presents a free newsletter for friends of generosity incorporated

Welcome
Feature from Austin, Texas
Dreams of Generosity
Why a Point below the Heart?
Book Recommendation
Generosity in the News?
Who’s Who in Generosity
The Child's Garden
Poetry

From the Editors

This month we are featuring Generosity, number 7 of the Ascending Principles (numbered 0-9).  Generosity is the principle of “the giveaway” – exemplifying the willingness to risk giving without being certain of receiving in return. The time, effort, and resources we pour out,  without counting and calculating, are the most valuable things in the world. When we are generous, we reflect the Divine benevolence which, at the very beginning, gave being to this universe. ----Ed.

NEWS!   It’s TIME TO SIGN UP for our forthcoming online class:
SPIRITUAL PARENTING: Your Child’s Invisible Garment.
Beginning March 2, a 16-week series of classes and online discussions will be led by Connie Kaplan and Tamar Frankiel.  These two mothers – who raised eight children between them – will share the resources they have gathered from studying the 30 spiritual principles to understand the development of children and teens.  You will gain AMAZING insights into yourself and your family dynamic when you work with us in this class.  Limited enrollment! 

SEND US AN EMAIL NOW TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:  tfrankiel@gmail.com or connie@turtledreamers.com.

We’ll send you information and your Personal Invitation right away.

Thanks to Cammie Doty, Carol Bucklew, and Connie Kaplan for their help on this issue of our newsletter!

Report from Austin, Texas

This month's principle is Generosity. Here is a teaching from one of our dream sisters:

I met a young man recently who studied in South Africa during his junior year in college.  While there, he traveled extensively in the country, and he was horribly astonished by the number of orphans (due to AIDS) he encountered in the streets.  He met a small group of people in a township outside Port Elizabeth who were developing an infrastructure to provide housing, medical attention, education and safety for these children.  He spent the rest of his time abroad living and working in this community.  (A white guy living in a South African township was without precedent at that time.  His very presence drew attention to the project.)

Back in the United States a year later, he started raising funds to send to his new-found African brothers and sisters.   The first fundraiser was a pizza dinner for his peers at school.  He raised almost $12,000.  He realized he was good at telling the story, and that the story itself opened ears and pocketbooks.

After graduation he created a non-profit called Ubuntu (www.ubuntufund.org), and started appealing to larger donors and corporations.  Seven years later his organization consisted of 54 people, some living in the US to raise funds, most in South Africa working directly with the kids.

This young man knows on a cellular level the meaning of Generosity, as do the people who have been called to work with him on this amazing project.   We are all here to deliver a gift.  May we all find (or create) work that allows us to do just that.  --Connie Kaplan

Dreams of Generosity

We can learn about the principles by examining our dreams. Here are three dreams of Generosity:

We had a small dog of which we were very fond.  When a friend was getting married, the dog went to the wedding – I remember dressing him in a tuxedo. Then a strange thing was happening – he was getting bigger. The dog remained in good humor but people were becoming frightened of him. When a certain camera or light box flashed at him, he would grow. 
We were living in another place and I was worried that as he aged, he couldn’t see or hear as well and wouldn’t recognize us. Also I worried that he could hurt someone if we died and weren’t there to pet and care for him, and run interference for him now that he was giant size.  He had his own hut or tent now, where I would take care of him. He didn’t harm anyone, but I wasn’t sure he still recognized me.

Generosity shows up here in the form of a magical animal, a dog that grows with the light and with tender care. As a manifestation of the dreamer’s own generous spirit, the dog has a life of its own. That’s the way Generosity operates in the universe – it is magnified over time, and the results of generous action grow beyond recognition; but it always needs loving attention.

Tiger Woods and I are in his suite of rooms, facing one another and having an animated and most pleasurable conversation. We’re discussing our philosophies about the key movements of golf swings. This is our favorite topic in many meetings in the dream. We both get up out of our chairs to demonstrate certain thoughts with actual swing movements to make our points.
I specifically ask him exactly what has made the difference for him in his swing. He demonstrates the release of energy by his body to his hands through impact. I nod and say, ‘yep, that’s my feeling through impact as well.’ Energy is generated by the body and completely released, not controlled, but directed so as to maintain its flow.
His personal assistant, a woman, comes to assist us in swapping email and snail-mail addresses. We finish our conversation and go to another large room where there is a gathering of dreamers whom I recognize. Tiger is going to have a dream circle there in his suite with these many women. Everyone is engaged in light happy conversation before the ceremony begins.
I’m called out to take care of something. I’m now flying ahead of a gigantic ferry boat with a big open deck up front. I spot something in the water, and I hover slowly down into the water without a splash and without getting my hair wet. I move in closer and start petting this beautiful brown pelican. We float and bob along together and, as I smooth and pet her soft feathers, I say that it’s all okay now. After a while we both rise up out of the water, fly back onto the boat and join the others.

The dreamer is a golfer, so it might seem natural to put Tiger Woods in her dreams. But a “Tiger” is also, of course, an animal – here demonstrating animal magic that the dreamer knows too. We can learn from this dream what Generosity is: “complete release” of whatever one is giving, “directed but not controlled.” Notice also the words ‘swing’ and ‘swap,’ suggesting the back-and-forth exchange of energy.  Eventually the Tiger of Generosity takes the dream circle, while the dreamer moves among levels to meet yet another where she meets another spirit-animal, the pelican.

Women dreamers are gathered in ceremony. A man says, you can’t maintain a group the way you are doing it. You have to do it with Pisces in its most powerful form. Then we’re all in a pool of water and two big birds come down.
Now I’m lying on a bed and one of these big birds wraps its wing across my body. At first I resist, then I shift to receive and surrender. A powerful giggle, almost weeping joy, comes out of me. It is the fine line between crying and laughing and I settle into this power. A master dreamer woman is also present.
We’re all walking to another place and, up ahead, I notice the master dreamer lying down with the beautiful, massive wing of this great bird draped over her body. I go to her and share the words said to me about the true Piscean power. It was a language that meant clear, pure, flowing, nurturing energy.

Generosity is not only giving. Being part of the dynamic of Generosity means that one will find the ability also to be receptive to the benevolence of the universe.

To find Generosity in your dreams look for animals or their spirit-manifestations (such as feathers from birds), to the center of the chest or back ... . . . to the colors red or magenta.

Why the Point below the Heart?

Or rather, what is the point below the heart?!  This refers to the point at the end of the sternum or ‘breastbone.’ That end point of cartilage connected to the bone has a technical anatomical name, the “xiphoid process.” In a chest injury, it can break off and cause perforation; or it can protrude or become enlarged. However, we usually don’t notice it at all, let alone give it a name.  It simply marks the center of the chest and the end of the protective sternum.

That is a metaphor for Generosity.  It is central to human existence, and protects our inwardness from harm, but we often take it for granted. In The Invisible Garment, Connie writes of this point, "Spiritual energy spirals into the heart from the heart of the cosmos, and then out of the heart into all the parts of the body." We must make sure to stay connected heart-to-heart with this cosmic energy.

Connie also writes in the TIG Workbook, " If you consciously give this area attention, you'll feel the cells at the bottom of your sternum tingling and awakening. Great wisdom resides in those cells. If you learn to listen to it and interface with the world based on that wisdom, you'll be a master of Generosity." As one dreamer writes, "With Generosity in my midheaven, I have found that orienting myself to this point in body prayer, and all throughout the day, actually has the effect of opening the heart mind and letting the energy flow out."

Interesting too, that this point is called a “process.”  Anatomically, that means something which proceeds from something else – it sticks out at the end.  But the same word in ordinary usage means a development – and generosity is always part of a process.

Xiphoid, by the way, comes from a Greek word for “sword,” so it literally means “sword-shaped."

Book Recommendation

The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
In the midst of Nazi-occupied Warsaw, with their beloved zoo virtually destroyed by German greed and power, Jan and Antonina Zabinski maintained a semblance of normal life, welcoming animals and humans alike – especially the Guests who were fleeing the death camps and the Underground fighters who needed temporary places to stay.  Diane Ackerman bases her story on Antonina’s own diaries of the period. 

But this is not an ordinary book about Holocaust victims or rescuers.  Written by a naturalist (author of A Natural History of the Senses), it portrays the rich human and animal experience of interaction and relationship, fear and joy, death and life.  This book is a real-life portrayal of the way the principle of Generosity represents the intersection of animal beings with human beings, in all their fullness.

Generosity in the News?

Generosity is the subject of scientific studies that seek to discover what inclines people to be generous in the ordinary sense of the term.  What do you think is the relation between the following studies of DNA and neuromodulators, and the spiritual aspect of Generosity?

• Headline: Generosity May Be Genetically Programmed
  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071206100557.htm.  “Are those inclined towards generosity genetically programmed to behave that way? A team of researchers, including Dr. Ariel Knafo of the Psychology Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, believes that this could very well be the case. Through an online task involving making a choice whether or not to give away money, the researchers found that those who chose to give away some or all of their money differed genetically from those involved in the exercise who chose not to give their money away."
  
  
• Headline: Oxytocin Infusion Makes People More Generous With Money
  http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004760.html.  “Paul Zak, a professor at Claremont, Angela Stanton at Chapman University, and Sheila Ahmadi at UCLA Geffen School of Medicine have found that injecting people with oxytocin makes them more generous. . . They draw a distinction between altruism and generosity and find that oxytocin (OT) boosts generosity more than it boosts altruism.

6. Who's Who in Generosity

This month, the search for people with Sun in Generosity brought up an extraordinary list of highly visible and often energetic individuals – though not all of them exemplified generous behavior in their lives:

• Rudy Giuliani 1944-
  Former mayor of New York City, lauded for leading the city through the difficult days following 9-11. Giuliani made a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.
  
  
• John G. Roberts 1955-
  Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since 2005.  He is the youngest chief justice since John Marshall (in 1801).  Known as a deliberate and reasoned person, his decisions prior to being on the Supreme Court showed strong respect for precedent.
  
  
• Ariel Sharon 1928-
  Former prime minister of Israel, a decorated military commander known for decisive but controversial decisions. In the midst of efforts to construct a peace plan which would involve giving away land – a major turnaround from his previous policies – he suffered a stroke from which he has not recovered.
  
  
• Julie Andrews 1935-
  British-born actress of wide talents, perhaps most famous for A Sound of Music and Mary Poppins.  Her career declined in the 1990s when she developed vocal problems, but since 2000 she continues to work as an actress and director.
  
  
• Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-
  Named as one of the greatest female film stars of all time, Taylor’s extraordinary work as an actress, and her personal life with many marriages, were fixtures of American life from the 1950s onward.
  
  
• Dick Clark, 1929-
  Prominent as host of “American Bandstand” in the 1950s, Clark was nicknamed “America’s Oldest Teenager” due to his youthful appearance and energy.  He hosted a New Year’s Eve television show until he suffered a stroke in 2004.
  
  
• John Candy 1950-1994
  Canadian-born actor known for playing big-hearted characters and for his talent at mimicry.  His up-and-down career revived shortly before his early death with, among other performances, a lead role in Michael Moore’s Canadian Bacon.

• Abbie Hoffman 1936-1989
  Self-identified as an “anarcho-communist,” Hoffman played an important role in radical politics in the 1960s and 1970s. As one of the “Chicago Eight,” he was tried for incitement to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Perhaps his clearest connection to the principle of Generosity was his authorship of Steal This Book (1971), which claimed to teach people how to live for free.
  

• Donna Reed, 1921-1986
  Best known for her portrayals of wholesome women - television’s “The Donna Reed Show” and a lead role in It’s a Wonderful Life - Reed also supported women’s causes and, in response to the Vietnam war, co-founded Another Mother for Peace.
  
  
• John F. Kennedy 1917-1963
  The youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to be elected to the presidency; also the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize (1957, in biography, for his book Profiles in Courage).  He was assassinated in 1963, after serving less than three years in office.
  
  
• Jackson Pollock 1912-1956
  The youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to be elected to the presidency; also the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize (1957, in biography, for his book Profiles in Courage).  He was assassinated in 1963, after serving less than three years in office.
  
  
• Bob Hope 1903-2003
  British-born, Hope was one of America’s most prominent comedians, from early film and radio to nearly the end of the century. Honored many times by the entertainment industry, he was well known for his work of entertaining American military personnel abroad.
  
  
• Winston Churchill 1874-1965
  British Prime Minister (twice) and winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature for his historical writings. He began his career as a war correspondent, then moved into politics. He played a crucial role in leading England during World War II and in shaping the postwar world.
  
  
• Maria Montessori 1870-1952
  One of the first female medical doctors in Italy, Montessori began by focusing on learning-disabled children and eventually created an approach to learning that is used worldwide.  She is credited with “the discovery of the child” as a competent, creative individual; her motto was “Educate for Peace.”
  
  
• Mark Twain, 1835-1910
  One of America’s most accomplished and beloved writers, a humorist and satirist; perhaps best known for his Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn novels.  He commented in 1909, “I came in with Halley’s comet [in 1835] . . . and I expect to go out with it. . . . The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.”

7. The Child's Garden

The spiritual parenting of our children – through studying their principles – teaches us as well as them.  We at Generosity Incorporated believe that bringing this work to the next generation can be one of the most powerful forces to heal humanity.  Here’s an example of learning from our children.

I have learned more about Generosity from my daughter than during the entire 34 years before she arrived.  As a very young child she was remarkably concerned about the homeless.  As a teenager, she was the kind of friend who gave more than she received (from my perspective - I don't think she saw it that way).  Whenever I question my own decision-making process, I run my thoughts by her, and without fail she points out the most generous perspective, reminding me that giving just a touch more than one receives results in great satisfaction.  Further, she reminds me that rewards come in unexpected ways. 

Recently she demonstrated her covenant with Generosity so sweetly.  She had saved certain special toys and books since childhood.  We were moving from our house and no longer had room to store them.  Rather than just "getting rid" of them, she carefully went through her treasures and found the exact right home for each of them.  She seemed to know which niece or cousin or young friend would value which toys or would love each book.  And she was right.  I've heard consistently from their parents that the toy Sara gave them has become their all-time favorite.  That is the unexpected reward -- that her treasures are now being treasured by others.

8. Poetry

From I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky (Sufism Reoriented, 1996), p. 23:

Someone Who Can Kiss God

Come to my house late at night –
Do not be shy.
Hafiz will be barefoot and dancing.

I will be
In such a grand and generous mood!

Come to my door at any hour,
Even if your eyes
Are frightened by my light.
My heart and arms are open
And need no rest –
They will always welcome you.

Come in, my dear,
From that harsh world
That has rained elements of stone
Upon your tender face.

Every soul
Should receive a toast from us
For bravery!

Bring all the bottles of wine you own
To this divine table – the earth
We share.

If your cellar is empty,
This whole Universe
Could drink forever
From mine!

.

presents a free newsletter for friends of generosity incorporated