Love & Social Change discussion
Questions for the group
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Share your ideas
I joined for the reading and sharing of ideas. I'm willing to participate, although summer is the only time I'm not crazy busy. I think Love, Peace, Compassion and Wisdom are all tied together and I find that to be of great interest to me, because that is how we evolve to a greater human'kind'. A couple of good books on this are 'Cultivating Peace' by James O'Dea and 'Being Peace', by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Hi, I joined the group because I am truly interested in the topics of social justice, and humanistic approaches etc. however I am not too experienced in the topics. I am interested in the reading materials and I want to be introduced to good books that don’t really look like manuals for a happy ending (hope you know what I mean)I can participate in conversations mostly every day.
And more than questions I would like to suggest having a reading agenda. Let say that for the month of july we all read a book and we discuss it in a thread with some specific questions (or not). We can also suggest a topic discussion or a personage.
I think that's a good idea, Violeta. What do others think?
I think we should read Johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo
I like James O'Dea's book 'Cultivating Peace', as peace and love are directly connected. He talks about being peace ambassadors.
I would prefer Thich Nat Hanh if it is a choice
we could read all of them, one for july. August, september, that way we can give time to everyone to get the books.
Or is someone has read one of them they can talk about it and someone else can say how that fits with someone else's writings on the topic. There are so many books on love and peace that it's hard to read them all.
Well, johnny got his gun is not necessarily directly about love and peace more like what the effects of war are on people.
I think that's an important topic, John, but might be off topic for this group. I wrote a book that uses creative arts for healing people with PTSD and other symptoms from sexual assault, but it would also not be appropriate, although the processes might be conducive to being peaceful and could be helpful for people with PTSD that is war related.Peacefulness and living from the heart are something that comes from within ourselves and meditation and the creative arts are a wonderful way to develop it. Thich Nhat Hanh's book 'Peace Is in Every Step' teaches mindfulness and being aware through our breath. He has a chapter called 'Our Life Is a Work of Art' and his teachings are based on Love. He tells us to stop and be with what is going on. For me, this is being in the process of Love and when we are Love-full, we are peaceful and centered, we are flowing even in the midst of chaotic events and this flow is centered in Love.
We; the world is inter-contentedly being in balance through this whole equilibrium, universe! It's sharing inhabitable planet and we're now in present moment because of eternal spirit being cultivating change of progressive grace in whole infinite forms continuously since the universe is eternal truth of being within infinite "SPACE"!Fist of all is: Who am I?
I'M JUST LOVE!
by Vishwa (WORLD)
on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 11:09am
Link: http://www.facebook.com/notes/abhikri...
Who am I? Who are you? Love is our infinite nature... LOVE IS ALL ABOUT LIFE!
AUTHENTICALLY
THIS IS THE WORLD
THE WHOLE BEAUTY
THE BALANCE
UNIVERSE!
I'M LOVE
YOU
THE SPIRIT
I'M YOU!
JUST LOVE!
THE BEAUTY
THE WORLD
Wow!
JUST ETERNAL
WHOLE BEING
SHOWERING
BLISS WITHIN
SPRINGS
EVER FRESH
ESSENCE
THE LOVE
THE ULTIMATE...
JUST LOVE!
***
I'm here to celebrate 'JUST LOVE' for peaceful and beautiful world; just together a great understanding for blissful eternal journey! Just being together; one spirit of love and celebration life... Great amazing eternal journey because I'm nothing but I'm because all of you, the whole World! Thus; I'm "YOU"! THE WORLD!
***
"I'M"
by Vishwa (world)
on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 9:11 am
Link: http://www.facebook.com/notes/abhikri...
"I'M"
"THE VERY MOMENT IS LIFE"!
Each moment of life is showering bliss
each moment is fresh great morning
Just blessed gift each moment is
Just being celebrating with full of consciousness
Just single moment; the present moment is whole eternal life
Just being centered celebrating moment within whole universe
Just moment itself is almighty "SPIRIT"...
You
We
The World
Just-moment itself is this great gift beauty; "LIFE"!
It's eternal journey
Great Gift
Showering celebration the whole in utter balance...
Wow; just present moment is real being: THE SPIRIT!
Its whole 'WORLD'
Celebrating amazed balance
And
Great infinite possible beauty unbeatable miraculous forms
Just live
Just being
Just celebration
Great gift...
Very present moment is really authentic witness
The whole is being showering celebration the very moment life
The world!
I'm
Just the moment
Being love
caring
the celebrating whole
Eternal bliss, peace, beauty... "WORLD"!
LOVE
JUST THE MOMENT
ETERNALLY
BEING I'M
THE WORLD!
JUST LOVE
CARE ITSELF YOU!
I'm "YOU"!
JUST LOVE
THE BEAUTY; LIFE!
BLESSED MORNING
EACH MOMENT
I'M "YOU!
***
Regards!
Warm Welcome!
John wrote: "Well, johnny got his gun is not necessarily directly about love and peace more like what the effects of war are on people."Notice that some folks want to read books about "individual inner peace" (T.N.Hahn)and others want to read about how to stop external-oppression (politics, war, genocide, pollution, inequality, etc)
How can "meditating and achieving individual-inner-peace" stop Monsanto, Exxon, BP, Lockheed-Martin, etc, from continuing to destroy the planet? Corporations arent 'people' and they dont respond to 'inner peace'.
mark
Connie wrote: "I think that's an important topic, John, but might be off topic for this group. I wrote a book that uses creative arts for healing people with PTSD and other symptoms from sexual assault, but it wo..."Yes, we are 'just' love.
Dear; Connie!
Warm Regards!
LOVE & JUST LOVE: I'm "YOU"!
***
"LOVE!"
by Vishwa (WORLD)
on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 6:19 pm
LINK: http://www.facebook.com/notes/abhikri...
"LOVE!"
I am
And
I am all
And there is none else
Besides me!
I project myself
Many shades
Many colours
Many forms
Of myself
As if
These are
Other than me!
Now
I look at Myself
There is a feeling of "Oneness"
I taste "Myself"
That is my Ecstasy (Joy)
That Joy (Ecstasy) is "LOVE"!
***
I AM
WHO AM I?
Pure consciousness!
Consciousness
Aware of itself
Tasting its own Existence
Is "LOVE"!
***
Pure Conciousness
In its pure "Existence"
Is its full blossoming
Seeing itself
In its full bloom
Is its fulfillment
Ecstasy
Bliss
"LOVE"!
***
Pure consciousness
In its
Full SPLENDOR
Is itself
The moon
The ocean
The lotus
And
The seer of it all!
Enjoying itself
In the process
Of its "BECOMING"!
And
Aware of itself
Even in the process
Of its "BECOMING"
IS
JOY
ECSTASY
AND
LOVE!
***
Only this beauty is 'The World'
Yes; dear Connie, we are 'just' love and spirit of world!
<3
Connie wrote: "Yes, we are 'just' love."We're just celebration and eternally essence of this great beauty: "JUST LOVE" is 'Peace & Ecstasy'... The Life; The World, we're eternally!
<3
Mod
Hi Mark, Thank you for posing such important questions. I agree with your perception that the media isn't telling us the real story and that much "evil" is being done in the name of corporate greed, which is really personal greed.
Do I think love can make a difference against such power and such persons? Yes, I do. The books I've chosen for this group's bookshelf so far, all tell the story of taking love into very difficult situations, to address profound, systemic social problems. The occupation of India by the British, systemic racism and hatred in the U.S., and the threat of nuclear war. I hope you'll take a look.
My own story involved taking love into the halls of Congress at a time when the U.S. and Soviet Union had over 60,000 nuclear warhead between them. Love made a huge difference in the hearts and minds of politicians, and in the policies that resulted.
We can each have a profound effect on the world by being at peace (through meditation and sitting in silence, for example) and having the intention of flowing love to those in positions of power.
Caroline I appreciate your love-work, or work-of-love. I really do. I have no easy-answers. And i'm always wary of easy-answers. (such as "love, love, love.") The leftist writer/graphic-artist Stephanie McMillan has a great cartoon. I believe its in a book she wrote with D.Jensen called "As the World Burns: 50 Ways you can stay in Denial." The cartoon is of a 'guru' sitting in a field repeating the mantra "Peace in front of me, peace inside me, peace behind me" -- and all around him is devastation from corporate greed.
The point of the cartoon is obviously that 'meditating on love' and doing 'inner work' will not stop the corporations from destroying the planet.
I think about that cartoon a lot. :)
A 'modernday' bodhisattva has to understand two things:
1) spiritual development, inner-work, love
2) How politics actually works Ie., -- Corporate-Personhood.
Spiritual PLUS political development. Either one without the other seems flawed, imho.
I meet people all the time who are highly developed in one of those two spheres. Angry radical leftists who know politics inside and out. But have no spiritual peace. Or, lovely, sweet soft spiritual folks who have no clue what corporate-personhood is. (and they don't care, they just want to go "Om" all day)
So, that's where i'm coming from. :)
Peace,
mark
Mod
It was a difficult decision to put my story out there for others to read because it is a very personal story and because of the failure of almost everyone to understand how crucial it is that we know the deepest truths about both realms and that we bring these two realms together in our efforts to save the world. I believe it is essential that we integrate the two if we have any hope of saving the planet and ourselves.
If you have further interest, you could check out my blog, www.lovechangesthings.net The page that introduces and gives the rationale for the web site can be found here: http://66.147.244.167/~lovecha2/2013/...
It is my deep wish to provide a place, both here in the GR discussion group and on the blog, where those interested can explore these issues together.
Caroline
Sounds good, Caroline. Bell Hooks once said "There's no experience that we cannot heal."
Time will tell.
Either she's right or Vonnegut is right.
m
----------------
kurt Vonnegut
Requiem:
The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
"Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do."
The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.
When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."
People did not like it here
If we don't get a handle on Fukishima, Vonnegut may turn out to be right.Love requires action and action requires love, Yin and Yang, both/and, instead of either/or. Floating in Love LaLa Land is burying your head in the sands of insanity and acting without love is the result of the challenges that we now face.
Mod
John wrote: "I think we should read Johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo"This is an amazing book. I read it years ago. I was allowed to put it on the reading list for my juniors and seniors in high school when I taught in the 70s. At a different high school in the 80s, they would not let me add it. I think it has a powerful message.
In the same vein (sort of) are All's Quiet on the Western Front and The Red Badge of Courage.
I wrote the previous comment before reading down the whole scroll of comments. I find the dialogue between Mark, Connie and Caroline to be a good expression of my own thoughts. I have been an activist for social justice, a active pacifist and environmentalist for most of my adult life, with varying degrees of activism as my personal life permitted.I also am a strong believer in love's power - to transform us from the inside out, to transform institutions and even, perhaps, our collective unconscious.
However, in institutions and within large groups, the power of love may be slower to make changes, but I think the changes are deeper and hopefully more lasting.
I also believe in the power of story ~ both fiction and non-fiction~ to create change.
That is why this group interests me so much.
I don't have a lot of time to participate in groups, so I may need to give up one of my other Goodreads groups to participate in this one.
This is where my heart and mind are drawn to be.
Thank-you, Caroline for starting this group.
Mod
Mod
Hello, everyone! I joined the group because I want to discuss the topics connected with love. I can really relate to the message by Connie "Love requires action and action requires love". That's what my daughter and I are trying to fulfil through our lives. I can't remain indifferent to various problems and events happening in the world, which have no dirrect connection to me. Except we are all connected, and it's important to understand that. My book "Love and tears" is devoted to the Second World war events in the Soviet Union and the pre-war time. It's based on the personal family experience and also analyzes the actions of the country's leadership and military commanders before and during the war. If they really valued the human life, could they have arranged the defence in such a way that the war would have been much shorter and claimed significantly fewer victims? Having analyzed the resources the country had at the time and the actions that were taked I made a conclusion "Yes, they could". There were generals during the war, who through their tactics and attitude showed love and valued the life of every soldier, like Rokossovsky. There were also commanders, who were distinguished with their cruelty to their own soldiers, like Zhukov. Now Zhukov is heralded as the hero of the country and Rokossovsky is hardly mentioned. Do you think it's important what personalities the country as a whole and each person individually chooses for their moral guidance? One of the problems, which concerns us very much is poverty, and we're trying to address it in Russia, my motherland. We are helping one family improve their lives and build a house and rejoicing in the results. We think charity if it's arranged in a thoughtful way, can bring positive social changes. What do you think? I raise these and other topics in the posts to my book "Love and tears" and will be grateful for any response and comments.
Mod
Thank you very much for your interest, Caroline! I post by blogs on Goodreads page, the address is: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...Your comments and further ideas will be very much appreciated. All the best!
Thank you Anna, I like your story on the two generals and their different points of view and the way they affected others through their choice of morality. We are all connected and what happens in one part of the world affects everyone. I am thinking here of Fukushima and the radiation that is hitting the western coast of America through the ocean and to Colorado through the air. Chaos theory says that the butterfly fluttering its wings in New York can cause a Tsunami in Japan, and the occurrence of a tsunami can have far ranging effects as we are seeing with the radiation leak. We must continually be aware and standing in the circle of love as our beautiful Earth goes through some major changes, some (many?) caused by humans and our carelessness and lack of responsibility and compassion, while other occurrences are part of the cycle of Earth.
Dear Connie! I’m grateful to fate for meeting a soul-mate in your thoughts. It’s clear from your message that you aren’t just focussed on your own well-being. You are concerned about the tragic events around the world. It’s a special sensitivity of the soul. I think my daughter and I also have this quality. My blood runs cold, when I imagine that the modern weapons of the USA, the UK and France may soon be used in Syria. As a child I experienced the first hour of war and horrible evacuation across the great expanse of the Soviet Union. It deeply stuck in my memory. I tried to learn the truth about that complex time as much as I could and described it in my book “Love and tears”. My conclusions underline one idea – human life is the greatest value, no matter what nationality the person is. The main thing is that the people at the head of states, armies, Ministries of Defence take great care when they make decisions affecting people’s lives and do their best to avoid military conflicts.Fierce strife, bloody conflicts spread around the world like cancer infecting countries and populations. Lack of love and understanding is the root of these conflicts. If the people with power understand and help the needy in time and all religions preach the main message of Christ, Mohamed, Buddha and Moses – love, the world will become kinder. We try to fulfil this idea not just through thoughts and faith, but through actions too, through charity. We think it’s one of the important ways of changing the direction of human development towards harmony. On our Goodreads page http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... we describe the family from the Altay region, which we help, in detail. As you are interested in our thoughts, we hope you will approve of the actions too.
I think it is very important that we take action, even if it is a small one. Actions ripple out into the universe and can cause a much greater effect than we realize. So I keep fluttering my wings in whatever way I can. I just finished writing this, which did some twists and turns as I wrote it and I just let it take me to where it wanted to go, http://cowbird.com/story/76429/Klaatu...
Hi everyone,Again I want to thank Caroline for starting this group. I have found the exchange of ideas here to be interesting and encouraging. I think there are many of us who work for peace and non-violent conflict resolution through our writing. This space makes it easier for us to find each other.
I believe that story-telling, both fictional and fact-based, can have a profound effect on how people think about the world around them and our place in it.
My first attempt at fiction is my novel I Call Myself Earth Girl. August 30 is the publisher's official release date.
I have started a Goodreads giveaway. If you are interested in checking out the book, please enter the giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Also, I will be posting a link to the entire first chapter this evening. The book is fiction with a compelling plot, but it uses this story to send a message about the futility of war, the necessity of environmental stewardship and the power of universal love.
I would really like to hear your comments after you read it.
Peace!
Jan
I promise this will be my last post promoting my book - here is the link to the first chapterhttp://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
Note: It won't be obvious from this chapter that the book has a theme about peace, the environment and universal love.
Dear fellow members of the Love and Social Changes group! I agree with the idea that we shouldn’t remain indifferent to the events around the world. Now the situation in Syria is very worrying. Together we can make more impact and contribute to the peaceful resolution on the conflict. I’ve sent a letter to President Obama and the United Nations Security Council suggesting an alternative and explaining why I think military intervention will be disastrous. Here is the letter to President Obama: “Dear Mr. Obama! Your rise to power as the President of the United States was welcomed with hope throughout the world. It was the hope that you would make all efforts to sort out the discords and conflicts in a peaceful way that prompted the Nobel Prize committee to award you with a Nobel Prize for peace. This award entails a commitment to behave accordingly. The issue of using the chemical weapons, no matter who used them, can be solved in a peaceful way. The chemical weapons should be deactivated through a chemical reaction or buried under a concrete cover like the exploded nuclear reactor at Chernobyl power station. But military actions can’t be used. It’s absolutely useless to bomb Syria. It will not solve the problem of protecting the population from chemical weapons and removing the threat that they will be used again, as the chemical weapons won’t be destroyed by bombing. It will only cause more bloodshed and create a truly disastrous situation in the region, which will reflect on the whole world”. Do you support this idea?
Beautiful, Anna, thank you for writing and sending that letter. If you are on Facebook, that would be a great place for you to also post it.
Mod
I also agree, Anna. Perhaps you could also send it to the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Dear members of the Love and Social Changes group! Thank you very much for your support and your ideas. As the situation is developing quickly I thought it was important to make the following addition: “In his comments about the possibility of attack on Syria the US President Barak Obama declared that it wouldn’t be a big operation. The claim is naive, and the main question we have to ask is “Why?” – To scare and punish somebody, but who and on what scale? That’s unclear. What is clear, however, is that it’s an omen of a big world disaster. The use of chemical weapons on 23 August was the second such incident in the Syrian conflict. It’s a pity the UN experts weren’t sent in when the chemical weapons were used the first time. Maybe then the stock-piles of chemical weapons would have been found and deactivated. But on that occasion it was clear that the chemical weapons were used by the opposition, and the reaction to it was much quieter. Positive attitude of America and other countries to the opposition probably played the crucial role then. Timely and effective response could have prevented the tragedy on 23 August. There is only one way to protect the population from chemical weapons, and that’s to destroy them. Our response should be efficient and to the point - sending in the experts to find and deactivate these weapons. Сhemical weapons have to be destroyed no matter who owns them. This should be the UN law. Military intervention in any case can’t be justified. The methods of deactivating chemical and other kinds of weapons of mass destruction are known and have been used in many countries. Using this approach allows to resolve similar conflicts peacefully.”- and send the article to the Washington Post. They have confirmed they received it and will consider it for publication within 6 working days, which can be too late. The issue of Syria is heatedly debated now, and nobody has come up with an alternative: how do we enforce the ban on the weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological weapons, without military intervention into the country. The way we respond to this particular crisis will have far-reaching implications on how we deal with similar situations in the future. That’s why the wider we can discuss it now, the better. I will seek different opportunities to bring it to the attention of the wider audience, but I ask for your collaboration and advice on this matter as well.
I just read a letter from a soldier saying that Syria is not a member of the world bank, so they are a hold out. I just published this on Cowbird and on my Facebook page, http://cowbird.com/story/76579/Dear_E...I hope you get your letter published, Anna and you are right on the point.
I published another one a few days ago that has received a lot of comments, http://cowbird.com/story/76429/Klaatu...
Mod
Dear Anna, Would you be willing to post your letter on my blog, "Love Changes Things"? I would be honored for you to do so, as it is written lovingly and is based on love and care for the people of Syria. The site is at www.lovechangesthings.net Your letter is a very appropriate response to my most recent post called "Love and Power." Peace and blessings to you.
Dear Caroline! I've read your article on love and power on your blog and found it very interesting and useful. I absolutely agree that power and love should go together. I've written a lot of letters to the politicians and social organizations, which explore this topic. Now my blood runs cold when I see the huge aircraft carriers full of deadly missiles ready to launch strikes on Syria. It's important that we do all we can to prevent these strikes and make sure the issue of chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is addressed differently in a way that would really care for the population. I have written to the White House, to the Washington Post and published posts on various political forums, hoping that my voice will be heard. I've posted my letter as a comment to your blog. Thank you for helping me to spread the message.
Mod
I appreciate so much all the things you are doing. I try to post regularly on other blogs and in response to various articles, offering the perspective that there is another way -- of considering the lives of others, of being compassionate toward all our fellow/sister human beings -- and that this way WORKS. I was led by Spirit, by God, to take love into the halls of Congress (of all places!), while working to end nuclear testing, and the results were incredible! I try to remain full of hope, but few people seem ready to hear this message. I am so grateful for every person who does. So, thank you for your service and your perspective.
I recommend Nelson Mandela's book Long Walk to Freedom.
Mod
Love & Social Change
Books mentioned in this topic
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Dry leaves (other topics)
Mindful Eating with delicious raw vegan recipes (other topics)
Art of 4 Elements (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nisha Paul (other topics)Sadashivan Nair (other topics)
Sadashivan Nair (other topics)
Sadashivan Nair (other topics)
Nataša Pantović (other topics)
* Why did you join this group? For the reading material, or conversations, or both?
* Are you willing to participate in conversations?
* What topics interest you most? Do you have a question you'd like to pose to the group?
I hope you'll share your thoughts with us.