The Compassion Revolution

  This is a song that came to me a while ago, and that i worked out while being bed-ridden after my accident. I wanted to write a song for Jeff Bezos, because he was (at the time) the richest man on the planet. I was thinking about Amazon and how, taken from a distance, Jeff Bezos has acquired near God-like powers: ability to go to space, hear all our wishes and to deliver almost anything any time. This made me wonder: What does life look like from his perspective? And what does that make us? And of course, some thoughts on consumerism and equality. I don't have any personal issues with Jeff Bezos, but yeah, if you're the richest man on the planet, you must bear with people writing songs about you i suppose!

For plastic free July, I was interviewed by WWoW , an Indian upcycling project about the work of Sadhana Forest and its zero waste practices. How to live sustainably in harmony with the forest? The Zero Waste hut at Sadhana Forest You can find our conversation here .

I created a YouTube channel which will feature some of the talks I gave. So far it has recordings of my lectures on food security and an in-depth interview about the core values of Sadhana Forest. For my folk songs and protest songs, see the Soulful Sadhak channel .

Artist Elda Gallo interviewed me about the meaning of Sadhana and the values that Sadhana Forest stands for. You can find the recording here .

  I have been meditating regularly for about ten years now. I have attended and facilitated meditation groups and retreats, in various places in Europe, North America, and Asia, in different (mostly Buddhist-inspired) traditions. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to do so and have experienced great benefits from this practice. However, one thing has kept bothering me all those years. The Buddha claims – and I deeply believe – that his teaching can liberate all beings, yet when I join meditation groups, I often see myself surrounded by rather socially privileged people (just like myself 1 ). W hy does (Buddhist-inspired) meditation in the West seem to attract mainly an academically educated, 2 (upper) middle class audience? Is meditation not relevant for other social groups, or is there something else at play here? (I will focus on class privilege in this article. Gender and white privilege fall beyond its scope. I believe others  to be far better qualified than me to

Can we create a space where learning flows from rich community connections? The Unlearning Centre [1]  would be an open learning and meeting space for young and old, centered around community and personal development, generosity, and sharing in a wide variety of forms. We want to offer an integrated learning experience. It is our goal to be a living experiment in community building. We want to encourage reflection on the ways in which society can nourish everyone’s well-being to the utmost possible, and at the same time offer concrete examples for doing so. We want to bring people closer together, to help them grow and contribute to the advancement of our society. The centre   is based on four ‘core values’: open learning, gift economy, inclusion and sustainability.   (Nederlands onderaan) Open learning Learning is a rich, diverse and never ending process. Learning and knowledge are sometimes associated with schools, universities and other educational institutions, and with a certain a