New Videos : posted June 15, 2007
Seva Cafe: Love All, Serve All
During our stay in Ahmedabad, India in early April we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Seva Cafe, one of the many projects of Manav Sadhna, the organization we had come to Ahmedabad to visit. Seva, or service, is the selfless giving of oneself for the betterment of others and the world around. At Seva Café the concept of service takes the form of a 'pay it forward' restaurant, where every meal is cooked and served with love.
We were so overwhelmed by the experience of eating at Seva our first night in Ahmedabad that we wanted to create a short piece about this unique restaurant that is much more than just a place to grab a bite. At Seva, the bottom line is not about money, but about giving people an opportunity to come together and enjoy good food, and take part in an experiment in generosity.
'The idea of oneness is that...anything that anybody does in the world is connected to everybody else. So...whether it’s Seva Cafe operating in Ahmedabad, there’s somebody out there working in the slum areas, somebody in California running a Karma Cafe or anybody doing anything, it affects us. Because at the end of the day, it’s about humanity and sort of a collective consciousness, a collective soul force. So we all move when one person has a realization, one person has an idea, when one person works.'
--Anjali Desai, Seva Cafe Volunteer
Check out Seva Cafe: Love All, Serve All here.
New Videos : posted June 14, 2007
New Short Film: Not Just a Piece of Cloth
At Goonj, every inch of cloth is used, nothing is wasted. During our recent trip to India, we spent a day at the Goonj headquarters in New Delhi talking with the founder and director, Anshu Gupta, an inspiring individual whose work and efforts has affected hundreds of thousands around India. We experienced firsthand how this unique organization transforms one person's waste into a resource for another and is much more than a typical clothing distribution center. Creating backpacks out of old jeans, school notebooks from discarded paper and sanitary napkins from old sheets and cloth are just some of innovative ways clothing is recycled at Goonj.
A few of weeks ago, Goonj won the World Bank's Development Marketplace Award for its program, 'Not Just a Piece of Cloth' (the inspiration for the title of our short) whose objective is to improve the reproductive health of women living in the villages and slums around India by providing them with an affordable, clean and easy-to-use sanitary napkins made from recycled clothes.
Clothing is something that many of us take for granted yet it is a basic need, connected to the well being and health of people around world. As you will see in this short film, 'Not Just a Piece of Cloth', what can be re-made from discarded and recycled clothing offers a highly practical example of lived oneness.
If you're inspired by the video and want to see how you can help Goonj and their programs visit their how you can help page, or donate directly to Goonj through GlobalGiving. You can also vote for this video on CurrentTV – if it gets enough votes, it will be shown on broadcast television, so more people can learn about the important work of Goonj.
New Videos : posted June 14, 2007
New Interview Added: The Role of Art
We just added 5 new clips from our interview with artist, naturalist and ornithologist Juan Manuel Carrion recorded during our February trip to Ecuador. Juan spoke about what the role of art in culture should be, our need to change our resource consumption to preserve the environment and how we can learn from nature. Check out "The Role of Art" here.
General Topics : posted May 24, 2007
Want to See Our Videos on TV?
We have just uploaded our most recent short films The Heart of Religion and An Invitation to Current TV's site where videos with the most votes are broadcast on TV. If you like these pieces and want to see them shown on Current TV become a member here and vote!
General Topics : posted May 23, 2007
New Short films: The Shaman and the Archbishop
Alberto Luna, a progressive Archbishop known as the 'defender of the poor,' and Don Alverto Taxo, a master Quechua Iachak (wise man) from the Saraguro region of Ecuador live only four hours apart. During our trip to Ecuador, we met with both of these leaders and were struck by how two people from such different backgrounds can have similar perspectives on humanity. They both spoke eloquently about how truth resides in the human heart and the need to look within.
General Topics : posted May 17, 2007
GOP + RSS = Awesome
Would you like to stay updated on new Global Oneness Project videos and blogs, but aren't sure how to use RSS? Check out this short video that our friends at dotSUB are hosting. It will walk you through how to collect content from all your favorite sites in one place. Afterwards, you should be able to subscribe to our blog and new videos RSS feeds with no problem!
New Videos : posted May 15, 2007
New interviews from India
We've just added eleven new video clips from a diverse group of people we interviewed in India: environmental lawyer M.C. Mehta, Ashoka fellow and founder of Goonj Anshu Gupta, organic farming expert Stephan Fayon, prominent social activist Medha Patkar, member of Indian parliament Nirmala Deshpande, assistant director of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics Geshe Kalsang Damdul la, and the Venerable Choegyal Rinpoche from the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
General Topics : posted May 11, 2007
Going Global
Here's a global snapshot of the recent visitors to our site:
We'd love to know where you're from, and how you found out about the Global Oneness Project. Drop us a line and let us know...
General Topics : posted May 02, 2007
Dennis Kucinich on Oneness
It's quite rare to hear politicians, let alone presidential candidates, talk about issues from a perspective of oneness, especially on national TV. Here is a quote from Dennis Kucinich's interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher this past Friday.
'Because I view the world as one and see the world as interconnected and interdependent I think as president I'll bring a vision of a world that can co-exist peacefully and act on that vision to create structures....'
Check out his interview with Bill Maher below.
Travel Stories : posted April 27, 2007
Reflections Back Home
After each trip we go on I take some time to reflect upon the experiences we've had, the places we've gone and what has been shared with us during our travels from all the people we've met along the way. As I think about the month we spent traveling around India, and indeed our travels this past year one theme stands out: generosity.
The amount of generosity that has been shown to us by the people we have met during our travels these past months is not necessarily captured in the videos we produce. We have visited four continents and interviewed over 75 people from all different walks of life and facets of society. They spoke many languages, addressed many issues and offered a truly diverse perspective on the idea of seeing life as one interconnected, interdependent whole. Some offered skepticism and questions while others shared experiences, stories and calls for action. Regardless of their personal views, the amount of warmth and kindness we were shown while filming and traveling has been overwhelming. People offered not only their time, but they took us into their homes, fed us, housed us and most importantly, spoke to us about their lives, work and families. Many times I wish we had the camera rolling to capture the small things, the meals shared, the late night conversations, the 'behind the scenes' moments that aren't always caught on film.
Our last few days in India were particularly filled with generosity (see my last blog about our time in Ahmedabad). As guests of Manav Sadhna at the Gandhi Ashram, it seemed as if everyone we met went out of their way to make us feel welcome and at home. On our last day over lunch I was presented a parting gift from Jayeshbhai and the kids of Manav Sadhna. A couple of days before, Jayeshbhai had noticed the project's logo on my business card. He told me how he often uses seeds as a metaphor for the kids he works with, telling them that they will grow into great trees that will then send off many more seeds that have the power to change the future. At lunch I was presented with a bag made from recycled newspaper (another one of the amazing things that the kids of Manav Sadhna make) filled with four beautiful wall hangings on handmade paper (again from the kids) with our logo copied exactly by hand and seeds cut and glued onto the paper.
The time and effort that had gone into making these for us really got to me, and the thought behind it -- it wasn't just a thing, a gift for the sake of giving a gift -- it was much more. That's just one example of what people have given us again and again on our travels, much more than just an interview or a few words of wisdom or hope. They have shared their generosity with us and I hope we can, in turn, share it with you.
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
