The Heart of the Matter
November 18, 2022
If You Enjoy Reading What I Write

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If you enjoy my writing, I invite you to click on any one of the six links below. These are the six most popular posts of mine on MEDIUM -- an online platform where I am publishing daily. If you like what you read, feel free to subscribe to my posts and request to receive an email alert whenever anything new of mine is published there. Enjoy!

What I Learned, in a Closet, from my 3-Year Old Son

What It Really Means to Be a Friend

On Realizing the Nature of True Being

Here's the Problem with Reading Rumi

100 Sure-Fire Reasons to Go Within

My Father's Last Breath

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2019
Kathleen Cook Needs Our Support

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Kathleen Cook is in need of our support.

Please click here to learn more about her current health/life challenge as described on her GoFundMe page just launched by Joan Apter. No donation is too small.

This is chance for Kathleen's extended community to come together in her time of need and contribute some support. Thank you for your consideration. And here's to a happy healthy 2019 for all of us. May this coming year bring you as much love, peace, health, happiness, compassion, commitment, and gratitude as possible.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2017
Heart of the Matter's Top Ten Posts

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The Heart of the Matter blog began nine years ago in January, 2008. Since that time, the 1,817 postings on the site have been viewed a total of 1,390,444 times. What follows are the ten most popular postings since the blog was first launched.

1. We Were Made for These Times
2. On Being an Instrument of Peace
3. Prem Rawat: Miami Beach, 4/9/16
4. Dance!
5. When the Rain Begins
6. Prem Rawat in Johannesburg
7. Excerpts from Asheville
8. Prem Rawat: Amaroo, 9/10/15
9. Prem Rawat in 24 Minutes
10. You Are the Water

PS: Subscribing to the blog is easy. Just enter your email address in the space provided in the sidebar, then click "subscribe." Immediately after, you will receive a verification email. (If you don't get it, check your spam folder). Once you click the verification email, you will begin receiving alerts, to your inbox, whenever something new is posted on the blog.

TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2017
A Website That Is Timeless

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There are approximately one billion websites in the world, servicing the virtual needs of 3.6 billion people -- an astounding 40% of the earth's population. Given the fact that the average human being spends about three hours online, daily, human beings are living in cyberspace for an astounding 10.8 billion hours every day.

That's a lot of time. True. But time isn't the only game in town. There's also something beyond time. And for want of a better word, let's call that something else the "timeless" -- that which is lasting, ageless, abiding, permanent, unfailing, immortal, unchanging, and everlasting.

Recently I've discovered a website that addresses the essence of this timelessness in a most elegant way -- the appropriately named TimelessToday.

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Launched in September 2016, this fresh, new site offers a breath of fresh air (and a healthy dose of inspiration) through the spoken and written word of Prem Rawat. And it does so in a way that avoids the kind of proselytizing and evangelizing that all too often accompanies these kind of high-minded efforts.

Clearly, the people behind the scenes at Timeless Today, a hardworking team of web savvy and multimedia professionals, know a thing or two about the modern-day mindset. Rather than create a one-size-fits-all website, they've created an online experience that offers something for everyone -- no matter what their religion, philosophy, or attention span: everything from two-minute audio teasers to in-depth 80-minute videos.

Though still in its start up phase, Timeless Today is already seeing results. To date, it has hosted more than 133,000 web sessions for people in 140 countries and continues, in it's uniquely upbeat way, to provide a variety of free, pay-to-download, pay-to-stream, audio, and video.

What does the future hold for the website whose mission is to reach all 7.5 billion people on planet Earth with a message of hope, peace, and humanity? No one really knows, but if you ask the TimelessToday team, you can expect the following:

- More free content on the website and Facebook page
- New and different themes
- A YouTube channel of free content
- The TT crew following Prem Rawat around the world and providing footage that will be made available in a variety of formats: streaming video and audio, and downloads from his interviews, conversations, and live addresses.

A Quick Tour of TimelessToday

HomePage
About Prem Rawat
About TimelessToday
New Releases
Watch
Streaming Video
Listen
Read
Focused Listening (audio books)
Splitting the Arrow (book)
Store
Themes
Full Catalog of Products
Crowd funding Campaign
Contact

Want to help TimelessToday make its mark? Here's how:

- Join the mailing list
- Stay up-to-date with it's latest releases
- Purchase video, audio, and articles
- Participate in its crowd funding campaign
- Like it on Facebook
- Share posts on Facebook
- Recommend it to your friends

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:31 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2015
What I Learned from Our Independent Valentine's Day Fundraising Project

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Recently, my good buddy, Stuart Hoffman and I collaborated on an independent fundraising initiative to help support our favorite charity, The Prem Rawat Foundation. It was a ton of fun. So far, we've raised $4,981 and gotten more than 13,000 hits on our video. Here's a bunch o' stuff I learned (or remembered) along the way:

1. It feels good to serve.
2. Most people want to give.
3. If you want to create something new, it's helpful to have a collaborator.

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4. It takes a village and a few village idiots to make magic.
5. Some people don't like Valentine's Day.

6. Twelve saints named "Valentine" have been canonized by the Catholic church.
7. Googling "love quotes" reveals hundreds of inspiring quotes from known and unknown sources.
8. Everybody has an opinion.

9. The staff of The Prem Rawat Foundation is very committed and easy to work with.
10. Some people think 5:23 is a long time.

11. More people will participate in a fundraising effort if they are invited to participate and have a clearly defined role that makes sense to them.
12. Daya Rawat is an extraordinary singer.

13. Any effort made to personalize a fundraising effort is an effort well-made.
14. Proper planning prevents piss poor performance.
15. Fundraising success can be measured in many ways. HINT: It's not all about the money.

16. Coffee is an excellent fundraising catalyst.
17. Many people suffer from "fundraising fatigue."
18. Posting a video on my friends' FB pages is a good way to get the word out, as long as I don't overdo it and only choose the friends who won't be bothered by my taking that liberty.

19. I have a tendency to obsess.
20. I never really knew that my dog, Chili, could become part of a fundraising campaign.

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21. Donors to a fundraising campaign appreciate getting updates and progress reports.
21. Some people perceive a request to donate to a charity as a botheration.

22. Publishing an article about the History of Valentine's Day in the Huffington Post is an excellent way to publicize a Valentine's Day-themed fundraising campaign.
24. It's inspiring to set seemingly impossible goals as long as I don't get attached to them.
25. Keep my emails short.

26. It's useful to pay attention to feedback, especially the feedback I judge as irrelevant or absurd. It's also good to thank the people who give me feedback, even if I don't agree with them.
27. Murphy's Law has a way of creeping into any project.
28. The path is made by walking on it.

29. TPRF could use some more volunteers.
30. In some places around the world, $1.00 feeds a hungry child for a day.

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31. Some people won't get to #31 on my list of 40 things I've learned (but YOU have, so, congratulations!) You either have nothing better to do, are slightly crazy, or are a patient friend of mine.

32. Stuart Hoffman and Jennifer Edwards are a great songwriting team.
33. No matter what you think of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is an awesome platform to facilitate communication.

34. The Peace Education Program is working wonders to help people in prison get a fresh start in life.
35. When your Mac keyboard stops working in the middle of a project like this, buying a $49 plug-in keyboard at Best Buy is the way to go.

36. Doing anything on behalf of a charity, whatever the cause, works way better when you are actually feeling grateful.
37. Love rules!
38. The Food for People program is a shining example of how a good idea can work wonders.

39. Thinking I don't have time to volunteer for a charity (in this case TPRF) because I need to focus on "making a living" is a bogus thought, originating from a weird place of fear and anxiety. There is always time to be of service. And the amazing thing (even though I can't really prove it and the concept of "cause and effect" is a slippery slope to walk), two well-paying gigs came to me out of the blue while I was working on this project. That's two month's worth of income, folks. Coincidence? Maybe. But maybe not. Just saying...

40. These two independent fundraisers walk into a bar...

The Valentine's Day Love Quotes show

It's not too late to donate
The Prem Rawat Foundation

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)

November 07, 2013
The Huffington Post Meets the Heart of the Matter

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What follows are ten links to articles of mine from the Huffington Post. #1 and #6 are very much related to the work of Prem Rawat. The rest are on a variety of topics -- some humor, some on other topics of interest to me.

1. Jeremy Gilley and Prem Rawat

2. The Syndrome Syndrome

3. I'm From Woodstock. Yes I Am!

4. The Kindness at Work Manifesto

5. The 27 Best Practices of Volunteer Organizations

6. How to Go Beyond Self Improvement

7. Why You Need to Ask Why

8. The Afghani Cab Driver

9. How 13-Year Old Girls Can Wipe Out Terrorism

10. Excerpts from Full Moon at Sunrise


About Prem Rawat

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2013
Where Is Peace?

Here is the next video in TPRF's Peace For People 2013 campaign. These videos can also be seen on TPRF's YouTube channel as well as the TPRF website. The first video in the series -- Peace is a Feeling -- was released on July 1 and has received over 17,000 views from 120 countries!

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2012
The Social Media Revolution Revelation

PREM RAWAT'S SUMMER EVENTS ON FACEBOOK:

Toronto: July 8
Montreal: July 11
Washington, DC: July 15
Chicago: July 19
Denver: July 22
Los Angeles: July 29
Asheville: August 4

Thanks to Isis Marks for the video link

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:20 PM | 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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