Dear Friends,
Here is an update as we wrap up our summer endeavors (at least in the Northern hemisphere) and start transitioning back to work, to school, to our more “daily lives.” While with my family I was lucky to spend some restorative time on retreats in Plum Village in July and the French countryside, there were several other conversations and sharings on the Politics of Being.
Now we are taking off once more, and in my case, literally! Tomorrow I will make my way to North America, first for the XIV Worldwide Meeting on Human Values , an important event that will take place on September 9th and 10th in Monterrey, Mexico. The main theme of this year's edition is: The Transformative Power of Women. If you care to join online, you can get tickets here.
Following that, I will go to the US, for now Las Vegas (Sept 13 - 17) and New York (Sept 17-29). I still have some flexibility in my schedule so if you would like to host an event on Politics of Being or meet up, please let me know.
Things are going very well with much interest in Politics of Being from relevant leaders. In early July for example, I had the honor to meet Mamphela Ramphele and Carlos Alvarez Pereira , co-president and vice-president of the Club of Rome (see photo), to discuss how to catalyze a human revolution, as we are celebrating the 50 year anniversary of their legendary report “the limits to growth”. It is heartening to see how the book resonates with people from different nations and walks of life, and that it has the potential to inform cross-cultural dialogue in global governance.
Additionally the book is likely to be taken up by a top-tier French publisher for a French version, soon enough the first translation will be underway! Great to hear they see the potential for this message to reach a mainstream audience.
I also continued recording a series of podcasts you may enjoy:
A 30 min presentation on the Politics of Being with the UNSRC Enlightenment society, nicely introduced by Denise Scotto, followed by a great discussion on the importance of childhood wellbeing and parenting, my spiritual experiences in Mexico, and the views of Alfredo Younis, a former presidential candidate in Chile with a spiritual platform, and the next steps for me with the Politics of Being. You can view it here.
A great discussion with Manda Scott on the Politics of Being and what it means in terms of governance, justice, organizations, etc. and the cultural and social conditions for well-being.
A podcast I did with with Lynne Reeder from the mindful futures network from Australia 21 on “How can we mindfully lead in uncertain and complex times?”
On social media, we posted our humankind’s spiritual summer series, an invitation to pause and appreciate the teachings of prominent spiritual teachers that have announced humanity’s spiritual evolution. These include Sri Aurobindo on the integral transformation of societies, Teilhard de Chardin on the emergence of the noosphere (the sphere of human thought), and Baha'u'llah, who prophesied humankind’s unity.
Wishing us all good depth and good speed ahead!
Thomas