When love was in the Centre!
Posted by Siddharth Sthalekar on Feb 24, 2012
A special Wednesday Meditation with a special soul. We were privileged to share a circle with Prof. Anne Murray who teaches a course at Stanford University titled - Love as a force for social justice. After several years of working for womens rights and empowerment, Prof Murray who was the founder of the Global Fund for Women and the author of the book Paradigm found, shared how her work would often leave her unsettled and angry.
A few years ago, she began reading into the philosophies of non-violence as an approach towards social work, and that inevitably led her to discovering Love. For the first time in the Universitys history, had someone taught a course on this four letter word. In spite of the resistance she faced, she persisted to go ahead and saw some remarkable results. At the end of some of the courses, she has had student reviews stating that Love was indeed real and something we could all understand.
For the 25 people gathered around her, it was insightful to see how her understanding of love had uncovered the joy within. She explained how there was a need for every person engaged in social work to constantly keep this philosophy at the center. Economics, awareness and sociological programs must flow as a result of love in our hearts.
It is an approach that we forget sometimes in our aspirations to touch others lives. May we strive to serve one another with compassion within. What struck us all were the words she quoted from Thich Nhat Hahns book which summarised her approach towards service.
- Dear one, I am here for you
- Dear one, I know that you are here, and it makes me very happy
- Dear one, I know that you are suffering, that is why I am here for you
- Dear one, I am suffering, please help.
Perhaps one day we will all be able to hold this intention in our hearts towards the communities we serve.
~ Love All ~
~ Love All ~
Prof Anne Murray from mammovies on Vimeo.
Posted by Siddharth Sthalekar on Feb 24, 2012 | permalink
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