Stepping into the cool gray, Seattle morning, I spotted the Yellow Cab hovering several feet from the curb. Little did I know the Vancouver Peace Summit would begin its work on me during my short cab ride to the train station. Though not a speaker on the summit agenda, my driver dispensed enduring advice.

After telling him where I was headed, Sunil, as I’ll call him here, gave me his prescription for peace: yoga, meditation, natural power (vs. fossil fuels), and a positive disposition.

Having grown up in northern India, the son of a farmer, Sunil told me he finds a special peace in his visits to a local park, listening to bird songs, the sound of a breeze blowing through the leaves, and water lapping against the shore. There he meditates.

As I gathered money for the fare, he shared a Sanskrit story illustrating the interconnectedness of the world and how it both belongs to and requires the guardianship of us all, but I’d mess it up in trying to retell it here…

He handed me my suitcase, we said our good-byes, and I turned to walk into the train station, his words lingering in my mind.

Tell us about someone who embodies love, forgiveness, compassion, or peace in your life by commenting on this entry.

Watch the Fetzer Institute’s Prize for Love & Forgiveness being awarded to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Vancouver Peace Summit live on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. PT / 12:30 p.m. ET.

Also, stay tuned to this blog for impressions and updates from the Vancouver Peace Summit.

The Summit is hosted by the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in collaboration with the Fetzer Institute.

The Fetzer Institute’s new web site, filled to the brim with information and resources on love, forgiveness, and compassion, is now live! Find out about their current work, the research they support, what religious leaders from a variety of faith traditions say about love and forgiveness through a series of videos, search their database for specific information, check out their latest events and activities, and lots more.

“The call of the ancient ram’s horn, or shofar, punctuates the 30 days of introspection leading to Rosh Hashanah and the 10 Days of Awe through Yom Kippur,” says Speaking of Faith, host, Krista Tippett.  “The sage of the Talmud, the 12th-century philosopher Maimonides, interpreted the call of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah in this way: ‘Awake, you sleepers, from your slumber. Examine your deeds. Return in repentance and remember your creator.’ Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services build on prayers and confessions of mistakes, transgressions, and ethical lapses, both individual and communal.”

In a compelling Speaking of Faith interview, Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous and Krista Tippett explore the meaning of the Jewish High Holy Days. As the “Days of Awe” begin for Jews around the world, we wish our Jewish friends a Happy New Year.

And as Rabbi Brous said in the interview, may we all remember that “there is a Nekudat Tova, there is something so pure and so good inside of you, inside of all of us, but we can’t even see what it is anymore, because we spend all year kind of papering over it and covering over it either, because we’re too busy, because…our lives and our work are too challenging…or because we’re too embarrassed of it…”

Marina Cantacuzino, founder of The Forgiveness Project in England contributed her debut blog entry, “Beyond Good and Evil, “ on the Huffington Post on September 7th.

In it, she uses the recent case of accused rapist and pedophile, Phillip Garrido. “It is so much easier to talk of evil than empathy,” she writes, “but I would prefer to confine that unflinching moral absolute to the rubbish heap because it serves no purpose, signaling the end of conversation before it has even started. A distinction must be made between evil acts and evil people and, hard as it is to acknowledge, somewhere amidst the tangle of Garrido’s depraved thinking lies a flicker of humanity.”

Read her entire entry and while you’re there, also check out Michael McCullough, forgiveness researcher and fellow Huffington Post blogger.

In a letter to Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Season of Forgiveness participants, executive director, Thom Andrews today shared the following:

In recent news, organizations in both Jamaica and the Bahamas have called for a focus on forgiveness.

In the Bahamas, the Carry Your Candle, Light The Bahamas Organization  announced plans for a month-long focus on forgiveness. Community leaders also joined in the call.

In Jamaica, the National Transformation Programme (NTP) appealed to Jamaicans to observe a period of peace and forgiveness for the next five months.

Also, Thom thanked James Herm for his “Viewpoint” published in the Kalamazoo Gazette on September 9th, 2009, focusing on forgiveness.

“I think all of us, at one time or another, when we’ve made the same mistakes over and over again, have felt that we must be a disappointment in God’s eyes. Yet there’s a remarkably high level of confidence across the country that God forgives us, compared to a much lower level of forgiveness for oneself and others,” explained Loren Toussaint, psychologist, upon releasing a 2001 University of Michigan Institute for Social Research Study he co-authored. The study revealed that nearly 60 percent of Americans reported they had forgiven themselves for past mistakes, while almost 75 percent said they felt God had forgiven them. (Toussiant, Williams, Musick, Everson, 2001)

Religion and spirituality offer a way to see life’s experiences in a larger context. Rituals, traditions, and sacred practices can help us navigate the forgiveness process with a greater purpose and a divine guide. In fact, only recently has the practice of forgiveness stepped out of a primarily religious framework and into academia, health, and educational settings. Forgiveness itself is a leap of faith, so to speak.

Many religious teachings define, frame, and provide practices for forgiveness. For instance, in Judaism, there are three kinds of forgiveness–mechilá, “forgoing the other’s indebtedness” requiring the offender to acknowledge the wrongdoing, express remorse and seek to change future behavior; selichá, which requires finding compassion and empathy for the offender; and kaparrá, an absolution of the sinful behavior granted only by God. In Islam, the offender must–with sincerity–recognize and admit the offense to God, make a commitment not to repeat it, and ask God for forgiveness.

During this time of Ramadan and the upcoming Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Muslims and Jews practice forgiveness as part of their observances. Whatever your religious or spiritual preference, practicing forgiveness unearths one of the most powerful and universal forces there is: love. We invite you to share religious or spiritual teachings that shape your understanding and practice of forgiveness by posting a comment in our online discussion on forgiveness.

It’s not uncommon to wish we’d handled a difficult situation better, especially when it comes to our relationships with our parents. Aiko, a campaign participant, shares a letter to her mother that may remind you of similar experiences in your life. Her mother’s poem almost seems to answer her request for forgiveness.

Dear Mom,

It’s bothered me since your death in 1997 that I was not more attentive and kind to you during the two years you lived with Ed and me. Please forgive me, Mom.

After Pop’s death you had been happy in the retirement home living amongst your peers and finally free from cleaning and cooking. After you fell and broke your hip and came to live with us, it must have been such a difficult adjustment to have no Japanese friends close by and be away from your poetry-writing group and especially your church. Coming to live here after 25 years of Southern California urban life must have been a shock.

Yes, I saw to your daily physical needs but I should have been more mindful of your social and emotional needs and spent more time every day listening and talking with you. I always thought you were a sensitive and wise woman but realized this even more so after I read and pondered your poems.

To forgive myself, I have gathered all your poems and plan to put together a computer-printed book and give copies to family members.

Your loving daughter,
Aiko

My mom wrote senryu poetry which has the same 5-7-5 format as haiku. While haiku deals traditionally with human existence in the natural world in a spiritual or ideal way, senryu looks at life realistically.

“He buttons my blouse
As a way of mending wounds
Our quarrel forgotten.”

–By Sanae

“Ramadan is a time for humankind. It is a time for people to live to become better human beings. It is a time to get closer to solidarity, giving, and feeling connected with others.”
–Dr. Abdelhamid Jaber, Professor of Middle East Studies and Political Science at Rutgers University as quoted in “Can A Christian Learn from Ramadan?” in Middle East Online

At sunset on Friday, August 21st, Muslims around the world began the observance of Ramadan, a time for spiritual renewal through fasting, prayer, and self sacrifice.  A time to reflect on and remember God. A time to reach out and help others less fortunate. A time when fellow Muslims and families come together in prayer and practice. A time of forgiveness.  To Muslims around the world, we offer our best wishes.

Fetzer staff have been busy filling a small avalanche of orders for conversation cards recently. We were thrilled by the response and the varied ways many of you said you’d be using the cards. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to order a set of cards yourself. Below is a sampling of the creative ways others are using the cards.

• To inspire collage
• In a book club
• In restorative justice circles
• With hospice patients and cancer survivors
• In support, faith/spirituality, and a single women’s group
• To trigger journal writing
• In a 12-step meeting
• In Conversation Cafes and World Cafes
• In family therapy sessions
• At a snack counter
• To renew a relationship with an estranged family member

If you have a set of cards,  share your experience using them in our discussion area.