follows is the audio and transcript of an onbeing.org interview between Krista Tippett and Dr. B.J. Miller:   MS. KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: “Let death be what takes us,” Dr. B.J. Miller has written, “not a lack of imagination.” As a palliative care physician, he brings a design sensibility to the matter of living until we die. And he’s largely redesigned his own physical presence after an accident at college left him without both of his legs and part of one arm. B.J. Miller’s wisdom extends to how we can all reframe our relationship to our imperfect bodies and all that we don’t control. DR. BRUCE (B.J.) MILLER: There’s a big di... posted on Apr 4 2016 (25,942 reads)

are the conditions and factors that make an ordinary experience complete. Dewey’s most salient point — a point that applies not only to art but to our deepest sense of ourselves as agents of aliveness — deals precisely with this question of completeness. Life, like art, is never complete without what he so poetically calls “all the rhythmic crises that punctuate the stream of living.” Our creaturely destiny is intimately entwined with the realities of nature, and nature is forever oscillating between mutually necessary highs and lows. Echoing Nietzsche’s immortal wisdom on why a fulfilling life requires embracing rather than running from... posted on Jun 26 2016 (12,076 reads)

that end with a click, like Yeats’s well-made box, and I hope this poem does that. MR: You raise the question of persevering in light of the fact that “things are always ending.” This is in your poem “Poem on a Line from Anne Sexton, ‘We Are All Writing God’s Poem’” (published on The Writer’s Almanac, March 21, 2009). The image at the end of that poem suggests your answer to death, illness, mutability, comes from observation of nature: “The moon spills its milk on the black table top/for the thousandth time.” Though not explicit in the poem, the title adds a religious note. Are those important sources of your joy... posted on Jul 26 2016 (11,193 reads)

tasks of our time. The mastery of that task is what the poet Jane Hirshfield examines in her 1997 essay collection Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (public library). Defining poetry as “the clarification and magnification of being,” she writes: “Here, as elsewhere in life, attentiveness only deepens what it regards.” In the superb opening essay, titled “Poetry and the Mind of Concentration,” Hirshfield examines the nature of this clarified, magnified deepening of being — concentration as consecration — by probing its six main components: music, rhetoric, image, emotion, story, and voice. Although foc... posted on Sep 6 2016 (11,022 reads)

therefore, is an alleviation and a blessing. Rebecca Solnit, in her beautiful meditation on the life-saving vanishing act of reading, wrote: “I disappeared into books when I was very young, disappeared into them like someone running into the woods.” Oliver disappeared into both. For her, the woods were not a metaphor but a locale of self-salvation — she found respite from the brutality of the real world in the benediction of two parallel sacred worlds: nature and literature. She vanished into the woods, where she found “beauty and interest and mystery,” and she vanished into books. In a sentiment that calls to mind Kafka’s unforget... posted on Dec 7 2016 (15,468 reads)

you, a human being, real strength. The energy that is the total awareness of one’s own existence is — or can become, can be — the strongest energy in human life. In another exchange, Jacob steers Jerry toward the idea that acknowledging the illusoriness of free will liberates us rather than taking away our freedom. Pointing out how impossible it is to understand freedom without understanding the influences acting upon us, the laws of the universe, and the nature of reality, he considers the source of real freedom: Ask yourself what is your understanding of the influences acting upon us — of the universal laws in nature? What are your thought... posted on Dec 24 2016 (10,765 reads)

or family worry for me? And how to gradually and skillfully invite them to open up to these values, without creating a ‘holier than thou’ feeling?” With such a rich field of inquiry, we transitioned into some stories and insights from Nipun—who graciously joined us in the midst of a week+ of nonstop circles. :) Nature and 'Survival' On the question of how to ‘survive’ in a gift-economy, he noted, “There is abundance in nature… How do we reconnect with nature’s abundance? How do we reconnect with this principle that sages have talked about for so long: ‘It is in giving that we receive’?&rdquo... posted on Jan 26 2017 (11,718 reads)

our understandings of community so that we can move from the closed protectionism of current forms to an openness and embrace of the planetary community. It is ironic that in the midst of this proliferation of specialty islands, we live surrounded by communities that know how to connect to others through their diversity, communities that succeed in creating sustainable relationships over long periods of time. These communities are the webs of relationships called ecosystems. Everywhere in nature, communities of diverse individuals live together in ways that support both the individual and the entire system. As they spin these systems into existence, new capabilities and talents emerge ... posted on Jun 4 2017 (12,373 reads)

snow leopard is one of the world’s most beautiful, albeit elusive animals. Concentrated in the mountainous regions, these arresting animals can be spotted by the fortunate few in countries like China (where the bulk of the population resides), Bhutan and India. In Himachal Pradesh, the snow leopard enjoys the distinction of being the state animal. Image source: Eric Kelby/Wikipedia Commons With their inherent reclusive nature and shrinking natural habitats, the number of snow leopards in the wild has dropped over the years. In the Himalayas, Nature Conservation Foundation (NSF) and Snow Leopard Trust have been working to conserve the local population of snow leop... posted on Jun 24 2017 (14,423 reads)

knowing the extremes of sadness and joy we can never fully know or feel all that life is.   Melancholy by Edgar Degas. Credit: Edgar Degas [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. “There is something so enchanting in the smile of melancholy. It is a ray of light in the darkness, a shade between sadness and despair, showing the possibility of consolation.” Leo Tolstoy What if melancholy can be passed down through generations, not just culturally but at the level of our DNA? Melancholia has long been seen as a key element in artistic inspiration, along with a way of turning pain and sorrow into healing, and ultimately, an acceptance of life’s ... posted on Jun 26 2017 (12,622 reads)

are those who give a lot to others? They’re the first to help and the first to speak a kind word. Life rewards them with opportunities. Or showers them with gifts. Call me crazy but I think that love is physically visible on these kinds of people’s faces. You may not see it all the time but to me people who are generally giving and loving show this with their eyes, their brows and their smile. You can’t really help but liking them back for their loving and kind nature. I believe that because of this love should be like confetti. It’s not something that should be saved for important people or rare events but rather be spread all around to those who s... posted on Jul 6 2017 (15,172 reads)

Webster and others are now advocating is something far more radical than recent efforts to reduce waste. In its purest form, Sustainability 3.0 — the circular economy — emulates the natural world. Allen Hershkowitz is a veteran recycling advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-founder/president emeritus of the Green Sports Alliance. He noted in his opening keynote address at the Wharton conference, The Circular Economy: From Concept to Business Reality, “In nature, there is no waste. One organism’s waste becomes nutrients for another organism.” In the same way, the circular economy moves past the notion of consumable products, viewing manu... posted on Jul 18 2017 (6,864 reads)

is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of Rajasthan? Definitely, desert, heat and infinite stretches of dunes that go on for miles with no greenery in sight. One man is on a mission to change it for real. With repeated observations of climate change occurring across the globe, such acts towards nature conservation is the need of the hour. What started in 2003 as a collective effort to resuscitate few Neem trees in the campus of the college where he was teaching, later saw Shyam Sundar Jyani, an associate professor at Government Dungar College, Bikaner, and his students planting saplings across the state for 11 years. Coming up with concepts such as Famil... posted on Jul 20 2017 (7,364 reads)

as the source of her incredible success in the kitchen. “ ‘These are my children,’ says Jeong Kwan as she ushers me through her garden. ‘I know their characters well, but even after all this time, they surprise me every day.’ ” With that she chuckled as she gazed over her garden. Cucumber Becomes Me It is in this way that Kwan’s own garden is the source of the magic she creates in her kitchen.  She gives herself over to being a part of nature, and in turn nature does not hold back from her. Her garden is abundant but it is not an orderly, controlled plot. It is more of a patch that is a haven to the animals as much as a food source ... posted on Jul 26 2017 (17,361 reads)

is from the word re-speculate, which means to look a second time.  Often when confronted with life, we succumb to “first gaze.”  First gaze asks, “How is this about me?”  Or “How do I make it about me?” Through respect, we recognize that first gaze does not always satisfy. How do we learn to give that important second look that releases us from ego tyranny?   Fr. Richard Rohr suggests that we go outdoors in nature, find one object and grant it respect.  It can be a flower, a leaf, a lizard, a pebble, a bug.    We respect this tiny, unassuming part of nature by seeing it and loving it ... posted on Sep 14 2017 (15,775 reads)

or her own way and always alone, each member of his group will repeat this process as he or she starts the day. This is not a ceremony or ritual repeated just once a week or once each day. It is a way of life. In the Native American culture, everything from the ordinary to the monumental is sacred. Rather than everything being an expression of God, the perception is that everything contains the presence of God. Everything is part of the Great Circle. Human beings are part of creation and nature, not at the top of it. Everywhere, everything, and every moment is a church. Every moment contains a prayer. A Lakota saying teaches, “Things always work out if you keep your prayer in fr... posted on Aug 18 2018 (12,064 reads)

analytical — there’s a massive set of changes that happen. And everybody in this room, I daresay, is, to some extent, WEIRD. [laughter] Ms. Tippett: [laughs] OK. A third premise is that morality “binds and blinds.” Mr. Haidt: This is the one I’m most excited about. This is the one that I feel unlocks so many of our hardest problems, particularly the ones we’re here to talk about tonight. So if you go with me that morality is part of human nature, that it is something that evolved in us as our primate ancestors became cultural creatures that lived in larger groups, then these groups competed with each other, and the groups that were abl... posted on Sep 21 2018 (17,472 reads)

so when they got there, they called the heart doctors and they called everybody who was on staff that could possibly save her and me, and they did --they saved both of us. I was born and she didn't die, but she was so weak that she was immediately transferred. They had to make a spot for her in Omaha so that she could have this heart surgery. In the meantime, my dad took me home to the Badlands in South Dakota where I got to meet my grandmother. It was there I started learning about nature. She spoke Lakota to me. I was in a crib, way out in the middle of the grasslands, in a cabin. So the window was open and I learned from a very small age about being alone, because it was me, h... posted on Jan 7 2018 (9,000 reads)

urban policy, anatomy, allegory, and heartbreak.” Perched midway in time between Thoreau and Solnit is a timeless celebration of the psychological, creative, and spiritual rewards of walking by the Scottish writer Kenneth Grahame (March 8, 1859–July 6, 1932), best known for the 1908 children’s novel The Wind in the Willows — a book beloved by pioneering conservationist and marine biologist Rachel Carson, whose own splendid prose about nature shares a kindred sensibility with Grahame’s. Kenneth Grahame Five years after publishing The Wind in the Willows, Grahame penned a beautiful short essay for a commemor... posted on Jan 27 2018 (12,583 reads)

leadership and the learning organization—particularly its capacity to self-organize. Meg is an author of nine books including the bestselling book, Leadership and the New Science and her new book, Who Do We Choose To Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, where she turns to the new science of living systems to help leaders persevere in this time of great turmoil. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Meg and I spoke about the cyclical nature of life and how we are currently in a destructive end phase of the cycle of history in the United States. How we need to see this clearly and also the despair we can feel in looking at this rea... posted on Mar 29 2018 (27,461 reads)