Aug 31 Tip: Watch Celtic master John O'Donohue speak about the Power of Laughter

Watch Celtic master John O'Donohue speak about the Power of Laughter

(The August 31 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=podcast&p=8227&category=AGM&version=full

In order to stay dedicated to your own spiritual growth, do you have to take it seriously? We often think of spiritual practice as being meditative, stoic, fervent, or demanding, yet as the late poet and philosopher John O’Donohue observes, one critical thing that can get lost along the way is our sense of humor. In this video clip, John invites us to rediscover the delightful, humbling, subversive, and ultimately transformative power of laughter to connect us with the presence of the divine.

Aug 30 Tip: Listen to Mark Nepo talk about his "Book of Awakening"

Listen to Mark Nepo talk about his "Book of Awakening"

(The August 30 Com passionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

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

Philosopher-poet and cancer survivor, Mark Nepo opens a new season of freedom and joy--an escape from deadening, asleep-at-the wheel sameness--that is both profound and clarifying. His spiritual daybook is a summons to reclaim aliveness, liberate the self, take each day one at a time, and to savor the beauty offered by life's unfolding. Reading his poetic prose is like being given second sight, exposing the reader to life's multiple dimensions, each one drawn with awe and affection. The Book of Awakening is the result of his journey of the soul and will inspire others to embark on their own. Nepo speaks of spirit and friendship, urging readers to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships. Encompassing many traditions and voices, Nepo's words offer insight on pain, wonder, and love. Each entry is accompanied by an exercise that will surprise and delight the reader in its mind-waking ability.

Aug 29 Tip: Watch the short PBS documentary: "Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour"

Aug 29 Tip: Watch the short PBS documentary: "Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour"

(The August 29 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://video.pbs.org/video/2282858956/

Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour, host Geoffrey Baer takes us on a voyage through Michael Graves’ career and the influences that shaped him, from his early days studying in Rome to the life-altering events of 2003 – events that changed his personal perspective and brought about a new kind of professional achievement.

Aug 28 Tip: Today, on its 50th anniversary, Listen to the "I have a dream" speech

Today, on its 50th anniversary, Watch the "I have a dream" speech

(The August 28 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

I Have a Dream Viewing & Discussion

Bar Center

600 West Main Street, Suite 110

Wednesday, August 28

1-2 p.m.

Join the Louisville Bar Association at the Bar Center for a FREE program honoring the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered during the historic March on Washington. The event will include a viewing of the speech and discussions led by Judge Brian Edwards 

and past LBA president Tom Williams.

Or watch the film online

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

I Have a Dream Speech
Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington
August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Aug 27 Tip: Listen to Jean Vanier on "The Wisdom of Tenderness"

From On Being: Listen to Jean Vanier on "The Wisdom of Tenderness"

(The August 27 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.onbeing.org/program/wisdom-tenderness/234/audio?embed=1

This Canadian philosopher and Catholic social innovator founded L'Arche, a community centered around people with mental disabilities that has now become a global movement. To many, he is simply one of the wise men in our world today -- an icon of lived compassion. We speak about his understanding of humanity and God that has been shaped across a fascinating lifetime by the likes of Aristotle, Mother Teresa, and people who would once have been locked away from society.

Aug 26 Tip: Learn about Werner Herzog's documentary on texting and driving

Learn about Werner Herzog's documentary on texting and driving

(The August 26 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

http://www.courier-journal.com/viewart/20130810/PRIME01/308100069/werner-herzog-texting-movie

Reggie Shaw doesn't even remember what he texted to his girlfriend. But just seconds after he pressed the “send' button on his cell phone, the act of texting in the car cost the lives of two Cache County men and forever changed his own.

“I think back now and it made sense [that I was texting while driving],' Shaw said about the fatal accident Sept. 22, 2006, that killed James A. Furfaro, 38, and Keith P. O'Dell, 50. “I used my phone when I drove all the time. To me that was just driving.'

Nearly seven years later, the incident still haunts Shaw and the families of the victims. But he and Megan O'Dell, the daughter of Keith O'Dell, were able to retell the tragedy and its devastating impact in a new 30-minute documentary on YouTube directed by legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man,' “Aguirre: The Wrath of God').

The video, “From One Second To The Next,' was commissioned by cell phone carrier AT&T and released Aug. 7. By Wednesday, it already had amassed more than 1.9 million views. The makers also are planning to provide the short to government agencies, safety organizations and schools.

The video profiles four families across the country who were affected by critical or fatal car accidents resulting from a texting driver. The film was commissioned for an anti-texting-and-driving campaign also backed by Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. (Learn more about the “It Can Wait' campaign at www.itcanwait.com.)

Aug 25 Tip: Attend tonight's free concert at The Temple

Attend tonight's free concert at The Temple

(The August 25 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

IPP joins our friends at the Temple (Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom) In inviting you to a free concert at 6 pm Sunday evening.

Here are the details:

Free Music Concert at The Temple

Sunday, August 25 at 6 pm

As a prelude to the High Holy Days, come treat your ears, your heart and your soul to the beautiful music of The Temple's Congregational Choir - Shir Chadash;  the talented sounds of Driven Leaf with Rabbi Gaylia Rooks and guitarist Steven Stuhlbarg; Kathy Karr, principle flute at the Louisville Orchestra; and Temple Religious School students. A dessert reception will follow.

The Temple 

5101 US Highway 42

Louisville, KY  40241

Aug 24 Tip:Attend book event at 4 pm today at Carmichaels on "The Spiritual Lives of Dying People"

Attend book event at 4 pm today at Carmichaels with Author of "The Spiritual Lives of Dying People"

(The August 24 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

Saturday, August 24^th at 4 PM - Carmichael's welcomes St. Barnabas Parish pastor and author Father Paul A. Scaglione for a discussion of his new book The Spiritual Lives of Dying People. 

Here are the stories of fifteen people who confront death in their own ways and who find spiritual strength in their faith. This is also the story of a remarkable and gifted priest, one who has made ministry with the chronically ill a special focus of his pastoral life and has guided people not only through their dying but also to God.

http://www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/event/father-paul-scaglione-will-discuss-his-new-book

Carmichael’s Bookstore – 2720 Frankfort Ave. – 896-6950

Aug. 23 Tip: Read Jack Kornfield's "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry"

Read Jack Kornfield's "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry"

(The Aug. 23 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.jackkornfield.com/2011/03/after-the-ecstacy-the-laundry/

“Enlightenment does exist,” internationally renowned author and meditation master Jack Kornfield assures us. “Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine … these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away.”

But even after achieving such realization – after the ecstasy – we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.

Drawing on the experiences and insights of leaders and practitioners within the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions, this book offers a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds – and how we can prepare our hearts for awakening.

Through moving personal stories and traditional tales, we learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of family relationships, emotional pain, earning a living, sickness, loss, and death.

Filled with “the laughter of the wise,” alive with compassion, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is a gift to anyone who is seeking peace, wholeness, and inner happiness. It is sure to take its place next to A Path with Heart as a spiritual classic for our time.

Aug. 22 Tip From Pema Chodron: Cultivate Unconditional Acceptance of Your Imperfect Self

From Pema Chodron: Cultivate Unconditional Acceptance of Your Imperfect Self

(The Aug. 22 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

THIS IS NOT A FAILURE

You can cruise through life not letting anything touch you, but if you really want to live fully, if you want to enter into life, enter into genuine relationships with other people, with animals, with the world situation, you’re definitely going to have the experience of feeling provoked, of getting hooked, of shenpa. You’re not just going to feel bliss. The message is that when those feelings emerge, this is not a failure. This is the chance to cultivate maitri, unconditional friendliness toward your perfect and imperfect self. 

http://pemachodronfoundation.org/

Aug 21 Tip: Watch TED talk by May El-Khalil speaking on "Making peace is a marathon"

Watch TED talk by May El-Khalil speaking on "Making peace is a marathon"

(The August 21 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.ted.com/talks/may_el_khalil_making_peace_is_a_marathon.html?utm_source=email&source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ios-share

In Lebanon there is one gunshot a year that isn’t part of a scene of routine violence: The opening sound of the Beirut International Marathon. In a moving talk, marathon founder May El-Khalil explains why she believed a 26.2-mile running event could bring together a country divided for decades by politics and religion, even if for one day a year.

The Beirut Marathon is the largest running event in the Middle East. May El-Khalil founded it as an instrument of peace.

August 20 Tip: Listen to Judith Orloff on Overcoming Loneliness

From Sounds True: Listen to Judith Orloff on Overcoming Loneliness

(The August 20 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=tami-simon&p=1745&category=PP&version=full

When we face times of intense loneliness, it often feels like we have forgotten how to reach out and connect to others. Dr. Judith Orloff has found that a deep sense of loneliness may not just mean we’re experiencing disconnection from others, but that we are in a state of separation from some essential part of ourselves. Sounds True producer Randy Roark has selected this excerpt from the audio programEmotional Freedom Practices: How to Transform Difficult Emotions into Positive Energy as an example of Dr. Orloff’s most profound insights on the inner world of our emotions and how we can navigate this terrain to find greater happiness and peace.

Aug 19 Tip: Reading the Rocks and Deep Time

From Sounds True: "Reading the Rocks and Deep Time"

(The August 19 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.onbeing.org/program/reading-the-rocks/5851

The push and pull between religion and science has shaped advances in geology from the beginning. David Montgomery set out to debunk Noah’s Flood; instead he discovered this biblical story was the plate tectonics of its day. He tells us how the evolution of landscapes and geological processes shape ecology and humanity. And, how we should read rocks for the stories they tell about who we are and where we came from. 

Aug 18 Tip: Parkinson's, Depression and the Switch that Might Turn Them Off

Parkinson's, Depression and the Switch that Might Turn Them Off

(The August 18 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/09/209618161/can-hacking-the-brain-make-you-healthier?sc=17&f=1128

Neurosurgeon Andres Lozano talks about dramatic findings in deep brain stimulation including a woman with Parkinson's who instantly stops shaking, and brain areas eroded by Alzheimer's that are brought back to life.

Aug 17 Tip: Hear Tibetan Buddhist Scholar Robert Thurman Explain "How We All Can Be Buddhas"

Hear Tibetan Buddhist Scholar Robert Thurman Explain "How We All Can Be Buddhas"

(the August 17 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.ted.com/talks/bob_thurman_says_we_can_be_buddhas.html

In our hyperlinked world, we can know anything, anytime. And this mass enlightenment, says Buddhist scholar Bob Thurman, is our first step toward Buddha nature.

The first American to be ordained a Tibetan Monk by the Dalai Lama, Robert A.F. Thurman is a scholar, author and tireless proponent of peace.

Aug 16 Tip: Bringing God along for the Ride

From the NY Times: Bringing God along for the Ride

(The Aug 16 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/bringing-god-along-for-the-ride/?src=rechp

HO CHI MINH CITY — Get on a bus in Vietnam and you’ll probably see a photo of the Virgin Mary, a bodhisattva or some other deity on the dashboard, if not an altar with fruit offerings. At first I was surprised by such public displays of devotion: Religion is so personal and private, bringing it to work seems like a recipe for offending people.

Not to mention the authorities. Vietnam is usually associated with religious repression. The police have forcefully dispersed protests by religious groups that criticize the government’s land seizures. They block ceremonies andbreak up meetings by churches that aren’t officially recognized. These groups’ ability to organize unnerves the government.

But what often gets lost in this narrative of persecution is the peace that prevails among faiths here. And that is partly the government’s doing. State control over religious activity prevents the sort of sectarian violence that recently broke out in Myanmar and has long plagued Sri Lanka. A Burmese monk like Ashin Wirathu couldn’t roam Vietnam inciting attacks against a rival religion. Here, religions don’t pose much of a threat to each other because they’re not allowed to.

Just 16 million of Vietnam’s 86 million people adhere to a religion, according to the 2009 census. Of them, 43 percent are Buddhist and 36 percent Catholic, while others practice Protestantism, Hoa Hao (a form of Buddhism) and Cao Dai (a local religion that embraces the three major Abrahamic faiths, plus Buddha, Confucius, Laozi and even Victor Hugo.)

Of course this doesn’t mean the remaining 70 million are nonbelievers; according to one poll, no one identified as “a convinced atheist.” Many Vietnamese believe in a mix of folk and popular religions, ancestor worship, animism, karma, the afterlife and other forms of “everyday devotionalism,” to borrow a phrase from Janet Hoskins, an anthropology professor at the University of Southern California. This syncretism reflects near ubiquitous respect for all things sacred.

At one Hindu temple in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese caretaker regularly performs a Hindu prayer, and then walks over to light incense before a statue of Buddha. “There’s a lot of interreligious cooperation,” Hoskins told me. There are Web sites like Nhip Cau Tam Giao(“The Bridge of Hearts”), which is run by Catholics who also post about Baha’i and other faiths. Some Vietnamese put their hands together in brief supplication whenever they pass a divine idol, even if they don’t follow the religion it represents.

It’s hard to distinguish what behavior stems from religion, as opposed to culture, tradition or superstition. Before national exams, students go to temples to pray for luck. Just about everyone, myself included, burns fake money and clothing for deceased relatives. Vietnamese people are spiritual but seldom devout or tethered to a formal religion.

Yet if otherworldly beliefs permeate most citizens’ lives, they don’t seem to create divisions. It probably helps that no one religion dominates. In the 1960s, under Ngo Dinh Diem, the Catholic president of South Vietnam, monks took to self-immolation to protest his crackdown on Buddhism. That wouldn’t happen now under the Communist (and officially atheist) government.

To the extent that there are frictions to do with faith, these tend to be about the authorities curbing the power of a religious group that dabbles in politics. A Catholic organization that holds vigils for dissidents has faced arrests, violence and “the deployment of armed security forces around churches,” Human Rights Watch reports. Tensions pit the state against religion, in other words, rather than one faith against another. Or, as the Pew Research Centerput it in 2009, Vietnam ranks high in terms of government restrictions on religion but low in terms of social hostilities. Officials may be suspicious of religion, but among the people tolerance is widespread. And so for a bit of security on the mean streets of Vietnam, bus drivers bring their gods along for the ride.

---

Lien Hoang is a writer covering Southeast Asia.

Aug 15 Tip: Learn about the Catholic "Feast of the Assumption"

Learn about the Catholic "Dogma of the Assumption" and its significance in Jungian psychology

(The August 15 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Assumption.htm

The Feast of the Assumption is a very old feast of the Church, celebrated universally by the sixth century. The feast was originally celebrated in the East, where it is known as the Feast of theDormition, a word which means "the falling asleep." The earliest printed reference to the belief that Mary's body was assumed into Heaven dates from the fourth century, in a document entitled "The Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God." The document is written in the voice of the Apostle John, to whom Christ on the Cross had entrusted the care of His mother, and recounts the death, laying in the tomb, and assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Tradition variously places Mary's death at Jerusalem or at Ephesus, where John was living.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life is a defined dogma of the Catholic Church. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII, exercising papal infallibility, declared in "Munificentissimus Deus" that it is a dogma of the Church "that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." As a dogma, the Assumption is a required belief of all Catholics; anyone who publicly dissents from the dogma, Pope Pius declared, "has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith."

The great psychologist and philosopher Carl Jung felt that the pronouncement of the Assumption as Church dogma was the most significant spiritual development of the 2oth Century because, in one sense, in signified the return of the Divine Feminine to the Godhead in Western religion.

Aug 14 Tip: TONIGHT Listen Live to the opening session of the Sounds True "Wake Up Festival"

 TONIGHT Listen Live to the opening session of the Sounds True "Wake Up Festival"

(The August 14 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://live.soundstrue.com/bythygrace/?utm_source=Sounds_True&utm_medium=email&utm_content=postcard&utm_campaign=WUF-free-event&_bta_tid=3.RM0.AWjsVQ.AylX.IddT..a-fq.b..l.ATe6.a.UfdVTQ.UfdVTQ.k_YFQA&_bta_c=64jcm6fr9n3w6g1wxkzge7uyfv57z

By Thy Grace

An Evening of Sacred Chant with Snatam Kaur

Wednesday, August 14, 2013 10:30 pm ET (GMT-4)

A FREE Video Event, Live from the 2013 Wake Up Festival.

Snatam Kaur is one of the most celebrated artists in the world of sacred chant. Her concerts combine musical and spiritual traditions from the East and West, inviting us to open our hearts and experience our connection to each other and with the divine.

Streaming live from the opening night of the 2013 Wake Up Festival, “By Thy Grace” brings you a special 60-minute performance by Snatam Kaur along with Todd Boston on guitar and Ramesh Kannan, a master percussionist and vocalist.

The performance will also feature a special guest appearance by pianist and composer Peter Kater, who has received 7 Grammy® nominations in the last 8 years and has scored more than 100 television programs and films, as well as 11 Broadway and Off-Broadway plays.

One never knows what to expect at Snatam’s concerts—in addition to beautiful chant, she often integrates pranayama meditation, ecstatic dance, even periods of silence that serve to immerse us in peace and joy.

Join us for this FREE video event and share an inspirational part of our annual festival with viewers around the world.

Snatam Kaur will be offering a Pre-Festival Intensive “Into the Heart of Chanting” from August 12–14. Learn more»

For technical issues, please contact customerservice@soundstrue.com.

Aug 13 Tip: Learn about the Robert Henri Museum

Learn about the Robert Henri Museum (Museum for a great 20th Century Artist)

(The August 13 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://roberthenrimuseum.org/

Some know exactly why they're here – they want to actually feel the presence, the soul, if you will, of Robert Henri.    Knowing the brilliance of Henri, they feel the need to walk through the building, touch the surfaces of the original wainscoting wall panels throughout the house or look at the tin ceiling in the lobby. 

Imagine the sense of unreality of just walking up and down the stairs in this former home, strolling through the bedroom where he and his brother slept, to know the family ate in the dining room as it still is now – all these things become a step back in time and fill the visitor with a sense of awe.

Aug 12 Tip: Learn why Louisville's "City of Hope" is Expanding

Discover why a Louisville long-term treatment center for homeless veterans is expanding

(The August 12 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.wdrb.com/story/23088591/city-of-hope-expanding-for

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A long-term treatment facility is expanding to provide living space for homeless veterans.

The City of Hope is helping those who fought for American freedoms, but are now fighting to help keep a roof over their heads.

"My drug of choice was opiates," said veteran Brandon Reed, who has been clean since April 5.

Reed has completed 30-day treatment programs in the past but always seems to regress.

"I'd build a house of cards back up and then knock it back down and I was back in a 30-day treatment starting all over again," Reed said.

But now Reed believes he's in the right place to get the help that he needs.

"Long-term is the key for me."

The expansion at City of Hope in west Louisville will make room for more recovering addicts and military veterans.

"A lot of the programs were full and some of the veterans were getting homeless they were not able to find a place to stay and a lot of those veterans are recovering," said pastor Greg Troutt, who pastors the campus church at City of Hope.

Troutt says everybody is chipping in to make room for the veterans and additional recovering addicts.

"We are doing floors, we are doing drywall, painting up the buildings on the outside, doing the landscaping."

Pastor Troutt says the new building hasn't opened but City of Hope has already opened its doors to the veterans.

"Twenty-five right now is what we are doing; we have veterans now you know signing up weekly but in the end we hope to have anywhere from 50 to 75 beds," Troutt said.

"You know, veterans, I've heard some of their stories in AA meetings and it's just incredible," said Reed, who is looking forward to continuing his recovery alongside veterans who are going through the same thing.

"It almost makes me feel guilty for all of the advantages that I've had in life, and now they're coming back no jobs and very few skills and they're really struggling," Reed said.

The City of Hope is prepared to house the veterans and recovering addicts for up to two years if needed.

Copyright 2013 WDRB News. All rights reserved.

Aug 11 Tip: Learn why a baseball team is going atheist for one night (humor)

Learn why a minor league baseball team is "going atheist" for one night ;-)

(The August 11 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=210253935&sc=17&f=2

Melissa Block speaks with the St. Paul Saints' Executive Vice President and General Manager Derek Sharrer about the game that will be sponsored by the Minnesota Atheists. The team will go by the name "Mr. Paul Aints" for the game.

Aug 10 Tip: Where the Spirit of the Arab Spring Lives On

From the NY Times: Where the Spirit of the Arab Spring Lives On

(The Aug 10 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/world/africa/a-cafe-where-the-spirit-of-the-arab-spring-lives-on.html?hp&_r=0

A Cafe Where the Spirit of the Arab Spring Lives On

By CARLOTTA GALL

TUNIS — In the heat of the afternoon, especially this past month of Ramadan, downtown Tunis plays dead. Offices and shops close at 2 p.m. and life is suspended as everyone, parched and hungry, waits for sunset and the breaking of the fast.

On a side street behind the Interior Ministry, the only movement is the occasional rumble of a tram, the only sound the trill of its bell warning pedestrians to step off the tracks.

But open a cafe door in a low-rise building here and you enter a buzzing theatrical space, alive with the clink of glasses and coffee cups and the roar of conversation from 100 tables. The air is thick with smoke from cigarettes — also forbidden during Ramadan.

The Théâtre de l’Étoile du Nord — the North Star Theater — is the place in the Tunisian capital to beat the Muslim fast. Customers here are unabashed about breaking the rules, and they pass the time drinking espresso with a glass of ice water, or perhaps sweet homemade lemonade.

“We are very weak, and it is too hot!” said one customer, Ali, with an apologetic smile. He had come with a friend for the first time. “You hear by word of mouth,” he said.

But L’Étoile du Nord is far more than a cafe. Originally a parking lot, it covers 7,500 square feet and never closes, a freewheeling space for spectators and performers and a haunt for actors, intellectuals, freethinkers and revolutionaries.

Aug 9 Tip: On the Nagasaki Anniversary: Join Mayors for Peace in Working for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

On the Nagasaki Anniversary: Join Mayors for Peace in Working for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

(The August 9 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/outlines/objective.html

The Mayors for Peace, through close cooperation among the cities, strives to raise international public awareness regarding the need to abolish nuclear weapons and contributes to the realization of genuine and lasting world peace by working to eliminate starvation and poverty, assist refugees fleeing local conflict, support human rights, protect the environment, and solve the other problems that threaten peaceful coexistence within the human family.

Aug. 7 Tip: The Amazing Power of Intuition to Foster Compassion

From Sounds True: The Amazing Power of Intuition to Foster Compassion

(The Aug. 7 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=podcast&p=8139&category=IATE&version=full&loc=weeklywisdom

Tami Simon speaks with Sharon Franquemont, an intuition expert who has taught individuals, couples, and organizations how to channel their intuitive gifts, and helped establish the first graduate program in intuition at John F. Kennedy University. With Sounds True, Sharon has created several audio programs, including You Already Know What to Do and Intuition: Your Electric Self. In this episode, Tami talks with Sharon about the nature of intuitive knowing and how it relates to the ground of being, why intuition is now being taken so seriously in the field of nursing, how to work with intuition when you’re suffering from an illness, and Sharon’s advice for cultivating radical intuition.

Aug 6 Tip: On the Hiroshima Anniversary, Experience Thomas Merton's anti-poem, "Original Child Bomb"

On the Hiroshima Anniversary, Experience Thomas Merton's anti-poem, "Original Child Bomb"

(The August 6 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://thehealingprojectwebcast.blogspot.com/2012/08/remembering-hiroshima-thomas-merton-and.html

here are first few sections of the poem:

ORIGINAL CHILD BOMB

Points for meditation to be scratched on the walls of a cave

1: In the year 1945 an Original Child was born. The name Original Child was given to it by the Japanese people, who recognized that it was the first of its kind.

2: On April 12th, 1945, Mr. Harry Truman became the President of the United States, which was then fighting the Second World War. Mr. Truman was a vice president who became President by accident when his predecessor died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He did not know as much about the war as the President before him did. He knew a lot less about the war than many people did.

About one hour after Mr. Truman became President, his aides told him about a new bomb which was being developed by atomic scientists. They called it the “atomic bomb.” They said scientists had been working on it for six years and that it had so far cost two billion dollars. They added that its power was equal to that of twenty thousand tons of TNT. A single bomb could destroy a city. One of those present added, in a reverent tone, that the new explosive might eventually destroy the whole world. But Admiral Leahy told the President the bomb would never work.

3: President Truman formed a committee of men to tell him if this bomb would work, and if so, what he should do with it. Some members of this committee felt that the bomb would jeopardize the future of civilization. They were against its use. Others wanted it to be used in demonstration on a forest of cryptomeria trees, but not against a civil or military target. Many atomic scientists warned that the use of atomic power in war would be difficult and even impossible to control. The danger would be very great. Finally, there were others who believed that if the bomb were used just once or twice, on one or two Japanese cities, there would be no more war. They believed the new bomb would produce eternal peace.

Aug. 6 Tip: Learn about A-Bomb Commemoration Ceremonies in Hiroshima

Learn about A-Bomb Commemoration Ceremonies in Hiroshima

(The August 6 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/festival/hiroshimapeacecrmn.html

On August 6th, 1945, an American bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over Hiroshima City. The entire city was devastated by the heat and shock waves of the blast, producing numerous civilian casualties.

On this day, the Peace Memorial Ceremony (free entry) is held in front of the Hiroshima Peace City Memorial Monument erected in the Peace Memorial Park to appease the souls of those killed by the atomic bomb and to pray for eternal peace on Earth. During this ceremony, the Peace Declaration, appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for the realization of eternal world peace, is delivered by the Mayor of Hiroshima City and is transmitted worldwide.

At 8:15 a.m., which is the exact time when the atomic bomb was dropped, the Peace Bell is rung and citizens, either at the ceremony, at home, or at work offer silent prayers for one minute for the repose of the souls of the atomic bomb victims and for peace.

Aug. 5 Tip: Hear Deep Ecologist John Seed's version of the song "Expanding Universe"

Hear Deep Ecologist John Seed's version of the song "Expanding Universe"

(The August 5 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFpUA_GLp5Y&feature=youtu.be

Listen to John's lovely rendition of the Monty Python tune,"Expanding Universe". It's just charming! And a perfect reminder of the love and care we owe to the world we inhabit.

August 4 Tip: Read Emily Dickinson's poem, "The Skies Can't Keep Their Secret"

Read Emily Dickinson's poem, "The Skies Can't Keep Their Secret"

(The August 4 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.bartleby.com/113/2016.html

THE SKIES can’t keep their secret!
They tell it to the hills—
The hills just tell the orchards—
And they the daffodils!
A bird, by chance, that goes that way	5
Soft overheard the whole.
If I should bribe the little bird,
Who knows but she would tell?
I think I won’t, however,
It’s finer not to know;	10
If summer were an axiom,
What sorcery had snow?
So keep your secret, Father!
I would not, if I could,
Know what the sapphire fellows do,	15
In your new-fashioned world!

Aug. 3 Tip: Learn about Louisville-based "Water with Blessings"

Learn about Louisville-based "Water with Blessings"

(The August 3 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.waterwithblessings.org/

We recognize and build upon the capacity of local people as the solution for their own local need for safe water.  We know that technology alone is not the answer.  Our first step is to empower mothers as Water Women in ministry to their communities...and then we equip them with the highest quality filtration system.   Water Women are the secret to our remarkable success in bringing clean water to families in the developing world.

Missioners who serve in the developing world want to bring the blessing of clean water to their brothers and sisters.  As our partners, they have access to a tested and proven program that empowers them to empower others. Innovative, highest-quality equipment, combined with an innovative, best-practices program model...for amazing results!

August 2 Tip: Comedian Tig Notaro Going Live about Having Cancer

Hear Fresh Air Interview with Comedian Tig Notaro on Going Live about Having Cancer

(The August 2 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/26/205540155/tig-notaro-on-going-live-about-her-life

"Good evening, hello. I have cancer. How are you?"

That's how comedian Tig Notaro began her set at Largo in Los Angeles the day she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. As she uttered those words to the audience, there was nervous laughter, weeping and total silence in response.

Comedian Louis C.K. was there that evening, and tweeted this about her performance: "In 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo."

When she spoke with Terry Gross, it had been an eventful four months for Notaro. Before her cancer diagnosis, Tig had pneumonia and contracted a severe intestinal virus, for which she was treated in the hospital. Shortly after being released, her mother died in a freak accident — and then Tig and her girlfriend broke up.