The Compassion Revolution

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 th...

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 wi...

Some might wish to forget the year 2020 as soon as possible. However, if there is one thing we can learn from it, I believe it is that we, as a species, are fragile, and that our health and well-being are closely intertwined with the health and well-being of our living environment. One health: the health of all living beings on this planet is connected Of course, this has been made clear by the pande m ic that — at the time of writing — has taken over   1.8 million   human lives. COVID-19 is a   zoonotic  disease , an infectious disease that spreads from animals to humans. Six out of ten known infectious diseases are   zoonotic in origin  [1]  and of all emerging diseases even three out of four.[2]   Major risk factors   for emerging zoonoses are our destruction of the natural environment, which brings us into closer contact with animals with whom we have had little prior contact. And, our livestock industry, which raises   billions of a...

How can we achieve food security in the 21st century? What are the environmental challenges of our current food system and what are the alternatives? Is the model of industrial agriculture outdated, and is it time for a paradigm shift towards agroecology? Who will feed the world? (Hand-out of a lecture given at Leuven University ). The coming food crisis  We are facing a global food crisis. For the first time in decades, the number of undernourished people in the world is rising (FAO et al., 2018 & 2020).[1] 1 After a century of decline, food prices are on the rise (UNEP, 2009). Almost 1 out of 10 people is hungry today (FAO et al., 2020).[2] 2 According to the WHO (2020) 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition. More than 3 billion people might not be able to afford[3] 3 [3 healthy diets, leading not only to undernourishment, but also an epidemic of overweight and obesity (FAO et al., 2018 & 2020).[4] 4 This has been called the “d...