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| Kuni Retreat in Japan – 10-day pilgrimage in Dec 2025 |
Leaders as Listeners
The old leadership was a microphone.
The new leadership is a tuning fork. |
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| For generations, leadership meant having answers. But in a world where AI generates infinite content and everyone broadcasts, the scarce resource is no longer information. It’s presence.
The capacity to pay attention, listen and resonate in a way that catalyzes something pioneering. In these disorienting times, what are you listening into? Father Paolo Benanti, advisor to Pope Francis, asks: “What is the difference between a man who exists and a machine that functions?” Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang reminds us, “Singularity may be near, but plurality has always been here.”
Last week, Shinzen Young perplexed and wowed with his math of mysticism – but also gave relatable equations: Suffering = Pain × Resistance. And its companion: Fulfillment = Pleasure × Equanimity.
The multiplier is critical. Perhaps Plurality × Presence = Emergence. And collective presence makes it all regenerate. |
The waves of emergence continue…
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| 7-Day, AI + Wisdom Pod
A remarkable group gathers for our AI + Wisdom Pod, including climate economist Clair Brown, spiritual teacher Jac O’Keefe, venture capitalist Lam Nguyen, Ireland’s first acupuncturist Freya Sherlock, chaordic thinker Tom Hurley, humane education pioneer Zoe Weil, tech founders Stacey Lawson and Osama Manzar, indigenous voice Ejna Jean, and community weavers from 28 countries!
They’re coming not with answers, but with questions. Not as experts, but as peers. What will emerge as we hold really difficult questions in noble company?
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| Awakin Call
For over thirty years, McCraty has served as Director of Research at HeartMath Institute, proving scientifically what mystics always knew—the heart is the seat of intuition and doorway to our larger selves. As the master conductor, the heart sends more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. When it’s out of rhythm, life is discordant; but when it’s in coherence, everything changes. Join us for a unique conversation about the science of the heart!
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| Plus, coming up on January 30th — the anniversary of Gandhi’s passing — we begin a pod exploring the nuances to timeless question: what does it mean to “be the change” when the work begins with listening? Registration is open. |
| On our recent Interfaith Pod closing call, Sufi Sheikh Fawzia Al-Rawi offered a beautiful reflection: “The question is not how much we know,” she said, “but how do we relate to each other. Growth happens when consciousness expands — when we move from reacting to witnessing, from defending to understanding. We don’t need more opinions; we need deeper presence. We don’t need loud identities; we need wider hearts.” |
| In the spirit of wider hearts 🙏 |
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Ripples
From around the ecosystem |
| AI + HUMANITY
Vanessa Andreotti’s Awakin Call wowed — 9.9 rating from 43 reviews! “Modernity may have momentum, but it doesn’t have vitality.” When we meet AI as subject-to-subject rather than subject-to-object, the encounter shifts entirely. “Symbiosis is not an option — it’s just the condition for life.” |
| INTERFAITH POD
For 21 days, participants from 53 countries explored and practiced faith traditions other than their own, and shared thousands of reflections. And beneath all our different names for the sacred – one river of compassion. From meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg, to “Guitaro5000” who sings on the streets, to Rabbi Ariel Burger: Closing Call Clips |
| KUNI PILGRIMAGE
Like last year, Kotaro and Yuko led a global group of pilgrims across the legendary Mount Koya. A follow-up reflection: When the Path Leads. |
| BUT WAIT …
Stacey and Nipun didn’t get to ask all their questions on the call. What did they do instead? They asked the Shinzen Bot! Even a replica of Leonard Cohen’s “Love Itself.” 🙂 |
| SANTA’s GIFT
What did you get this Christmas? Ray went from being a physicist to teaching inner-city kids in Michigan. This Christmas, one of his students moved him to tears. |
| ASIA RETREAT
Grassroot change-makers from Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan joined everyday heroes in India to gather for a 10-day immersion around “the spirit of service” — how do we move from sympathy to empathy to compassion? Surprise ending: Chaz and Nimo’s class from UPenn! |
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| Spirit of Service Retreat – December 2025, India |
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| ServiceSpace incubates volunteer-run projects that nurture a culture of generosity and uplift the spiritual commons. Such small acts of service unlock an inner transformation that sustains external impact. |
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Sangha of Auspicious Companions 
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