Guiding Rage into Power
Jacques Verduin is painfully aware of the ugly statistics: one in 107 Americans are in prison; one in 28 children have an incarcerated parent; and within 18 months, 64% will be back behind the walls. Thankfully, Verduin has shown that the empowerment and transformation of prisoners is a big part of what prison reform can look like, and with it has created a successful social experiment that is one... posted on Jun 30 2014, 22,639 reads

All In On Love
Love others. Sounds simple, right? As Vinoba Bhave confessed, "I said it was simple; I did not say that it was easy." And this message of the simplicity of the idea, yet the ever-present challange of putting love into practice is found in all times, across all areas of life. Enter American singer-songwriter John Legend. A graduate of Penn, passionate about music his entire life, the greatest lesso... posted on Jun 29 2014, 29,692 reads

Meditations On An Apple
As you hold an apple, remember that the ancestor of all apple trees arose in southwestern Asia, in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and all across the Caucasus Mountains. Protected and nourished by observant stewards for thousands of years through their system of agriculture, their culture of the land, the apple contains their vision. We are all dependent on the living soil for o... posted on Jun 28 2014, 21,134 reads

The Dalai Lama: On Why I Laugh
Those who have had the chance to be in his presence, know him -- in part --- by his infectious laugh. "I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious." In an excerpt from his book, "My Spiritual Journey", the Dalai Lama shares his beliefs regarding the healing power ... posted on Jun 27 2014, 63,630 reads

The Happiness Index
Bhutan is a country roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, but with less than half the population, sandwiched between China and India. A Fulbright scholar on a visit there asks, is it demolition or progress for the country to move from an isolated, largely self-sustaining Buddhist kingdom to a modern democracy? As workers build a new road to a cliff temple and secret holy lake, h... posted on Jun 26 2014, 8,416 reads

Unleashing Empathy Through Emotional Learning
According to a recent Harvard study, cultivating empathy among students has been linked to a variety of desirable outcomes, including positive peer relationships, better communication skills, and fewer interpersonal conflicts. Author Lennon Flowers examines how it is part of a growing education trend broadly referred to as "social and emotional learning," where children, teachers and parents learn... posted on Jun 25 2014, 17,691 reads

7 Keys To A Good Death
"Some years ago, I helped tend to a friend of mine who was dying of cancer. Near the end of his life, he had reached a place of equanimity around dying. But instead of honoring his wishes for a peaceful death, his doctors ordered aggressive chemotherapy treatment, which did nothing to halt his cancer. The treatments caused him immense suffering, rendering him unable to sleep, eat, or converse with... posted on Jun 24 2014, 84,504 reads

Cartographies of Time
Industrialization, and now globalisation, continues to promote the importance of strict clock-based routines. Think about it, how would we be able to interact on an international basis without a shared understanding and agreement on how we measure time? And yet all over the world there are fascinating, often enchanting stories from cultures that still measure time in more traditional ways, and in ... posted on Jun 23 2014, 14,276 reads

A School In The Cloud
Five years ago, Shahrukh Khan, an Indian schoolboy struck up an unlikely friendship with a retired teacher in London -- and with her help he is now studying to be a doctor. Even though they live thousands of miles apart and have never met, they can't imagine life without each other. Khan is just one of many children who've benefitted from the work of academic Sugata Mitra. Mitra gave children in a... posted on Jun 22 2014, 5,494 reads

Leaders Open Doors
"I got to open doors for people!" These are the words spoken by author Bill Treasurer's five-year-old son, and these are the words which helped him to formulate perhaps his greatest insight into the characteristics of a successful leader. That is to say, leadership isn't so much about the leader, rather it's more so about those being led. In his most recent book, Leaders Open Doors, author Bill Tr... posted on Jun 21 2014, 19,874 reads