Australia Together: National Community Recovery Summit

Australia Together logo

The National Community Recovery Summit is an open-invitation event for representatives of local communities, service providers, social and economic development practitioners and researchers, philanthropic bodies, advocacy organisations and representative bodies – to enable community voices to deliberate on, and to inform, how Australia can recover best from the COVID pandemic.

Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Executive Officer, Lisa McKenzie, is one of the breakout speakers (engaging local communities) at the summit being held online next Wednesday July 1st 2020, from 10am to 1pm.

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A Buddhist reflects: Be Grateful for the Weeds

grateful for weedsI grew up an urban child of the early, roiling seventies. My vegetables were canned or flash-frozen, re-heated to a place of flavorless flaccidity, and my iceberg lettuce shrink-wrapped and decked in brown, having barely survived the cross-country trip to New York City from California. It had likely been picked by the hands of laborers working at an unlivable wage, after which it had been chemically sprayed to preserve freshness, tossed onto a refrigerated truck, and sent east on a trip that took four days. By the time it arrived, it was tasteless, old, and no way to introduce a child to the beauty of something grown in the earth.
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Southeastern Australia Turns Green

Southeastern Australia Turns Green

As the 2019–2020 summer brought record heat to Australia, New South Wales appeared to be heading into its third year of severe drought. From January 2017 through October 2019, the southeast Australian state experienced its lowest amount of rainfall in nearly a century. During that time, farmlands were parched, lakes dried up, and millions of fish died.

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Sheltering in Place: Tents and Torah

Fortress Pillow

My boys are making forts using all the pillows in the house. They strong-armed my husband into setting up our camping tent outside, and they sit there as the day grows hot. They are slinging blankets over couches, pulling mattresses off the frames: they are sheltering in place… with intensity.

By some mystery of narrative, they remind me of our founding patriarch Abraham, paragon of generosity because he kept all sides of his tent open to welcome strangers, entertaining angels in disguise.

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Community and faith leaders are helping stop the spread of coronavirus

Community and faith leaders are helping stop the spread of coronavirusCommunity representatives and leaders have been providing guidance to their communities, colleagues, families and friends. They have played an important role to date and we are calling upon them to continue their efforts.
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World Unity Week

World Unity WeekWorld UNITY Week is a stop along the road and a “birthing space” for a larger-scale global celebration across Peace Weekend 2020 (September 19-21), centred on the annual U.N. International Day of Peace (September 21). World Unity Week is a celebration of interfaith harmony, appreciation of the Earth’s gifts and resources, and promotion of Open Space for dialogue and exchange.
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NAIDOC Week Deferred

NAIDOC Week 2020 - Aways was - Always will be

NAIDOC Week is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. It has its roots in the 1938 Day of Mourning, becoming a week-long event in 1975.

On account of the Coronavirus pandemic, Naidoc Week has been deferred. National NAIDOC Week 2020 celebrations will be held from the 8-15 November.

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Caring for Muslim Patients Handbook

Islamic Council Victoria logo The Islamic Council of Victoria yesterday launched the “Caring for Muslim Patients Handbook” in its third edition. Viv Nguyen, Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission conducted the book launch. Proper care of Muslim patients often arises in rural and regional healthcare centres where this is not a significant migrant and settlement populations. Such publications are important for excellence in health care in both urban and regional/rural centres.
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International Day of Yoga – 21 June

International Day of Yoga logoInternatoinal Day of Yoga celebrates the physical activity known as yoga practice in the Western world. Whereas it originated in India to enable flow of energy through meridians in the body – as part of spiritual practice and efficacy – yoga today is principally recognised for the asana poses that that those who go to yoga classes to practice. The theme of International Day of Yoga for 2020 is Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family.
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The Future is Cultural Equity

Arts Hub LogoMulticultural Arts Victoria CEO Veronica Pardo has written in Arts Hub on the importance of a recovery based on cultural equity, as a way of addressing the substantive under-representation of people of colour and culturally diverse people in the arts. More than that, however, and equitable, representative and inclusive sector has the power to shift the dial on racism, and how we see ourselves as Australia. This is a powerful call to the arts sector to commit to the fight for racial justice.
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On ‘Welcome’: Migration, First Nations and Refugee Communities

Wheeler Centre LogoWhat’s in a welcome? It’s a word we hear often in relation to Australia’s refugee movement – but in the context of hostile refugee policy and unceded sovereignty, what meanings can it hold? The Wheeler Centre will present an online exploration about Austalia’s “Welcome” in collaboration with the Refugee Council of Australia on Sunday 14 June 2020, 6.15pm-7.15pm at wheelercentre.com

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The Buddhist Pureland and Living Under Curfew

Daytime curfew and the police ... In Pureland Buddhism, we’re taught that the world is both a land of suffering and a wish-fulfilling jewel. Through the grace of Amida Buddha, and teachings like those found in the Meditation Sutra, we’re able to see beauty in the midst of our pain. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we no longer experience suffering.
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Dalai Lama: Only Genuine Compassion Will Do

Tenzin Gyatso - the 14th Dalai LamaIt’s not sufficient, says the Dalai Lama, to simply think that compassion is important. We must transform our thoughts and behaviour on a daily basis to cultivate compassion without attachment. Before we can generate compassion and love, it is important to have a clear understanding of what we understand compassion and love to be.
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World Environment Day

World Environment DayWorld Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June every year, and is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment. This year the theme of World Environment Day 2020 is “Celebrate Biodiversity“. “With 1 million species facing extinction, there has never been a more important time to focus on biodiversity.”
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Looking after your mental health during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

In this togetherWhile it is a time of uncertainty and our lives have changed in a short period of time, it’s important to remember that we can do many things to feel better. Remember that these changes and your effort is helping to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Buddhism in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter

Buddhism in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter


Imagine Siddhartha is a person who has been protected by his loved ones from the reality of racism. He leaves his protected compound, perhaps a community gated specifically to separate itself from undesired people. He enters a place where he sees darker-skinned, unarmed people being shot dead by the police or perhaps by guards who serve to protect his enclosed community. Maybe he encounters darker-skinned people who are sicker and more malnourished than lighter-skinned people. What if Siddhartha saw that?

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