Sangha of Auspicious Companions

July 18, 2011

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Fostering Virtue

“How can we foster more virtue in our societies?” A question sparked for researcher Kentaro Toyama by a one-time interaction with a rickshaw driver in India. This reflective piece goes on to propose ideas for fostering virtue in three areas: Education, Measurement, and Mentoring. And of course, the question “How can I foster more virtue in myself?” comes up as well. There we’re left with the intriguing idea that a virtue such as self-control operates much like a muscle: extensive use in the short-term can deplete it, but steady use over the long term — like physical exercise for muscles — can strengthen it. { read more }

Submitted by: CF

Be The Change

Try fostering virtue through creating or joining community, as Kentaro suggests. Experiment with making values your organizing principle.

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July 17, 2011

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29 Lessons From Travelling the World

“Eight years. That’s 416 weeks, or almost 3,000 days. This is the amount of time that I have not had a fixed home; moving to a new country, culture and language every few months and taking absolutely everything I own with me. In 2003, on the week of my 21st birthday, I left Ireland for good. I had graduated university a few days before, and knew that I’d only be coming back “home” for visits. But it’s not really my home any more. Since then, ‘wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home.’ I have become the person I was meant to be in the last 4/5 of a decade, while on the road. And I certainly still have a lot left to learn.” Recently, it was Benny Lewis’s 29th birthday and 8 year “travelversary,” so he shared 29 lessons he’s learned about life: { read more }

Be The Change

What are some lessons you’ve learned from travelling? Share them with Benny and other readers here. { more }

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July 16, 2011

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The Beauty in Each Grain of Sand

When you take a moonlit stroll on the beach, how often do you think about the tiny grains of sand creeping in between your toes? From above, sand seems like a bunch of tiny brown rocks, perhaps peppered with occasional shells or beach miscellany. But sand has a far more fascinating story to tell. Composed of the remnants of volcanic explosions, eroded mountains, dead organisms, and even degraded man-made structures, sand can reveal the history — both biological and geologic — of a local environment. And examined closely enough, as the scientist and artist Gary Greenberg has, sand can reveal spectacular colors, shapes, and textures. Greenberg used an Edge 3D Microscope to take pictures of sand from around the world, creating these incredible images. { read more }

Be The Change

Choose something to look deeply into today, and see what new understanding you gain.

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July 15, 2011

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Global Trends in Social Good

There is a rising consciousness to do good in a world recovering from recession and facing global challenges. But what does social good mean? Traditionally, it is a good or service that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way. As more and more organizations and individuals wake up to the groundswell of social good, the realm is expanding. Many innovations are emerging, whether in business models, products and services. Some are aided by technology, others have their roots in building communities both online and offline. Here is a look at social good in action from the perspectives of consumers, communities, businesses, public institutions, and nonprofits { read more }

Be The Change

Take part in doing something for the positive change. Check out OpenIDEO, a collaborative online platform for social good. { more }

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July 14, 2011

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Reading, Writing and Revelation

Whenever the stabbing pain in her knee becomes unbearable, 17-year-old Mackenzie Bearup picks up a book and starts to read. While previous treatments — painkillers, physiotherapy, acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen therapy — have failed, a self-prescribed reading cure works. “So far, books have been my only medicine,” Bearup says. Reading and healing have an age-old association. In ancient Egypt, libraries were known as psyches iatreion, “sanatoriums of the soul.” During the Renaissance, the poetry of the Psalms was thought to “banish vexations of both the soul. Now, science is starting to prove what readers and writers have long known: Words can help us repair and revitalize our bodies as well as our minds. And as a result, bibliotherapy — reading specific texts in response to particular situations or conditions — is becoming more and more popular among psychologists, physicians, librarians and teachers. { read more }

Be The Change

Mackenzie Bearup realized that there were many others kids like her, struggling with pain, and that reading could help them. To date, she has donated 38,000 books! Her site for collecting books for homeless shelters: { more }

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July 13, 2011

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9 Interviews with Creative Visionaries

“I love a good interview. To me, there’s nothing so useful for demystifying the creative process as hearing an artist or entrepreneur speak from a very personal perspective about how, and why, they do what they do. This weekend, I combed through my archive of epic and inspiring interviews and came up with this shortlist. Straight talk from Ernest Hemingway, Dieter Rams, Patti Smith, Steve Jobs, Ansel Adams, Tina Brown, Chuck Close and more.” { read more }

Be The Change

Apply visionary thinking today, to circumstances ordinary and otherwise. On balancing vision and routine: { more }

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July 12, 2011

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A Creative Use of Plastic Bottles

When former Peace Corps volunteer Laura Kutner was asked to help find funding to finish constructing two classrooms in the elementary school where she worked in Guatemala, she decided to use — or rather reuse — a common piece of trash. Kutner used what was known in environment-friendly circles as “eco-blocks” — plastic bottles stuffed with inorganic trash — and encased them in chicken wire. Once covered in a few layers of cement, the bottles provided cost-efficient and eco-friendly insulation for the classroom’s walls. “They stay cooler than traditionally built schools and have even inspired new community initiatives to find everyday solutions to trash management,” Kutner said. { read more }

Be The Change

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

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July 11, 2011

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Impossible: Breaking the Four-Minute Mile

In 1954, England’s Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile. Today, of course, the it is routine among the top runners, but until Sir Roger (knighted in 1975) accomplished it, it was considered beyond the realm of human possibility — like climbing Mount Everest or walking on the moon. Bannister though, being a medical student at Oxford at the time, recognized it more of a global, psychological barrier. Sure enough, after he broke the record, within 3 years, 16 others had done it. He disappeared from the track scene shortly after his record run, and upon graduating, devoted his life to medicine. A near-fatal car accident in 1975 kept Bannister from running again, but gave him perspective. “The car accident said, ‘Well, if there’s something you want to do, you might as well do it, because after the next car accident, you might be dead.'” { read more }

Be The Change

An article from Wharton: “What’s Behind the 4-Minute Mile, Starbucks and the Moon Landing? The Power of Impossible Thinking” { more }

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July 10, 2011

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The Science of Self-Control

In the classic Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, researchers gave children a choice between one marshmallow right away, or two later. Most struggled to resist the treat and held out for less than three minutes. “A few kids ate the marshmallow right away,” Walter Mischel, the Stanford professor in charge of the experiment, remembers. “They didn’t even bother ringing the bell. Other kids would stare directly at the marshmallow and then ring the bell thirty seconds later.” About 30% of the children, however, successfully delayed gratification until the researcher returned, some 15 minutes later. These kids wrestled with temptation but found a way to resist. The most interesting results came years later: children who waited fifteen minutes had SAT scores that were, on average, 210 points higher than those of those who waited only 30 seconds. This New Yorker article delves into the mental processes behind self-control. { read more }

Be The Change

Make an effort to remain “in your own power” today.

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