Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

November 25, 2012

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See Good Intentions

“Recognizing the positive intentions in others, we feel safer, more supported, and happier. And when others feel that you get their good intentions, they feel seen, appreciated, and more inclined to treat you well. But it can be hard to recognize the goodwill in others. We’re busy and distracted and stressed. Positive aims are often buried beneath negative behaviors. The brain’s innate negativity bias is continually scanning for bad news, bad intentions. The brain also reacts to novelty, so it tends to ignore the many positive intentions that pervade most daily life while spotlighting the occasional negative ones. So you have to actively look for good intentions.” { read more }

Be The Change

Try noticing the good intentions of those around you today.

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November 24, 2012

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Knitting Behind Bars

“The first warden Lynn Zwerling approached with her idea recoiled as if she might bite. The second wouldn’t meet with her. The third claimed to love the idea, then fell out of touch. Outrageous, said the fourth. The fifth, Margaret Chippendale, at a minimum-security men’s prison outside Baltimore, didn’t have much hope for Ms. Zwerling’s plan either. “She brought the program to me and told me: ‘Your inmates will get hooked. It will relax them, empower them,’ ” remembers Ms. Chippendale, a 40-year veteran of Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. “And my gut reaction is: ‘Lynn, I’m always looking for ways to do that, but I’m not sure I’m going to get a bunch of big, macho guys to sit around a table and knit.’ ” { read more }

Be The Change

Handmake a gift for someone this week.

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THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM

How things appear and how they actually exist differ greatly. A person engaging in practice of the perfection of wisdom does this kind of analysis and then examines how things appear in ordinary experience, alternating analysis and comparison with the usual mode of appearance in order to notice the discrepancy between the actual mode of subsistence of phenomena and their appearance.

In this way the inherent existence which is the object of negation will become clearer and clearer. As much as the object of negation becomes clearer, so much deeper will your understanding of emptiness become. Finally, you will ascertain a mere vacuity that is a negative of inherent existence.

You Are Not Your Body

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November 23, 2012

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Remembering What We Have Forgotten

Discovering the writings of Peter Kingsley (In the Dark Places of Wisdom, Reality and now A Story Waiting to Pierce You) reminded me of what a mystery it is to be alive. One is always forgetting this, especially in this era of science’s stupendous discoveries and the astonishing advance of techonology. It’s as if we have the power to figure everything out. Does this confidence in our knowledge stand in the way of feeling something that’s even deeper and more true? Listening to Peter Kingsley is like a wake-up call. { read more }

Be The Change

Find a quiet place and sit there for five minutes in silence. Reflect on the mystery of existence.

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November 22, 2012

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20 Questions for Thanksgiving

“It can be challenging to create rich and meaningful family conversations about gratitude. I know I’ve felt disappointed when my “What do you feel thankful for?” questions are met with quick, predictable responses that bring the conversation to a close soon after it’s begun. This Thanksgiving season, I’m taking a different approach by coming up with 20 gratitude questions to help enliven our sharing.” Karen Horneffer-Ginter shares her questions with readers here. { read more }

Be The Change

Take a moment with family and friends today to reflect on the gratitude questions above, or perhaps a set of your own.

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November 21, 2012

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The Danger of a Single Story

Growing up in Nigeria, author Chimamanda Adichie only read stories about blue-eyed British children, playing in the snow and eating apples. She loved these stories, but she could not connect to these stories. Growing up in an English-speaking former colony, Adichie nevertheless embraces Nigerian history and tradition to write critically acclaimed diasporan literature. Watch her discuss her own youth and the perceptions about Africa she had to overcome. { read more }

Be The Change

Close your eyes and spend some time thinking about some of the sterotypical concusions you may have made about someone you know and then set out to learn more about them

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November 20, 2012

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Untrack: Letting Go of the Stress of Measuring

“There are a few old management adages that seem to run like a current through our society, powering our work and personal lives: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” and “You are what you measure” and “You get what you measure”. And I’ve fallen for it myself. At various times, I’ve tracked workouts, miles run, everything I’ve eaten, every single work task I complete, progress towards goals, my weight, my body fat percentage… expenses, earnings, debt, website visitors, ad clicks, tweets, followers, and on and on. Sometimes I’ve tracked a few of these at the same time.” What if there was a better way? { read more }

Be The Change

Experiment with “untracking” your life this week.

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