the high school that serves everyone in Evanston. So it’s necessarily a highly integrated high school. And a series of studies, one of them done at Stanford and another done within the Evanston school districts, found that in these integrated schools that we have in Evanston, black students and white students are not getting the same education. This is even within the same buildings, with the same teachers, within the same physical space. And it’s still unclear exactly what the nature of the problem is, but one of the phrases that came up in this article, one of the researchers used a phrase “opportunity hoarding.” They use this phrase to describe what white pare... posted on Jun 16 2020 (7,760 reads)

have a natural and innate need to bond, and when we're happy and healthy, we'll bond and connect with each other, but if you can't do that, because you're traumatized or isolated or beaten down by life, you will bond with something that will give you some sense of relief. Now, that might be gambling, that might be pornography, that might be cocaine, that might be cannabis, but you will bond and connect with something because that's our nature. That's what we want as human beings.  And at first, I found this quite a difficult thing to get my head around, but one way that helped me to think about it is, I ca... posted on Jul 7 2020 (21,466 reads)

in the thirteenth century, he used the Latin word fortitudo, and held that courage was a disposition required for every other virtue. That was before the common usage of the French word coeur or the Latin cor, which translates as “heart.” Combine them both and think “strength of heart.” What are ways you fortify yourself on all levels, especially your heart? Mindfulness meditation, listening to good music, eating great food, dancing or running, spending time in nature, time spent with friends? Anything you do to regain your strength and composure, your clarity about who you are deep down inside, is a form of fortification. Self-awareness fortifies you to sta... posted on Jul 22 2020 (6,141 reads)

POTENTIAL takes us on a mystical and scientific journey into the nature of life and reality with David Bohm, the man Einstein called his “spiritual son” and the Dalai Lama his “science guru.” A physicist and explorer of Consciousness, Bohm turned to Eastern wisdom to develop groundbreaking insights into the profound interconnectedness of the Universe and our place within it. This film is presented free of charge for a limited time by the Fetzer Memorial Trust and Imagine Films. Want to learn more about the Science of Bohm? Visit the David Bohm Symposium featuring presentation videos, documents and a link to the free... posted on Aug 1 2020 (15,962 reads)

pyramids and infinity waves. They can also activate energy codes, which inform our bodies the same way genetic codes do. And by going directly into our bodies, we can transform entrenched subconscious patterns and connect to our truer, whole selves. If we consider ourselves separate and autonomous from the rest of the universe, these concepts might sound far-fetched. If we consider ourselves integral and interconnected, these will sound perfectly ordinary. What I’ve gathered is that nature’s laws are immutable. What we call miracles don’t defy these laws. They just access laws higher than we’ve previously realized. Join us for a special conversation and works... posted on Aug 3 2020 (13,797 reads)

and finding meaning in life, which all help us focus on how we can contribute to the world. In her study with young adults, Bronk found that practicing gratitude was particularly helpful in pointing students toward purpose. Reflecting on the blessings of their lives often leads young people to “pay it forward” in some way, which is how gratitude can lead to purpose. There are many ways to cultivate awe and gratitude. Awe can be inspired by seeing the beauty in nature or recalling an inspirational moment. Gratitude can be practiced by keeping a gratitude journal or writing a gratitude letter to someone who helped you in life. Wh... posted on Aug 12 2020 (10,770 reads)

early poems to the last sonnet he wrote days before his death from leukemia, alongside fragments of his letters, diaries, and prose. The project is reminiscent of Tolstoy’s Calendar of Wisdom, but instead of an elevating thought for each day of the year culled from a different thinker, every day features a short Rilke reading. Macy and her collaborator, Anita Barrows, explore Rilke’s singular consolations in the preface: Rilke’s grasp of the transient nature of all things is critical to his capacity to praise and to cherish. […] In the face of impermanence and death, it takes courage to love the things of this world and to believe that... posted on Sep 1 2020 (6,387 reads)

Stones: Buddhist Parables is the culmination of nearly twenty-five years of reading, writing and telling Buddhist stories. The initial impetus for collecting these stories came in the autumn of 1997 when longtime Buddhist monk, Reverend Heng Sure, asked me to teach a storytelling class at the newly opened Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. An outstanding storyteller himself, Reverend Sure has for decades utilized stories to enliven his Dharma lectures. Knowing that I was a professional storyteller, he urged me to dig deep into the trove of Buddhist tales and restore them to a living, oral tradition where they belong.  Two months later, I began teaching a weekly clas... posted on Sep 3 2020 (4,872 reads)

grows. The goal posts move as we move, and that’s a good thing. Progress is a practice. Not a destination. We moved from water to land, lost our tails, recognized the developmental gift of opposable thumbs. The disharmony in today’s world is us on the verge of our next evolutionary survival-leap: as the only sentient, self-determined animal, equity is the only thing that will keep us from making ourselves extinct. It’s sacred and spiritual, but also essential. But its nature, as our understanding evolves, is such that equity should always be just beyond our grasp. Even as we place all of our efforts towards it. Working for equity is the only viable way forward i... posted on Sep 15 2020 (6,012 reads)

always been happening, and when it happens in enough of us, in a short enough period of time at the same time, then you have a tipping point, and the culture begins to shift. And then, what I feel like people are at now is, no, no, bring it on. I have to face it — we have to face it. Tippett:I’m Krista Tippett, and this is On Being. Reverend angel Kyodo williams is the founder of the national organization, Transformative Change. And it says something about the enduring nature of wisdom, and the generational scope of the change we’re in, that this conversation happened in 2018. Tippett:So I’d like to start by asking this question I always ask, in some ... posted on Sep 28 2020 (4,694 reads)

and distracted in our different versions of the rat race that we haven’t been able to pay attention to our actual situation. We had to cease our rushing about in order to see who, what, and where we are. COVID-19 reminds us that apocalypse—in its ancient meaning—connotes revelation and unveiling. And what has it unveiled? A pandemic so contagious that it immediately revealed our failed health care system and our utter interdependence. The need to prioritize the collective nature of our well-being dramatically rose to the surface, especially within our country, which is the most hyper-individualized country in the world. As Malcolm X put it, “When we change the &l... posted on Oct 1 2020 (20,374 reads)

tree. But a concept similar to dugnad lives in my DNA. I call it “love of the neighbor,” or “commitment to the common good,” or “civic duty,” or even “patriotism,” in the best sense. I credit my upbringing, my spiritual life, and my liberal arts education, among other things, for cultivating in me a deep respect for others. But I suspect that I was born with the seed of this sensibility, just as you were. It’s part of our nature as human beings. How could it not be? We’ve had to count on one another to survive since the dawn of history. Sometimes, though, that seed of Us gets buried so far down insid... posted on Oct 3 2020 (8,080 reads)

notable portion of his pocketbooks — or day timers, as they were called — were his affirmations, reminiscent of the rules of conduct Nobel laureate André Gide penned in his youthful journal and of artist Eugène Delacroix’s diaristic self-counsel. In these notes to himself, Lee articulated his personal philosophies aimed concretely at his own growth but resonating with universally applicable insight into our common psychology, behavior, and human nature. With special permission from the Bruce Lee estate, here is an exclusive look at several pages from his 1968 pocketbook, penned shortly before Lee’s twenty-eighth birthday, each t... posted on Oct 19 2020 (14,797 reads)

It can also tear at our social fabric, leading to more distrust and negative feelings about other people and communities. We can also miss a lot of good in the world. To keep up with what’s happening in the world without being overwhelmed by it, we need to be conscientious about counterbalancing negative news with more positive, hopeful news. Of course, Greater Good is a good place to start, as we tend to feature the more positive aspects of human nature (and how to decrease the negative). But you can also look to places like the Solutions Journalism Network—an organization that encourages in-depth journalism, highlighting not just p... posted on Oct 21 2020 (11,352 reads)

so beautiful. I’m so glad. I, as you know, from yourself and like many people, I never know what I’m gonna say, [laughs] so it just kind of emerges — which is how I learned to teach, because when we started, Joseph and I, I was too petrified to do any of the talks. [laughs] But it was only through my later development of lovingkindness meditation, or even the recognition of it, that I realized, oh, we’re just here, connecting. That’s the nature of it. People aren’t here to listen to me impart my incredible expertise about something. We’re just connecting. That’s the important thing. And it’s just us. Here we ar... posted on Oct 24 2020 (7,671 reads)

outside my window looks like a holiday postcard, and my family hasn’t even raked our leaves yet. I just pulled my winter coat out of the closet. Made of quilted goose down, it reaches below my knees. It’s guaranteed to keep a body warm down to -40F. (Yep, it gets that cold here, before the chill factor.) This bright red coat warms me in winter not only because of what it’s made from but also because of what it’s covered with: hundreds of signatures, all scribbled in black or silver ink. Last time I counted, people had signed my coat in at least eight languages besides English, from Arabic to Hindi to Dakota to Chinese. Most of the s... posted on Oct 28 2020 (8,193 reads)

us into misery and bloodshed.  We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: more than machinery we need humanity; more than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of desp... posted on Nov 3 2020 (9,667 reads)

on the nose. As careers, they’re obviously different career paths; you’re not in a cubicle all day. But I learned a lot about writing poetry from my math classes, in terms of structure, logic, patterns, as they say, musicians say, music is very mathematical. So that lent itself to writing. And vice versa, being a civil engineer, I had to engage with a lot of public, a lot of communities and towns. And being a writer, being a poet, which is, in some ways, partly a study of human nature, it really built my skills in terms of trying to understand people, their nuances in what they’re saying, what they’re not saying, and tease out of them their emotional relationship... posted on Nov 22 2020 (4,424 reads)

How do you manage the emotional pendulum in this work between very real sadness and very real joy? It’s very hard, but there are lots of reasons to allow yourself to be buffeted by those extremes. The most important one is because they are precisely the extremes that are our friends, patients, and co-workers have experienced directly. I think those staffing the global health apparatus could stand to be more battered by sadness, in fact. It's the bloodiness and bureaucratic nature of a lot of public health, the lack of proximity to patients, that probably spares the control-over-care paradigm from reform. Because people are just too distant from it. I don't think of ... posted on Dec 16 2020 (3,703 reads)

Cunningham has been at the helm of the battle for indigenous rights in Nicaragua for the past 20 years. She was among four activists on Thursday to receive the Right livelihood award, the alternative Nobel for peace, for her decades-long work. Lottie Cunningham’s voice is calm, her sentences paced by long pauses. In a style that reflects the lawyer that she is, the 61-year-old rights activist weighs every word she speaks: “As indigenous peoples, we have protected mother nature from generation to generation, like our grandparents taught us. And this has not only been for our own well-being, but also for everyone else’s. It is crucial that we preserve the balance... posted on Dec 30 2020 (2,505 reads)