The Gift of Nature

Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it.
– Charles A. Lindberg

Camping at Sacred Lake 9,600 feet above Tuolumne Meadows after two grueling days of climbing up the mountain, with 65 lbs on my back my head begins to clear in the fresh, still alpine air. Up here there is such peace, such clarity, such radiant simplicity... The wild flowers are certainly not working all that hard. They’re just soaking up the sun and being beauty. Unable to stay in the preciousness of the moment, my mind wanders to the dichotomy between my experience in the natural world and my life in today’s chaotic world.

When I look at the state of the world it reminds me of Charles Dickens words 150 years ago, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That is certainly true today! Never before has there been such a savage assault on the natural world. We have the “perfect storm” brewing with climate change, peak oil, resource depletion, species extinction, and over population – every life support system is in danger. With our destruction of the air, water and soil we are rapidly heading towards what scientists call 6X, the sixth mass extinction on our beautiful blue planet!

And yet there is so much to be grateful for... We have information at our fingertips that Kings and Queens didn’t even have a few hundred years ago. We have a profusion of examples of spiritual and cultural enlightenment. We have the ability to communicate with people worldwide. We are waking up to the life threatening impact on our own habitat and yet we continue to do the things that will destroy it. Why?

The deepest cause of the present devastation is found in a mode of consciousness that has established a radical discontinuity between the human and other modes of being and the bestowal of all rights on the humans.
– Thomas Berry

Read the entire letter from Michael here.

Upcoming Events

September 18th outdoor camping and dance has been cancelled. Instead we will be doing The Big Event with Maniko — see below!

The Big Event: Please mark your calendars
Mysterium All Souls Weekend with Maniko
And Michael Stone aka dj Divine

Saturday, October 30th, 9:30am – 5pm /Sunday October 31st 11am – 9:00pm
St Joseph’s Cultural Center, Grass Valley, CA
Special Price for entire weekend events $225 (includes Saturday morning and Sunday evening)
Saturday Mysterium Ritual and Sweat Your Prayers only, $30. 9:30am-12:30pm
Sunday Gathering the Ancestors only (Ancestor costumes welcomed) 6:30-9 pm $30. / $50 For both

For more information: welloflight.com/archives/997

To register, contact Michael Stone: 530-477-7757

Moving Meditation News

5Rhythm Weddings

This past month two couples who met at the 5Rhythms dance were married. For all of us in the Dance Community I want to wish Alan and Ronda & Magdalena and Syris great happiness, infinite love and sacred tenderness in your union.

In Love and Support,
The 5Rhythms Dance Community

Alan and Ronda	Syris, Magdalena and Bootsie

Childcare Update

The South Yuba Club wanted me to remind you that we cannot have children under 14 left unattended in the lobby while the dance is going on. I suggest if you want to bring your children that you find someone to watch them and share the responsibility. We might even be able to get SYC to let us use the childcare space.

Important Change to First Time Guest Policy:

The purpose of the “First Time Free Guest Policy” has always been to encourage people to try the 5Rythms practice before making any financial commitment to it. The change in focus of this policy is to show our appreciation to committed dancers who, in their enthusiasm, bring others to the dance. Your role in growing our community enriches all of us. Also when we share about something we create a world with our words that will begin to impact your dance practice if you seriously take on communicating about its value, purpose and why you dance. I believe it will also support your guest by knowing more about what they are coming to and having you there to support them.

Starting September 1st we will give a free dance to anyone who brings someone for the first time. There will be a cash fee of $15 for the guest and the inviter will receive a free dance. Using the punch cards is not part of this offering. Of course you may pay for your guest or split the cost. The choice is yours.

New Podcasts

Click here to view the Podcasts page, and to listen to the following podcasts:

Jeff Klein: Working for Good
Jeff Klein is the CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing, an organization that designs and produces collaborative cause-related marketing programs that address social issues while fulfilling the business objectives of alliance partners. He currently serves as Executive Director for FLOW, a nonprofit dedicated to "liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good." www.workingforgood.com

Dr. David C. Korten: Agenda for a New Economy
Dr. David C. Korten: Author, teacher, publisher and lecturer, David Korten has over thirty-five years of experience in preeminent business, academic, and international development institutions. He is a major contributor to the report of the International Forum on Globalization on Alternatives to Economic Globalization. www.davidkorten.org

Itara O'Connell: Non-Violent Communication
For the past eight years Itara has been teaching Nonviolent Communication, facilitating skill building for inner peace, mediation for couples and helping organizations become more collaborative in their approach. Itara's background is in education and social work. www.restorativecommunication.org

J. Kirk Boyd: Creating A Social Order Based Upon Human Rights
Dr. John Kirk Boyd is a lawyer, professor, and Executive Director of the 2048 Project at the U.C. Berkeley law school. In addition, the author has argued at every level of court, including the United States Supreme Court. He teaches International Human Rights, Civil Rights, International Law, Free Speech, and Constitutional Law at the University of California. www.2048.berkeley.edu

Brother David: Grateful Living
Brother David, a Benedictine monk, is probably the world’s leading scholar on gratefulness. He co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and together with Thomas Merton, Brother David helped launch a global renewal of religious life. He has authored numerous books on gratefulness, belonging and Buddhist and Christian Practices. Brother David has brought spiritual depth into the lives of countless people whom he touches through his lectures, his workshops, and his writings. www.gratefulness.org

Book of the Month

Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart

An inspiring collection of essays compiled and edited by Nina Simons with forward by Terry Tempest Williams. This tapestry of over 30 voices, including Eve Ensler, Alice Walker and Rachel Naomi Remen, is a celebration of the inner feminine voice calling for greater leadership on behalf of the Earth. These women have demonstrated leadership sourced from their inner authority and inspired by what they love and are dedicated to protect, transform, and strengthen. Those successfully heeding this call have embraced the qualities previously relegated to the "feminine"-- inner awareness, collaboration, relational intelligence, respect for the sacred and generosity--and married them to the best of their "masculine" attributes to create a new form of leadership more inspiring, inviting, and effective for transforming how we live on Earth and with each other. Moonrise is a powerful and inspiring jewel compiled by the co-founder of Bioneers, Nina Simons.

Articles

Bill McKibben On David Letterman: 'I Damn Well Expect My Political Leaders To Do Something'(VIDEO)

Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben sat down with David Letterman on the Late Show to discuss climate change and the actions desperately needed to confront it.

McKibben says that the dire environmental problems we face aren't entirely unmanageable, and we have the capabilities to provide some solutions, but there are certain groups -- like the oil and gas industry -- that don't want that kind of progress to be made. "Until we build a movement big enough to challenge them, we won't solve it," McKibben tells Letterman.

To read the full article and watch the video, click here.

From Climate Change to Climate Shock: The Result of a Perfect Eco-Political Storm

Something momentous is happening in the combination of events in the world today that demands serious reflection by us all. This is the admixture of Copenhagen, the U.S. Senate Climate Bill, the BP oil spill disaster, and the climate itself. We just had a perfect storm and the world is now fundamentally changed.

The perfect storm began with the virtually complete inability of the environmental movement to have any impact on the climate debate or climate decisions. An unprecedented coalition commanding hundreds of millions of dollars, at the helm of which was Al Gore and a range of VIPs and celebrities as well as the major environmental, labor and social justice organizations, failed in their effort to secure a treaty in Copenhagen last December. They were in an alliance with a massive international effort. This same coalition then worked furiously to ensure passage of the Senate Climate Bill, only to see it dropped by the Senate this July without even a peep from the president. The airways have been full of "Climategate" and the histrionics of the climate deniers.

To read the full article, click here.

3 Pillars of a Food Revolution

A few years ago, I stumbled on a United Nations study that transformed how I think about the climate crisis. In the report, researchers pegged greenhouse gases from the livestock sector at 18 percent of total global emissions. Combine this with other aspects of our food chain—from agricultural chemical production to agribusiness driven deforestation to food waste rotting in landfills—and food and agriculture sector is responsible for nearly one third of the planet’s manmade emissions. Move over Hummer; it’s time to say hello to the hamburger.

To read the full article, click here.

6 Ways to Start Sharing

Stephanie Smith
Yes! Magazine

Resource-sharing can be deeply fulfilling, but also frustratingly difficult, especially at the outset.

On a recent blog post, someone asked me, "What do you do if you live in a conservative Midwestern town, not a hip coastal city, where sharing is seen as a threat or a huge no-no? I've had Midwesterners tell me, oh, no, people will never share cars. Or if you share tools, someone will steal them or break them. That's the mentality. How do you overcome this?"

Great question! How do you begin? If you happen not to be in one of those hotbeds of sharing innovation like Portland, Berkeley/Oakland, or Brooklyn, how do you start sharing (and with whom) in a way that gives you the most chance of success?

Here are a few ideas on getting started…

To read the full article, click here.

Race, Poverty & Globalization

The world economy is in a state of what is commonly viewed as unprecedented growth. But with this growth has come dangerous and destructive economic disparity. On the one hand, we see the "impressive" economy in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the United States, where Silicon Valley, a region of 2.3 million people, has produced tens of thousands of millionaires, with 64 new ones every day. There are regular U.S. reports of historically low unemployment rates, labor shortages and booming economy.

To read the full article, click here.

Building Cultures of Peace

We stand at a critical point in human cultural evolution. Going back to the old normal where peace is just an interval between wars is not an option; what we need is a fundamental cultural transformation.

As Einstein said, we cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them. If we think only in terms of the conventional cultural and economic categories—right vs. left, religious vs. secular, Eastern vs. Western, capitalist vs. socialist, and so on—we cannot move forward. What we need is to look at social systems from a new perspective that can help us build not only a nuclear-free world but also the better world we so urgently want and need. I believe we must change our underlying social configuration: We must transition from a system of domination to one of partnership.

To read the full article, click here.

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Donate to Conversations

Dear Friends,
For the past four years I have been funding Conversations, The Well of Light and other associated projects out of my own pocket and fund raising events. In order to keep this newsletter coming and keep moving towards syndicating Conversations we need your help. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution if you enjoy receiving our monthly newsletter or listening to Conversations.

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michael

Upcoming Shows on Conversations

September 7th
Gary Malkin: Innertainment: Media Medicine for the Mind, Heart, and Soul
Gary Malkin is an emmy award-winning composer/producer and performer dedicated to making a difference in the world by participating in projects that inspire the heart and catalyze social change. Gary is launching a new genre in media, something he calls "Innertainment: Media Medicine for the Mind, Heart, and Soul." His hope and prayer is that we can begin to understand how media, like anything, is a form of energy that either inspires or robs us of our core well-being. garymalkin.com

September 21st
Nina Simons: Women’s leadership and leading from the Feminine
Nina Simons co-founded Bioneers in 1990, a nonprofit that identifies, promotes and connects breakthrough solutions for our most pressing environmental and social challenges. Previously, she was President of Seeds of Change and Director of Strategic Marketing for Odwalla. Now, Nina translates her life experience to inspire and inform the emerging leadership of others, with an increasing focus on the leadership of women and restoring the ‘feminine’ within us all. bioneers.org

September 28th
Bradford Keeney, Ph.D. The Bushman Way of Tracking God
Bradford Keeney, Ph.D. is an American psychotherapist, ethnographer, and cybernetician. He has been called “an all-American shaman, the Marco Polo of psychology, and an anthropologist of the spirit” by the editors of Utne Reader. Author of more than thirty books in the fields of psychotherapy, cybernetics, and ethnographies of healing traditions, many of his works are considered classics in their fields. www.shakingmedicine.com

October 5th
Dr. Kevin Danaher: Grassroots Globalization: Empowering local communities to create sustainable local economies
Described by The New York Times as the "Paul Revere of globalization's woes," Dr. Kevin Danaher's analytical expertise, sense of humor and blunt eloquence make him an exceptionally dynamic communicator. Dr. Danaher is a co-founder of Global Exchange, founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals, and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center. He has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of thirteen books. www.globalexchange.org

October 12th
Warren Farrell: The Myth of Male Power
Dr. Warren Farrell is the author of many books, including two award-winning international best-sellers, Why Men Are The Way They Are plus The Myth of Male Power. His most recent books are Women Can’t Hear What Men Don’t Say. Dr. Farrell is the only man in the US elected three times to the Board of Directors of the National Organization for Women in New York City. His background in male/female issues, combined with his Ph.D. in American government and constitutional law, has led to his doing expert witness work with sex discrimination and sexual harassment. www.warrenfarrell.org

Conversations airs every Tuesday at 1pm PST on KVMR.
For current shows or more information go to www.AreWeListening.net

Videos

Gabrielle Roth "Slow Dancing with Chaos"

Eckhart Tolle - 'Silence and Stillness'

OSHO: Don't Use this Planet Like a Waiting Room

Hot Sites of the Month

Global Exchange
Global Exchange is an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting environmental, political and social justice. Since our founding in 1988, we have increased the US public's global awareness while building partnerships worldwide. www.globalexchange.org

Green Festival
At Green Festival®, a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America we’re celebrating what’s working in our communities—for people, business and the environment. SF Festival is November 6-7. If you are interested in obtaining FREE tickets please email me at michael@welloflight.com
www.greenfestivals.org

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Well of Light Seva Team

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
— Mohandas K. Gandhi

Seva is selfless service to a cause you believe will benefit others. It is the willingness to perform any task for a greater cause without prospect of recognition or reward.

Well of Light has many opportunities to serve our community. If you would like to participate on the Well of Light Seva Team please call Michael Stone @ 530.477.7757 or email michael@welloflight.com

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
- Albert Schweitzer

Poetry Corner

"Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt - marvelous error! -
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt - marvelous error! -
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt - marvelous error! -
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt - marvelous error! -
that it was God I had
here inside my heart."

– Antonio Machado

My Secret is Silence

The waves of the Mind
demand so much of Silence.
But She does not talk back
does not give answers nor arguments.
She is the hidden author of every thought
every feeling
every moment.

Silence.

She speaks only one word.
And that word is this very existence.
No name you give Her
touches Her
captures Her.
No understanding
can embrace Her.

Mind throws itself at Silence
demanding to be let in.
But no mind can enter into
Her radiant darkness
Her pure and smiling
nothingness.

The mind hurls itself
into sacred questions.
But Silence remains
unmoved by the tantrums.
She asks only for nothing.

Nothing.

But you won’t give it to Her
because it is the last coin
in your pocket.
And you would rather
give her your demands than
your sacred and empty hands.

– Adyashanti