Ms. Liz's Allies
Why might you choose to step in? This is one question that fourth graders in Elizabeth Kleinrocks class are asked as they learn terms like ally, advocate, and bystander and consider them in various historical, social, and cultural contexts. If the complexity of our world, its problems, pains, and difficult questions can feel overwhelming at times, a look inside this classroom goes to show that wit... posted on Sep 08 2018, 2,809 reads

Opening Your Heart to Bhutan
How does a jet-setting financial analyst from London end up a Buddhist nun in Bhutan? Emma Slade (ordained as Ani Pema Deki) is a yoga and meditation teacher and author who left a successful career in finance in her thirties to find peace and meaning in the mountains of Bhutan. Unusual for a mother of a now 12-year-old boy, she was ordained a Buddhist nun in Bhutan in 2014 after rigorous training ... posted on Sep 07 2018, 6,871 reads

Welcome to Our Shared Humanity
In moments of difficulty, we can feel utterly and completely alone in our pain and suffering. Actually, in this very moment, everyone is carrying some burden. It might be physical, like a load of heavy bricks. It might be emotional, like a regret from the past. It might be a burden of basic survival, like finding enough food or a safe place to sleep for the night. We are, in this very moment, part... posted on Sep 06 2018, 10,052 reads

Giang Dang: A Happy Soul Serves Happily
"Who is Giang Dang? She is a grassroots change-maker in Vietnam, who serves the underprivileged communities with small acts, such as transforming the abandoned land in the city into a community garden, who does not take no for an answer because making the seemingly impossible possible gives her extra motivation, and who recognizes the importance of self-care because she knows that a happy soul ser... posted on Sep 05 2018, 3,819 reads

Sacred Imperfection
"It occurred to me that my whole life, particularly as a minister, there's been a lot of pressure to be a certain way my whole life. I've been trying to get it right and finally be perfect enough to be a really good minister. And what I've discovered in the last couple of years as I've grown more and meditated more deeply -- also through a lot of the values that I've practiced because of ServiceSp... posted on Sep 04 2018, 8,835 reads

The Politics of the Brokenhearted
In this interview, Michael Lerner talks with Dr. Parker Palmer about education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. Palmer describes the tension needed today for grappling with the problems around us. He describes it as standing in the tragic gap the necessity of holding the space between that which is and that which we see as what could or should be. We are not to fall into eit... posted on Sep 03 2018, 5,951 reads

Servant Leadership in Business
Jose Juan Martinez (JJ) is no stranger to success. An industrial engineer by training he built an impressive career at Bekaert, a multinational automobile company. But despite a string of professional accomplishments, when he hit 40, the predominant feeling he experienced was that of emptiness. Seeking to address this void, he began an exploration of the world's wisdom traditions that continues to... posted on Sep 02 2018, 15,408 reads

Burning Insight
Dr. Jay Bansal lost his home in the Tubbs fire last year in California. He reflects: "Fire is a powerful and destructive force, as well as a potentially purifying and healing force in just about all spiritual traditions. It is up to each person whether to treat fire's destruction as a tragic loss or as an opportunity for transformation and healing. In the fire's aftermath, I saw up close examples ... posted on Aug 31 2018, 3,057 reads

Embracing JOMO, The Joy of Missing Out
"Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a common sensation in our high-pressure, social media-frenzied world, particularly in Western society. A recent study defined FOMO as, "the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out - that your peers are doing, in the know about, or in possession of more or something better than you." Under these terms, nearly 75 percent of young adults re... posted on Aug 30 2018, 33,152 reads

Unknown Hero: A Conversation with Loren Cole
Loren Cole was first recommended to Richard Whittaker as someone who could help prepare tax returns for his non-profit. Driving up to his home, Whittaker had no idea what was in store. Cole is the founder of his own non-profit, Inquiring Systems Inc. "ISI worked with organizations founded on visions of contributing to the greater good. What Loren offered was 'ethical and sustainable ecosystem mana... posted on Aug 29 2018, 2,177 reads