Gopi Kallayil is the Chief Business Strategist, AI, at Google. An avid yoga practitioner, triathlete, global traveler, and Burning Man devotee, he has spoken at TEDx, The World Happiness Summit, and Wisdom 2.0. Gopi’s books, The Internet to the Inner-net and The Happy Human, are available in bookstores and online. He is on the Board of Directors, Grameen Foundations USA.

gopi-kallayil-img.jpg

Gopi Kallayil

<h4>GOPI KALLAYIL shares his 10 tips for organizing a better life.</h4><hr>I always hear the same lament, no matter who is saying it. CEOs of companies tell me they are overworked. Farmers back in my home village in southern India say they have no time. We can all complain that we are under the tyranny of schedules, that there is no time in our day. Each of us can say that much of our life is driven by someone else’s agenda or outside pressures – things we have to do, things we would like to do, things we are expected to do.When I graduated from business school, I had a terrible time organizing my day. Seven days a week, work was my number one priority. I fed on the thrill of accomplishments. I dashed to meetings, raced to meet flights, and ate whatever food was given to me, like airline food and conference food, which is terrible stuff. My house was a mess, with stacks of bills that I was too busy to open, let alone pay, suitcases half unpacked from the last trip and partially packed for the next. A few times my phone was cut off or my credit card declined. Not because I didn’t have the money, but because I was trying to focus so much on my work and travel that I didn’t have the time to pay bills.It was embarrassing, as though I couldn’t take control of my own life. This chaos went on for almost a year, until I reached breaking point, and started asking myself, “Why am I living this life? What is the purpose of it? What am I trying to do here? And what is the price I am paying?” My life had become travel, bad food, and not enough exercise and meditation. And I realized I had to re-prioritize.I asked myself, “If I only had a few hours, or just one hour, fully under &nbsp;control, what would be the one thing I would do with it that would maximize this quality of joy, presence and life? What would support my five essentials on a day-to-day basis?” I came up with ten items. As the list developed, the idea switched from a theoretical notion to a tactical way to structure my days that would support what’s important to me in my life, what resonates and brings me joy.&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/time1_a07dc8d16a.jpg" alt="Time">&nbsp;Your list of how to spend your hours in each day might contain different items with different priorities. My list has changed my life, and I’d like to share it with you.Incorporating this list into my daily life shapes how I feel as a human being, and it increases my focus and sense of accomplishment. I become more conscious of investing my time in a manner that maximizes my energy potential. Once you create your list and start following it, once you consciously spend your twenty-four hours each day, I believe you will enjoy increased physical energy and operate at a higher level of performance and productivity. You will alter your perception of time, and change how you view what you focus on. And most important, you will live a life of greater joy and presence.So, what are the ten things by which you will organize your twenty-four hours?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Time

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">GOPI KALLAYIL is a successful brand marketing executive in one of the largest global
 companies in the world. Yet it took a group of very ordinary hard-working women to show him how to live a really
 fulfilling life.</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
About 7.2 billion people make up our human family. Half of them live on $3 a day, less
 than what I pay for one cup of gourmet coffee. Several of these people live in my home village in India,
 Chittilancheri. My parents both grew up in Chittilancheri without electricity, running water or a college education.
 In one generation, the family’s fortunes shifted. My parents worked hard and created the opportunity for their four
 children to earn advanced degrees. My parents were ordinary people.
Later in life, I learned the extraordinary impact that ordinary people can have yet
 again, this time from Oseola McCarty. Former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, had come to
 Google to speak, and had given out copies of his book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. When I
 read that Oseola McCarty had created her own scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi, I thought,
 “Surely she must be a very wealthy woman.” Well, Oseola dropped out of school when she was twelve to care for her
 sick aunt, and for the next seventy-five years the only job she had was washing and ironing other people’s clothes.

<hr class="vertical-space1">
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">About 7.2 billion people make up our human family. Half of them live on $3 a
 day, less than what I pay for one cup of gourmet coffee.</h4>
<hr>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
She saved her modest income in the bank, and when she turned eighty-seven she asked her
 bank manager how much money she had in her account. He answered, “Three hundred thousand dollars.” I imagine she
 must have said something like, “Son, there are no shopping malls on the way to heaven. I want to create a
 scholarship so that girls from poor families can go to college.”
When news of Oseola’s decision was made public, local leaders funded an endowment in her
 honour, increasing her gift’s reach still more. Before she died, four years later, the University of Southern
 Mississippi’s most famous donor received acclaim and honour, including the Presidential Citizens Medal — the highest
 civilian award of the United States — and honorary doctorates from the University of Southern Mississippi and
 Harvard. Oseola McCarty was an ordinary person, and her resources at the outset were certainly limited. Yet she made
 an extraordinary impact on the world.
Have you ever wondered if you could make an impact like that on others? I did, sitting
 in a coffee shop. The barista yelled out, “Gopi, your grande caramel cinnamon chocolate Frappuccino is ready. And it
 is fat-free.” I knew that only the fat was ‘free’, and it struck me that the drink was more abundant than anything
 many of the people I knew back in Chittilancheri would enjoy that entire day.
<hr class="vertical-space1">

<hr>

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“Can I, an ordinary&nbsp;person with limited resources, really make an
 extraordinary impact on someone else’s life?” Yes, you can, starting today.</h4>

<hr>

<hr class="vertical-space1">
So I wondered, “Could I sacrifice a few cups of coffee and make a big impact?” I found
 my answer in Kiva, a San Francisco–based organisation that allows ordinary people, like most of us, to give
 microloans to women in the Third World to start small businesses.
That same day, I made my first loan online, for the princely sum of $25. The
 entrepreneur who received it was Ngô Thi Chung, a 54-year-old woman living in Trung Giã village, Vietnam, who was
 starting a farm supplies business. She needed a loan of $1,200, and I wondered how my $25 could help. But never
 underestimate the power of people working together! In four hours, several others had made modest loans of their
 own, and she had her $1,200. Next month, I gave another loan to Esther Laboso, a 46-year-old widow with five
 children living in Kericho, Kenya, who was starting a grain store. The following month it was a fisherwoman in Peru,
 and then a tailor in Pakistan. I was hooked. This was much better than a grande caramel cinnamon chocolate
 Frappuccino.
Recently, I connected with friends from high school. The lovely Lakshmi, voted most
 likely to succeed in our class, asked, “Gopi, where are you these days? What are you doing?” And I, who was voted
 most likely to join the circus, replied, “I am an international banker. I finance entrepreneurs around the world.”

Perhaps you are inspired by these stories, but still skeptical that this truth could
 ever apply to you. “Can I, an ordinary person with limited resources, really make an extraordinary impact on someone
 else’s life?” Yes, you can, starting today. I learned this from my parents, from Oseola McCarty, and through my work
 with Esther Laboso and Ngô Thi Chung. As Clinton says in his book, “We all have the capacity to do great things,”
 and we can do it with whatever resources we have on hand. Ordinary people can make an extraordinary impact.
<hr class="vertical-space1">
Excerpt adapted from The Internet to the Inner-Net:&nbsp;Five Wats to Reset Your
 Connection and Live a Conscious Life.&nbsp;
<img decoding="async" alt="Be Creative With Money" width="199" height="262"
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/be_creative_with_money_1_img_2defbcb605.jpg">
&nbsp;
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by GOPI KALLAYIL</h4>
<hr>


<hr class="vertical-space1">

Be creative with money

Gour Gopal Das is an Indian Hindu monk, lifestyle coach, and motivational speaker from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is the author of Life’s Amazing Secrets, The Way of the Monk, and Energize Your Mind, and has over 17 million followers on social media.

Gour-Gopal-Das.webp

GOUR GOPAL DAS

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">GOUR GOPAL DAS is an Indian monk, lifestyle coach, motivational speaker, and former electrical engineer. He talks about the inevitability of problems and how developing a state of inner peace can help us to navigate those problems, and not allow them to hold us back from living a fulfilling and whole life.&nbsp;</h4>&nbsp;How many of you were good at spelling in school? How many of you were terrible at spelling in school? How many of you didn’t care about spelling in school?&nbsp; One boy was asked by his teacher, “Which state of India are you from?”&nbsp; He said, “I’m from Arunachala Pradesh, Ma’am.”&nbsp; “Can you spell it for me?”&nbsp; He said, “I’m from Goa, actually.”Who spells Arunachala Pradesh? But if you spell the word “success,” the second letter is “u” (you). You cannot spell the success of such a grand event without you. You can’t have the word success without “u.” Without all of you, this would be no event. My respects to all of you for coming with such open hearts and such open minds to explore this diverse deep space of spirituality.&nbsp;How many of you have problems? Any health problems? Any workplace politics? Any financial liabilities? Emotional issues? Mental health issues? Relationship problems? The biggest issues in finding inner peace are problems. How many of you would like to have a solution to problems? All of us.Whoever you are, problems are an integral part of your life. Do you think the esteemed guests sitting on this dais don’t have problems? Do you think they don’t have health crises, or logistical issues when it comes to building things of this scale? Spiritual or not spiritual, when we are human beings living on this planet, we all experience problems. Life bothers us every single day. Life is causing a threat to our inner peace. Challenges, issues, problems, calamities, trying circumstances, and difficulties are ruining our inner peace.&nbsp;How many of you have felt, “Now my health is better.” Have you ever given a sigh of relief? As soon as a problem goes away, you give a sigh of relief. For a lot of people the definition of peace is the absence of problems.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">The world is a collective reflection of individual consciousness. If I am not peaceful, how will the world be peaceful? If the citizens on this planet don’t find peace, how can the world be peaceful?</h4><hr>Why have you come here? You’ve come to disconnect and find some peace. People think, “Let all the problems go away and then I’ll be peaceful.” It’s the complete opposite. When you are peaceful, you’ll deal with your problems better. Today one problem will go away, tomorrow there’ll be another. When your health is better, there are financial problems. When your finances are better, there are relationship problems. When relationships are better, there are social problems. When social life is better, there’s a weather problem. Problems will never end.&nbsp;When you find your inner peace, you will deal with your problems effectively. Today the world lacks individuals who can navigate through their challenges. The world is a collective reflection of individual consciousness. If I am not peaceful, how will the world be peaceful? If the citizens on this planet don’t find peace, how can the world be peaceful?I will tell you a story. There was once a king who was extremely fond of art. After four days as a practicing disciple, he announced that the person who could make the best painting depicting peace would be rewarded with a thousand gold coins. Thousands of artists started painting, and out of the thousands of paintings two were selected to show the king. Both were covered.&nbsp;The king unveiled the first painting. He saw beautiful crystal clear aquamarine waters. He could see the bottom of the lake. There were beautiful mountains, birds flying, clear skies with fluffy clouds, and beautiful swans swimming on the surface of the lake. He said, “This seems to be the best painting depicting peace.” He then unveiled the second painting, which had a dark, gloomy, depressing sky with lightning and torrential rain. There was a dry mountain, with no greenery but one tree with a tiny branch, and on the branch was a nest. In that nest was a mother bird feeding her little ones.&nbsp;Guess which one the king awarded? The second painting, because the first one is a myth. Life is not serene, calm, and clear. Life is not peaceful; life is challenges, chaos, mayhem, issues, difficulties, trying circumstances, and tribulations. In the middle of all the darkness, I can have my inner nest in my heart. My heart is like that nest under the gloomy sky. I lost my job, I lost my parents, I lost my spouse, I lost my health, I lost my money… lost, lost, lost. That is the world outside, but when I enter into the space of my heart, like the bird feeding her chicks, that is the real depiction of peace—finding peace within a world full of chaos and mayhem.That is what happened on the battlefield of Kurukshetra 5,000 years back. Arjuna didn’t know what to do. His properties were taken away, his rights were taken away, his wife was disrobed, their sons were killed, and in the middle of all of that he was on the battlefield trying to do his duty. In the confusion and darkness, he turned toward his friend and guide, Shri Krishna, and said, “I don't know how to navigate this darkness, Krishna, please guide me.”<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Life is a journey, things evolve, and you don’t need everything sorted right away. If you’re a believer, turn to God. If you’re a non-believer, turn to life or the universe. You don’t have to do it alone. Turn to somebody to connect and take that stuff from your head.</h4><hr><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/problems2_ff48519289.webp" alt="problems2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_problems2_ff48519289.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_problems2_ff48519289.webp 600w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/problems2_ff48519289.webp 600w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;We need a guide, a spiritual teacher, to help us find that nest. We have such spiritual mentors sitting here today. Listen to them not to follow them, otherwise you will simply be a blind follower of another guru. Listen to them not to listen to their voice; listen to their voice so you can start listening to your own voice. If you cannot listen to your own voice, the whole spiritual journey has been a failure.&nbsp;I’d like to recommend four things. First, when you’re going through challenges and you want to find your inner peace, say to yourself, “In an equation there is pi, 3.1814, which you cannot change, and there is x.” Focusing on the x empowers you. The more you focus on pi, which cannot change, the more frustrated you will be. So say to yourself, “I will not waste my energy and peace on pi.”&nbsp;Second, say to yourself, “The world’s problems are not my problems at the moment. I’m not an enlightened being yet; I’m okay to deal with my own share of troubles.”&nbsp;Third, say to yourself, “I don’t need all the answers and everything sorted out right now.” Life is a journey, things evolve, and you don’t need everything sorted right away. If you’re a believer, turn to God. If you’re a non-believer, turn to life or the universe. You don’t have to do it alone. Turn to somebody to connect and take that stuff from your head.&nbsp;Fourth, Daaji said, “In this world today, let religions not divide us.” Two plus eight is ten. Seven plus three is also ten. Six plus four is also ten. Nine plus one is also ten. There are multiple ways to reach ten, the end goal. Let us respect each other. As Daaji mentioned, let us not just tolerate each other, let us accept each other; from tolerance to acceptance. And take it even further, let us celebrate each other’s connections as a great humanity.&nbsp;&nbsp;

There will always be problems

Grainne is the CEO of Airfield Estate in Dublin, Ireland. Airfield was home to the Overend family since 1894, and was left in trust to the people of Ireland by the trailblazing Overend sisters, Letitia and Namoi, in 1974. Today it’s a social and charitable hub, investing in people and reaching every corner of the community to inspire and enable people to make better food choices – better for health, better value for money, and better for the environment.

Grainne-Kelliher.jpg

Grainne Kelliher

<h4>Winner of the Irish Tourism Industry Award for Best Food and Beverage Experience in 2017, the Airfield Estate in
 Dublin, Ireland, tries to connect visitors to farming and agriculture through food. Spanning 38 acres, the working
 farm, gardens, restaurant and estate aim to inspire people to refresh their connection with food and the land it
 comes from. KATHERINE WALLA of Food Tank had the opportunity to talk to GRAINNE KELLIHER, the CEO of Airfield, about
 her work to expand the Airfield Estate’s impact through new programs, techniques and offerings.</h4>
Q: What inspired the educational working farm?
GK: The Overend Family originally owned and
 operated the Estate as a working farm. The family produced food self-reliantly and maintained a prize Jersey herd.
 The family was very charitable and played an important role addressing food-related challenges of their time. For
 example, in the early 1920s, they supplied pasteurized milk to clean milk depots in Dublin, reducing infant
 mortality. In 1974, the Overends established a charitable trust leaving their farm, gardens, and surrounding
 properties to the Irish people for educational and recreational purposes. We honor their wishes, continuing what
 they started by addressing food challenges of our time in an innovative and engaging way.
Our relationship with food is clearly in trouble – many don’t think to look past the
 shelves in the supermarkets for food. We have lost our connection with food, where it comes from, its seasonal
 nature, what it takes to produce, and how precious it is. The Estate aims to reconnect people with the land and the
 food it produces, teaching them greater empathy for food, and benefiting their health and the environment.
Q: As an educational working farm, what is Airfield doing specifically to change the
 way visitors look at the food system and their daily food experiences?
GK:&nbsp;We lead a number of educational programs
 and activities that encourage our visitors to engage with the food system. We teach visitors about the real
 outdoors, giving them the opportunity to milk cows, feed animals, collect eggs, and plant and harvest food. We
 deliver educational programs to 10,000 school children each year and engage with local universities on food
 research, bio-diversity education, farm safety, and food production.
For visitors less interested in a hands-on farm experience, they can experience the
 Estate through eating at Overends Restaurant, which serves produce straight from the farm. To provide an impactful
 experience, we have created our own food rules within the restaurant called GLAS, the Gaelic word for Green. This
 acronym stands for:
Go with the seasons, 
 Local produce, 
 Avoid food waste, and 
 Sustainably produced ingredients.

This is not an easy route for us to take, but we believe it is the right one.Annually,
 we offer festivals and events for visitors seeking a special experience. Our Festival of Food incorporates themes of
 waste, seasonality, recycling, climate, nutrition, health, and unique food experiences. The Woolapalooza showcases
 the production processes of sheep products such as shearing, sheep dog trials, and cottage pie making. Our Food
 Series conferences generate debate, discussion, and dialogue around food-related topics. And, we have pop-up events
 such as Trash Bash Suppers and Nose to Tail dining experiences that highlight and rethink food waste.
On a daily basis, we post informative signs around the Estate explaining the energy and
 time required to produce and use up calories from food. We want visitors to understand their food and how their food
 choices impact people, the planet, and their pocket.
Q: Have there been obstacles in maintaining Airfield’s values of heritage and tradition
 amidst modernizing farming techniques?
GK:&nbsp;We proudly use more natural farming
 methods integrated with new equipment and technology. Our aim is to show a snapshot of Irish agriculture and how it
 operates. Airfield uses an organic fruit and vegetable production system and a Best Practice system for meat, milk,
 and eggs. This demonstrates that traditional and natural farming methods and newer farming equipment and
 agricultural technology both have a place in Irish agriculture. We show how farming responsibly, efficiently and
 productively will improve the land for the next generation.
<div class="text-center">
 <img alt="connect-with-land-and-food" class="lazyload has-img-center mb-4"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Connect_with_land_food2_1_8b18cbdd8f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:56:18.615Z">
</div>
Q: Airfield was renovated in 2014. What new features have you added to the farm since
 this renovation, and how would you evaluate the impact they’ve made?
GK:&nbsp;We now welcome over 150,000 visitors to
 the farm on an annual basis. We offer additional public courses on wellness, cooking, foraging and gardening. The
 renovations benefit visitors, teaching them even more about farming and growing processes, seasonality, and
 sustainability. The new farmyard allows visitors to view processes like milking, pasteurization, births and animal
 feeding, and it is designed with walking paths that allow visitors to see the farm animals.
Three acres of food gardens showcase innovative and traditional methods of food
 production. We use poly-tunnels to grow fruit and vegetables for the restaurant and have expanded our biodiversity
 efforts, planting more than 3,000 native trees in a woodland setting.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in developing
 Airfield?
GK:&nbsp;Our biggest challenge is convincing
 visitors to adopt sustainable food habits after they leave the farm. We want to have a lasting impact on them by
 reconnecting them with their food and the land it comes from. We strive to change the way our visitors engage with
 the food system and hope they develop a better understanding of the impact their food choices have on their health
 and the environment. We hope their experience here leads to deeper behavioral changes, but we understand this is a
 challenging transition that takes time.
Q: If you could select one lesson for visitors to take away from Airfield to inspire
 change in the local food system, what would it be?
GK:&nbsp;That they take away an empathy and
 understanding of where their food comes from and the human and environmental input required to produce it.
 Furthermore, visitors should treat food like the precious resource it is. We want them to see that Ireland produces
 some of the best food in the world thanks to its amazing natural resources, weather, soil, and farmers.
<hr class="vertical-space1">
Reprinted with permission from Food Tank: the
 think-tank for food, <a
 href="https://foodtank.com/news/2018/02/grainne-kelliher-airfield-estate-ireland-food-tank-interview/"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://foodtank.com/news/2018/02/grainne-kelliher-airfield-estate-ireland-food-tank-interview/</a>

<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Interview by KATHERINE WALLA</h4>
<hr>

Connect with land and food

Grant is an American cartoonist, comic strip artist, writer, and orthodontist. His strips have been
featured in The New York Review of Books and The New York Times Magazine, and in books like The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf. His latest books are The Art of Living and One Boy Watching.

Grant-snider.jpg

Grant Snider

A closed book

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h4>
 GRANT
 SNIDER
 began drawing and writing before he knew what he was doing. His comics
 have appeared in The New York Times Book Review,&nbsp;The Kansas City Star,&nbsp;The Best
 American Comics 2013, and all across the
 internet. You can explore his work at
 <a href="http://www.incidentalcomics.com/">http://www.incidentalcomics.com/</a>. Here he is interviewed by
 KASHISH KALWANI
 about what inspires him and brings him such success.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Q: So, Grant, how are you
 doing?



 GS: Good, I just
 got my daily run in, went through some puddles, my socks are
 wet. Good feeling for the middle of the afternoon here.



 Q: Nice. When I first saw
 your comics, I was curious about you – they are
 not necessarily humorous, but they are so relevant, so thoughtful. When I
 see the thoughtfulness behind your work, your intentional seeing of the
 world, it makes me feel very relevant, like, “Yes, I see you, and I feel
 you.” So could you tell us more about this style of comics?



 GS: Well, a lot of
 comics come from that first person perspective, basically
 because it’s easy to draw a single character moving through the panel and
 encountering the world. Over time, that’s how I started drawing them. It
 became like a conversation with myself in the form of my character avatar,
 walking around thinking deep thoughts or not too deep ones, coming up with
 various conflicts, usually internal, and hopefully resolving them by the
 last panel.



 Ever since I started in single comics in 2009, I’ve had the goal to draw a
 single page comic strip per week. And most weeks I have achieved that goal.
 I’ve done a few that are more than one page, some I don’t quite get to the
 page, but it’s been a nice recurring conversation with myself.



 It’s nice to hear you say that you can find some relatability in them
 because I don’t want to just be a solo conversation, you know?



 Q: Yes, absolutely. I know
 so many people from the Heartfulness community
 who follow your page on Instagram, and it’s fun to pick it up and share
 the comic with one another.



 GS:
 That’s much appreciated. It’s the cool thing about the internet – if you
 like something you retweet it, or send it to somebody on Facebook, or
 Instagram message, and it’s really powerful how social media can be a force
 for good if the artist’s message is worth sharing.



 Q: Truly, yes.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="700" height="874" alt="" class="has-img-center lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/comic_joy2_325ffec609.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-26T07:55:01.576Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 I think with anything,
 like a
 writing practice, a meditation
 practice, a spiritual or non-spiritual
 practice, it’s really about
 consistency.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Q: I know you already
 touched upon one comic per week, but could you
 share more about your drawing routine? What does your process look like?
 



 GS: It really
 changes based on where I am in life. I used to cram it all in on
 a Saturday, when I had not as many work or family obligations. That got to
 be pretty exhausting. When my kids were a little bit younger, I would wake
 up really early in the morning, which you’ll see because a lot of the comic
 strips reference those early morning hours, like looking out the window to
 see the sunrise, because I was literally sitting at the drawing table
 watching the sunrise, you know, a couple cups of coffee down. And now that
 my work schedule is different, and my youngest child is two, so he’s not
 quite waking up at the crack of dawn anymore, I do more in regular hours, a
 few hours a day, a few times a week, which is much more mentally healthy.



 I really think it’s about finding that balance of the practice. It doesn’t
 really matter when I’m doing the work, it’s that I’m revisiting it and doing
 it consistently. I think with anything, like a writing practice, a
 meditation practice, a spiritual or non-spiritual practice, it’s really
 about consistency rather than, “Oh, I’m going to do this amazing thing once
 a month,” then the next month you’re not doing it at all.



 Q: I really like the word
 “consistency,” because even the Heartfulness
 meditation practice that I follow requires consistency. Even though it is
 recommended that we meditate for an hour every morning, if that’s not
 possible, it’s still good to show up for five minutes every day and be
 consistent about it. That works wonders.



 GS:
 It’s about showing up. I’m speaking mainly from a cartooning standpoint, but
 this could be applied to a lot of other practices. Some days, it feels like
 “Man, I really want to get to the drawing table.” I have so many good ideas
 that are bursting with possibility. Other days it feels like a chore. But
 inevitably, like I had to do yesterday, I sit through the drudgery until it
 eventually drops away. And even if it isn’t the most pleasant experience, I
 get a good day’s work done. Obviously, it’s more fun when it is joyous, but
 that’s not going to be every single time you show up. Unfortunately.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="700" height="923" alt="" class="has-img-center lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/comic_joy3_23914ae203.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-26T07:56:19.298Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 Something important is an
 openness to experience, to your own
 thoughts and feelings,
 and a willingness
 to share those
 thoughts and feelings with others – in
 my case through art, for others it might be a different form. I hope people see that
 attitude of openness and can be
 inspired by it in their daily life.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Q: I truly understand
 that.



 So what are your sources
 of inspiration? How do you sustain your
 motivation?



 GS: It depends on
 what kind of project I’m working on. To be generic about it,
 my sketchbook is the source of all the ideas. But what I put in my
 sketchbook varies.



 At times I’ll be into life drawing, so I’ll go out on my lunch breaks or on
 a weekend with colored pencils and do detailed drawings. And they eventually
 get filtered into the comics in a scene in a panel. Sometimes I’ll be
 reading an amazing book, and it’ll be like, “Oh, this is such a great
 insight, I need to put this down.” I’ll do a little spin on it, maybe have
 my character commenting on it somehow. That’ll work its way into a comic
 strip.



 Occasionally, it’ll be my daughter or one of my sons doing something
 ridiculous: “This is just too good, I have to make this into a drawing.”
 It’s finding those little snippets of interest in my daily routine,
 capturing them in the sketchbook and then taking that sketchbook with me
 later to the drawing table when I’m working. “Okay, what piece of this can I
 turn into a part of a bigger project? What is really speaking to me today?”



 And sometimes it’s a matter of combining things. I’ll have an idea from a
 couple years ago, with a spin on something I came up with last week, and
 together that makes something completely new.



 Q: I really like how you
 bring your kids into the process. How do they
 view you as an artist?



 GS:
 I’ve probably shared this anecdote before. My son Trent is eight and he’s
 really into comics. He always compliments my work and says he likes to read
 it, but then he puts a caveat, “Dad, you need to do something funny.” I do
 sometimes feel like I’m a little serious or lacking that sense of humor that
 I look for when I read comics. But I really liked that feedback, and I’ll
 try to put something funny in my next book, especially for Trent.



 Q: I love honest feedback.
 


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="700" height="915" alt="" class="has-img-center lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/comic_joy4_37e0f4a2dd.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-26T07:57:39.996Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 When people get busy with
 everyday obligations, a lot of times
 their art or their writing falls through the cracks and is
 lost. Just
 keeping that consistent routine of writing or drawing, of being alone with your
 thoughts, is a really powerful thing.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Q: What message do you
 hope people can take away from your comics?
 



 GS: I don’t want to
 limit it to a single message, but something important is an
 openness to experience, to your own thoughts and feelings, and a willingness
 to share those thoughts and feelings with others – in my case through art,
 for others it might be a different form. I hope people see that attitude of
 openness and can be inspired by it in their daily life.



 I’ve never thought about the broader reason why I’m doing it. I do get a lot
 of joy out of it, and I hope other people do too. Really, finding those
 small pieces of joy would be another overarching goal for my comics.



 Q: It’s wonderful that you
 have chosen happiness and joy.



 GS:
 Yes, and I’ve tried the other way as far as the art style goes. Occasionally
 I’ll do a comic from a space of negative emotion that doesn’t have an ending
 that is uplifting or hopeful. And when I show it to my first readers, my
 wife Kayla and my brother Gavin, they say, “This is falling flat; it doesn’t
 really work for me.” While it’s good to capture those negative emotions
 honestly on the page, I always want to leave the reader, and more so myself,
 with hope at the end, even if I’ve still not quite resolved that negativity.



 Q: What is your advice for
 a beginner in this field?



 GS: Just keep doing
 it and sharing it. I know that if at age 20 I had seen
 where I would be with my comics now at age 37, I might not recognize that
 person. But I would be really happy that they’d been read by a lot of
 people, that they were still doing it, and still finding the motivation and
 the time to make it a big part of their life. When people get busy with
 everyday obligations, a lot of times their art or their writing falls
 through the cracks and is lost. Just keeping that consistent routine of
 writing or drawing, of being alone with your thoughts, is a really powerful
 thing.



 Q: Thank you.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Comics by GRANT SNIDER</h4>

<hr />

Comic Joy

Guila was appointed UNESCO Artist for Peace in January 2012, in light of her commitment to promoting and defending human rights through art. She has taught at Sciences Po, Harvard University, Boston and Oxford Universities, University of Geneva, and the St. Petersburg Conservatory, amongst others.

guila-clara-kessous.jpg

Guila Clara Kessous

<h4>
 GUILA CLARA
 KESSOUS
 is a member of Harvard University’s affiliated Institute of Coaching,
 the UNESCO artist for peace, and an art therapist.&nbsp; Here she
 writes about the recent paradigm shifts in leadership and how
 present-day leaders require subtle collective skills rather than being
 super humans.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 In recent years, we have challenged the narrow vision of a leader as
 someone “strong, knowledgeable, and a great communicator,” someone who
 can leverage their expertise to mobilize and create followership. Behind
 this heroic fantasy leader stands a human being who has spent their life
 accumulating knowledge, without worrying too much about its application
 and, especially, without worrying about relationships. For a
 super-leader, managing relationships is the manager’s prerogative (those
 nice facilitators who spend their time managing ego conflicts). So as
 soon as the leader faces the reality of also being a manager, trouble
 starts.



 Without managerial skills, a leader is not really up to the task. Even
 the most technical management position involves cross-functional
 interactions with other departments, and connections with other teams.



 The key to success in this delicate transition from controlling
 leadership to equitable management is behavioral skills, particularly
 the so-called “subtle” skills.


<h4>
 From Ego to
 Eco
</h4>

The word “subtle” derives from Latin and refers to two notions:

<ol type="1">
 <li>Something difficult to perceive, and</li>
 <li>Finesse and delicacy in realization.</li>
</ol>


 Subtle skills are twofold: if they are difficult to perceive because of
 their intangible nature, they are also highly accurate and incisive for
 those who can apply them.



 Let’s take the example of an executive expert promoted to a managerial
 position. When an organization uses the function of management, it means
 either “management of” or “management over.” Panicked by the new level
 of coercive power they have, the executive often seeks refuge in the
 skills they acquired during their years of study, however, this is not
 what is expected of a leader, who must not only inform which direction
 to take (a GPS can also do that) but also be the direction.



 Here is the subtlety: those who follow will no longer follow the
 information, but will seek to emulate a leader. They will be inclined to
 follow someone who knows how to use emotional intelligence and
 relational management to utilize the power of the collective.



 This is what Professor Otto Scharmer presented in his Theory U at MIT,
 highlighting the five necessary stages of collective intelligence:
 observation, perception, being present, crystallization, and deployment
 to bring about a stage of collective consciousness.



 The subtle skills required by the new manager are to meet the team,
 listen to the directions of the different participants, and understand
 what directional synthesis is proposing about the concerns of the system
 by comparing them with the reality of the market.



 Theory U is based on the success of the collective synthesized by the
 sagacity of an open-minded leader to be completely present to others.
 “New leaders will have to be able to drive attention on change without
 driving too much attention on themselves,” said Ronald Heifetz, director
 of the Harvard University Leadership Education Project. Subtle skills
 invite us to shift from egocentricity to eco-centricity; they reflect a
 greater maturity of leadership compared to a top-down pyramidal system.


<h4>
 New Leadership
 Subtleties: How to Systematize Enthusiasm and
 Embodiment?
</h4>


 The most remarkable subtlety happens when leadership is paired with
 concepts that seem to be at odds with a traditional view: progressive
 leadership, emotional leadership, situational leadership, and benevolent
 leadership. Spiritual leadership is the best example of two juxtaposed
 notions, because any form of spirituality is suspect in the management
 sphere, immediately evoking a religious figure who wants to lead their
 flock like a guru. And for the followers of spirituality, the word
 “leadership” distorts the very essence of a transcendental idea, so much
 so that the implied resonance of profitability is offending.



 Spiritual leadership is an apparent paradox because it brings the
 material and the immaterial together, but there is a genuine craze for
 the term in business nowadays and it can be explained by the need to
 include more subtle criteria among the indicators of managerial success.



 Far from being an incursion of religion into the corporate sphere,
 spiritual leadership explores an “energetic” dimension of governance,
 with the concept of followership no longer subject to a simple
 technocratic hierarchy, but instead to a charismatic figure who embodies
 its messages. First mentioned by Professor Louis Fry at the University
 of Texas, this approach to leadership insists on the importance of
 intrinsic motivation through the leader’s values, attitudes, and
 behavior. It is based on a schematic model in the form of quadrants,
 just like emotional or situational intelligence.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<img alt="authentic-leadership2" width="525" class="lazyload has-img-center" style="width: 525px !important"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/authentic_leadership2_f72db6b182.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T08:03:16.075Z" />


<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 As with presencing, the starting point is always a leader’s awareness of
 their relationship with self, which allows them to be fully available to
 build cohesion through three main components: vision, hope and faith in
 the future, and benevolence toward others.



 There is a growing interest in France in spiritual leadership, thanks to
 the debate on enthusiasm and incarnation. Both enthusiasm and
 incarnation imply a transcendental relationship based on a charismatic
 rather than an intellectual energetic presence. Therefore, the subtlety
 is to understand the importance of self-giving in a leader who wishes to
 inspire followership. Self-giving is fundamental to spiritual
 leadership.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 The subtlety is to
 understand the importance of self-giving in
 a leader who wishes to inspire followership. Self-giving is
 fundamental to spiritual leadership.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<img width="700" alt="authentic-leadership3" class="lazyload has-img-center" style="width: 700px !important;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/authentic_leadership3_9a79b9173b.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T08:04:03.853Z" />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h4>
 Leadership at
 Heart: Heartificial Intelligence
</h4>


 Self-giving does not mean “forgetting yourself in others.” Today’s
 leaders cannot afford a sacrificial posture that is lost in a kind of
 wild empathy. Instead, it involves a heart-to-heart resonance with
 followers, which allows them to better understand the ecology of their
 system.



 It involves the principles of Social Permaculture and the Symbiotic
 Economy, linking intellect and personal responsibility to the
 collective. As Isabelle Delannoy advocates in
 The Symbiotic Economy, it is based on the symbiosis of human
 intelligence, the power of ecosystems, and tools. The leadership
 challenge is in finding the right balance to regenerate them instead of
 exhausting them; to create a system that works without burning out
 either the leader or the followers. This is also what Gunter Pauli
 advocates when he talks about the
 <a href="https://www.theblueeconomy.org/en/">Blue Economy</a>.



 How to apply this level of subtlety to the very heart of inspiration at
 the corporate level? How to re-consider what we think is at the bottom
 of the ladder in our systemic worldview and, instead, make it the engine
 of a humanistic recycling economy?



 In this sense, the leader and the follower are two sides of the same
 coin in a circular economy. Restoring a person’s pride can have benefits
 for everyone in the system since all are intimately connected. This is
 what we call leadership from the heart: not only human and benevolent
 leadership but also courageous leadership of being oneself in front of
 others, and especially for others.



 Could this subtle Heartificial Intelligence save leadership from the
 dehumanization of Artificial Intelligence, while we wait for leaders to
 have an NFT rating? This is highly possible!


<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Illustrations by Мария Гисина</h4>

<hr />

Subtle skills for authentic leadership: heartificial intelligence

<h4
 id="h-guila-clara-kessous-unesco-artist-for-peace-and-art-therapist-uses-drama-therapy-to-help-people-let-go-of-their-suffering-through-a-cathartic-process-it-is-a-way-for-people-in-rwanda-bangladesh-congo-and-afghanistan-to-find-solace-guila-paints-the-portrait-of-four-people-suffering-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-who-she-accompanied-to-their-respective-countries-she-has-also-designed-a-course-on-theatre-and-humans-rights-that-is-taught-at-harvard-university"
 >
 GUILA CLARA KESSOUS, UNESCO Artist for Peace and art therapist, uses drama therapy to
 help people “let go” of their suffering through a cathartic process.
 It is a way for people in Rwanda, Bangladesh, Congo, and Afghanistan
 to find solace. Guila paints the portrait of four people suffering
 from post-traumatic stress disorder who she accompanied to their
 respective countries. She has also designed a course on “Theatre and
 Humans Rights” that is taught at Harvard University.
 </h4>

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <h4>
 The Prince and the Poor Man
 </h4>

 
 The woman with black eyes has a wonderful way with French words.
 Intimidated, she clicks her tongue against her teeth and looks up to me.
 I reassure her and make it clear that I will not ask her to talk, but to
 express what lies within her, deep within her, to let it out. I know
 about her story: Martha lives in Ngoma, in Rwanda’s eastern province,
 near the women’s prison. This mother of five witnessed the slaughter of
 the Tutsis in 1994. She, too, once sincerely believed she could kill
 “for the good of humanity,” as the saying went back then on the waves of
 Mille Collines radio.
 

 
 I suggest we perform the exercise of “The Prince and the Poor Man” that
 Peter Brook used to teach a person to find “the right posture.” Asking
 her to portray a noble personality, I see the body of the septuagenarian
 straightening up and I watch her as she finds a glorious way to hold her
 head, so typical of faith in oneself and faith in humanity, found only
 in people who have not lost the beauty of their ingenuity. I try to spur
 her on, suggesting she tries to walk like a queen, taking care to slowly
 spread her feet on the ground, heel first and then toes. I notice the
 effort of her leg. It carries the history and muscles of thighs that
 were strong enough to drag themselves out of this hell. She looks around
 her with an air of Banyiginya haughtiness; the Nyiginya clan, who
 represent the nobility of the Batutsis.
 

 I then submit a text to her from Hamlet:

 
 … I know not “seems.” ’Tis not alone in my inky cloak, good
 mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy
 suspiration of forced breath, No nor the fruitful river in the
 eye, Nor the dejected haviorof the visage, Together with all
 forms, moods, shows of grief, That can denote me truly. These
 indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I
 have that within which passeth show, These but the trappings and
 the suits of woe.
 

 
 Before it even ends, I see her body shrivel up, withdrawing from the
 bliss of forgetfulness to return to what Peter Brook called “the Poor
 Man,” the human broken by their condition. She utters each and every one
 of these words distinctly while facing me. She concludes with a whisper,
 “Mu-ra-ko-ze,” which is the Kinyarwanda word for thank you,
 and then she curtsies!
 

 <h4>
 I have no hatred in me
 </h4>

 
 Francesca is repeating the sentence to me. She emphasizes every word and
 makes sure I’m jotting everything down. “How could I only explain that
 to my family? Since they’re rejecting me and think this is all my fault.
 I’m a disgrace to them.” I ask her if she’s willing to work on this
 feeling of shame with acting. She nods. Francesca was raped in the
 Congo, as so many other women have been, since rape is a weapon of war
 in the DRC.
 

 
 When she talks to me, she blinks a lot, just to be absolutely sure that
 she is still alive. So often have men imposed their will on her that at
 some point she was not sure of anything anymore. “I felt this predator
 had no desire, he just wanted to dominate.” Francesca lives in Bunia,
 the capital city of the Ituri province. She has endured many sexual
 assaults since she was a little girl, including in school where this
 kind of punishment is common. I suggest trying a body awakening exercise
 that will allow her to slowly come back to herself and to possess her
 sore body again.
 

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img
 
 alt="art-therapy-human-suffering2"
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_therapy_human_suffering2_700x480_e35c0c82ad.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:54:35.060Z"
 />
 </figure>
 </div>

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 The “Energetic Shower” exercise involves “stretching one’s arms toward
 the sky” while imaginary drops “run” from the ceiling by moving one’s
 fingers and slowly bringing them down to micro-massage the forehead, the
 eyes, the cheeks, the chin, the back of the neck and then the neck. I
 watch her as she proceeds meticulously. I can feel the skin untighten on
 her forehead, the wrinkles fade out. Once the neck area has been
 reached, it’s time to switch to soft right-hand taps on the left side of
 the body. She talks to me: “If my daughter saw me doing this, she’d tell
 me ‘Mom, stop, you’re almost fifty now.’” She pats her left shoulder
 with her right hand and then the full length of her left arm. Then, the
 opposite. I can see her body stretch out and ready itself to “embody” a
 role that will help it healing. Francesca is looking at me, intrigued.
 

 I hand a poem to her:

 
  So long as the blade has not 
   Cut off that brain …
 

 
 These lines from Rimbaud make her smile. And I see her surrendering to
 the role, a sheer force getting hold of her. She now hits me with verse:
 

 
  That white, green and fatty parcel,  Whose steam is never fresh…
 

 
 At the end of the poem, she repeats to me, “He won’t get his hands on
 that one.”
 

 Clearly, he won’t get his hands on that one.

 
 as if, for a fleeting moment, she had managed to break free from
 tragedy.
 

 <h4>
 I would have preferred not to choose
 </h4>

 
 The interpreter is looking at me because he doesn’t know whether he must
 translate what has just been said. Hossain is a twenty-four-year-old
 father who doesn’t understand why he should stay with his child since
 his wife is there to look after him. As the others, he has fled and
 tries to live here in Cox’s Bazar under this makeshift tent strapped to
 bamboo pegs.
 

 
 Despite humanitarian aid, the Rohingyas’ situation has not really
 evolved, and Hossain is nervous. The interpreter resumes his
 translation: “I would have preferred not to choose. If I had known, I
 never would have done this. I would not have chosen to get her pregnant.
 She shouldn’t have kept the child.” I ask the interpreter to tell
 him that I’m not here to judge him but to offer him a way to explore the
 emotions he’s experiencing through drama-therapy. “Now is not the
 time for drama. How is drama going to help me find a solution?” he says,
 rolling his eyes. He seems exasperated.
 

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img
 alt="art-therapy-human-suffering3"
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_therapy_human_suffering3_700x480_1ebb3b3b2c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:55:06.212Z"
 />
 </figure>
 </div>

 
 I suggest we perform a breathing technique called “the sniper’s
 breathing.” He listens to me, suddenly showing interest. “Sniper?”
 he asks. I smile, “Yes, snipers do this to calm down and enter a
 state of great focus. Try and you’ll see. Close your eyes.” I teach
 him this deep, abdominal breathing, taking in the air for four seconds,
 holding your breath for another four, and then breathing out for eight
 seconds. I see his puny body carrying it out. Then, after three times, I
 tell him he’s free to open his eyes.
 

 
 He has calmed down; his chest isn’texpanding as much and his eyes have
 narrowed. “Now, let’s play,” I say. He raises his eyebrow. “You’re
 going to be your pregnant wife and you’re going to tell me what you
 think of Hossain.” He laughs and sits immediately, pretending to
 cover himself with something. “What are you doing?” I ask. He
 tells me that his wife always wraps herself in a coat to protect her
 child from the damp atmosphere. This delineation brought by the coat is
 symbolic, but it will eventually help him realize, while impersonating
 her, how difficult it is to be a mother. And when the role play ends, he
 will agree to try to stay by her side.
 

 <h4>
 All the faces in the world
 </h4>

 
 I’m on the phone with Sabba and I ask her if she wants us to start
 working together using art. In precarious English, she tells me
 that yes, she does: “I want to become other, different roles, different
 faces. I’d like to be all the faces in the world today.”
 

 
 She lives in the small town of Charikar where she hasn’t had the
 opportunity to go to school for over a month now. She listens to the
 radio fervently because it’s her only way to stay connected with the
 world and to catch educational broadcasts. I suggest we do a little
 focusing exercise by describing her radio set. “It is small,
 rectangular, black.” I encourage her to speak in a louder voice and
 dare her to be more confident.
 

 
 And she follows up. “The radio set has buttons to choose the
 frequencies.” I now ask her to insist on some words, which she does
 willingly. “This radio is BEAUTIFUL, POWERFUL, and MINE.” This
 last word comes with a bang, and I can hear the pride that emanates from
 it.
 

 
 I tell her what we will do next: “Now Sabba, try to become this radio
 set and to speak out about what you’re going through on a daily basis
 and how you’re here to comfort Sabba.” Silence. Absorption of the
 information, then an imaginative effort. There’s a dilemma in the mind
 of this fourteen-year-old girl. I can hear her questioning herself, “How
 am I supposed to do this, I, who don’t have a professor anymore, to know
 if I’m following the instructions correctly?” And then she lets go, a
 breeze of courage ushers in the role play.
 

 She’s a symbol of courage and a symbol of hope.

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img
 alt="art-therapy-human-suffering4"
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_therapy_human_suffering4_700x480_5f564ad18a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:55:54.845Z"
 />
 </figure>
 </div>

Art therapy for human suffering

Guy is from Montpellier, France. He is a retired psychotherapist and trainer, who retains the youthful spirit to learn through the heart. Under the pseudonym of ‘Papiji l’escoutaire’ he is our storyteller, retelling beautiful tales from different traditions about love, the different shades of love, and the qualities of the heart. This issue has the last of the stories from King Vikram. We can’t wait to see what Papiji will share with us next!

guy-de-montpellier-img.jpg

Guy De Montpellier

Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 40 books and audio albums on self-realization. He is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a non-profit center for Spiritual Development located in southern Oregon where he gives talks four times each week open to the public. For more information visit www.guyfinley.org.

guyfinley.jpg

Guy Finley

Victory over our own lower nature is now or never.
We can’t end conflict later. We can’t stop being sad, cruel, angry, scared, or anxious
 later. Thinking, or hoping, that any destination we have in mind is going to be superior to where we’re presently
 standing is exactly why we’re still standing in that same place where we have to hope that some tomorrow will be
 better.
Later does not exist in reality.
Only to the lower self does the concept of ‘later’ have any merit. This self-created,
 false concept of time allows it to create yet another ‘you’ in another time when you’ll be wiser, stronger, and
 generally superior.
But your higher nature knows for you to experience the miracle of real inner
 transformation, to step up to a superior life level, you must no longer think in terms of how you’ll be next time.
 It understands, as we must, that a change in nature is immediate; it is now, or it won’t be at all.
And so it’s imperative to meet each moment of your life with this realization: it’s only
 what you do right now that is the seed of change. And in the endless beauty and mystery of what is the now, this
 same seed of change is also the seed of a New Self.
Here’s why this is true: If you choose to change right now, then you won’t have to worry
 about how to be different next time!
In fact, choose to change now and your conscious choice for real change in the present
 moment automatically cancels the need for a better you in a better future. All will be better for you now, which is
 the only time it really matters!
Make it your moment-to-moment practice to stay awake, and to watch for all the
 opportunities that your own now presents. Keep your efforts personal, practical, and to the point. If your inner
 work doesn’t transform the whole of your life into a more relaxed, amazing, and uplifting experience, then you’re
 dreaming, not changing.
Your awareness of the power of the present can transform each challenging life moment
 into a new and true beginning for you. Learning how to use these moments leads to real inner change, which is the
 same as being in command of your own destiny.
From Guy’s 1994 book, Freedom From The Ties That Bind, Llewellyn Publications,
 USA.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by GUY FINLEY</h4>
<hr>

Change is now or never

Guy is an energetic healer who also wrote Transforming Autism about how his family enabled their son to transform from a highly autistic toddler to a happy six-year-old, living a full contented life. He proposes a radical inspiring way to understand autism.He is also a Heartfulness trainer.

Guy-Shahar.jpg

Guy Shahar

<h4>GUY SHAHAR embarked on a career in energy healing with little understanding of what it entailed, after experiencing Dr. Bradley Nelson’s method, The Emotion Code. The results spoke for themselves. After becoming certified as a healer, Guy is now watching with wonder how the method is unfolding and evolving, and how he is growing through the process.</h4>I never gave energy healing any serious consideration until after my first visit to Kanha Shanti Vanam Ashram in 2020.&nbsp; The idea of sitting in a room and being able to heal another person in another town or on another continent seemed interesting but fantastical to me.A few years before that, I’d had a health breakdown following a long difficult situation at work. I was housebound for 3 months, and one of the things I’d been doing was receiving online energy healing with a practitioner. I didn’t really know what it was or how it worked, but I figured it was worth a try.It was during one session after that visit to Kanha that I heard a voice in my own head saying, “You should do this!” I almost dismissed it because energy healing was so far from anything I ever thought I’d do, or would be able to do.<h4>The Emotion Code</h4>But having heard the voice, I couldn’t ignore it. So I half-heartedly looked up the method I’d been receiving, The Emotion Code. It is based on the idea of releasing “trapped emotions” that come up at various points in our lives but are not fully processed. Perhaps it is because we are too overwhelmed or triggered at the time, and instead repress them, so they lodge as excess and disruptive energy in our system, and lead to all sorts of physical and mental issues.I discovered that it was actually a very simple method, and very easy to do, but required an ability that I didn’t think I had – “muscle-testing” to obtain clear yes or no answers from the subconscious mind of the person being treated.The man who created The Emotion Code, Dr. Bradley Nelson, has written a book of the same name which guides people how to do it. It includes a chapter on how to muscle test. I had zero confidence that a written chapter in a book would enable me to learn this important new skill, but I picked up a copy and by the end of the chapter, doing the exercises he suggested, I was surprised to get some reasonably clear answers.So I persisted with learning the method, using it on myself and my family, without any expectation of results. None came until one day when I was suffering from severe back pain and inflammation, and my wife suggested I try The Emotion Code to help. I wasn’t hopeful but had nothing to lose, so I went upstairs and released a number of trapped emotions. By the time I had finished, I was surprised to find that the pain had halved, and it continued to diminish as the day went on. When I told my wife, she took a look at my back and exclaimed that the inflammation had also gone down. That was the first time I genuinely felt there was something in energy healing.I had similar results when working with others in need. People’s pains disappeared in front of my eyes on Zoom calls. People who’d been depressed started smiling with an inner joy they’d not felt for ages. Children’s issues started to be resolved when we worked on them through their parents. Even pets showed dramatic improvement. And each time, it was me who was more surprised than the other person, as if I couldn’t quite believe the results that were happening.&nbsp;I had the good fortune to record&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/HZ8zQVgOuvc">an interview with Dr. Nelson</a> recently, where he said that he shared the same surprise at good results, even after many years of practicing his own system. When asked how his approach brings about changes, he just shrugs and says, “I just work here.”My surprise at the results was a little ironic, however, because I’d been a Heartfulness trainer for nearly 20 years, and I was used to sitting at home giving meditation sessions to people far away, which I had no doubt were effective. But for some reason the idea of working in the same way to bring about more material health benefits hadn’t occurred to me.I was starting to field calls from people who’d been referred to me by friends and family, and I realized I needed to start doing this professionally. So I got certified in The Emotion Code, and then in a vastly expanded version of it known as The Body Code, and then launched a company, <a href="https://heartfulhealing.co.uk">Heartful Healing</a>.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Perhaps it is because we are too overwhelmed or triggered at the time, and instead repress our emotions, so they lodge as excess and disruptive energy in our system, and lead to all sorts of physical and mental issues.</h4><hr><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/energy_healing2_98cae58348.jpg"></figure><h4>How does energy healing work?</h4>One of the questions I’m often asked is how energy healing actually works, and I’m no closer to having an answer. But having reflected on it, there are now 3 steps I always take at the start of a session:&nbsp;<ol style="list-style-type:decimal;"><li>Connect to a Higher Power Make a deep connection to a higher power, whatever that means to you. Dr. Nelson advocates this. As a Heartfulness practitioner, this is an easy step: I bring my attention to the constant inner presence in the heart that we’re gifted when we meditate with Heartfulness regularly and sincerely. It becomes an ever-present and vital part of our existence. That way, I’m not dependent of my own ultra-limited capabilities.</li><li>Connect with the client I focus my attention on them so that the answers I get from muscle testing reflect their own responses. I do this with as much love and prayerfulness for their well-being as possible.</li><li>Positive intention Together with the client, we set a positive intention for the results of the work. This is really important, as dwelling on problems actually exacerbates them. As the old saying goes, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” I invite them to put their attention on the positive outcome that they want, rather than the current negative situation they don’t.</li></ol><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/energy_healing3_a799de95aa.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">I bring my attention to the constant inner presence in the heart that we’re gifted when we meditate with Heartfulness regularly and sincerely.</h4><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/energy_healing4_b0a3ffd2e3.jpg"><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">“Where attention goes, energy flows.”</h4><hr>For example, if they can’t sleep, we don’t focus on “I want to be free of these sleeping problems,” but rather, they picture themselves waking up happy and refreshed in the morning, full of positive energy. They connect with how that will feel, and experience joy and gratitude as if they have it now. If they do this while the work is going on, it is especially powerful. The more they keep this changed perspective through their daily lives, the better.Then the session begins. We identify the imbalances in the person’s system which need to be released, and use a simple technique to release them. But I can’t help feeling that this and other healing methods are a little superfluous, as the essentials of the work are established in those initial 3 steps.&nbsp;Those 3 steps are a sort of prayer for a particular manifestation, and perhaps it is the ultimate destination of any healer to end up in a place where the healing occurs through prayer alone.I’ve started to move in this direction with some more pioneering clients, using a method I call “Accelerated Healing,” which bypasses the need to identify each individual imbalance. It uses the release technique to release or rebalance whatever needs it, to bring the result they want. I find the results to be at least as effective as an established modality. It’s a step in the direction of where I suspect healing will ultimately take me.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/energy_healing5_53a3332abf.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL</h4><hr><img>

Energy healing

Chancellor of S-VYASA University, Bengaluru, and President of the Indian Yoga Association, Dr Nagendra has been at the forefront of research into the benefits of Yoga on health and well-being since the 1980s, combining the best of the western scientific approach with the Yogic and Vedic traditions of ancient India. He has received many awards and honors, both in India and on the international stage, including the Global Peace Award from the World Peace Council in 2015 and Padma Shri from the Indian Government in 2016.

nagendra.jpg

H.R. Nagendra

Yoga

Heartfulness_Logo_new.png

Han Van Den Heuvel

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<h3 style="text-align: center">
 A PHOTO ESSAY
</h3>
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<h4>
 <spanundefined
 >HAN VAN DEN HEUVEL is an avid
 naturalist and photographer, and here he shares with us his love of the
 local native birds.
</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <spanundefined
 >Ever since my retirement in 2016, I have been able to spend more time in
 nature doing what I enjoy – taking photos of birds and bees. I am very lucky
 to live in a house that borders on Allenby Park Reserve in the northern
 beaches district of Sydney. The variety of birds visiting our backyard is
 enormous. I sit on the back veranda with my camera and wait for the birds to
 come by. Believe me, it is not as easy as it looks to get a good
 picture!


 <spanundefined
 >Planting natives like grevilleas in our backyard attracts birds like the
 Rainbow Lorikeet and the Red Wattlebird. Even at night I get visits from the
 nocturnal Tawny Frogmouth.


 <spanundefined
 >Allenby Park is home to a flock of about 30 Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. They
 fly graciously through the park and make a lot of noise. Walking through the
 reserve, I come across the Eastern Yellow Robin, the Eastern Spinebill, and
 the Variegated Fairy-wren. I have also taken photos in the Pilliga Nature
 Reserve about 300 kilometers north of Sydney, and at Dee Why beach not far
 from our home.

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 <img
 alt="Eastern Yellow Robin"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Eastern_Yellow_Robin_ebcde668b3.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:35:26.143Z"
 />/p>

<h5 style="text-align: center">Eastern Yellow Robin</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Eastern Spinebil"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Eastern_Spinebil_7f5243476f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:35:26.393Z"
 />/p>

<h5 style="text-align: center">Eastern Spinebill</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Sulphur-crested-cookatoo"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Sulphur_crested_cookatoo_2e64ec2c1e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:43.130Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Sulphur-crested Cockatoo</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Laughing Kookaburra"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Laughing_Kookaburra_28cf2f143a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.537Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Laughing Kookaburra</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Rainbow Lorikeet"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Rainbow_Lorikeet_8c9b4866d3.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.487Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Rainbow Lorikeet</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Australian Magpie"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Australian_Magpie_0cac3bc876.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.554Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Australian Magpie</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Baby Butcher Bird"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Baby_Butcher_Bird_fd540456bb.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:35:26.284Z"
 />>

<h5 style="text-align: center">Baby Butcher Bird</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Wattlebird"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Wattlebird_ec71cf9f77.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.579Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Wattlebird</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Royal Spoonbill"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Royal_Spoonbill_fb3498cfe4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.140Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Royal Spoonbill</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Laughing Kookaburra closeup"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Laughing_Kookaburra_closeup_198582e616.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.115Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Laughing Kookaburra close-up</h5>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <img
 alt="Seagull"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Seagull_b1289b2aa9.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.278Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Seagull</h5>
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 <img
 alt="Variegated Fairy-wren"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Birds_of_Northern_Sydney_Variegated_Fairy_wren_db55346e14.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:38:44.373Z"
 />

<h5 style="text-align: center">Variegated Fairywren</h5>
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<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">
 A Photo Essay by <spanundefined>HAN VAN DEN HEUVEL 
</h4>
<hr />

The birds of northern Sydney, Australia

Hari Venkatesan

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<h4>HARI VENKATESAN takes the approach of
 self-compassion towards self-improvement and managing emotions. Here he shares some tips from his own
 experience.</h4>
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The pace of life has greatly increased with the advent of
 smartphones and wireless high-speed internet. Along with the convenience that these means bring, they also bring
 heightened expectations in terms of efficiency. We are expected to respond to messages and mails within hours,
 and sometimes even minutes. As human beings get used to this fast pace of life, it is all too easy to make
 mistakes. 
There is an ancient Chinese saying that says, “Hold on just
 a little and the winds and waves die down; take one step back and you are no longer in a corner.” In this age of
 3-in-1 coffee, fast food, and instant messaging, one virtue that we are fast losing is patience: patience in the
 face of trials and tribulations, and patience in the face of our own emotions. 
Let us take the latter first. For example, you receive an
 unreasonable email about work, or someone makes a snide remark about you. You are compelled from inside to hit
 back instantly, and the matter quickly escalates. It is precisely at the moment when you are in the grip of
 emotions such as anger, rage, disappointment, frustration, and really feel justified to react sharply. Let a
 night pass and see how you feel about the whole thing the next morning. Very often, you will thank yourself for
 not having been too quick to react, and might actually see things differently. This might not seem possible at
 times, but even then, it would be well to make it a rule to never speak or act until the heart is calm.
 Heartfulness Meditation makes this possible naturally by making us aware even before we are about to act on
 impulse and presenting us with a choice to alter course. 
Just like an arrow speeds forth, words spoken cannot be
 recalled. As for those sent out in retort and reaction, chances are that they will do no more than challenge the
 ego of the receiver. The result cannot be anything other than two egos clashing and trying to prove the other
 wrong. When this happens, even if we see some point in the arguments the other makes, our egos will simply not
 permit us to admit it, making the conversation wholly useless. Especially when it comes to close relationships,
 awkward as it may be, it is much better to cut such a conversation short politely and let a night pass, with the
 promise to revisit it again. Once the grip of emotions is loosened, we will be in a much better state to forgive
 and understand. <a style="color: #4c6b63;" href="https://heartfulness.org/"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Heartfulness Cleaning</a> helps enormously in pressing
 that inner reset button that makes this possible. 
When we feel depressed, frustrated, or disappointed about
 things, it is equally necessary to remember that if there is anything permanent in the universe it is change.
 This also means that whatever we face is equally destined to change. It is important not to give into the
 feeling of despondency, and focus our energies instead on what we can do. A lot of the time, problems are
 enormously magnified because of the amount of attention we give them. 
Is it not be better to focus energies on what we can do
 rather than wasting time on thinking about possible outcomes or mentally struggling with resentment and
 frustration? It is precisely these that tire us and enhance the struggle. 
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<img class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/sleep_over_it3_bb3ad59a14.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T04:53:56.619Z" />

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In place of this tiring struggle of the mind, a much more
 positive vibratory input would be prayer. This does not refer to a formalized religious ritual, but to an appeal
 to the wisdom of the higher Self within to bring forth a wider vision of things. Since we have done our best,
 all we need to do is await the result. If there is more to be done, we can go ahead, but just remember to remove
 the struggle from the heart. It is this struggle that attenuates focus, weakens efforts, and tires us. The state
 where we simply focus on doing our best, and let things fall where they do, comes naturally as a result of
 prayer-meditation. 
As for how to be sure you did your best, accept that all you
 did yesterday was the best you could do yesterday. If there are a few hours remaining today, see what you can do
 to address the problems you face. But once the day is over, consider that you did your best today. 
Whenever you really feel like hitting back, reacting, or you
 feel like the world around you is going dark with little hope or relief in sight, sleep over it. You will not
 feel the same tomorrow.
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<img class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/sleep_over_it2_607070d911.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T04:55:52.536Z" />

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<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by HARI VENKATESAN</h4>


<hr>

Sleep over it

Harpreet Bhan

<h4>
 HARPREET BHAN experiments with some simple plays on
 words in order to explore the profound meaning that words can sometimes offer us.
</h4>



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The veil is lifting and
 all that is evil or vile in me is being expunged. As I am refined, transformed by the live
 transmission pouring into me, I finally begin to live.



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The above sentence has an interesting word play. The words “evil,” “veil,” “vile,” “live (rhyming with alive)” and
 “live (rhyming with give)” are all various constructs of the same four letters – e, l, i, and v.



Just like these words, we are born with the same ingredients, the same alphabet letters. Yet we live different lives
 and create very different destinies, which can range from evil or vile to coming a-live and living life to its
 fullest potential. Just as a small difference in the arrangement of letters can change the meaning of a word
 completely, so the smallest of choices can lead to a series of consequences that completely alter the course of
 our lives.



Drilling deeper into this word play, it is interesting to note that while we can find words that start with e, l, and
 v, there are none that start with i. And none of the words end with i. Isn’t it truly meaningful that nothing
 can start or end with i? There is clear inspiration for the i to find its right place within something bigger
 than itself, and place itself in a way that makes the whole more significant, powerful, and consequential. The
 final destination has no place for anything that starts or ends in i.



Reflecting on other word plays, it is fascinating to see how something apparently small can have such a large impact
 on the entire meaning of a word. For example, in Sanskrit, Brahm means Reality, while Bhram means illusion,
 which is diametrically opposed to reality. Similarly, Brahman refers to someone who is realized, who has reached
 the ultimate destination, whereas Bhraman describes someone who is wandering. Just a small change in the order
 makes a monumental change to the meaning.



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<div class="block-image">
 <figure><img decoding="async" width="700" alt="" class="has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/word_play_1_b17034a813.jpg">
 </figure>
</div>



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Let me share one final reflection on the prefix “de.” Generally, we assume that adding “de” to a word will somehow
 reduce it. For example, value becomes devalue, and construct becomes deconstruct. In a strange way, an extremity
 of evil is “the evil” or “d’evil” or indeed devil. Then again, if you look more closely, there is a wonderful
 positivity that “de” can bring to certain words. “Vote” indicates we have a choice amongst several options,
 whereas “devote” is normally used to describe worship or something similar. Another way to look at “devote” is
 when it alludes to a “willing choiceless-ness” – an affirmation of “I choose not to vote. I choose to do so most
 willingly and joyously, as I remain de-voted to my beloved.” The choice is simply not ours anymore. Try this
 with another word “serve.” Deserve can be interpreted as “de-serve,” indicating a state of mind when we don’t
 even know we are serving, thus becomes deserving.



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