Donna: "My Father's Gifts" Posted by Bradley Stoll, Jan 02 2022 During last Wednesday's virtual Awakin Circle, Donna's heartfelt share warmed many of our hearts:

10 Insights From 2021 That Give Us Hope Posted by KarunaVirus , Dec 31 2021 As 2021 dissolves into a new year, KarunaVirus editors reflect on what the past year of witnessing everyday people choose love over fear have taught us. 1. Unsung Heroes Are Right Under Our Noses We are taught to look at the stage to see displays of greatness, but it's resoundingly clear that heroes can often be found among the most ordinary, everyday situations. If you walk into a Walmart late at night, you may just run into a high school principal stocking shelves. In South Carolina, school principal Henry Darby works the night shift after full school days and donates his earnings to his struggling students. Go for an early morning run at the park, and you might meet a community legend. Along the waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida, Al Nixon sits on an unassuming bench, simply showing up for strangers unconditionally. Drop off your kids at the school bus, and their bus ... Read Full Story

Someone's Smile Posted by Mark Peters, Dec 02 2021 At the tail end of last night's virtual Awakin Circle in Santa Clara, we were treated to a real-time zoom rendition of one of my favorite songs, "Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe" -- sung by Dinesh Uncle! With a modest application of poetic license, here is a translation of the original Hindi lyrics into English: Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe (Someone's Smile) Giving a smile to someone Holding space for them to express their pain Holding them in your heart This is the essence of life It's true, I am poor in terms of money But my heart is rich And life is great when guided by love and joy I have faith in this even if our society does not Trust bridges the divide between hearts Love's expression exists due to us Someone will remember this form even after it dies As I will smile in their tears Flowers proclaim this to buds, time after time

8-Year-old On The Meaning Of Love :) Posted by Janessa Wilder, Dec 02 2021 Yesterday, while I was on a zoom call for a weekly writer's group, my 8-year-old daughter Afton spontaneously joined. When one of our groupmates asked her to share a poem, she spontaneously wrote a series of poems. In last night's Awakin Santa Clara circle, Mark encouraged her to share the poems with the group, and I thought I'd share them here as well, in case they bring a smile to you the way they did for us. The heartfelt expressions of children can be so humbling to witness! Endless There is no end to anything. It continues. If you turn a sphere, it's endless. The world you live in, is endless. Your life, is endless. You never end. You can never be left behind, because you just keep going. You can never be alone, because you can't be in one place. Endless. The Meaning of Love Sitting there, snuggling with your mom, that's love. But what's the meaning? What's the meaning of giving a hug, ... Read Full Story

Karma Kitchen Bangalore – A Gift That Bears Gifts Posted by Monica samuel, Oct 18 2021 For many years we have been inspired by the idea of the Karma Kitchen, but we never thought that we could be the ones to initiate it. This year, one member of our core group of 6 friends was very inspired to try this experiment. Since we have always supported each other in all explorations, we all jumped aboard. A gift that started with a gift We knew Karma Kitchen was a big project but how big … we got to learn only when we started the planning. Looking back, many magical things happened to keep us going - stopping us from even having second thoughts. For example, when we were still talking about starting the Karma Kitchen, our mentor and a sister Karma kitchen project gave us the seed money to get started. That was so unexpected and such a gift of generosity that we felt that we must respect this ... Read Full Story

Living Theology At The Bottom Posted by Rick Phillips, Sep 22 2021 [I was deeply touched by Chaz Howard's recent Awakin reading, and particularly, the recent conversation he had with Nipun. Below were my reflections for our local Awakin Circle.] I wanted to touch on five different things from what stood out for me in this remarkable passage. I was struck by a number of things. First the idea of lived theology, to live your faith, but then to live it at the “bottom” as a way to gain spiritual insight and compassion. And, of course, Chaz did this! He spent time living by choice on the street, amongst the homeless, in Philadelphia where he’s from. So, he really can speak from that personal experience, as he does in the conversation with Nipun and in the book he's also written. The next thing that struck me was the idea of the wounded heart as being a source for great compassion or great violence. This spoke ... Read Full Story

Gratitude For A Flat Tire Posted by Brinda Govindan, Sep 10 2021 Yesterday after a full day of masked in-person teaching, I returned to my car ready to drive home. While I was inside the car, a young woman walked around my car and indicated she wanted to tell me something---she said "your back tire is flat!" and walked away. I used the tire gauge that my dad had sent me a while ago to check all the tires and indeed one was completely flat. Fortunately we have AAA and I called the number so they could change the tire and put on my spare tire. The car was in a place where it would have been very challenging for me to do this, but they did it quickly. I had to wait for a while for them to show up, but I didn't mind at all because I could just use that time to meditate, breathe, and pause. I also had ... Read Full Story

Losing A Sense Posted by Brinda Govindan, Sep 03 2021 I love Mulla Nasrudin stories and would read them with my son when he was little. So this week's reading was very familiar-- funny and yet very profound. It got me thinking about losing a sense. Two years ago, I had lost my voice for two weeks. And that's a pretty long time not to talk, especially for somebody who is a teacher! And it was a very, very profound shift, because not only did I experience the world differently from my "silent space" but I learned that how others saw me was different too. During that time I went to a conference and people thought I was deaf, because I was writing on a small whiteboard that I carried everywhere. They would talk really loudly to me which I found startling! I would then indicate on my whiteboard "I have just lost my voice". I gave my entire presentation without speaking---by ... Read Full Story

On Befriending Fear Posted by Linh Trinh, Aug 18 2021 In our Laddership Pod, as I read podmates' reflections, I was reminded of my own practice on embracing fear. A helpful one is to identify Fear as a character I can converse with. I learned this mantra from Tanya Kaps, and felt inspired to illustrate it. This was drawn in April 2020, when Covid was reaching its first peak globally. ----- Originally posted in Laddership Pod.

Service Is Empowering To Both The ... Posted by Purna Mukesh, Aug 17 2021 Service is empowering to both the receiver & giver. Service takes different forms, small acts of kindness to transformative journeys. With each, we feel a profound sense of joy and make our world a better place. When my mother was in hospital recovering from a stroke, my daughter who was then 13 years came to meet mom. She loved to hold her granny's hand, chat, joke and laugh together. There were 6 other patients in that general ward. As my daughter and I stepped out, she noticed a flower vendor and said "Mom may we buy a flower for each patient in granny's room?" It was such a beautiful and generous thought. She stopped by each bed, smiled at the patient, gave them a flower and wished them a speedy recover. The surprise and joy in the eyes and smiles of the patients spoke volumes. We can all serve in simple ways that bring joy. I have been fortunate to experience that service and kindness numerous times and I attempt to keep that circle going