"The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution
which has to start with each one of us?"

-- Dorothy Day

Suggested Resources - Print & Web



PRINT

Books

  • Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving. New York: Harper and Rowe, 1956.

    Dr. Fromm's classic work.

  • Barclay, William. New Testament Words. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2000. See his discussion on Agape.

  • Hansen, Charles E. The Technology of Love, Vol. I. The Corsense Institute, 2005.

    "Why will Love be the most important “technology of the future”? Why is a Love-dominated world no longer an idealist’s dream? Can Love actually be deliberately “produced”? This book offers the remarkable case based on Science…"

    "Could this be…the 'formal' beginning of the unequivocal ascendancy of Love over all domains of human endeavor, including (with the help of Science) Science itself…"

  • Templeton, John Marks. Agape Love - A Tradition Found in Eight World Religions. Templeton Foundation Press, 1999.
  • Buscaglia, Leo. Love:  What Life is All About. New York: Random House, 1996.
  • Bell, Terry. The Love Ethic - Rediscovering Our Moral Compass. Advantage Books, 2008.

    Interesting and competent treatment of Agape as understood from a Christian perspective.


WEB

  • 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


  • People For a Cooperative Society (PCS)
    "Advocating the Necessity of Economic & Personal Change"
    Sister organization to The Agape Order. PCS asserts that a full-flowering of brotherly love cannot occur in our present global society, given that it is predicated on money, profit, marketing and advertising, instead of the genuine needs (and reasonable wants) of people. PCS presents a realistic, love-centered alternative. The "Learn the Issues" section of the PCS website deconstructs various social and economic issues in part through the lens of agape, or brotherly love.


  • The World of Leo Buscaglia


  • Welcome to Love


  • Choice to Connect:  Living With A Love Ethic


  • 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


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


  • 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.


  • 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


  • Message of Hope
    Political-musical project advocating a moneyless, cooperative society, informed by Agape and the notion that we're all brothers and sisters in one human family.


  • 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.


  • 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."


  • World Kindness Movement


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



RADIO

  • Speaking of Faith
    "Speaking of Faith (SOF) is a new kind of conversation — and an evolving media space — about religion, spirituality, and large questions of meaning in every aspect of life."



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.



~ Love Yourself, Love Others ~
THE AGAPE ORDER