This talk was inspired by Frances Vaughan, a true woman of wisdom, who recently passed. Frances was a pioneer in the field of Transpersonal Psychology, served as President of both the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Association for Humanistic Psychology, authored many books including Awakening Intuition and The Inward Arc. At her recent memorial service we heard the three main principles that guided her life. The talk contained a moving short video of her life that can be accessed here: https://vimeo.com/246379817 (password: GratitudeDec9).

(James was on retreat this day but invited two guests speakers for the talk: Rene Rivera and Fresh! White.)

"How the Dharma urges us to take wise action to try to change the wrongs that we see in our world." ------------ Suzie Brown has recently moved with her family from Melbourne, Australia. She is co-founder of the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group and has taught Mindfulness to medical students at Monash University. Suzie has also been a facilitator, trainer and educator for over a decade in the areas of environmental sustainability and organizational strategy, running her own consulting business for the last 8 years.

The Buddha taught, "We are what we think with our thoughts we make the world." It important to understand how our thoughts create our reality. And it's also vital to realize that our reality is just the way we're seeing the world at a particular moment in time. Others may have different realities. And in time our own perspective might change. Seeing this is a key to genuine freedom and support for choosing wisely the thoughts we want to empower.