Awakin.org

Waking up to Wisdom
In Stillness and Community

Ocean Robbins

He dropped out of 5th grade. But before that, he had already organized a peace rally, ran a marathon, and started his own bakery selling natural baked foods, door-to-door.

Ocean Robbins, son of legendary John Robbins, was barely a teenager when he met Mrs. Gorbachev, numerous ambassadors and US senators, wrote for national magazines (and wrote a book), and became a voice for environmental concerns.

At 16, in the mid 80s, Ocean took off in his car to reach out to the youth. Instead of 'just say no', he was urging youth to just say 'yes' -- yes to living with meaning, purpose, integrity and commitment. 'YES!'quickly became an organization. One school assembly after another, he would get people fired up about service and engaged in local community work. To date, his efforts have touched more than 625,000 students across the country, brought together leaders of tomorrow through their international youth jams, and inspired formation of more than 400 nonprofits!

Still, that's barely scratching the sufarce -- it seems that 30 year-old Ocean is only warming up.

On Wednesday, March 31st, we will have the privilege of hosting such an energized and celebrated speaker, as Ocean shares his personal journey and inspirations that paved his path of saying 'yes' to a world of infinite possibilities. This inspiring evening of dialogue and conversation is hosted in our home and there is no cost to attend; please RSVP for more details (sorry, we can only fit the first 80 folks!).

"Yes, I can"

"Sometimes older folks tell me: 'I was idealistic and thought I could change the world once, too, but then I grew up.' I'm trying to help us change our definition of growing up, so that it ceases to mean giving up on our ideals, and comes to mean learning how to live our dreams, every day, on the Earth. I want to awaken the passion and creativity of youth, combine it with the wisdom, experience and insight of elders, and transform our world."

Ocean's Lighthouses

You could fill up pages about the work of Ocean Robbins, and it's easy to see a couple of the major jewels of his inspiration.

His wife, Michele: Following a deeper yearning to serve the world, Michele went travelling across the world instead of going to college. She stayed at Findhorn in Scotland, Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village in France, Auroville, and several Gandhian communities in India. Deeply inspired by her travels, she joined Ocean at the age of 18, and is now Ocean's wife and proud mother of their 3 year old twins. She is the co-president of YES, has received numerous awards for her work and continues to inspire thousands of youth everywhere.

His parents, John and Deo: John Robbins was the heir of the "Baskin Robbins" fortune but renounced it to live in a log cabin in Canada, with his wife Deo; following their spiritual path, they led a simple life which included several hours of Yoga and meditation everyday. John later founded several prominent organizations and wrote the international bestseller Diet For a New America that has quite literally revolutionized the diet of the United States. Today, John is considered to be one of the most eloquent and powerful spokespersons in the world for a sustainable future.

Ocean lives with parents John and Deo, wife Michele and twin sons. The name of their sons is perhaps most telling of this inspiring family -- River Dharma Robbins and Bodhi Sattva Robbins.

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