Shree Krishna.' Then, as he left home in the morning, 'Jai Shree Krishna' he would call out. And Arun Dada would call back, "Jai Shree Krishna". And one day the customary call didn't come, prompting Arun Dada to inquire, "What's wrong?" "Oh, I saw that you were reading so I didn't want to disturb you," came the response. "Not a disturbance at all! Like the birds chirping, the water flowing, the wind blowing, your words are part of nature's symphony." So they started again. And the practice continues to this day, nine years later. While concluding this story, he reminded us of Vinoba's maxim of searching for t... posted on Nov 27 2014 (36,230 reads)

articles and blogs about this practice. Each offers its own patented plan, proving that by doing exactly what this person did, or becoming just like that successful celebrity entrepreneur, we will have everything we need to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But people don’t ever change by becoming someone else. People change by seeking, finding, and nourishing the best of who they are. They persist through the dark, heart-shredding times. They reach deeper into their true nature, the source of their best wisdom, courage, and passion. We all carry in us an inner knowing that can lift us up, if only we will first learn to stand our ground. When we demand our best, we ... posted on Nov 10 2014 (22,776 reads)

the form of a newly born infant. Once we arrive, we enter into the inheritance of everything that has preceded us; we become heirs to the world. To be born is to be chosen. To be created and come to birth is to be blessed. Some primal kindness chose us and brought us through the forest of dreaming until we could emerge into the clearance of individuality, with a path of life opening before us through the world. "The beginning often holds the clue to everything that follows. Given the nature of our beginning, it is no wonder that our hearts are imbued with longing for beauty, meaning, order, creativity, compassion, and love. We approach the world with this roster of longings and ex... posted on Nov 28 2014 (47,888 reads)

to appreciate the value of all of the community's members. As I visit schools associated with our Leadership Academy, I am heartened to observe that educators are creating experiences for children that promote both a mastery of the world of media and technology and recognition of their interdependence with one another and with all living beings. Spiritual Qualities of Leadership In education for sustainability, we are engaged in a process of creating receptivity to the profound nature of our interrelated existence within the web of life, which brings me to the third dimension of leadership. In the process of putting together my thoughts for today, I had a vivid dream. In ... posted on Nov 17 2014 (17,061 reads)

change. And if you look through history, there are some extraordinary figures who have harnessed this power by engaging in what I think of as “experiential empathy.” This is where you don’t just imagine someone else’s life (a practice technically known as “cognitive empathy”) but try to live it yourself, doing the things they do, living in the places where they live, and knowing the people they know. You might also call an experience of this nature an “empathy immersion.” It’s like empathy as an extreme sport—one far more exciting and adventurous than ice climbing or sky diving. So here is my top-five list of pe... posted on Jan 15 2015 (29,473 reads)

time (to work, to check tasks off your list) is downtime, sans stimulation. As a society, we don’t just need to learn to tolerate stillness, we actually need to cultivate it. Fortunately, it’s not complicated. Try driving in silence, with your radio and phone off. (Encourage your children to look out the window while you drive them, instead of down at their devices.) Eat meals out of the sight and sound of your phones and televisions. Take a walk outside every day, preferably in nature, without a phone or music player. If it’s hard, just try a few minutes at a time, adding a few minutes each day. Just practice; it’ll get easier, and the benefits will become more a... posted on Jan 19 2015 (36,408 reads)

Now I am no stranger to going out and doing things, but this is the first time I have ever been focused and paid attention to 'Kindness Acts' to the degree that was required in coming up with what I was going to do each day, preparing for it when I needed to, and then writing about it for 60 days. Here is what I want to share. In my experience, there is no such thing as a 'kindness act' There is no separate 'act' that can be called Kindness. I believe our true nature IS kindness and that when we are not acting out of fear( which is what manifests as self interest, greed, material competition, and not- enoughness) we act out of love. In that act of love, we ... posted on Feb 13 2015 (36,281 reads)

other species and future generations as well as, for example, between those with great differences of wealth and opportunity. A compassionate simplicity is a path of cooperation and fairness that seeks a future of mutually assured development for all. 3. Ecological Simplicity: Simplicity means to choose ways of living that touch the Earth more lightly and that reduce our ecological impact. This life-path remembers our deep roots in the natural world. It encourages us to connect with nature, the seasons, and the cosmos. A natural simplicity feels a deep reverence for the community of life on Earth and accepts that the non-human realms of plants and animals have their dignity and r... posted on Jan 5 2015 (72,094 reads)

each day. Now I am no stranger to going out and doing things, but this is the first time I have ever been focused and paid attention to 'Kindness Acts' to the degree that was required in coming up with what I was going to do each day, preparing for it when I needed to, and then writing about it for 60 days. Here is what I want to share. In my experience, there is no such thing as a 'kindness act' There is no separate 'act' that can be called Kindness. I believe our true nature IS kindness and that when we are not acting out of fear( which is what manifests as self interest, greed, material competition, and not- enoughness) we act out of love. In that act of love, we ... posted on Jan 3 2015 (68,095 reads)

reflected his unwavering belief in the need to empathise with one’s enemies – who were not really enemies but simply other human beings whose lives and values were of equal worth to one’s own. The half a million deaths that occurred during partition in violence between Hindus and Muslims showed that the moral challenge of doing so was too great in that turbulent moment of history. Perhaps Gandhi was excessively idealistic, and should have admitted the darker sides of human nature that prevented the empathetic understanding he valued so highly.Yet I believe he was right to stress the importance of empathy for those on opposite sides of social and political divides. Empat... posted on Mar 2 2015 (24,473 reads)

sense of urgency. It sets up the perfect neurochemical setting for the creation of a society of adrenaline addicts. As technology governs more of our lives, we find ourselves in a widening gap between chronos and kairos—the ancient Greeks’ two words for time. The former refers to chronological or sequential time, and the latter signifies a time lapse, a moment of indeterminate time in which everything happens. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative, permanent nature. Chronos is a stopwatch. Kairos is a compass. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, Ecclesiastes assures us. In other words, relax, it’s ta... posted on Feb 11 2015 (22,842 reads)

are discovering how music affects the brain, helping us to make sense of its real emotional and social power. I still remember when I first heard the song by Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill.” Something about that song—the lyrics, the melody, the unusual 7/4 time signature—gave me chills. Even now, years later, it still can make me cry. Who among us doesn’t have a similar story about a song that touched us? Whether attending a concert, listening to the radio, or singing in the shower, there’s something about music that can fill us with emotion, from joy to sadness. Music impacts us in ways that other sounds don’t, and for year... posted on Mar 6 2015 (30,364 reads)

your mind of what you should be doing or where you should be. Those ideal experiences aren’t of any higher quality than the experience you’re having right now.      *  See the wonder in this moment. Right where you are, right now. Notice the amazing things around you, and in you, as if you’re seeing it for the first time ever. Notice the miracle of your body, your mind, your surroundings. How did all this come to be? The building you’re in, or the nature you’re in, didn’t just magically appear — it’s almost as if the world conspired to make this moment happen, and you get to be here to witness it. Awesome! That’... posted on Mar 9 2015 (40,705 reads)

to only when the economy or war shortages demanded it. Instead, we can aim for three things: Setting some spending guidelines to lean on, modeling a few sensible tactics for our children, and adopting family rituals that make spending fun—but only on things that have real value and meaning. Every new generation of parents is astounded and alarmed when confronting the goods and experiences available to their own children. But there’s something about the always-on, instant-access nature of so much of life in recent years that really does seem fundamentally different. Our culture of consumption can make it challenging for parents to navigate kids away from materialism and towar... posted on Mar 19 2015 (22,099 reads)

life, no matter how they did it. For example, in pre-school and kindergarten and first grade, we have to let kids play. I told you the story of the little boy who was psychologically having a lot of problems. I let him do art everyday for a couple of months. Another boy, ran away several times in the public schools in Indianapolis. He never came to school. But I finally got a hold of him. I said you’re always in the woods. What do you want to do? He said, “All I like is nature.” So I asked our teacher who is a naturalist, the one who didn’t pass math in seventh grade. I asked her if she would take this boy. She said, “I’ll take him, if you get... posted on Apr 11 2015 (14,312 reads)

make sure that happens, this year we launched Sughar Foundation in the U.S. It is not just going to fund Sughar but many other organizations in Pakistan to replicate the idea and to find even more innovative ways to unleash the rural women's potential in Pakistan. 14:00     Thank you so much. 14:02     (Applause) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 14:10     Chris Anderson: Khalida, you are quite the force of nature. I mean, this story, in many ways, just seems beyond belief. It's incredible that someone so young could do achieve this much through so much force and ingenuity. So I guess one question: T... posted on Apr 19 2015 (10,957 reads)

helps you channel your thought process. And the target doesn’t even have to be logical. Recently I was having trouble finishing a chapter of a novel I’ve been writing. One day I got some Chinese takeout and decided to write something based on whatever prophetic words hatched from my fortune cookie. My fortune actually pointed me toward an interesting plot shift that was just what my characters needed. 2. Don’t wait for inspiration. My mother was a talented painter of nature scenes but stopped painting in her early 40s. Whenever I asked her why she didn’t put brush to canvas anymore, she’d tell me that she didn’t feel inspired. Many creative wanna... posted on Mar 23 2015 (62,281 reads)

whole systems to take into account the interdependence of the parts. Attend to all facets of organizational health – leadership, relationships, teams, individual role performance, organizational purpose, outcomes, and consistent strategy. Sensemaking - the on-going inquiry into how individuals and groups create coherence. 4. Gather for Group Emergence Cultivate parallel ways of knowing - intuition, intellect, somatic awareness, respect for ancestral knowledge, regard for nature and physical space. Be alert to what is emerging in the energetic field of the group - both thoughts and emotions. Allow disturbances to established ideas or norms to lead to greater disc... posted on Apr 29 2015 (23,772 reads)

PALMER: It's an act of rebellion to show up as someone trying to be whole and I would add, as someone who believes that there is a hidden wholeness beneath the very evident brokenness of our world. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: The history of rebellion is rife with burnout. Burnout, which Parker Palmer has defined, as “violating my own nature in the name of nobility.” Then you have the irony of this moment we inhabit, where we are freer, psychologically and practically, to be rebels. But the forms and institutions we are dealing with don't need smashing. Most of them are imploding all on their own... posted on May 8 2015 (16,438 reads)

 *  What type of leadership interferes with or destroys the network?    *  What happens after a healthy network forms? What’s next? If we understand these dynamics and the lifecycle of emergence, what can we do as leaders, activists and social entrepreneurs to intentionally foster emergence? What is Emergence? Emergence violates so many of our Western assumptions of how change happens that it often takes quite a while to understand it. In nature, change never happens as a result of top-down, pre-conceived strategic plans, or from the mandate of any single individual or boss. Change begins as local actions spring up simultaneously in ma... posted on Apr 22 2015 (13,580 reads)