A free presentation on Non-Violent Communication

With Dianne Duran
September 18, 2021
11:00 am-12:20pm CDT

As part of the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha advises us to have right mindfulness, right view, right intentions, and right relationships.  He also asks us to cultivate right speech. But what if, despite our best efforts, our speech actually worked against our values? What if our speech reflected domination, competition, scarcity, even violence? Then how effective would be our intentions? And how effective would be our service in the world? 

There is another way of communicating that helps us to think, speak, and act in alignment with the values of equality, cooperation, empathy, unity, and peace. It's called Nonviolent Communication (NVC). It is also known as Compassionate Communication. NVC was developed by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD as a simple, four-step communication process that attempts to answer these two questions:

What is alive in you?
What would make life more wonderful?

Non-Violent Communication makes us aware of our thinking and how we use language in everyday conversation. It is a powerful tool that can overcome the violent behaviors that are taught and supported by the dominant culture and, in the process, connect us to the life energy in ourselves and others.

Please join us for this free introductory class facilitated by Dianne Duran, a member of the Theosophical Society in America. Dianne has been studying and practicing NVC with a passion for about three years and continues to take every class she "can get her hands on." Dianne believes that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it, so she co-facilitates practice groups at two churches in Nashville, TN.

If participants are interested in learning more, Dianne has offered to facilitate twelve weekly classes that will take a deeper dive into various aspects of NVC. The series is planned for Sunday evenings starting on September 26, 2021 and ending on December 19, 2021 (no class on November 28th); the times will be from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (US Central Daylight Time), again via Zoom.

To sign up for the introductory class, please email us at info@theoservice.org and we will send you the link for the program.  We hope to see you there!