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Jane Bay’s day job

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I don’t generally engage in hero-worship. But I do sometimes get wound up in interesting people and stories.

And speaking of such, George Lucas is one of the people I’ve only “gotten close to meeting.” So when a group of our Project Happiness students from Mount Madonna School were able to interview him last year (for the Project Happiness movie), I really enjoyed it.

trooperWell, the “next best thing” to time with George was also really interesting. George’s assistant, Jane Bay, has been with him since just after the first Star Wars film was released. Almost every day she deals with guys like those in the picture to the left. She and I both waited in line to see the film at the Coronet Theater on Geary Blvd. in San Francisco – though a couple of weeks apart. She got a job with George shortly thereafter, and I did not – I remained an academic for a couple more years and then started DesignWare (an edutainment software company), which ended up being my eventual reason for a few visits to Skywalker Ranch. (Continue for the audio interview…) [Read more…]

A Story About Life, Death, and Rebirth – Jane Bay

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love-loss-coverNo time is more apt than right now for me to post an audio interview I conducted a few months ago. The time is apt because of what’s happening in Tibet over the past two weeks (best reports are at the BBC – search for Tibet). During most of its human history, Tibet was an isolated and difficult-to-reach high plateau, which only remotely came under the influence or control of the Mongols or the Chinese from time to time. The Dalai Lamas were in fact assigned their name and governmental role by Mongol overlords around 1578.

Tibet only “opened up” to the non-Asian world in mid-twentieth century. My introduction was via Lowell Thomas Jr.’s book Out of this World (published in 1950 – I will have more to say about the book elsewhere). And I read this book when I was a teenager in middle America, some time after Tibet was occupied by the Chinese army and just before the 14th Dalai Lama went into exile in India. The Chinese government claims that Tibet has always been a part of China. Those of us who have come into contact with Tibetan people know them as hard-working and dedicated, open and welcoming, and will never forget our encounters.

Jane Bay “Precious Jewels of Tibet”Last year I met Jane Bay. Jane has worked within the film industry for some time, and Jane came to know Tibet thru some interesting events – but most directly because she sponsored and adopted a Tibetan refugee daughter. Initially her daughter, Namgyal, lived at the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India, but due to circumstances and political pressure she moved back to Tibet. And Jane lost touch with her. This story is told in Jane’s first book, Precious Jewels of Tibet.

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The Global Oneness Project

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Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee of
the Global Oneness Project
(on the road in the Australian outback)

Here’s a two-for-one post. Not only have I run across a great project and cause, but it’s a media project!

The Global Oneness Project has chosen the approach of professionally recording video interviews with individuals who are contributing to our awakening. I recorded an interview with Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, who directs the project. [12min:37sec QuickTime]

Click the arrow to hear the interview:

From GlobalOneness.org… “The idea of oneness is not new. For thousands of years it’s been a basic part of human consciousness, taking countless forms in the world’s spiritual, religious, artistic, and cultural traditions. Indigenous lifeways, myths showing the interconnectedness of all things, intricate philosophical systems, literature, and art are just a few of the ways we’ve sought to understand and express oneness. For the most part, however, these different expressions have been isolated from one another by geography, language, and time, or restricted to an intellectual or spiritual elite.

“In contrast, today we experience global interdependence with a unique level of clarity and urgency. In natural sciences like biology, physics, and mathematics; in technology, economics, and ecology; and in spiritual, cultural, and social movements across the planet new perspectives on oneness are emerging with breathtaking beauty and transformational power.”

Here are links to a few videos that address spirituality, community, and service:

Listening and Learning, a conversation with Amy Krantz

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Amy Krantz is a special education teacher who studied at Bank Street College of Education. She taught for almost 30 years in New York City schools. Her Master’s thesis dealt with her experience teaching young severely-language-impaired children, using a method that utilized reflection and self-expression thru writing and poetry.

I met Amy Krantz almost by accident about two years ago. Introduced by a Buddhist nun in Pasadena. Amy was looking for someone to share a cab from the airport. We have had occasional conversations ever since – somehow karmically connected as we seem to just “run into” each other from time to time in places like Dharamsala (India) and San Francisco (California). Amy has an adopted daughter who lives in Dharamsala and spends a lot of time there.

A couple of months ago, I suggested to Amy that we sit down and discuss learning and teaching. She is one of those people who has a special approach, and that’s always worth paying attention to. In this interview, we focus a lot on the relationship of “listening” to “expression” and learning. I intend to expand this into a series of interviews with educators who have special messages to share.

Play the interview:

University for Peace & the Earth Charter

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upeaceOn June 6th, several of us from the Foundation met with Professor Abelardo Brenes of University for Peace (headquartered in San José, Costa Rica) to discuss the Earth Charter and the principle of universal responsibility.

Brenes described the Earth Charter in a 30-minute monologue which you may play (below).

University for Peace logoUniversity for Peace (UPEACE) is a UN initiative which operates independent of, but was mandated by the UN. “Headquartered in Costa Rica, the United Nations-mandated University for Peace was established in December 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. As determined in the Charter of the University and endorsed by the UPEACE Council, the mission of the University for Peace is: “to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.”

In a 2003 online “paper,” Brenes describes (in Spanish) the initiative.

And in a 2003 print interview, as well (on irenees.net, A Website of Resources for Peace).

UPDATE: Abelardo Brenes faculty page at University for Peace

Play the interview: