According to ted.com: “Buddhist roshi Joan Halifax works with people at the last stage of life (in hospice and on death row). She shares what she’s learned about compassion in the face of death and dying, and a deep insight into the nature of empathy.”
“Activist, anthropologist, author, caregiver, ecologist, LSD researcher, teacher, and Zen Buddhism priest — Joan Halifax is many things to many people. Yet they all seem to agree that no matter what role she plays, Halifax is consistently courageous and compassionate. Halifax runs the Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community she opened in 1990 after founding and leading the Ojai Foundation in California for ten years. Her practice focuses on socially engaged Buddhism, which aims to alleviate suffering through meditation, interfaith cooperation, and social service.”
“As director of the Project on Being With Dying, Halifax has helped caregivers cope with death and dying for more than three decades. Her book Being With Dying helps clergy, community activists, medical professionals, social workers and spiritual seekers remove fear from the end of life. Halifax is a distinguished invited scholar of the U.S. Library of Congress and the only woman and Buddhist on the Tony Blair Foundation’s Advisory Council.”
I hope you find her talk inspiring.
For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com:
“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”
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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!
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This week the Mandala Monday post is actually a TED video. I know, TED video’s are posted on Thursdays, but this one is a very unique moving mandala that you just have to see.
This video is called “TEDxSummit intro: The power of x” and according to YouTube:
“Dancers + camera + kaleidoscope = this infinitely gorgeous short video. (Watch in 1080p fullscreen if you can.) It’s made for TEDxSummit, an unprecedented gathering of TEDx organizers from around the world– and the video celebrates “the power of x” to multiply great ideas. Learn more about TEDxSummit: http://tedxsummit.ted.com”
Enjoy!
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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!
Be sure to Subscribe to this blog either by RSS or Email via the forms on the top right column of the page.
This video shows the use of the focus of the mind for creating mandalas. According to YouTube Channel UniversalMediaman:
“Dagaz is an application that helps the Mindset user to train their meditation level through a new intuitive game experience. The application makes use of mandala shapes, generated by the user’s mind. Mandala shapes are symmetrical shapes used in many cultures and almost every religion. The shapes are used for different purposes, for example as a meditation tool, part of religious architecture, and even as a therapeutic tool for mentally disabled or mentally ill. Every mandala is created around a central point. Dagaz (which means ‘point’ in the ancient Futhark alphabet) uses that central point to help users train their meditation skills.”
“The Dagaz project has its purpose in different areas. Dagaz can be used for relaxation or as a fun gaming experience. But it can also be used for more serious training. Meditation also has positive effects on a wide range of conditions, such as hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), sleeping difficulties, depression and pain relief. Dagaz is a fun and intuitive way to learn to control your brain by creating aesthetic images. By meditating on a central point the user has the ability to generate different dimensions from this point and these dimensions carry you further into your meditation session. The more dimensions you create, the higher your score and your meditation skill.”
“Dagaz is the first step in the creation of a mind-based communication protocol. Future versions of Dagaz will have an added multiplayer mode, making it possible to create a worldwide neural network that will enable participants all over the world to generate mandalas together.”
“The first version of Dagaz lays the foundation for more advanced neural interaction on social platforms. Are you ready to start talking with your mind?”
* Design & Code by Universal Mediaman (Beer van Geer)
* Music by Olle (Björn Remmerswaal)
