Merlin Sheldrake: Entangled Life
"Merlin Sheldrakes book Entangled Life [1] has rather taken the world by storm since it was published in 2020, appearing on the best-seller lists in both the UK and USA. Subtitled How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, it constitutes a comprehensive overview of our current scientific understanding of fungi, from the extraordinary hidden networks of the wood wide web to... posted on Nov 3, 2005 reads

Truth and Reconciliation
Lis Cox, videographer and activist, is on a one woman mission to try to ensure that there is a future for young people. Drawing on successes of protests in the 1960's and 1970's, this video inspires young people and people of all ages to unite in protest against climate problems, police brutality and racism. She quotes from the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, saying, "You're either on ... posted on Nov 4, 987 reads

Ross Gay: Inciting Joy
"Now that weve defined joy, and concluded it is important, there are two guiding inquiries in this book. First, I mean to investigate what practices, habits, rituals, understandings you know, the stuff we do and think and believemake joy more available to us. What in our lives prepares the ground for joy. I mean to try to find out, in other words, what incites joy. And second, I intend to wonder w... posted on Nov 22, 2013 reads

Satish Kumar: In Service of Humanity and Mother Earth
In 2020, a dialog was held at Plum Village with environmental, and multi-faith peace activist Satish Kumar. What follows are two excerpts from that evening, the first titled, "Activism -- Caring without Burning Out," and the second, "Encouragement to Young Activists -- on Anger, Love and Grief." In these excerpts Kumar shares "how he has been able to find an inexhaustible source of energy to conti... posted on Nov 28, 1570 reads

Danusha Lameris: Intimacy with the Marrow of Life
Danusha Lameris's poems have been called "wise, direct, and fearless" (American poet Dorianne Laux). She began writing poetry, as she believes many people do, from a place of heartbreak, and not knowing what to do with it. Her first book of poems, The Moons of August, came on the heels of a rapid succession of deep losses in her early 30s. "I've buried a lover, a brother, a son," she writes early ... posted on Nov 29, 2980 reads

Don't Treat Your Life as a Project
"The idea that we narrate our lives to ourselves, and that doing so is part of living well, is sufficiently commonplace that its most vocal critic, the philosopher Galen Strawson, could describe it as "a fallacy of our age." He lists an impressive roster of advocates, including the neurologist and author Oliver Sacks ("Each of us constructs and lives a 'narrative'...this narrative is us"), the psy... posted on Dec 1, 2203 reads

George's Best Friend: A Christmas Story
A new neighbor moved in next door. His name was George, and he was an older gentleman. He always nodded a greeting when he saw us. It was around Thanksgiving when we saw him park in his space near ours. We were bringing in groceries, and my mom asked him if he had plans for the holiday. When he said no, that he would spend it alone, my mom mentioned her open house on Christmas Eve. 'Please join us... posted on Dec 25, 19333 reads

On Hope: A Conversation with Jacob Needleman
"When we're in touch with another kind of consciousness, or level of understanding, that is what brings hope. It's not because it hopes for money or pleasure, or anything like that. Yes, that's a possible part of it. But it's the element--maybe even the most essential part of ourselves as human beings--it's this part that can be awakened by great ideas that speak about great questions of meaning, ... posted on Dec 26, 1825 reads

Pico Iyer: The Craft and Life of a Restless Writer
"As Time magazines travel correspondent since 1986, Pico Iyer has visited nearly every corner of the globe in search of the astonishing, remarkable, bizarre, and profound. Hes the author of bestselling books including Video Night in Kathmandu and The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home. In this interview he discusses writing, cultural taboos, stillness, Alaska, and places... posted on Dec 28, 1942 reads

Finding Fulfillment in a Purpose Larger than You
"Tami Simon speaks with author and activist Lynne Twist about her new book, Living a Committed Life, and discovering the role we each must play to usher in a new era for humanity. Tune in for an inspiring discussion of strengthening your possibility muscle; the power of disruption; the breakthroughs hidden in the breakdowns; choosing to tell a new story; the relationship between pain and joy; the ... posted on Dec 31, 4189 reads

Lissa Rankin: Sacred Medicine & The Mysteries of Healing
"I write a lot in Sacred Medicine about the paradoxes of healing and one of them is to be clear in your intention to heal, to do whatever's in your power to change your life, and go for it. And don't be passive, make it happen. Let go of attachment to outcomes, surrender to what is, accept the limitations that sometimes we're limited, we're not limitless. Sometimes just being able to accept those ... posted on Aug 28, 3720 reads

Patterns of Extraction
"A new series of aerial images from photographer Edward Burtynsky reveals sites of displacement, erasure, and extractionall, at first glance, sublimeacross five African countries. From the breathtaking expanse of the Sishen Iron Ore Mine to the controlled might of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a story of reshaped and redefined landscapes emerges. Burtynsky makes visible the scope of human i... posted on Jan 22, 1548 reads

The Book of Vanishing Species
"If you were to take a teaspoon of water from the ocean and look at it under a microscope, you would see many shapes -- possibly millions, mostly translucent -- of varying sizes and colours. Little spheres, tubular bodies with drooping tendrils, circles within squares, squares within circles; triangles, rectangles; spiralling helixes, some bristly, some hooked, some frilled; oval wreaths, concerti... posted on Jan 29, 1557 reads

The Art of Budo
"In my lifelong spiritual quest, I have read hundreds of sutras; plowed through pages and pages of philosophical texts; grappled with koan collections; analyzed thousands of poems; searched through biographies; meditated for hours; and interacted with many teachers, good and bad. However, I have gained the most from the contemplation, appreciation, and inspiration of the "ink tracings" of the grea... posted on Feb 1, 1905 reads

Separation Without Separateness: A Day That Changed My Life
"I had been living in London. It was Sunday, July 27, 1980...a day that changed my life forever. I got up before dawn and went for a long, slow, easy run in Hyde Park. When I returned, I picked up the Sunday Times and went into my flat. After showering, I was thumbing through the newspaper, and when I got to page fourteen, I saw a headline in the education section: "How the Universe Hangs Together... posted on Mar 15, 4125 reads

June Jordan's Legacy of Solidarity & Love
To fulfill a humanities requirement at UC Berkeley, Sriram Shamasunder wandered into, "Poetry for the People," a course conceived and taught by the late poet-activist June Jordan. He had no way of knowing then, what a profound impact Jordan would have on the trajectory of his life. Shamasunder writes," June was both tender and fierce. At first, she was mostly someone I admired at a distance in t... posted on Feb 14, 3320 reads

The Light That Bridges the Dark Expanse Between Lonelinesses
"The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love -- whether we call it friendship or family or romance -- is the work of mirroring and magnifying each others light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that per... posted on Feb 19, 7164 reads

Dying to Make a Living
For generations coal miners have risked their health and safety to be able to provide for their families. Eastern Kentucky has been irrevocably changed by mining and its collateral damage on individuals and the environment. Through their music, the Appalachian duo, The Local Honeys, shines a light on how the long held traditions of folk music and activism combine to provide hope and healing.... posted on Feb 24, 1578 reads

A Higher Level of Conscious Engagement
"The challenge for both moral and social activists is to avoid getting spun out by the need to change dysfunctional human behaviors and unjust systems. They should seek to avoid corrosive judgmentalism: When exuberance for justice leads to the demonization of others, more injustice is being perpetrated. Constant unresolved anxiety, frustration, anger, and even outrage can lead not only to burnout,... posted on Mar 3, 2458 reads

Dakota 38: One Filmmaker's Ride of a Lifetime
In 2005, Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, Jim Miller had a dream of arriving on horseback at a riverbank in Minnesota and seeing 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim was unaware of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln. Richard Whittaker writes, "I remember Silas telling us about meeting a Native American elder [Miller,] who talk... posted on Mar 4, 1633 reads

The Sounds of Silence
"When I was a sixteen-year-old naturalist in training, we were instructed to sit in the forest and wait for the return of something called the baseline symphony. The baseline symphony was the music of a landscape at ease--the confluence of insect, bird, and animal song, underscored by wind and water. The dynamics of that symphony shifted as day progressed into night. There were brief caesuras, but... posted on Mar 17, 1882 reads

2000 Years of Kindness
"'Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now,' Jack Kerouac wrote in a beautiful 1957 letter to his first wife turned lifelong friend. 'Kindness, kindness, kindness,' Susan Sontag resolved in her diary on New Year's Day in 1972. Half a century later, the Dalai Lama placed a single exhortation at the center of his ethical and ecological philosophy: 'Be ... posted on Mar 18, 4725 reads

Caring for the Vulnerable: A Gateway to Our Deepest Brain States
"Humans often fancy themselves quite extraordinary specimens in the animal kingdom. But while most recent research undermines our centuries-long claims of human exceptionalism, there are some ways in which we are quite unique -- especially when it comes to childhood and childcare. Indeed, even when compared with our closest primate relatives, humans spend a truly inordinate amount of time -- rough... posted on Mar 26, 2944 reads

A Thousand Words for Weather
"In June 2022, ArtAngel's installation, A Thousand Words for Weather opened at London's Senate House Library. Created by author Jessica J. Lee and sound artist Claudia Molitor, the piece invites listeners to consider the ways in which our experiences of weatherand climate change--are at once intimate, shared, yet untranslatable. Lee began by working with a group of UKbased poets and translators in... posted on Mar 28, 1474 reads

I Am Not Afraid
Barbara van Lodensteijn is a business psychologist and the founder of Vision Align. Her passion is working with leaders across the world who are making a positive difference. With a background in social studies and business psychology Barbara has worked in diverse settings including with vulnerable kids in crisis, inmates in maximum security prisons, with social enterprises, corporations and more.... posted on Apr 9, 3516 reads

Instructions on Not Giving Up
"I think, as poets, we are in the odd position of constantly defending our art form. Which is funny and also sort of invigorating, too. No one really says, "Oh you're a lawyer? I've never understood the law. In fact, I kind of hate it." Or, "Oh you wait tables? I didn't know that was something people did." I say it can be invigorating because, on some level, we have to evaluate what we do and why ... posted on Apr 8, 4288 reads

Mighty in Contradiction: Love Powerfully
"I used to think the opposite of love was hate. But life experience tells me that's not true. Hate is so tinged with other emotions, including love! No. In my understanding the opposite of love is power. Love accepts and embraces. Power refuses and crushes opposition. Love is kind and knows how to forgive. Power is competitive and takes others into account only when it stands in the Winner's Circl... posted on Apr 13, 2275 reads

The Red Dress
The Red Dress is a multi-year, award-winning, global, collaborative embroidery project. It was conceived by British textile artist Kirstie Macleod, who began the Red Dress in 2009. Initially exhibiting the dress as an installation, Macleod sat in a clear cube wearing the dress and working on its embroidery. Over the next 14 years pieces of the dress traveled across the globe, and were continuously... posted on Apr 15, 11190 reads

Mumbai's Improbably Famous Hijab-Wearing Teen Rapper
""I go in an auto even to the fanciest of places," she says. Saniya needs to be in the venue at least an hour in advance to do sound and music checks. "If my father has a customer in his auto already, he has to drop them off wherever they say first," she says, checking the time on her plastic wristwatch. On this spring Sunday, the auditorium is teeming with people from the posh neighborhoods of ce... posted on Apr 17, 1636 reads

Granddaughter's Eyes: 21-Day Climate Action Challenge
"Granddaughter's Eyes" is a music video that invites us to pay close attention to the Earth, to love her deeply and take action to heal her wounds. The song reminds us that every act of attention is an act of reciprocity, generating wonder and joy, perpetuating the gift. When we fall in love with the living world, a profound intention emerges from our attention, a longing to protect and honor her.... posted on Apr 19, 4261 reads

The Future of Intelligence
"Tech and thought leaders en masse signed an open letter in March, authored by the Future of Life Institute, calling for a six-month pause or a moratorium, if required, on developing large language models past GPT-4.0. The letter describes how this tech is simply too dangerous to proceed headfirst without first thinking through, collectively, what it is we are doing. What follows is a trialogue lo... posted on May 1, 1952 reads

Letting Flowers Lead: The Way of Ikebana
To Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive, ikebana -- the ancient Japanese art of floral creations -- is not just about arranging flowers. It is about attuning to the wisdom and beauty of nature and enriching our experience of being human. As a master of the art, she explains that ikebana is a word derived from the verb ikeru (to bring alive) and hana (flowers), or combined, "letting flo... posted on May 3, 2498 reads

Attention as an Instrument of Love
"How the brain metes out attention and what that means for our intimacy with reality is what the philosophy-lensed British psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist takes up in his immense, in both senses of the word, book The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World (public library) -- an investigation of how "the very brain mechanisms which succeed in simplifying the world... posted on May 23, 3528 reads

Leah Penniman: Farming While Black
"Through Soul Fire, Leah Penniman has become a leader in the movement to reverse the effects of historical, systematic exclusion of black and brown communities from the means of production and consumption of wholesome food, and to reconnect those communities with a long, oft-forgotten history of land stewardship. Her book, Farming While Black, available now from Chelsea Green Publishing, is a how-... posted on May 13, 1854 reads

Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic
Dr Paul Conti is the author of 'Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal From It' In the following interview he speaks with Tami Simon "about healing the unresolved trauma we hold inside both individually and collectively. They also discuss how trauma operates differently in different people, overcoming "reflexive shame," self-inquiry and the embrace of a "true life nar... posted on May 17, 8896 reads

Diana Carr: Shepherds of the Dawn
Diana Carr's song, Shepherds of the Dawn, sung by Bird Tribe, is an uplifting and motivational call to each and every one of us to let the light inside of us reach out to our families and beyond. We are called to join in unison to be peaceful warriors that break barriers and the more the merrier, because each person's voice is needed and valued. Reminiscent of the words from a June Jordan poem, "W... posted on May 19, 1825 reads

The Quid for Which There is No Quo
"When one considers the facts, it appears undeniable that the human capacity to earn affects the human capacity to yearn. Purchasing power renders us prey to the sales pitch. And sales pitches befuddle the soul's longing. Animals have no purchasing power. They cannot easily be manipulated into yearning for things that are not aligned with their essence. This is why advertisers leave them alone. A... posted on Jun 3, 3744 reads

Richard Jefferies: On Nature as a Portal to Self-Transcendence
In his 1884 masterpiece 'The Life of the Fields,' Richard Jefferies extols the poetic prowess of nature, emphasizing that by paying attention to the beauty of nature, we can dissolve the boundaries between ourselves and the world. Such an immersive experience in nature is perceived as momentous and transformative. "These are the only hours that are not wasted - these hours that absorb the soul and... posted on Mar 22, 1743 reads

A Dialogue on Consciousness
Bernardo Kastrup is a scientist and philosopher, Swami Sarvapriyananda is a Hindu monk. In this wide-ranging conversation they dialog on Eastern and Western concepts of self and mind, a conversation, "worth watching simply for the extraordinary clarity with which both men articulate a deeply complex concept. But perhaps the most profound point is made by their evident mutual respect for one anothe... posted on Jun 14, 2000 reads

David Whyte: On Seeking Language Large Enough
"It has ever and always been true, David Whyte reminds us, that so much of human experience is a conversation between loss and celebration. This conversational nature of reality -- indeed, this drama of vitality -- is something we have all been shown, willing or unwilling, in these years. Many have turned to David Whyte for his gorgeous, life-giving poetry and his wisdom at the interplay of theolo... posted on Jun 18, 4372 reads

Pilgrimage Up Longs Peak
"For as long as I can remember, I begged my father to take me back to Colorado to climb a mountain. Growing up in Tennessee, this dream was delayed many times, until only last year when my father (Jane's youngest son, Rarc) and I made the journey. Just before the trip, I came across this particular story printed on its own by type-writer. The story was both an inspiration and grounding force for m... posted on Jun 19, 2991 reads

On the Edge of Life & Death
The hospice community of Joseph's House in Washington, D.C. believes that no one should live or die alone. Perched on the very edge of life and death, it is a place of belonging where people are lovingly companioned all the way to the threshold of death. Grace and mystery abound in encounters between people across racial and socioeconomic differences where they meet and love each other. People are... posted on Jun 23, 2290 reads

7 Guidelines for Healthy Social Connection
"While everybody's vulnerability to loneliness and social isolation differs, we all need social connection. Yet, people generally underestimate the benefits of connecting with others and overestimate the costs, which include the emotional labour and mental energy needed to manage relationships and your self-presentation. Regardless of levels of introversion or extroversion, insufficient social con... posted on Jun 29, 4839 reads

Educating for the End of the World (As We Know It)
"As we consider the field of education for sustainability, and move into an ever-more-uncertain future, questions arise: What are we sustaining? Why? Just what do we mean by "sustainability" anyway? Perhaps instead of asking 'What is worth sustaining?' we might begin with the question, 'What do we need to let go of?' Most prescriptions for sustainable culture and education for sustainability presu... posted on Nov 11, 1780 reads

Mark Nepo: The Half Life of Angels
"How do we know our own authenticity? How can we return to our hearts when we find we've left them? As we evolve and change along our journey, how do we relate to the 'former selves' in our past? Tami Simon and poet-philosopher Mark Nepo address these questions and more, as they discuss his creative process; his new book, The Half-Life of Angels; and how we can each touch the ever-present and whol... posted on Jul 16, 3995 reads

The Radical Act of Letting Things Hurt
"When psychotherapist Megan Devine -- creator of the excellent resource Refuge in Grief and author of its portable counterpart, It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand (public library) -- watched her young, healthy partner drown, the sudden and senseless loss suspended her world. As it slowly regained the motive force of life, she set out to redirect... posted on Aug 13, 6949 reads

Cup of Karma
In the fall of 1987, Polly Simpkins met a man on the midnight train from Copenhagen to Amsterdam who shared with her his philosophy of life which focused on appreciating the people we love in this world. Cup of Karma was born to spread this message by bringing together Polly's love of people and her love of tea. Tea brings people together and Cup of Karma hosts events at which storytellers share t... posted on Aug 11, 1844 reads

The Life Cycle of a Feather
"All creatures spirit me away from my thoughts into the real and present world. Because birds fly, they don't need to be unnoticeable and hide like mice do, so I, like most birders, notice them. The first time I really observed feathers was when I was twelve years old entranced by the flamingos at the Seattle Zoo. When I saw them shed orange/pink feathers on the ground and floating in their pond, ... posted on Aug 29, 1744 reads

A Zen Life: DT Suzuki
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870~1966) was a prolific Japanese-American philosopher, writer and translator. He is considered by many to be Zen's unofficial "apostle to the West." He traveled and lectured extensively, interacting with diverse audiences and some of the most brilliant and creative minds of the age, among them Carl Jung, Martin Heidegger, Alan Watts, Thomas Merton, John Cage, and Gary Sn... posted on Sep 14, 3655 reads

FOLI: There is No Movement Without Rhythm
"Life has a rhythm, it's constantly moving.
The word for rhythm ( used by the Malinke tribes ) is FOLI. It is a word that encompasses so much more than drumming, dancing or sound. It's found in every part of daily life. In this film you not only hear and feel rhythm but you see it. It's an extraordinary blend of image and sound that feeds the senses and reminds us all how essential it is." ... posted on Oct 12, 3284 reads