Sangha of Auspicious Companions

July 23, 2023

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Jenny Odell: Another Kind of Time

“What songs are audible when the wind stops? What has been kept alive in the time snatched from work and sheltered from ongoing destructionwhat moments of recognition, what ways of relating, what other imagined worlds, what other selves? What other kinds of time?” In this conversation, artist and writer Jenny Odell points beyond the domination of clock time toward ways of being that are more in tune with the rhythms and patterns of the Earth. { read more }

Be The Change

More from Jenny Odell in this talk, “Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock.”

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July 22, 2023

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Slowing Down in Urgent Times

“To slow down in times of crisis–times that in so many ways require action on all fronts–can seem counterintuitive. We are constantly met with pressures to achieve more, act faster and be better. Dr. Bayo Akomolafe disagrees. Urgent times, he urges, call for quiet; for rest and respite. Instead of ramping up, we must surrender, and wait to witness the transformative potential of stillness. Dr. Akomolafe is a writer, poet, teacher, and public intellectual, whose groundbreaking philosophies draw on his roots with the Yoruba people to look beyond perceived certainties and obfuscate binary thinking. The first step toward emancipatory wholeness is finding comfort in the unknowable, and embracing bewilderment and wonder. “In pursuing justice, we’re reinforcing the system we’re trying to escape. In trying to climb out of the pits that we’ve dug for ourselves, the pits become resilient. In trying to escape the prison, the prison gains its form. So, in a very critical sense, we are in a crisis of form,” said Dr. Akomolafe. “We need trickster approaches, we need ways of dancing away, or dancing to, fugitive spaces; dancing to sanctuaries where we can shape-shift. Grieving, mourning, even allowing ourselves to partake in pleasurable activities in the face of the storm.” For the Wild founder Ayana Young speaks with Bayo Akomolofe on the generative powers of stillness and fugitivity. { read more }

Be The Change

Learn more about Bayo, his work and writings here. { more }

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July 21, 2023

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Beannacht (Blessing) for Our Death

Tracey Schmidt’s poetic reading of a Blessing for Our Death reminds us of the complexities of life – how we can be gatekeepers and entrance points, light filled and vulnerable, lonely and loved, all at the same time. She praises life and exhorts us to do the same, to “sing as if tomorrow will not come because one day it will not.” This singing of life’s praises enables us to live fully, “as if home were everywhere and you no longer a guest but a loved and welcome member.” { read more }

Be The Change

What in your life today causes you to sing its praises and to feel at home?

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Beannacht (Blessing) for Our Death

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July 20, 2023

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Michael Nye: Images & Voices on the Edge of Revelation

Wherever he travels, Michael Nye carries an antique 8×10 camera and a voice recorder. He has been aptly described by National Public Radio as “part reporter and part anthropologist”. His projects have taken him to Iraq during the first Gulf War, refugee camps in Palestine, as well as Siberia, China, Morocco, and Mexico. His documentaries, photography and audio exhibitions, “Children of Children — Teenage Pregnancy,” “Fine Line — Mental Health/Mental Illness,” and “About Hunger & Resilience” have traveled to more than 150 cities across the United States. His newest exhibit is called “My Heart Is Not Blind — About Blindness and Perception,” based on seven years of listening to men and women who are blind and visually impaired. Michael explores how perception and adaptation are deeper than we can imagine, and much more mysterious. “How does anyone, blind or sighted understand the world outside themselves?These conversations focus on the deep and shifting pools of perception and the mystery of transformation. Our other senses, separate from sight, have their own wisdom.” { read more }

Be The Change

Join an Awakin Call with Michael Nye this weekend. More details and RSVP info here. { more }

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July 19, 2023

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Ode to an Ugly Cat

“Idly is not a beautiful cat. There is something about the way he looks at you that will set you on edge and it will take you a long time to get over this feeling. The edges of his ears are jagged, a little bit frayed. Old cat ears. He has scratches on his nose. He always has something sticking to his whiskers and there is nothing you can do about that. He would rather have cat litter stuck to his face than let you near him with a tissue. Idly is not exactly dirty but he is by no means clean. His paws are a mess, suspicious dark substances cake the spaces beneath his claws. When he yawns, his breath is hot and terrible. He drools constantly. One day, a single yellow tooth falls out and is found lying on a blue pillow. There seems to be so much to overcome, before you can begin to love this prickly cat…” Snigdha Manickavel’s unforgettable tribute to this unforgettable cat is a reminder of how relationships that get off to a rocky start can sometimes despite — or perhaps because of the odds– turn into something incredibly special. { read more }

Be The Change

Take a moment to recall a time when you were challenged to love someone “prickly,” or when your own prickliness was met unexpectedly, with love.

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July 18, 2023

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The Medicine of Memory

“Every life is like a day. We begin the night before and, in the darkness, we are formed as a word that strikes a spark. This spark lands like a seed coming to the ground in the soul of the womb. Then miraculous growth pulses like wildfirean unstoppable explosion of unimaginable geniusthe exponential roar of universal proportion. Every life well-lived holds in its hearts core the knowing that all life is formed from the dust and back to dust disintegrates. We wake up from the sleep of the cosmos and, in the evening, we prepare to return to that great, mysterious darkness once more. The trinity of dying, death, and grief is part of one great movement, each a particular primary color on the spectrum of passing back into the night from where we came.” Singer, composer and leadership coach Owen O’Suilleabhain shares more in this moving meditation on memory, grief, healing and regeneration. { read more }

Be The Change

Learn more about Owen’s work and journey here. { more }

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Inspiring Links of the Week

July 17, 2023

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Honey Church

“Our first summer in Baltimore. The first year of our marriage–your only marriage, my second one–when my kid became our kid. This house, our home. We watched the parade of ants–polite little soldiers marching single file along the kitchen baseboards in a thin and steady stream. You took a white sheet of paper from the printer, slipped it under their quick feet, then whoosh, like a magician and his tablecloth, you scooped them off the floor and out the door. Scoop and flick, scoop and flick, like magic, they were gone. Until they weren’t.” Angela Pelster shares more in this moving piece on how to love an (ant) invasion, and one another. { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, check out, “The Gentle Art of Blessing,” by Pierre Pradervand. { more }

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July 16, 2023

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Mark Nepo: The Half Life of Angels

“How do we know our own authenticity? How can we return to our hearts when we find we’ve left them? As we evolve and change along our journey, how do we relate to the ‘former selves’ in our past? Tami Simon and poet-philosopher Mark Nepo address these questions and more, as they discuss his creative process; his new book, The Half-Life of Angels; and how we can each touch the ever-present and wholly miraculous spark of becoming waiting to guide our lives.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, check out a selection of Mark Nepo’s poems here. { more }

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