| Greetings!
May Third was the first anniversary of the passing of my Father, Co-founder of the CSC, Roger C. Mills.
On May Fourth, Dad's wife and CSC Board Member Clytee Mills and I received a message from one of Clytee's former students, living in Japan. Yumi Yamamoto wrote:
On this day, I just want to say my words to appreciate [Roger.] ...this picture is my copy of "Realizing Mental Health," the very first book I got, when I was 18 years old, on the Three Principles.
I remember feeling saved, hopeful and feeling that: "I'm so blessed to meet this!" at that young stage of my life. I remember reading this book with total dedication toward recovering from depression, and I highlighted so many sentences, as you can see in the picture.
I often reflect on how my life would have been if I hadn't gotten to know these Principles, and I can't help saying "Thank you" again and again...
Read Yumi's full story on the CSC Facebook group
So many of us, no doubt, owe our lives -- or the new quality of our lives -- to a new and simplified understanding of the role of Thought. I also suffered from depression in my early 20's and I've shared more about this below.
It is the mission of the Center to help people escape from the prisons of their own minds. The letter from Yumi inspired me, and strengthened my resolve in this way. Dad was nothing if not incredibly persistent in presenting the Principles to so many in the helping fields -- in the face of skepticism, negativity and sometimes even anger.
It can be difficult for people to connect something as abstract and formless as Mr. Banks' Three Principles to the "real world" work we do here at the Center: uplifting inner-city communities, training teachers and school counselors, dialoguing with youth from the most distressed backgrounds, working with families who struggle with mental illness and depression and now, transforming companies from the inside-out.
Yet think about who you are when you are present, slowed down, in tune with life. You are your very best Self -- and your actions gently follow, a subtle but very real blessing to those around you.
As single mothers who struggle with poverty, kids in gangs in the "worst" parts of San Francisco, stressed parents with many resources, and teachers in beleaguered schools settle into their true Selves, make better choices, fight and argue less, stress less, trust more ... their families, organizations and communities improve. Crime rates go down. Civic engagement and reaching out to neighbors increases. Depression and anxiety abate, and simple love and kindness begin to grow.
with my warmest regards,
Ami
|
|
 CSC NEWS AND EVENTS
| |
ARMS OUTSTRETCHED! THE NEW CSC MEDIA CENTER
Our CSC Media Center now offers free video and audio recordings on resiliency, bullying, organizational health and spirituality from a 3 Principles perspective. New podcasts and videos will be added regularly. Please do visit, and share this resource with others!
We hope to reach more people directly through the Internet and through new Teleconference sessions. Join us for our teleconference series "On Teaching Peace," or come to one of our drop-in classes in the San Francisco Bay Area.
SIMPLE WAYS TO HELP
We are looking for people to help promote and sponsor the monthly Palo Alto drop-in class. Can you volunteer? Information on the next two classes in Palo Alto can be found here.
Or, sponsor a CSC gathering in your own community. We are happy to travel in the Bay Area if you can organize a group of roughly 10 or more interested people.
HELP SOMEONE ATTEND A TRAINING
Consider making a donation to support our scholarship program, our work in low-income communities, and with youth at risk. And, finally, just be in touch. We love receiving your letters, cards, e-mails, and phone calls.
We are also pleased to introduce our new and talented Grants Manager, Maureen Latta, who will be posting regularly on the CSC blog, with news and reports from the National Community Resiliency Project. Maureen contributed the IN COMMUNITY section on the wonderful outcomes from two intensive years of work in communities in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
|
EVENTS
|
MAY 19 On Teaching Peace Our monthly teleclass for those who wish to share the Three Principles more deeply More information PDF download MAY 29 Peace of Mind is What You Are Drop In Class, Palo Alto, CA OCTOBER 5-7 MARK THIS DATE IN YOUR CALENDAR The CSC Retreat by the Sea More information will be available soon on our Events page on the website. For more information on all our Events go here |
|
GLOBAL VISION
| |
by Ami Chen Mills-Naim
As many of you know, Gabriela Maldonado-Montano joined the CSC as co-director last November. Now, we are seeing the beginnings of our new, combined vision take shape -- toward linking the for-profit, corporate world with the world of disadvantaged communities, like those in the Mississippi Delta, where we have worked for more than two years, and with youth "at risk" (and "at promise!")
We envision a future in which corporate and business partners align with t he CSC and our community-based Project Partners in our National Community Resiliency Project around the Three Principles, and toward a world of peace and true sustainability for all. Here in Northern California we have begun working with a multinational agricultural company. One woman, part of this company's corporate sustainability team, shared with us, at the end of a recent one-day "inspirational" retreat in Santa Cruz: "It feels as if a tremendous weight has been lifted. We were getting too far ahead of ourselves, and now I see that we just need to take a step back, absorb the information we've gathered, and see how the pieces start to fall into place."
After just one day, this team was already thinking about how the Principles might impact their entire company -- and were eager to hear about the Principles-based community work and outcomes we have been engaged in for so many years. If major corporations become aligned with the truth of the Three Principles, the truth about the human spirit (and we know that many already have), their influence could help solve so many of the problems we see in the distressed schools and communities we have worked with for so many years. But they could also learn so much from the very wise residents and youth in these communities that we have had the honor of learning from ourselves. A new kind of "cross-cultural dialogue" that unites us around our common wisdom ... That is our new vision. What's your vision for Global Sustainable Change? |
|
OVERCOMING DEPRESSION
| |
by Ami Chen Mills-Naim
Like Yumi Yamamoto, I also suffered from depression, in my early 20's. It was having experienced the intense suffering of such a state that led me to investigating the Three Principles as a journalist (I wrote an in-depth article on depression and medications), and led me to becoming a teacher.
I felt then that if I could make a difference for people who lived in what I had experienced as utter blackness, my life would be worthwhile.
When you are depressed, you feel as though anything would be better: hunger, boredom, anger, ordinary "stress," losing a limb -- any kind of physical lack or injury would be preferable! When you have lost your mind, when you have lost all positivity, you have truly lost everything.
What a blessing then, to be exposed to simple principles that have reminded so many of us that our personal thoughts do not constitute the whole of reality, that spiritual insight (intuition, wisdom, "the still, small voice") is both real, and a true guide, that Mind -- the intelligence and energy of life -- has got our backs.
I hope you will read Yumi's full story on Facebook (including her experience with medications), and I've opened a discussion that I warmly invite you to participate in. Together, we can offer the world so much hope. When Wisdom is unleashed on a massive scale, this "old world" will be unrecognizable! Ami's personal stories and reflections can also be found on her blog Mystical Mama |
|
IN COMMUNITY
| |
by Maureen Latta
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has announced a $200,000 grant to further the Center for Sustainable Change's
National Community Resiliency Project (NCRP)
The NCRP will expand 3 Principles training to more families, schools and institutions in the Lakewood neighborhood of Charlotte, NC, and introduce a 3 Principles approach to target communities in the tri-state Delta region.
The NCRP Report* details the remarkable outcomes from the first few years of 3 Principles-based work in Des Moines, Charlotte and the Delta. For example, neighborhood crime rates declined after 3 Principles training was first introduced in Lakewood in 2008. Aggravated assaults have dropped 74%.
"The biggest significance of this work lies in the building of trust within the neighborhood, and also within families and within individuals"
Dave Nichols, executive director of Lakewood Community Development Corporation (CDC).
Delta Citizens Alliance Director Larry Williams said the funding will help to raise the level of consciousness in the Delta.
"It's about building mental wellness among the residents...if people develop a more positive mental attitude about their particular condition, they are more apt to participate in a change process."
*This is the Executive Summary in PDF format. For the full report please write to us
|
|
|
|
|
What's ON
| NEXT ONLINE CLASS
"ON TEACHING PEACE"
MAY 19
To register
PEACE OF MIND IS WHAT YOU ARE
Drop In Class, Palo Alto, CA
Sunday May 29th
more
|
If a friend forwarded this to you, here's how to get
your very own copy
 |
DONATE
| TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY WORK
AND
HELP PROVIDE
TRAINING SCHOLARSHIPS
WE APPRECIATE YOUR DONATIONS
|
|
|
