The Well of Light Newsletter, published by Conversations host Michael Stone, includes current information and trends, articles, videos, news, interviews and inspiration in the areas of Environmental Restoration, Social Justice, Evolutionary Cosmology and Spiritual fulfillment.

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		February Issue, 2013 - Listening from the Heart I have been observing my restless mind through many years of moving and sitting meditation. It is my experience that "thoughts arise" and with them come stories. Although I find myself mentally latching onto my thoughts, feeding and embellishing on them (which takes me away from being present) my goal is to release those thoughts and bring my awareness back to my body and my breath. I see that in this way we can start to step out of the illusions and fabrications of the mind and bring ourselves back to the now...
		Holiday Issue, 2012 - A Tribute to Gabrielle Roth It was 1974, when I attended what I thought was a party hosted by Werner Erhard, that I first encountered Gabrielle Roth. I arrived late at the Jack Tarr Hotel in San Francisco, a very un est like thing to do. Racing up the stairs to the Ball Room I found that the event had already started. A very strange and eerie music was spilling out into the hallway as I entered a room I had become familiar with over the years. I expected to find the glaring plastic chandeliers, the neatly organized rows of chairs, a stage with high back chairs and a table with water glasses. So much for expectationst...
		Thanksgiving, 2012 - Stress, Gratitude and Health Everywhere I turn these days people are telling me how busy they are and I am constantly telling myself the same thing. What are we so busy doing? Does it really make a difference in our lives, or are we only creating unnecessary stress, which in turn damages our health, wellbeing, and satisfaction in life? It is common knowledge that stress increases wear and tear on our heart and internal organs, wears down our immune system, adversely affects our work and relationships, drains our vital energy, and basically wears us out...
		Speical Repot - Rio+20, 2012 - A Review of Rio+20 The recent UN and People's Climate Conferences held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil attracted an estimated 50,000 people. Several hours' drive and galactic differences in perceptions and goals about what is needed to avert an impending ecological, social and economic disaster separated these two distinctly divergent conferences. The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and Green Economy predictably emphasized "Development and Economy" and gave lip service to "Green and Sustainable"...
		Autumn, 2012 - Active Hope As a species, the human community has the opportunity and obligation to come together to attempt to reverse the negative effects we have had on our planet. News of climate change, resource depletion, over population, militarism, and their many side effects must stimulate us to act with vision, commitment, and clarity. Our community has the opportunity to be inspired and called to action with a live appearance by Joanna Macy this weekend. Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, a respected leader in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology...
		Speical Repot - Rio+20, 2012 - A Review of Rio+20 The recent UN and People's Climate Conferences held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil attracted an estimated 50,000 people. Several hours' drive and galactic differences in perceptions and goals about what is needed to avert an impending ecological, social and economic disaster separated these two distinctly divergent conferences. The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and Green Economy predictably emphasized "Development and Economy" and gave lip service to "Green and Sustainable"...
		Spring/Summer, 2012 - Ending Suffering It has been a long time since my last newsletter. Like many of you my life has been full of changes. I used to think "this is a good change" or "that is a bad change," but, in the past year I have begun to meet the changes in my life as an adventure into the deconstruction of my own story and a portal into a deepening sense of presence. In this place I continue to discover a spacious awareness that is beyond good and bad and devoid of the suffering that used to gnaw on me like mind parasites consuming the innate joy and wonder of life itself...
		New Year's, 2012 - Dwelling in a Vision of Possibility As we begin the New Year it is hard to believe that the things we have considered important in the past will be more accessible in the future. The environment is rapidly deteriorating, our economic policies are exacerbating the gap between rich and poor and we running out of cheap energy to fuel our thirst for evermore technological gadgets and cheap conveniences. I predict that the things we once thought were important will loose their luster in the coming year. Old ideas and ways of being must always die to make room for the new...
		Winter, 2011 - Beauty, Resiliency and Vision in Times of Great Change You don't have to look very far to see that our old structures, systems and institutions are breaking down. Many people are waiting for things to return to "normal". But, if we look closely we will see that our current ways of engaging in economic, environmental and energy issues, which support life and society, are fundamentally beyond repair. There are no band-aids, quick fixes or solutions available within the frame of our current way of thinking and viewing the world...
		Fall, 2011 - Slowing Down I remember a story I heard long ago about a man who had worked hard all his life and finally earned enough money to take his dream vacation. He wanted to go on a Safari to a remote part of Africa. So he hired porters to carry his camera, camping and hunting gear and headed off across the Serengeti. He only had 10 days scheduled and after looking at the map saw, that if he hurried they could probably reach their destination, the elephant mating grounds, in 3 days, just in time for the start of mating season...
		July, 2011 - Reflections on Love and Awareness When I interviewed Ram Dass a few month's ago he talked about being loving awareness. What does it mean to be aware and what is love? These are questions that have consumed the minds of thinking and feeling people since we invented language and symbols. Webster's dictionary defines love as a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. Unfortunately this kind of love "for" generates a sense of separation between the lover and the object of love...
		June, 2011 - Non-Violent Listening We generally think of listening as a passive act, as if we are a tabula rasa (blank slate), open to whatever words leave the speakers' lips and cleanly fall upon our open ears and inquiring mind. A more accurate statement might be that, "we don't listen, never have and never will!" What we fail to take into account when we consider the complex phenomenon of listening is what is really going as a listener...
		May, 2011 - The Divine Feminine Last week I attended the Women's Vision to Action workshop in Grass Valley put on by fellow KVMR broadcaster Elisa Parker and Jesse Locks. I was the only male there with 250 women! I went to listen, to learn and to support the work they are doing, because I agree with the Dali Lama who said, the world will be saved by the western women. While it was a little awkward to be the only male there, the content was inspiring, informative and crucial for me to hear at this time...
		March, 2011 - Economics, Separation, and the Healing Force of Love As the Federal Reserve contemplates a third round of Quantitative Easing (think printing more money) and funnels dollars to the Wall Street bankers that are already giving themselves billions in bonuses, Main Street faces escalating inflation and higher costs of living. Reported unemployment in California and Nevada is at 14%, but estimated real unemployment is likely twice that and many of those finding work receive a fraction of their former salaries...
		February, 2011 - Can you be loved? There is an old adage that it is better to give than to receive. Einstein said it, St. Francis said it, but I want to challenge this notion when it comes to love. St. Francis said, "It is in giving that we receive". I say when it comes to love it is also "in receiving that we give..." Please take a moment to try something. I invite you to stop taking in-breaths and only breathe out. What happens? Probably you will turn blue just before you pass out for lack of air. I suggest that if we want more love in the world, we must learn to receive love as well as give it...
		Holiday Blessings, 2010 - Reimagining As I put the final touches on this month’s newsletter I am filled with gratitude for all of you who, in your own ways, are co-creating this great planetary shift we are going through with no less of a partner than nature herself. I think it is important to remember that we are not alone in this great evolutionary unfolding. The closer we get to the skin of the mother the more we realize that the climate is not the only thing that is changing...
		Thanksgiving, 2010 - The Gift of Gratitude Some days I get so busy I forget how I am held by this amazing network of grace – my friends, my culture, and the earth. Since before we harnessed fire, developed tools and created agriculture we have all been held in an ever-widening web of support and interconnection with all life. We tend to take for granted all the resources, energy, and complex systems that allow our current lifestyle to be possible...
		October, 2010 - On Compassion It's cold and dark outside and my Zen alarm clock is gently telling me it's time to get up. But, I don't want to budge from my warm bed. It has been a challenging month – over committed, multiple computer breakdowns, dealing with false and hurtful gossip, relationship issues, financial concerns and overwhelmed by the constant barrage of economic, environmental and social problems of the world...
		September, 2010 - The Gift of Nature Camping at Sacred Lake 9,600 feet above Tuolumne Meadows after two grueling days of climbing up the mountain with 65 lbs on my back my head begins to clear in the fresh, still alpine air. Up here there is such peace, such clarity, such radiant simplicity... The wild flowers are certainly not working all that hard. They're just soaking up the sun and being beauty...
		August, 2010 - On Separation and Belonging It is the eve of my 65th birthday and my dinner date just cancelled as I was heading out the door to meet her for dinner. Feeling alone and abandoned – not an unfamiliar feeling – but, surprising, as I am so often surrounded with people and projects and thinking how I need more alone time... but 65, how the hell did I get so old? Gone is the sense of being immortal that I had in my teens and twenties. Gone is the passionate exuberance of my 30s and 40s...
		July, 2010 - Dancing into Stillness Sometimes I just have to stop, reflect, regenerate and find stillness in my life! My perpetual busyness leads to a sort of scattered franticness that leaves me breathless, multi-tasking, ungrateful, unfocused and exhausted. So on this summer solstice I gave myself, and everyone else, a gift of a week of silence, fasting, and meditative prayer. For the first 3 days I had a serious case of monkey mind… I walked, meditated, danced, prayed and slept around the clock...
		June, 2010 - On Mindfulness I am becoming more aware of the disconnection between what I know and how I behave. Returning home after a blissful weekend of yoga and dance at Harbin Hot Springs with Bella, I rushed to my computer to answer the hundred plus emails that had piled up over the weekend. Yes, I confess, I am one of those email addicts that is constantly checking to see who loves me, who hates me, and who needs me in this surreal world of cyberspace...
		May, 2010 - People’s Movement for Mother Earth Rights More than 35,000 people from around the world gathered at the “World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth” held in Cochabamba, Bolivia this past April. Bolivia’s indigenous President, Evo Morales, called the conference in response to the failure of world leaders to provide leadership at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 15) held last December in Copenhagen...
		April, 2010 - Cultivating a Spring Heart From the big budding oak behind my house two boisterous black ravens glide overhead announcing the birth of a new spring. I look up from my small garden plot and smile. In this early morning moment all seems right with the world. I have no thoughts of things to come or what has been. I am at home here on this spinning blue planet...
		March, 2010 - The Wisdom of Acceptance Ah, Esalen! For many years now I have had the good fortune to come here to this wondrous retreat center on the Big Sur coast to relax, refresh and deepen my spiritual practice. As I find myself more consumed with the affairs of everyday life, finding a quiet still place close to nature seems ever more important to gain perspective, balance and tap into the inner knowledge that we all carry...
		February, 2010 - The Divine Feminine in Action There is a strange phenomenon in life. It seems that whenever we make a commitment to take on new behavior in our lives, the universe will test us. I made a conscious commitment to embrace and practice aspects of the Divine Feminine in my daily life as a result of attending a powerful womans conference called Passion to Action here in Grass Valley...
		January, 2010 - Celebration of Interdependence I want to express my deep gratitude to the close to 50 volunteers, and the approximately 300 people who co-created and attended the New Year’s Eve and Day Celebrations. Several thousand dollars were raised for Conversations on KVMR. I am deeply moved by the outpouring of support, the love and the inspiring and energetic interactions that took place...
		December 24, 2009 - Is There Climate Change After Copenhagen? As I headed home from Copenhagen, I wondered what had been accomplished? Was it worth the collective carbon footprint of all of us that traveled to this historic climate change conference? The agreements that have been reached will not meet the targets necessary to stop catastrophic impacts on all life. The NGOs representing the voices of the poorest nations, who have been most impacted by climate change, were shut out in the final days of negotiations...
		December 12, 2009 - Special Copenhagen Edition I am here at the UN Climate Change Conference and reporting back on a daily basis of what is happening from ground zero. It is exciting to be here and witness history in the making. But, it is also sobering knowing that this is the most important diplomatic gathering ever held and that the future of life as we know it is at stake. I know that there is a great deal of furor in the states about whether climate change is real...
		December 2009 - The Practice of Gratitude Driving in Bay Area morning commute traffic, I had the idiotic idea that I needed to call and check my messages. Looking down at my phone I unconsciously swerved into the next lane narrowly missing another car and almost causing a major accident. My heart was racing and my inner critic was deafening... I could have been killed and taken a lot of people with me! After settling down I began thinking about how lucky I have been...
		November 2009 - From Grief to Action The fog was lifting in Southern Marin. I had just spent the weekend at this year’s Bioneers Conference; inspiring, alarming, captivating and motivating! Everyone there seemed quite clear about what our political leaders are unwilling to see. Our planet and all her inhabitants are in great peril and business as usual is only going to accelerate the process. The future is in the hands of the people!...
		October 2009 - On Embodiment & Evolution Back in the 70's I went for my first Rolfing session (a deep tissue form of massage - or body torture - depending on your perspective) created by Ida Rolf. After several sessions my Rolfer said to me, "Michael, you're the only person I've ever worked on who doesn't realize he has a body."...
		September 2009 - In Search for Stillness Approaching 10,000 feet with 60 pounds on my spasming back, gasping for breath with each step, feeling like it might be my last on these bruised and blistered feet, I wondered, "Why am I doing this?" I kept repeating my mantra in cadence to my brutally slow cross country progress: "Al-lah, Al-lah, Bud-dha, Bud-dha"...
		May 2009 - On Stillness Since I last wrote you winter has faded into spring and I have returned from my travels with a new sense of hope and possibility...Everywhere new life is sprouting from old rotting systems, decaying beliefs and worn out patterns, creating compost for new ideas, opportunities and ways of relating.
		February 2009 - On Relationships It was a startling realization, but in the depths of despair it came to me: I am not going to single handedly save the world. All this frantic busyness has got to stop! There is enough chaos in the world without my creating more.
		December 2008 - Life Affirming Communities In preparation for this New Year’s Community Celebration I have been grappling with the question, "what constitutes a healthy community?" Webster defines community as "a unified body of individuals with common characteristics or interests."
		November 2008 - Thanks Giving I love Thanks Giving... That is, when I remember to practice it, and am not caught up in the frantic contagion of doing-ness. The speed of life and the weight of things undone narrow my awareness, and I lose the awe and wonder that is at the heart of gratefulness. Here is a journal entry from one of those days last week...
		October 2008 - Exploring the Shadow For some time, I have been exploring my shadow: feelings and thoughts of abandonment, powerlessness, anger, and the sense that I am somehow fundamentally flawed. I share these things with you in the hopes that you will reflect upon the shadow in your own journey towards wholeness.
		September 2008 - Evolution of The Well of Light Change is accelerating at levels never before experienced. The speed of social, technological, and biological advancement has become a dazzling blur of memories, adaptations and confrontations. This allows us an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our relationship to all life. This is a moment to seize.