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.

Well, 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…)

Jane has at least a two-track mind. If working as George Lucas’ assistant is her day job, then her unexpected second job has been writing two books. When I interviewed her in 2007, Jane talked about her two books. While we were capturing those stories I also asked Jane what it’s like to work for and with George Lucas. And with joy in her voice, she obliged:

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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.

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.

But that wasn’t the only loss in their relationship. Jane regained contact with Namgyal, in Tibet, where her daughter was studying traditional Tibetan medicine. And they began to plan a life-long relationship in which Namgyal would be able to move back and forth between Tibet and the US, observing the traditional and the modern in all its variation.

But it was not to be. In 2003, Namgyal suddenly died. Arising out of Jane’s shock and grief, and based on exchanges of email that she had with friends, she wrote a book Love & Loss: A Story About Life, Death, and Rebirth. In this book she chronicles the email exchanges she had following the death of her adopted Tibetan daughter in 2003. Far from being impersonal, the email exchange turned deeply touching and intimate. Technology ended up being the enabler that allowed Jane to move thru a time of crisis. And to share that story with others.

[Updated Feb 2017 and Mar 2018 to use HTML5 audio tag]

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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]

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:

• Words From the (17th) Karmapa
• Waking Up (Tenzin Palmo)
• The Heart of Religion (Alberto Luna)
• Seva Cafe: Love All, Serve All (Anjali Desai)
• Living Service (Jayesh Patel)
• Barrio de Paz (Nelsa Libertad Curbelo)
• The Land Owns Us (Bob Randall)
• An Invitation (Don Alverto Taxo)

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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.

The post Listening and Learning, a conversation with Amy Krantz appeared first on Sky's Blog.

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

University 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

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As we were just getting Project Happiness moving, a guy named “DK” pinged us – interested in our project because he creates podcasts dealing with media for and by youth.

This guy is moving and shaking and getting a lot of activities going. And his media approach is quite interesting.

“DK” of MediaSnackers.com

Here’s what DK says about his work – “I launched MediaSnackers in June 2006 with an educational background in communications and media, plus a professional background in local government (I was the UK’s first and only Corporate Youth Officer… oooh!)—I’ve done lots of things and had many roles, but my passion for working with young people (and youth professionals) has been my main focus for the past 8 years. … MediaSnackers is my ‘bat and ball’—do you fancy a game?

(The DK comes from the initials of my old name. One of the first young people I started working with called me DK and it just stuck—I never liked my old name so I adopted it fully.)”

As of this date MediaSnackers has completed 8 videocasts and 94 podcast interviews.

This is the only opportunity that you’ll get (on this blog, at least) to hear me interviewed by somebody else…if that’s of interest to you at all.

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