The Rev. Canon Charles P. Gibbs is an Episcopal priest who, from 1996 until his retirement in 2013, served as the founding executive director of the United Religions Initiative – serving from URI’s gestation to its position as an international network which consists presently of more than 750 cooperation circles (each comprising members of at least 3 faiths or traditions) in 92 countries. As executive director, he worked with thousands of colleagues around the world to guide URI’s growth from a vision to becoming the world’s largest grassroots interfaith network.

During his tenure, URI engaged in a global chartering process, which involved thousands of people, and included the planning and production of five global summits and eight regional conferences. The URI signed its global Charter in June 2000 and now has a global office in San Francisco and regional coordinators on six continents. Their work includes peacebuilding, interfaith education, environmental awareness, human rights advocacy and building social cohesion; and across the globe touches over 2.5 million people each year. The URI is a Non-Governmental Organization with consultative status at the United Nations and was honored by the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations in 2011 for its innovative peacebuilding work.

Complete bio at Awakin Call with Charles Gibbs.

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Opening to spiritual wisdom — a global video conference circle of people who seek to share the sacred and serve the world.

Guest Spiritual Leader:

Swami Vedananda is a senior monk of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, which was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900. Belonging to an order of monks of an unbroken, ancient lineage dating back to the pre-BC Vedic period, Swami Vedananda holds a Ph.D. in physics, a compassion quotient that overflows from his heart, and a sense of humor that will fill you with lightness and joy.

More about Swami Vedananda at his Global Awakin Call.

Moderator:

Somik Raha is a “servant leader” with the ServiceSpace community, and a product development leader at SmartOrg, a values-based decision-making software company. He has a Ph.D. in Decision Analysis from Stanford University, where he hosts a weekly Sunday class with Swami Vedananda.

More about Somik at his Global Awakin Call.

Opening to the Universal Wisdom
in Each Others’ Faith Traditions

A global video-conference circle of people who practice different faiths and aspire to “deep ecumenism.”

Guest Spiritual Leader:
Sister Elizabeth Padilla has been a spiritual educator since 1985, as a nun with Brahma Kumaris Spiritual Organization. With her past experience in theater, music, and more than a dozen years in Interfaith work, she is fulfilling her life’s dream by reaching the heart and spirit though songs and service.  She is currently most active with Anubhuti Retreat Center.

Text:
Power of Silence
by Shiv Baba through Prajapita Brahma

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the great mystic who lived in the Ukraine in the 1800s, in turn said: if you’ve ever experienced a time or place of great darkness, why are you there? It’€™s because that’€™s where the greatest light is hidden. You’re not there by accident. You were sent. Because of all people in the world, you’™re the one chosen to find and retrieve those holy sparks, the ones that are hidden there. You’€™re the only one who can do it. That’s why you’€™re there.

Discussion theme: where in your life have you had the experience of discovering, in the midst of great darkness, the brightest, purest light? What did you do then? How has that affected your life?

His work on the commons takes many forms — as an author and blogger; frequent international speaker; conference and workshop organizer; contributor to book anthologies; designer of courses on the commons; and advisor and strategist. More at About David Bollier.

This growing movement consists of activists fighting international land grabs and the privatization of water; commoners collectively managing forests, fisheries and farmlands; Internet users generating software and Web content that can be shared and improved; and urban dwellers reclaiming public spaces. The Wealth of the Commons brings together the most vibrant strands of this burgeoning international work into a single volume, revealing the significant potential of the commons as a new force in politics, economics and culture…

Our goal in assembling the essays in The Wealth of the Commons has been to showcase the great diversity of voices, types of resources and geographic circumstances related to the commons – and the great political relevance of the commons for our time. The book also seeks to show the range of enclosures of the commons now underway, theoretical approaches to understanding the commons, and specific projects that use commons principles to generate, protect and share resources.

Aryae believes that this book, David’s work in general, and the global commons movement of which they’re a part, give us a powerful context for understanding and actualizing the role of the OWL community.

Consistent with their philosophy, their book is available to browse online at no charge at The Wealth of the Commons. It’s available to purchase at Amazon.

Audio recording and transcript are at the Awakin web site.

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Deidre is also a Global Citizen in the OWL community and was first speaker at the January 13 OWL Global Wisdom Circle, where you can see a video of her opening remarks.

Over the past 20 years she has been facilitating dialogue and providing cross-cultural conflict resolution training after writing three books on that topic. She provides leadership training and coaching for State Department sponsored international activists, teachers, and government and university student leaders.

More about Deidre at her OWL Profile.

Audio recording of the dialogue at June 13 Global Awakin Call.

Yoav is an American-born Israeli psychologist who moved to Israel in 1973 and joined the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) reserves. In 1979 he joined the Israeli peace movement, protesting the establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank. In 1982 he participated in the first Lebanon War and then demonstrated against the war he was fighting. Today he is Co-Director of the Sulha Peace Project.

More about Yoav at his OWL Profile.

As humans our highest purpose is to discover, live, and communicate what is needed to achieve a world that functions for the benefit of all life.

Our home is a water planet called Earth, cradled in a universe of beauty, mystery, and unfolding drama.

We now know that everything from the largest galaxy to the smallest particle is part of one unified, whole, interconnected system.

Each of us, individually, is important and unique. However at this moment in history, we are being called to set aside any narrow self-interests and to act with integrity, consciousness, and a spirit of goodwill.

Recognizing our common destiny, we envision a world in which love becomes the prevailing human function, cooperating together with all cultures, races, nations and religions for the benefit of all life.

More about Offuh at his OWL Profile.

Videos of the dialogue at Feb. 10 OWL Global Wisdom Circle.