These past few weeks, I have been aware of the practice of deep listening. When does it happen spontaneously or as an outcome of simply being present? At Trader Joe’s, the clerk was packing my groceries and asked “ Did you find everything you need, grocery wise. ” I said “ I noticed you asked ‘grocery wise.’" He looked up at me and smiled. “ You never know what people might say .” “ I guess that’s true, I say. ” He stated to talk but unfortunately got a catch in his throat

A group of us were working on what was to become the Collective Wisdom Initiative , and we were staying by invitation at the Institute of Noetic Sciences’ new campus in Petaluma, California. They had not officially opened yet, and we were there during the same period that the Institute’s board of directors was also meeting — including its founder, Edgar Mitchell. This was in 2000, four years before Laszlo would publish his work on the Akashic field. In the evening, Mitchell w

Does spirit exist in all forms of life?  Is there a divine spark within us if we look closely enough? Some scholars speculate spiritual intelligence requires an intellectual capacity to contemplate the Cosmos.  So it is not surprising humans speculate that only other humans can have spiritual intelligence - especially given the reluctance of apes, whales, dogs, and cats to hold seminars on the subject. Last May, I had the great fortune of being welcomed into a community o

Insight-Out is an extraordinary program founded by Jacques Verduin, a man I met briefly in Assisi, Italy as part of a larger global network of innovative initiatives supported by The Fetzer Institute.  Insight-Out is an in-prison rehabilitation program and includes the one year GRIP program - Guiding Rage into Power - for San Quentin inmates. Here is one story recently showcased in their newsletter.  It concerns a lesson most of us would rather avoid, but none of us can sa

I Heard it Like This... Reflections of an inspired talk by Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax. TEN STEPS ON THE PATH OF SELF AWARENESS There are ten steps we all can take to enlarge our self awareness.  These steps are like strings on an instrument or notes on a piano.  We can practice them separately but when played together, we can make beautiful music. (if you prefer to listen & meditate - there is approx. 30 seconds of silence after the bell, before Alan speaks again; but you

<p style="text-align: center;"><a style="display: inline;" href="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/6a0134809b7f05970c0147e2c51277970b.jpg"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0134809b7f05970c0147e2c51277970b" style="border: 3px solid #333333;" title="Aikido" src="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/6a0134809b7f05970c0147e2c51277970b-800wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Aikido" /></a> <br /> <em><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Aikido World Headqua

If you have to ask what a picture is worth, then you probably can't afford this column. In The Power of Collective Wisdom we wrote "seeking collective wisdom is a conscious attempt to elevate group life from its history of fighting tooth and claw to reach the top of the hierarchy or achieve dominance over others."  And we referred to the human capacity for empathy, compassion, and the role of mirror neurons in allowing for the permeability of emotional life. So check out thes