Wholesome Practice: Self-reflection/transform.

We Are Interconnected

“Hi, I’m Michael Lanfield. The author of six books including two #1 Amazon best-selling books The Interconnectedness of Life and The Journey and also my newest book Return to the Gentle Sea: For the Love That Lives in Everyone. I’m also a vegan advocate, YouTuber, and certified World Peace Diet Facilitator. I have been featured on dozens of FM/AM radio stations, podcasts, various websites, magazines, and media outlets, sharing veganism to millions of people around the world.”

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Wake Up London

“Wake Up London was founded in September 2010 by a group of friends that met on a retreat in Nottingham with Thich Nhat Hanh in August that same year. Feeling inspired by our experience on the retreat and our time together, we wanted to keep our practice of mindfulness alive and invite other young people to join us. We refer to ourselves as a “Sangha” – which means a community of people who practice mindfulness together. We are part of Wake Up, an active global community and movement that was founded by Thich Nhat Hanh in the Plum Village Meditation Centre, south-west France in 2008. We come together to practice mindfulness in order to take care of ourselves, nourish happiness and contribute to building a healthier and a more compassionate society.”

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Visionary Plant Consciousness: The Shamanic Teachings of the Plant World

Book: “Visionary Plant Consciousness explores how the “vegetable mind” can affect the human condition. Twenty-three leading ethnobotanists, anthropologists, medical researchers and cultural and religious figures present their understandings, including the late Terence McKenna, Dr. Andrew Weil, Wade Davis, Michael Pollan, Alex Grey, Jeremy Narby and Kat Harrison. They reveal that these plants may help us access the profound intelligence in nature—the “mind of nature”—that we must learn to understand in order to survive our eco-logically destructive way of life.”

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Vegetarian Friends

“Vegetarian Friends.net is the publisher of the monthly journal The Peaceable Table. We are dedicated to providing inspiration and support for Quakers and other people of faith in the practice of love for animals and a vegetarian diet. This journal is a project of the Animal Kinship Commitee of Orange Grove Friends Meeting.”

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Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction

Book: “Utilitarianism may well be the most influential secular ethical theory in the world today. It is also one of the most controversial. It clashes, or is widely thought to clash, with many conventional moral views, and with human rights when they are seen as inviolable. Would it, for example, be right to torture a suspected terrorist in order to prevent an attack that could kill and injure a large number of innocent people? In this Very Short Introduction Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer provide an authoritative account of the nature of utilitarianism, from its nineteenth-century origins, to its justification and its varieties. Considering how utilitarians can respond to objections that are often regarded as devastating, they explore the utilitarian answer to the question of whether torture can ever be justified. They also discuss what it is that utilitarians should seek to maximize, paying special attention to the classical utilitarian view that only pleasure or happiness is of intrinsic value. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer conclude by analyzing the continuing importance of utilitarianism in the world, indicating how it is a force for new thinking on contemporary moral challenges like global poverty, the treatment of animals, climate change, reducing the risk of human extinction, end-of-life decisions for terminally-ill patients, and the shift towards assessing the success of government policies in terms of their impact on happiness. “

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UPLIFT

“UPLIFT Community Contributions is a unifying field populated with inspiring, original and conscious writing from our beloved Global UPLIFT family. It’s an inclusive space to ignite hearts and inspire more and more connected creativity in the absolute recognition that we are all one.”

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Unity Earth

“Our calling is to weave threads of unity within the colourful diversity of the Human Family and with the ecosystems that sustain us. Honoring all traditions and lineages, we are inspired by the collective wisdom of humanity to foster community, connect cultures and cultivate peace. Our events and offerings are designed to enhance personal transformation and facilitate planetary consciousness. There are so many inspiring individuals and organisations doing the hard work and taking strides towards greater unity on our planet, our aim is to strengthen and connect this grassroots movement.”

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Unity Online Radio

“Explore the latest in spiritual talk shows with Unity Online Radio. Broadcasting from the historic Tower at Unity World Headquarters, the network provides you with hosts and topics to deepen your spiritual journey and introduce you to new ideas, authors, and practices.”

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United Natures: a United Nations of all Species (2013)

“United Natures explores the Rights of Mother Earth, Environmental Philosophy, Wisdom, Spirituality and the potential for a Neo-indigenous future for humanity. Directed and produced by Peter Charles Downey, who most recently made Surviving Earth, United Natures stars some of the world’s most foremost environmental activists and Global Alliance members, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Cormac Cullinan, Linda Sheehan, Prof. Judith Koons, Dr. Alessandro Pelizzon, Polly Higgins, and numerous others.”

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Un-Cooped: Deconstructing the Domesticated Chicken

“The National Museum of Animals & Society (NMAS) is proud to present “Un-Cooped: Deconstructing the Domesticated Chicken.” This exhibit will explore the origins of and the cultural attitudes towards one of the most common—yet most often overlooked—of all domesticated animals: the chicken….Our hope is that this exhibit will help facilitate a dialogue about the ways chickens are perceived and treated in society and offer an opportunity for people to “get to know” chickens and their little known charisma, complexity and charm.”

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TreeHugger

“TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, we strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information. We publish an up to the minute blog, weekly and daily newsletters, and regularly updated Twitter and Facebook pages. “

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Tribe of Heart

“Inspired by the words and deeds of social justice visionaries of past eras, we create documentary films, educational web sites, critical thinking essays, teaching presentations and grassroots advocacy programs that expose hidden injustices, awaken compassion, empower individual transformation and encourage nonviolent resistance to oppression and socially sanctioned violence.”

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Trauma Healing: Advanced Workshop Manual

“Trauma Healing: Advanced Workshop Manual is designed for Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) volunteer facilitators and includes complete descriptions for:
Workshop Routines – schedule, agenda, methods, evaluations and closings. Workshop Sessions – safety, remembering, mourning and reconnecting. Workshop Threads – companions, grounding techniques and self care.”

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Transcendence

“Transcendence is a new docu-series that explores the current state of our physical, emotional and mental health in a captivating new way. Drawing on research and interviews by some of the world’s most recognised celebrities, doctors and thought leaders including Novak Djokovic, Jim Kwik, Mark Hyman, Libby Weaver, Bruce Lipton, Wim Hof, Gabrielle Bernstein, Joe Dispenza and Marie Forleo to name a few, this inspirational FMTV original series is set to challenge the way you view your health and ultimately question how you can live a better life. Spanning over five fascinating episodes that individually tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, Transcendence, takes the viewer on a journey into the ‘self’ like no other docu-series before it.”

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Transformation

“Transformation publishes great writing at the intersection of the personal and political, believing that deep change is possible where love meets social justice.”

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Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others

Book: “Working to make the world a more hopeful and sustainable place often means having to confront pain, suffering, crisis, and trauma head-on, day in and day out. Over months and years this takes an enormous emotional, psychological, and physical toll, one that we’re often not even fully aware of until the day we feel like we just can’t go on anymore. And our well-being and the work we’re doing are too important to risk that happening. This book is for all those who notice that they are not the people they once were or who are being told that by their families, friends, colleagues, or pets. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky takes a deep and sympathetic look at the many ways the stress of dealing with trauma manifests itself: feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, diminished creativity, chronic exhaustion, cynicism, and a dozen more. To keep from being overwhelmed, we need to respond to suffering in a thoughtful, intentional way—not by hardening our hearts or by internalizing others’ struggles as our own but by developing a quality of compassionate presence. This is trauma stewardship. To help achieve this, Lipsky offers a variety of simple and profound practices, drawn from modern psychology and a range of spiritual traditions, that enable us to look carefully at our reactions and motivations and discover new sources of energy and renewal. She includes interviews with successful trauma stewards from different walks of life and even uses New Yorker cartoons to illustrate her points.”

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Training for Change – Online Training Series

Online Training Series. “The Online Training Series offers innovative tools and techniques for maximizing the effectiveness of virtual groups. The Series includes four online public workshops, each focusing on a unique skill-set. These trainings can be taken individually, but the complete Series is a special opportunity for those wanting to get the most out of the tools and techniques we’ve developed….The complete Series is for organizers, activists, and educators who facilitate or train virtual groups and want to do it most effectively. It’s designed to be useful across experience levels – from beginner online trainers to those with years of experience wanting to skill-up. No matter what software you use, you’ll find tools and approaches in our series that you can apply..”

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Training for Change – Upcoming Workshops

“All of our workshops are rooted in our Direct Education approach. Our trainers center the group, building upon dynamics in the room and participants’ own experience to introduce new content and help the group access their own wisdom. Many of our public workshops are “training of trainers”; they’re designed for folks facilitating and training across contexts and with varying levels of experience. Some are offered regularly throughout the year, but many are offered less frequently.”

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Training for Change (programs)

“Training for Change is a training and capacity building organization for activists and organizers. We believe strong training and group facilitation is vital to movement building for social justice and radical change. Since 1992, we’ve supported groups taking direct action, building strong teams and organizations, and working at the grassroots. We train thousands of people each year in North America, and also internationally, across issues and sectors – from campaign strategy retreats for anti-gentrification community groups, facilitation training for union leaders, to de-escalation skills for immigrant rights groups resisting deportation.”

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Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together

Book: “‌In perhaps his most important book, the Dalai Lama shares his hopeful yet realistic views on how humanity must step into the future. In our daily lives today no one is untouched by what happens in the rest of the world. New technology, environmental problems, economic gain and loss, nuclear weapons, and instant communication have all created unprecedented familiarity among the world’s many cultures. With this historic development, the Dalai Lama understands that the essential task of humanity in the twenty-first century is to cultivate peaceful coexistence…In Toward a True Kinship of Faiths, the Dalai Lama also explores where differences between religions can be genuinely appreciated instead of becoming sources of conflict. Creating genuine harmony does not depend on accepting that all religions are fundamentally the same or that they lead to the same place. Many fear that recognizing the value of another faith is incompatible with having devotion to the truth of one’s own. Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama shows how a sincere believer can, with integrity, be a pluralist in relation to other religions without compromising commitment to the essence of the doctrinal teachings of their own faith. An issue of central importance for the Dalai Lama personally and for the entire world in general, Toward a True Kinship of Faiths offers a hopeful yet realistic look at how humanity must step into the future. “

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Tools for Change

“Tools for Change explores the nexus of social change and spirituality, working from the inside out. We promote healing, leadership development, and sustainable democracy. Our approach weaves together deep reflection, sharing stories and heart felt dialog to inspire social healing, generosity of spirit and collective genius.”

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Tomorrow: Take Concrete Steps To A Sustainable Future

Film: “TODAY, we sometimes feel powerless in front of the various crises of our times. TODAY, we know that answers lie in a wide mobilization of the human race. Over the course of a century, our dream of progress commonly called “the American Dream”, fundamentally changed the way we live and continues to inspire many developing countries. We are now aware of the setbacks and limits of such development policies. We urgently need to focus our efforts on changing our dreams before something irreversible happens to our planet. TODAY, we need a new direction, objective… A new dream! The documentary Tomorrow sets out to showcase alternative and creative ways of viewing agriculture, economics, energy and education. It offers constructive solutions to act on a local level to make a difference on a global level. So far, no other documentary has gone down such an optimistic road…TOMORROW is not just a film, it is the beginning of a movement seeking to encourage local communities around the world to change the way they live for the sake of our planet. Start small to grow big, and write a new story for the generations to come.”

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This Changes Everything

“Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change.”

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Thich Nhat Hanh

“Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. He is the man Martin Luther King called “An Apostle of peace and nonviolence.” His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world.” Links: Latest news, Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions, Bestselling Author, Interviews, Listen to Thich Nhat Hanh Teachings, Calligraphy Master, Buddhist Scholar

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Thich Nhat Hanh’s 14 Principles of Engaged Buddhism

“Engaged Buddhism is where Buddhist practitioners bring their practice wisdom, and insights from meditation and dharma teachings, into the real world situations of social, political, environmental and economic suffering and injustice. They bring compassion, a peaceful heart and pragmatic solutions to issues out there in the world. While the movement found its roots in Vietnam through well known Zen Buddhist teacher and activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, it has grown in popularity in the West.”

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Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talks

“Talks given by Thay and Senior Dharma Teachers from around the world…This webpage presents over 400 dharma talks, mainly given by Thich Nhat Hanh. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. He is the man Martin Luther King called “an apostle of peace and nonviolence.” His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment — the only way to truly develop peace in oneself and in the world.”

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Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings

“This book of readings, meditations, rituals and workshop notes prepared on three continents helps us remember that environmental defense is nothing less than “Self” defense. Including magnificent illustrations of Australia’s rainforests, ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ provides a context for ritual identification with the natural environment, inviting us to begin a process of “community therapy” in defense of Mother Earth. It helps us experience our place in the web of life, rather than on the apex of some human-centered pyramid. An important deep ecology educational tool for activist, school and religious groups, ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ can also be used for personal reflection.”

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The World Peace Diet

Book and website: “Welcome to The World Peace Diet: a best-selling book by Dr. Will Tuttle that has become a movement. The evolution to a more conscious society begins with each one of us. As Gandhi emphasized, there can be no positive social change without positive personal change. The World Peace Diet, now translated and published worldwide in 16 languages, connects many dots–culturally, historically, nutritionally, ecologically, psychologically, and spiritually–to reveal how our routine exploitation of animals for food and other products boomerangs in countless ways, affecting both our outer world and the inner landscape of our daily experience. A more conscious way of living is beckoning, and the World Peace Diet approach blends mindfulness with kindness and respect for each other and all expressions of life, creating a practical foundation for harmony and freedom for ourselves and our world.”

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The Work That Reconnects

“The Work That Reconnects (WTR) is an empowerment process that builds motivation, creativity, courage and solidarity for a transition to a sustainable world. It was developed by Joanna Macy and colleagues. This group is here to support participants of WTR/Deep Ecology workshops to keep connected and to share what’s happening in Aotearoa/NZ, including relevant upcoming events we know about.”

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The why and how of effective altruism

“If you’re lucky enough to live without want, it’s a natural impulse to be altruistic to others. But, asks philosopher Peter Singer, what’s the most effective way to give? He talks through some surprising thought experiments to help you balance emotion and practicality — and make the biggest impact with whatever you can share. NOTE: Starting at 0:30, this talk contains 30 seconds of graphic footage.”

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The Witness

Film: “How does a tough Brooklyn construction contractor become an impassioned animal advocate? With moving personal stories and colorful insights, Eddie Lama describes how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. The film’s final scene, featuring Sarah McLachlan’s song Angel, powerfully depicts Eddie’s heartfelt efforts to awaken public awareness. “The Witness is one man’s truth that cries out for mass exposure” wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Howard Rosenberg, “may be the most important and persuasive film about animals ever made.” A story of beauty and transcendence in the face of tragedy and despair, this award-winning documentary will challenge viewers to question their own ideas about the human-animal relationship.”

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The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds

Book: “With The Way of Coyote, Gavin Van Horn reveals the stupendous diversity of species that can flourish in urban landscapes like Chicago. That isn’t to say city living is without its challenges. Chicago has been altered dramatically over a relatively short timespan—its soils covered by concrete, its wetlands drained and refilled, its river diverted and made to flow in the opposite direction. The stories in The Way of Coyote occasionally lament lost abundance, but they also point toward incredible adaptability and resilience, such as that displayed by beavers plying the waters of human-constructed canals or peregrine falcons raising their young atop towering skyscrapers. Van Horn populates his stories with a remarkable range of urban wildlife and probes the philosophical and religious dimensions of what it means to coexist, drawing frequently from the wisdom of three unconventional guides—wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold, Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, and the North American trickster figure Coyote. Ultimately, Van Horn sees vast potential for a more vibrant collective of ecological citizens as we take our cues from landscapes past and present. Part urban nature travelogue, part philosophical reflection on the role wildlife can play in waking us to a shared sense of place and fate, The Way of Coyote is a deeply personal journey that questions how we might best reconcile our own needs with the needs of other creatures in our shared urban habitats.”

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The Virtues of Ignorance: Complexity, Sustainability, and the Limits of Knowledge

Book: “Human dependence on technology has increased exponentially over the past several centuries, and so too has the notion that we can fix environmental problems with scientific applications. The Virtues of Ignorance: Complexity, Sustainability, and the Limits of Knowledge proposes an alternative to this hubristic, shortsighted, and dangerous worldview. The contributors argue that uncritical faith in scientific knowledge has created many of the problems now threatening the planet and that our wholesale reliance on scientific progress is both untenable and myopic. Bill Vitek, Wes Jackson, and a diverse group of thinkers, including Wendell Berry, Anna Peterson, and Robert Root-Bernstein, offer profound arguments for the advantages of an ignorance-based worldview. Their essays explore this philosophy from numerous perspectives, including its origins, its essence, and how its implementation can preserve vital natural resources for posterity. All conclude that we must simply accept the proposition that our ignorance far exceeds our knowledge and always will. Rejecting the belief that science and technology are benignly at the service of society, the authors argue that recognizing ignorance might be the only path to reliable knowledge. They also uncover an interesting paradox: knowledge and insight accumulate fastest in the minds of those who hold an ignorance-based worldview, for by examining the alternatives to a technology-based culture, they expand their imaginations. Demonstrating that knowledge-based worldviews are more dangerous than useful, The Virtues of Ignorance looks closely at the relationship between the land and the future generations who will depend on it. The authors argue that we can never improve upon nature but that we can, by putting this new perspective to work in our professional and personal lives, live sustainably on Earth.”

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The Thoreau Society

“The Thoreau Society exists to stimulate interest in and foster education about Thoreau’s life, works, legacy and his place in his world and in ours, challenging all to live a deliberate, considered life.”

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The Trainings (Kingian Nonviolence)

“The Kingian Nonviolence workshops are transformational experiences that have helped thousands of people from around the world understand the depth of the philosophy of nonviolence, and learn to begin to bring the practices into their lives and their work…Whether you are an organizer working for social change, a teacher trying to change the culture of your school or simply an individual trying to deal with the conflicts in your personal life, each person will walk away from our workshops with new skills and a new perspective.”

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The Single Most Mind-Altering Photograph Humanity Has Ever Taken (The Sagan Series)

Reflections on our place in the universe and the need to protect Earth. “This is about a photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spaceprobe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from Earth, as part of the solar system Family Portrait series of images. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and to take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space,”

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The Superior Human? (2012)

“”The Superior Human?” systematically challenges the common human belief that humans are superior to all other life forms, which is often used as an excuse for animal cruelty and the destruction of our own environment. It reveals the absurdity of this belief while exposing human bias.”

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The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World

Book: “Is There No Other Way? is the mature work of one of the world’s most widely respected peace scholars and activists. Beginning with the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi, and following the legacy of nonviolence through the struggles against Nazism in Europe, racism in America, oppression in China and Latin America, and ethnic conflicts in Africa and Bosnia, Nagler unveils a hidden history. Nonviolence, he proposes, has proven its power against arms and social injustice wherever it has been correctly understood and applied. Nagler’s approach is not only historical, but also spiritual. He argues, drawing upon the experience of Gandhi and other activists, that the shift to nonviolence begins within the individual, through the reshaping and re-visioning of how one understands the world. He then shows how from changes in the individual, changes in the larger community follow. Is There No Other Way? is a provocative and emotionally powerful document that challenges readers’ assumptions about the workings of power in their homes and communities, as well as the larger political arena.”

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The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America

Book: “Discover the Real Revolution Unfolding across America. America faces huge challenges—climate change, social injustice, racist violence, economic insecurity. Journalist Sarah van Gelder suspected that there were solutions, and she went looking for them, not in the centers of power, where people are richly rewarded for their allegiance to the status quo, but off the beaten track, in rural communities, small towns, and neglected urban neighborhoods. She bought a used pickup truck and camper and set off on a 12,000-mile journey through eighteen states, dozens of cities and towns, and five Indian reservations. From the ranches of Montana to the coalfields of Kentucky to the urban cores of Chicago and Detroit, van Gelder discovered people and communities who are remaking America from the ground up. Join her as she meets the quirky and the committed, the local heroes and the healers who, under the mass media’s radar, are getting stuff done. The common thread running through their work was best summed up by a phrase she saw on a mural in Newark: “We the People LOVE This Place.” That connection we each have to our physical and ecological place, and to our human community, is where we find our power and our best hopes for a new America.”

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The Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation

“The Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation is a small nonprofit that invests our resources into making kindness the norm. We are rooted in the belief that all people can connect through kindness and that kindness can be taught. We follow a simple framework for everything we do. Inspire -> Empower -> Act -> Reflect -> Share. Our evidence-based Kindness in the Classroom® curriculum gives students the social and emotional skills needed to live more successful lives. Our workplace kindness calendar shows companies how easy it is to change workplace culture through simple kind gestures. We create a common language between schools, work and home with all of our resources.”

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The Practice for Engaged Buddhism

“This is the final dharma talk of the 2000 21-Day Retreat, The Eyes of the Buddha, offered from Lower Hamlet at Plum Village by Thich Nhat Hanh on June 20, 2000. The primary theme of the dharma talk is the Noble Eightfold Path. In Part I, we begin with an introduction to deep listening – protected by compassion – followed by a teaching on the Noble Eightfold Path threaded with teachings on the Five Mindfulness Trainings. 1.Right View 2.Right Thinking 3.Right Speech 4.Right Action 5.Right Diligence 6.Right Livelihood 7.Right Mindfulness 8.Right Concentration. In Part II, beginning at 1-hour and 8-minutes we turn to the topics of violence, nonviolence, UNESCO’s Manifesto 2000, and dependent co-arising.”

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The Question of the Animal and Religion: Theoretical Stakes, Practical Implications

Book: “Through an absorbing investigation into recent, high-profile scandals involving one of the largest kosher slaughterhouses in the world, located unexpectedly in Postville, Iowa, Aaron S. Gross makes a powerful case for elevating the category of the animal in the study of religion. Major theorists have almost without exception approached religion as a phenomenon that radically marks humans off from other animals, but Gross rejects this paradigm, instead matching religion more closely with the life sciences to better theorize human nature. Gross begins with a detailed account of the scandals at Agriprocessors and their significance for the American and international Jewish community. He argues that without a proper theorization of “animals and religion,” we cannot fully understand religiously and ethically motivated diets and how and why the events at Agriprocessors took place. Subsequent chapters recognize the significance of animals to the study of religion in the work of Ernst Cassirer, Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade, Jonathan Z. Smith, and Jacques Derrida and the value of indigenous peoples’ understanding of animals to the study of religion in our daily lives. Gross concludes by extending the Agribusiness scandal to the activities at slaughterhouses of all kinds, calling attention to the religiosity informing the regulation of “secular” slaughterhouses and its implications for our relationship with and self-imagination through animals.”

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The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006)

“When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call “The Special Period.” The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.”

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The Power of Non-Violence

Book: “The idea of non-violence (passive-resistance) has always seemed beautiful but too good to be true. As a practical proposition it arouses scepticism and ridicule. But Mr Gregg is strangely convincing. He marshals the whole weight of contemporary knowledge,and uses the experience of Gandhi,who has employed non-violence methods on a wider scale and with greater success than any other figure in history. Non-violent resistance is the doctrine of absolute pacificism. In theory, it recognizes no use of violence as legitimate in practice it includes all human relations,national and social as well as individual. Contents Include Modern Examples of Non-Violent Resistance Moral Jiu-Jitsu What Happens Utilising Emotional Energy How is Mass Non-Violent Resistance An Effective Substitute for War The Class Struggle and Non-Violent Resistance Non-Violence and the State Further Political Aspects Biological Considerations Doubts and Queries Preperation for Non-Violence Further Understanding Self Discipline Group Training and Discipline Notes by Chapters”

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The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander Von Humboldt and the Shaping of America

Book: “Explorer, scientist, writer, and humanist, Alexander von Humboldt was the most famous intellectual of the age that began with Napoleon and ended with Darwin. With Cosmos, the book that crowned his career, Humboldt offered to the world his vision of humans and nature as integrated halves of a single whole. In it, Humboldt espoused the idea that, while the universe of nature exists apart from human purpose, its beauty and order, the very idea of the whole it composes, are human achievements: cosmos comes into being in the dance of world and mind, subject and object, science and poetry. Humboldt’s science laid the foundations for ecology and inspired the theories of his most important scientific disciple, Charles Darwin. In the United States, his ideas shaped the work of Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, and Whitman. They helped spark the American environmental movement through followers like John Muir and George Perkins Marsh. And they even bolstered efforts to free the slaves and honor the rights of Indians. Laura Dassow Walls here traces Humboldt’s ideas for Cosmos to his 1799 journey to the Americas, where he first experienced the diversity of nature and of the world’s peoples—and envisioned a new cosmopolitanism that would link ideas, disciplines, and nations into a global web of knowledge and cultures. In reclaiming Humboldt’s transcultural and transdisciplinary project, Walls situates America in a lively and contested field of ideas, actions, and interests, and reaches beyond to a new worldview that integrates the natural and social sciences, the arts, and the humanities. To the end of his life, Humboldt called himself “half an American,” but ironically his legacy has largely faded in the United States. The Passage to Cosmos will reintroduce this seminal thinker to a new audience and return America to its rightful place in the story of his life, work, and enduring legacy.”

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The Peace Abbey

“The mission of the Peace Abbey Foundation is to create and install public works of art that promote peace and nonviolence; and to administer and care for Abbey Interfaith Peace Chaplaincy, The Pacifist Memorial, The Animal Rights Memorial, Abbey Cremation Cemetery for Conscientious Objectors and the National Registry for Conscientious Objection. Throughout the year, the Foundation presents the Int’l Courage of Conscience Award at conferences and peace ceremonies and extends the impact of the Peace Seeds interfaith prayers for peace through their dissemination worldwide. We conduct and support programs that bring together and promote the cooperation of people of different faith traditions and non-theists as well. We do this in the spirit of the 1986 International Day of Prayer for World Peace, as celebrated that year by religious leaders from around the globe in Assisi, Italy. The Foundation supports grassroots efforts to link the many dimensions of the peace movement with a committed emphasis on human rights and animal rights. We recognize these two dimensions of intrinsic rights as inextricably interconnected, just as social and economic justice require environmental sustainability and deep respect for the biosphere. Central to our universalist approach is the premise that nonviolence is the most effective and long-term strategy in addressing the multitude of challenges that now threaten our increasingly imperiled planet.”

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The Peace Alliance

“The Peace Alliance empowers civic action toward a Culture of Peace…One of the unique things that the Peace Alliance does is to focus not only on doing, and also being. We shift human understanding toward empathy, compassion and connection, thus fostering interdependence among citizens and dialogue toward common ground and peaceful solutions to conflict. This is the only approach that will work. Our Peace Alliance Council Leads establish what they feel are the clear and direct actions, through education, advocacy and collaboration, to expand and reinforce this shift to compassionate understanding and an expanded culture of peace.”

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The Palestine Chronicle

“A non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the general public by providing a forum that strives to highlight issues of relevance to human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy in the form of daily news, commentary, features, book reviews, photos, art, and more.”

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The Objectivity of Ethics and the Unity of Practical Reason

“Evolutionary accounts of the origins of human morality may lead us to doubt the truth of our moral judgments. Sidgwick tried to vindicate ethics from this kind of external attack. However, he ended The Methods in despair over another problem—an apparent conflict between rational egoism and universal benevolence, which he called the “dualism of practical reason.” Drawing on Sidgwick, we show that one way of defending objectivity in ethics against Sharon Street’s recent evolutionary critique also puts us in a position to support a bold claim: the dualism of practical reason can be resolved in favor of impartiality.” Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer. 24 page pdf

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The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less

Book: “How do you define the good life? For many, success is measured not by health and happiness but by financial wealth. But such a worldview overlooks the important things in life: personal contentment, family time, spirituality, and the health of the planet and those living on it. A preoccupation with money and possessions is not only unhealthy, it can also drain the true joy from life. In recent years, millions have watched their American Dreams go up in smoke. The international financial collapse, inflation, massive layoffs, and burgeoning consumer debt have left people in dire financial straits—including John Robbins, a crusader for planet-friendly food and lifestyle choices, who lost his entire savings in an investment scam. But Robbins soon realized that there was an upside to our collective financial downturn: Curtailed consumerism could lead us to reassess our lives and values. The New Good Life provides a philosophical and prescriptive path from conspicuous consumption to conscious consumption. Where the old view of success was measured by cash, stocks, and various luxuries, the new view will be guided by financial restraint and a new awareness of what truly matters. A passionate manifesto on finding meaning beyond money and status, this book delivers a sound blueprint for living well on less.”

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The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century

Book: “A world dominated by America and driven by cheap oil, easy credit, and conspicuous consumption is unraveling before our eyes. In this powerful, deeply humanistic book, Grace Lee Boggs, a legendary figure in the struggle for justice in America, shrewdly assesses the current crisis―political, economical, and environmental―and shows how to create the radical social change we need to confront new realities. A vibrant, inspirational force, Boggs has participated in all of the twentieth century’s major social movements―for civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and more. She draws from seven decades of activist experience, and a rigorous commitment to critical thinking, to redefine “revolution” for our times. From her home in Detroit, she reveals how hope and creativity are overcoming despair and decay within the most devastated urban communities. Her book is a manifesto for creating alternative modes of work, politics, and human interaction that will collectively constitute the next American Revolution.”

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The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action

“Love Is Stronger Than Hate. “Nonviolence is not the recourse of the weak but actually calls for an uncommon kind of strength; it is not a refraining from something but the engaging of a positive force,” renowned peace activist Michael Nagler writes. Here he offers a step-by-step guide to creatively using nonviolence to confront any problem and to build change movements capable of restructuring the very bedrock of society. Nagler identifies some specific tactical mistakes made by unsuccessful nonviolent actions such as the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the Occupy protests and includes stories of successful nonviolent resistance from around the world, including an example from Nazi Germany. And he shows that nonviolence is more than a tactic—it is a way of living that will enrich every area of our lives.”

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The Network of Spiritual Progressives

“The Network of Spiritual Progressives is a broad network that seeks to transform our materialist and corporate-dominated culture into a loving and just society. We envision a world based on a New Bottom Line of awe and wonder at the universe where everyone is seen as fundamentally valuable regardless of their role in the marketplace. We call this framework “a spiritual progressive worldview.” Our network includes environmentalists, social activists and people of all walks of life who identify as religious, spiritual, atheist, and secular humanist. We are the interfaith advocacy arm of Tikkun magazine.”

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The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically

Book: “From the ethicist the New Yorker calls “the most influential living philosopher,” a new way of thinking about living ethically. Peter Singer’s books and ideas have been disturbing our complacency ever since the appearance of Animal Liberation. Now he directs our attention to a new movement in which his own ideas have played a crucial role: effective altruism. Effective altruism is built upon the simple but profound idea that living a fully ethical life involves doing the “most good you can do.” Such a life requires an unsentimental view of charitable giving: to be a worthy recipient of our support, an organization must be able to demonstrate that it will do more good with our money or our time than other options open to us. Singer introduces us to an array of remarkable people who are restructuring their lives in accordance with these ideas, and shows how living altruistically often leads to greater personal fulfillment than living for oneself. The Most Good You Can Do develops the challenges Singer has made, in the New York Times and Washington Post, to those who donate to the arts, and to charities focused on helping our fellow citizens, rather than those for whom we can do the most good. Effective altruists are extending our knowledge of the possibilities of living less selfishly, and of allowing reason, rather than emotion, to determine how we live. The Most Good You Can Do offers new hope for our ability to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.”

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The Mindful Vegan: A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness

Book: “Are you ready to get to the roots of your challenges around food– whether it’s gratuitous snacking,compulsive or emotional eating, indulging cravings, overeating, or other disheartening habits? Be ready to get mindful. Mindfulness can be the deciding factor between your successful adoption of a healthy vegan diet and repeated frustrating attempts. This simple technique goes under the surface of what is hampering your happiness, providing a sought-after solution to many of life’s ups and downs by rewiring your reactivity to challenges. Certified mindfulness meditation facilitator, award winning health educator, and longtime vegan advocate Lani Muelrath has been practicing mindfulness meditation for 25 years. In The Mindful Vegan, she teaches you how to practice mindfulness and shows how it can bring freedom and a new joy to your eating– and living– experience.”

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The Lottery of Birth (2013)

“Do you shape the world or does it shape you? Drawing on leading thinkers from around the world, and with a torrent of mind-expanding ideas and information, THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH will make you think again about what it means to be free.”

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The Little Book of Courageous Living

“With grace, acuity, and humor, Miki Kashtan has shared with thousands of people on five continents how to live from love, courage and truth – in every moment, in thought, word, and deed. By integrating these three hallmarks of nonviolence into daily life, radical shifts happen…you begin to choose how to respond to life, rather than merely reacting; you no longer settle for solutions that work only for you or only for others; and, more and more, you step into leadership by taking responsibility for the whole in every situation. This little book contains 200 concise, evocative distillations of her wisdom, illustrated with powerful and original images. The Little Book of Courageous Living is an invitation to you to begin to build your own courageous life.”

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The Lost Love (free full audiobook) by Michael Lanfield

Video: “At the core of our being, lies the heart. The heart is what contains human emotion, including love and compassion. Though humanity wants world peace, we can’t seem to live peacefully amongst one another. Religious institutions, schools and educational systems, military and governments have done little to nothing to end the violence. Love is the solution, yet we continue to justify the violence. Why is this? The Lost Love examines why we lost our innate love for all life, and what we can do to reawaken it within us, and cultivate that to the rest of the world.”

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The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty

Book: “For the first time in history, eradicating world poverty is within our reach. Yet around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than many of us pay for bottled water. In The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer uses ethical arguments, illuminating examples, and case studies of charitable giving to show that our current response to world poverty is not only insufficient but morally indefensible. The Life You Can Save teaches us to be a part of the solution, helping others as we help ourselves.”

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The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World without Losing Your Way

Book: “The Lifelong Activist is a guide to living a joyful and productive life that includes a strong progressive mission. It offers simple and clear instructions that help you figure out the form your authentic life should take, and live that life with a maximum of joy and productivity, and a minimum of fear, guilt and shame. The book’s sections are: -Managing Your Mission (figuring out your authentic mission). -Managing Your Time (building a schedule that allows you to realize that mission). -Managing Your Fears (beating perfectionism, procrastination and blocks to success, so you can follow your schedule). -Managing Your Relationships (leveraging your strengths with those of others). The Lifelong Activist is for liberal activists, artists, campaign workers, labor organizers, volunteers, students, teachers, human services workers, and entrepreneurs, but anyone can use it and learn from it. It can act as a useful handbook for students and young people at the beginning of their careers; those contemplating a career or path change; and those at risk for burnout will find it particularly useful.”

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The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Waking Up to Personal and Global Transformation

Book: “A call to consciousness combining spirituality and ecology that offers hope for the future. As the world’s population explodes, cultures and species are wiped out, and we have now reached the halfway point of our supplies of oil, humans the world over are confronting difficult choices about how to create a future that works. Thom Hartmann proposes that the only lasting solution to the crises we face is to re-learn the lessons our ancient ancestors knew — those which allowed them to live sustainably for hundreds of thousands of years — but which we’ve forgotten. Hartmann shows how to find this new yet ancient way of seeing the world and the life on and in it, allowing us to touch that place where the survival of humanity may be found.”

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The Library of Peace

“MISSION: The Library of Peace is developing into a global archive of inspiring stories, photos and videos from sisters and brothers of our global family… like you. VISION: Human history is full of people who take the high-road and choose to cultivate peace and nonviolence. WE will tell their stories and we invite you to add your support at this exciting time. You are invited to join us and become an official co-founder too!”

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The LIFE program

“The primary focus of the LIFE program is to develop awareness of the consciousness of “the living energy of needs” or “the beauty of needs.” This is the foundational base for Living Compassion and is core to living and integrating NVC into life. The deepening work of the LIFE program is designed to establish a clear pathway to first identifying, then experiencing and cultivating this consciousness. This work supports an embodied spirituality and a way to engage in a living practice in our everyday, moment-to-moment living. Processes and tools are offered that serve this integration and development.”

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The Life You Can Save

“The mission of The Life You Can Save (TLYCS) is to help change the culture of giving in affluent countries while dramatically raising annual donations to highly impactful nonprofits that reduce suffering and premature death, and improve life and livelihoods, for people living in extreme poverty.”

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The Insanity of Humanity Episode 1

“This is the final version of a presentation I have developed over the last few years. It was intended to provide some context for the disparate jigsaw pieces that I think fit together and tell the story of our symbiotic origins and our post symbiotic descent into delusion and madness. Most importantly of all it is a story that could if we so choose have a very different ending to the dystopian nightmare we are currently writing.”

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The Institute for Human Rights & Responsibilities, Inc. (IHRR)

“The Institute for Human Rights & Responsibilities, Inc. (IHRR) is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation that promotes adult leadership education for nonviolent democratic social change programs and projects. Located in Galena, Ohio, the IHRR publishes nonviolence and democracy educational materials, and conducts residential adult education leadership programs and nonviolence conflict reconciliation projects. Emphasis is placed on the institutionalization of nonviolence and democracy skills and information programs.”

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The Hakomi Institute, New Zealand

“We are part of the International Hakomi Institute based in the United States and have been offering practitioner training, workshops, and supporting the growth of Hakomi in New Zealand and Australia since 1989. Hakomi Experiential Psychotherapy is a mindfulness-based approach to self-understanding. Mindfulness is not simply part of the ‘tool kit’ in Hakomi, it forms the very foundation of the therapeutic encounter. Much more than a method or set of techniques, Hakomi is a way of looking at the world that is compassionate, mindful, curious, non-invasive, humorous and respectful.”

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The Global Brain: Peter Russell (1983)

“Peter Russell’s award-winning video, based on a live audio-visual presentation in 1983. He explores the idea that the Earth is an integrated, self-regulating living organism and asks what function humanity might have for this planetary being. It suggests that we stand on the threshold of a major leap in evolution, as significant as the emergence of life itself, and the essence of this leap is inner spiritual evolution. Moreover, Peter Russell maintains that it is only through such a shift in consciousness that we will be able to manage successfully the global crisis now facing us.”

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The Great Turning

A talk by David Korten. “A Great turning to an Ecological Civilization cannot be led or imposed by institutions created to secure the relationships of an Imperial Civilization. Leadership must come from We the People. With no precedent or model to guide us, we must learn as we go, sharing the lessons of our experience as we withdraw our support from the institutions of the old economy and live into being the institutions of a New Economy that aligns with Ecological Civilization’s vision of possibility. The Great Turning is a possibility: not a prophecy. The choice is in our hands.”

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The Ghosts In Our Machine

Film: “With the exception of our companion animals and the wild and stray species within our urban environments, we experience animals daily only as the food, clothing, animal tested goods and entertainment we make of them. This moral dilemma is largely hidden from our view. THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Through the heart and photographic lens of animal rights photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, audiences become intimately familiar with a cast of non-human animals. From undercover investigations to joyful rescue missions, in North America and in Europe, each photograph and story is a window into global animal industries: Food, Fashion, Entertainment and Research. THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE charts McArthur’s efforts to bring wider attention to a topic that most of humankind strives hard to avoid. Are non-human animals property to be owned and used, or are they sentient beings deserving of rights?”

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The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights

“Buddhism ought to be an animal rights religion par excellence. It has long held that all life forms are sacred and considers kindness and compassion the highest virtues. Moreover, Buddhism explicitly includes animals in its moral universe. Buddhist rules of conduct—including the first precept, “Do not kill”—apply to our treatment of animals as well as to our treatment of other human beings. Consequently, we would expect Buddhism to oppose all forms of animal exploitation, and there is, in fact, wide agreement that most forms of animal exploitation are contrary to Buddhist teaching. Yet many Buddhists eat meat―although many do not―and monks, priests, and scholars sometimes defend meat-eating as consistent with Buddhist teaching. The Great Compassion studies the various strains of Buddhism and the sutras that command respect for all life. Norm Phelps, a longtime student of Buddhism and an acquaintance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, answers the central questions of whether Buddhism demands vegetarianism and whether the Buddha ate meat. He is not afraid to examine anti-animal statements in Buddhist lore―particularly the issues of whether Buddhists in non-historically Buddhist countries need to keep or to jettison the practices of their historical homelands.”

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The Gentle Barn

“We live in a concrete, violent, noisy, high tech, busy world. We have lost our connection to animals, to nature, and most of all, to ourselves. Animals are living lives of torment from beginning to end, their cries are unheard, their pain is unseen, and they are suffering. The rate of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes has never been higher. The rain forests are being destroyed, we are in a global drought, we are polluting our air, and species go extinct every day. But by having reverence for all life and by reconnecting with Mother Earth we each can change all that. At The Gentle Barn we stand up for the innocent, and we help animals and children alike remember that they matter. We open people’s hearts to the connections with nature. We open people’s minds to what is happening around us. And we inspire people to be an integral part of the solution. Through the stories and interactions with our animals, we can raise future generations to have reverence for all life, protect our planet, live good healthy, happy lives, and we will all be closer to having peace on earth!”

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The Forgiveness Project

“The Forgiveness Project collects and shares stories from both victims/ survivors and perpetrators of crime and conflict who have rebuilt their lives following hurt and trauma. Founded in 2004 by journalist, Marina Cantacuzino, The Forgiveness Project provides resources and experiences to help people examine and overcome their own unresolved grievances. The testimonies we collect bear witness to the resilience of the human spirit and act as a powerful antidote to narratives of hate and dehumanisation, presenting alternatives to cycles of conflict, violence, crime and injustice. At the heart of The Forgiveness Project is an understanding that restorative narratives have the power to transform lives; not only supporting people to move on from harm or trauma, but also building a climate of tolerance, resilience, hope and empathy. This idea informs our work across multiple platforms – in publications and educational resources, through the international F Word exhibition, in public conversations, and our award-winning RESTORE prison programme. The stories of forgiveness on our website demonstrate that forgiveness is first and foremost a personal journey, with no set rules or time limits. We are a secular organisation sharing stories from all faiths and none.”

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The Evilness of Power (2008)

“THE EVILNESS OF POWER examines the ways in which power and hierarchy affect individuals, society, and the world at large. It’s possibly the best film on the subject ever made. Produced by Jonathan Shockley.”

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The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress

Book: “What is ethics? Where do moral standards come from? Are they based on emotions, reason, or some innate sense of right and wrong? For many scientists, the key lies entirely in biology–especially in Darwinian theories of evolution and self-preservation. But if evolution is a struggle for survival, why are we still capable of altruism? In his classic study The Expanding Circle, Peter Singer argues that altruism began as a genetically based drive to protect one’s kin and community members but has developed into a consciously chosen ethic with an expanding circle of moral concern. Drawing on philosophy and evolutionary psychology, he demonstrates that human ethics cannot be explained by biology alone. Rather, it is our capacity for reasoning that makes moral progress possible. In a new afterword, Singer takes stock of his argument in light of recent research on the evolution of morality.”

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The Earth Pledge

“A central goal of the educational outreach program at Foundation Earth is to promote “earth consciousness” in the citizens of all nations. A critical aspect of this work is to instill in the minds of the young an identification with and desire to protect the planet. An effective and achievable tool to accomplish this a major campaign to have a “Pledge of Allegiance to the Earth” be adopted in tens of thousands of elementary schools, and recited daily by many millions of young students at the beginning of each school day. The campaign will initially be focused on the United States but eventually will expand to international outreach. The Earth Pledge: I pledge allegiance to the Earth. To its mountains, rivers, soil and sky. One planet, irreplaceable. To be cherished and protected by all.”

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The Dodo

“The Dodo is the digital media brand for animal people. At The Dodo, we’re committed to creating visually compelling, entertaining, highly shareable animal videos and stories. We’re a halo brand for everyone who loves animals ­­ from people who are obsessed with their pets all the way to committed animal advocates. We want our audience to connect with animals through our stories, and feel empowered to help where help is needed.”

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The Crisis of Civilization (2011)

“A dark comedy remix mash-up bonanza about the end of industrial civilization. featuring clowns, car crashes, explosions, super heroes, and xylophones and much, much more ….. Based on the Book by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Directed by Dean Puckett Animations by Lucca Benney”

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The Compassionate Road

“The Compassionate Road website is a free resource for anyone interested in creating more healthy, sustainable and kind habits. Gemma is a Qualified Naturopath, yoga teacher and co-author of The Compassionate Kitchen. She has been involved in the making of a documentary and is an Ambassador for the animal protection group, Voiceless. She regularly speaks at events and hosts a range of workshops from healthy cooking, to how and why we can be more mindful around our diet and lifestyle choices.”

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The Change Agency – Books

“Over the past ten years we’ve put together a catalogued collection of over 200 books on social change, social movements, activist research and community campaigns and that challenge, inform and inspire. This is a list of our current favourites.”

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The Choice is Ours

“Throughout our history, humanity has set its sights on seemingly impossible goals, and found a way to realize those goals against all obstacles. This awe-inspiring potential is on full display in the opening moments of the new documentary The Choice is Ours, as retired NASA astronaut and professional astronomer Jeff Hoffman testifies to the glories of space travel…The most pressing issues facing humankind today – from climate change to widespread crime to financial calamity to the rapidly depleting natural resources of our planet – take center stage in The Choice is Ours, but they’re approached from a refreshingly unique perspective. This elegantly produced film promotes our capacity to invoke positive change in the world, and considers the behavioral and cultural shifts which must take place to make this possible.”

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The Circle Works

“Circle work is one of the oldest restorative practices utilized by humankind. Our goal is to institutionalize circle work in every aspect of American life. We see this as best demonstrated when we can work in collaboration, with compassion, as we strive toward competency…Since ancient times, people have been sitting in Circle to discuss difficult and emotional issues. They’ve also come together in Circle to reflect on and celebrate various occasions and individuals. Through the many uses of Circles; one common thread is community. Through the recognition and participation in Circle, the community can deepen its level of trust and understanding. Circles can help transform conflict, create trust and heal damaged relationships, build stronger teams, empower individuals, enhance personal accountability, and facilitate creative problem-solving.”

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The Center on Conscience & War

“CCW is a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of conscience, opposes military conscription, and serves all conscientious objectors to war. The Center on Conscience & War (CCW) works to extend and defend the rights of conscientious objectors (COs), those who oppose their participation in war, including members of the US military who, following a crisis of conscience, seek discharge as conscientious objectors. CCW also assists others who oppose their participation in war and the preparation for war, including youth required to register with Selective Service; individuals seeking US Citizenship who wish to take the alternative, nonviolent oath; and citizens of other countries facing mandatory military service. CCW opposes conscription, and, in the event of an active military draft, CCW will assist in the placement of conscientious objectors in alternative service programs, as we did in previous draft years. CCW, formerly the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO), founded in 1940, is a founding member of the G.I. Rights Hotline, a national referral and counseling service for military personnel. All services are provided free of charge.”

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The Century of the Self (2002)

“The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? (Includes all parts of this multi-part series.)”

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The Bloom Episode 3: New Ways of the Sacred

“Part III of The Bloom “New Ways of The Sacred” looks at how Transformational Festivals are venues for an active engagement with ancient, universal themes of MYTHOS, RITUAL and THE SACRED, exploring ways which both honor the traditional, while reflecting our unprecedented realities of the third millennium. “

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