Charter for Compassion: Events in the Northwest

When the Charter is unveiled on November 12th, a week of celebratory activities will take place around the world. For those of us in the NW interested in events in support of compassion, let's coordinate and collaborate!

http://my.compassionateactionnetwork.com/group/charterforcompassionlaunch

Radio Interview on Peace Being A Possibility

How to Resolve Conflicts, Part 2
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 Download 56k mp3

(Part 1 aired on August 12th, 2009)

Conflicts may be rampant, but we learned in part one of this two-part series on "How to Resolve Conflicts: from the Personal to the Global," that they are also opportunities. Peace is unimaginable to many pessimists, however, 90% of our lives and history really have been conflict-free. Even in the case of seemingly irreconcilable differences, peace have prevailed in some entrenched battles, often times when we recognize our power to change ourselves. We’ll talk about bringing peace to 99% of our lives by offering applications to turn conflicts into opportunities.

Host: Guo Cheen

http://bellevuecollege.edu/kbcs/downloads/VOD/VOD_20090916.mp3

Guests

Venerable Thubten Chodron is the founder of Sravasti Abbey and the new Gotami House, an American Buddhist monastic community in Eastern Washington. Ven. Chodron is a nun who has studied and practiced Buddhism of the Tibetan tradition for many years in India and Nepal under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan masters. Ven. Chodron also travels worldwide to teach and has published a number of books including Working With Anger.

Eric Svaren is the founder and principal of Groupsmith, a Seattle-based company that provides organization development consulting. Eric also teaches mid-career professionals at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.

Dr. Joel Levey is one of the founders of The International Center for Corporate Culture and Organizational Health at InnerWork Technologies, Inc., a Seattle-based firm dedicated to developing and renewing organizational cultures and communities around the globe. He has also co-authored numerous publications, including: Wisdom at Work; A Treasury of Tools for Cultivating Clarity, Kindness, & Resilience.

Credits

Ray Willis is the board operator. Crystal Lee answered your calls. Sonya Green is the Managing Producer. Joaquin Uy is the KBCS News & Public Affairs Director.

Vows of Silence

A powerful church vs. a personal relationship with the divine. Which is more important? Are they about an either-or dichotomy or a spectrum?

Power and its ability to corrupt in even the seemingly holiest of realms and peoples. . .
http://www.vowsofsilencefilm.com/

Infinity = 1; 1 = Infinity

Buddhist texts such as the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Adornment Sutra) and others use "10" to represent infinity. This Sutra also explains dimensions, worlds and universes in ten's.

An Intro to the Avatamsaka Sutra on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m11uUlPbqKI

See how Brian Greene's String Theory about Ten Dimensions of Space match the wisdom that the Buddha shared 2500 years ago.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brian_greene_on_string_theory.html

10 Week Buddhist Text Courses On-Line

Interested in avoiding suffering but seemingly hooked on the causes of suffering? Learn more about the urges that make us addicts to suffering and the wisdom of resting in that pain while maintaining a profound sense of peace.

From September 23 to Thanksgiving, the Compassion Network will offer classes on the following:

Tuesday 7 – 8:30 p.m. The Sixth Patriarch Sutra

Friday 7 – 8:30 p.m. The Shurangama Sutra

Saturday 7 – 8:30 p.m. The Lotus Sutra

Sunday 7 – 8:30 p.m. The Avatamsaka Sutra

These are long-distance learning courses on-line. Everyone with internet access is welcome.

Dana is appreciated. Students are responsible for acquiring their own texts, so please register before September 16^th, Wednesday.

For more details or to register, please contact Reverend Cheen with The Compassion Network at 253.568.7473 or TheCompassionNetwork@gmail.com. Skype also available.

Radio Interview: How to Resolve Conflicts-- From the Personal to the Global

From the Gaza War to dirty politics, from who is supposed to do the laundry at home to arguments in our heads, conflicts are rampant around the world, in our nation, and within ourselves. Is it possible to completely cease fighting at all those levels? Where do we begin? And how do we stop fighting for the time being and on an enduring basis? On August 16th’s Voices of Diversity, Reverend Cheen and guests Walter Edwards of Leading Change Company and Ilene Stark of Just Options Mediation talked about how to resolve conflicts, from the personal to the global. Listen to the audio here:
http://bellevuecollege.edu/kbcs/downloads/VOD/VOD_20090812.mp3

This is part one of a two part series on the issue of conflict.

Coming up September 16th. . . Listen live on http://kbcs.fm/site/PageServer or KBCS 91.3 FM Seattle/Bellevue! Reverend Cheen will interview Venerable Thubten Chodron, Eric Svaren of Smithgroup. Inc., and Dr. Joel Levey of InnerWork Technologies, Inc. on the topic of conflicts and conflict resolution.

Sounds of Silence: A Meditative Tool

Meditative stages of listening 1: Where is the true mind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5cCUDdwK0I

The "sound of silence" is not an oxymoron; it is an actual high-pitched sound that can be heard relatively easily when we quiet down. In this extemporaneous response to a question about the stages of listening as a practice according to the Shurangama Sutra, Reverend Cheen elaborates on the stages of emptying the sounds of movement and stillness, emptying the sense faculty, emptying the awareness, and emptying emptiness.

Meditative stages of listening 2: Emotions and I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXv0-pLYBd0

In the face of sensations, feelings and thoughts, including that of love and empathy, we continue to listen. Awareness helps us understand the fleeting nature of these things. Furthermore, we ask ourselves, "Who is agitated?" "Who is restless?" etc. as a way to deconstruct the "I".

Meditative stages of listening 3: Emptying Emptiness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWjb1RVgKi8

From the objects of sound (including sounds of movement and sounds of stillness, or "sound of silence"), to listening and realizing the nature of emptiness with regard to hearing, the sense faculty, the awareness (that of the self), and emptiness itself. Finally, how does the final stage, empty out emptiness (extinction), work? According to the Buddhist text, the Shurangama Sutra, it's possible through diligent and focused practice.

Meditative stages of listening 4: An Analogy Using Numbers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IroSs-7T7cY

The latter stages of listening are more difficult to explain with words. Here is a partial and extemporaneous response using numbers. Paralleling: infinity to myriad objects of sound, feelings, sensations, 1 to the single object of meditation, 0 to the emptying of the sense faculty or the self, and the zero set of 0 to the emptying of the objects and the subject that is aware.

For a copy of a more comprehensive paper on this topic, please contact Reverend Cheen: thecompassionnetwork@gmail.com