Here's a wonderful interview with Dr.Bruce Lipton, cell biologist talking about "Being a Cell of Humanity and Letting go of the Illusion of Separation.  He describes how bacteria, amoebae and human beings function as products of their communities.  For our survival we need to cooperate. When we fail to look after our neighbours we fail as societies and ultimately self-destruct.  Interesting in light of crumbling governments and crumbling financial systems around the world. Click on the link - or you may need to cut and paste the link into your address line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEuGlndt1yc

Introduction

In an age which values information more than personal growth, education continues to blindly concentrate on developing an individual's linguistic and mathematical abilities - to the detriment of the other intelligences. But it is at our peril that we ignore these other inteligences - emotional, physical/kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal.  Surely thepurpose of education is to help individuals to grow to their full potential, and to be motivated to continue to grow and learn throughout their lives.  The current approach emphasises left brain thinking and does little to promote creative and intuitive processing. We are  developing a society of people who cannot appropriately access their emotions and who have suppressed their creative and moral brain - with disastrous consequences for individuals, ommunities and ultimately for our planet.  in this paper I will explore the fallacy that more information is better, and examine some of the consequences of the left brain approach to education.  I also look forward to a brighter future as people become more aware of these problems and address the need for fundamental achange in the way we deliver education. Educational approaches such as Steiner, Montessori,  Integral Education (Sri Aurobindo) and Education for Life (Living Wisdom Schools) successully help children unfold holistically and still achieve high marks in standard tests.

 The Information Myth ....

Did you hear the story of the starfish?

The woman didn't reply immediately but , as she lifted another starfish and threw it back into the sea she said-

                                  "...Made a difference to that one didn't it? "

Sooo....

 We arranged an appointment with Dr Nautiyal,an orthopaedic surgeon in Dehradun - a large town 5 hours drive away. Other villagers carried Deena down the hillside to the road where a car met her and took her to see Dr Nautiyal. She needs surgery to remove the nail and cleaning of the wounds, antibiotics (probably given intravenously) and several months of traction.  This will cost approximately £1500.  Deena and her family have no money and survive essentially as subsistence farmers.

 Myself and my friend Mahavir have paid for her initial hospitalisation but we do not have the funds to pay for the operation and additional treatment.  I hope you, my friends, will be able to make a donation -small or large - so that we can pay for the treatment required.

I am blessed to be in a space of deep calmness, inner peace and joy.  Maybe it's the result of the peaceful Himalayan environment where I spend most of my time;  or the aftermath of  the profound expansion of my heart felt at a 4 day retreat in Rishikesh; or the calmness of the week of yoga, meditation and ayurveda in sunny Kerala; or the clear truths revisited as I read Essence of the Bhagavad Gita again; or the inspiration and resonance of Sri Prem Baba's book From Suffering to Joy - the Path of the Heart.  Or maybe it's all of these plus the cumulative effect of a daily meditation practice and my December initiation into a higher Kriya meditation practice.  Or maybe it's simply divine grace. But something has changed within me.

I watched A River Runs Through It again yesterday.  Beautifully acted, beautifully scripted, beautifully filmed, and another Robert Redford directorial triumph. I love this 1992 film.  The evocative rendering of the rugged Montana landscape and the metaphor of the river as the flow of life are food for my soul.  In turn the river is a raging torrent and a deep calmness. But finally it inevitably reaches the expansive ocean of Spirit.

.....than are dreamt of in your philosophy - Hamlet Act 1 ScV

 It's been a turbulent few months.

It was a joyful summer; my (other) wonderful son married his beautiful bride, Gillian. I visited loving friends and relatives in the UK; I was in America for a month where I spent a week at Gloria's cabin beside lake Tahoe -kayaking and hiking and watching the Independence Day fireworks from a boat on the lake;

The school has been open for about 8 weeks.  We have 14 children registered but attendance varies between 6 and 10.  The age range is 3 to 7 years old.  We may not have many English scholars but things are definitely changing in what I see as significant ways.