COMMUNITY PICKS

In this section, we showcase books, videos, organizations and programs recommended by participants in the Dalai Lama Foundation Discover community.

Is there…

• a book that changed your life?
• a film that can spread some healing or peace?
• an organization where you discovered the joy of volunteering?

We invite you to share a resource that has helped you explore the connected landscape of ethics and peace in your own life? ... make a recommendation from the heart.

Books & Videos

The Iliad, the Poem of Force, by Simone Weil. Weil's essay is a matchless, intense, poetic essay, using The Iliad as its text, on the paralyzing effect of violence on both its victims and its users. – recommended by Jonathan Schell.

Vaclav Havel, The Power of the Powerless. Havel's book was the first signal of the radical weakness of the immense seeming power of the Soviet Union and the potential strength of “the powerless” millions of ordinary people. Written in the thick of the action, it inspires as well as informs. – recommended by Jonathan Schell.

Adam Michnik, Letters from Prison. Adam Michnik, a leader of the Polish opposition to Soviet rule and pioneer of the Solidarity movement, was one of the chief originators in Poland of a new style of action, in which the activists turned away from the government and toward action within society itself. It turned out that this strategy generated great political power, which, somewhat to the surprise of its authors, helped to dissolve the Soviet Union. – recommended by Jonathan Schell.

On Violence, by Hannah Arendt. In this and other works, Arendt reconceives what power is. Though she is not a pacifist, she argues that the origins and sources of true political power do not lie in violence but in “action in concert” by ordinary people. The activities of Havel and Michnik bore out her insights after the fact. – recommended by Jonathan Schell.

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David Bornstein. I can't put it any better than Publisher's Weekly did…Bornstein profiles nine indomitable champions of social change who developed innovative ways to address needs they saw around them in places as distinct as Bombay, India; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and inner-city Washington, D.C. The inspiring portraits that emerge show these unstoppable entrepreneurs as extraordinarily savvy community development experts. Bornstein aims to persuade that, without a doubt, the past twenty years has produced more social entrepreneurs than terrorists. – recommended by J Robert Tolmach

Nonviolent Soldier Of Islam, by Eknath Easwaran. The story of Badshah Khan is one of the most inspiring and informative of our time. In it, we see four myths about nonviolence systematically dismantled. Never again must we believe that nonviolence is a weapon of the weak, that it can only be used against a “polite” or weak opponent, that it cannot be organized on a broad scale in place of armies or – most importantly today – that it has no place in Islam. When Badshah Khan died at the age of 98 in 1988, a war ground to a halt to witness the funeral procession returning to the Khan's beloved Pashtun homeland across the Khyber Pass. This book, which has been translated into Arabic and is making its way into Pashto, could make the whole war system grind to a halt and the beating of drums be drowned out by the song of Khan's “Servants of God:” We are the Servants of God/By death or wealth unmoved. . . We serve and we love/ Our people and our cause./ Freedom is our goal, Our lives the price we pay. – recommended by Michael Nagler.

Gandhi the Man, by Eknath Easwaran. I have long believed that if we are to survive the future must belong to Gandhi. This book will tell you why. There have been many biographies of the outer man and his great works in the political and social fields, but this is the only one I know that peers inside to reveal the sources of Gandhi's spiritual power. Before I read it, and had the privilege of hearing Sri Easwaran's many talks on Gandhi in the early '70s, I revered Gandhi from a distance, having little idea what made him what he was. You could say that I was relating to Gandhi the phenomenon, not Gandhi the man. When I began to understand that Gandhi was at once greater than I had realized and, paradoxically, more accessible, more practical, more imitable, it redirected my life. – recommended by Michael Nagler

Programs and Organizations

PeaceJam (peacejam.org) introduces kids to Nobel Peace Prize winners and suggests lots of questions about violence, racism, oppression and prejudice, and what it means to be a peacemaker. This is a great resource for teachers as well as kids. If I had to pick just one site, especially for kids, I'd recommend PeaceJam! Check out the PeaceJam website. – Recommended by Jim Schuyler.

More picks from Jim Schuyler.

Child Advocates is a chapter of the national CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) organization. Child Advocates matches caring community volunteers with children who have become dependents of the courts. These children are most often victims of abuse and neglect and had to endure much in their young lives. CASA volunteers offer a stable relationship by spending time with these children, providing positive values one child at a time. The website is www.cadvocates.org. – recommended by Fred Shepardson.