The PURE VISION FOUNDATION is a non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating communication, understanding, peaceful conflict resolution and humane treatment of all beings through developmental projects, interfaith outreach, and artistic expression. Our aim is to provide relief to persons and communities in conflict and help effect lasting positive changes in overall well-being and thus improve the quality of life. The Foundation offers materials designed to promote spiritual and emotional growth.
The Conscious Kids Project and The Thomas Merton Prison Project both rely on the power of reading to open minds and change lives.
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When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young. – Maya Angelou
When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts.- Dalai Lama
I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle. – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. – Carl Sagan
Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi. – Oprah Winfrey
To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. – Victor Hugo
I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book – J. K. Rowling
The CONSCIOUS KIDS PROJECT aims to encourage a love of reading while introducing children and young adults to contemporary issues, helping them become more aware of the world. The project will provide fiction and non-fiction books to reading programs in schools, libraries and community initiatives as well as educational facilities that serve low-income and at-risk children and teens. Book themes will focus on social issues such as bullying and peer pressure as well as on environmental issues, including sustainability.
Help us develop reading capacity as well as to open children up to the world of ideas in a way that only a good book can.
The Woodbourne Correctional Facility in upstate New York has been the inspiration for The Thomas Merton Prison Project. While working in the prison for an electrical contractor, the foundation’s founder Lawrence Birney, a student of Merton’s writings for forty years, has had a first-hand view of prison life and the daily difficulties both inmates and correction officers face. The environment presents a challenging opportunity to present Merton’s work, and those of other spiritual leaders, with the eventual aim of expanding the program to other prison communities.
Thomas Merton’s writings, in particular The Seven Storey Mountain, have inspired millions worldwide. In addition, there are a number of contemporary works which are dedicated to furthering his interfaith message of global understanding and peace.
The Pure Vision Foundation, through its pilot program, The Thomas Merton Prison Project, would like to provide these works to New York State correctional facilities as well as prison facilities throughout the United States. Books by various spiritual authors such as the Dalai Lama, Muhammad Ali, Rodger Kamenetz, Paramahansa Yogananda, and Andrew Harvey which inspire and support spiritual reflection, will also be provided through the program.
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.” – Thomas Merton
Be a catalyst for change. Join us in implementing the power of peace by DONATING TODAY.
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope – Kofi Anaan
Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon – Nelson Mandela
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Muslim, Christian, or a Jew. When you believe in God, you should believe that all people are part of one family – Muhammad Ali
Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. – Vera Nazarian
In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. – Marianne Williamson
The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace. – Carlos Santana