Many Voices and Concerns on Kashmir Solution

Peace conference called by two separatist leaders of J & K at the Indian International Center seem to speak about the 'real' issues here.  Ethnic group rights in the process need to be heard - many people are greatly affected by the stalemate in the northern areas.  Neither is willing to give an inch to the other and the 'dialogue' process is at a standstill because credibility of this technique has been lost through eruptions of violence in the past 15 years. 

One of the leaders, Sajjad Lone, proposes trade as a means to build trust and build the economy of the region.  Through this, the region can be unburdened by "the monotony of sovereignty."  He released a document called "Achievable Nationhood," the first of its kind since violence in 1989, at the beginning of Jan 2010.  Is this just the type of leadership that the region is needing to emerge from protracted conflict?

The paper calls for tax-free movement of goods between a united J & K. "Lone's peace formula comes a month after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Islamabad would abandon its claim to Kashmir if India agreed to give the territory autonomy under joint supervision by both countries," says Reuters. 

The Danger of a Single Story

Experiential Education Web Resources

An old professor of mine, James Neill put this site together - I believe it had something to do with his PhD.  Here are his fabulous comments on the ELC.


This one is interesting and navigates experiential learning through different perspectives of teacher and learner.

Important Names: 
John Dewey and his groundbreaking educational philosophies striving to understand human interaction with their learning environment and how responsible, dependable, citizens are crafted through meeting with the rawness of the wilderness, and how civil society is shaped through that learning - rugged individualism at its best!

Jean Piaget on theories of cognitive development...

David A. Kolb on experiential learning...
Collection of links/sites, relating to Kolb's work, but also explanations of why they are relevant to the work (also many thoughtful critiques)

More Classroom-based experiential learning here, but lesson plans and resources seem adaptable to any setting.


Team Building "Camp stuff," Initiatives, Trust activities and Processing -
http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/
http://www.thecampwiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Please feel free to add any educational resources that may be helpful to this type of learning!

Obstacle, Inspiration

“If being a woman is an inspiration, use it.  If it is an obstacle, try not to be bothered.” – Khandro Rinpoche. 

Love Us for Who We Aren't

"While we still have our 'self ' intact, that’s the one we love best. We won’t find anybody who will love us as much as we do ourselves. Yet, because of our ego delusion, we believe that there must be somebody like that somewhere. In reality, we should look at this search in a different way. We shouldn’t try to find somebody who will help us to support our self-delusion but rather someone who will help us to get rid of it. That can be the Buddha and his teachings, because such is the essence of the dhamma."

- Ayya Khema, "No Satisfaction," Tricycle Fall 2007

Hero's Journey

"[W]e have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world."

-- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, 1988, p.123

Ethan Nichtern on the Fox News Tiger Woods Buddhism/Christianity comment.