Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. — Buddha

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Good News of the Day:
“Depending on what you paid attention to in school, you might remember Confucius by the Silver Rule (“Do not do to others…”), his exotic concepts (e.g., filial piety), or a series of grammar-challenged jokes (“Confucius say…”). Confucius did have a lot to say, but if there is one principle that runs through his philosophy, it’s that personal virtue is the way to the good life and the good society. He posed the cultivation of virtue as a superior alternative to the manipulation or coercion of behavior through policy. I’ll highlight three virtues from Confucius’s thought that I believe are the basic building blocks for all other virtues: One is benevolence or compassion. Another is self-control, which Confucius believed was enforced and nurtured by adhering to proper forms of behavior. And, the third is wise judgment about how to turn benevolent intention into action,” begins author Kentaro Toyama.
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Be The Change:
Explore virtue in action today: what does it mean to you to act with virtue?

**Share A Reflection**
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The Beauty of the Mountain is hidden for all those who try to discover it from the top, supposing that, one way or an other, one can reach this place directly. The Beauty of the Mountain reveals only to those who climbed it. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Tip of the Day:
“A. Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as ‘that one’s more beautiful’ or ‘this one’s easier.’ You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.” Through 11 simple but profound guidelines, Paulo Coelho, bestselling author of “The Alchemist,” offers up a manual for taking on life’s highest purpose.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0A49:C3009629A010612CDEB9584B7CDCAD31B4B847859706E37D&

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Be The Change:
Take a moment to reflect on how Cohelo’s “manual” might help you in tackling your own mountains.

**Share A Reflection**
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The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Good News of the Day:
The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children. He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter. “She told him, ‘No, I’m paying for it,'” recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. “He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn’t, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears.” At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers’ layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn’t afford, especially toys and children’s clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A074D:C3009629A010612C85E1E60F054CE3C3B4B847859706E37D&

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Be The Change:
Do an anonymous act of kindness today. Check out this link for some ideas.
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**Share A Reflection**
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Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion. — Barry Lopez

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Good News of the Day:
In 2006, Jonathan Harris and a colleague launched We Feel Fine, a project that took the Web’s emotional pulse by culling personal data from blogs. It was the first of several groundbreaking websites that Harris helped to create, and the project attracted widespread attention. In the following years, however, Harris began to feel like a voyeur. Determined to find a more open, transparent way to chart shared human experiences, he retreated into solitude, altered his approach, and developed a new digital storytelling platform called Cow Bird. The platform, which recently launched, encourages people to tell long-form stories online using photos, sound maps, timelines, videos, and casts of characters. It then spins a larger “meta” tale from their commonalities. With Cow Bird, Harris aims to revive letter writing in the digital era-providing the Internet generation with a deeper, more reciprocal means of communication than shouting into a disconnected social media void.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A05B2:C3009629A010612C1E95B72456807BDBB4B847859706E37D&

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Be The Change:
Write a meaningful personal story, no matter how short it is, and share it online or on paper. For inspiration, Cowbird.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A05B3:C3009629A010612C1E95B72456807BDBB4B847859706E37D&

**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A05B4:C3009629A010612C1E95B72456807BDBB4B847859706E37D&

Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion. — Barry Lopez

~~~~
Good News of the Day:
In 2006, Jonathan Harris and a colleague launched We Feel Fine, a project that took the Web’s emotional pulse by culling personal data from blogs. It was the first of several groundbreaking websites that Harris helped to create, and the project attracted widespread attention. In the following years, however, Harris began to feel like a voyeur. Determined to find a more open, transparent way to chart shared human experiences, he retreated into solitude, altered his approach, and developed a new digital storytelling platform called Cow Bird. The platform, which recently launched, encourages people to tell long-form stories online using photos, sound maps, timelines, videos, and casts of characters. It then spins a larger “meta” tale from their commonalities. With Cow Bird, Harris aims to revive letter writing in the digital era-providing the Internet generation with a deeper, more reciprocal means of communication than shouting into a disconnected social media void.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0566:C3009629A010612CAC783836BB91AB91B4B847859706E37D&

~~~~
Be The Change:
Write a meaningful personal story, no matter how short it is, and share it online or on paper. For inspiration, Cowbird.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0569:C3009629A010612CAC783836BB91AB91B4B847859706E37D&

**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A056B:C3009629A010612CAC783836BB91AB91B4B847859706E37D&

Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion. — Barry Lopez

~~~~
Good News of the Day:
In 2006, Jonathan Harris and a colleague launched We Feel Fine, a project that took the Web’s emotional pulse by culling personal data from blogs. It was the first of several groundbreaking websites that Harris helped to create, and the project attracted widespread attention. In the following years, however, Harris began to feel like a voyeur. Determined to find a more open, transparent way to chart shared human experiences, he retreated into solitude, altered his approach, and developed a new digital storytelling platform called Cow Bird. The platform, which recently launched, encourages people to tell long-form stories online using photos, sound maps, timelines, videos, and casts of characters. It then spins a larger “meta” tale from their commonalities. With Cow Bird, Harris aims to revive letter writing in the digital era-providing the Internet generation with a deeper, more reciprocal means of communication than shouting into a disconnected social media void.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0484:C3009629A010612C64408AC4080D221AB4B847859706E37D&

~~~~
Be The Change:
Write a meaningful personal story, no matter how short it is, and share it online or on paper. For inspiration, Cowbird.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0488:C3009629A010612C64408AC4080D221AB4B847859706E37D&

**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A0489:C3009629A010612C64408AC4080D221AB4B847859706E37D&