Where does it all lead? What will become of us?…It leads to each other. We become ourselves. |
PATTI SMITH |
Blessing must arise from within your own mind. It is not something that comes from outside. When the positive qualities of your mind increase and the negativities decrease, that is what blessing means. The Tibetan word for blessing … means transforming into magnificent potential. Therefore, blessing refers to the development of virtuous qualities you did not previously have and the improvement of those good qualities you have already developed. ― Dalai Lama XIV
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Where does it all lead? What will become of us?
What is equanimity?
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Thursday, August 27, 2020
The world is changed by your example
The world is changed by your example, not your opinion. |
PAUL COEHLO |
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Peace is returning to Silence
Peace is letting go—returning to the silence that cannot enter the realm of words because it is too pure to be contained in words. |
MALIDOMA PATRICE SOMÉ |
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Widening the circle of support...who and what matters?
Collective heroism also requires widening the circle that defines who matters to you and whose joys and sorrows you share. |
ELIZABETH SVOBODA Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity  Indigo sangha  Indigo Sangha is a welcoming mindfulness community practicing in the Plum Village Tradition. We want everyone who wishes to attend to join us. We especially encourage People of Color, LGBTQ+, young practitioners (ages 18-35) and other diversities to attend. To learn more, visit Http://MindfulSC.org The coalition - People United To Take Back Our Community The Coalition is a diverse group of people and organizations banded together to make a stand against crime, violence and social injustice in our community. Black lives matter groups: stand as one Stand As One is a Community Activist group founded in May of 2020 located in the Charleston Tri-County Area. Our mission is to stand together in unity for the equality of all. Our projects include protest, community outreach, victims advocate assistance, and much more. Our donations go directly to the support of transportation, lawyer and bond fees, community relief assistance, water, snacks, etc. All donations are tax deductible https://venmo.com/StandAs1SC VENMO.COM uplift, and voices united. Youth Advocate and community organization. Educational advocacy to promote awareness, understanding and inclusion in our community. Our mission - is to empower by bringing awareness through collaboration and partnership efforts that will proactively and collectively uplift, unite and educate, our communities and our children. Being aware goes beyond being book smart , and our kids deserve opportunities and not just chances .Our focus is to educate our communities and our children ,by not only making them aware of the issues, but to also collectively implement ways that will provide solutions. Voices United believes that increased positive social, emotional, educational, vocational and business skills along with relationships, will allow for communities and our children to not only thrive, but to also become more successful .Bc of the different things I have been affected by, I chose Voices United to be able to connect to the different entities of which I have been affected and to utilize them as the basis of the organization. Sexual abuse survivors,Child abuse Autism Sex trafficking and safety awareness. My goal is to push past no longer striving for diversity, but deeming it necessary. Our strengths are our differences that will enlighten us all.. 2 ways to donate https://cash.app/$UnitedVoices1 Hi, Here‘s the link to my Venmo profile. Tap or click it, and be sure you‘re finding my true self. Donation for Voices United  VETERANS for peace   DONZELL, dEBORAH'S HUSBAND, VETERAN ON KNEE  |
Monday, August 24, 2020
Beauty comes from within...and can increase when seen outside of self.
Beauty seen makes the one who sees it more beautiful. |
BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST   |
Sunday, August 23, 2020
The rain slacked up, and we enjoyed a successful sit, walk and listen to support Black Lives Matter
PHOTO GALLERY
Sit-Walk-Listen for Black Lives, August 23, 2020
At the invitation of Reverend Dixon and The Coalition, Uplift, and Stand as One, Indigo Sangha hosted a Covid-safe, Interfaith Sit-Walk-Listen for Black Lives event in the style of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. We aspired to bring the practice of compassion, love, and deep listening to Charleston’s Battery and to better understand what needs healing around race.
This event supports a “collective awakening” and brings the practice of compassion, love, and deep listening to Charleston’s public spaces so that ‘Black Lives Matter’ may truly manifest in our community and beyond. The event is also a nonviolent counter-protest to the flying of Confederate flags at the monument on the Battery each Sunday morning.
Allow surprises, like this AM, it is pouring down rain so far, which is a disappointing surprise, however...means I can take a break...
Don’t plan it all. Let life surprise you a little. |
JULIA ALVAREZ |
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Gratefulness opens me up
Gratefulness opens me up to receive the flow of blessing and connects me with the source of that flow. |
RABBI SHEFA GOLD   |
Nirvana is not necessarily the blissful state...
Unity Charleston is with Quiana Q. Parler.
Nirvana is not necessarily the blissful state that is commonly thought to be the case. It can be but the more accurate description is that it is a state of mind where "the passion of aversion and craving are done away with". Nirvana literally means "extinguishing the passions of the mind" and unhealthy ego. When one achieves this state of equanimity, one is more apt to experience the "peace that passeth all understanding" as the biblical scripture states. We can accept all situations with equanimity. In Unity we teach that heaven is a state of mind, like hell can be. This heavenly state of mind is the state of nirvana, IMHO. We also teach that we have all the peace we need right within us, all the time, 24/7/365. We just need to let go of the "stuff" that prevents us from experiencing that peace.
nir·va·na
/nərˈvänə,nirˈvänə/
noun
- (in Buddhism) a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.
- My favorite Definition of Nirvana: "This moment SEEN directly..."
Friday, August 21, 2020
Charleston's new manager of tolerance and racial reconciliation looks ahead
'THIS IS THE BEGINNING'
Practicing law for the past seven years, Johnson has spent the past three years working with South Carolina Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm where she primarily represented low-income clients. There, she witnessed a lot of disparities and gaps in resources that affect South Carolinians. In her new position with the city, Johnson hopes to fill as many of those gaps as she can.
"I hope to build relationships with the community, get the word out that I am here and available. In the long term, I want to develop a community advisory committee, so that I can hear the concerns of the community about what is working and what is not working," she says. "Then I'd like to work on a strategic plan with some long-term action items that would include housing, employment, health care, and those sort of things to work on some of the issues in the community."
One year since Charleston City Council narrowly passed a resolution officially apologizing for the city's role in the human slave trade, it's become time to figure out what that apology really means. As Johnson prepares to enter her new role on July 22, she has an optimistic view of what that apology did and did not accomplish.
"The apology started the conversation, and I think it is important to normalize conversations about race," says Johnson. "We have to get to a point where it's not taboo — where we can have very open and honest discussions about race and the issues and impact of what has happened in the past. We are still dealing with the consequences of our past. It's a place to start and it's important just to start to have that conversation."
While Charleston has taken progressive strides in the city's official apology for slavery and the passing of a municipal hate crime law, local efforts to provide greater context to the city's prominent monuments linked to the Confederacy and pro-slavery efforts have floundered.
In Johnson's opinion, it's important to consider what these historical markers are doing for the city and the feelings that surround them.
In terms of approaching such broad and complicated topics like racial reconciliation and diversity from a policy standpoint, Johnson again turns to introspection.
"You have to take a look at your city, expunge the points where you are weak as far as diversity and go from there. That's the first place to start," she says. "Take a look at yourself and see where the gaps are, so that you can focus on those things and you can make sure that your programs and services are benefiting everyone and not just a small group of people."
From her experience working with clients as part of South Carolina Legal Services, Johnson finds that affordable housing is a key issue in local communities. And while debate always surrounds just how involved the city should be in the housing market, Johnson is in favor of local government playing a part to ensure the creation of more affordable housing.
"It's important for the city to be a place that benefits everyone. In the long haul, if everybody isn't seeing some sort of growth or benefit from being here, they won't stay," says Johnson. "It is important for the city to figure out what's going on and what we can do to help — if we can help. It's definitely something that is worth looking into."
As of last week, Johnson has yet to have a formal sit-down with the members of Charleston City Council about her plans as the city's new manager of Diversity, Racial Reconciliation, and Tolerance. Johnson says she doesn't have any specific issues in mind to address immediately. Instead she seems willing to start fresh and dig into all that is sure to come her way.
For Johnson, the very fact that her current position was created as part of Charleston's slavery apology is enough of an indication that something good is possible.
"It shows that they are committed to what they set out to do with the apology," says Johnson of City Council. "It's not just a lot of talk. They are also trying to put some action behind it. This is the beginning.
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STARRY EYES11
I dont understand why I should apologize for slavery when I never owned a slave. Seems to me that the people of Charleston should apologize for electing corrupt presidents and sending troops to Iraq with no weapons of mass destruction found. MY FAMILY HISTORICALLY NEVER OWNED A SINGLE SLAVE FOR OVER 2000 YEARS. We came here and helped Charleston become a success. I am not apologizing for traditions that continue to work out of convenience like low wages. We are a free country, and yet we CHOOSE endless war for the convenience of being able to organize better with a hegemony.
CID95
07/11/2019 AT 3:13
ZAC VAPPA
08/21/2020 AT 5:19 PM
The Civil War started in this city, and it is a perfect place for it to end FINALLY! Get over it Confederates, you lost! Like the Nazis in Germany, all symbols honoring the slavery past ought to be outlawed and respectfully removed to a building for the spoils of war.