The Heart of the Matter
July 30, 2014
It's Time to Speak Your Peace!

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New article in the Huffington Post today about the International Day of Peace on September 21st.

Features an intro video from PeaceCast and a link to Words of Peace Global, as well as some other leading peace organizations.

Read it and leap. Peace IS a possibility.

(These two doves fly into a bar...)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:29 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2014
The Doorways to God

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Tears are the doorway to God,
and so, by the way, is laughter,
breath, longing, death,
and the perfume of your first lover
lingering in the air you no longer breathe.
What, may I ask,
isn't the doorway to God
and what awaits
you on the other side?
If God is omnipresent,
isn't that power here with you now,
your empty hand
reaching for the doorknob?

What inspires me
Who inspires me

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:53 PM | Comments (3)

July 26, 2014
Pasadena Music Slide Show

Excerpts, with music, from Prem Rawat's 7/19 event in Pasadena.

PremRawat.com
Words of Peace Global
The Prem Rawat Foundation
PeaceCast

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2014
Peace Education Program Slide Show

Take a look at what various participants in TPRF's Peace Education Program (PEP) have to say about their experience of it. This show is a recent collaboration between Stuart Hoffman and myself, with the kind support of Sherry Weinstein and Mary Wishard of TPRF.

TPRF.org
PremRawat.com

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2014
Prem Rawat in Pasadena: 9 More

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PremRawat.com
Speak your peace
The Know Thy Selfie video

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:01 AM | Comments (3)

July 21, 2014
The KNOW THY SELFIE Video

Ta da! Here is the KNOW THY SELFIE video, premiered, last night at TPRF's fabulous Gala Benefit in Los Angeles. Many of the photos and names are those of people who wanted to attend the event, but couldn't be there. Thanks for participating in this fun way!

TPRF

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2014
Prem Rawat in Pasadena

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3 breath.jpg

2 dramatic.jpg

4 listeningart.jpg

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6 clarity.jpg

8 sunday.jpg

7 afraid7.jpg

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12-minute video of Prem Rawat
PremRawat.com
Words of Peace Global
TRPF
Submit a video to PeaceCast

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:55 AM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2014
Cast Your Lot with PeaceCast

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Here's a three-minute video I just submitted to PeaceCast for their 48-hour livestream on September 21st to celebrate the UN-sponsored International Day of Peace.

If you have an original peace-themed video you want to submit, click here. Or, if you have a favorite link to a peace-themed video, you can submit THAT instead. Will take you less than 3 minutes.

"If not YOU, who? If not NOW, when?"

More about PeaceCast

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2014
The Real You

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PremRawat.com

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2014
10 Things You Can Do in the Next 3 Minutes

Dog sunglasses.jpg1. Eat an apple
2. Brush your teeth
3. Sing a song
4. Make a to do list
5. Google yourself
6. Take your dog for a very short walk
7. Forgive your parents for being imperfect
8. Complain about the government
9. Write a mediocre haiku
10. Submit a 10-minute-or-less peace-themed video (or a link to a video) to PeaceCast, an organization of inspired volunteers who are producing a 48-hour livestream, on September 21st, to celebrate the UN-sanctioned International Day of Peace. Three minutes. That's all it takes. Three minutes to communicate a message of peace to a world that sorely needs it. Or you could brush your teeth. Click here.

Sample #1 from 2013
Sample #2 from 2013
Sample #3 from 2013
PeaceCast on Facebook

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

Know Thy Selfie Closing in 24 Hours

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Three minutes is all it takes to show your support for TPRF.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:39 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2014
Matisyahu ONE DAY

This Matisyahu video was one of the most popular ones shown in last year's PeaceCast livestream. If you know of others with the same kind of uplifting peace-themed message, please email the link to the good folks of PeaceCast who are in the process of reviewing hundreds of videos and picking the best for their September 21st livestream. It will take you less than three minutes to submit your link to PeaceCast.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Here Comes PeaceCast!

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At last count, there were something like 3,330 peace organizations in the world. While this may seem impressive at first blush, it's still 19,857 less than the number of Starbucks -- which is why I'm happy to have learned about the addition of one more peace organization on the scene -- PeaceCast

The brainchild of "an international cast of friendly volunteers", PeaceCast 2014 is one of several global initiatives dedicated to promoting the UN-recognized International Day of Peace on September 21st.

The concept is simple: collect peace-themed videos from all over the world and livestream them for 48 hours wherever it happens to be September 21st.

One of the cool things about PeaceCast is that it's content will be crowdsourced. YOU, your friends, neighbors, children, parents, co-workers, husband, wife, chiropractor, and the semi-employed film-maker across the street are all invited to submit something.

Any 10-minute-or-less expression that relates to peace will be considered -- original music, spoken word, dance, documentary, or whatever. And it doesn't have to be original. If you've found something on the web that inspires you, simply forward the link to PeaceCast. The sooner you submit it, the better chance it has of making it to the livestream.

Got peace? Share it. Don't got peace? Find something inspiring and share that. If not YOU, who? If not NOW, when?

Sample PeaceCast videos from 2013
PeaceCast website

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2014
Last Call for Your True Selfies

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Got three minutes? Want to creatively express your support for TPRF, a non-profit humanitarian aid organization that helps people live with dignity, peace and prosperity? Click here to find out how.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2014
Standing in the Back of the Bus

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I am standing in the back of a bus in San Miguel de Allende, just beginning to exit, when I notice a short, heavy-set woman behind me, her long grey hair tied in a bun and a smile that explained a thousand years of Mexican fiestas. How could I not let her pass?

So I take a step to the side and, with a downward sweep of my hand, indicate she should pass me -- that indeed, it would be my pleasure if she did. And so she does, her eyes opening wider, the many laugh lines around her dark eyes, deepening.

I have the impulse to follow, to exit next, especially since I had just given up my place in line, but the boy behind her is obviously on his way somewhere and his need to exit seems to be greater than mine and since I am already standing off to the side, I let the young muchacho do his young muchacho thing.

A man with a guitar passes me, as do two small children.

I look to my left and see a lot of people standing up and starting to make their way to the back of the bus, me now feeling like an usher, perfectly placed to make their exit just a little happier today.

A dark-skinned man with fringes on his jacket passes by, as does a woman behind him whom I imagine to be his wife. She looks tired, OldMexican+WOman.jpg like there are many chores waiting for her at the end of the day -- the same chores her mother and her grandmother still perform daily as an act of worship to a Jesus whose image hangs from the rearview mirror of her husband's 1973 Chevy, along with the rosary beads and dice.

Each of these people pass me and, as they do, I notice that more people are getting on the bus -- the same number, mas o menos, as those who have just gotten off.

So I continue standing there, making way, and bowing to those who seem to be open to more than just a smile or nod.

And then, it dawns on me.

This is my work. This is what I was born for -- what my Buddhist friends like to refer to as "right livelihood" -- though I, in this moment, could not figure out how the universe could possibly compensate me for my service.

I didn't need to think about it for long.

Thirty minutes later, a woman with a turquoise barrette in her hair, brings me a grilled chicken in a plastic bag. Hot. Crispy. And ready to eat. And a 7-Up too, perfectly chilled.

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:55 AM | Comments (4)

July 01, 2014
See and Hear How Inspiring Virtual Collaboration Can Be

Lots can happen when a bunch of people who have never met join together, virtually, to express an inspired possibility. Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre made some magic in this arena a few years ago and now, in a seriously more low tech production, Know Thy Selfie, another virtual collaboration, has been born -- part of TPRF's light-hearted, 2014 fundraising campaign. Join in the fun.

The TED talk: Eric Whitacre's virtual choir

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:48 AM | Comments (0)

Welcome to Mitch Ditkoff's blog about what's really important in this life: Peace, gratitude, love, joy, clarity, and the effort required to wake up and smell the roses. Enjoy!

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