Thursday, March 31, 2011

UT: April 15, Religion and Food Public Forum

In case you are interested:

Religion and Food Public Forum

This year’s RPS theme is Food and Religion, within which we will be exploring a range of topics with international and local academics, food practitioners, and policy makers.

Asking about religious and secular authority, for example, we’ll explore spiritual, environmental, ethical, and political issues that come into play when decisions are made about who eats what. Who decides what’s fit to eat? What constitutes the basis for authority in each of these areas? What happens when these areas are in conflict?

Thinking about vegetarianism and meat eating, we’ll consider the different religious perspectives on eating animals or taking the life of animals. What are the ethics of vegetarianism? How do various religious groups react to the contemporary industrial production of meat? Do particular religious or ethical concerns arise around eating or not eating animals raised and killed in this industrialized food system? What alternatives exist for those who want to eat meat in accordance with their religious traditions but prefer to bypass the industrial system?

Exploring religious responses to hunger, we’ll ask how religious organizations engage with current debates around food security in the city. How does religious diversity play into food charity? What local responses have developed amongst different religious groups to the problem of hunger? How have recent concerns about the quality and ethics of packaged and processed food changed the ways religious groups practice food donations? How do religious institutions create food policies?

Approaching the boundaries of sacred and secular, we’ll consider how various encounters with the land and with creation are shaped by religious ethics or tradition. At what point does a food practice – farming, raising animals, harvesting, cooking, giving thanks, eating – become sacred, or secular? How does our language (and our action) around food production shift, depending on whether we are speaking from a “scientific,” “policy,” or “spiritual” perspective? If we think of the earth as an expression of divine or sacred space, what is our responsibility to the land? How do religious groups respond to radical re-shaping of nature, through GMOs, pollution, climate change?

Featured Event: Public Forum, April 15, 2011 2:30-5:00 pm

Great Hall, Hart House
University of Toronto

Toronto is a hub for immigrants from all over the world, who practice a dizzying array of culinary and religious traditions. How do these food traditions intersect with the sustainable food movement and how are religious organizations responding to the ethical concerns raised by food activists? Moderated by Department of Religion Professor and RPS Founder Pamela Klassen, the RPS public forum for 2011 will bring together scholars, activists, food practitioners, and policy makers to discuss the significance of religious diversity for the burgeoning food movement.

Guest speakers are Nancy Chen, Nigel Savage, Yasir Syeed and Elbert van Donkersgoed.

Nancy N. Chen is professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. A medical anthropologist, she examines cultural practices of self care through eating and medicating in Asian religions. Her recent publications include Food, Medicine, and the Quest for Good Health (2008) and the co-edited volume Asian Biotech: Ethics and Communities of Fate (2010).

Nigel Savage, originally from Manchester, England, founded Hazon (Hebrew for “vision”) in 2000. Hazon is the largest environmental organization in the American Jewish community. Hazo’s vision is to create healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond. Before founding Hazon Nigel was a professional fund manager in the Wall Street equivalent in the UK. He has an MA in History from Georgetown, and learned at Pardes, Yakar and the Hebrew University. Hazon was recognized by the Sierra Club as one of 50 leading faith-based environmental organizations in the US. In 2008 Nigel was named a member of the Forward 50 – the annual list of the 50 most influential Jewish people in the United States. Nigel is thought to be the first English Jew to have cycled across South Dakota on a recumbent bike.

Elbert van Donkersgoed is an agricultural journalist and consultant. He is a long-time spokesperson for agriculture and the family farm. Elbert is the editor of Plumbline Locavore News, an email newsletter/blog of stories, announcements and website postings about interesting and unique activities and possibilities for re-localizing our food system. For eight years, from 1998 to 2006, he wrote a weekly farm, food and countryside commentary, Corner Post, heard on Southwestern Ontario radio stations and widely distributed on the Internet. Elbert remains actively involved in the following organizations: Member, Toronto Food Policy Council, Board Member, Ontario Farmland Trust, Board Member, Local Food Plus, Advisory Committee, Sustain Ontario—Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming, Healthy Lands Advisory Committee, Metcalf Foundation, Advisory Committee, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation. From 2006 to 2008, Elbert served as Executive Director for the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee, a distinctive partnership involving four GTA Federations of Agriculture and the Regional Municipalities of Halton, Peel, York and Durham, plus the City of Toronto, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Toronto Food Policy Council and the food sector. For 35 years, he was the Strategic Policy Advisor of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and its 4,300 member family farm entrepreneurs. During that period, he helped found the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition and the Ontario Rural Council (now the Ontario Rural Institute).

Yasir Syeed While spending 12 years in corporate America focused on sales and marketing for enterprise software start-ups, Yasir never seemed to have fully left the woods and creeks he enjoyed in his youth. The pull of nature and desire to experience more than the stale air conditioned cubicles, along with his own passion to provide his family food that was raised with mercy and dignity and thereby nourishes body and spirit led him to go to farms and harvest his own meat. One thing led to another, and pretty soon he found himself establishing Green Zabiha, which is devoted to promoting the importance of conscious eating. But if you ask Yasir, the underlying ethos of GZ is not about meat, or halal, or even food, its all about restoring sacredness to a world that has lost much of it. And eating is a nutritional, political, economic and ultimately spiritual act, every bite we take has a profound effect internally and externally. Yasir received his undergraduate degree in Biology, and like most graduates he never worked in the field of his study. He counts his wife and four kids as his biggest inspirations as he walks through the journey of life.





-- The content of this message does not represent the views or opinions of the University of Toronto.--

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I wish you enough...

Sharing the following email with you:

I wish you enough...

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.

Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, "I love you and I wish you enough".

The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom".

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be
forever?".

Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?".

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said.

"When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?".

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone". She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. "When we said , 'I wish you enough', we were wanting the other
person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them".

Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.


She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH........

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Food for thought

A friend of mine sent me these quotes. I think they should be shared.
Anthony.


  • In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
- Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, and musician -
(1875-1965)


  • Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Explore...dream...and discover.
- Mark Twain -


  • The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
- Edmond Burke -

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Monday, March 28, 2011

UT: Public Buddhist Prayer Service for victims of earthquake and tsunami in Japan

In case you are interested:

Public Buddhist Prayer Service for victims of earthquake and tsunami in Japan

-- the service will be conducted in three Buddhist traditions

Donations, in cash or cheques, will be collected for the Canadian Red Cross to support relief efforts in Japan.

Time: 2:00 pm, Saturday, April 2, 2011

Place: Main Activity Hall,

Multi-Faith Centre for Spiritual Study and Practice, University of Toronto, 569 Spadina Ave.

http://www.multifaith.utoronto.ca/Contact-Us--Book-Space.htm#Directions

Presented by: Buddhism & Psychology Student Union, U of T www.bpsu.org

Sunday, March 27, 2011

DDMBA: April 10 One Day Chan Meditation Retreat

In case you are interested:

Event: One Day Chan Meditation Retreat
Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011 4月10日
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm
Location: DDMBA Ontario, 154 Poyntz Avenue, Toronto, ON, M2N 1J4

This is a gentle reminder of the upcoming DDM One Day Retreat which will be taking place at our 154 Poyntz Avenue Centre on Sunday, April 10, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

This form of practice is very beneficial for everyone; it gives us the chance to practice with a group over a longer period of time. Furthermore, the One Day Retreat is an excellent opportunity for deepening one's practice. Participants for the One Day Retreat should ideally have practiced meditation for a considerable length of time, preferably with some formal meditation training.

Sitting meditation periods are followed by walking meditation, gentle stretching exercises and mindful work periods. The environment of the retreat is designed to promote mindfulness in everything we do.

To receive the full benefits of this form of group practice, we encourage you attend the entire event.

Also, be sure to wear loose, warm and comfortable clothing suited to the long sitting periods. DDM provides cushions, sitting mats, towels and a light vegetarian lunch. While a conducive and relax atmosphere is maintained in the retreat, participants should understand that it is still a serious occasion dedicated for practice. In the interest of respecting your own and others’practice, please provide advance notice should you be arriving to the retreat late or leaving early without valid reasons.

In the spirit of sharing with the community of Chan practitioners, participants of this retreat are also encouraged to contribute a vegetarian dish or snack for the retreat lunch.Please note that dishes contributed should not contain any form of onions (including green onions), any form of garlics, chimes as well as egg products. If you would like to submit a dish, please send an email to meditation.dharmadrum@gmail.com, no later than Thursday, April 7.

Kindly RSVP meditation.dharmadrum@gmail.com by April 7 should you plan to attend the retreat and, if you plan to bring a dish, inform us about the dish that you would bring.

The event is offered free of charge while any donations to support events like this are greatly appreciated.


With Palms Joined,
DDMBA Ontario
www.ddmba-ontario.ca

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Earth Hour: March 26, 2011 8:30pm

In case you are interested:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/earthhour/index.html

Go Beyond the Hour

On March 26, 2011, turn off your lights at 8:30 pm for Earth Hour, a worldwide collective display of commitment to protect the one thing that unites us all - the planet. Look who is celebrating Earth Hour

Every year Earth Hour asks individuals, businesses and communities worldwide to show their commitment to the environment. This Earth Hour, we hope you will turn off your lights. But when the lights go back on, we want you to go beyond the hour and think about what you can change in your daily life that will benefit the planet. Let’s work together to create a better future. Our actions can add up.


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Friday, March 18, 2011

Yoga Insight: Beware of your choice

During Mary's yoga class today, she reminded us that one cannot stop thinking and not be judgmental. What is important is that we are aware of what we are thinking, the motivation behind our judgment, and willing to accept the consequence of our choices.

Let's start by increasing our awareness, through the learning of yoga or through meditation...

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

UT: March 24 Female Body, State and Family Planning Lecture

In case you are interested:

"Female Body, State and Family Planning: Tibetan women's experiences with China's birth control policies"

A lecture by Mona Schrempf

Thursday, March 24, 2011, 4-6 pm in Room 317, Jackman Humanities Building (170 St George St)

Mona Schrempf, coming from Humboldt University of Berlin, is an anthropologist with areas of specialty that include the anthropology of religion, medical anthropology, oral history in Tibetan societies, Tibetan medicine, Chinese public health and minority medicine, and the globalisation of traditional Asian medicine. Her current research projects focus on family planning among Tibetans in China; medicine, religion and healing in Tibetan and Tibetanized communities in China and the Himalaya; Bon lineage doctors and local healers in Tibet (TAR), and Qinghai; and ritual masked dances and the revival of Tibetan Bon religion. She is the author of numerous articles and the author or editor of several books, including the forthcoming Making the Modern Tibetan Family: Gender, Fertility, and Experiences with State Birth Control in Post-Mao China and Monastic Revival and Ritual Practice in a Tibetan Bonpo Community of Post-Mao China; and the published Medicine Between Science and Religion: Explorations on Tibetan Grounds; Studies of Medical Pluralism in Tibetan History and Society; Figurations of Modernity: Global and Local Representations in Comparative Perspective; and Soundings in Tibetan Medicine: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives. Professor Schrempf conducts field research in various Tibetan regions of China and the Himalayas.

In the winter/spring semester of 2011, Professor Schrempf is DAAD Visiting Scholar in the Department for the Study of Religion at University of Toronto, where she is teaching undergraduate courses on ritual, performance and healing traditions, and working with graduate student research projects.



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Sunday, March 6, 2011

A day made of Glass...

Sharing the following email with you:


It is so "wow..." FANTASTIC TECH DISPLAY

Check out this cool video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38


Share with you this wonderful technology, also please visit "Microsoft's Productivity of Future Vision", it gives you even more amazing look of the future world, it is not a dream but reality of our lives. Enjoy it!

Have a good weekend.

Joseph S.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Smooth Movement

This morning yoga class was Gentle Hatha. The instructor asked us to move as slow as our breathe with mindfulness.

While I was making movements slowly, the second hand of a Rolex watch came to my mind.

My brother taught me to notice the smooth movement of the second hand of a Rolex watch. That smooth movement distinguishes a good watch from a cheap watch, it tells the differences in quality and craftsmanship.

Although in yoga we learn not to be judgmental, our movements do reflect the capability of our Gross Body, the strength of our Subtle Body and the mindfulness of our Causal Body.

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Friday, March 4, 2011

DDMBA: March 12 2011 One Day Chan Meditation Retreat

In case you are interested:

DDMBA Ontario March One Day Chan Meditation Retreat

Event: One Day Chan Meditation Retreat 一日禪坐共修
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011 312日星期

Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm
上午九點半至下午四點半
Location: DDMBA Ontario, 154 Poyntz Avenue, Toronto, ON, M2N 1J4 法鼓山安省分會


This is a gentle reminder of the upcoming DDM One Day Retreat which will be taking place at our 154 Poyntz Avenue Centre on Saturday, March 12, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

This form of practice is very beneficial for everyone; it gives us the chance to practice with a group over a longer period of time. Furthermore, the One Day Retreat is an excellent opportunity for deepening one's practice. Participants for the One Day Retreat should ideally have practiced meditation for a considerable length of time, preferably with some formal meditation training.

Sitting meditation periods are followed by walking meditation, gentle stretching exercises and mindful work periods. The environment of the retreat is designed to promote mindfulness in everything we do.

To receive the full benefits of this form of group practice, we encourage you attend the entire event.

Also, be sure to wear loose, warm and comfortable clothing suited to the long sitting periods. DDM provides cushions, sitting mats, towels and a light vegetarian lunch. While a conducive and relax atmosphere is maintained in the retreat, participants should understand that it is still a serious occasion dedicated for practice. In the interest of respecting your own and others’practice, please provide advance notice should you be arriving to the retreat late or leaving early without valid reasons.

In the spirit of sharing with the community of Chan practitioners, participants of this retreat are also encouraged to contribute a vegetarian dish or snack for the retreat lunch.Please note that dishes contributed should not contain any form of onions (including green onions), any form of garlics, chimes as well as egg products. If you would like to submit a dish, please send an email to meditation.dharmadrum@gmail.com, no later than Thursday, March 10.

Kindly RSVP meditation.dharmadrum@gmail.com by March 10 should you plan to attend the retreat and, if you plan to bring a dish, inform us about the dish that you would bring.

The event is offered free of charge while any donations to support events like this are greatly appreciated.


With Palms Joined,
DDMBA Ontario
www.ddmba-ontario.ca

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Life is like a coffee...

Sharing the following email with you:



What an Inspiration:

http://www.flickspire.com/m/IAAW/LifeIsLikeCoffee


My comment is: the cups do enhance the coffee, just be aware not to be carried away by the cups...

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

UT: April 15 - A Public Forum on Food and Religion

In case you are interested:


The University of Toronto Religion in the Public Sphere (RPS) Initiative presents:

A Public Forum on Food and Religion

April 15, 2011 2:30-5:00 pm
Great Hall, Hart House
University of Toronto

Toronto is a hub for immigrants from all over the world, who practice a dizzying array of culinary and religious traditions. How do these food traditions intersect with the sustainable food movement and how are religious organizations responding to the ethical concerns raised by food activists? Moderated by Department of Religion Professor and RPS Founder Pamela Klassen, the RPS public forum for 2011 will bring together scholars, activists, food practitioners, and policy makers to discuss the significance of religious diversity for the burgeoning food movement.

Speakers Include:

Nancy Chen - Professor of Anthropology at University of California at Santa Cruz, a medical anthropologist who examines cultural and spiritual practices of self care through eating and medicating.

Nigel Savage - Founder of Hazon, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America, dedicated to creating healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond.

Yasir Syeed - Founder of Green Zabiha, a business which produces organic, halal, pastured and grass-fed meats and is devoted to promoting the importance of conscious eating.

Elbert van Donkersgoed - An agricultural journalist and consultant who served for over three decades as the Strategic Policy Advisor of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.

For more information: http://rps.chass.utoronto.ca

Event poster available for download at the above link.
Organized by the Department for the Study of Religion's Religion in the Public Sphere Initiative, with co-sponsorship from the University of Toronto Centre for Jewish Studies, the University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance, and Greening Sacred Spaces.


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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

UT: March 24-25 2011 Munk Graduate Student Conference

In case you are interested:


RPS Partner The Munk School Presents the following Graduate Conference:

2011 Munk Graduate Student Conference
Empty Stomachs and Loaded Rifles: Food Scarcity and Global Security
March 24th – 25th Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility

The Munk School of Global Affairs is pleased to announce the 2011 Graduate Student Conference. The Munk School of Global Affairs is a hub for scholars and practitioners at the forefront of research and debate. Accordingly, the conference will draw on multidisciplinary scholars and practitioners in the governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors.

This year’s conference, Empty Stomachs and Loaded Rifles: Food Scarcity and Global Security, promises to ignite a timely discussion of the leading issues confronting the global community in the 21st century. Specifically, the conference will explore the critical links between food shortage and conflict. Indeed, issues of food scarcity and global security are increasingly inseparable. As such, the conference will stimulate panel discussions on three leading themes, namely Control and Equity of Food Supply, Food Scarcity as a Catalyst for Political Unrest, and Weaponization of Food.

The conference will be held at the University of Toronto from March 24th – 25th at the Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility (1 Devonshire Place, M5S 3K7). On March 24th, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, will deliver a special address via videoconference. This will be followed by a keynote address by Peter Gill, author of “Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid”. The three panel discussions will be held on March 25th. Among the panelists are filmmaker and journalist Alexandre Trudeau, coauthor of “Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea,” Stephan Haggard, former Deputy Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, Lt. General Andrew Leslie, and Ambassador John Schram (Ret’d).

For the conference website and registration details, please visit: http://www.munkschool.utoronto.ca/mgc/

Student registration is $10.00 and regular registration is $15.00.

For further information, contact us at:

munk.graduateconference@utoronto.ca


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