Empty Space In Our Living Room Posted by Joao Perre, Sep 17 2018 [In a recent conversation about ripples, I was reminded of this story from my childhood.] One of my favorite moments when I was a kid was Christmas, and especially the Christmas tree. :) I always had a special interest -- I don't know why -- but I loved Christmas trees, and I would do anything to build Christmas trees at home. When I was about 10 or 12, my mother -- who is a very, very special person -- posed a challenge that at the time I found very difficult. She said, "This year, instead of decorating a Christmas tree at home, we will provide and decorate a tree for a family in our neighborhood." We were aware of that there were two or three families in our neighborhood that would never be able to build a Christmas tree. But as a kid who loved Christmas trees, :) I became so angry with my ... Read Full Story

SF Waldorf High Kindness! Posted by Anne Veh, Sep 17 2018 Few weeks back, our Kindness Team visited SF Waldorf High School for a Kindness Circle, which has become an annual tradition there. :) Here's some photos from the day, as well as some touching reflections from some of our Kindness Team volunteers! Pancho, Liz, Helen, and Dustin arrived early in the morning to meditate a full hour before we even began! Beforehand, Helen baked some delicious treats to share, and everyone came with flowers, and gifts to use for our kindness activities. At 8:30AM, we began, with some sweet stories from Dustin and Ana (who came all the way from the Philippines)! Then we broke into pairs to reflect on a moment of kindness we've experienced in our lives, followed by a circle of sharing on what our partners spoke about! By this time, we'd done quite a bit of sharing, so our movement expert Ana led us in an energizing activity and Andy ... Read Full Story

Laddership News: Laddership News: Ladders & Posted by Jane Murray, Sep 16 2018 This month's 'Laddership Newsletter' was just posted online. The process of laddership creates the circumstances in which transformation can arise - not as formula but as rich possibility. This month, Parag introduces an exciting new circle of fellows for the Laddership Circle (nicknamed "Monsoon" :)) that's just begun in India. Recent alum of another circle, Sylvia, brings us a stirring story of subtle laddering from her time with Mother Teresa.

Nuggets From Ron Epstein's Call Posted by Amit Dungarani, Sep 15 2018 This past Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Ron Epstein. Ron Epstein, Ph.D., is a Buddhist scholar and practitioner. A prolific writer, translator, ethicist and activist regarding the modern application of Buddhism and Buddhist ethics, he is author of the recent book, Responsible Living: Explorations in Applied Buddhist Ethics--Environment, Animals, GMOs, and Digital Media (March 2018). Dr. Epstein is a graduate of Harvard University, the University of Washington, and UC Berkeley. Born in Kentucky to a Jewish family, he turned to Buddhism in the 1960s and found himself living in the same run-down apartment building in San Francisco as a Chinese monk, Master Hsuan Hua, who turned out to be a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century. And so at the age of 24, Epstein commenced his life-long study and practice of Buddhism with the Venerable Master Hua, and ... Read Full Story