About

I will give you some of my background, although the intense transitions of the last few years have left me feeling like a new person. I was born in 1967 and was a very sensitive, intellectual and dreamy child. I was always consumed by questions like, “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” “Where am I going?” so of course, embedded as I was in a culture that sees science and reason as the source of truth, I tried to “figure out” the answers. I graduated from Yale University with a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, but my development of reason and intellect brought me no closer to any truth I really cared about.

I didn’t know what I was searching for, but I knew that none of the usual options life presents a Yale graduate attracted me. I went to Taiwan, learned Chinese, and soon found myself working as a translator. I spent most of my 20s there, educating myself broadly in Eastern spiritual traditions. I also read voraciously: books on health, nutrition, globalization, physics, and biology. Translation led to other business opportunities, and I became familiar with this dimension of the human experience. In Taiwan, I met my dear friend and ex-wife Patsy, with whom I have three children, all boys.

In my late 20s I entered what was to be a long period of intensifying crisis. It started when all my professional work became intolerable. It became excruciating to do work I didn’t care about. Even though a million reasons told me why it was irresponsbible, impractical, and foolish to quit, I eventually could not make myself do it anymore. An irrepressible feeling, “I am not here to be doing this!” took control of my life. So I entered a long period of searching. I spent time teaching yoga, learning about herbs, and teaching at Penn State’s department of Science, Technology, and Society. All of these endeavors have contributed to my present and future, but none were really me.

The next five years were much like a birthing process. The old world dissolved, and the contractions birthing me into the new took the form of a collapse of all that I once held onto. Crises in health, marriage, and money forced me to let go of a “life under control”. In my helplessness, I accepted help, discovering a generous universe that has always met my needs, somehow, in unexpected ways. I have never made much money, but I have become rich in connections to other people. Friends and strangers from all over the world write to tell me how my books have affected them; they sustain my faith and nourish my passion for my work.

In addition to writing books and essays, I have been doing more and more public speaking, both at conference and smaller events. This has been a welcome addition to my life. I find that my thinking stagnates and my heart atrophies when I am in front of my computer too much. I need to interact with real people, face to face. Until recently this need was met by a part-time position on the faculty of Goddard College. It was a beautiful job while it lasted: I really treasured my relationships with the students and my colleagues.

I am now remarried and still living in Harrisburg, PA with my three children, two of whom are now teenagers. My life seems to be entering a new phase as my work intensifies and my home life stabilizes. I used to answer every email and say yes to every offer to speak. Now I can’t always do that, although I still try to respond to everyone who contacts me, in part because I consider this to be an important part of my work, and certainly among the most enjoyable.

At this point, I have no specific plans for the future. The world seems to be in a state of such flux now, that I cannot make any plan but to ride the wave. I do intend to keep writing: essays and articles for the time being, and then other books. I will probably write another book soon on gift, and perhaps a short book on degrowth economics. My next major book will probably be about the world-creating power of story, and how, on a personal and collective level, we can exercise that power to participate in the building of a more beautiful world.

  • Mofwoofoo1

    Hola Charles,
    My nickname is Mofwoofoo and I live in Vilcabamba, Ecuador and have initiated the Project Integral which is similar to “transition towns” through a newsletter I put out weekly, wherein anyone in the village on my mailing list (760) can put what they like in the newsletter, but not as much exchange of ideas as I would like, but I write something every week since it started in november, 2010. And I’m glad to say, that I am pretty much aligned with your thoughts, though I lack the depth of your credibility/ achievements. In any case, I used to be majorly involved with Food Not Bombs in SF for a number of years and really could feel how OWS is doing, and how well they are doing it. Now with the senate passing this totalitarian law, it should be interesting to see some response hopefully, maybe occupy the senate. what do you think?

  • Andy Tannehill

    Charles, you are a gem. THANK YOU for being you and asking, exploring, framing, and answering some of the most important questions of our time. You’re spirit is full of light and beauty as you tackle these taboo topics – at once the root AND the branch from which we seek to leap.

  • Sachia

    Honest. Think your book must be worth a peek…

    • http://www.facebook.com/giles.hutchins Giles Hutchins

      It reminds me of my own path…keep up the great work Charles..our paths will cross no doubt, when divine timing allows – see http://www.thenatureofbusiness.org

  • Ch Jeanes

    I am a Canadian who is afraid of where my compatriots seem to want our nation to go. We have a Prime Minister welded to the most orthodox ideas of economics in a capitalist “development” model. My peers here seem to want this since he now has a majority government. He also stands for an assertive foreign policy of being with the USA and UK wherever they intervene in the world, unlike our past traditions. You said in Sacred Economics, some places would be very slow to change to the transition out of capitalist money ecnomics; my land seems to be one of those where the old ways of economy will hang on tooth and nail, Canadians are addicted to a materialistic notion of a good life. Any thoughts about Canada, where we still have a large land somewhat undeveloped and not overpopulated? How can we who value a way of life not enslaved to material production resist the machinery of constant “growth”…? I was a Marxist in 1973, I wanted to kill for the Revolution. I am not that man now. But what I will become is still obscure to me.
    Charles Jeanes, Nelson, British Columbia,
    in a gorgeous rural town in mountains and rivers so far not too spoiled by urbangrowthcapitalismaterialobsessions.

  • http://www.zentrepreneurism.com/ Allan Holender

    Charles, so much of what you write about here I can totally relate to. I’ve been on earth longer than you but that doesn’t give me any more street cred than you. I birthed the Zentrepreneurism movement five years ago and had no attachment to it;s outcome and yet here we are five years later and you have manifested it’s principles. I just released Zentrepreneurism 3.0 “The Inner Game Of Conscious Business”. I hope you’ll read it. I’d like to interview you for my “Zentropolis Radio” show on my new network Conscious Planet Radio. It will be more like a conversation between two kindred travellers. Please contact me at allanmholender@gmail.com. Our broadcast site is http://www.consciousplanetradio.com

  • Betsy

    Hi Charles,
    I enjoyed your Chris Martenson interview.. I am a Susquehanna Valley native, PSU Hort Sci grad and for the last few decades, Married, raising a family and teaching Horticulture, moving towards a sustainable living in the raleigh, NC area. Glad to know you are in PA and noting the importance of community, and sustainable agriculture. I hope to return to the river valley someday, permenantly.
    I can’t think of a region in our country more poised to effectively adapt to local food systems, and potentially on a large-scale. there has, as you are aware, been several hundred years in PA of local, sustainable agriculture economy. There still exists some of the largest ag systems for all steps of food – production, processing, retailing,distribution. Something very rare in the rest of the country..
    So here is a question- Are you aware if any of the local, large food companies, like Weis markets, Furmans Cannery, Hanover foods… etc.. are there any persons in their corporations with their ear to the future we are now discussing? if not, what is your advise to try to bring this to their table?

  • Rev. Terryl Todd, aka Govinda

    I do want to be like you when I grow up.

  • http://www.michaelrobins.me/ Michael Robins

    Great, Charles I love your evolutionary journey. I too have been on the quest for my perfect place in the universe, and I too have played many roles from a college teacher (dropping out after I was asked to revise my dissertation for my PHD, and living on the road for 12 years with out working) to a taxi cab driver, floor sweeper, fork lift driver, church bulletin and insurance salesman, massage therapist, author, speaker, and I am currently re-inventing myself as a spiritual visionary with no specific plans. So, I think we will have an interesting conversation on my radio show on March 21since we have much in common.

  • Bryanson73

    Thanks for renewing my faith in mankind. From another soul searcher.

  • Julio Moros

    Dear Charles…

    my name is Julio Moros, I live in Venezuela.

    I´m really astonished by the parallels of our lives, the questions you had in your childhood is the first one. I also have 3 sons (all boys), 2 of them, young adults. I´m an electrical engineer, and I lived in flesh what you mentioned as an irresponsible voice asking you to quit your job… I lived it after 13 years working for Movistar-Telefonica. I also felt in a certain collapse… And I think right now I am in a re-birthing… Last October I renounce all my goals, for I was living in a madness… The “future illness”, sacrifying my precious NOW.

    I know you should receive a lot of mails, so I don´t want to extend too much. And if you take a few minutes to read this I´d feel honored.

    I´m writing to you because of a project I´ve held in my mind since so long, and due to your knoledge in mathematics I became interested in try to spark your interest.

    Please… give me a chance reading the following

    To resume, I believe (just a believe) that the very first step we need to do to start the whole process of changes into a new society and civilization, is to work in a new tool which enables us to get deal (a people’s consensus) with a big number of people.

    A method to do it already exist. It is called “Negotiation by Principles” from Harvard University. But it is limited to a bunch of people who has an alternative to the negotiation process, but it has the feature of bring to unanimous decisions, which satisfies everybody.

    By the other hand, there is the so called formal languages science, based in the branch of mathematics called “Mathematical Logic”… As far as I´ve studied the subject, a “logic” is a theory structure more or less with a map which relates a set of “data” with another set of “conclusions”… None logic is valid or invalid, true or false… But there are some formalism rules to be observed, and in the process of bring “semantics” to the language, is the one in which the construction of the formal theory is defined…

    So… there is nobody who tell us what is right or wrong… but a continuous process of construction of a formal language, which enables us to discuss… to negotiate our decisions as communities: New Laws, new projects, new process of changes in which we all are going to be involved…

    Finally… an automatization process to bring this “effective process” of this democratic negotiation, to a some kind of algorithm in order to enable a large… really large amount of people to get along…

    So I haven’t even developed a formal proposal for this project… A conceptual design for the project. But if this words sparks your interest in any way… If you as mathematician, believe this tool can came into existence (it could not work due to some Turing theorem, I guess)… I could work in a formal proposal for us to work on it.

    If you reach until here… I appreciate so much your time

    Big Hug!!!

    My e-mail: jjmorosr@gmail.com

  • Matt

    The only true currency in life is a real authentic human connection. The only true asset is one that lasts.

    Charles, your words, insights, and your soul connect with me on such deep and personal level that, although we have never met, I KNOW we are helping author the same story. I look forward to the day when our stories meet, engage, and become ONE!

    Thank you for being an “asset” to me :)

    • Michael

      I liked your comment Matt and wanted to extend an invitation to consider joining groups of like-minded individuals who meet in high-minded service and support. If there is any interest in finding out about them, please email me for information- robinsmichael1111@yahoo.com

  • Diane

    The best most authentic personal write up I have ever read… one that so many of us can relate to – hearing of the resonance that we share in our struggle to find our way in this changing world.. makes it all the sweeter.

    • Michael

      I am led to extending an invitation to communicate with many of the people that Charles has attracted. I find many of the comments to be insightful and compelling. There seems to be great value in people of like mind sharing these days, so I’d like to invite you, Diane, into some of the communities that I’ve created and am involved in. robinsmichael1111@yahoo.com

  • Filiz Telek

    Charles, deeply inspired by what you have offered until now, I sincerely hope to support your ongoing work as well as collaborating with you on the world-creating power of story as I also feel this is part of my work here at this time. Excited to co-tell the new story!

  • Melody Saunders

    Love your mind. I always enjoy listening to people who think beyond …..

    cheers melody

  • Marina

    Thanks for renewing my faith in mankind. From another soul searcher.

  • NickUK

    Having only recently come across the short youtube film on Sacred Economics I am not quite sure what to say. At the time of discovering the film I had been deliberating a world with no money and your film summarised and constructed every last thought I was having and helped me understand a lot of sub-concious instincts I having and could not translate into words so thank you for that!

    Having only just read your bio it was like in many ways reading my own, especially your thoughts as a child. When I was 7 approx my primary school teacher use to call me her little day dreamer because from listening to her intensively it would only take one word from her and I would slip into a day dream for hours apparently and my mother told me some 13 years ago now that that teacher once said the most beautiful thing about my day dreaming. She said along the line off “nick is my little day dreamer and I and the class can loose him to his own my mind for hours most days but I leave him to it because when I look in his eyes I know there is nothing of value I can teach him, he has already changing the world!”

    Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts and on a genuine note, I hope one day our paths may cross! Sadly the concept of money restricts me from following every natural feeling I have to knock on your door for a cup of tea and a chat lol!

  • Ray

    WOW! I’m a “not dumb” 70 year old man that just read your”Money:Story & Magic” in the Summer issue of The San Bernardino & Highland “READER” magazine. Had to read much of it over to see if there is something I’m missing(?) You are obviously brilliant, kinda reminds me of the Dr Seusse childrens books. You’ve been afar and done and studied much, but are still looking! Please, find a good Christian, Bible teaching church and do some study there. Man do you need a foundation!
    Nathan “Ray” Clark
    Highland Ca 92346
    rayj2415@aol.com
    Example
    http://www.ibchighland.org

    • Robinsmichael1111

      Life is full of perspectives, and I have no wish to debate with you or change your mind, but I personally find that Charles has a powerful foundation that is aligned with a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible

  • http://possibilitymagazine.me/ Vajra Krishna.

    Hi Charles. Very much appreciate your work. One of the main arguments brought up to claim that a resource based economy – one not based on monetary standards – is impossible, is the “economic calculation problem.” I’ve been looking into this of late. Your thoughts?

  • Elizayogi

    Thanks for voicing a deep held knowing I’ve had that we must create a completely new paradigm for economics and business. As a yoga teacher and steeped deeply in full time work in the business world – something has to change. It’s as if the past month or two has pushed us all to the limit where we can’t find our way any longer in the current environment. I look forward to engaging with others in creating a new way of relating to the world and most importantly to ourselves. The only true change comes when we can wake up to our deepest self, one that is connected and interwoven with all life in the universe.

    • Michael

      Hi Elizayogi, there are many groups seeking and creating a new paradigm. I have one that resonates with your idea of awakening to our deepest self, so you are invited to experience our Abundance Empowerment Adventure Call on Thursdays at 9 PM EST- 712-432-0900 AC 218126#. If you send me an email, I can send you one of our recordings and or you are welcome to call me at 386-427-4617 or, if no answer, 386-847-7846

    • catherine murphy

      i find myself in total resonance with what u and the others say on here – ‘cosmic synchronicity’ or what. if u, charles or anybody else want to amplify, ”fast track” that personal and global paradigm shift, go to http://www.tracyholloway.com and there you will find some FREE ”energy transmission meditations” that will help you with that.

      catherine m. (bristol UK)

  • David Chester

    The subject of introducing a more natural for of economics or more correctly macroeconomics was first raised in the writings of Henry George more than 130 years ago. George was appaled by the persistance of poverty in the face of great technological change, a phenomena that is no less today. His explanation of why this happens and how to stop it, so that everybody has more equal opportunity to earn a decent wage, was expressed in his book “Progress and Poverty” which sold more than 3 million copies. George proposed to introduce a “single tax” which took away the unfair advantage that land ownership confers on its monopolistic subscribers.

    Yet George’s proposal and the return to social justice and a more natural way of organizing our national and social system has never been fully adopted. In some countries where it was tried immediate progress was made, but the monopolistic forces of greed and corruption have managed to dominate the nation, then as now.

    May I suggest that those on this website who believe in searching for the ways forward to a better world, might usefull give some thought to George’s ideas with the view of including his philosophy and policy in their teachings.

  • nickrockliffeUK

    It’s been about 2 months or so since I watched Sacred Economics which gave me so many answers to questions which burned within me and helped me understand much of what I already knew inside but was yet to be able to appease my concious mind. The concept of money has arisen in every discussion which centre around the big questions we face in today. I wanted to share a snippet of a thread I have been involved in today and thought it provided some further insight to the answers SE gives us but to the questions it asks as well :)

    …………………………………………………………

    Quote:
    Shaf wrote on 05-07-2012 04:31 PM

    I’m definitely not a historian of any sort. Although I do now understand why many people do study history before converting to law. It’s highly advantageous in some areas! As well as history I’ve had to do a crash course in economic theory and development economics in order to gain a full understanding of what I’m currently researching – having absolutely no economics background whatsoever it’s been a challenge to say the least!

    In an attempt to simplify my point, what I tried reiterate, possibly not in the most coherent way, is that ‘knowledge is key’. In order for a professional to be considered a professional they need to know and understand more than others about something – otherwise why would we pay someone to do something we can easily work out and do ourselves?

    With the advances in technology and media which enable us to share knowledge much quicker and easier, the ‘monopolistic’ features of some professions (due mostly to knowledge) should manifest themselves to a lesser degree. Those which require more delicate hands-on experience and relate to life or death situations are an exception to this, as mentioned earlier.

    The question is whether the knowledge is actually as accessible and comprehensible to everyone as it should be? Indeed we have access to a lot more information, but too much information is not necessarily a good thing.

    This can be linked directly to the discussion about access to education. If we accept that everyone, albeit through loans, can access the higher education system in the UK, after education experience is required – experience is gained in many professions from internships, many spanning for a number of months, many unpaid. Some fortunate people have funding so they can work for free/peanuts for a year or two. Many other don’t. These are examples of the kinds of barriers which will continue to define who has the knowledge and experience – and who will need to pay for it.

    So in summary, whilst the access might in theory be there, barriers exist which serve to maintain a division between those who are equipped to serve, and those who will need to pay for services. Bourgeoisie/proletariate/etc.

    …………..
    My Reply
    …………….
    hehe. You did a fine job of explaining first time round I still think what we have both said is closer than you may think but with the difference of one factor. The Limitation of the concept of money.

    I’m in the process of my own study in the history of Economics but instead of taken the historian approach where you analysed lots of small little individual bits, I applied the holistic approach and looked at the bigger picture. From my first observations was the symmetry in the principles of how economics works (as if it was a living/evolving organism) to Ecology. However, as economics is not part of the complex machine that is nature, it surely has to be a simplified version of Ecology? (A bit like a computer is a simplified version of the brain but on capable of understanding two numbers – 0 & 1)

    Quote:

    otherwise why would we pay someone to do something we can easily work out and do ourselves?

    I love this question as it is one that has been pumping my cerebral juices for over 2 years now. With every cloud has a silver lining! – Despite my health being at its worst over the last few years meaning I had to give up the traditional 9-5 concept of working, I have had to recall “my inner child” and empower myself by learning to become self sufficient and I found my need for “experts” diminishing. (Because much like a child I do not have the money/income to pay for it).

    So why would we pay for something we can easily do ourselves? Surely we do that every day when we buy a loaf of bread, eggs, vegetables as the very basics. Then we buy our clothes right through to the more slightly more complexed to buy our homes.

    Having had to spend the majority of the last 2 years and much of the last 13 years having to adapt outside our collective way of living I started to become very frustrated about all the simple things the limitations of the money system denied me. I wanted to grow my own vegetables but don’t have a garden and can’t afford any land for example .

    The drive went on to become more self sufficient and all of a sudden my natural instinct wanted and was begging me to do more things for myself and this manifested into things like wanting to make my own soaps, general cleaning products, shampoo’s, skin creams etc and so on right through to wanting to build my own home (every time I was in a place of clear natural surrounding I would form visions of self sufficient communities and I just how naturally right I felt inside was immense). However when returning to the flat I go from feeling empowered to feeling the very basics of my existence is being denied. Mainly because I had the knowledge to do it and despite having the time also, the practicality in the world as a whole was not there to do it.

    (I wont go on but a link to follow if the line of conversation interests you – With this feeling I started to put into prospective about the rate of protest all over the world and it really wasn’t hard to see why people were so angry or why extremist felt they needed to put planes through buildings etc).

    So moving from the basics of what we could do for ourselves to what we still largely consider specialist professions such science & medicine. I did post this on another thread but for your benefit;

    After my second Operation (for cronhs) in 2010, my symptoms returned within a matter of months and after a few months returning to our traditional concepts of work they start to become intrusive again exhibiting the very same symptoms as I did in the months leading to the operation (depsite the infected area being removed and my inflammatory and chemo-therapy medication being doubled).

    I started to get very frustrated that despite all this technology we had and the sheer number of “experts we had in the world”, and taking into consideration as to how serious my situation was (After the last operation not only did my lungs collapsed I have been told that if I get to a point where I need another Op they wont be able to re-attach the bowel and the chances of me serving the op itself are not good) I was still not be given access to these “specialists”.

    Being in possession of my own full medical records I opened them up and started from birth right through the the most recent page. The very first thing that angered me the most was that despite being under the care of over a half a dozen of specialists (one of them regarded as one of the best in my condition the NHS has btw) in my life time I did not see the question “why do his symptoms never go” once! I then started to look at the “text book” teachings of my condition and treatment and despite my many different test results what was happening was defying the principles of what the “text book” teachers us but yet they still continued to apply treatment/tests which would apply in the event the “text book” principles applied.

    So after a few months hardcore studying I had 0 additional logical/concious leads at at square 1. Left with only my instinct, what my body was telling me I had only what I can call a gut feeling this was to do with my brain chemistry & the psychological triggers as well as natural environment. Using the internet within a about a week I self diagnosed myself on what I had found.

    Quote:

    Summary of my self diagnosis; Unbalance of Serotonin and Dopamine Levels.

    Red Flags on highly probable known psychological conditions – Depression & Positive Schizophrenia.

    Possible unknown/unproven psychological conditions – Concious Schizophrenia

    I then spent a few weeks trying to find some case studies on the links of brain chemistry, depression and their links to conditions such as mine from this point It was getting easier and easier as everything started to fall in place and each question being answered in perfect sequence.

    My search for case studies only bought 1 case which was pretty much identical to mine and this was the USA. The patient (a 44 year old male with a history of illness almost identical to mine) was taken of all his traditional cronhs medication and was put on some rather heavy serotonin repressors (anit-depressents as they are known – 150mg from memory).

    Not wanting to give up this empowerment of doing things for myself, I made the decision to put myself through my own human testing stage and stopped all my traditional cronhs medication including the chemo drugs. I made an appointment with my GP with the intent to get him to sign the piece of paper I needed to get access to the drugs (I only asked for 20mg in strength as I thought 150 was excessive). Despite being told that it would take about 2 – 4 weeks for these tablets to take effect, within 6 hours of my first tablet I felt the whole of my brain chemistry change, all the anxiety I had always felt (from childhood) when around people in general (the more the person meant to me the bigger anxiety). In only a few days my physical symptoms such as passing loose stool up to 20 times a day to more solid passings about 3 times per day eventually sometimes going a whole day without having to pass stool for a whole day / (this is all in the last 4 – 6 weeks btw).

    What did I take from all this? I am confident when I say I honestly don’t think there is one “Job” in this world today that I am not capable of doing . With the experience of my self diagnosis this told me that I alone, “a laymen” achieved what not only 1 “specialist” but over half a dozen couldn’t and they are now in the process of learning from me and my knowledge and insights! I think the best way to summarise my conclusion is something I said in a chat with a friend of mine who is training to be a solicitor; “hippies changed the world whilst the solicitors did the paperwork”

    This brings us on to education (I’m nearly finished btw lol) and the limitations you speak of which come down to one thing “money”. When were children we spent years utilising a time we most powerful by learning all the basics of skills which would serve as a stepping stone to do what ever we wanted and as time progresses and we get older our education system concentrates on the eventual goal of you becoming a “specialist” in one skill set. Is this because when we get older we become less efficient to learn by nature? I don’t agree with this at all! So at present it seems to me that our current educational structure is based upon us de-evolving instead of maintaining evolution and progress. Look at how we still maintain what I think (may be wrong on this minor point) our very first concept of teaching in formal education, the class room & text book. Why teach a child about the culture of another country from a book with words and pictures when we have the technology to serve us to take them there and learn via practicality – true knowledge is experience.

    So how does the money system do this? We’ll it dictates whom has access to evolve (which is a human right).

    My overall point I guess is that all the issues and problems from the questions we ask such as the OP comes down to Concious Mind Vs Sub Concious mind. Our concious mind only allows us to live in the past or the future and today’s world is concious minded where as the sub-concious can only live in the here and now which is the mentality we need to achieve our collective goal “peace on earth” Here are two audio poems I wrote/produced on this very battle which may help bring further understanding at what I am getting at (Have to be listened to in order)

    http://soundcloud.com/biofigment/everyone-or-anyone-edit1mix

    http://soundcloud.com/biofigment/sub-concious-original

  • http://www.facebook.com/patricia.twomey.18 Patricia Twomey

    Thank you so much for coming to Cork to talk – and, it is free to get in. You really do practice what you preach – thank you for that. Money is very tight with me.
    Will you be selling copies of your books? At a good price??
    I heard about your visit through Cork LETS which is brilliant and gives me so much hope for the future. The other members are such lovely gentle people when I leave the meetings it feels like I have had a full body and mind massage.

    Patsy Twomey Cork

  • carlmariaschulte

    Hi Charles,
    are you already inspired by:
    frances moore lappe: getting the grip
    joanne macy: deep ecology
    ECOTOPIA, written by ernest callenbach
    Gesundheitinstitut (Patch Adams)
    jeremy rifkin’s books
    james surowiecki: the wisdom of crowds
    windstar foundation, old snowmass
    rocky mountain institute: alternative energy?

    To create better futures we need new institutions of direct democracy.
    For example the US-presidential election campaign is a good opportunity to adress this to the US-citizens! We need constitutional assemblys and citizen senates as second chamber all over the world: USA, EU, Germany, Africa, Asia…
    A second UN-General-Assembly, too. See proposals of world federalists…
    This new institutions constitutional assembly and citizen-senates will domesticize political partys, that are maga-machines for coming in power and defending power by ignoring protection of natural ressources, human (citizen-)rights and
    c o m m on wealth to often. Will make possible an effective control of lobbys, open doors for a just and sustainable money-system…

    Together towards a healthy democracy instead democrazy!

    Get more:

    http://ob-in-spe.de

    an-stiftung@t-online.de

    kindest regards!

    Charles/Carlo/Carl Maria

  • http://www.facebook.com/rosa.warski Rosa Warski

    Regulation of attention is important. For this, it’s good to be concise. The idea of free will is the original sin. Truth lies in eternity, relativity and unity. Happiness is the goal.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kristin.pedemonti Kristin Pedemonti

    Dear Charles,
    Your words and lifestyle truly resonate with me, thank you for sharing of yourself so much. Yes the use of story for sure can build a more beautiful world! As a Professional Storyteller who strives to connect culture through story, I totally agree. Most of my work has been striving to give back, however, none has touched and impacted me more deeply than when I made the decision in 2005, after divorcing to sell my small home and most of my possessions to create/facilitate volunteer project Literacy Outreach Belize. I landed there by chance, but not by accident. :) Since 2005, Ive donated programs for 33,340 youth and trained 800 teachers in using their own indigenous legends in the schools. In 2013 I’ll be expanding the project into Ghana, Kenya and India via invitations to volunteer and train teachers and librarians. I am so grateful for the opportunity. I’m not entirely sure HOW it is all going to unfold, but I know that it WILL; the universe rarely presents an opportunity without there being a way to Make it Happen. :)

    I live simply, and am JOYFUL and GRATEFUL to be a full-time Professional
    I also organize and offer Free Hugs wherever I travel, there have been some incredibly powerful moments like the severely autistic boy who leaped into my arms, looking me directly in the eyes and laughing and hugging homeless in NYC; one woman told me afterwards that she had not been touched in 20 years.
    you can see more of the story here if you wish: http://talentsearch.ted.com/video/Kristin-Pedemonti-Bringing-joy;TEDNew-York

    We are all interconnected and living in a “gift” society rather than one that relies on money sure can be enlightening and eye opening. My own life experience has taught me to be open to receiving and to continue giving with all my heart.

    A big HUG to you and thank you again. <3 Kristin

  • Philippe Orlando

    I now feel less lonely that I’ve stumbled on Charles. I just read an interesting article on The Guardian by him, them felt to check more who he was. I’m happy somebody like him is out there. It will keep me going.

  • Michel

    Thank you Charles for coming in my here and now. Just lost my spouse in July and was imposing myself some pressure to find a passion, an activity that would channel my energy and help with the grief. And then I found your words: “At this point, I have no specific plans for the future. The world seems
    to be in a state of such flux now, that I cannot make any plan but to
    ride the wave.” I will thus ride the wave for a while and let the Universe inspire me.

  • Lavender Blume

    People like Charles helped me forge ahead on my own path without worrying what people would think or how difficult it would be. Much like Charles mentions, as I child the things around me didn’t make sense and I wanted to find out why things were the way they were and how I could live in a way that didn’t emulate that insanity. Our society values wisdom and worships icons like Christ, Gandhi, MLK, etc. and yet the way our systems work reflects exactly the opposite. I think a big part of the average person’s resistance to correcting this is that they feel powerless (no doubt a result of our loss of interdependence and connection) and confused about how we can build a different world. It’s not so much about changing the world though, as much as it is about recognizing our true nature. Once enough of us talk openly about this the changes will happen on their own.

  • Paolo

    we are student in a big classroom,don’t worry question are no so important, be your self..there is a loot to learn

  • http://www.facebook.com/NLKnudsen Nikki Knudsen

    HI Charles. I wanted to stop by and thank you for your words. I am a student at IIN and I just finished your focus lecture “Yoga of Eating.” Your words spoke to me about more than just the yoga of eating and truly touched on the humanity of self doubt, the illusion of self control, and the healing of just being. Thank you thank you! I am looking forward to reading more of your work as your words have changed the direction of my day. Blessings to you and your family.

  • Robert E. Bowman, DMA

    What a moving biography. You book Spiritual Economics is an inspiration and is the being and love of humanity that comes through your writing. I hope that the Peace Institute at California State University, Chico (northern California about 3 hours from San Francisco) will have the honor of having you join a virtual lecture and piano via Skype on Thursday, March 7th, 2013 from 7:30-9 p.m. west coast time. I will also try to contact you by phone and/or e-mail.
    With greatest respect and gratitude for the contribution you have and continue to make to our world.
    Robert E. Bowman, DMA

    Professor Emeritus, Music Department
    CSU, Chico
    bowmanpiano@gmail.com

    • Robert E. Bowman, DMA

      I realized after I sent this that the book to which I referred is “Sacred Economics”.

  • Dan

    Charles,

    Your endeavor to spread the message which encompasses the true value of living is a rare gem in a sea of misinformation. Community is a facet of human life that people disdain in an effort to remain diligent in a life they inherently perceive to be unnatural. Your undertaking restores hope within my life that there is perhaps some truth in what I and many others believe. You have my gratitude. I solemnly thank you. :)

    -Dan

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=638352485 Frederick E. Reeves

    Aloha Charles
    I was raised in New Jersey and now live in Maui as I believe the whales and dolphins are better adapted to social living than the wo/man tribe. Fifty million years of a shared contiguous consciousness passed on in the songs of life made throughout their lives seems to be a consciousness necessary to work with our loving concept of One. The action of entire pods stranding together, shows me their existential existence is based on the simple grokking of “I am you and you are me.” They are committed to protect others as themselves and the proof is still there. They still do it, and they have lived fifty million years.

    I believe with the advent of computers and the intelligence and visual acuity of whales, we could express ourselves to them in a manner they could mimic if they could work within a tonal range easily done by them. Chinese became the language I felt most suited to the task because it is “object” oriented in its infrastructure. The written language is an object character. The whales are idiographic baritones in my book…

    Pod structures are very suitable and similar to normal tribal lives touched upon by some of us in the sixties with communes, love, and acid that allowed for an easy birth of “the here and now” quite apart from the path of deferred gratification dictated by the middle class parents of the day. Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity might look different to one recognizing the accelerating paradigm shifts lead to the oneness that has always been present from deep in the recesses of our minds but still available to our heart.

    You can find me under “dolphid”. Dream your vision and Google your dream.

  • http://www.facebook.com/monique.unger Monique Unger

    Charles, I’ve just returned to Sydney from the Economics of Happiness conference in Byron. I would like to thank you for making such a long journey for a such a short time. I’m not even going to try and convey what I’m truly grateful for, but in a nut-shell there were some things you said, and didn’t say (but allowed the audience to ponder over in some of your pauses), and things you just projected in your talk and workshop, that clicked for me. As has been expressed in several comments below, I too, can resonate with parts of your story above, and love the simplicity and “realness” in the way you have written it. Thank you, and I look forward to reading some of your work. I’ll sign off with something I took away from your talk… “My life is enriched because you exist”, Monique

  • http://twitter.com/billy_mavreas billy_mavreas

    nice to meet you

  • Yeh Kahan aagaye hum..

    Wow Charles, so much resonates especially your childhood experiences, and dissatisfaction with your work in your 20s. I’m going to try and find Sacred Economics. Life was meant to be more than the everyday, mundane repetitive cycles…I’m glad to have “found” you :-)

  • Yeh Kahan aagaye hum..

    Wow Charles, so much resonates especially your childhood experiences, and dissatisfaction with your work in your 20s. I’m going to try and find Sacred Economics. Life was meant to be more than the everyday, mundane repetitive cycles…I’m glad to have “found” you :-)

<