Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

Every man dies – not every man really lives. — William Wallace

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: Dr. BJ Miller is only 40 but he thinks about death a lot. He is the new executive director of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco and a palliative care specialist at UCSF Medical Center. He is also a triple amputee, co-founder of a tea company, owner of a farm in Utah and a newlywed who still looks like the Ivy Leaguer he once was. “I have no fear of death,” Miller said. “I have a fear of not living my life fully before I die.” On Nov. 27, 1990, he came close to dying. As a result of Miller’s encounter with 11,000 volts of electricity, his left arm was amputated below the elbow and his legs below the knees. He still has flashbacks to the explosion and remembers the difficulties of fitting his nearly 6-foot-5 frame into a helicopter bound for a burn unit. When it was time to find a calling, Miller chose medicine because he could use his experiences to connect with people and he felt an affinity for anyone going through an illness.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=1699916:C3009629A010612CAA47F2103D6B93B2B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Read the inspiring last words published by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross, the thanatologist who helped bring the hospice movement to the U.S. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=1699917:C3009629A010612CAA47F2103D6B93B2B4B847859706E37D&

**Share A Reflection** http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=1699918:C3009629A010612CAA47F2103D6B93B2B4B847859706E37D&

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? — Mary Oliver

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: “To stand up and speak out against cold injustice, against the blind wrong-doing that we see in the world — that is one kind of activism. But there is another kind. A rarer form of fire-in-the-belly commitment to a much less talked about cause. Tell me, do you stand up and speak out when you encounter a moment of unexpected joy, warmth, beauty or compassion in your life? Do you stop to say so when you stumble across something that makes you smile- or are you in the dull habit of registering the remarkable without remark? Are you a bystander of beauty, a mute spectator of special-ness? Do you let the silver-lining moments of the day slide into an insignificant silence — or do you seize them as the chance to make something bloom?” A stirring call to be vocal in times of beauty. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16998AD:C3009629A010612C5EF42942449FEA20B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Stand up and speak out when you encounter a moment of unexpected joy, warmth, beauty or compassion in your life.

**Share A Reflection** http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16998AE:C3009629A010612C5EF42942449FEA20B4B847859706E37D&

In our sheer preoccupation with technology, we do not realize the inherent artistic choices when creating technology … and the questioning and reflection that the process of creating art implies. — Tapan Parikh

~~~~ Good News of the Day: “Technology is not the answer. That’s the conclusion I came to after five years in India trying to find ways to apply electronic technologies to international development. I was the co-founder and assistant director of Microsoft Research India, a Bangalore computer-science lab, where one of our objectives was to research ways in which information and communication technologies could support the socio-economic development of poor communities, both rural and urban. […] In several projects to design educational technology for schools, we found that teacher and administrator attitudes were the real keys to success. Then, when we connected low-income slum residents with potential employers, limited education and training posed critical barriers. And again, when we used gadgets for microfinance operations, a capable institutional ally was indispensable. Our successes were due more to effective partners, and less to our technology.” Kentaro Toyama shares
further. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16997E8:C3009629A010612C037CA94584A3BC25B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: We’re constantly creating, with objects, words, and actions. Today, question and reflect during the creation process.

**Share A Reflection** http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16997E9:C3009629A010612C037CA94584A3BC25B4B847859706E37D&

There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light. — Barry Lopez

~~~~ Good News of the Day: His travels have taken him to some of the most inhospitable places on the earth, outside the furthest reaches of human civilization. But Barry Lopez always returns to his home in Oregon to write about what he has seen. And though nature is often his inspiration, it is not his subject, Lopez tells Bill Moyers, “I’m not writing about nature. I’m writing about humanity. And if I have a subject, it is justice. And the rediscovery of the manifold way in which our lives can be shaped by the recovery of a sense of reverence for life.” Lopez defines reverence as understanding “that the world will always be there, no matter how sophisticated our technologies of probing reality become. The great mystery will be there forever. Lopez was Bill Moyers’ last guest on his show, the Journal. The transcript of that program follows. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169957D:C3009629A010612CF0700EDBB3F71972B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Move through the day today with a sense of reverence, whatever that means to you.

**Share A Reflection** http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169957E:C3009629A010612CF0700EDBB3F71972B4B847859706E37D&

Dharma Quote of the Week

Blame everything on one thing. It simplifies life incredibly, and yet it truly is not simplistic. If we believe from our hearts that all of our misfortunes can be attributed to self-centeredness, this must radically transform our lives.

Do we have reservations? Isn’t there some part of the mind that says, “Self-centeredness is not such a bad idea. It got me my job, a good salary, my house and car. How can this be my enemy?” On the surface self-centeredness may seem like an aide who looks after our interests. There is one powerful answer to this: insofar as self-centeredness dominates our lives, it brings us into conflict with virtually everyone else. Because most people are dominated by self-centeredness, their interests are at odds with our own. There is bound to be conflict, and conflict gives rise to suffering.

Imagine what life would be like without self-centeredness. Would we give away all our possessions, waste away from malnutrition, and die prematurely of disease? No. This would be a partial lack of self-centeredness combined with a large part of stupidity. If we are to serve others effectively, we must take care of ourselves. A bodhisattva has no self-centeredness, but there have been people in all stations of life, including kings, who are bodhisattvas. If we free ourselves of self-centeredness and really concern ourselves with the cherishing of others, then our own welfare comes as a kind of echo.(p.67)

–from The Seven-Point Mind Training by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications

The Seven-Point Mind Training • Now at 5O% off!
(Good until October 21st).

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish. — John Jakes

~~~~ Inspiration of the Day: Today, writing well is more important than ever. Far from being the province of a select few as it was in Hemingway’s day, writing is a daily occupation for all of us — in email, on blogs, and through social media. It is also a primary means for documenting, communicating, and refining our ideas. As essayist, programmer, and investor Paul Graham has written, “Writing doesn’t just communicate ideas; it generates them. If you’re bad at writing and don’t like to do it, you’ll miss out on most of the ideas writing would have generated.” So what can we do to improve our writing? Here are 25 snippets of insight from some exceptional authors. While they are all focused on the craft of writing, most of these tips pertain to pushing forward creative projects of any kind. http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16994BA:C3009629A010612CF00D14F7E06AD97CB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~ Be The Change: Align your head, heart and hands when you write today.

**Share A Reflection** http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16994BB:C3009629A010612CF00D14F7E06AD97CB4B847859706E37D&