Houston Delivers

On Thursday, January 22nd, Be the Cause volunteers in the Houston area dropped off Toiletries and Hygiene items to the Healthcare for the Homeless - Houston program (HHH). The drive began towards the beginning of December and simply by getting the words out to their friends, putting up boxes around the Baylor College of Medicine and posting the collection sites on the web, supplies started to come in.

From what was donated, HHH was able to distribute 90 Hygiene Kits.

Below is a letter from the Director of Volunteer Services at HHH and a few pictures of the items.

Dear Maushmi,

How wonderful of Be the Cause to do a “Toiletries+++ “collection for Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston again this year– the third year! I am so sorry that we didn’t have our camera available when you and Naz delivered everything. We did come up with one for Friday afternoon, though, when three of our wonderful volunteers responded to my call to come help get everything packed into kits and boxed, labeled and placed so that our providers can have easy access to get the things out for our patients as soon as needed.

We made up about 90 hygiene kits with a wide variety of items. As a few of the items ran out, we turned to packing and labeling things by type to be visible and usable for single item selection in the clinic storage areas. I sent an e-mail to all of our providers to let them know what bounty is to be found. Just from my limited observation point, I am already aware of numerous things being put into the hands of our patients. We are ALL so appreciative!

I have included a couple of photos of the volunteers assembling hygiene kits Friday afternoon. Thank you for making this possible!

Sincerely,
Cherie

Just an appetizer

This is just the appetizer said Virenbhai as he addressed the 20 plus volunteers cramped in the Seva Cafe kitchen. This is just the beginning. We must keep moving forward to create more meaningful projects and to continue serving others. The main dish, he stated, still awaits us.

In that anticipation he lit a fire that got many of us thinking: What else could we be doing to serve others; How else can we help to make this world a better place?

Virenbhai’s visit in that sense was just a reminder of what life could have in store for us. He only spent a few hours with us, but even so, he has left a deep change stirring within.

Virenbhai, for those of you that aren’t familiar, co-founded an organization 20 years ago that now cares for 6000 children every day, runs over 50 projects and does it all with one governing principle: that to lovingly care for others is our nature and our duty. This principle is so ingrained in the staff and the volunteers that even the recipients of their good work get indoctrinated with it. The organization is now literally being run by those who once benefited from it, because they now too realize that they must continue this circle of giving.

This love for service is apparent in all that Virenbhai does. A few minutes at the Seva Cafe and he immediately rushed to the kitchen to start washing dishes. I literally had to pull him away to introduce him to some of the guests.

Despite his busy schedule, between getting awards at the King Institute in Stanford and visiting family in Chicago, he took the time to visit us. His visit was more a gift than a tour, he even brought kites so that we could get a taste of the Kite Festival from his home town of Ahmadabad, Gujarat. As we flew the kites in the afternoon a few kids in the nearby park curiously came up to us. Virenbhai happily greeted them and sent them on their way with new gifts. A brother and sister held hands as they ran off. Their new kites flinging behind them in anticipation of flights yet to come. A hand made necklace bearing the faces of Gandhi and King dangled between the two as they held in tightly in their joined palms. A picturesque moment as the sun began to fade and dip ahead of them. All we saw as we stared in their direction was a brighter future.

For those of you that helped make his trip happen, thank you. More on Manav Sadhna, the organization that Virenbhai helped start: www.manavsadhna.org.

San Diego

It was only two days, but it felt like everyone I met was family.

We went straight to the temple where I was supposed to talk for an hour and a half on the merits of serving others. Somehow the words found their way from this neo-cortex, through the microphone, through gas and dust, onto ears and into hearts. I shared stories about the beginnings of Be the Cause. I told them my own story which somehow was also their story. We were all searching for something deeper in our lives and somehow we were all led to this same moment. I shared with them the stories I had heard, of a universe so vast that it was incredible and yet its magnificence didn’t trump the size of our own tiny little hearts.

In moments I could feel myself tearing up as I remembered the story of a little homeless boy we met one night in India. At times when I looked up, I found that my tears were somehow falling off the face of someone else. At times we all laughed simply because the words that were coming out seemed so ridiculous.

A few aunties took copious notes, but I knew that what I was saying was already known to them, and more importantly was already written in their hearts: That all we need is the courage to give, and in that moment the entire universe opens up for us.

Afterwards they asked questions. About my life. About how certain projects came together. Someone asked about finances, someone always does. Someone asked about happiness, and yes I admitted, it can be cultivated.

She came up to me afterwards stating that for a moment she felt she wasn’t alone. She cried for a moment standing there with me, I felt it too, that kinship, that togetherness, that love in the room. It made me a little strong and a little weak at the same time standing there in that temple. A little honored and also a little unworthy to be receiving such emotion.

A few of my new friends wanted to sit in silence so that we could end the afternoon the same way we started it. Fifteen minutes rolled by and it seemed as if more was shared in those silent moments than in the hours prior.

Later that night, when a few of my new friends decided to drop by after dinner, I would discover that they were serving much more than they had led me to believe. We discussed ongoing projects and brainstormed new ways of getting people engaged. We planned for the next day, where a repeat performance was requested for a younger audience.

The next day, I sat in front of kids and adults alike. The stories and the accompanying jokes seemed to work a second time around. Even the QnA felt similar, except this time the questions were more personal. I realized that every family is the same, they are all concerned about my marital status. Being single has allowed me some freedom, sure, but sharing stories of my married couple friends that do more together than separate quickly brought the point home: wherever you are, however you are, you can serve.

The drive home was rejuvenating. I felt as if I was leaving home to return home. Thank you San Diego. If anyone is interested in connecting with the Jain Community of San Diego please send me an email.

Getting Paid

So you’re getting paid to be here?
Nope
How about the people making the food?
Nope
And the people washing the dishes?
Nope, not them either.
The people serving the meals then?
No, we’re all volunteers.
You mean to tell me that the people who bought the food earlier today, the folks that did all the prepping, all the folks in the kitchen, none of them are getting paid.
That’s right. We’re all here to serve.

After I brought him his food he pointed to the empty chair across his table. He needed to know how all of this could happen. How a group of well-bodied intelligent people could give up their Sundays simply to serve others.

Values and Actions I told him. They are never aligned. We have our values on one end of the spectrum, and our actions on another. Out actions don’t always reflect our values. The opportunity to serve others allows us to move these two in balance.

As we serve others we get to see ourselves more clearly. Especially at the Seva Cafe, by handing out empty envelopes we get to see our own greed and then an opportunity to overcome it. I told him, that’s why I do it. To see myself more clearly.

He wasn’t just surprised by the notion of it all. He was also surprised at the food. Not just that volunteers were willing to give, but that they cared so much that the food was amazing. He looked up, and I sensed it. Not just an understanding of how it worked, but a gratitude of what was being created in that moment.

Be the Cause volunteers mentioned in the CDV newsletter

Be the Cause volunteers made their way to Mexico over the holidays to volunteer at the Casa de Paz Orphanage from December 26 to December 30. Corazon De Vida, the organization that coordinated the trip, expressed their gratitude to the volunteers in their newsletter:

Gracias por su Ayuda (Thanks for your Help):

Be The Cause for giving your love, compassion, and your soul to the children of the Casa de Paz Orphanage from December 26 - December 30. Your help in cooking, cleaning, mentorship, and being a friend to 45 children will stay with them forever. Gracias! If you would like to organize an overnight trip to one of our Southern orphanages, please email george@corazondevida.org.

Notes from the Seva Cafe

Below are notes left behind at the Oct 26, 2008 and the Nov 2, 2008 Seva Cafe in Long Beach.

We came here and immediately felt the love of everyone in the room… so warm and full of smiles. It was my first time here and I will definitely return and I hope I will be able to give, because what you are doing is absolutely wonderful and one-of-a-kind. The food was amazing and like the food my mom once cooked when I was a wee one I can tell it was made by someone who loves with their whole heart…
So Thank You…
You are all amazing
… We Love You …

We Love Seva

Thank You

Thank you very much!!! this has been an inspiration and also really good tasting food!!!

Best Wishes! Thank you for a wonderful experience.

Thank you so much! The food wad delicious and I was able to feel the exchange of love. I hope to see you guys again soon.

Getting ready to have a nice dinner. With a menu with no prices. At the end of the meal, you put money in the envelope for the next guest.

Walk for Hope Pictures

We may post some of these up on our bethecause.org site soon, but for now here are some links to pictures that some photographers took during that day:

Johnny’s Pics:
http://www.soaringlight.com/albums/wfh08/

Corynne’s Pics:
http://s412.photobucket.com/albums/pp208/CorynnesPics/

Sukh

Attempt #2, 2008

Today, Melisa makes a commitment that she will quit smoking for the second time this year. In the years that I have known her, Melisa has been a force of giving to reckon with. Inspired by a ‘feed the hungry’ project we did years ago, she now runs the ongoing Downtown Women’s Center project. Scheming up ideas on what to cook, what the ladies would like to eat and how best to make them feel loved, she inspires the rest of us to cook with her and to show up with our hearts full of giving.

Yet, one thing is hard to understand, how is it that we can care for the welfare of others, while ignoring the welfare of our own selves, Lighting up cigarettes and otherwise inflicting harm upon the one being that we have the most control over.

I examine my own life. Why is it so hard to break free from the things that cause me harm? The same habits, the same attachments, over and over again keep coming back to snatch my happiness. I hear stories of self-mutilators who consciously inflect pain and harm upon their bodies and decide that I too am one among them. Is it a lack of faith that we have in ourselves, that somehow we are unworthy of good things, or are the addictions really just too deep? All I know is that I keep drinking water from the same well, even after knowing that the water has been poisoned. I keep banging my elbow in the same spot over and over again.

Either way, Melisa seems ready, she’s making her conquest public. If you have any words of encouragement for her, please post them. If you have had trouble letting go of something that you knew was not good for you, I know that Melisa (and I) would love to hear from you.

Modern Day Technology / Old School Wisdom

Forgot about what you know about Monks. These days, Rev Heng Sure is leading the compassion revolution wielding a Guitar, blackberry with GPS navigation, and an e-commerce website. These are just tools however, the real power of his presence still comes from his precepts and from the life of service that he’s leading.

In the 1970’s as an ordained Buddhist monk Rev Heng Sure took a vow of silence and embarked on a 2 and half year pilgrimage. He, and another fellow monk, would take three steps, bow fully to the ground, and repeat that process all the way from Los Angeles to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (1 1/2 hours North of San Francisco). When asked why he did it, Rev Heng Sure is clear that by bowing, walking and staying silent he was in fact transforming himself. It was a way to observe and overcome ones own greed and ego. Disillusioned by the Vietnam War, at that time Rev Heng Sure knew that in order to help make the world a better place, he had to first start with his own mind.

That journey still continues in some way, except today its in the form of coordinating between monasteries, participating in interfaith dialogues and teaching people how our own cravings lead to our own suffering.

The blackberry, the guitar and the website are only tools that facilitate that process. One afternoon last week, I had the fortune of spending some time with him and our conversations ranged from commitment to a path of service, to Michelle Obama, and even to the technologies embedded in the new i-phone. The perfect blending of new technology and old school giving came up when he mentioned how he gives away his uplifting folk music through his website. If you are willing to post a story of an act of kindness on his website, his folk-music band will actually email all the songs to you in an MP3 format. His music not only uplifts people but also acts as a conduit for more kindness in the world.

The songs themselves are indicative of his spirit. In one he sings from the point of view of an all American Beef Cow, tying in comical lyrics with a deep message of love for all beings.

Somehow in those moments with Rev Heng Sure, it seemed like our present and even our future was in good hands. Now, if I can just get him to create a facebook account.

Story of Rev Heng Sure
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma9/findreligion.html

An Act of Kindness for his album
http://dharmatreasure.org/paramita/

“She carries me” video on YouTube ft. Rev Heng Sure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIQ2-_AVAM0

Giving away the house

A 15 year old sees a homeless man next to a Mercedes Benz, declares thats its unfair, and spawns a family revolution. Now, the Salwen family is selling their $1.8 million dollar mansion, have already moved into a smaller home and are giving half of the proceeds of their home sale away.

Maybe we are realizing that bigger isn’t necessarily better and that our homes and our toys don’t make up who we are.

Click for the full story on CNN
Click to watch the video

Sukh