His Holiness the Dalai Lama congratulates Barack Obama

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a congratulatory message to President-elect Barack Obama on November 5, 2008:

Dear President-elect Obama,

Congratulations on your election as the President of the United States of America.

I am encouraged that the American people have chosen a President who reflects America's diversity and her fundamental ideal that any person can rise up to the highest office in the land. This is a proud moment for America and one that will be celebrated by many peoples around the world.

The American Presidential elections are always a great source of encouragement to people throughout the world who believe in democracy, freedom and equality of opportunities.

May I also commend the determination and moral courage that you have demonstrated throughout the long campaign, as well as the kind heart and steady hand that you often showed when challenged. I recall our own telephone conversation this spring and these same essential qualities came through in your concern for the situation in Tibet.

As the President of the United States, you will certainly have great and difficult tasks before you, but also many opportunities to create change in the lives of those millions who continue to struggle for basic human
needs. You must also remember and work for these people, wherever they may be.

With my prayers and good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

THE DALAI LAMA

New Holiday music from Brushfire Artists!

You can hear brand new recordings from all of your favorite Brushfire artists on This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday Vol 1.

You can hear the whole album including music from Jack Johnson, G. Love, Matt Costa, Rogue Wave, Mason Jennings, Neil Halstead, Money Mark, ALO, Zach Gill and introducing Zee Avi. by going to:

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Jack+Johnson



















The album hits stores on Tuesday (Nov. 11), and 25% of the profits are going to support musical education for children, so help support a good cause!

Free Download - Rara Avis - "Uplifted by Hope"

This comes straight from the SIX DEGREES BLOGSPOT(Which is a great blog by the way!)

It's a great day for all of us today. A day that reminds us that hope is not always foolish and that sometimes the right thing DOES happen. These are sentiments that had been crushed in many of us after eight years of darkness and despair. I am so happy that I could share this moment with my daughter and that the flame of her enthusiasm, optimism and hope has been fanned by this, rather than crushed by the alternative.

After the Obama victory had been officially announced, I checked my E Mail, knowing that messages would begin pouring in from friends and family. Among the many happy messages I found this wonderful track that Rara Avis had spontaneously composed, recorded and posted on the net. It is called "Uplifted by Hope" and I think it just about sums it up for all of us.

Here's to better days ahead-

This track was inspired by several things. Most of all the word HOPE.

Back in my early 20's, an amazing teacher named David Goulet was apprenticing me to work on terminal cancer patients using sound and yoga therapy combined. It was an amazing experience that brought me deep into some timeless truths, for all is revealed when death is at the door. One day when we were reviewing a patient with nearly 700 tumors in her abdomen, he looked up at me and said "The best thing we can do for her right now is give her back a sense of hope... people always need to have hope." It struck me as so simple, yet so profound. Our ability to respond to life threatening situations and highly stressful times by relaxing and opening to the possibilities has everything to do with maintaining our connection with the possibility of a positive outcome... even when everything both inside and out tells us otherwise.

The past few months have been a very stressful time indeed for many of us. Almost no one I know can say they haven't been highly affected by the political, economic and social climate occurring here in the US and around the world. That being said, the Mantra of the people I admire the most was always to have HOPE. It was so palpable yesterday that I was literally bursting with it... a sense that somehow things could actually change for the better, and we would wake up today feeling a little brighter, a little more optimistic.

Collectively, the power of optimism and desire for positive change is exactly the kind of miraculous shift we need right now. Not only for ourselves and future generations, but for all life on this planet. The time for suffering and wreck-less competition is at an end, and though we have a long way to go I felt, and always feel, that creating music from my heart, from the deepest place I have inside of me, and simply giving it away for free is the best thing I can do to support this epic and momentous change.

So here's to creating change through the power of positive perspective.

The other inspiration I had for this track is more of a personal issue with regards to simply playing my guitar. In today's world of techno-enhanced song writing, digital instruments and endless sample libraries, it's often all too easy to forget about the power of playing your instrument, whatever that may be. I was born a guitar player and will die a guitar player... it's a huge part of my soul that I love and cherish which often gets put aside in the quest for more beats! So I want to thank my two biggest axe supporters, my collaborator, producer and dearest friend Criag Kohland, and none other than Six Degrees co-founder Bob Duskis - both of whom always tell me - "just play your guitar man!~"

So - it is with great pleasure and honor that I offer up this new tune - written in the late hours of the election buzz, yesterday afternoon - may you be "Uplifted by Hope".

Please download it, share it, pass it along - send it to your friends, family and loved ones - even if they say they hate electronic music... i find that coming from the heart always converts those who believe they are closed to something new.

Blessings to the new times,
Rara Avis

Check out Rara Avis' Website

Hope

Will-i-am: Yes We Can