to me, one of the girls just reached down, picked up my keys, handed them to me and went on her way. While it was a small gesture and she couldn’t have known that I was in too much pain to bend down, it meant a great deal to me at that moment. 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 No similar stories found. 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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5 Ways of Spending Time — toward Happiness

Happiness is not a reward — it is a consequence. — Robert Green Ingersoll

~~~~ Good News of the Day: Our search to understand what makes us happy goes back centuries. As does our enduring belief that if we just do the right thing, happiness will follow. Researchers at Stanford and UPenn have recently shown how happiness is indeed a consequence of the choices people make. So what can people do to increase their happiness? Their answer is surprisingly simple: spend your time wisely. But some of the ways people should spend their time are, in fact, surprising. Perhaps not all of them will resonate, but are still worthy of reflection. Their five time-spending happiness principles: “Spend time with the right people. Spend time on the right activities. Enjoy experiences without spending time actually doing them. Expand your time.” Each principle is explained further here. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169AF1B:C3009629A010612C42372E47D7CE682AB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Spend your time wisely today. For inspiration, an intriguing short reflection on having a dynamic relationship with time. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169AF1C:C3009629A010612C42372E47D7CE682AB4B847859706E37D&

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Karma Kitchen: The Pay-It-Forward Restaurant

The lines of giving are complicated, you never know how it will come back. But you have to give because you can’t let the cord break with you. — Maria Diarra Keita

~~~~ Good News of the Day: Imagine a restaurant where your bill reads $0.00, because your meal is a gift and can’t be paid for — only paid forward for the person after you. How long might the chain of generosity last? At Karma Kitchen, in three cities around the United States, it has gone on for close to 25 thousand people — and is still going. Filmmaker Katie Teague shares a thoughtful and hopeful short video portrait of how this kind of “gift economy” can work. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169AED5:C3009629A010612C447AC8788055348FB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: An interview with one of the anchors of Karma Kitchen, Richard Whittaker. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169AED6:C3009629A010612C447AC8788055348FB4B847859706E37D&

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Kindness Daily: A Charity Shop Pram

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A Charity Shop Pram October 29, 2011 – Posted by wayfarer A few weeks ago an anonymous Smile Groups friend gifted me £100 to do good deeds with. Since then I have used the money in the U.K. and the U.S. It has helped family and strangers, and generally raised a lot of smiles. They have warmed my heart, but none so much as the gift I was able to give just an hour ago. I was in a charity (goodwill) shop looking at the second hand books. It just so happened that the book shelves were next to the toy section. After a few minutes I became aware of a group of women standing behind me. They were poorly dressed and spoke in what sounded like an eastern European language. As they looked through the clothes rails a little girl, about three years old, came over to the toy section. Imediately her attention was caught by a toy pram. What is it about little girls and toy prams? I don’t know, but whatever it is its incredibly cute! She spoke to her mother and, in halting English her mother asked the shop assistant how much it cost. £3 was the answer. About $5. The mum looked down at her child, perhaps calculating what she still had to buy and how much money she would have left. Then she simply shook her head. The child didn’t react badly as some might. Being told no was obviously not a new experience for her. But she couldn’t keep the disappointment from her face. I had the grand total of four pounds in my pocket, two £2 coins. A moment later I tapped the mother on the shoulder, pointed to the coins which I had left in the pram and said, "Buy her a dolly too." I didn’t hang about to see the end result. After all, it’s not about being thanked. I made my way out of the shop and into the sunshine. The money my friend gave me was an investment in the happieness of the world. Was there any better way, I wondered, to get so much happiness for so little money than to buy a little girl a toy pram? And a dolly to sit in it. 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 No similar stories found. 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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