Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Smile Newsletter: The Veteran Who Just Wanted To Be Seen

Mar 18, 2012 “Our dignity is not in what we do, but what we understand.” — George Santayana “I really enjoy doing kind acts for others. Today, I gave three homeless men each a 30 dollar gift card to Walmart and a day bus pass to get there. I drove my mother shopping, brought her home and unloaded and unpacked her items. I also hugged my brother!”– AngelK [ share your story >> ] You can also contribute comments on each story! The Veteran Who Just Wanted To Be Seen >> The “Life Is Good” Lady >> Message In A Wallet >> More Stories >> “I guess what motivates me to be kind is the fact that people can sometimes be shocked by a random act of kindness, to know that you managed to brighten someone’s day or make them laugh or smile makes everything seem a little brighter!” –Bright07 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, 1,015,457 cards have been shipped without any charge. The ‘Smiles’ newsletter is emailed to 88,989 subscribers with the intent of spreading more smiles in the world. You can unsubscribe anytime. get smile cards | donate | write to us

Broken Bodies, Broken Minds, Amazing Spirits

Half the spiritual life consists of remembering what we are up against and where we are going. — Ayya Khema

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Inspiration of the Day:
“Yesterday I went to the nursing home to visit my step mom’s grandma. She just got out of the hospital recently where she underwent some serious operations. I wanted to surprise her after work so I stopped by for a quick visit. When I got there she was happy to see me. We hugged, kissed and exchanged greetings. Then I heard a woman crying. It was my great grandma’s roommate. The curtain was drawn so I could not see her. She started calling out a name that wasn’t mine but she was definitely talking to me, begging me to go to her side of the room. I ignored her at first and continued visiting with my great grandma. Then she started begging and saying, ‘Please, come see me!’ So I went to see her. When I drew the curtain back she looked so old and frail but flashed me the biggest smile!” So begins this real world kindness story.
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Be The Change:
Call or visit someone undergoing physical or mental healing.

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A Lost 5-yr-old Finds Family 25 Years Later

Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. — C.S. Lewis

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Good News of the Day:
One day in 1987, 5-year-old Saroo Brierley spent the afternoon begging for change with his brother at a local train station. When it was time to go home, the boys boarded what they thought was the correct train. They were wrong. Exhausted, the young brothers fell asleep, only to wake up 10 hours later on the other side of India, hundreds of miles away from their family. 25 years later, using little more than a vague recollection of his childhood and some help from Google Earth’s mapping technology, Saroo began his miraculous journey home.
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Be The Change:
Is there a wholesome connection from your own childhood that you still remember? Try reconnecting to it.

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Dalai Lama Quote from Snow Lion Publications

Dalai Lama Quote of the Week Our sense of self As long as we cling to some notion of objective existence–the idea that something actually exists in a concrete, identifiable way–emotions such as desire and aversion will follow. When we see something we like–a beautiful watch, for example–we perceive it as having some real quality of existence among its parts. We see the watch not as a collection of parts, but as an existing entity with a specific quality of watch-ness to it. And if it’s a fine mechanical timepiece, our perception is enhanced by qualities that are seen to exist definitely as part of the nature of the watch. It is as a result of this misperception of the watch that our desire to possess it arises. In a similar manner, our aversion to someone we dislike arises as a result of attributing inherent negative qualities to the person. When we relate this process to how we experience our own sense of existence–how the thought “I” or “I am” arises–we notice that it invariably does so in relation to some aspect of our physical or mental aggregates. Our notion of ourselves is based upon a sense of our physical and emotional selves. What’s more, we feel that these physical and mental aspects of ourselves exist inherently. My body is not something of which I doubt the specificity. There is a body-ness as well as a me-ness about it that very evidently exists. It seems to be a natural basis for my identifying my body as “me.” Our emotions such as fear are similarly experienced as having a valid existence and as being natural bases for our identifying ourselves as “me.” Both our loves and our hates serve to deepen the self sense. Even the mere feeling “I’m cold” contributes to our sense of being a solid and legitimate “I.”(p.61) –from A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life by The Dalai Lama, edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Richard Gere A Profound Mind • Now at 4O% off!

Video of the Week: Barefoot College

You’re receiving this newsletter because you are a KarmaTube subscriber. Having trouble reading this mail? View it in your browser. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe Video of the Week Mar 16, 2012 Barefoot College In Rajasthan, India, an extraordinary school teaches rural women and men — many of them illiterate — to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages. It’s called the Barefoot College, and its founder, Bunker Roy, explains the values behind its success. Trust the people, he says, and they’ll create the solutions themselves. Share: Related KarmaTube Videos Mother Trees Connect the Forest An Unlikely Crusader for Food Safety Story of a Sign Magic of Free Parking About KarmaTube: KarmaTube is a collection of inspiring videos accompanied by simple actions every viewer can take. We invite you to get involved. Other ServiceSpace Projects: DailyGood // Conversations // iJourney // HelpOthers MovedByLove // CF Sites // Karma Kitchen // More Thank you for helping us spread the good. This newsletter now reaches 42,047 subscribers.

How to Be Alone

It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. — K.T. Jong

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Inspiration of the Day:
This charming and chirpy video pays tribute to the happy wholesomeness of being alone. Tanya Davis recites her poem about the ways of solitude, gently cataloging all the places where aloneness can bring freedom and healing. Whether at a lunch counter, park bench, mountain trail, or on the edge of a dance floor — all we have to do is love ourselves enough, to love being alone.
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Be The Change:
What can solitude have to do with leadership? A speech at West Point on the value of introspection, concentration, and nonconformity.
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Dharma Quote from Snow Lion Publications

Dharma Quote of the Week In the Mahayana, there exist the vows of the Bodhisattva…but in Dzogchen, there exist no such rules or vows. When the Indian Buddhist master Atisa came to Tibet in the eleventh century, he met the famous Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo. Atisa asked him how he practiced the Tantras which he had translated, and he replied that he practiced them meticulously one after the other. But Atisa told him that this was not the correct way. He pointed out to the translator that all of the Tantras could be condensed and integrated into a single Upadesa and one need only practise that in order to maintain all of the transmissions which he had received. The same is true with Dzogchen. If we really understand this single teaching here which comes directly from Guru Padmasambhava, we can attain liberation. But we must grasp this vital core of the teaching. No matter what we are doing, which ever among the four modes of behavior–walking, sitting, lying down, or eating, we must always hold to awareness, never forgetting, never losing this awareness. This is the real meaning of Rigdzin, one who is totally aware. In Dzogchen, there is only one rule–always be aware in whatever we do, never be distracted!(p.68) –from Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness by translation and commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, foreword by Namkhai Norbu, published by Snow Lion Publications Self-Liberation • Now at 5O% off! (Good until March 23rd).

Kindness Daily: The Veteran Who Just Wanted To Be Seen

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The Veteran Who Just Wanted To Be Seen March 15, 2012 – Posted by marc This happened about four or five years ago. I had been involved in "Non Violent Communication" for a couple of years. I was struggling as I still do with finding a natural and seamless way of connecting with people through compassion and empathy in everyday encounters; trying not to assume I know what someone needs but being willing to ask. Walking through the lobby of an office building in San Francisco I could hear a man screaming and shouting obscenities. He was so loud his voice penetrated the sounds of mid-day traffic and the double glass doors leading to the street. Heading through those doors I saw a double amputee hunched over on one of those little rolling platforms auto mechanics sometimes use to scoot under cars. He was gesturing erratically at pedestrians as they approached and yelling profanities as they veered as far away from him as they could get while still staying on the sidewalk. “I fought in Nam!" he yelled. "I lost my legs In Nam! Why can’t you help me?” Trying to avoid him I hugged the building and tried to melt into the crowd, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. I don’t know if his volume actually rose or it was just my imagination but his words surrounded me. With every step they seemed louder. "I lost my legs In Nam! Why can’t you help me?” he roared (with added expletives!) Two more steps and I’d be at the corner and out of range. Then something shifted in me and, to my surprise. instead of making my escape I stopped, turned and walked back towards him. Crouching down I put a few bucks in his cup and asked him if he just wanted someone to stop and listen to him. "Don’t you think I at least deserve that?" he shouted. "I went to Nam!" There was a pause as he caught his breath. "I was a kid. I came home with no legs! And they won’t even look me in the eye!" He paused again as he struggled to get the words out. "… I did it for them …" Looking into his gnarled, dirt-stained, unshaven face I guessed he was just a few years younger than me. I imagined our shared experiences as black youngsters growing up in the fifties and sixties. Had he, like me, shivered with fear when Emmet Till was killed in Mississippi? Was he also anxious when Ruby Bridges was escorted into that schoolhouse in New Orleans. Had he cried when John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were assassinated? I was also aware of our differences highlighted by his ragged clothes and his paper cup for spare change. I asked if he just wanted to be seen and heard after all he had come through. His voice dropped and he nodded and whispered, “Yes … yes." With a calm steady gaze he looked me in the eyes as tears spilled over his wizened cheeks. He clasped my hands in his. Spare change would help but simply being seen and heard can be what some of us long for most of all. 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 A Pair of Sunglasses, by Joy The Beggar Poem, by philip1957 An Angel and a Pepsi, by marebear Like The Flowing River!, by bearhug $100 Pay-it-forward Award, by IZZY 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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Quote of the Week | The Rope of Mindfulness

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9 year old Autistic Social Entrepreneur

Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake. — Marie Ray

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Good News of the Day:
Kent Melville’s father was skeptical when his son first said that he wanted to use the profits from his successful summer lemonade stand to start his own soda company. Aaron Melville, who teaches business classes at a local college, did not believe his 9-year-old autistic son was ready to run his own business. He told Kent to wait until he was older. His son’s response brought tears to his eyes and change to his heart: “Dad, I have everything I need right now, but there are lots of other kids with autism that can’t do the things they want or need. I want to be able to help them get some of the things they want with the money we earn. Can’t we start now? I don’t want to wait.”
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Be The Change:
Take a small step today towards a dream you’ve long harbored.

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