Dear Folks -
As you may know I am talking in my Ordinary Life Talks about how
we cause ourselves suffering by trying to be "one up" on life. There
are many ways this "one-upmanship" shows up in our lives. One of them
is in a failure to recognize our own pain and take responsibility for
it. Exclusionist thinking (this is the thinking of the dualistic
mind) always creates violent people. That is to say, if we don't
transform our pain, which is most often unrecognized by us, we will
always transmit it. Our world is full of such violence. This violence
may come in a velvet glove. It may be absolutely unrecognized but it
is and will be present.
This week in Ordinary Life we are going to be privileged to have
Jori and Jim Manske from Albuquerque, New Mexico, speak to us. They
will be focusing on the spiritual basis of nonviolent communication
and the role that this type of communication can play in supporting
personal self-awareness and transformation as well as life-enriching
social change. You will have an opportunity to learn through a
dynamic and fun learning process to designed to help us transform the
way we hear criticism and blame.
Much love,
Bill Kerley
Download 20080406.mp3
Read moreI have this enormous privilege every Sunday. Actually, we have enormous
privilege and privileges every day in every day in every way don't we?
There is so much that we take for granted. We are so graced. But, I digress.
The particular privilege I have in mind is this: Every Sunday I am in at least one
of the three worship services that are held in the cathedral across the plaza. At
the end of each service the various clergy who are in the service are assigned to
one of the doors leading out of the cathedral to speak to people as they leave the
worship service. It is such a privilege to do this. Especially is it a privilege to
speak to the young people when they leave. I'm talking about children who are
seven and younger.
As they leave I get right down on their level and look them directly in the eye as
I take their little hands and say them, "Thank you so much for coming. I'm so glad
you were here. This service wouldn't have been the same without you. I mean it."
.........
Note: During Bill's talk we played a video from the TED conference of Jill Bolte Taylor's talk entitled My stroke of Insight. The audio is present in the file below, but if you would like to watch the video, you can click here or on the link in the text above.
.........
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Download 20080330.mp3
Read moreThis week you are going to hear an amazing story in Ordinary Life
about how one person, Brooke Summers-Perry, has acted on these truths
and brought something into being in working to gain clarity about, as
she puts it, "who I am, why I am here, and what I think I am meant to
do." She will share with you a synchronicity of connections,
especially with young people, that will not only encourage you about
"how things are" but also will demonstrate how compassion and
gratitude are contagious.
Please check out her web site for itscool2care and download the audio file below to listen to this Sundays Ordinary Life class.
Download 20080316.mp3
Download 20080316.pdf
Read moreDear Folks -
My dear friend Dr. Joseph Rachel is going to "co-teach" Ordinary
Life with me this week. You have heard me refer to him many times.
Perhaps you have even heard him before.
Joseph is a Buddhist practitioner. He has worked several times
with the Dali Lama. He and I talk regularly and our conversations
have focused on those four things that are almost always in the back
of my mind - authority, ritual, mysticism and transformation.
Our plan is to focus specifically on the topic of suffering and
the importance of moving away from dualistic thinking. One thing you
can count on in hearing Joseph teach: he will be provocative. So,
let's give this title to our time together this week:
Disturbing the Waters
Much love,
Bill Kerley
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