Podcasts about servicespace

We are welcoming Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, a global movement that touches millions of people through the merging of volunteerism, technology and the gift-economy.Tamsin spoke to Nipun about the potential and far-reaching impacts of an unexpected act of kindness. Not only for the recipient, but for oneself, society and the world at large. Nipun set up ServiceSpace after quitting his first and only job as a software engineer to become a full-time volunteer. Fast forward more than two decades and ServiceSpace has evolved to become a global ecosystem of over 1.5 million members, delivering millions of dollars in service for free. He has also been honoured by the Dalai Lama as an "Unsung Hero of Compassion".Our podcast is hosted and produced by Tamsin Walker. Executive producer is IGD co-founder Jeroen Janss. For more information, visit us on LinkedIn, innergreendeal.com or write to info@innergreendeal.com.   In the four years since it has been running, the Inner Green Deal podcast has been entirely self-funded and we are committed to keeping it that way, which means commercials-free. To live up to this ambition, we are inviting you to support us. Every contribution, however small, makes a difference and allows us to continue sharing inspiring stories that highlight how understanding what is going inside can help in tackling the climate crisis. If you would like to donate, click here for more details.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

ENVISION radical generosity with Nupin Mehta.Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism, and gift culture.As a designer of large-scale social movements that are rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro-moments of inner transformation, his work has uniquely catalyzed "many to many" networks of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices of cultivating compassion. More recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response showcased the beauty of its agile ecosystem.Today, ServiceSpace reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole greater than the sum of its parts".Nipun was honored as an "Unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the USA.Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way -his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart. I quote him: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.”Welcome NIPUN, is an honor to share this moment, here with you!About Nipun    |     ServiceSpace I invite you to join my email list, if you want to hear about the new episodes or the food for thought I am pondering on. https://www.auroramorfin.com/ Aligned Beings our online community has opened its doors. If you want to hear more about it and all the details, visit the site. All the info is there! Also, I'm launching a new chapter of the New Beginning Workshop, all the details are out there on the site as well. Much love gorgeous Human Being! ❤️

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and a gift culture. As a designer of large-scale social movements that are rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro moments of inner transformation, his work has uniquely catalyzed "many to many" networks of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices of cultivating deeper connection -- with oneself, each other and our systems. Today, ServiceSpace reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole great than the sum of its parts". Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Using modern tools to support inner transformation, ServiceSpace founder Nipun Mehta offers innovative solutions for turning artificial intelligence into collective heart intelligence.Learn more about ServiceSpace's unique model of organizing small acts of service at servicespace.org.In this episode, Nipun and Raghu chat about: Nipun's upbringing and finding the infinity behind each momentLiving a life of serviceUsing artificial intelligence for inner transformation and the emergence of compassionFear of AI versus it's potential positive usesCollective heart Intelligence versus today's artificial intelligenceTaking care of others as others take care of youNipun and his wife's pilgrimage through IndiaLooking at what we can do to offer kindness to the worldBeing sustainable through being relatedThe physical and emotional rewards of being generousShifting from transaction into relationshipAbout Nipun Mehta:Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (formerly CharityFocus), an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology, and the gift economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 400,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. Mehta has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President's Volunteer Service Award, and Wavy Gravy's Humanitarian award. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and the Greater Good Science Center. Check out some of Nipun's TedTalks HERE and HERE.“Can we bring in this vision, this intention, this possibility? Can our modern tools support our inner transformation, which then can out of a heart of service flow out into the world through a very different design pattern?” – Nipun MehtaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Victor Koo is a familiar face in China's tech industry. In the 90s, he was president of Sohu, China's second-largest search engine. Subsequently, he founded YouKu, China's largest online video platform with 500 million monthly users (commonly called the "YouTube of China" and later sold to Alibaba). Surprisingly, his journey of scaling began to turn inwards at a tech conference in Sun Valley in 2016, when a networking conversation with a young entrepreneur soon turned towards meditation. Upon hearing that Victor had always wanted to try it, the young entrepreneur let go of the opportunity to network with others, instead guiding Victor to an hour-long meditation. That was the first hour of meditation in Victor's life, a seed that he continues to cultivate through a daily practice now spanning several years. Along the way, on a trip to Thailand, he casually walked into a breathwork course without any context. That session, led by a teacher who had survived Stage-4 terminal cancer through breathwork practice, further opened up his inner world in a striking way. "If I never believed in chakras and energy body within each of us, that session blew all of that disbelief away based on direct experience that lasted over a day." As Victor's inner journey took root, it has also decidedly altered the course of his work in the world. After transitioning from his role at Youku, Victor shifted his focus to inner-purpose-driven service and investing. In late 2016, he co-founded Tianren Culture - a social platform based out of Hong Kong that aims to promote "One Wisdom, One Health" by encouraging and enabling contemplative practices and healthy lifestyles. It focuses especially on those practices and lifestyles with roots in spiritual and natural wisdom and non-dualistic philosophies, positing that human physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and wellness is interconnected with the health of the broader environment and ecosystem. Tianren Culture partners with foundations, NGOs, and businesses to put in place effective social innovation initiatives to improve physical wellness through overall food system transformation, as well as mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness by supporting scientific research and promoting meditation and breathwork practices. The Tianren team is actively volunteering time for Servicespace's AI-related initiatives, including CompassionGPT. Related to Tianren's work, Victor is also a board director of Good Food Fund and on the advisory board of Global Wellness Institute. Victor's exposure to multiple cultures has been formative in his journey - he was born in Hong Kong, and apart from twenty-five years in China, he has lived extensively in Australia, US, and Japan - with Japan being his current home since the pandemic. He received his BS degree from University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a Regent's scholar and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he currently serves on the Advisory Council. Victor's professional experience lies mostly at the intersection of the technology and media sectors, as well as private equity and venture capital investments. He continues to serve as Chairman of Heyi (his company that incubated Youku), which now focuses on disruptive innovation and social impact investments in areas such as health, genome, and new protein. He is also a senior advisor of Texas Pacific Group and a business advisor of DeCheng Capital. "If there was one thing I wish I had known before I started my company, it is meditation (by far!) because of the calm and equanimity that it brings you, and really helps you question the purpose of why you're doing what you're doing." It's a piece of advice that Victor can often be found paying forward now to b-school students and young founders. Join us in conversation with this founder-turned-server, as we learn more about his journey of scaling inwards, or as he loves to quote Bruce Lee, to "be like water". The call will be hosted by Xue Devand and Birju Pandya. Xue formerly founded one of the "50 most innovative companies of the world" and now currently runs The Space Between, a venture capital fund aiming to be a "sacred hospitality" company that helps inspire wealthholders to transition their consciousness from being owners of money to being the stewards of money. Birju is Chief Mindfulness Officer/Managing Director at Mobius.life, an integrated capital family office, and a long-time volunteer with Servicespace.

Turns out, we can have many kinds of wealth besides money: creativity, time, community, compassion, friendships, attention, and patience, to name a few. We can each give those things to others liberally, and in the process, live extraordinarily happy lives. Today's guest, Nipun Mehta, will help you see that in a world where “capital” like time, ideas, and kindness are priceless, what you have to contribute makes you very wealthy. 00:00 Preview 00:40 Intro & Welcome 03:34 The Power of Volunteering Nipun may have started reversing the hopelessness narrative long before it was popular. Nipun has always felt that there's a spark in people that longs to be in service and longs to be compassionate. He has an implicit faith in himself and everyone else. In the late 90's Nipun started a project called ‘DailyGood' which started with an automatic email sent out every morning with good news. This has been done every day since 1996. It started with his yearning to empower the impulse to serve. The belief is that the world is held together with a lot of goodness and a lot of care. The biggest leaps in human history started with quiet givers and people who turned their backs on something that offended them at the core of their humanity. Ghandi for instance, started his movement based on him being thrown off a train in South Africa for being brown. He was able to do this without burning bridges or creating enemies. Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi, Mandela, The Dalai Lama all took the stance that they would not create an enemy while resisting an action. They would resist an action without creating an enemy. They could resist an action but love the person. The best ideas don't need an enemy. 11:00 Reserving Our Clicks for Things That Matter Wealth currently has a narrow definition based on things like money, power and outward appearance. This has led us to want more and more, and it is this wanting more that typically creates separation & inequality. How do we start to play a much bigger game? We can start by accepting that different forms of wealth exist such as: Stories Attention Connection So much is done to circulate money and the ideas of fame and power as measures of wealth. We can also do the same with our time capital. Small actions might change the entire world and are just as meaningful as newsworthy or Nobel Prize worthy acts. Maybe it's the small things that matter the most. In the words of Mother Teresa, “You can do no big things, only small things with great love”. Those who tend to the small acts tend to be happier and more connected, secure and grounded. Nipun's very successful found out his first son was autistic.. He was initially worried, but soon recognized that this might be the biggest gift of his life as it showed him that everyone is good at something. He went on to hire several people on the autism spectrum, and the initiative was so successful that it became a Harvard Case Study. Last week's episode, (Episode 137) with Temple Grandin, the most famous autistic person in the world spoke to the limitlessness and beauty of different minds. 46:12 Break 18:50 Hunger is Invisible Nipun's Organization, ServiceSpace, started by building websites for non-profit organizations. It started when Nipun and his 3 friends went to a homeless shelter in 1999 and offered to build them a website in their earliest effort to practice generosity. They intuitively knew that they could exercise compassion & kindness and grow them as one would grow muscles. Giving is beneficial to both the giver and the receiver. They started spreading the word on how small acts of kindness can improve everyone's lives. These acts garnered media coverage as website building was expensive at the time, and here were some young men who could be making money building websites for free. The reward comes from nature. The idea of the movement is to hold space to allow people to be able to give of themselves in return for nature's reward...

Dr. Cynthia Li had it all — a thriving medical career, a loving marriage, and children. But everything came crashing down when she was hit with a disabling autoimmune thyroid condition. Strange symptoms took over her life and, despite numerous tests, the results always came back "normal". It was a puzzle that left both Dr. Li and her doctors scratching their heads, which led her to embark on an unconventional journey of self-discovery and healing. In this episode you'll learn: * How fear makes autoimmunity worse* A journaling exercise for deep self inquiry* What your dreams can reveal about your subconscious * The healing potential of qigongCynthia Li, MD, is a medical doctor and author whose personal journey through a complex autoimmune condition took her from public health in underserved communities to integrative medicine and intuitive healing. She has studied with functional medicine experts, environmental health scientists, alternative healers, and qigong masters. She has served as faculty for Dr. Rachel Remen's Healer's Art program at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, and written a bestselling memoir called Brave New Medicine: A Doctor's Unconventional Journey to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness. What is most alive for her right now is coaching groups, where she integrates the powerful energy healing modality of qigong with clinical medicine. She also serves as co-anchor for Awakin Calls, a project of ServiceSpace. Episode is brought to you by Beeya:* If you're struggling with hormonal imbalances, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances* Get $10 off with promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin:* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/* Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Cynthia:* Website: https://cynthialimd.com/ * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dr.cynthia.li/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, Sister Elizabeth sits down with Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace. ServiceSpace is a digital ecosystem run entirely by volunteers with the goal of igniting "the fundamental generosity in ourselves and others, creating both inner and outer transformation." They talk about the founding of ServiceSpace, how it inspires users like Sister Elizabeth, and how it can create kindness in the world.

Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, joins host Martin Schreiber to discuss the importance of gratitude, empathy and small acts of kindness.

In this episode, Wellness Within Founder Patti Brown, MS LMFT is joined by our returning honored guest, Cynthia Li, MD. In this in-depth conversation, Dr. Li shares about her transformational experiences of grief, while providing insightful and uplifting wisdom for those who are ready to hear it. This episode invites listeners to see themselves in how they relate to the holding and release of their own grief.  Exemplifying how healing and grieving is not always linear, and how "you can't heal what you don't feel or what you are not connected to".  Are you ready?And in cased you missed their last podcast conversation together, be sure to check out the episode, Qigong Demystified with Dr. Cynthia Li where she shares how Zhineng (Wisdom Healing) Qigong contributed to her radical remission of  an autoimmune thyroid condition, and her observation of how science is evolving to measure and support the benefits of this ancient practice. Dr. Cynthia Li is a doctor and author whose personal healing journey through a disabling autoimmune condition took her from public health in underserved populations, to integrative and functional medicine.Her personal health challenges began in 2005, and they expanded her beyond her conventional training. She has studied and practiced with functional medicine experts, environmental health scientists, acupuncturists, qigong masters, and alternative healers, weaving together cutting-edge science and ancient healing arts. Currently, she has a private practice in Berkeley, CA, and serves as faculty for the Healer's Art program at the University of California San Francisco Medical School.After becoming an anchor for Awakin Calls, a podcast of the global, all-volunteer-run ServiceSpace community of 2M+, she modeled her clinical services on the gift economy, where patients contribute into a community fund according to their abilities, giving and receiving from each other based on trust.She is author of the book, Brave New Medicine: A Doctor's Unconventional Path to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness.This podcast is sponsored in part by UC Davis Health, Elizabeth A. Harmon D.D.S., and Columbia Bank. It is offered freely to ensure everyone has access to these practices and conversations offered by Wellness Within Cancer Support Services. If you feel inspired to donate to support Wellness Within offerings, please visit www.wellnesswithin.org/giveBEACON is a self-paced online system that provides cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors a place to learn and practice wellness. It is designed to support the individual based on where they are in their cancer experience. Enroll at https://beacon.wellnesswithin.org/Support the show

Money cannot buy you happiness. We have all heard this famous quote, but is this the right way of viewing life? The truth is, you need wealth to be happy, but not the kind of wealth you are probably thinking about. For Nipun Mehta, simple acts of kindness, compassion, and giving are forms of wealth that are oftentimes more treasured than tangible money. He is the founder of ServiceSpace, a series of volunteers that center around the gift-economy, and has won multiple awards for his passion in helping others. Follow our Instagram and YouTube @moneymadeeasypod --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We met with Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace, to discuss gratitude and generosity. Revealing the how and why of, "giving like a rose that gives away its scent," we were ourselves transformed by the conversation. As a small sampling of the conversation's many gems, we touched on the hierarchy of generosity, and the ability to "throw a better party" when we replace transactions with relationships. Nipun advocated for our own personal experimentation with generosity, knowing that if we listen closely, we may discover wonderful changes happening within ourselves. He explained how gratitude can be regenerative, and reminded us that it emerges from the recognition that we are nestled in so many gifts that we can never reciprocate. This knowledge invites us to pay forward what we can never pay back. Apparently the most valuable resource in navigating this path is to have noble friends who help us find the way through these and many other inspiring insights. We invite you to be our noble friends, and join us on this transformative journey through Thanksgiving and beyond.

For a podcast that usually talks about money and how to grow our wealth, it's important to take a step back to understand why we want to do this in the first place: we want to be happy. For Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace, simple acts of kindness, compassion, and giving are forms of wealth that are oftentimes more treasured than tangible money. In this interview, he talks about how giving and taking part in making others happy will in turn make you feel even better about yourself. Follow our Instagram and YouTube @moneymadeeasypod pravarjain34@gmail.com arnavjain123aj@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

On Wonderspace this week we are joined by Audrey Lin in San Francisco. Audrey is one of many people around the world who volunteer with ServiceSpace which is a non-profit dedicated to transformative volunteerism. They leverage technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. One of the many projects Audrey works on is Karuna news which highlights stories of everyday people choosing love over fear. ServiceSpace was nominated by Ruth Rogers from Canvas (EP35) More information www.servicespace.org and www.karunanews.org To view the episode page with a summary of the interview, links to social media and projects mentioned, go to https://ourwonder.space/episodes/_84

Dr. Cynthia Li is a physician and author who shares her own personal healing journey faced with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and dysautonomia. Dr. Li specializes in Integrative and Functional medicine and throughout her career has directed her work towards underserved communities. She has practiced in healthcare areas ranging from Kaiser Permanente's HIV group to Doctors Without Borders in rural China. Dr. Li is also an anchor for ServiceSpace, a global, all-volunteer-run organization of 2 million people that incubates labor of love projects to create positive transformation. In addition, she has a memoir called “Brave New Medicine: A Doctor's Unconventional Path to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness”. Dr. Li works with a variety of alternative healers and functional medicine experts, along with serving as faculty for Rachel Remen's Healer's Art program at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine.    In today's episode, host Shay Beider sits down with Dr. Li to discuss her personal journey of healing. Dr. Li emphasizes how she was able to shift her understanding of medicine towards an energetic view of the body. She talks about the importance of functional medicine and examining the root cause of illness, rather than just alleviating symptoms. Shay and Dr. Li also touch on the effect COVID-19 can have on the immune system and how the virus manifests differently in each person. They talk  about the importance of taking measures in everyday life to maximize health, such as eating the right foods and getting proper nutrients for your body. Finally, Dr. Li shares the importance of change and how healing, at its essence, heavily relies on embracing change both in the body and in our environment.   Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing    Show Notes: Learn more about functional medicine Read up on Dr. Leo Galland's research here Study on the neurological effects of COVID “How to Strengthen Your Inner Shield” by Cynthia Li More on Dr. Stephen Porges and Deb Dana's work here Find out about HeartMath   Integrative Touch (InTouch) is working to change the way people experience health and healing. A leader in the field of pediatric integrative medicine, the organization supports caregivers and families whose children have any type of special health or medical need. This includes kids with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™ Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization reaches thousands of people each year in hospitals and communities and offers unique Telehealth programs to families and healthcare providers around the world. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, individuals are able to receive wellness education and integrative medical services at little or no cost.

A very different guest this time, from the world of philosophy, spirituality and service. Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (servicespace.org), a volunteer-driven global organisation that creates lasting change and drives global compassion through small acts of service. Their mission, in their own words, is "to create a shift from consumption to contribution, transaction to trust, scarcity to abundance, and isolation to community". I learnt about compassion, infinite reciprocity, the meaning of impact, dissolution of ego and much more in this lovely conversation. If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started. Timestamps: 0:52 Intro, Discovering Service as his purpose. 4:13 Early Childhood, experiences that shaped him, connecting context. 13:41 Relationship with money, choosing flow over accumulation. 18:18 The meaning of impact, serving without the expectation of an outcome. 29:38 Understanding Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion. And the difference between them. 34:57 Giving like a king, discovering compassion. 41:21 Learning the law of love, learning from kids. 47:47 Happiness in the disillusion of ego. 49:33 Living in the present. "Read man, he is the living poem." Full transcript of the conversation can be found here: https://share.descript.com/view/v00w4MD1he2 Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 500,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. Most recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique emergent beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, Dalai Lama's Unsung Hero of Compassion, Goi Peace Award in 2019. Few years ago, President Barack Obama appointed him to a council on poverty and inequality. Nipun is routinely invited to share his message of "giftivism" to wide ranging audiences, from inner city youth in Memphis to academics in London to international dignitaries at the United Nations; his speech at UPenn commencement in May 2012 was read by millions. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and Greater Good Science Center. Nipun's high-school goal was to either become a tennis-pro or a Himalayan Yogi. Instead, by the third year of his Computer Science and Philosophy degree at UC Berkeley, he started his software career at Sun Microsystems. Dissatisfied by the dot-com greed of the late 90s, Nipun went to a homeless shelter with three friends to "give with absolutely no strings attached." They ended up creating a website, and also an organization named ServiceSpace. Over the years, they built thousands of websites for nonprofits but also started incubating a diverse set of projects that included online portals DailyGood and KarmaTube, offline movements like Smile Cards, a pay-it-forward rickshaw in India, and Karma Kitchen restaurants in three cities across the US. In 2001, at the age of 25, Nipun quit his job to become a "full time volunteer." He didn't have a plan of survival beyond six months, but so far, so good. In January 2005, Nipun and Guri, his wife of six months, put everything aside to embark on an open-ended, unscripted walking pilgrimage in India, to "use our hands to do random acts of kindness, our heads to profile inspiring people, and our hearts to cultivate truth." Living on a dollar a day, eating wherever food was offered, sleeping wherever a flat surface was found, the couple walked 1000 kilometers before ending up at a retreat center, where they meditated for three months. Today, both Nipun and Guri live in Berkeley and stay rooted in a practice of small acts of service. The journey continues.  Nipun's mission statement in life now reads: "Bring smiles in the world and stillness in my heart."  You can read more about Nipun here. 

  “How do we hold transactions in their place, while also honoring the much larger spectrum of the human experience?” — Nipun Mehta   You've probably heard of paying it forward: Responding to an act of kindness someone shows you by helping another person. To Nipun Mehta, it's not just a nice idea, it's a way of living and leading that can change all our lives for the better.   Nipun is a former Silicon Valley computer scientist who traded Big Tech for big ideas. He founded ServiceSpace, a support network for projects that nurture kindness and compassion. The idea is to build a community of people who do things for each other not in exchange for money or other material rewards, but with the aim of creating an ecosystem based on kindness.   It's an ambitious project, but Nipun isn't in a rush. As with everything in life, he'd rather go slow and build systems that work than follow the stereotypical Silicon Valley motto "move fast and break things."   You may be aware of Nipun from his various TED Talks. He's also been praised for his ideas about spreading compassion by no less than Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. In 2019, he received the Goi Peace Award — having turned it down multiple times previously.   In this episode of Leading With Genuine Care, Nipun explains how we're already all engaging in indirect reciprocity, why he never takes shortcuts in relationships or life, and what a bold trek across India taught him about the connection between uncertainty and compassion.   You'll also learn: How to escape our narrow reciprocity feedback loops The collective power of paying it forward How his mom and dad's “sandbox” approach to parenting shaped Nipun's outlook Why he's proud to be someone who cares a lot How a walking pilgrimage through India forever changed his perspective on compassion How a plumber moved Nipun to tears Why ServiceSpace doesn't have a plan Where to find the best apples in the world (and why this is important)   Connect with Nipun Mehta Facebookfacebook.com/servicespace/    Twitter twitter.com/servicespace    Website servicespace.org/    Learn More From Nipun Mehta Find out more about Nipun   Visit his website here: http://nipun.servicespace.org/about/    Watch Nipun Mehta's TED Talks   Leading with the gifts of emergence: https://www.ted.com/talks/nipun_mehta_laddership_leading_with_the_gifts_of_emergence   Can we create social change without money? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoV23TJe4UM    What does it take to create a giver culture? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP17YsBrVkQ    Get Rob's Weekly Newsletter Never miss an inspiring conversation about compassionate, positive leadership on the Leading with Genuine Care podcast plus other great articles and insights. Click below, and you'll also get a download of his favorite mindful resources.   https://www.donothingbook.com/resource-guide    Follow Rob Dube on Social Media  LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/robdube    Facebook:  facebook.com/rob.dube.1    Twitter:  twitter.com/robddube    Rob Dube's Website donothingbook.com  

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism, and the gift economy. Most recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has catalyzed a global social movement of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices for cultivating love, nonviolence, selfless service, and compassion. The ecosystem has reached millions, attracted thousands of volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous community-based service projects as well as inspiring content portals. ServiceSpace harnesses the collective power of networks and our deeper interconnectedness to create a distributed social movement founded on small, local individual acts of kindness, generosity, and service that ignite shifts in individual and collective consciousness. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me." In his mid-twenties, Nipun quit his job to become a "full-time volunteer". One of his most formative experiences was a walking pilgrimage across India, with his wife of six months, whose profound lessons also became the subject of his widely-read address at UPenn commencement. Over the last twenty years, he has addressed thousands of gatherings around the world, speaking next to wide-ranging leaders from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to author Elizabeth Gilbert to civil rights legend John Lewis. Germany's OOOM magazine named Nipun one of the Top 100 Most Inspiring People of 2020. See links to these ServiceSpace websites at the bottom of their website.         And for some of Nipun's talks and articles, visit his personal website. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded December 4, 2021. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Hang Mai is a green, social entrepreneur from Vietnam. She runs Xanh Shop, which connects produce of farmers and interested urban citizens. She recently transformed the business to foster gift ecology in the associated communities. She believes that "large is small, many times over.'' So she focuses her energy on growing people and encourages them to start their own projects. In many cases, she even gives the seed capital needed as a gift. Hang was instrumental in getting "One Straw Revolution", the iconic book of Masanobu Fukuoka, translated into Vietnamese. It's been a best seller that has set off a "Back to the Land" revolution, especially among youth. After marrying Chau Duong, she moved to a two hectare farm an hour away from Ho Chi Minh city. Together, they built a couple of homes mostly from material that nobody wanted.  Homesteaded here, they nurture many ponds, many fruit trees and cultivate deeper relationships with neighbors. The farm has become the center of their hearts and the base of their training programs in Permaculture offered as a gift. Here are Hang's responses to the "5 Questions" we asked her : What makes you come alive?  Living simply on our farm. What event/moment has been a pivotal turning point in your life?  Transforming is a slow process. There are many turning points in my life actually: Practice Qigong Dr. Tho Ha Vinh with his teachings about self-leadership, about mindfulness & compassion, about social & emotional learning.   Nipun and other ServiceSpace volunteers who walk their talk of laddership & giftivism.   The jungle of love  An act of kindness you'll never forget?  Audrey Lin of ServiceSpace with her question: how can I make your day? One thing on your bucket list?  Have no-expectation but welcome any emergence.   Your one-line message for the world?  My life is my message!   ************* Chau Duong is a true son of the soil. He trained with Bill Mollison, considered the father of Permaculture, three decades ago. And he was inspired to live for twenty years with indigenous communities learning their ways of being aligned with nature. As part of his work in the non-profit world, he was instrumental in changing government policy so the land that belonged to these ethnic minorities can not be taken away by other entities. Chau also anchored the ripples of the Vietnamese version of One Straw Revolution, by holding training sessions on Permaculture Design. And he has always offered these highly priced courses as a gift! He believes that communities that work together, stay together. Whenever he travels, he connects all the neighbors who know him but may not know one other through work of common purpose. He is always ready to share his knowledge about farming, forestry, building homes, creating water harvesting structures etc in a hands-on, demonstrative way. Chau is a hands-on trainer and never fails to add lasting value and lift spirits in that process, wherever he is. Together with Hang, he is constantly focused on the journey back to the source while living an extra-ordinary life on his farm. Here are Chau's responses to the "5 Questions" : What makes you come alive?  Learning and practicing a lifestyle relying on nature (through forest-based garden practices including inner and outer forest-based garden). That is what we call 'Journey towards citizens of the Sun' (trying to make the most of the sun's energy, minimizing the use of non-renewable resources. Being an useful actor in the community by sharing and exchanging different resources (experience and skills and social resources) Living in a joy and happiness in garden basically requires 3V (Vietnamese): * Vườn: Garden; * Vốn: Capital (resources - including skills capital, social capital and financial capital); * Vợ: Wife or partner What event/moment has been a pivotal turning point in your life?  20 years of learning and working with indigenous people who are ethnic minorities in Vietnam, who have relied on forests (nature) for centuries. The most important lesson that made me irrevocably changed from a 'own and control' mindset of nature to a 'relying' mindset on nature (the garden); An act of kindness you'll never forget?  Sincere and non-profit sharing of the ethnic minorities, who i have been working with last 20 years One thing on your bucket list?  Promoting a lifestyle relying on nature by forest-based garden practices (inner forest-based garden lifestyle and physical forest-based garden). Your one-line message for the world?  Adapting to and relying on nature instead of controlling it. 

Hang Mai is a green, social entrepreneur from Vietnam. She runs Xanh Shop, which connects produce of farmers and interested urban citizens. She recently transformed the business to foster gift ecology in the associated communities. She believes that "large is small, many times over.'' So she focuses her energy on growing people and encourages them to start their own projects. In many cases, she even gives the seed capital needed as a gift. Hang was instrumental in getting "One Straw Revolution", the iconic book of Masanobu Fukuoka, translated into Vietnamese. It's been a best seller that has set off a "Back to the Land" revolution, especially among youth. After marrying Chau Duong, she moved to a two hectare farm an hour away from Ho Chi Minh city. Together, they built a couple of homes mostly from material that nobody wanted.  Homesteaded here, they nurture many ponds, many fruit trees and cultivate deeper relationships with neighbors. The farm has become the center of their hearts and the base of their training programs in Permaculture offered as a gift. Here are Hang's responses to the "5 Questions" we asked her : What makes you come alive?  Living simply on our farm. What event/moment has been a pivotal turning point in your life?  Transforming is a slow process. There are many turning points in my life actually: Practice Qigong Dr. Tho Ha Vinh with his teachings about self-leadership, about mindfulness & compassion, about social & emotional learning.   Nipun and other ServiceSpace volunteers who walk their talk of laddership & giftivism.   The jungle of love  An act of kindness you'll never forget?  Audrey Lin of ServiceSpace with her question: how can I make your day? One thing on your bucket list?  Have no-expectation but welcome any emergence.   Your one-line message for the world?  My life is my message!   ************* Chau Duong is a true son of the soil. He trained with Bill Mollison, considered the father of Permaculture, three decades ago. And he was inspired to live for twenty years with indigenous communities learning their ways of being aligned with nature. As part of his work in the non-profit world, he was instrumental in changing government policy so the land that belonged to these ethnic minorities can not be taken away by other entities. Chau also anchored the ripples of the Vietnamese version of One Straw Revolution, by holding training sessions on Permaculture Design. And he has always offered these highly priced courses as a gift! He believes that communities that work together, stay together. Whenever he travels, he connects all the neighbors who know him but may not know one other through work of common purpose. He is always ready to share his knowledge about farming, forestry, building homes, creating water harvesting structures etc in a hands-on, demonstrative way. Chau is a hands-on trainer and never fails to add lasting value and lift spirits in that process, wherever he is. Together with Hang, he is constantly focused on the journey back to the source while living an extra-ordinary life on his farm. Here are Chau's responses to the "5 Questions" : What makes you come alive?  Learning and practicing a lifestyle relying on nature (through forest-based garden practices including inner and outer forest-based garden). That is what we call 'Journey towards citizens of the Sun' (trying to make the most of the sun's energy, minimizing the use of non-renewable resources. Being an useful actor in the community by sharing and exchanging different resources (experience and skills and social resources) Living in a joy and happiness in garden basically requires 3V (Vietnamese): * Vườn: Garden; * Vốn: Capital (resources - including skills capital, social capital and financial capital); * Vợ: Wife or partner What event/moment has been a pivotal turning point in your life?  20 years of learning and working with indigenous people who are ethnic minorities in Vietnam, who have relied on forests (nature) for centuries. The most important lesson that made me irrevocably changed from a 'own and control' mindset of nature to a 'relying' mindset on nature (the garden); An act of kindness you'll never forget?  Sincere and non-profit sharing of the ethnic minorities, who i have been working with last 20 years One thing on your bucket list?  Promoting a lifestyle relying on nature by forest-based garden practices (inner forest-based garden lifestyle and physical forest-based garden). Your one-line message for the world?  Adapting to and relying on nature instead of controlling it. 

Legendary Nipun Mehta, founder of Karma Kitchen & ServiceSpace, and former member of the distinguished panel for initiating policy recommendations on poverty and inequality in America under President Obama, explains how to thrive in an interconnected world. Learn more about Nipun here: http://nipun.servicespace.org/ Follow Dr. Mayer: - https://linktr.ee/emayer

Legendary Nipun Mehta, founder of Karma Kitchen & ServiceSpace, and former member of the distinguished panel for initiating policy recommendations on poverty and inequality in America under President Obama, explains how to thrive in an interconnected world. Learn more about Nipun here: http://nipun.servicespace.org/ Follow Dr. Mayer: - https://linktr.ee/emayer

How does a heart of service respond to the difficulties of our times? How do we overcome fear and awaken the compassion that is innate within us? Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace.org, discusses how small acts of service can transform us and transform the world.

This Sunday April 11, 2021 at 10 am (IST) in conversation with Vipul Shaha, will be ServiceSpace volunteer Rahul B Mehta on the topic of "Journeying Back to the Roots" :  What promise does a village or rurban life hold for today's youth? What is education of the heart? What practices may aid our communion with children, near relationships & nature? Vipul Shaha hails from a small village in India. Vipul's quest to learn and dive deeper into the process of learning has led him to engage with wide-ranging populations around the world, including children, teenagers and indigenous, rural and urban communities. His professional career choices includes working with among others Teach for India and the Krishnamurti Foundation, where he co-designed group learning, personal transformation and social-change opportunities with young people. Vipul has volunteered with social organizations such as Initiatives of Change, Servas and Shikshantar. And above all, he is a tinkerer explorer; someone wants to walk the talk. In the past lockdown year, Vipul lived at his ancestral village, rediscovering links with the native culture, and significantly, creating a schedule to reconnect with his immediate family. This included the daily practice of “Quiet time” that included silence followed by a daily practice of collective reflection. Across some 27 such Quiet Time sessions, they offered each other the gift of deep listening and a remarkable shift occurred in their inter relationships. As an educator, Vipul has witnessed the demerits of factory schooling. Vipul’s passion for education translates into an urge to explore its creative potential for a fundamental, radical transformation in human consciousness. During his Teach for India stint, one of the profound finds for him was the realization that to be an effective teacher, one needs to be a good human being. Every moment. Vipul loves Mother Nature : as a self-appointed “branch manager” of the Amla (Indian gooseberry) tree at his village, he happily volunteers to harvest the crop! His love for nature manifests in unique Raksha-bandhan ceremonies where he brings people together to tie rakhis to their village’s sacred grove. Yes, there are times when this love gets tested – like his unbearable suffering of being stung by hundreds of honeybees while climbing atop a banyan tree. Yet, like an ever learning student of life, Vipul catalyses this near death experience into an opportunity - for wisdom to bloom.  His nature connect led Vipul to be a faculty at Krishnamurti Foundation’s Valley School at Bengaluru, where he found himself asking questions like : What would education look like when the world is our classroom and our life is the curriculum? How would the youth of today develop & express their deep care for nature? Again, the inherent linkage between re-connecting with Mother Nature as well as our true nature came alive for Vipul. He nurtures this inherent linkage through his daily practice of Yoga and meditation. Vipul is a post graduate in Human Development and Psychology and offers counselling services and facilitates Mindfulness workshops professionally. It is his belief that being choicelessly aware of the unfolding of every moment with compassion, brings about healing and transformation and unlocks great human potential. Vipul plays the flute, and also paints. He is a (closet :)) poet too –in the number below, he broods over the eternal quest, so very well articulated by J Krishnamurti : How may we live every moment as if we are living it for the first time? *Never Mind!* Hey Mind! Hope you don’t mind, I want to ask you… What are these wanderings that you do? My mind, being seen n' baffled… Tumbles…and fumbles… Hmm...I too wonder… ‘bout my restless wanderings…! Ah, well never mind… I ask my mind again… What is it that you keep longing? Umm…no…nothing… I keep myself busy… With anything n’ everything… You may call me a kid or a monkey… Never pausing or ceasing… day-dreaming…or even screaming… I’m ever so hard-working! I’m thinking…analyzing... Sometimes even agonizing... Every moment, I’m liking or disliking! Fears n’ worries…memories n’ stories… I keep them carrying… Back n’ forth…past n’ future I’m constantly traveling… I nudge my mind again... …what purpose is all this serving? This constant choosing…chattering... Isn’t it so very confusing!!? All your critiquing n controlling Wouldn’t it be so tiring? Ever noticed how you really feeling? What do you say mind… If we chill n enjoy just being? ‘Cuz whatever’s meant to be is anyway happenin'...! My mind throws tantrums n begins freezing.. Uhh…are you firing me bro? Haha, not at all my dear… It’s time for us to grow! Let's drop the baggage n dance… to the tune of this moment! You ready for a promotion? To flow with mindful observation! How my mind smiles n’ jumps! Hugs the Heart… It knows now…that every moment… Is a brand new start!  - September 2, 2020

This Sunday April 11, 2021 at 10 am (IST) in conversation with Vipul Shaha, will be ServiceSpace volunteer Rahul B Mehta on the topic of "Journeying Back to the Roots" :  What promise does a village or rurban life hold for today's youth? What is education of the heart? What practices may aid our communion with children, near relationships & nature? Vipul Shaha hails from a small village in India. Vipul's quest to learn and dive deeper into the process of learning has led him to engage with wide-ranging populations around the world, including children, teenagers and indigenous, rural and urban communities. His professional career choices includes working with among others Teach for India and the Krishnamurti Foundation, where he co-designed group learning, personal transformation and social-change opportunities with young people. Vipul has volunteered with social organizations such as Initiatives of Change, Servas and Shikshantar. And above all, he is a tinkerer explorer; someone wants to walk the talk. In the past lockdown year, Vipul lived at his ancestral village, rediscovering links with the native culture, and significantly, creating a schedule to reconnect with his immediate family. This included the daily practice of “Quiet time” that included silence followed by a daily practice of collective reflection. Across some 27 such Quiet Time sessions, they offered each other the gift of deep listening and a remarkable shift occurred in their inter relationships. As an educator, Vipul has witnessed the demerits of factory schooling. Vipul’s passion for education translates into an urge to explore its creative potential for a fundamental, radical transformation in human consciousness. During his Teach for India stint, one of the profound finds for him was the realization that to be an effective teacher, one needs to be a good human being. Every moment. Vipul loves Mother Nature : as a self-appointed “branch manager” of the Amla (Indian gooseberry) tree at his village, he happily volunteers to harvest the crop! His love for nature manifests in unique Raksha-bandhan ceremonies where he brings people together to tie rakhis to their village’s sacred grove. Yes, there are times when this love gets tested – like his unbearable suffering of being stung by hundreds of honeybees while climbing atop a banyan tree. Yet, like an ever learning student of life, Vipul catalyses this near death experience into an opportunity - for wisdom to bloom.  His nature connect led Vipul to be a faculty at Krishnamurti Foundation’s Valley School at Bengaluru, where he found himself asking questions like : What would education look like when the world is our classroom and our life is the curriculum? How would the youth of today develop & express their deep care for nature? Again, the inherent linkage between re-connecting with Mother Nature as well as our true nature came alive for Vipul. He nurtures this inherent linkage through his daily practice of Yoga and meditation. Vipul is a post graduate in Human Development and Psychology and offers counselling services and facilitates Mindfulness workshops professionally. It is his belief that being choicelessly aware of the unfolding of every moment with compassion, brings about healing and transformation and unlocks great human potential. Vipul plays the flute, and also paints. He is a (closet :)) poet too –in the number below, he broods over the eternal quest, so very well articulated by J Krishnamurti : How may we live every moment as if we are living it for the first time? *Never Mind!* Hey Mind! Hope you don’t mind, I want to ask you… What are these wanderings that you do? My mind, being seen n' baffled… Tumbles…and fumbles… Hmm...I too wonder… ‘bout my restless wanderings…! Ah, well never mind… I ask my mind again… What is it that you keep longing? Umm…no…nothing… I keep myself busy… With anything n’ everything… You may call me a kid or a monkey… Never pausing or ceasing… day-dreaming…or even screaming… I’m ever so hard-working! I’m thinking…analyzing... Sometimes even agonizing... Every moment, I’m liking or disliking! Fears n’ worries…memories n’ stories… I keep them carrying… Back n’ forth…past n’ future I’m constantly traveling… I nudge my mind again... …what purpose is all this serving? This constant choosing…chattering... Isn’t it so very confusing!!? All your critiquing n controlling Wouldn’t it be so tiring? Ever noticed how you really feeling? What do you say mind… If we chill n enjoy just being? ‘Cuz whatever’s meant to be is anyway happenin'...! My mind throws tantrums n begins freezing.. Uhh…are you firing me bro? Haha, not at all my dear… It’s time for us to grow! Let's drop the baggage n dance… to the tune of this moment! You ready for a promotion? To flow with mindful observation! How my mind smiles n’ jumps! Hugs the Heart… It knows now…that every moment… Is a brand new start!  - September 2, 2020

Please join us for a special dialogue between James O'Dea and Nipun Mehta -- both of whom have dedicated their lives to service as conscious activists as well as active agents for the awakening of consciousness. James will open with an invocation that will mirror the arc of their conversation -- "soul awakening, heart opening, light shining, love flowing, wounds dissolving, peace radiating." Given his own journey with front-line activism in violent conflict zones (Amnesty International), to running a foundation that supports impactful service (Seva Foundation), to then leading an institute aiming to bridge science and spirituality, James' dialogue with Nipun will explore the inevitable flow of inner transformation into external service and change, touching upon the integration of inner and outer work. Both speakers are story-tellers, with profound personal stories and encounters with saints and mystics across numerous traditions.  Both an activist and a mystic, James O'Dea is a former President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Washington office director of Amnesty International, and CEO of the Seva Foundation. He worked with the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut during a time of war and massacre and lived in Turkey for five years during civil upheaval and coup d’etat.  He has taught peacebuilding to over a thousand students in 30 countries. He has also conducted frontline social healing dialogues around the world. A mentor of emerging leaders, James is an Honorary Fellow of the Laszlo New Paradigm Institute. He is also a member of The Evolutionary Leaders group and on the Advisory Board of The Peace Alliance and Kosmos Journal. James is author of several books, including The Conscious Activist, Cultivating Peace, Soul Awakening Practice (June 2017), and Creative Stress. Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, Nipun has designed, created, and gifted a new pod technology to support collective learning and intelligence, awakening of spirit, and emergence. ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has catalyzed a global social movement of community builders grounded in their localities, connected by unique non-commercial, labor-of-love technology, and rooted in practices for cultivating love, nonviolence, selfless service, and compassion. The ecosystem has reached millions, attracted thousands of volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous community-based service projects as well as inspiring content portals. ServiceSpace harnesses the collective power of external networks and our deep, inner resources and interconnectedness to create a distributed social movement founded on small, local individual acts of kindness, generosity and service that ignite shifts in individual and collective consciousness. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.”

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace.org -- an incubator of projects that support a gift culture. In his mid-twenties, Nipun quit his job to become a "full time volunteer" and over the last 15 years, his work has reached millions, attracted more than 500 thousand members, and mushroomed into numerous projects like DailyGood, Awakin Circles, and Karma Kitchen. Among his many prestigious accolades, President Obama appointed him to serve on a council for social change, the Dalai Lama recognized him as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion”, and Germany’s OOOM magazine named him Top 100 Most Inspiring People of 2018. Nipun has addressed thousands of gatherings around the world, speaking next to wide-ranging leaders from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to author Elizabeth Gilbert to civil rights legend John Lewis. One of his most formative experiences was a walking pilgrimage across India with his wife. The profound lessons from that journey became the subject of his address at UPenn’s commencement. Nipun's mission in life is to: "Bring smiles in the world and stillness in my heart."   In today’s episode, Shay Beider welcomes Nipun to share his unique story of how he went from a career in software to becoming a full-time volunteer and founder of ServiceSpace. Nipun talks about the work ServiceSpace is doing and the principles the organization follows, including their important practice of “giftivism.” Later, Nipun discusses how a more optimal word for leadership might be “laddership,” and shares his personal philosophy on achieving maximum energy flow. This episode is particularly powerful because it is a dialogue between two non-profit leaders whose organizations are focused on volunteerism.    Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing    Show Notes: ‘A Great Wagon’ by Rumi   This podcast was created by Integrative Touch for Kids (ITK). ITK is working to change the way people experience healthcare. ITK supports families whose children have any type of special health or medical need. This includes kids with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. We have pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™ and reach 3500 people each year in the hospital and community settings. We engage communities in support of families struggling with special medical needs and offer unique Telehealth programs to families and healthcare providers during this challenging time. Thanks to the incredible support of our volunteers and contributors, individuals are able to receive our healing services at little or no cost.

Narsanna Koppula is a pioneer Indian permaculture designer, an energetic and enthusiastic teacher, passionate nature-lover, and a staunch feminist. Padma Koppula is the other hand of this pioneering permaculture couple, whose quiet, behind-the-scenes organizational skills, calm demeanor, superlative patience, local farming knowledge and social skills hold the joint reins of this couple's life of service. Together, the Koppulas founded 'Aranya Agricultural Alternatives' in 1999, an organization focused on permaculture advocacy and education in India and worldwide; and set up the Aranya farm as a demonstration site for permaculture at around the same time. Permaculture, a portmanteau of the words 'permanent agriculture' or 'permanent culture', is a design science that seeks to design landscapes, be they ecological farms or gardens, social systems, or personal emotional landscapes, using ethics and principles derived from the observation and mimicry of Mother Nature. The three core ethics of permaculture are earth care, people care, and fair share/future care (that is, returning surplus yields to nature). Narsanna Koppula was first introduced to the concept of permaculture by his late mentor, Dr. Venkat with whom he was working in Deccan Development Society (DDS), one of India's premier agriculture-based, grassroots NGOs, in the 1980s. Dr. Venkat arranged for the first PDC (permaculture design course) to be conducted in India in 1987 by Bill Mollison (a co-originator of permaculture) and Robyn Francis (a senior teacher and close collaborator of Bill's), and Narsanna participated in that historic PDC. That was the beginning of a lifelong love affair and commitment to the permaculture way for Narsanna, and he has never looked back, since then! The Aranya farm was designed as an archetypal dry-land, fully rain-fed, mature permaculture food forest, providing diverse yields for humans and other creatures throughout the year. Its lush greenery, biodiversity, rich top soil and abundant water resources have to be seen, for one to believe what is possible in terms of design, in landscapes that receive a meager 650 mm of annual rainfall. The Aranya farm has served as an example for local and national farmers of what is possible when committed to the permaculture way of living and farming. And since 2014, the Aranya farm has been the site of residential PDCs, where students from all walks of life are introduced to the various layers and intricacies of permaculture design. It took a pandemic to stop Narsanna and Padma in their tracks and world-record-setting commitment of hosting a PDC every single month, since 2018. Not to be fully outdone by the covid-19 virus, they have since resumed their monthly PDCs, with appropriate precautions in place that ensure physical distancing on their large farm. A heart-warming feature of Narsanna is his open and generous acknowledgment of his lifelong teachers of indigenous natural farming techniques – the local women farmers of Bidakanne and other villages in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which have been his primary sites of activity. He is quick to clarify that he is an outsider to the village and region Aranya farm is located in since he hails from Adilabad – he stayed since he was explicitly requested by the local women farmers to do so and he respectfully accepted their request. Narsanna is also a fiery defender of India’s last-remaining natural forests and a staunch conservationist who has not been afraid to raise his voice and his fist, and mobilize local villagers to prevent destruction of reserve forests. The reserve forests in the vicinity of Aranya were saved from their fate of illegal conversion to monoculture Eucalyptus plantations by his relentless activism, and their quiet regeneration provides a ray of hope in a country poised on the precipice of climate change catastrophes. Another aspect of his work has been as a crusader for the rights of the landless poor, often belonging to the marginalized castes. For example, in Bidakanne, the village adjoining Aranya farm, almost every household currently has access and rights to a piece of farmland, as compared to the 1990s when about sixty percent of them were landless. Padma Koppula is the co-founder of Aranya Agricultural Alternatives. Previously, Padma worked for 10 years with DDS, where she and Narsanna first met, and their lives intertwined subsequently. Padma helms several permaculture outreach programs, on behalf of Aranya. For example, as lead facilitator for the Andhra Pradesh drought mitigation project, which seeks to aid 165,000 households of small and marginal farmers to establish water security, Padma works with farmers to harvest rainwater and diversify cropping patterns, gently nudging them towards the holistic permaculture way of life. She also works with tribal communities who have been displaced from their ancestral forestlands, aiding them in re-establishing their ancestral practice of permaculture-led natural farming on the farmlands that the government has allocated to them. Padma gives trainings in and extensively uses the participatory rural development approach to work with villagers.  She teaches seed preservation of local and native seeds and has helped establish seed banks in many villages. She’s worked with 3000 women farmers empowering them to access natural resources, on legal issues, financial decisions and also creating awareness on child marriages and women’s rights in this area. To see her in action, mediating and anchoring conversations and consensus-based decision making amongst villagers is a master-class in human resource management, done the permaculture way! Join us this weekend in conversation with Narsanna and Padma, a powerhouse permie couple, moderated by one of their permie design students and ServiceSpace volunteer, Gayathri, as they talk about permaculture, its ethics and principles and how to design lives of service to the Earth and all its creatures.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Richard Whittaker in which he brings his considerable interviewing skills to bear on interviewing The Mystical Positivist hosts, Stuart Goodnick and Robert Schmidt, Spiritual Director of Tayu Meditation Center. Richard Whittaker is the co-founder, with Rue Harrison, of the non-profit "Society for theReCognition of Art" and founding editor in 1998 of the magazine works & conversations. Earlier he founded The Secret Alameda [published from 1990-96]. He is also the West Coast editor of Parabola Magazine. Although Whittaker has a background in philosophy [BA] and clinical psychology [MA] and has done graduate work at the GTU in Berkeley, his connections with art go back over forty years including photography, ceramics, painting and sculpture. More information about Richard Whittaker's work can be found at: works & conversations online: www.conversations.org, Interview with Richard Whittaker on ServiceSpace: www.servicespace.org.

Carrie and Parker have a conversation about the Inner work of democracy and the common good with Preeta Bansal. Preeta was Solicitor General of the State of New York, then as General Counsel in the Obama White House, where she played a major role in the Office of Management and Budget during the financial collapse of 2008. Preeta now finding expression in ServiceSpace, an ecosystem in which she is a global anchor and volunteer and which draws upon network science, the role of emerging technologies, and the work of inner transformation.

Is serving different from helping or fixing? Can we design for impact and at the same time cultivate a field for transformation? How does one navigate the various intervention points for enduring systemic change? How might we nurture a culture of giving?  Join us for this conversation between two old friends- Venkat Krishnan and Nipun Mehta. A visionary and one of the most respected social change makers in India, Venkat Krishnan is the founder of GiveIndia, founding volunteer of Daan Utsav, a signatory of LivingMyPromise and  #EveryIndianVolunteering. Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global fully volunteer-run community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy with the motto “Change yourself, Change the World”. About Venkat Krishnan As a child, Venkat grew up in a middle class family in Bombay and got an opportunity to study in an ordinary school. Seeing some of his childhood friends like Manohar and Harry drop-out due to the vicious cycle of poverty, Venkat realized “just where you are born makes all the difference in your life”. His whole life ever since has been a sincere, untiring attempt to be an instrument for a more equal world.  Studying at IIM Ahmedabad, India’s best business school, at a young age of 21 when his friends dreamt of a fancy career, Venkat was busy writing in his college assignment “I see myself as an instrument or tool that is available to society. And my choices should be guided by maximizing the returns that I will give to the society. So I will not do something just because I like it, but because that is the best use of my time for the society’s benefit. I will do whatever it takes.” He asks himself and now other young bright minds, “For anyone with a good education, the needs of physiology, safety and esteem are non-issues, then why not focus on self-actualization?”  3 years of working in a corporate job at “The Times of India” was enough to pay back his student loan and some debts on his family. An opportunity emerged and he then found himself setting up Eklavya School in Ahmedabad in 1996 along with 2 college friends. A typical school would hardly excite Venkat and they did something quite remarkable by bringing together some of the richest children of Ahmedabad and some of the poorest under the same roof, with the same opportunities. Within a year, it was the “coolest school of Ahmedabad” but soon after Venkat decided to step-out. What emerged next in 2000 was GiveIndia - an online platform to enable ordinary citizens to be agents of change by donating to trustworthy NGOs. GiveIndia was perhaps the first crowdfunding platform in the world- exclusively for social welfare, but Venkat draws his inspiration from Vinoba and credits Bhoodan movement as the best crowdfunding campaign; and says “empathy and relating to people” is the most effective resource for social movements. Much to everyone’s surprise, GiveIndia’s first annual report read “Dear Stakeholders, We are delighted to inform you that GiveIndia has closed down”..expressing their wish that the society becomes more inclusive and caring that organizations like GiveIndia are no longer needed. While that hasn’t yet come true, Venkat’s life has been a continued expression of being-the-change and trying harder like Boxer at the Animal Farm and like Gandhi- who is his biggest inspiration along with Buddha. “I cry every time when I think of 15th August when everyone was celebrating freedom and he was in the middle of a village near Calcutta saying- now is not the time to celebrate freedom -my next milestone is freedom from intolerance - that is what we need!”   Next in 2009, he and a bunch of volunteers, started Joy of Giving Week (now Daan Utsav) - a completely decentralized movement, a ’festival’ celebrated every year from Oct 2- 8. It is estimated that 50 Lakhs- 1 crore Indians engage in giving in that 1 week. Venkat says working in DaanUtsav has been personally transformational for him - he earlier thought that India needs to be taught about giving but now he regards maids and autorickshaw drivers and poorest of poor as his teachers in giving.  Venkat is also the Principal Trustee of India Welfare Trust which aims to promote philanthropy and volunteerism in India. Venkat is also a signatory to #LivingMyPromise, an initiative where middle class Indians promise to donate 50+% of their wealth to causes of their choice. He has recently been involved in an initiative called #EveryIndianVolunteering that aspires to engage every Indian in volunteering for social causes. While Venkat’s story is of creating many organizations for social good, it is an equally powerful story of letting go. GiveIndia over its course has surprised the development sector by building highly valuable and impactful initiatives like fundraising through marathons, High-Networth-Individuals (HNI) Giving and then simply transferring those projects to other organizations without any expectations. In 2008, Venkat also personally stepped out of GiveIndia because he felt the organization could grow better under a professional management. Most recently when an education social enterprise Educational Initiatives which he co-founded was sold, for a guy whose entire belongings can fit into 2 suitcases he finds himself owning much more wealth that he would ever need. He has pledged to give away more than 90% of this wealth (and time) and while doing so, keeps questioning himself if he is able to give with detachment.  His story is also one of simplicity - you can often see him sporting the same grey t-shirt since last 15 years, and using the same laptop bag and the rumors are that he doesn’t lock his small house at night.  “When you simplify, you start getting a lot of freedom to do what you really want to do” says Venkat. Venkat’s story is of mass-scale tangible impact, yet it’s also an equally powerful invisible story of ripple effect of being-the-change - his life has deeply inspired many to adopt a life of greater generosity. Venkat deeply cares about social impact and at the same time, he sees giving as its own reward and has actually turned down many prestigious awards and is not driven by milestones, but deeply enjoys the journey each day, each moment. He says “Give till it Hurts” and he has, but yet in his last 25 years of service he has never regretted one single act of giving. His life is a beautiful and inspiring example of “joy of giving”.  Also see 5 questions we asked Venkat.  About Nipun Mehta  Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has catalyzed a global social movement of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices for cultivating love, nonviolence, selfless service, and compassion. The ecosystem has reached millions, attracted thousands of volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous community-based service projects as well as inspiring content portals. ServiceSpace harnesses the collective power of networks and our deeper interconnectedness to create a distributed social movement founded on small, local individual acts of kindness, generosity and service that ignite shifts in individual and collective consciousness. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.” And as a bonus, here is a conversation between them from August, 2009.

Margaret Wheatley began caring about the world's peoples in 1966, as a Peace Corps volunteer in post-war Korea. In many different roles-- speaker, teacher, consultant, advisor, formal leader--her work has deepened into an unshakable conviction that leaders must learn how to invoke people's inherent generosity, creativity and need for community. As this world tears us apart, sane leadership on behalf of the human spirit is the only way forward. She is co-founder and president of The Berkana Institute, an organizational consultant since 1973, a global citizen since her youth, and a prolific writer. She has authored nine books, from the classic Leadership and the New Science in 1992 to Who Do We Choose To Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity (2017). Her new work is a CD, The Warrior’s Songline, a journey into warriorship guided by voice and sound. Meg received her doctorate in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University in 1979, just as the field of OD was gaining ground. She has been honored for her ground-breaking work by many professional associations, universities and organizations. For the past five years, she has been training leaders and activists from 35 countries as Warriors for the Human Spirit, an in-depth training program and path of service supported by a robust global community.  john a. powell is one of the foremost public intellectuals in the areas of civil rights, racism, ethnicity, housing and poverty.  He is currently Professor of Law, Professor of African American and Ethnic Studies, the Robert D. Haas Chancellor's Chair in Equity and Inclusion, and the Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, all at UC Berkeley. These are only the most recent appointments in a distinguished career, and yet powell spells his name in lowercase based on the simple and humble idea that we are part of the universe, not over it.  He has introduced into the public lexicon the concepts of “othering and belonging”; the Haas Institute publishes a journal and hosts an annual conference expanding the scholarship around this concept. The conversation will be moderated by Michelle Long and Nipun Mehta. Michelle Long is founder of Jubilee Gift, a learning and investment platform supporting wealth holders and entrepreneurs in remembering the way of flow, trust, and belonging to Earth and each other - and in bringing that spriit into our financial transactions and economic structures. Jubilee Gift also supports the reclamation of sacred lands, and wisdom keepers from various backgrounds, all to bolster the spiritual ballast we are going to need to meet these changing times. Prior to Jubilee, she was the founding Executive Director of BALLE, a North American network of more than 125,000 local entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists.  Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has catalyzed a global social movement of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices for cultivating love, nonviolence, selfless service, and compassion. The ecosystem has reached millions, attracted thousands of volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous community-based service projects as well as inspiring content portals. ServiceSpace harnesses the collective power of networks and our deeper interconnectedness to create a distributed social movement founded on small, local individual acts of kindness, generosity and service that ignite shifts in individual and collective consciousness. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.”

Podcast: This week we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Richard Whittaker about the nature of Aesthetic Thought, the connection of Numinous in artistic expression, and the exquisite sensitivity of the human instrument when unmediated by conceptual association. Richard Whittaker is the co-founder, with Rue Harrison, of the non-profit "Society for theReCognition of Art" and founding editor in 1998 of the magazine works & conversations. Earlier he founded The Secret Alameda [published from 1990-96]. He is also the West Coast editor of Parabola Magazine. Although Whittaker has a background in philosophy [BA] and clinical psychology [MA] and has done graduate work at the GTU in Berkeley, his connections with art go back over forty years including photography, ceramics, painting and sculpture. In answer to the question of why he started an art magazine, Richard says: A central motivation was my dismay at what I found missing in the art world as I began exploring it in 1980. [Before I'd simply done art on my own.] Nowhere did I find any resonance in the writing of critics and art theorists for what Bruce Nauman expressed (with considerable ambivalence) in an early piece: 'The true artist helps the world by expressing mystic truths.' Such an elevated thought could not be taken seriously in 1980. In 1967, the ground for such a proclamation was already very shaky. Was it a joke? And yet my own experiences in the face of beauty (especially of light) were such that I felt compelled to find a way of honoring them. Surely, the experience of the presence of the numinous had not gotten old. It had only gone missing somehow. What I found lacking in art world discourse was not difficult to find when I turned to artists themselves. A common understanding was often near at hand. And here was the material I wanted to help get into circulation through the public space of a magazine. "Since then, my focus has widened to include broader examples of the transformative power of creativity used in the service of a greater good. This possibility is not limited to artists. AK Coomaraswamy's formulation, taken from his study of traditional societies, puts it well: 'The artist is not a special person, but each person is a special kind of artist.' More information about Richard Whittaker's work can be found at: works & conversations online: www.conversations.org, Interview with Richard Whittaker on ServiceSpace: www.servicespace.org.

Please join us for a conversation with some of the most innovative voices in American higher education. How might we use this crisis and disruption in university life as an opportunity to re-imagine and transform our systems of higher education and knowledge diffusion? How might we better prepare students and communities to navigate a world of ever-increasing complexity and planetary distress with wisdom, skill, mindfulness, well-being, and creativity? With so many universities re-thinking their educational models in these unique times, is there an opportunity for offering new models of world-class, cost-effective learning to support deeper wisdom, innovation and conscious transformation? Some of the leading voices involved in transforming higher education will be in conversation about the unique challenges and opportunities of these times. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer in the MIT Management Sloan School and co-founder of the Presencing Institute. He introduced the concept of “presencing”—learning from the emerging future—in his bestselling books Theory U and Presence (the latter co-authored with P. Senge et al). He is coauthor of Leading from the Emerging Future, which outlines eight acupuncture points for transforming our social, economic, ecological and political systems. His most recent book, The Essentials of Theory U, summarizes the core principles and applications of awareness-based systems change. In 2015, Otto co-founded the MITx u.lab, a massive open online course (MOOC) for leading profound change, which has since activated a global eco-system of transformational change involving more than 160,000 users from 185 countries. In March 2020, Otto and his colleagues at the Presencing Institute launched GAIA (Global Activation of Intention and Action), a free, online, deep learning journey, geared toward profound personal, societal, and planetary renewal. Sanjay Sarma serves on the board of edX, the not-for-profit company founded by MIT and Harvard to create and promulgate an open-source platform for the distribution of free online education worldwide. He is the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, which includes the Office of Digital Learning, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab. Sanjay is also a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and a successful innovator and entrepreneur who developed many of the key technologies behind the EPC suite of RFID standards now used worldwide. Leveraging innovation and ideas, Sanjay co-chaired MIT’s Taskforce on the Future of Education in 2012, and subsequently was charged with implementing the recommendations around digital learning in his current senior position at MIT. Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center. Dacher is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the massively popular online course of the same name via edX that has over 300,000 enrollments. He is also the best-selling author of The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence and Born to Be Good, and a co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct. With his extensive research focusing on the biological and evolutionary origins of compassion, awe, love, beauty, power, social class, and inequality, he was a scientific consultant on Pixar’s film Inside Out. For several years he has worked with Facebook and Google engineers and designers on projects relating to altruism and emotion. The conversation will be moderated by Preeta Bansal and Nipun Mehta. Preeta Bansal has been a Lecturer at the MIT Media Lab, drawing on network science, physics and biology, and the role of new technologies, in re-imagining and piloting new social designs and architectures that amplify small shifts in behavior and consciousness to support the emergence of new political, social, and economic frameworks. After a long career scaling the heights of external and institutional power as a constitutional lawyer, she has spent much of the last decade deeply plumbing depths of being for the source of internal power. Her prior roles include serving as a General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama White House, Solicitor General of the State of New York, partner and practice chair at a leading corporate law firm in New York City, global general counsel in London for one of the world’s largest banks, a US diplomat and Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and law clerk to US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. She advised on the drafting of the constitutions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Her lifelong passion for service, which for the first half of her life took the form of public service, is now finding expression in ServiceSpace, an ecosystem in which she is a global anchor and volunteer. Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun has catalyzed a global social movement of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices for cultivating love, nonviolence, selfless service, and compassion. The ecosystem has reached millions, attracted thousands of volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous community-based service projects as well as inspiring content portals. ServiceSpace harnesses the collective power of networks and our deeper interconnectedness to create a distributed social movement founded on small, local individual acts of kindness, generosity and service that ignite shifts in individual and collective consciousness. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.”

Coronavirus has uprooted the fabric of our lives. The global pandemic has unveiled gaping holes in our economic and social systems, unleashed humanity's capacity for goodwill, and propelled us into an uncertain future. How do we embrace not-knowing, recognize fear without giving into it, and respond with a heart of compassion? What would Gandhi do? How do we align with the laws of love and nonviolence in such times? Join us with social change luminaries and "love warriors" to dive into questions, and more. In this Awakin Talk webinar, our panel will be composed of ... Rohini Nilekani is a philanthropist, former journalist, TV presenter, author, social activist and a full time mother. In the equation between society, market, and government; Rohini has dedicated her work to enable a stronger society (samaj) by supporting ideas, individuals and institutions that have integrity, ethical leadership, clarity and accelerated impact. She is the founder-chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation for sustainable water and sanitation; co-founder of Pratham books, a non-profit children’s publisher and of EkStep, a non-profit educational platform. She truly believes in the importance of dialogue and collaboration. She has been instrumental in bringing together leaders from diverse fields to address India’s challenges through her book (& show) Uncommon Grounds. She speaks extensively on how Indian Philanthropy needs to shift to address the extreme inequality between the ‘have-everythings’ and the ‘have-nothings’ in India. Rohini continues to support work in diverse areas such as governance and accountability, environmental sustainability, education and research, and independent media and arts. Read more about Five Questions We Asked Rohini Ravi Venkatesan is UNICEF’s Special Representative for Young People and founder of the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), a multi-stakeholder coalition, which aims to create an entrepreneurial movement with 10mn new entrepreneurs in India by 2030. His work is rooted in Gandhian values of "being the change you wish to see in the world". Ravi is the founder of Social Venture Partners India, a pan-India network of engaged philanthropists, a partner at impact investor Unitus Ventures, former Chairman of the Bank of Baroda, Microsoft India, Cummins India, and former co-chairman of Infosys. He is also an author of a book titled Conquering the Chaos, that examines what it takes for MNCs to do well in India. Beyond all these weighty labels though, what gives him joy are "New Ideas. People. Nature. Music. Solving tough problems and a love of learning". At 45, he had a deep realization that true satisfaction lies in understanding one’s own ordinariness and accepting it. In pursuit of that insight, he believes that "if we were kinder to ourselves, to others, to animals (especially street dogs, renowned for their resilience), and to nature, the world would be profoundly nicer."  Read more about Five Questions We Asked Ravi We are also delighted to have two musicians and two everyday heroes on the call. Brinda Govindan found her calling 21 years ago as a teacher in the Department of Biology at San Francisco State University. In her class and life, she never shies away from cultivating a student-mindset to deepen in empathy and wisdom (and is a seasoned flutist as well). Shaalini Srinivasan  is a passionate mother, educator, and co-editor of the MovedbyLove newsletter and a community anchor. A full-time volunteer, her life is rooted in simplicity and deep (and fun) experiments in nurturing values in children. Vineet Saraiwala is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, India’s leading b-school. One of the rare visually-challenged students to achieve this feat, soon he stepped aside from lucrative business roles towards unprecedented work for a more inclusive society. Counting his blessings, deep self-inquiry and grit helps him in defying all odds to be in joyful service to all. Jordyn Alexandria is a music lover (and teacher) in Salt Lake City, US. She is inspired by Paramhansa Yogananda and finds strength in authentic connections and small offerings with great love.    The talk will be moderated by Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, their pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.” [more]

Dr. Leila Naderi is an award-winning entrepreneur, educator, researcher and consultant, who is passionate about leadership development, partnership development, and social impact. She is the founder of Global Leadership Academy, an entirely volunteer-run organization, and Yoga for Leadership, a developmental program that bridges yoga and mindfulness to enhance holistic well-being and maximize individual, team, and organizational performance. Dr. Naderi is the Director of Partnership Development and Adjunct Faculty at Alliant International University. She has over a decade of leadership and management experience in different sectors. She is the co-author (with leadership expert Dr. John J. Franey) of The Yogi Leader: Discovering the Seven Elements of Leading with Mind, Body, & Heart.   The Yogi Leader is both a book and a developmental program (of workshops, retreats, and resources) that is about discovering who we are as people, and who we are as leaders.  As an advanced Hatha/Sivananda yoga instructor, Dr. Naderi was fascinated with the concept of the relationship between yoga practice and leadership while doing her doctoral dissertation work in leadership.  She noticed an incredible synergy and correlation between the two.  Her doctoral study found that leaders who practice yoga regularly score higher on authentic leadership skill tests than leaders who either don’t practice yoga or rarely practice yoga. As she worked through the concepts of yoga and leadership with her friend and leadership development consultant, Dr. John Franey, she realized that the chakras of yoga (the spiritual energy centers that exist within particular areas of the human body) and various leadership approaches were in fact extremely synergistic.  From this synergy emerged the concept of “The Seven Elements of Leadership,” each of which is perfectly aligned with a chakra of yoga practice.  Each of the elements is a different skill that people need in order to lead effectively and authentically with mind, body, and heart in any aspect of life.  The book follows the stories of seven different leaders, each with their own set of problems and issues to deal with in their leadership practice. Each of their stories focuses on a different Element of Leadership and is aligned to a particular chakra. Dr. Naderi’s innovative projects include “Yoga 4 Leadership” which she founded in 2014, for organizing and leading executive retreats and workshops, integrating the principles of yoga and meditation into leadership training, with the goal of developing inspired leaders and creating a culture that fosters productivity, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and well-being. She founded the Global Leadership Academy in 2016 as a volunteer-run organization that serves the community and provides leadership training seminars. She states that her inspiration for creating this organization came when she became familiar with volunteer-run ecosystem of ServiceSpace (of which these Awakin Calls are a part). The goal of the Global Leadership Academy is to develop conscious leaders who act beyond profit to serve people and planet; bridge the gap between the leaders of today and tomorrow; build diverse and inclusive communities; encourage entrepreneurial activities; and connect scholars and practitioners. Leila was the recipient of Special Congressional Recognition by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 for her outstanding community service. In 2019 she was recognized as Outstanding Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership at Alliant International University, and also received the North San Diego Business Chamber’s  Leadership Award for positively impacting the community. Born in Tehran, Iran, she now lives in San Diego, California. She obtained her PhD from the California School of Management and Leadership.

Coronavirus has uprooted the fabric of our lives. The global pandemic has unveiled gaping holes in our economic and social systems, unleashed humanity's capacity for goodwill, and propelled us into an uncertain future. How do we embrace not-knowing, recognize fear without giving into it, and respond with a heart of compassion? What would Gandhi do? How do we align with the laws of love and nonviolence in such times? On Sunday 10th May at 9AM IST, Gandhian scholars, social change luminaries and "love warriors" will dive into these questions, and more. We invite you to join us. In this inaugural Awakin Talk webinar, our panel will be composed of ... Rajni Bakshi, the Mumbai-based journalist, author and activist who, for more than 40 years, has used the power of storytelling to navigate the complex interface of India’s social and spiritual fabric to affect social change. Her 1988 book, Bapu Kuti: Journeys in rediscovery of Gandhi, was the inspiration behind 2004 Indian Blockbuster film, Swades. A child of India's partition, advocate for transforming market systems, and fearless voyager into uncharted territory, Rajni's visionary conversations reflect her deep search for truth overlaid on the breadth of her knowledge and experiences. [more] Prof. Michael Nagler is a world-renowned Gandhian scholar and founder of the first Peace and Conflict Studies program at University of California, Berkeley. His university lectures have supported over 20,000 students to absorb and incorporate ahimsa in their personal and social lives. The copious author is a recipient of many awards, including prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Award for promoting Gandhian values outside India. Based in Northern California, Michael serves as President of Metta Center for Nonviolence Education, which released the documentary The Third Harmony in 2020. Michael resides at Eknath Easwaran's Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, where he has been based since 1970. [more] Drishti Trivedi, our youngest panelist, launched into experiments in service at the ripe age of eighteen. Galvanizing friends to do acts of kindness on the streets of Mumbai -- from gifting friendship bracelets and tea to strangers, to sweeping the city streets, to organizing distributed clothing drives, befriending slum children (and eventually hosting an informal street school!), and beyond -- her experiments in the power of small has naturally nurtured values-based community, unleashing umpteen ripples of goodness. Upon graduating university, she delved into NGO sector working with differently-abled populations, and has been a compassionate volunteer, witty conversationalist, big-hearted "love warrior," and unsung force of goodness in India's Moved By Love ecosystem. This powerful story of listening conveys her dynamo spirit. The panel will be moderated by Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift-economy. Most recently, their pandemic response has showcased the unique beauty of its global ecosystem. Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama, not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the US. Yet the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: “I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me.” [more]

We have the freedom and power to make choices. The power rests in your inner state of being, self awareness and the infinite possibilities at our fingertips in every moment. Dive into this segment and explore the opportunity to discover where you exercise your power to choose and where you can improve showing up honestly and in alignment with you. Please send in your questions to s@suzannetoro.com Music by Random Rab Album Vissureal  Kind Inspirations to ServiceSpace.org Music by Random Rab Album Vissureal  Suzanne Toro On-Going Food Alchemy Class Mind You + Food: Unlock Your Potential Bali Adventure Ecuador Adventure Soul Sessions Monthly Sol+Luna Support & Nourishment  

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, Audrey went from working for a Silicon Valley start-up for 6 months to spending 6 months at a Buddhist Monastery. She then worked as an educator and is now a volunteer with ServiceSpace, which is an incubator that leverages technology to inspire generosity and volunteerism, particularly nurturing labour of love projects. We spoke about the transition from studying to working (and all the confusion that occurs in between), meditation, enjoying the not so linear journey of life, smile protests and the power of the 'not knowing' approach.

BeSimply..Courage {LoveSelf}Rather than attempt to make someone feel ashamed or feel shame internally you have the opportunity to be courageous and step into rite action with respect for self and others. As inspired, dive in to learn more. One small action towards well being will ripples that continue to be felt by self and others.Please send in your questions to s@suzannetoro.com.Music by Random Rab Album Vissureal Art By Lindsay Ewing Kind Inspirations to ServiceSpace https://www.servicespace.org/Suzanne Torohttp://suzannetoro.comOn-Going Food Alchemy Class Mind You + Food: Unlock Your Potentialhttp://suzannetoro.com/food-alchemy/unlo…ential-food-mind/Bali Adventurehttp://suzannetoro.com/workshops-meditat…e-bali-indonesia/Ecuador Adventurehttp://suzannetoro.com/workshops-meditations/ecuador-ayurveda-retreat-visionquest-zen-adventure/Soul Sessionshttp://suzannetoro.as.me/schedule.php?app…%3ASoul+SessionsMonthly Sol+Luna Support & Nourishmenthttp://suzannetoro.com/food-alchemy/mont…-solluna-package/

Lovetuner CEO & Co-Founder, Sigmar Berg, invites Lovetuner advocates to share their story and journey. On today's podcast we discuss igniting the fundamental generosity in ourselves and others, creating both inner and outer transformation, with Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace. The Dalai Lama named him "The Unsung Hero of Compassion". The Lovetuner is a revolutionary mindfulness tool that aligns you with the 528hz frequency, the vibration of love. In music it means adjusting the pitch of a tone. In humans it means adjusting your emotional and physical state to align with your environment - literally tuning in and harmonizing with yourself and what is around you. The Lovetuner has a profound effect on the body, mind and spirit. Designed for all ages, it allows individuals to reduce stress and anxiety within a couple of breaths. Just like darkness cannot exist in a room of light, stress and anxiety cannot exist in this frequency. Tuning is a very simple and easy way to practice mindfulness through deep breathing exercises. It connects your breath with a low volume audible sound and the frequency of 528 Hz - also referred to as the Love Frequency. When played together it allows people to experience the feeling of equality and unity. "We want to inspire a global community to come together in harmony for a more loving togetherness." Sigmar Berg.

BeSimply...Gratitude + You Are Not Alone {LoveSelf}Harness the power of Gratitude and your innate inner power to fill yourself up. Enter this holiday season with a full heart, possibility and a lot more freedom. Please send in your questions to s@suzannetoro.com.Music by Random Rab Album Vissureal Art By Lindsay Ewing Kind Inspirations to ServiceSpace https://www.servicespace.org/Suzanne Torohttp://suzannetoro.comOn-Going Food Alchemy Class Mind You + Food: Unlock Your Potentialhttp://suzannetoro.com/food-alchemy/unlo…ential-food-mind/Bali Adventurehttp://suzannetoro.com/workshops-meditat…e-bali-indonesia/Ecuador Adventurehttp://suzannetoro.com/workshops-meditations/ecuador-ayurveda-retreat-visionquest-zen-adventure/Soul Sessionshttp://suzannetoro.as.me/schedule.php?app…%3ASoul+SessionsMonthly Sol+Luna Support & Nourishmenthttp://suzannetoro.com/food-alchemy/mont…-solluna-package/

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in the next of our spiritual biography series conversations, this time with Nipun Mehta. During his mid-20s, Nipun left the .com world to cultivate projects that support a gift culture. Among other accolades, President Obama appointed him on a council for social change and the Dalai Lama recognized him as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion." Nipun is the founder of ServiceSpace.org — an incubator of projects that support a gift culture. In his mid-twenties, Nipun quit his job to become a "full time volunteer" and over the last 15 years, his work has reached millions, attracted more than 500 thousand volunteers, and mushroomed into numerous projects like DailyGood, Awakin Circles, and Karma Kitchen. Tirelessly, he has addressed thousands of gatherings around the world, speaking next to wide-ranging leaders from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to author Elizabeth Gilbert to civil rights legend John Lewis. One of his most formative experiences was a walking pilgrimage across India, with his wife of six months, whose profound lessons also became the subject of his widely-read address at UPenn commencement. Nipun's mission statement in life reads: "Bring smiles in the world and stillness in my heart."

Social media opens new opportunities to serve others. Nipun Mehta, founder and chief inspiration officer of ServiceSpace, joins Laurel Trujillo to discuss how we can each perform small acts with great love to create positive ripples in the world. 

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an incubator that leverages technology for ‘labor of love’ projects. What started as an experiment with friends is now a global ecosystem of over 500,000 members who have not only delivered millions of dollars in service for free but are regenerating a gift culture. Nipun has received many awards like Dalai Lama’s Unsung Hero of Compassion award and in 2015, President Obama appointed him to a council on poverty and equality.➡️ En savoir plus sur https://fr.boma.global Voir Acast.com/privacy pour les informations sur la vie privée et l'opt-out.

In this episode Live Happy co-founder and Editorial Director Deborah Heisz talks with Birju Pandya, a senior advisor for RSF Social Financial, on one of ten practices for choosing joy: giving back. Birju is also involved with ServiceSpace, an organization run entirely by volunteers that leverages technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. Some of the projects by ServiceSpace include a daily positive news service, an acts-of-kindness portal, and a gift-economy restaurant.

Nipun Mehta The Invisible Revolution of the Inner-net Join Michael Lerner in conversation with Nipun Mehta—ex-dot-com whiz kid and founder of ServiceSpace.org—in conversation about impermanence, service, and co-creating a better world. From our podcast: I think that so many times younger people are talked down to; they’re talked at rather than talked with. And I think that is sort of the biggest strategic mistake…I really have the view and I found that it works really well—to see them as equals, to see them as co-creators of a shared life that we are doing. And that is true at a deep spiritual level. We are all co-creating. Nipun Mehta Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace.org, a fully volunteer-run organization that has delivered millions of dollars of web-related services to the nonprofit world for free. The recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President’s Volunteer Service Award and an honor from the world’s most famous clown, his work creatively leverages web technologies for collaborative and transformational giving. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, Dalai Lama Foundation, and Airline Ambassadors. Nipun has a computer science and philosophy degree from UC Berkeley. He started his software career at Sun Microsystems, but, dissatisfied by the dot-com greed of the late 90s, Nipun changed direction and created a website and an organization named CharityFocus, now ServiceSpace. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.