Sangha of Auspicious Companions

December 27, 2022

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A Special Kind of Grace: The Remarkable Story of the Devadosses

He was a writer and an artist whose captivating pen-and-ink drawings, books and greeting cards reflect the beauty of southern India. His wife helped compose his work. What makes their story extraordinary? Manohar Devadoss was near blind. His art was produced through a painstaking process of extraordinary will-power and dedication. His wife Mahema was paralyzed below the shoulders, the result of a car accident when they were in their early thirties. Despite the odds, this couple crafted a life together of tremendous beauty, joy and generosity touching many hearts along the way. This piece shares a glimpse of their journey, their art and inspiration { read more }

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Take a moment today to cherish the little gifts of joy, beauty and friendship in your life.

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Inspiring Links of the Week

December 26, 2022

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On Hope: A Conversation with Jacob Needleman

“When we’re in touch with another kind of consciousness, or level of understanding, that is what brings hope. It’s not because it hopes for money or pleasure, or anything like that. Yes, that’s a possible part of it. But it’s the element–maybe even the most essential part of ourselves as human beings–it’s this part that can be awakened by great ideas that speak about great questions of meaning, purpose, love…Again and again we are told, and again and again we forget. The task is change, change of being, not of doing. Change of not the outer, but the inner life. Change of attitudes and not of behavior alone, a letting go of, rather than getting or grasping. Before real work can begin, one must come back to one’s own nothingness, let go of all illusions about one’s self. To acquire a real self, the self that has seemed to be me, or mine, up to now must be seen clearly as it is.” The renowned philosopher, author, and religious scholar Jacob Needleman passed away in November of this year. He shares more in this nourishing conversation with long-time friend Richard Whittaker. { read more }

Be The Change

What is an unanswerable question that calls to you? Bring it into a circle of friends or family and see what it calls forth. For more inspiration from Needleman, check out this interview, “What Is God?” { more }

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December 25, 2022

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George’s Best Friend: A Christmas Story

A new neighbor moved in next door. His name was George, and he was an older gentleman. He always nodded a greeting when he saw us. It was around Thanksgiving when we saw him park in his space near ours. We were bringing in groceries, and my mom asked him if he had plans for the holiday. When he said no, that he would spend it alone, my mom mentioned her open house on Christmas Eve. ‘Please join us’, she said. He was already shaking his head no. ‘I won’t be good company, I’m afraid,’ he said, ‘I lost my wife a few months ago.’ His eyes filled with tears and he turned away. ‘Thank you anyway!’ he called. He went into his apartment and quietly closed the door.” What follows is a profoundly moving story that glows with the best and brightest of the Christmas spirit. { read more }

Be The Change

Christmas can be more than just a day of the year. It can be a way of being in this world. Today and all days, bring the light of a loving heart to every encounter.

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December 24, 2022

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Grace Before Dinner

“Twenty five years ago I started Greens restaurant in San Francisco, then left to live in Rome, where I began writing on food and cooking. I departed Rome just as the Slow Food movement took root there in 1986, and I didnt become formally involved for another ten years. (Among other things, I now run Slow Foods Santa Fe chapter). But I was informally supporting Slow Food concepts all along. My deepest sympathies have always been with the landscape of food and farming, and that led me to join the Santa Fe farmers market, near my new American home, as a manager and board member. I spent five years visiting markets and farmers across the country as I researched my 2002 book Local Flavors. At Terra Madre I reconnected with many of those same food producers and farmers.” Deborah Madison shares more in this inspiring piece. { read more }

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Learn more about the Slow Food movement here. { more }

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December 23, 2022

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That’s My Jazz

A father’s love is center stage in this magical video of reflections from the renowned pastry chef Milt Abel II as he describes his relationship with his father, legendary Kansas City jazz musician Milt Abel, Sr. This relationship formed Milt as he strove to be the best in his chosen field just like his father, “a great man, someone to aspire to be just like,” was in his own field. The memories of his father, the love they shared that still lives in his heart, inform how he chooses to live his life. { read more }

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If you have you made a choice in your life that sent you on a path which made you unavailable for a loved one, how might you transform that experience going forward?

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That’s My Jazz

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December 22, 2022

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Vanessa Machado de Oliveira : Hospicing Modernity

“Within modernity, we are conditioned to want to cover everything with a heavy blanket of fixed meanings, to index reality in language, to word the world. Carl Mika, a Maori philosopher and friend, suggests that instead of “wording the world,” when language manifests as an entity, it “worlds the world” and this opens other possibilities for experiencing existence within the world. There are significant implications of working with language to world the world, especially in relation to our relationship with stories. In wording the world, we are socialized to treat stories as tools of communication that enable us to describe reality, prescribe the future, and accumulate knowledge. In worlding the world, stories are living entities that emerge from and move things in the world. Some of these stories are meant to exist for a long time, others expire early. Some stories are meant to remain as and where they are and to work only with a very select group of people; other stories are meant to travel the world, and to transform and to be transformed by other world-entities, including the storytellers and those who receive the stories. These are the types of stories you will encounter in this book.” Vanessa Machado de Oliveira shares more in this excerpt from her book, ” Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanitys Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more, check out this interview with Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, “On Radical Tenderness, Eldership and Decolonization.” { more }

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December 21, 2022

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Bill Plotkin: The Butterfly and the Cocoon

“‘The world is not well tended or engaged with by people who dont know what they are for, who dont know why they were born.’ Steve Wheeler speaks with depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin about the metamorphoses of the soul in times of ecological crisis.” { read more }

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More from Bill Plotkin in this piece, “Inscendence and the Dream of the Earth.” { more }

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December 20, 2022

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Carol Sanford: No More Feedback

“I will admit from the start that this is a contrarian view of a subject that I love to hate: Feedback. People are often shocked that I would critique something that they think must be good for them and certainly good for others, no matter how much they dislike participating in it. After all, without feedback, how would we know how others see us? How would we get better at what we do? My answer to this is that there is a much more effective way for people to accurately assess their work, improve their performance, and raise the level of their contributions–with none of the downsides or negative side effects of feedback.” Carol Sanford shares more in this excerpt from her book,”No More Feedback.” { read more }

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For more information, here is another extended excerpt from Sanford’s book. { more }

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