WEB

• The Agape Order
  Unique member-based organization teaching agape in principal and practice.




• The Institute for Research on UNLIMITED LOVE
  "Altruism, Compassion, Service"




• Corsense Institute
  "Dedicated to the Philosophy, Science, & Technology of Love"




• Fetzer Institute
  "Our mission, to foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community, rests on our conviction that efforts to address the world's critical issues must go beyond political, social, and economic strategies to their psychological and spiritual roots."




• erich fromm: freedom and alienation, and loving and being, in education




• Erich Fromm - Overview




• The World of Leo Buscaglia




• Welcome to Love




• Choice to Connect:  Living With A Love Ethic




• The Love Foundation
  "The Love Foundation is a nonprofit organization with the mission of inspiring people to love unconditionally. Our vision is to assist people by building a practical foundation and understanding of unconditional love within individuals and society as a whole."




• bell hooks Resources




• On Building A Community of Love:  bell hooks Meets With Thich Nhat Hanh
  (pronounced tik not hon; last syllable rhymes with "non")




• Thich Nhat Hanh's Blue Cliff Monastery




• Tavis Talks
  "One of America’s most celebrated and respected media personalities..."
  Tavis Smiley is the only media commentator whom I consistently hear talking about love. The principal is obviously of predominant concern for him. Just today for example, July 25, 2010, at a conference at Standford I heard Tavis query his panelists on why the notion of love plays little or no role in our public discourse.




• Keys to Good Health
  This website, unusual resource presenting a unique and comprehensive set of "keys," or guidelines and principles addressing every aspect of health. This site states that one of the two most important keys is that of love, the proper form and degree of which would eliminate virtually every other health concern.




• The Meaning of Love, Dr. Noel Preston




• His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet




• The Holy Father - John Paul II




• Empathy, Altruism and Agape


Perspectives on Love in Science and Religion
A RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM



• The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins




• The Center for Nonviolent Communication
  A global organization helping people connect compassionately with themselves and one another through Nonviolent Communication language, created by Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.




• Compassionate Communication
  An excellent piece by Marshall Rosenberg that describes the philosophy behind Nonviolent Communication




• The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
  contemplative practices:  loving-kindness meditation




• A Campaign for Forgiveness Research
  Superb material. Researched and apparently in-depth.




• World Kindness Movement




• The Defining Wisdom Project
  "...it is difficult to imagine a subject more central to the human enterprise and whose exploration holds greater promise in shedding light and opening up creative possibilities for human flourishing."




• Global Coherence Initiative
  "The Global Coherence Initiative is a science-based initiative to unite millions of people in heart-focused care and intention – to shift global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace."

  "Each year, an increasing number of groups and online communities are radiating compassion and care to the planet in these times of need. We and others feel that these collective heart-based initiatives, rather than being a trend, represent the proactive consciousness platform of the future, in which individuals and communities take responsibility for shaping a new world by increasing love, care and compassion for the global whole."

  "As groups of people in the Global Coherence community intentionally send coherent love and care to the world, a more powerful heart-filled environment is created. This helps to build a reservoir of positive energy that benefits the planet. This reservoir can then be utilized to help bring balance and stabilization to people, thereby making it easier to find solutions to problems like climate change, the destruction of the rain forests, poverty, war, hunger and other global issues. In addition, by sending coherent heart energy to the planet, you benefit personally. Practicing coherence has a carryover effect that helps to cushion you through stressors and challenges that occur day to day."

  "Advanced sensing technology, now being developed at the Institute of HeartMath, will allow us to observe changes in the earth’s magnetic field and test the hypothesis that the earth’s field is affected by mass human emotion, positive or negative. The Global Coherence Monitoring System (GCMS) will consist of approximately 12 sensors strategically located around the world. This system will enable a new level of scientific inquiry into the relationship between the earth’s magnetic field, collective human emotions and behaviors, and planetary changes."




• Shared Belief In The "Golden Rule" - the Ethics of Reciprocity

RADIO

• On Being
  "...a new kind of conversation — and an evolving media space — about religion, spirituality, and large questions of meaning in every aspect of life."

PRINT

• Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving. New York: Harper and Rowe, 1956.
• Buscaglia, Leo. Love:  What Life is All About. New York: Random House, 1996.
• Barclay, William. New Testament Words. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2000. See his discussion on Agape.
• Templeton, John Marks. Agape Love - A Tradition Found in Eight World Religions. Templeton Foundation Press, 1999.

And let us not forget that the full and proper exercise of the love ethic includes a competent love of self:

• Lamb, Sharon. Before Forgiving: Cautionary Views of Forgiveness in Psychotherapy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

• Murphy, Jeffrie G. Getting Even: Forgiveness and Its Limits. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

• Alberti, Robert, and Emmons, Michael. Your Perfect Right, 8th ed.  Atascadero: Impact, 2001.

  Considered the bible of assertiveness, an essential group of techniques for loving yourself, by not allowing others to injure you, psychologically or otherwise.

• Blanton, Brad, PhD. Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth, Revised ed.  Sparrowhawk Publications, 2005.

  While somewhat meandering, perhaps not organized as tightly and logically as I'd like, and plagued by vulgarity that is somewhat superfluous, this is an extremely valuable book, even seminal, promulgating a message critical to human health, both psychological and physical. The message is:  do not hide, bury, suppress, or otherwise fail to communicate your feelings to other people. If you have something to say to someone--say it. Humanity is plagued by over-thinking, and a disease of rationalization for the sake of maintaining (a false) decorum, causing the internalization of anger and other feelings which leads to mental discomfort, at least, and mental and physical illness, or even death, at worst.

  I find this thesis easily compelling based on the twin grounds of intellect and personal experience. However, the missing link in Dr. Blanton's thesis and consequent prescription is love. This is because, as it takes "two to Tango," attempting to communicate feelings, especially anger, to another person may produce an uneven or poor result if the other individual is not willing to listen, at least, and apologize or otherwise reconcile, at best. While most of us accept the poor substitute "telling someone off" as our only recourse to ameliorate or otherwise satisfy anger, in fact without a minimum of cooperation in the form of a willingness to listen on the part of they whom we wish to "tell off," even this common and basic action will remain unavailable, or unsatisfactorily executed. And of course, the most satisfying resolution to anger or similar feelings occurs when the antagonist listens to our grievance and then apologizes.

  Still, I maintain my strong recommendation of Dr. Blanton's book, since his thesis comprises fully one half of my requisite paradigm for human health:  self-love.