Here are the people who contribute to these pages.
Those people who directly help to create content for this Internet site can introduce themselves on this page.
The team of spiritual leaders (here) includes people who made significant contributions to the path of compassionate living, as I see it. I like to honor them by presenting what they did, wrote and said. It helps me to remember what is most meaningful to me and how I want to be with people in my life. Bringing my awareness to this continues to be a source of inspiration.
John Gather
My name is John Gather and at the time of this writing, in 2023, I live in Germany. I feel connected both with USA and Russia, with the Baltics and Ukraine, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Tunisia and Kenya.
I discovered nonviolent communication as proposed by Marshall Rosenberg in 2013. In the process of integrating his teaching into my personal life I came to think of it as ‘compassionate communication’, as this method supports an open hearted experience of life and a step by step liberation from tragic right-wrong thinking.
I have been in particular impressed and enriched by the clarity and depth offered by Robert Gonzales, the clarity and consciseness of Sylvia Haskvitz, the dialogue skills of Miki Kashtan, the giraffe skills of Klaus Karstädt, the warmth and integrity of Liv Larsson and the playfullness and embodiment practices of Robert Kryzynik.
Furthermore I see that the teaching of Marshall Rosenberg fits into a far older, wiser tradition of Eastern buddhist practices of mindfulness and bringing mind and body together, when their separation can cause much harm to us and others. Essentially the ability to stop and to take time for understanding what is going on, in order to respond rather than follow an automatic pattern of reactions – many of which are based on misunderstanding and failed attempts to heal the wounds of the past in the here and now.
I work as a free communication trainer, because I want to trust my own heart and follow it, especially when I have a tendency to seek approval from outside for my decisions.
I feel most connected to the community of engaged buddhism in the tradition of Plum village.
I like team work together with colleagues. I thank Dalia Verbyle, Wiltraud Terlinden, Sonja Nowakowski and Christian Drees and my wife Natalia Gather for many moments of fun and mutual support.
I believe we all know what we need to know about communication, only we tend to forget what is really important and we have formed unhelpful habits – jackal habits of expressing what is important to us – as well as sometimes really wanting to stay in a bad place, because at least we know where we are. 🙂
This could be you.
If you like to contribute in creating content for this website, please write me a note and let us talk.