by Michelle Tessensohn

I worked at a shiatsu* therapy centre a few years ago, where my boss would constantly tell me how I was not good enough and there was a seemingly endless list of things I needed to improve on to be a good therapist. I tried so hard to please her day after day. One morning I woke up and realized how incredibly unhappy I was. My inner spirit had just had enough.

From the beaches of Africa to the ports of the Middle East, a shark fin odyssey arrives back at ground zero: Hong Kong.

'Man & Shark' is book and short film of the same title, which explores the barbaric practice of shark-finning in developing nations, so that consumers in Hong Kong and China can eat shark fin soup at their weddings, company banquets and celebrations.

The Districts of Luk Wu ( 鹿湖 ) and Dei Tong Chai ( 地塘仔 ) in Lantau Island are historically sacred grounds for Buddhist practice for over 100 years. As Hong Kong’s precious cultural heritage, those lands should be jointly preserved by the Hong Kong Government and the public communities. Unfortunately, the Buddhist monasteries and spiritual oasis are now facing serious threats of being turned into a “Columbarium for Human Ashes”. Religious temples would become indistinguishable from columbarium for human ashes. Such situation is heartbreaking.

by Corinne McLaughlin

A Practical Visionary Perspective

When BP changed its name from “British Petroleum” to “Beyond Petroleum” some years ago to promote its new division for renewable energy, did the company have any idea about the dramatic role it would later play? Did BP realize what it would mean today when its earlier ads said, “We bring oil to American shores”? It literally has! But thankfully, BP has now catalyzed an urgent demand across the nation to truly go “beyond petroleum” for our future energy needs and end the era of fossil fuel dependency.

Professor Anthony Hedley has served for more than 22 years as Chair Professor of Community Medicine in HKU and honorary consultant to the Department of Health and Hospital Authority. He is now retiring from Hong Kong. In the interview, he talked about the impact of air pollution on children health, the vulnerability of kids and gave valuable suggestions to parents who are concerned about the issue.

Australian chef Stephanie Willton's latest Nourishing newsletter.

Written for a winter audience down under Stephanie's newsletter has some great recipies and tips for those of us up north.

William Bloom writes about his favourite spiritual book

In my early twenties I worked as an editor in book publishing and one morning a manuscript arrived in the post from the United States. The accompanying letter said that the book was about astral travelling and out of the body experiences. I smiled because I did not believe in any of that stuff, but I read it anyway because that was my job. I remember sitting at my desk thumbing through it.

David Spangler reflects on the World Cup and the spiritual reflections from it.

I have been enjoying watching the World Cup the past two weeks. Not only have many of the games been thrilling in themselves with the fate of teams decided literally in the last few seconds of play, but they are wonderful in opening a window on the many different faces of humanity. It truly is a world event. Watching the games, I have on several occasions found myself aware of a global network of subtle energies linking up all the millions of spectators around the planet. During this time, there have been moments as well when I have glimpsed some of the great national angels and devas using this shared focus of human consciousness to assist their continuing efforts to weave a deeper sense of connection and wholeness within our human family.

By Colin Beere

Starring Gene Pascucci

I don’t make ads. Not really. But if I did this is what might happen. I made this for Gene. You might recognise him from the first Soul Portrait.

And I was struck by a single line:

"Everybody was an honor, everybody was a privilege to be with."

And the reason I’m playing it here is because this is how Gene is. Truly is. Everybody is an honor and a privilege to be with. And in this action he proves that a life time of ’seeking’ can transform a person.