[1] Step into your energy and experience how the energy system holds you!

Love to contribute to your great idea!


Name: Patricia 
Town: Culemborg
Country: Netherlands

 

Peace from Catania - Italia

[1P] "Mi mensaje PAZ LUZ AMOR PARA TODA LA HUMANIDAD"

Historia. Esta foto fue sacada por mis queridas amigas Gaby, Zelmira y mi hijo Flavio. un acto de amor!! Gracias

Tags: peaceportraitoftheday 

More 1Books Arrive

A Collective blessing unfolds...

Packages or books have arrived from Lorraine in Canada and Jane and Claire in Australia. With the help of Laura from Spain and Irina in Manila we got half of Lorraine's books up to Sagada. It's truly an epic collaboration! Laura and Russell then made the journey to the school together.

What a luminous pleasure to deliver the books.

The staff had been delighted the day before to receive Jane and Clair's books (and photos of their "jolly" visit teaching there). In the big box we brought up, there were dozens of awesome quality books. Thank you Lorraine!

Russell spent the day visiting each of the classes and reading stories. The students gathered round in ecstatic silence round as I flipped through "The boy who fooled the giant", "Thumbelina" and "Little Red Ridinghood". These kids have never seen beautiful books like these.

Russell recalls "There was a moment when I looked up from my reading to see three dozen wide open eyes staring with rapt attention at me and the pictures. I breathed deeply to take it in. Wow. What a beautiful and fufiling moment."

"After several classes, my voice was getting a little dry from my animated readings. So, I decided to try something else. I brought the entire box up and handed the books out to all the pupils. Amazing! Despite the random distribution, the kids fell I to a rapt silence-- they devoured with their eyes and fingers the beautiful pictures, words and photos. I might as well have been handing iPads out to a class of Canadian students! "

Another box awaits in Manila, Ray has a big crate coming from Manitoba.

Slow and steady the collective intention blossoms!

To Build a Library...

 
 Andrew introducing America


The Guina'ang 1Book project is taking on a life of it's own. Here in the Philippines, school is back in session and the seeds of intention sewn back in December are blossoming.

When we first talked about "building a library", I honestly was kinda just thinking "books". Of course, you gotta be careful about what words you use-- We did in fact say "build a library".

Two weeks ago, I met Derek and Andrew as they were passing through Sagada. Derek and Andrew were deeply interested in what we are doing. After coordinating with Manuela, the principal, they set out a day later on the rough mountain road to visit the school. They stayed the night and then met the teachers and students in the morning.

It was an all around luminous experience of connection.

Andrew was the first real American most had ever met! Andrew talked about the USA and his home in Washington D.C. Derek (their second Canadian!) talked about the children of Afghanistan where he had last worked. The Guina'ang students have little global experience. The brief presentations will be experiences the kids won't forget for a long time.

Derek has a military background, and just as he would do back on the job, he conducted a thorough field assessment of the library situation at Guina'ang. This included scouting out the terrain and logistics for an independent library building.

Only a few days later, Derek and I met Andrew B.-- a world class Australian architect who designs mega buildings in the middle east. A little tired of fancy-dancy-building-designing, Andrew B. jumped at the chance to help out. As I type he is making his way back from the school after also braving the rugged mountain road and the enthusiastic kids!

We are now talking about a potential mandalic library design. We are envisioning a building that makes use of the local building materials, yet leverages the latest global eco-innovative building techniques we've got going on in Canada and Australia-- like the use of timber frames and straw bales. You should see the amazing timber they have here. With Andrew's help, the right builders, and a combo of local resources and global innovation, we can manifest a structure that is a regional inspiration!

In the meantime, crates of books are arriving now from Lorraine in BC, and Ray in Manitoba (his box was too heavy for his van!). In Manila the youth of a Muslim/Christian youth group that I have worked with heared about the project. They live in the humblest of neighborhoods, but, scoured their shelves and came up with two boxes of books for "our brothers and sisters in mountain province". See their portrait below.

I head there soon to lead the mandala workshop with school-- this is where the school gets to give back to you guys.

You can see and share the project details as always here: www.1Mandala.org/1actions

Thank you everybody for your support, books, donations and kind words.

We're co-creating something beautiful!

Here are the latest photos:

The Muslim Christian Youth of Tala pose with the 1Books they've collected for Guina'ang.

Andrew and Derek with Manuela and staff

The site for the new library

The current makeshift library-- those are all our books in the corner!

Derek talks about the life of Afghanistan kids

The students listen

The school after the rain

How to make a 1Lotus Prayer - 1Portrait at a time

Inspiring Lotus Prayer Portraits for Japan

First Lotus Prayer Portrait

A dramatic peace portrait of the General Secretary of the Japanese Embassy receiving a Lotus with one of your prayers from a Muslim youth

The 1Mandala artists recently were at work with the Muslim/Christian youth of Tala-- a humble urban community outside of Manila.  The youth there, who like the Japanese after the recent Tsunami, lost their homes to Typhoon Ondoy flooding in 2009.  The hearts of the Tala community went out to the Japanese people-- and their prayers.  Through the guidance of 1Mandala artists Russell and Sarah, they learned to make origami lotuses-- a flower that symbolize rebirth and renewal. 

We then asked you, our 1Mandala followers to share your prayers for Japan on our Facebook page.  The prayers that you posted, the youth wrote onto their papers before transforming them into lotuses.

The lotus were presented this week in a mandala interfaith prayer ceremony and ritual in front of the Japanese Embassy.  It was attended by leaders of half a dozen faiths.  The centerpiece lotus, shown here, was handed by Jafarri to the General Secretary of the Embassy.  It is a beautiful multi layered symbol of our interconnectedness across times of renewal, catastrophe, and culture.

You can view the full album of photos from the event here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32711&id=140007482730458&l=cb3ab02840

tags: peaceportraitoftheday, 1actions, 1lotus, japan, philippines

After 14 hours of perilous mountain roads, more 1Books arrive!

Going anonymous...

Processing

President Aquino looks on as one of the Caloocan youth leads a civic leader and then a general into the Mandala to light a candle for peace in Mindanao.

Yesterday, Sarah and I made the long trip out to Caloocan, the barrio outside the city where Eric and his group of Muslim - Christian youth leaders live. These are the amazing kids that helped us lead the workshop with NHC high-school to make the clay candle holders for the peace ritual. The youth leaders were challenged by four times as many kids showing up then we had planned-- yet came through brilliantly.

The purpose of our visit that afternoon was to process the experience with them. These kids live way out of the city in a humble neighborhood. To suddenly be on TV and meet the president was a major experience. I am glad we made it, as Sarah and I saw how much emotion and thoughts they had to express. We went around the circle and shared.

Here's some of the words that came out of it.

"Nothing is impossible if we work together"

"Even though it looked impossible to teach so many kids, I learned that if the intention is good, beautiful things come of it."

"It was my first time to do something for change"

"When suddenly we had to work with 16 kids each [instead of the planned 4 per youth leader], I was like 'Can we do it?! 16 youth!'. But the kids were smiling so much with the clay that even though we were all tired the tiredness went away and we were able to show them all how to do it"

"I was soooo nervous when we were doing the rituals with all the officials"

"It was my first time face to face with the president"

"I got to see myself on TV"

"It's an honor to be a bridge for peace between Christians and Muslims."-Jafarri

"It was such an honor for the community to do something for the country." -Eric

Argentina > Philipinnes: Nayla & Donato's 1Book and 1Portrait arrive into the hands of Guina'Ang students!

1Book Joy - Guina'Ang students explore the first box of books that has made it to the school!

The first 1Books have begun to arrive for the Students of Guina'Ang!

Friday, I was able to make the long and bumby ride into to the village of Guina'Ang.  I am very very very excited to report that the first 1Books have also made the even longer journey from the various corners of the world to the school! 

WOW!  How absolutely wonderful to see the kids open books from Argentina, Canada, California, Colorado, England and more!  Even more wonderful was to see their smiles and delight as they flipped through the pages.   We're really on to something amazing with our creative 1Actions folks!

Here a grade four class posses with the first shipment of 1Books after we did a little reading, and the students wrote the names of the donors or pasted their letters in the front of the books.

More photos and news to follow!

Christmas Love Pancakes