What would the world look like if we designed for generosity? Instead of assuming that people want to simply maximize self-interest, what if our institutions and organizations catered to our deeper motivations? This compelling TEDx talk explores this question and introduces the concept of Giftivism: the practice of radically generous acts that change the world. The video is charged with stories of such acts, ranging from: the largest peaceful transfer of land in human history, to a pay-it-forward restaurant, to a 10-year-old's unconventional birthday celebration, and the stunning interaction between a victim and his teenage mugger. With clarity and insight, it details the common threads that run through all these gift manifestations, and invites us to participate through everyday acts of kindness -- in an uplifting global movement.

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  • Sharon

    This changed my thinking. Changed my life. Made me grateful to all who have helped me along the way. I will continue to help others in whatever way I can. From a feeling of lack and want and need, I see hope and joy generosity. Will give whatever I can of myself today and hopefully every day in the future. Consciously. Not unconsciously. Thank you for this message of hope.

  • Louis

    It is amazing when we see the bigger picture beyond ourselves with group orientation. We all can act just a simple step by caring for those around us and realize the value of paying it forward with wonderful feelings. Thanks for sharing of an inspiring story.

  • Bala Narasimhan

    The whole concept of practicing generosity is amazing. We are all conditioned to think "dont trust" or I ME Mine....but this transcends above it all and am sure a transforming experience

  • Vishwas Parchure

    The simplicity. Even when people tried to make it a ‘model’ the courage required to do this act of generosity defies scientific explanation and logic. The truth is not in its dissection, but in the DOING! I have been practising some of this and didn’t quite understand why or how. Even now I do not. I do know that I will continue practising acts of generosity. Thanks so much for this beautiful articulation.

  • Dsv Prasad

    It opens up a way to selflessness, brings out the hidden treasure of values lying buried in each one, without exception. Reminded me of missed opportunities to be generous......and also delighted in recollecting incidents when helped somebody , known or unknown, requesting them to extend their help going forward instead of looking for their gratitude.

  • Kendrick

    Inspired my friend and I to do random acts of kindness for a birthday! Thank You

  • Christine Grace

    This is what my heart knows is possible for a world that works for all. I am so grateful for people like you who share the good and model a new way.

  • Cynthia

    I remembered that what created community in the beginning was mutual caring and how far we have fallen

  • Rev. Jan Remer.-Osborn

    The gift of generosity comes from a loving heart. This is a story of reversal -of giving instead of hoarding, of trust instead of skepticism, of positivity instead negativity, of selflessness instead of selfishness. This is the basis of many religions, before distortion occurs. I see this in the message of Jesus, where the first shall be last. Not the prosperity gospel. It is in the 5 Pillars of Islam, to take care of those less fortunate. This message comes from the recognition that we have been given everything we need.

  • Diane

    What a simple beautiful concept we can all do.

  • Simran Arora

    Each of the stories Nipun shared are powerful examples of kindness & generosity. Julio Diaz's story of getting the knife from his robber blew me away! Would love to hear the robber's side of the story - how he felt & how he changed his behavior/mentality after his encounter with Julio. Thanks for sharing these, Nipun.

  • Josie

    Each of us can practice generosity, no age barrier.

  • Rajesh Dahol

    The way Generosity can change the world which money can't buy. Being a social entrepreneur this video give me the exact pitch for creating a Generous tool for affordable accessible healthcare. Awesome works...

  • Ram

    This is an Amazing talk! Totally disruptive thinking!

  • Srikant

    simply amazing..Wish I could be part of this journey.

  • Liza Michaelson

    I bought a bottle of water yesterday while waiting the bus in a little kiosk here in Mexico. It was a small kiosk selling chips and snacks. It was a hot afternoon so I stood inside. There was no door, just an open wall to the street. The friendly vendor chatted to me in Spanish which I can only partially understand. Her name was Rosa. She gave me a small piece of gum. She told me she was looking forward to eating when she finished her 12 hour shift, but she didn't know what to eat. She was rubbing her tummy and she said she was so full of trouble and anger that her spirit and body were hurting. I asked her why, and she said that yesterday a man came into her shop and stole some goods. It was "un momentito" and he was gone. She had to pay her dueno for the loss. Without thinking I pulled out a 200 peso bill and handed it to her(about 13 dollars) saying," Please take this".She burst into tears, came around the counter and hugged me close. Still crying, she issued a stream of prayerfull gratitude, blessing me and my whole family for the rest of my life. A little embarrassed I said, "It's not from me, it's from God and the angels". She handed me two tiny packs of gum each containing two chiclets, and gestured these are for your friends. I walked across the street,handed the gum to the two Gringas waiting for the bus, and told them the gum was a gift from the vendor. Just then the bus pulled up and before boarding the women waved enthusiastically to Rosa and called out, "Gracias!" No matter the size if the gift, Receiving graciously is truly a form of giving.

  • Marilyn

    Just loved it I believe this is the way we should live…..

  • Dan Shafer

    I believe it is absolutely essential that we shift from a market economy to a gifting economy (see http://www.thegiftingearth.net for an example). This video/talk blew me away. It is full of great examples and built on the beauty of Spirit that holds the greatest hope for the thriving of Mankind. THE most important and inspiring video I've seen in many years, maybe forever.

  • Dory Manz

    Awesome message, WE can change the world.

  • S V Ramakrishnan

    Very inspiring. Really changes one`s attitude and character for goodness. It is no nice to know that so many young and creative minds are bringing forth the goodness in us. How to make more and more ordinary people know and realize about this? That could be a real changer.

  • Tom Finnell

    @ Maria Guadalupe - Generosity 2.0 Kosmos Journal, Nov 2009 My wife and I were on a walking pilgrimage in a sparsely populated region of Western India when we were approached by a radiant villager. "I would like to offer you a meal," he said, “Will you accept my offering?” When we gladly agreed he added, "We don't have any running water or electricity in our small hut. Our family is poor but we like to give from whatever we have." Our consumer culture programs us to expect something in return for everything we give, and as a result, we often miss the true value of giving. Embedded in any act of generosity is the potential for inner transformation. Done right, we won’t necessarily “have” more, but discover through a sense of interconnection with all life, that we require less. As our awareness grows, we understand our role as instrument of a larger unfolding and witness each small act of service as an unending ripple that synergizes with countless others, all part of a collective wave. With that understanding, we begin to play our part – first, by becoming conscious of the offerings we receive, then by holding gratitude for them, and finally by continuing to pay it forward with a heart of joy. That simple farmer delivered an unforgettable sermon in abundance. He knew that the real value of his gift was his internal shift, from consumption to contribution, transaction to trust, and isolation to community. Connecting to the Inner-Net Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Looking even more deeply, it is the small acts of that small group of people that end up snowballing into significant change. And each small action is predicated on even subtler inner awareness. The seat of authentic strength lies in that intangible space within us. While many of us intuitively understand the power of internal change, we are often seduced by external change that can be neatly measured, categorized and owned. Certainly, external changes are required for the world to progress but when coupled with an inner transformation, they affect the world in a radically different way. This is why Gandhi spent each Monday in silence, why Martin Luther King Jr. prayed twice as much on busy days, and Cesar Chavez practiced Yoga regularly. It’s why Mother Teresa declared, “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.” In that spirit, in April 1999, four of us walked into a homeless shelter aspiring to “be the change we wish to see in the world”. We wanted to serve using our tech skills. No strings attached. When the Executive Director of the shelter openly wondered about the “catch”, we had to convince her that our “return on investment” was simply the opportunity to practice generosity. Our first project was building a website for the shelter. Initially, many of our peers in Silicon Valley’s dotcom boom culture didn’t “get” our motivations, but as they experienced the joy of giving, thousands volunteered and hundreds of websites were built. All our work was offered at no charge – in the spirit of a gift. And that is how a fully volunteer-run organization named CharityFocus was born. We started by building free websites for nonprofits, but that wasn’t the deepest part of our mission; what we really wanted to do was to support people’s inner journeys. Websites were the initial tool, but we also shared lunches with the homeless. On Wednesdays, we hosted meditation sits open to anyone wanting to practice stillness. A few of us pooled small amounts of money to donate to nonprofits. We ran email lists that regularly sent out inspiring messages. When one of us ran across an insightful book, we would congregate at a local coffee shop to delve deeper into its themes. If someone was passionate about a specific cause, we showed up in solidarity. In essence, anything that nurtured someone’s process of giving was a potential CharityFocus project. Although we didn’t know it at the time, CharityFocus wasn’t an organization. It was an ecosystem. An ecosystem simply holds space for value to emerge organically. Our DailyGood.org service, for example, began with one person emailing an inspiring quote to five friends every day. Ten years later it has more than 100 thousand readers worldwide and has evolved into a daily message that includes a quote, a link to a good news article, and a small “be the change” action that everyone can take. Its impact can’t really be measured, but its value has been demonstrated time and again. DailyGood’s broad readership includes grandparents, activists, philanthropists, professors, students, and monks. Eduardo writes us to say he reads out the email to his family over dinner every night. At a Native American reservation, a high school teacher posts a printed copy of it on their bulletin board daily. In Minnesota, a college class includes it as a part of their leadership curriculum. In an ecosystem, all this indirect value – the ripple effect – has space and time to add up, synergize with other ripples, and multiply into something completely unexpected. In humble fashion it continues to seed many unpredictable manifestations. A lot of these ripples will remain unseen for years, some perhaps even for generations. It doesn’t matter. What we keep learning and relearning is that the size, impact or duration of each ripple makes no difference; what matters most is the simple knowledge that when we are deeply being the change, ripples keep rippling. Technology Powered Ripple Effect Back in the 1800s, a ripple-effect effort like CharityFocus would have gone completely unnoticed. Small acts of personal transformation, without a staff or a budget, weren’t easy to leverage. In the Internet era, though, it is micro acts that are creating revolutions. People are writing entire encyclopedias in that spirit (think Wikipedia). Throw in some collaboration tools, and unpaid engineers are creating products that rival multibillion dollar companies (think Linux). Add the power of self-publishing, and volunteer-citizens are able to topple lobbyists and bring about radical policy changes. With a trillion web pages online, and 5 billion anticipated mobile users by 2011, we live in decidedly different times. In the past, we could do small things just for the love of it, but big change largely required money, power and influence. Not anymore. Now, the Internet can aggregate the nonfinancial motivations of "amateurs" and organize them into significant social movements. For example, instead of 100 staff working 40 hours a week, 400 CharityFocus volunteers contribute 10 hours a week. At a broader scale, and in even smaller increments, Wikipedia attracts more than 100 million volunteer hours per year. In a short amount of time, the Internet has given us the capacity to tap into reservoirs of altruistic social capital. And when people get hyper-connected into mini trust networks, all kinds of new possibilities emerge. In mid 2006, Juan Mann’s grandmother died, and in consolation his friends gifted him a homemade music video that featured his experiment of giving free hugs at a local mall. Incidentally, they also posted the video online. Within days, much to their surprise, it had spread to millions. By the end of the month, the previously unknown garage band had a recording contract, Juan was interviewed on Good Morning America and Oprah, and received more than 40 million views on YouTube. And thousands of people around the world started giving out “free hugs” in their communities. The Internet gives wings to not just Juan Mann, but to everyone. Anyone’s idea now has a shot at being spread to millions, without necessarily having a budget, staff or a five-year business plan. The Internet has become a movement machine, for distributed and decentralized emergence. Activists use this platform to galvanize protests, lobbyists use this platform to pass laws, governments use this platform to engage its citizens and CharityFocus uses this platform to amplify small acts of generosity and transformation. Rekindling a Gift Economy When we gift our services, we create social capital; when we aggregate the cognitive surplus of that community, we discover our organizational capacity; and when the Internet connects those strands into a collective network, the feedback loops between givers and receivers exponentializes the number of gifts. We end up rekindling a “gift economy”. At a coffee table conversation in Chicago, a few volunteers wondered if we could shift the energy of college pranks towards kindness; soon after, we printed 100 "Smile Cards" encouraging people to do small acts of anonymous kindness and to leave behind this card, inviting the recipient to pay-it-forward. People could download the cards on the web or order pre- printed cards, which we shipped for free. The idea went viral. We figured we'd keep doing it until we ran out of money; what we didn't figure is that people's cups of gratitude would overflow and that they would send us not only unsolicited donations, but heartfelt kindness ideas and stories too. In just a few years, more than a million Smile Cards were printed, tens of thousands of stories were shared and distributed without copyright, and HelpOthers.org became one of the most popular kindness portals on the Internet. In a gift economy, goods and services have greatest value when they are received as gifts – and when they are offered as gifts; beyond their face value, it is the circulation of these pay-it-forward gifts within a community that leads to growth – growth in both the number and strength of connections. In contrast, accumulation or hoarding actually causes such a system to break down. Perhaps the easiest way to understand the gift economy is by an example. On Sundays, volunteers in Berkeley and Washington D.C. run a unique restaurant called Karma Kitchen. At the end of the meal, the check reads $0.00 with this footnote: “Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. We invite you to pay-it-forward for the person after you.” The meal is actually an excuse – the real power is in the reframing of a day-to- day interaction: a table might be served by a CEO, an activist, or a teacher, and their expression of unconditional generosity shifts the environment towards community and trust. And it really works. Karma Kitchen has been financially sustainable since the first time it opened its doors over two years ago. We all innately understand this ideal. Nature is perhaps the most complex system of interdependencies, but nothing is a quid-pro-quo exchange. All of our lives start with nine months of an unconditional gift, in perhaps the most poignant expression of paying forward what we ourselves have received. Many ancient cultures from Native Americans potlatches to the ‘dama’ gift-system of Mali to the sacred reciprocity of monastics in Asia - have been rooted in a gift culture. Most families, even in modern times, experience small scale gift economies. Although it is hard to imagine such a world today, it is our modern internet technology that is, ironically, helping revive this ancient gift culture. In these connected times, small acts of kindness don’t just transform the doer they keep circulating, and all those touched get more connected into trust networks. But while technology has been a key driver of this recent emergence, the true core of this movement still lies in the same place as it always has in the heart of the individual. Take the story of my great grandfather: he didn't have many resources, but maintained a daily practice of philanthropy. On his daily walk, he would feed ant hills with small pinches of wheat flour. He didn’t have the Internet, but he still connected to the Inner-Net. In turn, his goodness shaped the worldview of his children and subsequently their children. Today, those ant hills are a part of what I do, and my small acts of inner transformation today will help seed a seventh generation philanthropy.

  • Maria Guadalupe

    Please, where is the text for this video? Peace.

  • Ola Agbaimoni

    This is our future - indeed it is our only future. The current economic model doesn't work and is falling apart. The world is struggling to find a different model and those whose interests are served by capitalism are desperately clinging it to this outdated ideology. I'm inspired because this gives me a language and a model to put forward as an alternative. There is a lot of work ahead. This video has been viewed less than 80,000 times. Compare that with a girl who demonstrated eyebrow dancing which has been viewed 54,000,000 times. More people need to hear this message. Thank you for sharing it will me - I will pass it on.

  • heartsong

    What inspired you about this video?It makes me want to.be more generous and loving. Starting today, I Wil make more effort to gift more.

  • Lessia Bonn

    This is beautiful, touching, and so inspiring! Will share your powerful msg and act on it myself!

  • zita yorro

    Listening to graduation speach of Nipun Mehta University of Pen 2012 and May 27 to prestigious Unversity (WALK)Witness,Accept,Love and Know Thyself in San Jose May 27,2013(GRD) To Give, To Receive and To Dance. Best Graduation Speech I have ever heard.

  • Kav

    This is great to hear about.Our country(Australia) is one of the richest in the world but going through a very mean period.I did a Vipassana Buddhist meditation Course many years ago and they have a tradition called "Dana"instead of paying for the course yourself, it has been already paid for by the last person...so you pay it forward fro the next person to benefit. It is a profound difference.the ego is bypassed and you feel connected and gratitude to an unknown person and it make the world a better place straight away...Thanks alot fro your talk ... wonderful!

  • Peace Lady RI

    Such a wonderful TED talk, very inspiring. I work for peace in the littlest state -- Rhode Island -- and we're trying to make it the first Peace State. I've forwarded this video to everyone on the project. We are interested in everyday acts of kindness and paying-it-forward. Imagine if lots of us did these things every day.

  • Deb Reid

    Engaged goodness ~ spreading generative power!

  • human

    I am thrilled and I clapped . T.Q.

  • Srikanth

    The world we live would be far better place to live happily , if we all were to practice the principles Giftivism .

  • rajendra

    Very good.Congratulations.

  • Rocío

    Thank you I will include in my classes this principles.

  • Deepak Naik

    What inspired you about this video? Power of giving is far greater than power of having. Great thoughts. Excellent presentation, straight from the heart. Please let me know how I can particpate in Designing for generosity.

  • Yerram Raju

    Profound thoughts for posterity and the current generation in most simple expression. In the good old days, even in the midst of severe drought, there were several houses that used never to decline food of what little they had, when a guest of any caste stands in front of the house. The forgotten culture has scope for revival with such apostles like you.

  • Sethi

    Thank you . Inspirational . It inspires one , for carrying out one's inner transformation and taking it forward to serve others in this world .

  • Vikas Seth

    What inspired me most about this video was the realization that we have the capacity to bring out the positive side of a person even when he is performing a negative act. Being kind thoughtful and caring for people (relatives / friends / strangers )is an ancient art which not be taught or practiced by us any more. When we get we forget to give or even be thankful for it. Instead we greed for more. What we take we return only when asked for.The only thing we need to change is our attitude towards one another. When we see someone accomplish or achieve something in life we should learn how they accomplished it and practice the same rather then feeling sad for ourselves or jealous.

  • Tamilyn

    i felt soo alive listening and knowing what is said rings with truth..and the proof is in the pudding so to speak ..as the ripples grow outwards within my own circle daily ...thak you soooo mauch everyone here just for being here ..im off to create another ripple ..have a great day !!

  • Nitam

    Yes thats what i thought just change attitudes. It`s discussed enough just do it

  • Nisarg

    It is a step forward in a new direction for humanity - a kind of rehearsal for a big shift in consciousness. Like!

  • jmaisterra

    GRACIAS!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!!

  • Moanalani

    In a world where economic bubbles are finally burst, everywhere, where we seem to be insistent that economic and social polarization must be inevitable.In this world where we humans stubbornly shout the same questions out to our Political and business leaders, What will YOU do now! Why are YOU not CREATING the jobs we need? What are YOU doing to keep me safe? YOU dare to utter the unthinkable: AUSTERITY!? All the while there are powers that be PERSISTING in the message: the ONLY way to save our global economy is to make it possible to CONTINUE consuming, keep consuming all, keep it up at the UNSUSTAINABLE, inevitably, destructive rate, this is what is known to WORK... THIS is what offer and call it a SOLUTION???? (oh yes, that whole unsustainable thing...details, details)..... PERHAPS THE WRONG QUESTIONS ARE SHOUTED OUT THE LOUDEST AND MOST OFTEN!?!?!?!?!?!?! There is clearly a need for a TOTALLY different view/method/ PHILOSOPHY? PARADIGM....This video..Some voice has been given to what I might have thought fanciful wishes in my own mind. CLEAR< FRESH< CHALLENGING< and very much with in our reach!

  • vijendra

    cool

  • Aashil

    thanks

  • Kailash

    We also can give love towards others

  • madhura

    thankyou for introducing concept of giftivism thankyou for generosity

  • colette

    I love the concrete examples and lack of preaching... abundance activated! I love it! thank you.

  • Santosh

    Idea of chain of generosity & abundance. This video has opened a new dimension of thinking.

  • Paola

    Thank you for your generosity, Nipun. This was so inspiring and touching to me that it made me cry. May each of us give freely for the transformation of all. I am hopeful that paying forward with acts of kindness and generosity can transform the world.

  • Nina Rosa

    I am a special educator headed for Tokyo to teach and this is a reminder of what it is all about. When we do what comes passionately to us we are abundant and it is easy to give freely with unconditional love and trust. Thanks so much for the wonderful reminder of what it is all about. Paying it forward and living with abundance and releasing the ideas of lack and scarcity. Loved the video and the share. Metta

  • Deb

    it just confirms, "we may not have it all together, but together we have it all"

  • Venu

    Giving is so simple yet so difficult to do.

  • henrietta

    "tapping into "enough." " Because I know and have experienced how generosity works, and comes back to you. "You can't shake hands with a clenched fist". Generosity is so easy, and inspires others to do the same. It's a practice I need to work harder on.

  • Darrell Gasparini

    everything!!!!

  • Tamara G. Suttle

    Thank you! Such a fabulous way to underscore and highlight the desire many of us have to change the world. Happy to share your video and good works!

  • Srinivas

    Anything I say would be cliche. I have a question though. Do you think you could go change Republicans and Rush Limbaugh in general?

  • arvind

    ..I regret for an error in my comments- please read 'Mr. Mehta' for 'Mr. Patel' in my comments. With this oversight it strikes to my mind how does it matter -be it Mr. Patel or Mr. Mehta or any one else, we salute to the kind person behind the noble cause and all those who join hands with such generous persons- Arvind Shrivastava

  • arvind

    Its great to listen, greater to appreciate the out of box idea-cultivation of generosity in the present self centered materialistic society, the greatest- to practice and propagate, I salute the young man- Mr. Patel and proud that he has roots in India- Arvind Shrivastava

  • Madhu Aggarwal

    Giving is so simple. All we need is trust.

  • shardarao tummala

    Amazing....wish more people are inspired to be generous

  • Dr VKRamadesikan

    This Mother Earth has for things for everyone's need But Not for everyone's greed -MK Gandhi

  • Srikanth Sola, MD

    Beautiful. Articulate. I left my successful cardiology practice in the USA four years ago to focus on charitable care of the poor in India (Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences) and I experience what Nipun speaks about every day. Love, compassion, and service bring joy to the heart.

  • av

    the fact that it's so simple, so true....i pledge to be more generous with praise....

  • Sundar

    Love All Serve All has been brought out beautifully by the Nipuns. This is the only way to usher in the Golden Age. Thank you for being such an inspiritation.

  • Madhusudan

    Transaction to trust is difficult to understand.In a world where one has ot die someday and where one can not have alternative what is the use of all these things ?

  • Vish

    Extremely inspiring !! I have resolved to do random acts of kindness and generosity everyday in my life henceforth. A mere smile, a touch, a hug and a sympathetic ear can do wonders. It need not be an expensive gift - rather should be a gift of value !! Cheers and Thanks !!

  • Swarnarekha

    What inspired you about this video? So Powerful yet simple truth - delivered beautifully - Thank You Nipun !

  • RM

    The truth of these transcendent principles.The people are real and the stories are real - it can be done!

  • Nanda Shirke

    The simplicity of the language and Nipun's genuineness.

  • Kumar

    Great work. In Simple Words,you dint use the word "GOD",but rishis,monks,popes,mohammads do.

  • Arun

    One of the most powerful and transformational short dialogue I have witnessed. It is so incredibly simple and yet so profound!! Nipun's delivery is genuine and heartfelt - that's why it creates this life-changing impact. Thanks.

  • Margarida(Radha)

    Love and Gratitude! Thank you!

  • Stewart Pearce

    Nipun and ServiceSpace are revolutionary living models of Compassion Capital functioning freely in todays world. Nipun's clarity and deep sincerity are breathtaking to behold. May he, with the other brother and sisters of his community, be given an opportunity to spread their generosity and optimism, their love and courage, throughout the commercial world. Then there will be change....three cheers of ServiceSpace.......hip, hip hooray!

  • Simon Paul Sutton

    Everything inspired me, this is the new way of being, thank you for bringing the word and act of giftivism to the world

  • bibijan ibrahim

    What inspired you about this video? How Nipun so sincerely surfaces this ruth: loving kindness is the heart and the way of the universe. Thank you to Nipun and all your kinsdred in service.

  • kalindi

    great idea.pay it forward is a nice way of generosity.

  • osayi Lynda

    it is a great revelation of what the act of giving can do.

  • rao

    Inspiring video

  • Ruth Raven

    Occupy can get the media attention but it's the local, individual acts that are going to change the world. I'm inspired!!

  • Lydiah Randall

    What goes around comes around. To give is more blessed than to receive. I am a believer.

  • Nipun

    Thank you, all, for the inspiring comments and pledges!

    @Rev-Arpad, we would be delighted to support your effort of bringing more giftivism into your spiritual community. To start with, you'll like to read this Generosity 2.0 document: http://www.charityfocus.org/docs/kosmos.pdf

    @mojdah, your pledge of doing free braces in your dental office is super inspiring! @Lance-Charles, here's a document for starting a local Karma Kitchen: http://www.karmakitchen.org/index.php?pg=start

    @Bren-Brown, to help your eBay business be more rooted in generosity, you might like to explore Smile Cards: http://www.helpothers.org -- many businesses will select random customers and "tag" them with a gift and Smile Card so the ripple keeps going. See this by Peace Fleece: http://www.servicespace.org/blog/view.php?id=2099

    Let's all keep spreading the love! :)

  • Rev Arpad Petrass

    As the Spiritual Leader of my Center I was blown away by this video. It has pushed me to reevaluate how we can be of better service to the community. I hope that someone from your team would have the generosity to work with me so that I can reinvent my spiritual paradigm.

  • P V Sebastian

    Ask, what not inspired me on this video!! I so strongly felt, and truly and instantly too, the moment of truth. So very powerful and so simple to practice, GIFTIVISM...I am in for it, period.

  • Susie Beiersdorfer

    Hopeful.Community. Ahimsa. Love.

  • Judith Weiss

    I think reading the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" will truly inspire anyone to think of others more than they think of themselves. It's hard to put down and even harder to ignore.

  • Rupak Niroula.

    THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE>>> THE FEELING OF ONENESS... THE TIME HAS COME... WE NEED TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION... WE ARE ALL ONE..

  • ninan

    very nice to see that there is great power in goodness which is latent in everybody

  • Lance Charles

    I want to design build and give away another pay it forward good Karma kitchen.

  • Hank

    Thank you for that very inspiring change of mind set, and attitude The world would truely benefit if we all were on board with this idea.Being a blessing to someone else is what we are born to do,we as a nation just cannot see that.

  • DV Sharma

    Yes, giving, helping or contributing does uplift self. But this one is a great reminder how each one could trigger an auspicious circle and to everyone's benefit !

  • Shuja

    Amazing... Just hope all get his point of Generosity and the world we live would be very different ... everyone lives for someone else....

  • Bonnie Allen

    What a great way to live from the inside out.

  • bilkis

    very inspiring, we need more people like him for us to bring change and compassion in this world

  • Gomathi.V

    Transformation WITH IN ! ! ! Awesome Viedo ! Will follow the concept GIFTIVISM :)

  • BapuG

    Bin there,done that. This utopian idea is old AND does not work. It did not work for Vinba either in reality. ALTHOUGH IT WAS A NICE CUTE STORY ABOUT THE ROBBER BY THE SPEAKER, PLEASE DON'T COPY IT. MY ADVISE TO YOU IS WHEN A GUY APPROACHES YOU WITH A KNIVE AND DEMANDS YOUR WALLET PEASE GIVE TO HIM RIGHT AWAY. DO NOT, I REPETE DO NOT TRY TO BE CUTE AND INVITE HIM BACK TO GIVE HIM YOUR WATCH. Prof.Unis of Bangladesh has succeeded to some extent by his idea of Grameen Bank -- a bank without the motive of making money. He was recognised for his work by A Nobel Prize of economics. I am sure this movement will die after his death AND WILL NOT FLURISH IN bANGLADESH. BapuG

  • eunice

    to be the wish i want to see in the world.

  • Holly

    Hearing how people who have so little will simply give what they have has inspired me. Recently I have been under a great deal of stress, trying to send my kids on trip for sports, school and competitions.Perhaps by dwelling on the perceived deficit in my life, I have overlooked my abundance. Off to clean closets and take "stuff" ie abundance to the FREE STORE we have run my the Anti Poverty Society...not feeling so stressed, trusting the process.

  • MANISH VORA

    great sir, really dis is d way to give n convert d selfish society to self less society n a whole new good n natural world n people wud b dere...kudos karmatube...do your karma as v say in hindu mythology..

  • Noor A.F

    I appreciate this act of encouraging generosity. My inner part had never been good but I am trying hard to change it. Not only was I greedy but also different style of life caused by other factors. I like to be generous and receive the thank and that was what I really loved. Thank man for inspiring the people. we have to give

  • Eric

    A very interesting article/video in today's Great News Gazette. It challenges people on how each of us can become more involved with our community and work together.

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  • Volunteer with ServiceSpace, an incubator of gift-economy projects that operates with a lens of inner transformation.
  • Check out more writings and talks by Nipun, and his most recent commencement speech: Paths Are Made by Walking.
  • Engage in an act of giftivism.  Do something radically generous, with focus on your inner experience, and observe its ripple effect.

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