Monthly Archives: June 2014

Plastic-Free July

Plastic lid - Ecology Ctr '14The Ecology Center in Berkeley invites you to take part in “Plastic-Free July,” a challenge to reduce plastic use. Partners include Green Sangha, City of Berkeley Parks & Recreation, and Beth Terry of My Plastic-Free Life.

Special guests at the events below include: Sheila Hollander, a Piedmont mom who knows how to reduce waste with grace; Daniel Maher, recycling guru of the Ecology Center; and Samantha Meyer, who was so successful at reducing waste in her college dining hall, they hired her as Sustainability and Purchasing Coordinator for Dining Services.

Join us for the following events:
Film & Discussion:  Plastic Paradise, Thursday, 7-9 pm, 6/26/14
A screening of this short (one hour) and pithy ocumentary “Plastic Paradise” gives a clear view of the problem of plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.  Beth Terry, Green Sangha member and author of My Plastic-Free Life, will lead the panel discussion afterwards. More details:  Click here

Workshop #1: Introduction to Plastic-Free Living, Sunday, 1-3 pm, 6/29/14.  Author and activist Beth Terry will discuss strategies for reducing our use of disposable plastic consumer goods. Discover the whys and hows of reducing your use of plastic.  More details: Click here

Workshop #2: Plastic-Free Show and Tell, Sunday, 1-3 pm, 7/13/14.  Collect plastic items from your day to day, and bring them to this workshop. Beth Terry and participants will share tips and strategies for eliminating or replacing these hard-to-avoid items going forward. More details:  Click here

Berkeley Marina Shoreline Clean-Up, Saturday, 9:00-11:30 am, 7/19/14.  Meet at the Shorebird Nature Park Center to view a brief indoor presentation on the problems of plastics in the marine environment. Then, the group will set out to clear trash from a particular area of the marina shoreline. More details: Click here

I will refuse - Van Jones

Plastic-Free Potluck Celebration, Sunday, 1-3 pm, 7/27/14.  Beth Terry will host a plastic-free potluck. Bring your favorite potluck dish to share. Show off your plastic-free lunch strategies and share tips you have picked up during Plastic-Free July. More details: Click here

Celebrate the fullness

Hibiscus - TBG 11-136th Annual Gratitude Gathering

Sunday, July 20, at the Berkeley Ecology Center’s Eco-House.

10:00 am – 1:00 pm.  Eco-House tour.

1:00-3:30 pm.  Gathering, potluck picnic, meditation, speeches, conversation, and song.  Hear former Green Sangha director Lauren Van Ham, founding member Devi Peri, and board president Stuart Moody reflect on the power and the practice of Green Sangha activism.  Celebrate our accomplishments, imagine the future.  Meet our TELA leadership team, who will be starting the summer camp in Marin on Monday morning.

The Eco-House is 11 minutes’ walk from N Berkeley BART.  This is a perfect day to leave your car at home and walk, bike, BART to a celebration of sustainability!  Space is limited for both parts of the day.  Reservations required.  Sign-up and carpool coordination:  linda@greensangha.org.

On the way home:  TELA (Teen Environmental Leadership Academy) summer 2013

On the way: TELA (Teen Environmental Leadership Academy) summer 2013

Finding your purpose

Gustin 12Green Sangha founder, Jonathan Gustin, invites you to his seminar on Sunday, June 22, at 7 pm in Berkeley:  Life Purpose For Meditators.  In this evening presentation,  Jonathan will speak to the unique challenges—and opportunities—of meditators seeking a clearer sense of purpose in this life.

In Jonathan’s view, meditation practice is about primordial freedom of spirit, but it is not a complete spiritual path.  For a comprehensive awakening to occur, we need not only to deepen our sense of inner freedom but also to discover our mytho-poetic story, our life purpose.

Once we discover the miracle of freedom in meditation there is an opportunity to discover a second miracle:  knowing your soul’s purpose.  Many meditation systems stop at the point where the meditator is released, if only momentarily, from the self-contraction of egoic identity.  The second, equally important, step is about embodiment: engaging the unique strengths of your body-mind to serve in a particular way.

  • First, we find freedom, through meditation, from the sense of separation.
  • Second, we find meaning by embodying our purpose and acting on our sense of oneness.

Eel River - sunlightMeditation is the practice for connecting with pure consciousness.  Soul Encounter is the practice for connecting with the life purpose for which you were born.  In both cases, we experience a liberation from our usual sense of self.

During this evening together we’ll explore:

  • The miracle of meditation
  • The meaning of purpose, place and soul
  • The steps to embodying your soul’s purpose

What is Soul?
Soul is the essence of your specific life purpose. Soul is the reason the Mystery has taken your unique shape. Soul is the creative intelligence of the universe expressing itself through you. Soul is the body of your gift that fills up the garment of your life.

The key to becoming clear about your life-purpose is engagement with soul work. Soul work is a descent into your deep mysterious interior. Soul work is a dive into your incarnate uniqueness. Soul work is initiated by your longing to live a larger life and by the desire to make the world a better place.

Soul work gathers momentum through your willingness to receive the soul’s guidance, rather than letting your thinking dictate all your decisions. Soul work is the profound act of letting your life speak. Soul work is the proven path for disclosing your life purpose.

This seminar offers you a framework to support your spiritual journey towards a soul-centered life. This journey culminates in your ability to take your rightful place in the world, and occupy the niche you were born to inhabit.

Jonathan is wonderfully skilled in the art of guiding people to discover and embody their unique life purpose. There are few things I appreciate more than good teaching, and so I enthusiastically recommend Jonathan’s work with people. Jonathan is a person of great integrity, from whom I am ever learning.    

– Joanna Macy, co-author, Coming Back to Life and Active Hope

Life Purpose For Meditators
Cost: Free (though donations are welcome)
Location: Berkeley
Register here