“…[I]f you are painting my song the way I sing, then it would be like a sky with drifting clouds without having to wonder about the borders in the clouds. So there [are] infinite possibilities in that space of how many different shapes of clouds that will form, or how many clouds that you won’t see… A lot of the…
We think we make them up, the myths, stories and dreams which so richly define the human imagination. But what if they have an existence that’s independent of us? What if they come to us as psychopomps–a beautiful old word of Greek origins which means “soul guide”? How then do we learn to listen to them, to see them, and…
Perhaps the most basic tendency of the human mind is to get fixated on things. We ruminate about things we (or others) have done; we worry about things that may happen in the future. We also build up an idea of what kind of person we are – what opinions we hold, what values we stand for – and grow…
Renowned teachers and authors Ethan Nichtern and Sharon Salzberg will be leading a retreat on “Real Change” at the Garrison Institute on December 14-16, 2018. We talked with them recently about the nature of both personal and social change, and how creating supportive communities is essential to the practice of Real Change. Nora Boxer: Why do we paradoxically both want change…
Dr. Otto Scharmer is an action researcher who co-creates innovations in learning and leadership that he delivers through classes and programs at MIT, MITx U.Lab, the Presencing Institute, and through innovation projects with organizations in business, government, and civil society around the world. He is the author of Theory U, Second Edition and co-author of the newly released Leading from the Emerging…
On the Pathways Toward Planetary Health – the interconnected road to ecological civilization, Half-Earth, regenerative economics, and pervasive altruism – there must be awareness and a bedrock of underlying values. There must be an ethical framework and a capacity to generate solutions. There must be a basic morality. But there also must be something good to eat. And plenty of…
How do we emotionally and socially construct our notions of difference and “the other?” Are there core truths about otherness and racial bias that transcend geographic boundaries? In June, more than 130 scientists, scholars, students, and activists from 19 countries gathered at Mind & Life’s 15th Summer Research Institute (SRI), each held at the Garrison Institute. This year’s theme,“Engaging Cultural Difference…
A knot sat in my throat for days. As I rode down the winding and rugged road to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in the Los Padres Forest, I was aware that a Queen called Aretha Franklin was dying. I felt this deep sense that I was dying with her. The next morning along with the wake up bell at the…