Mindful Peacebuilding
Mindful Peacebuilding
peace in ourselves - peace in our communities
peace on our planet
peace in ourselves - peace in our communities
peace on our planet
Engaging Societal Challenges
With The Energy of Mindfulness
Mindfulness in Families, Schools, Prisons, Workplaces
VISION: IMAGINE A PEACEFUL, JUST, and BEAUTIFUL WORLD -WHERE PEOPLE . . .
. . . give attention to inner peacemaking: heal emotional wounds from the past, grieve and mourn loss, recognize fear and anger, share dreams
. . . learn ways to recognize, acknowledge, and transform inner suffering, develop the capacity to touch roots of joy in the present, and act from compassion and love
. . . resolve to learn and practice ways of addressing conflicts creatively and nonviolently
. . . find ways for all people to participate in decisions which affect their lives
Earth-Holding & Protecting: Water, Food, Climate Change
VISION: IMAGINE A PEACEFUL, JUST, and BEAUTIFUL WORLD - WHERE PEOPLE . . .
. . . care for and protect animals, plants, and nature, including air, water, and earth
. . . develop the moral and political will and the skillful means to ensure that, while protecting nature and the Earth, the need of all human beings for food, water, security, and other basic needs is met
.
Ancestors and Descendants: Healing Historical Harm
VISION: IMAGINE A PEACEFUL, JUST, and BEAUTIFUL WORLD - WHERE PEOPLE . . .
. . . recognize, acknowledge and address power and privilege inequities, both historic and current
. . . honor, value, and celebrate cultural and other diversities, human commonality, and individual uniqueness
UPCOMING
all events in Berkeley, CA
at a private home
Info: mindfulpeacebuilding@gmail.com
Sat, March 23, 2019
2pm-4pm
Reading from Children's Inclusivity Library
and Origami Paper-Crane Making
for Immigration Protest
Sun, March 31, 2019
1pm-4pm
Meet and Greet with Sandra Kim
Racial Equity Practice
Sat, April 6, 2019
1pm-4pm
Mindful Pre-Passover (open to all)
Passover Resource Reader Available By Request
Fri, May 10, 2019
7pm-9pm
(doors open 6:30pm)
Mindful Music-Making
Impromptu, Informal Evening
for making music together
Fiddle, Ukulele, Recorders, Piano, Guitar
Mindful Peacebuilding Retreat
May 16-27, 2019
Bodhisattvas In Action:
Engaging Societal Challenges with the Energy of Mindfulness
Practice and Teachings offered by Dharma Teachers and lay practitioners
from the Plum Village Community of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Br Phap Tri, Diane Little Eagle, Lyn Fine and others
Email for Info and Registration
mindfulpeacebuilding@gmail.com
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ONGOING
Middle East
Women's Conversation and Listening Circle
Two Wednesday Mornings Each Month
San Quentin State Penitentiary
Origami Classes, Day Of Peace Support
Mindfulness Retreats
Monthly at Mariposa Institute, Ukiah, CA
Co-Hosted with SugarPlum Sangha
Mindful Peacebuilding Through Music
Quarterly
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RECENT
Fri, Feb 16, 2019
Quarterly Mindful Music-Making
Fiddle, Ukulele, Recorders, Piano, Guitar
Jan 4, 2019
Evening with friends from
Combatants for Peace
hosted by Middle East Listening Circle
December 31, 2018
New Years Eve
Sounding the Bell of Awakening
108 Times
December 15, 2018
Benefit with Charity Cellists
for MPB Projects
Transforming Trauma Training:
Community Resilience Model with Israelis and Palestinians
San Quentin Post-Release Emergency Fund
November 20, 2018
Thanksgiving Resource Reader
Available by Request
November 2, 2018
Mindful Peacebuilding Through Informal Music Making Together
Fiddle, Ukulele, Recorders, Piano, Guitar
October 27, 2018
Community Resilence Model for Transforming Trauma
Introduction with Victoria Mausisa
September 22, 2018
Inter-Faith Pilgrimage To Angel Island
Mindful Peacebuilding members joined this pilgrimage
organized by Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
August 25, 2018
Compassionate Eating
for Ourselves, Animals, and Our Planet
“The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching”--Thich Nhat Hanh
If while we eat, we destroy living beings or the environment, we are eating the flesh of our own sons and daughters. We need to look deeply together and discuss how to eat, what to eat and what to resist. If we are mindful, we will know whether we are ‘ingesting’ the toxins of fear, hatred and violence, or eating foods that encourage understanding, compassion, and the determination to help others.
On Compassion For Animals
“Touching the Earth”--Meditation on Mindful Consumption
I touch the earth three times to nourish my awareness of the suffering of all species in the world and to help me to nourish my compassion.
I have made the vow to be vegetarian and I feel happy and peaceful because of this. I know that vegetarian food can taste good and be wholesome at the same time... There are many people who are vegetarian because they are aware that to be vegetarian is beneficial for spiritual, physical and mental health. There are also people who are vegetarian because they want to nourish their compassion.
I am happy when I see that there are associations that are striving to protect animals by preserving their natural habitats or preventing people from using animals in harmful experiments. . . .
August 25, 2018
MPB Inclusiveness Library
for Children and Adults
Reading and Discussion
THE NAME JAR by Yangsook Choi
Having just arrived from Korea with her family,
Unhei is anxious about making friends.
Worried that no one will be able to pronounce her name,
she decides to pick a new name.
But when a large glass jar filled with names appears on her desk,
Unhei happily discovers that her classmates want to help.
GIFT ECONOMICS - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME
DONATE to Mindful Peacebuilding on this website or mail a check to MPB, PO Box 5612, Elmwood Station, Berkeley CA 94705. All donations are welcome, and tax-deductible.
MPB is a volunteer organization/community. Contributions support programs and a part-time paid administrative assistant.
- Support at San Quentin Penitentiary: includes weekly origami classes, Annual Day of Peace, Post-Release Emergency Fund
- Healing Historical Harm 1) Classes and book and discussion groups focused on white awareness of privilege and power 2) Roots Retreats 3) Inclusivity Library for Children and Adults 4) Multicultural Skillbuilding 4) Community Resilience Model for Transforming Collective Trauma
- Earth Awareness and Protection
- Creative Arts - Poetry, Music and other creative arts
- Community Service/Public Presence/Action Alerts
- Listening Circles, Mindful Holiday Gatherings, Mindfulness Retreats
Mindful Peacebuilding Through The Arts
Origami and Paintings Made By Men At San Quentin
Origami made by men at San Quentin was shown at the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco. Beautiful to see! The origami was made in a class supported in part by Mindful Peacebuilding and taught by Mindful Peacebuilding volunteer Jun Hamamoto.
Paintings made by men at San Quentin for the Annual Day of Peace inside San Quentin have been donated to Mindful Peacebuilding. Proceeds from sale of the paintings are donated back to the San Quentin Annual Day of Peace project. Information: mindfulpeacebuilding@gmail.com. View paintings at A'Cuppa Tea (upstairs), 2992 College Ave, Berkeley, CA (paintings from 2014 SQ Day of Peace)
ORIGAMI CLASS AT SAN QUENTIN
PARTICIPANTS SPEAK OUT
"Why I enjoy origami: It aligns my heart and mind with my actions and takes me into another space and time."
"Why Origami: Lets me touch a certain innocence I haven't felt since childhood."
"Origami help me connect with others and my Roots."
"When I fold papers, my mind folds. It creases away the wrinkles of my day."
"I am very honor to be a part of Cherry Blossom Festival. Never in my life I would have thought this could happen. Thank you so much."
ORIGAMI CLASS AT SAN QUENTIN
GROUP PROJECT
"Origami calms me. I'm at peace. I feel good when I complete an object."
"I feel very relaxed and peaceful when I am folding origami."
"I enjoy origami because it puts a smile on faces. I feel at ease and happy when I do origami."
PAINTINGS FROM SAN QUENTIN
ANNUAL DAY OF PEACE
"Restorative Justice is taking the blinders off the Lady of Equality - balancing the scales and bringing healing to offenders and victims." --FT (Restorative Justice)
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of something like this. In a situation where my ability to be an instrument of peace is limited, I'm grateful for any opportunity like this and I'm always going to make every chance count."--PM
(ROOTS Program--Restoring Our True Selves)
"Light always shines brightest in the darkness. Meditation and Contemplative Prayer are the only things that get me through the week."--PS (Centering Prayer)
SAN QUENTIN DAY OF PEACE
"Peace in prison is a rare thing but peace within oneself is rarer. I am happy I've found mine through programs and art."--TW
Annual Roots Retreats
2017, July
Manzanar Internment Camp, CA
2016, May
New Orleans, LA
Whitney Plantation - The Story of Slavery
Roots Retreat, May 8-13, 2016
Six Mindful Peacebuilding friends from the San Francisco Bay Area co-created a pilot Roots Retreat for five days in May, 2016, in New Orleans. Our intention: to honor the ancestors at a site of major historical harm and suffering, and through deep looking and deep listening help to open pathways for individual and collective healing, transformation, and compassionate action. We were of African-American, Caribbean-American, Vietnamese, white European Jewish, and white Northern European ancestry.
As we grounded our practice in sitting and walking meditation, we offered ourselves and our ancestors healing energy at the Whitney Plantation, the first plantation in the United States to focus on the legacy of slavery (www.whitneyplantation.org); at the Tomb of the Unknown Slave at St Augustine's Church; in the Lower Ninth Ward, where houses are still being restored eleven years after Hurricane Katrina (www.lowernine.org); and in Louis Armstrong Park. And we were fortunate to be invited to sit with two meditation groups and to be joined by Delores Watson, a friend who founded the Flowering Lotus Meditation Center in Magnolia, Mississippi. (www.floweringlotusmeditation.org).
Two retreatants shared their intentions for participating in this retreat:
Devin: My purpose feels truly embodied and bigger than me. I'm not sure how to write or articulate it...I have a sense born of deep listening and looking at what my grand-father taught and instilled in us regarding family and storytelling, and also born of dharma practices in relation to my genealogy work. I feel meant to do it, I feel compelled to do it and it feels deeply ancestral.
A.J.: The question that is alive for me is, how do I as a person descended from slave holders take responsibility to make right the wrongs of yesterday and today? How do I heal my ancestors who enslaved others? What have those of us whose ancestors committed atrocities done to ourselves? To our descendants? To all of humanity? What is needed now? How do I move forward? How do I make repairs?
GOALS & PRINCIPLES
Protect The Earth
Consume Mindfully
Meet Basic Human Needs
Communicate Mindfully
Practice Inclusiveness
Value DiversityDeepen Awareness of Privilege
1. Provide support and training for people who practice mindfulness and wish to engage with societal concerns using mindfulness-based peacebuilding action.
2. Design practices for people who engage in public arena service and action to ground themselves with the energy of mindfulness.
3. Offer opportunities for people who practice mindfulness and mindfulness-based peacebuilding action to share insights, successes, challenges, and resources.
4. Support people who are concerned about issues in our time but do not practice mindfulness and are not yet engaged in mindfulness-based peacebuilding action to articulate their vision and discern a specific next step.
5. Articulate mindfulness-based peacebuilding concepts and skill-building practices as a strong foundation for individual, societal, and cultural healing and transformation.
6. Deepen the capacity for embodying true peace in ourselves, our families, communities, and societies, in the service building true peace on our planet.
"Peace Is Every Breath, Peace Is Every Step"
Breathing In, Aware Of The In-Breath
Breathing Out, Aware of The Out-Breath1. Peace In Ourselves, Peace On Our Planet
Cultivate peace in ourselves by including in our daily lives practices for contemplation, centering, gratitude, mindfulness, and physical well-being as well as play, fun, humor, the arts.
Support work for peace in the world by embodying the energy of peace in our everyday thoughts, words, and actions. Generate wholesome qualities such as joy, kindness, mindfulness, generosity, ease, and equanimity.
Embody A.J. Muste's reminder that "there is no way to peace, peace is the way" and Thich Nhat Hanh's reminder that "peace in the world begins with peace in oneself."
2. Interbeing (Interdependence)
See that each of us is deeply interconnected with other humans as well as with animals, plants, minerals and the Earth. Seek ways to protect life in all its diversity.
Attend to the dimension beyond words, beyond our individual saves and individual species.
Recognize that harming so-called others with words or actions is to harm our own being, refrain from "othering" through enemy-making language and images.
3. Inclusiveness
Celebrate the diversity of human cultures, plant and animal life on our planet.
Shift from oppressive and exploitative power relationships to more equitable, inclusive and diverse connections in our individual lives and in our societies.
Practice inclusiveness in growing the Mindful Peacebuilding organization communications, actions, structures and dynamics.
4. Positive Approach, Constructive Program
When organizing or participating in action in the public arena, do so with a positive approach and attitude, speaking constructively and creatively.
Take good care of strong emotions: grief, disappointment, resentment, desire for revenge, fear, hatred, rage, anxiety, despair, anger, terror.
Recognize and acknowledge historical and current harmful action. Resolve to take some positive action with love in the direction of transforming historical and current harm.
CORE BELIEFS
1. There is no separation. At a deep level, each human being "inter-is" with the Earth, animals, plants, and other humans.
2. Peace in the world begins with peace in oneself. . . peace in oneself radiates out contributing to peace in the world.
3. The energy of mindfulness, compassion, joy, and inclusiveness is a powerful, effective ground for sustainable and creative peacebuilding.
4. Three essential elements in true peacebuilding practice are diversity, inclusiveness, and work to transform power-over relationships into power-with relationships at all levels.
Racial Justice Awareness and Action Practice
from: Placemat from (SURJ)--Showing Up For Racial Justice. www.showingupforracialjustice.org
ACTION: Set a chair and a place setting to honor the 1024 people killed by the police in 2015. About 400 of those killed were Black. Many of the were unarmed.
TIPS FOR TALKING TO FAMILIES
Listen mindfully before formulating a thoughtful response
Breathe
Ask questions when people express strong opinions
Affirm Clarify the difference between the good intentions and the impact
Speak from a place of mutual interest, sharing personal experiences and emotions
Accountability Partners
Aim: create emotionally safe ongoing space to support each other in a common purpose.
Accountability Partners are two or three people who have a similar passion or focus related to mindful peacebuilding, e.g, prison and the criminal justice system, water concerns and climate change, eliminating poverty, immigration. The partners agree to meet regularly by phone or in person, often once a week possibly once a day, or once a month.
Suggested Format (can be adapted)
1. Greetings. Re-state how time available.
2. Continue with any practice to center mind and body in the present moment, e.g., three breaths, sounding a bell
3. Brief Check-In
4. One person speaks
The listener reflects back what has been heard and receives corrections from the speaker
5. The one who was listener speaks and the practice of reflection back is repeated
6. When the agreed upon time is approached, check in to express gratitude, clear anything that needs clearing, and each person's next steps if they wish.
7. Clarify next meeting time.
Peacebuilding Listening Circle
Recommended: Louise Diamond's The Peace Book, 108 Simple Ways To Create A More Peaceful World. participants share their personal challenges and joys related to peacebuilding, as well as challenges related to current events, inspirational stories and information from the media, and visions/action steps.
Prison Dharma Practice
Recommended: Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Deepen individual and collective awareness of causes and conditions that have given rise to our criminal justice system; and commitment to contribute to positive systemic change.
Racial Justice Awareness & Action Practice
CLASSES Facilitated by AJ Johnston.
Info: mindfulpeacebuilding@gmail.com
Recommended Texts by Robin J. DiAngelo
1) White Fragility
2) What Does it Mean to be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy
ROOTS RETREATS offer an opportunity for participants to honor ancestors and bear witness to deep historical collective and individual suffering. Healing and transformation occurs through practicing silence, mindful listening and speaking from the heart, and mindful walking in community. Retreats can be organized for small numbers and locally. For example:
Local: San Francisco: Mission Delores; Museum of African Diaspora
Regional: Manzanar Internment Camp, California (site of Japanese internment during World War II)
National:
New Orleans and the Whitney Plantation. . . a unique practice opportunity for bringing mindfulness practice to looking deeply into the legacy of racism in the USA and the continuing effect of individual and collective trauma.
MINDFULNESS-BASED APPROACH TO PEACEBUILDING
Small Groups, Face-to-Face Gatherings
Listening Circles, Holiday Observances
Public Action, Community Service
Meditation and Study Groups, Retreats
Listening Circles
Listening circles are grounded in awareness of the breath. In a listening circle, participants create with each other a safe emotional space in which they can share perspectives and personal experiences related to peacebuilding challenges that may be confusing, controversial, and deeply felt. Participation in a listening circle helps develop basic skills essential for mindfulness-based peacebuilding: capacity to be present for strong emotion and views different from one's own; capacity to listen to oneself and to share with others in a way that others can hear, capacity to deepen understanding for points of view different from one's own. Participants do their best to listen with an open heart and speak their truth with kindness. Mindfulness-based listening circles nourish understanding, creativity, friendship, imagination, and commitment to action in the context of inclusive and diverse community,
Topics are chosen by participants and have included Multi-Faith Sharing, Middle East Inquiry, Recognizing and Ending Racism, Creative Arts, MindfulPrisonPractice.
Holiday Gatherings
Meditative silence, new and traditional rituals, personal stories of experience with the holiday, stories of collective suffering related to the holiday, eating and singing together: all of these come together to create a joyful and meaningful mindfulness-based holiday gathering in community. Participation in a holiday gathering helps develop basic skills essential for mindfulness-based peacebuilding: capacity to deepen the meaning of a civic or religious holiday, capacity to transform and heal suffering connected with the holiday, capacity to open the heart for deepening understanding, cultivate gratitude and joy, and generate sustainable commitment for engaging in compassionate action to build beloved communities grounded in the values of inclusiveness, diversity, and power-with relationships.
Holidays have included Thanksgiving, Easter/Passover, Labor Day, July Fourth, Martin L King Day as well as monthly gatherings which honor special days of a particular month.
Public Action and Community Service
Offering mindful presence at public demonstrations; organizing and participating in peace walks; planting trees; preparing food at shelters for young adults who are homeless; speaking and writing in public forums are examples of Mindful Peacebuilding's public action and community service.
Participation in mindfulness-based public action and community service helps develop basic skills essential for mindfulness-based peacebuilding: capacity to manifest qualities that support inclusive, diverse, and power-with beloved community; and capacity to refrain from using language and images that belittle, blame, demean, shame, and demonize others as "the enemy."
Retreats and Classes
Participation in mindfulness-based retreats and classes helps develop basic skills essential for mindfulness-based peacebuilding and building inclusive, diverse communities grounded in power-with relationships. Specific skillbuilding classes may include public speaking and writing, mediation, cross-cultural competency, compassionate and nonviolent communication, creative arts, tai chi, interplay, ikebana (flower-arranging). Participation helps develop the capacity to embody the energy of mindfulness and manifest joy, compassion, kindness, and generosity in everyday life and the capacity for creativity, curiosity, and imagination in the service of collective healing and transformation. Concerns related to climate change, food security, access to clean water, immigration, the school-to-prison pipeline, racial justice and other concerns may be addressed.
Through sharing information, inquiry, personal experiences, and inspiring stories in a mindful context, participants in mindfulness-based retreats and classes deepen their understanding and practice of a mindfulness-based approach to peacebuilding in daily life and public action.
WHO WE ARE
Mindful Peacebuilding is an inclusive welcoming community offering a mindfulness-based approach to cultivating peace and justice. We draw inspiration from the wisdom and compassion teachings of contemporary peacemakers such as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh as well as from young people, ancestral traditions, and the world of nature. We are open to all who wish to engage societal challenges in a mindful context.
"To develop the drop of compassion in our heart is the only effective spiritual response to hatred and violence."
--Thich Nhat Hanh
History
Inspired by nonviolent movements for social change and by the teachings and practice of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and other peacemakers, a small group of people of diverse backgrounds came together in community in 2003 to engage in monthly peace walks and study of non-violent communication. Gradually a decision was made to grow an organization which could promote the approach of mindfulness-based peacebuilding through listening circles, mindful holiday gatherings, retreats, community service, and public action. Mindful Peacebuilding incorporated in 2011 as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are a community of volunteers and one paid administrative associate. All donations are tax-deductible.
Why Engage in Mindful Peacebuilding?
"What draws me to Mindful Peacebuilding is I want to be a part of co-creating something with a diverse group of people. I've been part of a lot of organizations with a lot of protest and conflict. I want to be part of something that has the intention of practicing mindfully, using a talking piece, listening deeply to each other."--DB
"I was born during war in my country, Vietnam. There was a lot of violence, a lot of conflict. I came to realize that war is a result of two groups of people having strong opinions about something, and they want to kill each other. The purpose of Mindful Peacebuilding for me is to learn how to be present... to learn how to live peacefully myself, and then, how to make that circle wider."--CN
"My roots are white European-American: Russian, German, and Latvian Jewish. In high school, I learned about the Holocaust, the enslavement of African peoples and the genocide of indigenous peoples. I learned about so many terrible things that human beings do to each other. Since then, I've asked the question, "How can human beings make each other suffer so much? What can stop that, transform it?" For me, Mindful Peacebuilding is one response to that question. What draws me to Mindful Peacebuilding is the possibility to bring together the energy of mindfulness with the skills of peacebuilding in ways that can be easily repeated anywhere."--LF
Board of Directors, 2017-201
Diane Nguyen Cohen
Antoinette Gonzalez
AJ Johnston
Jun Hamamoto
KSuzanne Massey, Chair
MaryAnn O'Sullivan
Jina Shah
Susan Schulman
Victoria Mausisa
Founding Board Members and Advisors
Devin Berry
Andrew Deckert
Herman Yee
Lyn Fine
Sharon Moy
Chinh Nguyen
Joanna Poz-Molesky
Diana Wear
Herman Yee
Administrative and Video
Jonathan Borella
My Tong
STORIES
Ancestors:
Mindful Hugging With Great-Grandmother
STORY OF TWO WOLVES (adapted)
A Native American grandfather and grandmother were talking to their grandchild about feelings. The grandmother and the grandfather said, "It is as if there are two wolves fighting in the heart. One wolf is vengeful and angry and violent. The other wolf is loving, compassionate, kind, and generous." The grandchild asked the grandparents, "Which wolf will win the fight, Grandfather and Grandmother?"Grandmother and Grandfather smiled. Each of them hugged the child, and then the three hugged together. Then Grandmother and Grandfather paused and took a breath. Then Grandmother said, with a gentle voice, "Dear Child, it is the one we feed that will win." And Grandfather said, ever so gently, "Which one shall we feed, my child? How shall we feed it?"
Descendants:
The Joy Of Being Alive!
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS
AND END-OF-YEAR LETTER
MOHANDAS K. GANDHI
"The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end
as there is between the seed and the tree."
AUDRE LORDE
“and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak . . ."HENRI NOUWEN
Two Powers:
Deep Listening
Speaking from the Heart
"We cannot change the world by a new plan, project or idea. We cannot even change other people by our convictions, stories, advice and proposals, but we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, lay aside their occupations and preoccupations, and listen with attention and care to the voices speaking in their own center."LUTHER STANDING BEAR
"Conversation was never begun at once, nor in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and their granting a space of silence to the speech-makers and their own moment of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness, listening, and regard for the rule, "thought comes before speech."
ROBERT KENNEDY
Joannesburg, South Africa, 1963
"Few have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of these acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numerous diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a [wo]man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the life of others, or strikes out against an injustice, [s]he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope that crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe."PICTURE: Social Clubs Support Social Justice
from South Berkeley Senior Stories. Artist: Clayton Anderson
Mary Trahan Interviewed by Sara Bruckmeier.
Website: http//sbss.bborucki.comEnd of Year Letters
Dear Friend,
A warm greeting of the season to you! We at Mindful Peacebuilding are reaching out to you at this time to share highlights from 2015 and express our gratitude. If you are hearing from us for the first time, it may be because you signed a list at one of our events during the last few years or someone you know has thought this may be of interest to you. In this letter, we take this opportunity to introduce our mindfulness-based approach to peacebuilding. Thank you for reading on and considering how you might contribute and participate.
Mindful Peacebuilding is a national nonprofit networking community whose mission is to support people in promoting a culture of peace on the planet with a mindfulness-based approach. Seeds of inner, inter-personal, and societal peace are watered through mindfulness-based community service, public action, retreats, classes, listening circles and holiday gatherings. Started in 2011 by students of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the community is a volunteer educational organization open to all who wish to engage social concerns in a mindful context.
We encourage you to consider being a part of this community. Share with us some of the social concerns you are passionate about and daily-life stories of "moments of mindful peacebuilding." What are you currently engaging with? What would you like to engage with more fully? Let us know if you would like to join or start a mindfulness-based peacebuilding practice group where you are, and we will do our best to be of help.
We invite you as well to contribute financial support. To donate via the web, please go to www.mindfulpeacebuilding.org. To donate by check, please mail check to Mindful Peacebuilding, PO Box 5612, Elmwood Station, Berkeley, CA. 94705.
We send you blessings of the season, for joy and well-being.
Lyn, Sue, Victoria, Herman
Mindful Peacebuilding Leadership CircleMindful Peacebuilding
Inspiring Highlights 2015
Mindfulness in Prison: Practice at San Quentin
Origami Classes: Quote from participant, "the Origami folding class was a first for me, a good “first” in that I was doing more than folding paper into different shapes and designs. I was participating in the 70,000 Cranes for Peace and partaking in the suffering that comes from war and nuclear weapons. Now when I fold Origami I will always fold for peace.”Incarcerated men at San Quentin experienced the peace of Origami Paper-folding as they made thousands of paper cranes. They contributed the cranes not only to the Hiroshima-Nagasaki 70th anniversary remembrance, but also to Oakland’s Children’s Hospital and to the Tree of Hope at San Francisco’s City Hall lighted in December. The Origami classes were taught by a MindfulPeacebuilding volunteer.
San Quentin Day of Peace Committee: Mindful Peacebuilding volunteers joined the men inside to help plan the Annual Day of Peace Celebration inside this state prison.
"We offer peace as an alternative to violence..." say the men on the committee.
To invite support and public awareness for this event, Mindful Peacebuilding volunteers helped find venues to display Day of Peace paintings made by the men inside.
Days of Mindfulness: incarcerated men and volunteers from the outside joined together for sitting, walking, and eating meditation, panel presentations, and small-circle sharing.
Classes and Retreats: Healing and Transforming Historical Harm
* Half-Day of Mindfulness, Exploring White Awareness
* Class, “What Does It Mean To Be White”
* Roots Retreats, Local, Regional, NationalMindfulness Meditation Practice Group (Sangha)..
Weekly meditation group includes sitting and walking meditation and reflection on readings that are also emailed to the wider Mindful Peacebuilding Community: Joanna Macy’s Active Hope; Pema Chodren’s Practicing Peace in Times of War; and Thich Nhat Hanh’s Cultivating True Peace and Together We Are One.
Mindful Holiday Gatherings and Days of Awareness, Action, and Inquiry
Inspirational resource materials are available for mindful holiday gatherings. In addition to singing, mindful sitting, walking and eating meditation, gatherings often include sharing of personal experience and discussion of ways to challenge oppression and transform and heal suffering connected with the holidays. Gatherings in 2015:· Prison awareness and action, Honoring precious water (Jan – March)
· ML King, Easter and Passover (April - June)
· July 4th, The Right To Vote/Women’s Suffrage, Labor Day/Workers’ Rights (July – Sept)
· Gandhi and Questions Related to Non-Violence, Peace Walk for Middle East, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve Bell Ringing (Oct - Dec)
Community Service
· YEAH! Mindful Peacebuilding volunteers cook dinner once or twice a month for young adults at YEAH!, a program in Berkeley that serves 18-25 year olds who are temporarily homeless
· Diversity Library of Children’s Books created by a Mindful Peacebuildingvolunteer
Public Awareness and Action: Addressing Climate Change
Mindful Peacebuilding groups in Redding, CA and Ukiah, CA were formed to participate in an Ecosattva 8-week on-line training…Mindful Peacebuilding offered peaceful presence at Oakland's climate change march.We encourage you to learn more and participate!
CONTACT MINDFUL PEACEBUILDING
PO BOX 5612, Elmwood Station
Berkeley, CA 94705
mindfulpeacebuilding@gmail.com
510-982-1493Support Mindful Peacebuilding Everywhere!
Embody The Energy Of Peace
Cultivate The Energy Of Mindfulness
Practice The Art of Mindful Living
Develop Mindfulness-Based Peacebuilding Skills
Engage In Mindfulness-Based Community Service And Public Action
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