I. Introduction

Over the years when teaching workshops, people have often commented that they liked the stories I tell, and that my stories offered them important learning. About eight years ago, my friend and colleague Molly Gordon suggested it would be a great idea if I wrote up my stories in a newsletter. And thus the Seishindo newsletter was born! Recently, as you know, I gathered all my stories about my life in Japan and created my book, Pure Heart Simple Mind- Wisdom stories from a life in Japan.

Since the book has been out, a number of people have said they would like to learn about my process of writing. Because of the interest shown, I am going to write a series of newsletters about my writing process. In the coming months I will also teach a teleseries on writing.

As I said in my last newsletter, if you would like to learn about how to be a better writer, please contact me at charlie@seishindo.org and I will place your name on a mailing list as a potential participant in my upcoming writing classes.

Needless to say, writing is a form of communication.

What might be a bit surprising to you, is that improving your writing skills can have a positive affect on your verbal communication style and your relationships with others. I hope that as you read through these rules, the reasons why this is so will become evident.

2012, we have heard so many doom and gloom prophets telling so many tiresome, energy draining, love lost tales of darkness, here is my take on what it is truly about. As I am not a very litterate soul, at least this time round, I will hand over to my sister, fellow sangha member and amazing soul Pema Chodren...

"The slogan 'Be grateful to everyone' is about making peace with the aspects of ourselves that we have rejected. Through doing that, we also make peace with the people we dislike. More to the point, being around people we dislike is often a catalyst for making friends with ourselves. Thus, 'Be grateful to everyone.' If we were to make a list of people we don't like - people we find obnoxious, threatening, or worthy of contempt - we would find out a lot about those aspects of ourselves that we can't face. If we were to come up with one word about each of the troublemakers in our lives, we would find ourselves with a list of descriptions of our own rejected qualities, which we project onto the outside world. The people who repel us unwittingly show the aspects of ourselves that we find unacceptable, which otherwise we can't see.

 In traditional teachings on lojong it is put another way: other people trigger the karma that we haven't worked out. They mirror us and give us the chance to befriend all of that ancient stuff that we carry around like a backpack full of boulders. 'Be grateful to everyone' is getting at a complete change of attitude. This slogan is not wishy-washy and naive. It does not mean that if you're mugged on the street you should smile knowingly and say "Oh, I should be grateful for this" before losing consciousness. This slogan actually gets at the guts of how we perfect ignorance through avoidance, not knowing we're eating poison, not knowing that we're putting another layer of protection over our heart, not seeing the whole thing."  

- Pema Chodron

Do As One is uniting one billion people to consciously breathe together on 11/11/12 by holding the largest synchronous event the world has ever experienced.  We are thrilled to introduce to you Breathe Together 2012!

Join the global party by hosting your own Breathe Together 2012 event or come participate in Do As One's LIVE celebration in Southern California on 11/11/12. Events of all shapes and sizes will be happening all over the world to celebrate our unity.

Remember...if you are an iPhone user, you can download your FREE Breathe Together appnow by clicking here.  Breathe synchronously with others in the Universal Breathing Room from wherever you are at! 

Click on the banner below to go to our Breathe Together 2012 Facebook event page.  Stay tuned for more information.  Share the love with your friends.  Be one of the billion! 

Blessed breaths,

Do As One

www.DoAsOne.org

Contact us at: Breathe@DoAsOne.com

Sometimes you just have one of those bad days. You know the kind I mean - the ones that everything seems to go wrong, on top of already being stressed about something. Maybe your job is in jeopardy, you're not sure if you're going to survive the next round of layoffs. Or maybe your relationship is in trouble and you're feeling up against a wall about what to do. Or maybe you don't have a relationship and the loneliness has become overwhelming; or your health has taken a turn for the worse and just can't imagine how you're going to get through another day.

Whatever the reason, however dark it may seem, there are a few simple steps you can try that may just help you get through another day, or another hour or even the next moment. Here they are:

www.breathworksummit.com

An extraordinary event.

FREE internet conference with 24 world leading theorists and practitioners of Breathwork, including Stan Grof, Leonard Orr, Sondra Ray, Jim Morningstar, Gay Henricks and ...

There are 4 days of live interviews
1-4 February 2012
or
you can download the programmes and listen at a time that suits you.

This world first in bringing together in the one programme leaders in different schools and aspects of Breathwork. I am delighted and honoured to be part of such an illustious group.

The conference is entitled: The Power of the Breath to Heal Your Life and your World.

E-book - The Complete Breath. Articles by speakers at this conference available at: www.jimmorningstar.com

I am sure you will find it an inspiration and resource in your journey.