Dance of Unity Blog Dance of Unity: Personal blog of Kamyar Houbakht, including reflections on society, education, sustainability and spirituality. http://www.danceofunity.com/ Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:07:09 +0000 Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management en-gb http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/danceofunityhttp://feedburner.google.com In Touch with Something http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/qw3ZDsZD89Q/in-touch-with-something.html Previously I have written about a dear friend of mine-Mohsen-in this blog. More than a year ago he moved from [[Dubai]] to [[Kuala Lumpur]] along with his family. Last week he was in Dubai for a few days and I got the chance to meet him for a couple of times. One of the occasions was a night at his friend's house, which I will refer to as Dr. Mohsen (yes, they both have the same names). It turned out to be a special night for me, and I am going to tell you why.

]]> Diary Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:41:49 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/diary/in-touch-with-something.html Where is the source of happiness? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/WtVIBYoBvnA/where-is-the-source-of-happiness.html Last week, at the end of a class, there were a few questions which we had to answer on the spot. A sort of personal reflection. One of the questions was "What in your current work and life are important sources of energy?" We had 30 seconds to write down what ever came to our minds on the spot.

Here is what I wrote down:
Learning about new ideas, specially about change, unity, innovation and education. More importantly when I share these ideas / dreams with my friends and they resonate, when I see other people who share the same concerns and dreams with me.

Two days after that class, I got the chance to talk with a dear friend of mine, Sahar, for a couple of hours. You can see her name and beautiful comments below many of my blog posts. It was one of those dialogues where after you are finished, you feel like you have evolved, as if something new has emerged whithin you. Not only you feel closer to your friend, but you feel closer to your core self, and you feel closer to everything around you. That's what I call an authentic connection. A dialogue will transform into a dance of unity. It's like you start dancing together, at the beginning one will lead, then the other, and this routine will evolve to a situation where something more than the partners starts to lead. You surrender to the flow and let it lead. Words and ideas come to your mind which you have never used them before. All the scattered dots in your head start to connect, and something new is born out of those connections. Amazing!

Following that dialogue, here is a video, dedicated to all, but specially to Sahar.


'the riddle of here' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

]]> Inspiration Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:37:27 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/inspiration/where-is-the-source-of-happiness.html A Song of Unity - Stand by Me http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/haKDKfSJNIQ/a-song-of-unity-stand-by-me.html This song says, no matter who you are, no matter where you go in your life, at some point you are going to need somebody to stand by you ...
From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe.
Playing for Change]]> Inspiration Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:53:43 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/inspiration/a-song-of-unity-stand-by-me.html A New Chance to Do Something http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/uPSM3QQaDIg/a-new-chance-to-do-something.html Every day can be a new life, but only if we stop thinking about the past and worrying about the future. I have come to believe that, what stops us from being happy are those mental projections; sorrow of the past and fear of the future. Humanity has lost it's connection to what there ever is: this moment, NOW. And that is the source of all the sufferings. All our sufferings reside in our minds. Outside our heads, what ever is, just is, plain and pure, without any positive or negative labels.

Everyday is a new chance to smile, dance, sing, and do something new. Birds know this, and I have been a witness to it.

This short video made me smile all the day today:

'smile' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

]]> Reflection Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:33:26 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/reflection/a-new-chance-to-do-something.html A Cocktail of Unity http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/W1B92MjhJOU/a-cocktail-of-unity.html Here are the ingredients of a Unity cocktail:

  1. A short letter by [[Francisco J. Varela]] titled "Why the mind is not in the head." It consists of 5 small paragraphs, but the message, if truly understood, can change the way you perceive everything. Here is a quote:
    ... the basis of mind is the body in coupled action, that is, the sensory-motor circuits establish the organism as viable in situated contexts. Form this perspective the brain appears as a dynamical process (and not a syntactic one) of real time variables with a rich self-organizing capacity (and not a representational machinery). So in this sense the mind is not in the head since it is roots in the body as a whole and also in the extended environment where the organism finds itself.
  2. Last night I watched a documentary titled Heima. It takes you through a beautiful musical journey in Iceland. It's an amazing blend of humanity, nature, culture and sound. I think, music is a universal language, and not only within humans. It can also connect us with the natural world and the whole universe.
  3. Love Until it Hurts is a short and insightful answer by [[Ken Wilber]]. He talks about feminine way of mysticism and it's difference with a masculine way.

I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

]]> Reflection Sat, 07 Feb 2009 07:29:13 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/reflection/a-cocktail-of-unity.html A Symphony of Life http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/gdFWyxQqX9o/a-symphony-of-life.html It's Friday, 8 o'clock in the morning and I am sitting in Mamzar park in Dubai. First I go through the list of the music in the iPod. Reaching at the end of the list, I decide to put it back in my pocket and just sit, pay attention and write what ever comes to my mind.

Once focused, there are tens, maybe hundreds of birds singing all together. Pigeons, Doves, Crows and many other kind of birds which I don't know their names. It's an uproar of excitement. When sitting at the same place at night time, there is only the sound of crickets. But now it's different. The space is filled with excitement and energy. There goes a dialogue in my head:

]]> Reflection Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:55:00 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/reflection/a-symphony-of-life.html The Capacity to Connect to the Self (part 2) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/oVLLmYWmJgM/the-capacity-to-connect-to-the-self-part-2.html On the previous post, I started to explore a possible answer to the question 'What is education for?' The answer was: education for building the capacity to make authentic connections. To make it clear, I provided an example for what I mean by authentic connections. In this post I will think loudly on whatever comes to my mind about the first level of authentic connections: connection with the self.

In Theory U, Otto Scharmer distinguishes two different selves. The first self is what we have become so far, including our past experiences, knowledge and feelings. The second self-which is written as Self with capital S-is our highest future possibility. In other words, the best that we could become. An authentic connection with the self will happen when our first self meets our authentic Self; when we connect to our highest future possibility. Through that connection we identify a goal for our life.

]]> Learning Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:08:58 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/learning/the-capacity-to-connect-to-the-self-part-2.html Building the Capacity to Connect (part 1) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/pkBn_LPsnlg/building-the-capacity-to-connect-part-1.html What is education for?

Our answers to this question can build the foundation for defining the characteristics of educational institutes for a more sustainable future. This post is the introduction to a series of personal reflections on the question: what is education for? These writings should be considered as an act of loud thinking, in order to crystallize the concepts. Any suggestions or comments from the reader will help the process. Therefore I encourage you to drop a line in the comments on any thoughts or personal experiences regarding the subject.

The first answer to be explored will be: education for building the capacity to make authentic connections.

]]> Learning Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:23:02 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/learning/building-the-capacity-to-connect-part-1.html The Birth of a New Species http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/C_8Zb-chUj0/the-birth-of-a-new-species.html A baby is being born, and we are lucky to be present at this amazing time. We have got the chance to observe one of the most extraordinary moments in the history of life on earth. We also have the chance to participate in the process. This new baby will be very different from most of the human beings who have lived on earth so far. Her thoughts, feelings and actions will originate from a different source. I believe that consciousness is what makes this new being so different from the rest. Maybe we can call it Homo Conscious.

]]> Reflection Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:09:52 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/reflection/the-birth-of-a-new-species.html The Island Game http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/danceofunity/~3/d7bTJWdzJz4/the-island-game.html It was December of 2007 and I was working as a consultant for a new company in Dubai. My main responsibility was building and leading the technical team. Every Sunday we used to gather in a weekly meeting to discuss the company progress. Our team was an interesting mix of different nationalities; out of 12 members we had three lovely people from Philippines and the rest were from France, Zimbabwe, Britain, Portugal, Lebanon, Pakistan, Ireland and Iran.

Usually the meetings were facilitated by the CEO. On a Saturday night, I received a call from the CEO saying that he can not attend the meeting on the next morning and he asked me to take responsibility for it, and I accepted.

]]> Reflection Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:22:42 +0000 http://www.danceofunity.com/reflection/the-island-game.html