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 Read this newsletter online: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200907.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200907.pdf
what's new
welcome Every year around this time the Center for Transformative Change's residentially-based staff,"the Core" of our growing community and network goes on retreat followed by vacation. Instead of offering our usual newsletter we're offering tips and resources related to inner work, outer work and social change. Ever since the new transform. hit the streets, we've received generous praise about the design, content and style of the newsletter. We've had the opportunity to learn more about who our readers are, so we're also taking this opportunity to introduce you to CXC's Core, the folks behind transform., so you can get a glimpse of who we are, what we each do and why we do it. Simhanandi Evan Stubblefield is the editor of transform. She grew up in Los Angeles and is a third generation Californian... Read More...why Simha chooses to do this work
Take a Stand! Sit for Change! Our 2nd Annual Sit-A-Thon There are sit-a-thons and there are sit-a-thons, but there are few like our 2nd annual Take a Stand, Sit for Change Sit-A-Thon on September 19th. CXC's Sit for Change event is a bit like the changemaker's version of the AIDS marathon. Instead of a marathon folks will be meditating. We're calling on participants who want to make a difference to SIT FOR CHANGE. Read more Wanted: "Old" iBook and Powerbook G4s
in SIGHT Behind the Media | "Zochi" Alonzo Young, Media Architect, Martial Arts Instructor, Traveler, and Activist is the person behind the media of transform.. He's spent a number of years traveling in the Pacific Islands, Asia, parts of Africa and the Middle East. His quest: to ... Read more... why Zochi chooses to do this work Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World The World Wisdom Council. In this video clip scientists, spiritual leaders and academia come together to show that global change is a result of experiencing
the greatest transformation: dying in relationship. living a good life. INcite with angel Kyodo williams
connectivity as an integral intelligence. Watch YouTube video
in TIME Support Transformative Social
“I am convinced that it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending that haunts our sleep so much as the fear... that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived.” —Rabbi Harold Kushner In this past month, two things became clear: any committment to writing about transformation calls for addressing the greatest transformation any of us will make at least once.
Change: Volunteer Opportunities Available Continue the cycle of giving and receiving by volunteering your time to support transformative programs and practices getting into the hands of hard working activists, allies and all agents of social change. Volunteer from home or join us at the Center in person. All types of volunteer work welcome.
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Areas that need support are Fundraising, Outreach and
The second thing is that we live in a culture that celebrates eternal youth,
Promotion, Event Support, etc.
never-ending life, and an insatiable thirst for immortality. Conversely, we avoid that greatest of transformations, known as Death, as a natural and inevitable
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rite of passage. Death happens daily, yet most of us are largely removed from it, safely positioned on the passive side of our computer and television screens or the printed page. Thus, when faced with it or its pending probability directly, we are woefully under-equipped to negotiate it.
Events: July 24, 25, 26 | fearless Meditation Training: First time offered! Permission required to participate. Email inquires to register@transformativechange.org Train to teach fearless Meditation I: practice of the body. Be part
Here a sampling of reflections, learnings & resources for the journey all of us
of returning inner awareness practice to its rightful
will eventually take:
place as a personal practice for inner-life development, liberated from the mainstream, thus ownable by agents
LOSING GENIUS Two deaths in particular have impacted me greatly this month. One was that of
of social change
my naturopath, Dr. Cecilia Hart. The other, was of course, Michael Jackson. Both were unexpected, felt too sudden, too soon and riddled with questions of
In-depth introduction to nonsectarian, universal
“how can this be?” They were both young. Both Virgoes. Both committed to Heal the World...and both so clearly in need of their own healing. One has
directly to agents of social change. Whether you've
become intimate and full of personal responsibility in a way that i would not have expected. The other has been far away and collectively held in a way that I would have hoped for.
develop a "steady, comfortable posture" for a stable
August 7 | fearless Meditation I: practice of the body meditation taught in a social justice context aimed meditated for years or are a beginner, fM1 will help you body and mind. SAVE THE DATE and Volunteer Today: Sept 19 | Sit for Change: 2nd Annual Sit-A-Thon Sit for Change is a
In losing Michael Jackson, who without a doubt embodied the most complex relationship we, the people have with celebrity and celebrity has with itself, my soul brother Greg Tate captures it best: “What Black American culture —musical and otherwise—lacks for now isn't talent or ambition, but the unmistakable presence of some kind of spiritual genius: the sense that something other than or even more than human is speaking through whatever fragile mortal vessel is burdened with repping for the divine, the magical, the
fun, inspiring, daylong event at MLK Civic Center Park
supernatural, the ancestral...”
Fund. The Fund was created to develop national low
featuring hourly sessions of: Sitting, Walking and Moving Meditation, Yoga, Live Music, and Spoken Word. Also includes Green & Healthy Lifestyle Exhibits, Video Installations, and Community-based non-profit organizations who will showcase their work. Proceeds of Sit for Change benefit the Transformative Change and no-cost inner awareness programs, including
a moving and prescient poem by Alice Walker written in 1991...
meditation and yoga, to encourage and empower
from Natural Star - for Michael Jackson I am in mourning For your face The one I used to love To see Leaping, glowing Upon the
individuals doing work to change the world to lead
The stage The mike Eager... Thrusting
more balanced, compassionate, sustainable lives. Often the very same individuals that wish to explore or deepen the relationship between inner awareness and social transformation are the ones that cannot afford to.
in the CENTER A Community Growing Up: 2009 Inner Justice Intensive
In your Fist.
Don't call it a sesshin. It's not a retreat either. At the Center for Transformative Change, because
I am in mourning... http://www.alicewalkersblog.com/2009/06/natural-star-for-michaeljackson.html In losing Cecilia, who helped guide my health back into balance after discovering dis-ease, I’ve lost, for now, my health insurance: insurance against a system more concerned with medicating then healing even as it denies access to the basic right of health to millions. She belonged to the growing legions of naturopathic doctors, alternative healers, complementary health practitioners, chiropractors and more that stand up to legitimize healing practices that affirm wholeness and well-being, rather than dividing our wholebodies into separate problematic parts to be conquered one office visit and co-pay at a time.
of our abiding interest in precision, we call our Practice gatherings intensives. Every year since 2006, the Center has had an annual gathering of intrepid folk that, for various reasons, decide to take time out from our regular daily schedules, leave our homes for the duration of the intensive, and commit ourselves to some deep Practice. Read more...
inner PRACTICE Getting Out of Our Own Way In conjunction with outer Action,
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After she died, the mystery of her notable slowness was unraveled. Unbeknownst to her clients that read untold pages of books waiting for her,
we're recommending a few resources that point toward
Cecilia literally prayed over each herb, pill and powder to activate the healing energy of that vehicle. She called forth the power of those potions to be in
deeply with their internal selves to help begin creating
right relationship with the body they would be in. She helped myself and many others reclaim our health and restore confidence in our innate ability to heal ourselves through better relationships with our body-minds. A lifelong teaching every one of us can practice today.
practices that one of us or all of us do at the Center on
WRITE IT DOWN Both Michael and Cecilia's Deaths were also painful reminders that we live in an increasingly litigious society wherein the dispensation of our property, our
inner work, work that allows folks to connect more big changes in their outer lives. All of these are a regular basis to stay in touch with ourselves. (photo by: Johanna Ljungblom) Read more...
outer ACTION Communicating & Connecting
children, even our very bodies is governed not by obvious relationships and moral right but by strangers behind desks and in robes wielding a legally
Outer practices ask us to connect
ordered bullet list that divvies out dominion in a way that may defy the truth of our life choices of family, partnership and love, so:
lets everyone be open. A lot of
Live the life you want; but write down the Death you choose. And because Death waits for no one...write it down now. (really, right now.) Though you can’t take it with you, you do leave it behind for others to deal with (or fight over). Write it down. Your last breath may speak your final desire and still your wishes may be dishonored, overridden or overruled. Write it down early, say it plainly and change it as often as needed.
with other people in a way that the time it's through doing outer practices like NonViolent Communication and Council that we get a chance to see our personal obstacles so that we can start working doing yoga, meditation and other inner practices to clear them away. (photo by: Agata Urbaniak) Read more...
social CHANGE No Choice
CONNECTION & COMMUNITY What matters most is what I’ve learned about the difference between connection and community and how desperately important knowing that difference is for our not only our lives to be good ones, but more importantly for our Deaths.
Premadasi Amada is 37 years old, a first generation Ecuadorian-American, bilingual, bisexual and polyamorous, Zen buddhist, witchy, writer, salsa
In an ever-connected, internet-worked world, our Facebook can be thick with Friends, we can be LinkedIn to a web of Connections, our Twitterverse can grow exponentially with little effort. With one simple login, we can create our own private Big Bang. We can scroll a ticker for updates on the status of friends and family, gaining tiny glimpses into the lives of the vast network of
dancer, warm-handed, activist from New York City. She
people we know intimately, loosely or not at all. Who needs to shout out when you can just tweet? In 120 characters or less, we can be teleported into a virtual visit into someone else’s now.
women's rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war
has been with Center for Transformative Change since the beginning of 2007 and serves as office and outreach coordinator. Though she has spent most of her life as an activist advocating for the protection of campaigns and defended the human rights of Palestinians in Palestine from 2005-2006, her work was marked by a lot of the things that many activists are
But when Death comes to Friend you, as it will, you can’t ignore it. Where will your vast but virtual network be then? Will they be there to sing songs, share stories and send your ashes back to ashes, and dust back to dust? Will they memorialize Yes, connections can be made quick, Friends, Followers and Fans, but relationships are still slow...and the best ones are grown over time.
plagued by... Read about why Prema chooses to do this work
in the MIND Why Do I Do this Work?
a reflection on why being in relationship matters to social change... in relationship with others by Adrienne Maree Brown “the most important personal and political skill to develop is how to be in relationship to others...the practice of being in relationship with others is what we are missing. individualism - personal individualism and national or patriotic individualism - has created a loneliness amongst humans which is not survivable.” http://adriennemareebrown.net/blog/2009/07/07/in-relationshipwith-others/ Mere connection and true community are not the same; without the latter, we can be "connected" to hundreds of folks and still isolate ourselves literally to our deaths.
Muktayani "Muki" Karen Villanueva graduated from Humboldt State University in 1999, with a baccalaureate degree in Nursing and a minor degree in Studio Art. She has practiced in a number of different healthcare settings, in the Bay Area and beyond, with an abiding interest in serving those who are traditionally dismissed, distressed, and oppressed. After living as a Resident Practitioner in the the New Dharma Community for two years, she moved to the Philippines in 2007... Read about why Muki chooses to do this work.
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The quality of our deaths is a direct reflection of the quality of relationships we cultivate in life.
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in the BODY The Person Behind 'in the
Relationships require reciprocity: Give AND Receive. Don't just touch people...be willing to be touched--and moved--deeply. No matter how lofty, your leadership, status, role or position won't separate you from Death, so don't let them separate you from a real Life: one that is in true relationship with others. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes one to rest a soul.
BODY' chandra thuy tran is a lover, healer, seeker, dreamer, artist, and San Francisco Bay Area native of Vietnamese descent. She cares about appreciating the life she has, giving to and serving the community, and learning from
MEDITATE ON THE WAY In many traditions, words for healing and words for Death are the same. Wherever our journey of life and Death may takes us, the path should be paved with encouragement, equanimity and ease: powerfully soothing healing and “death-conquering” mantra sung by Hein Braat and often mistaken for HH XIV Dalai Lama by way of urban legend
challenges. Gifted with a passion and talent for creation, she aspires to love more deeply, to nurture life, and to allow herself to be a channel for beauty. chandra also writes the wellness and being well section of the newsletter. Read about why chandra thuy chooses to do this work
the maha mrityunjaya mantra
wellness & being well A Great Resource for being WELL Whether you're looking to boost your immune system, do a cleanse, or ease PMS symptoms, Dr. Schulze has excellent products to support your wellness and being WELL. We've used these products and they get our thumbs up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYFPZuiZHc
Check out Dr. Schulze
july wallpaper excerpt from a reading meditation i offer for the sick, dying and dead on the in-between state leading towards Death... Great Liberation Through Hearing While In Transition modified from Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud by Jean-Claude Van Italie and Tibetan Book of the Dead by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche TO FRIENDS OF THE DYING Oh you, who have come to this place, Sisters and brothers, friends, This person is dying. She has not chosen to do so. She is suffering greatly. She has no home, no friends. Falling as from a cliff, She is entering a strange forest Driven by the winds, swept by the ocean, She feels no solid ground. She is embarking on a great battle. Moved from state to state, She is alone and helpless. Embrace her with your love. THE MOMENT OF DEATH My friend, Now is the moment of death. The time has come for you to start out.
tortoise sky Along the central Pacific coast of Mexico, between Puerto Vallarta, home of the famed Love Boat and Manzanillo, lies Costa Careyes. Careyes means “tortoise shell” and is named for the great sea turtles that lay their eggs on the beach before disappearing back into the ocean. On the latitude of Hawaii and Jamaica, its a secret paradise that peers out over the ocean into the sky of forever. Download this image as wallpaper with or without calendar for your desktop. Download with calendar... Download without calendar...
deep change role call Celebrating and honoring these individuals, practitioners, funders, intermediaries and organizations making the fierce committment to justice, sustainability
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You are going home. Oh, Nobly Bord, Now is the moment. Before you is mind, open and wide as space, Simple, without center or circumference. Death has happened. It happens to everyone.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity you will ever have in life is to choose how you meet your Death. But without a doubt Death itself is the greatest transformation you’ll ever make. May you go well. Rest in Peace, Michael. Rest In Peace, Cecilia. May you each be liberated. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.
angel Kyodo williams, is founder of urbanPEACE and it's Center for Transformative Change. A social visionary and leading voice for transformative social change, she is the author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace. How to keep up with angel: Read her blogs online, join her fan page on Facebook or follow her on Twitter. Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Facebook: Fan angel here Twitter: Follow angel for tweets of wisdom on Change Web: www.angelkyodowilliams.com angel Kyodo williams' next public talk: Thursday | July 23 | 7:20pm @ Center for Transformative Change
newDharma Talk For July, each of us chose our favorite dharma talks, thus far. These are good, good offerings to remind us all about what practice is needed to transform. Premadasi's Pick: The Teacher is Not Your Friend This talk explodes the myth of freedom. Being completely who you are and doing whatever you want are not the same thing. Here's the great surprise: it's actually much more fun, literally, to be the ignorant you -the one who is not aware that you're not free - because then you get to enjoy your suffering, misery, and fascination with yourself and your endless complaints, unhindered by the promise of freedom, without the experience of it always torturing you. Blue pill or Red pill? Once you choose the red pill, there's no taking back the knowledge of the existence of freedom. Listen to The Teacher Is Not Your Friend (Some Explict Language) chandra's Pick: Wholehearted Intention In this talk, angel Kyodo williams speaks about how aligning ourselves wholeheartedly with our intentions can lead us to freedom. This talk is one of
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and wholeness in our selves, our work, our organizations and our society:
Aaron Sanger Forest Ethics Adrienne Maree Brown Ruckus Society Ai-Jen Poo Domestic Workers United Akaya Windwood Rockwood Leadership Institute Alexa Bradley Grassroots Policy Rev. Alexia Salvatierra Clergy and Laity for United Economic Justice Amanda Silver Jewish Funds for Justice Ana Maria Archila Make the Road, New York angel Kyodo williams Center for Transformative Change Anita Earls Southern Coalition for Social Justice B. Loewe Latino Union of Chicago Badili Jones Miami Workers Center Beth Brent Working with Government, LLC 15 Brenda Salgado Movement Strategy Center Buff Kavelman Kavelman Group LLC Cara Franson The Angell Foundation Cara Page Kindred Celia Alario PCN: Progressive Communications Network Chad Jones Black Brown Projects Cindy Weisner Grassroots Global Justice Alliance Claudia Horwitz stone circles Courtney Bourns Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Craig White Center for Participatory Change Cristina Chapman stone circles Cynthia Brown The Sojourner Group/The Conservation Fund Danielle Mahones Center for Third World Organizing Dave Brown Hidden Leaf Foundation Don Katz Katz Family Foundation Eveline Shen Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice Everette Harvey Thompson Amnesty International Greg Hodge Consultant Gretchen Wallace Global Grassroots Guillermina HernandezGallegos Fetzer Institute Idelisse Malave Jane Wholey ReThink New Orleans Jenny George Seasons Fund Jesse Vega-Frey stone circles Jodie Tonita Social Transformation Project N. Jose Acevedo New World Consulting/Rockwood Leadership Program Julia Beatty Twenty-First Century Foundation Kamau Marcharia
Kelley D. Gulley National Community Development Institute Kris Hayashi Audre Lorde Project Kristen Zimmerman Movement Strategy Center Leatrice Lewis Tewa Women United Linda Stout Spirit in Action Mac Legerton Center for Community Action Margie Hattori stone circles Marianne Hughes Interaction Institute for Social Change Marianne Manilov The Engage Network Micah Frazier Generation FIVE Michael Edwards Demos Mike Dolan Fliss stone circles Mimi Ho Asian Pacific Environmental Network Ned Wight UU Veatch Program at Shelter Rock Ng'ethe Maina Social Justice Leadership Nga Trinh-Halperin YES! Nicole Lee Urban Peace Movement Norma Wong Institute of Zen Studies Odin Zackman DIG IN Pamela Chiang Center for Community Change Paul Marincel Gamaliel Foundation Paula Sammons WK Kellogg Foundation Paulina Hernandez SONG Peter Forbes Center for Whole Communities Philip Snyder Center for Contemplative Mind in Society Premadasi Amada Center for Transformative Change Quinn Delaney Akonadi Foundation Rafi Santo The Interdependence Project & Global Kids Rebecca Krantz Katz Family Foundation Rene Quinonez Homey Rickke Mananzala FIERCE Rose Sackey-Milligan Center for Contemplative Mind Salvador Reza Tonatierra Sara Kershnar Generation FIVE Sarah Erickson Sujatha Jesudason Generations Ahead Suzanne Hawkes Rockwood Leadership Program Tahz Walker stone circles Taj James Movement Strategy Center Tara Brown Hidden Leaf Foundation Thomas Assefa Mothers on the Move Toby Herzlich Rockwood Leadership Institute Tom Callanan Tracy Gary Inspired Legacies
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my favorites because it is a much needed reminder for me of how important and powerful it is to align myself with my deepest intentions. It is easy for me to lose touch with my deepest intentions and to act from habit, fear, or confusion. This talk is a useful encouragement to connect wholeheartedly with truth and to act from this place. Listen to Wholehearted Intention Simha's Pick: The Warrior-Spirit Talk So much of this talk is about doing what we can with what we've got. I especially like the analogy between personal growth and gardens. I think it's fitting for us to look at our lives that way. It makes the things we can do to change tangible and gives a real visceral sense of what we can't do to change things as well. The teacher says at some point, "Can we make a seed grow? We have nothing to do with a seed," which sums up practicing to transform ourselves, well, in a nutshell. Listen to The Warrior-Spirit Zochi's Pick: Freedom Beyond In this talk, Kyodoshi defines and speaks to the multiple dynamics and deep teaching of what it means to practice patience in one's life. I find this talk particularly interesting because all too often we believe patience is passive versus an active component to bring relationships into balance. Listen to Freedom Beyond
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Fairfield United Action Karen Ijichi Perkins Leapfrog Consulting Kathleen Sanchez Tewa Women United Kayla Kirsch Leapfrog Consulting
Tricia Lindley stone circles Vivette Jeffries-Logan Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation Willie Davis Willie Davis Photography
connect | share | support transform feedback editor@transformativechange.org Share your transformative story how are you changing the WAY change is done Subscribe get your own monthly issues of transform. Forward send this issue via email to a friend now Tell-All-Your-Friends
Registration and other questions 888.XSOCHANGE (new number! toll free) register@transformativechange.org Center for Transformative Change is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and
activists, allies & agents of change
outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies
Doing Deep Change
justice movement.
to support a more effective, more sustainable social Donate to the Center to support our work Visit the Center's website Center for Transformative Change 2584 MLK Jr. Way Berkeley, CA 94704 路 USA +1.510.549.3733 Google the Center
In June nearly 100 participants from organizations all over the country came together to participate in Deep Change, a gathering to build, harness and cultivate the new wisdom that is emerging in the juncture between social change and spiritual/reflective practice. Each of these people and their organizations are committed to some form of inner work to increase the impact of their outer work. The strategy behind the Deep Change Gathering is to make social justice deeply sustainable and to encourage enough momentum for the big cultural shift we need. All of us working together can do just that. Click the images below for a snapshot of the deep change in our work and society that is to come, and read the Deep Change roster in the right column so that we can all note--We are not alone! in doing this work.
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Photos by Willie Davis See more Deep Change Photos...
resources for change… From being black to fearlessYoga flow, here are some of the practices, ideas, and items that make up the daily life of the Center. They're also some of the most transportable and translatable resources we have--anyone can use them and get a lot out of them.
Check out our fearless Yoga flow angel Kyodo williams' book:Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace Universal Form: Original Techniques by Lawrence Tan
quote of the month “We need to believe we have purpose, even if that belief is tucked down in the catacombs of our dreams. We need to believe we can survive and evolve, that we are not cogs in a wheel, not wasted lives; we need to know that we contribute to a wholeness greater than ourselves; that we, as individuals and communities, are whole.” —Adrienne Maree Brown, The Ruckus Society
Center for Transformative Change is a project of urbanPEACE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission to inform, incite and empower a broadbased, presence-centered transformative social change movement.
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