Joel, aka A Soul Called Joel, is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who grew up singing gospel songs with his seven siblings. In 2022 he released his new album, Love and Liberation. In addition to his musical career, Joel is a certified meditation teacher, a life coach, poet and author of the R.I.S.E. journal.

Joel-Cross.jpg

Joel Cross

<h4>JOEL CROSS, aka A Soul Called Joel, is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. He grew up singing gospel songs with his seven siblings. In 2022, he released his new album called Love and Liberation. The well of his creativity and passion is deeply spiritual. In addition to his musical career, Joel is a certified meditation teacher, a life coach, poet and author of the R.I.S.E. journal. He is interviewed by JANMARIE CONNOR.</h4><hr><h4>How’s your heart feeling today?</h4>Q. It’s wonderful to finally speak with you. Someone sent me a link to your Instagram feed with the instruction, “Check this guy out!” I did and immediately knew what inspired her to share. Shall I tell you my 30-second experience on Instagram as I recorded it in my journal?JC: Yes, please do.Q: A lovely man with a wide-brimmed hat, bright smile, peaceful presence, surrounded by mountains, trees, azure sky, and birdsong greets me, and thousands of his followers.“Hello, beautiful souls. How’s – your – heart?”My soul, surprised at being directly addressed, cooperates. I move my attention inward to assess. He does the same. With eyes closed, he takes a deep breath, places hand on heart, and he waits, waits, waits. I feel an inner impulse, a wave of energy, lightness. A slow, contagious smile spreads across his face, and mine. At that moment, I’m reminded of something my mentor and Guide often said, “The heart speaks!” And on cue, I hear a rich, baritone voice:“May you be open so that you may heal. And may the fruits of love, compassion, and peace grace your lips – always.Much love and light.”Can you describe what’s happening when you pause and tune into your heart? You seemed to be having a nice chat with it.JC: I get that question a lot, but I haven’t really answered it publicly yet. What I’ve discovered in my own meta-meditation, connecting with my heart center, is that the heart is always speaking. But we are rarely listening.As I ask the question, “How’s your heart feeling today?” I connect to a space within that I’ve grown quite familiar within my practice. When I close my eyes, I can literally see my heart in bloom. Often, I see it as a flower – I see it open. I can feel its energy, its love exuding from its center. And then I hear very clearly whatever the blessing is for that moment. I also get asked, “Do you prepare these blessings in advance?” No, never. It’s as you describe it. I can feel it, which is a beautiful thing.<h4>My story</h4>Q. Most people don’t arrive at the kind of depth you’re expressing here without a story. Can you share a little of your story with us?JC: I definitely have a story. I’ve come to recognize that the greatest wisdom is always experience.I was raised in a big family with seven siblings. My parents were very religious, from the Christian tradition, and my dad is a Baptist preacher. The common question in our household was, “What is spirit saying?” So, there was always this query to connect and tap in.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/flow2_b1c59a175e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T10:56:42.772Z" alt=""><hr>As I got older, there were some things in that tradition that were challenging and troubling for me, that didn’t resonate with who I felt like I authentically was. There was a disconnect from my family for a while, as I was reconnecting to my truth. They didn’t understand my departure from their tradition. One of my greatest fears was not to be accepted by my parents. I was considered the perfect son, the baby boy, right? I felt like an outcast for a long time, as we were all trying to figure each other out. There was a lot of turmoil.Until one day. I remember standing in the kitchen, and I surrendered my need for suffering. I surrendered my need to be a victim. I surrendered my need to be superior to anybody else. And I surrendered my need to see any other being as anything less than divine. In that moment, even though I experienced some heavy hurt, I felt so light. I started experiencing joy.<hr><hr><h4>I surrendered my need to see any other being&nbsp; as anything less than divine. In that moment,&nbsp; even though I experienced some heavy hurt,&nbsp; I felt so light. I started experiencing joy.</h4><hr><hr>I followed my intuition and went for a walk. Did you ever read Neale Donald Walsh’s book, Conversations with God? During that walk I felt like I had my own version of that, except for me it was a conversation with B.O.B., a playful acronym for the Big Ole Beautiful, which is nature for me. I felt like I was communing with nature. I had a bird’s eye view of our existence. And from that vantage point, I recognized that we’re all just trying to find grounding from our hurt, from our misunderstandings in this world, so that we can find clarity. And from that comes healing, transformation, transcending patterns, and evolving into a more heart-felt experience.<h4>The R.I.S.E. Journal</h4>Q. I understand that journaling has played a big part in your personal transformation. So much so that you’ve developed and published the R.I.S.E. Journal. Can you tell us about that?JC: Growing up, I was a decent student. I didn’t have to study much. Then I got to college and I was a horrible student. A friend of mine, whose nickname was Chief, said, “Joel, all you must do is write it down. Copy it from the book until you can recite it from memory.” So, I would just write and write. A few years later, I was in a moment of deep heartbreak with a girl I was seeing. It ended abruptly and I was hurt. Sleepless nights for months. And finally, intuitively, in the middle of the night, I got up, grabbed my college notebook and began to write everything that I was feeling. About an hour and twenty pages later, I had a perfect night’s sleep for the first time. I was like, “I don’t know what this journaling thing is about, but I’ve got to investigate this.”My R.I.S.E. Journal process has four parts. It starts with R, which stands for Release. I just let everything out, all that energy I was feeling or thinking, to clear my canvas. Next comes I, which is connected to all the heart questions. The foundational question I ask is, “How’s your heart?” But there are so many other heart questions: What am I longing for? What am I afraid to hear myself say?&nbsp; My heart would speak and so I would write it down. Which leads to the S for Self-awareness, through the real wisdom right at our core, that scared space. I didn’t want to end this journaling process with any heaviness. That’s where the E comes, which stands for Empowerment. I learned about intentions and affirmations through Louise Hay and that remains a strong part of my practice. It’s been 15 years now and the R.I.S.E. journaling process has changed my life.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/flow3_0e9cafd596.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T10:58:03.102Z" alt=""><hr><h4>Love and liberation</h4>Q. I’m part of the Heartfulness Institute. Each night at 9 p.m. local time, we align our hearts with people all over the world with a beautiful intention for peace. The intention establishes lightness and peace within ourselves, and then radiates this lightness and peace outward into the world. When I listened to your new album, Love and Liberation, it had an enchanting quality and effect, like that9 p.m. intention. It’s clearly coming from deep within your soul. Where has this inspiration come from?JC: My heart and my higher self. That is where my inspiration comes from. Around 2020, I felt there was a shift happening in my life. Much of my process has been about surrender. So, I left New York City and went to Texas, stayed with family and worked through some of the disconnect I mentioned, to do some deep healing. In the process, I knew I was supposed to travel the country and record in nature. I told my friends, I think I’m going to get a field recorder and find remote locations with great energy. When I feel the call, I’m going to hit record and play.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/flow4_2d75108e78.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T10:59:18.132Z" alt=""><hr>I got a camper, and ended up in Maine. One early morning, I felt called to follow a remote trail. I ended up on a beach where the energy was palpable. I set up my camera and my guitar, and all I heard was “play.” This was the shift which gave birth to a new direction and the song, Flow.<hr><hr><h4>I recognized that we’re all just trying to find&nbsp; grounding from our hurt, from our misunderstandings&nbsp; in this world, so that we can find clarity.&nbsp; And from that comes healing, transformation, transcending patterns,&nbsp; and evolving into a more heart-felt experience.</h4><hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/flow5_96444d651c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T11:01:03.668Z" alt=""><hr><hr><h4>I surrendered my need to see any other being&nbsp; as anything less than divine. In that moment,&nbsp; even though I experienced some heavy hurt,&nbsp; I felt so light. I started experiencing joy.</h4><hr><hr>Q. You introduce the album by speaking of the power of self-love and surrender, and ask us to “connect with something deep within ourselves and as we listen, to open our hearts, quiet our minds, go inward and rise upward.” I don’t know of any other artist that helps the listener in such a beautiful way to receive what you’re pouring out from your heart. How did this come to you?JC: About 7 years ago, I’d had a beautiful guided meditation, and I was in that flow state. I had a very clear download: “What if there was a meditation that didn’t have a linear guide. What if the listening of the music immediately brought you to that space where you could listen and connect to your own inner guidance?”I held that intention, which inspired the phrase, “poetic resonance meditation,” which paints a picture for you to climb into, and you can connect to your own flow, your own self-love experience. Also, not long after, I had that moment with B.O.B.I had a divine inner knowing that the next step of my healing was to help support the healing of others in a very intentional way.It’s been affirmed by so many people entering that heart space with me, whether it’s on Instagram or through the <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/tansen-the-famous-musician" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">music</a>, we all feel that presence. It’s at the core of our humanity. As an empath, once I learned to ground myself, I learned that I could also emanate. That’s something that’s very important to me with the music.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/flow6_e8b4ad0dcd.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T11:19:31.905Z" alt=""><hr><h4>Global harmony</h4>Q: Since we’re meeting together on this important International Day of Peace, in a world with so much chaos and strife,&nbsp;how do you make the connection between the illumination of self-love and its essential relationship with global harmony? &nbsp;JC: Self-love gets a bad rap sometimes, because it’s assumed that it’s a synonym for selfishness. Self-love isn’t about me over you. It’s recognizing that I see the world as I see myself. So if I’m dealing with a lack of self-worth, unworthiness, or even self-hatred, I’m going to receive the world that way.The energy that you hold is the energy that will unfold, which is why there is so much discord in the world. I’ve discovered as I love myself more, and I’m able to recognize, “Okay, I’m triggered right now by this person in my life. Let me tend to me first, and figure out why this situation brought up feelings of anger, frustration, discord, turmoil,” that usually it’s an old story, which isn’t serving me well.It’s ready to be let go of. Peace really must start here [points to heart].I say it like this in my poem,<h4>I’m the Love of my Life</h4>For my purpose is not to outshine another. My purpose has always been to do my share, in the shining of us all. For as one shines so does another. And as I am able to see myself more clearly, it becomes far easier, to see you too. &nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<hr>You can watch and listen to Flow at <a href="https://www.heartfulnessinstitute.org/peaceintention">https://www.heartfulnessinstitute.org/peaceintention</a>.You can find Joel and listen to his music on his website, <a href="https://www.asoulcalledjoel.com/">https://www.asoulcalledjoel.com/</a>.<hr><h4>Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL</h4><hr>

Flow

Johan de Smidt

<hr><h4>JOHAN DE SMIDT is a journalist and photographer from Cape Town, South Africa, who visited the Heartfulness Headquarters at Kanha Shanti Vanam before COVID-19 struck, and documented some of the activities. Here he showcases the kitchen, which since March has been supplying meals to up to 50,000 disadvantaged people per day in the wake of COVID-19.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;To find the secret ingredient in the kitchens of the Kanha Shanti Vanam ashram, you have to start your hunt before dawn. That is when the cooks are adding spice to their day with a Yoga wake-up routine. “They are a bit dull when they arrive, so we are boosting them, waking them up,” says the kitchen manager, Mr. Moganty Adinarayan.On the morning that we visit the kitchen, a Russian volunteer Yoga instructor is guiding the cooks through their asanas at 5 a.m. This dose of waking up will certainly come in handy, because the kitchen has suddenly been informed that they have to cater for many more than the 2,500 people they expected for Sunday meditation. But this is par for the course for Adinarayan and his team of workers – every day brings its own surprises and they are used to changing plans at short notice. To be effective, they have to remain flexible, and the meal planning has to be spot-on. It is also of utmost importance to have close communication with the main gate officials who constantly update them with the latest attendance figures.It is no mean feat to cook three meals a day for over 78,000 people, as the kitchen staff did for the inauguration of the Kanha Shanti Vanam meditation hall in February 2020, and still be able to hit the ground running when work starts at 4 a.m. every morning. In one stretch, the kitchen can provide food for 30,000 people. On this Sunday, after most of the people have left, they are still cooking for more than 2,500 people. “We always cook for 100 more than expected,” Adinarayan says. On the breakfast menu today there is idli, sambar, rice and banana chips, and if the scale of the cooking is awe inspiring, the quantities of ingredients used is even more mind boggling. Just for today, a total of 100 kgs of raw rice will be required to satisfy the visitors’ appetites. Apart from planning for the large quantities of ingredients, there is the added challenge of getting the menu right to please the diverse palates of people from all over India, as well as from abroad. This is enough to give any kitchen boss a case of indigestion. “We have the difference between north and south of India. People from the north prefer wheat, they will have roti for breakfast, lunch and dinner if they can help it, while those from the south eat more rice,” Adinarayan says.<hr><h3><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/kitchen_love2_2377253183.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T04:42:58.797Z"></h3><hr><h4>Divine Food for Thought</h4>As far as approach is concerned, the biggest difference between this ashram kitchen and others catering to big numbers is that food here is made in constant divine thought, and handled by devoted practitioners. “It is mandatory for kitchen staff to attend the 7 a.m. group meditation and have weekly individual sessions too,” says Adinarayan. “Only Heartfulness practitioners work here. They come to work praying and leave praying. There is a lot of love and devotion, and willingness too. They put their hearts into their service, so the results are good. That is the main reason we are eating in divine thought. While cooking, they have the thought, ‘This is divine food.’”Adinarayan takes pride in their work, and such is his confidence in the quality of the food, that some of it is sent daily to the house of Kamlesh Patel, the Heartfulness Guide, who is fondly known as Daaji. “We expect it to be good enough for our Guide,” he says. Offering Yoga classes is not the only way in which other volunteers can contribute to the kitchen work. Daaji has invited all visiting international practitioners who attend training programs to cook in the kitchen, too. He has suggested that they be taught one dish of Indian cuisine and, in turn, they teach one dish of their cuisine to the kitchen staff.After digesting all these magic ingredients that go into making the ashram food, we part with a 5 a.m. invitation from Adinarayan to be at the kitchen the next day to witness the almost alchemical making of 12,000 idlis, the steamed, soft pillows made from rice and dal, and eaten with coconut chutney. The batter for this is ground the day before and left to ferment overnight before being scooped onto huge stainless steel moulded pans and cooked in a massive steam oven. But of course, the magic ingredient is Yoga. And for that you have to rise before dawn.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/kitchen_love4_aa39343451.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T04:45:28.144Z"><hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Cool as a Cucumber</h4>The kitchen floor area is an impressive 46 m x 24 m. To keep the kitchen staff comfortable, happy and cool in an otherwise hot situation, much thought has been given to the layout and ventilation of the huge space, which is 8° to 10° C cooler than the outside environment. This is accomplished through cross-ventilation provided by the side windows, elevated work stations, double-walled pots and an 8 metre high ceiling with a 2 metre wide canopy extension right at the top. Each row of six pots is positioned on a concrete slab that is about 1 metre above the floor, which ensures that steam from the pots rises from above head-height straight up to the roof, where it evaporates through the canopy. “That way the cooks don’t sweat,” Adinarayan says, and that is evident as they coolly go about their business.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Steaming Hot</h4>To speed up cooking time, a diesel-powered plant outside the kitchen generates and delivers steam at 80° to 90° C to the double-walled stainless steel pots, in which the temperature is increased to 130° to 150° C. The preheating of the steam maintains a constant temperature in the cooking pots and reduces the cooking time of rice from half an hour to just 10 minutes; lentil dal is cooked in 30 minutes and vegetables in 15 minutes. The closed nature of the system ensures reduced heat loss, and therefore, efficient energy consumption. The double-walled structure ensures very little heat is lost from the sides of the pots; indeed, we stand right next to it and feel very little heat radiating.When frying is required, to make a curry or sambar, it is done at floor level in moveable 800-liter pots, which can be easily wheeled onto gas cookers, and to the base of the doublewalled pots, from which the liquids are tipped into the frying pots. Vegetables boiled in the pots are mixed together to make curry, and lentils are added to the curry to make sambar. With the ongoing current threat of the coronavirus in the air, the focus is on boosting people’s immune systems. “We add jeera (cumin), white pepper and turmeric to boost the immune system and keep people healthy,” Adinarayan says. “Food is medicine.”<hr><h3><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/kitchen_love3_1bcf47cab2.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T04:48:41.652Z"></h3><hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Leftovers</h4>At Kanha, special efforts are made to ensure minimal food wastage by reusing leftover food, feeding the rotis to the ashram cows, or making compost with it as a last resort. On the day we visited, leftover idli from the previous day was chopped up and fried with spices to make idli upma for breakfast. Leftover rice is added to milk to make curd rice, while leftover curry is immediately put in the fridge at night for making other dishes in the morning. While they make every effort to reuse leftovers, food that was made for breakfast or lunch is easy to manage, however, leftover food after dinner is problematic, according to Adinarayan. That is when the leftovers end up being fed to the cows, or put in the state-of-theart compost maker.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article and photographs by JOHAN DE SMIDT</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

The kitchen of love

Johanna Vilhjalmsdottir

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">JOHANNA VILHJALMSDOTTIR and SYLVIE BERTI ROSSI offer us a glimpse of this year’s Spirit of Humanity Forum’s retreat in Iceland. They also share insights from some of the participants on the final day.</h4>The 2023 Spirit of Humanity Forum was held from 31 May to 3 June in Reykjavik and Hveragerði, Iceland. One hundred and twenty leaders from 27 countries and diverse fields came together to explore the theme “Healing a World in Crisis – Leading with Authenticity and Love.”&nbsp;After ten years of existence, this sixth edition of the forum moved away from the usual panel discussions to embrace a retreat format, offering us all a unique and transformative experience that had a lasting impact on our lives. The commitment, confidence, and courage of the group to embark on a profound journey surpassed the expectations of the organizers and made their dream a reality.&nbsp;The opening reception was hosted by the City of Reykjavik at City Hall, and an atmosphere of authentic sharing was established, fostering unity among participants from all corners of the world. Over the next three days, the retreat provided an opportunity to set aside roles and titles and engage at a purely human level.&nbsp;We delved deep into the exploration of authenticity, love, and healing. We cultivated trust, exploring authentic dialogue, the art of listening, and moments of silence, creating an atmosphere conducive to personal growth and collective transformation.One of the highlights was an online interview with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who spoke on spirituality, self-reflection, and the importance of care in governance, and her words resonated with the participants, highlighting the significance of personal experiences in leadership.The emphasis on love and compassion as essential elements for a better world was prominent throughout. Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, the President of Iceland, stressed the importance of genuine care for one another in restoring peace globally. His message catalyzed many to share their experiences and perspectives, reinforcing the notion of a shared humanity and the hope for a brighter future.The forum concluded with “The Language of Peace,” a public event organized in the Fríkirkjan church in Reykjavík, where some of the participants shared their reflections.&nbsp;As we approach the International Day of Peace on September 21, we invite you to listen to some of these touching voices from different continents, cultures, languages, and professional backgrounds. Each voice speaks of peace in their own way, through a poem, an experience, an encounter, an action, a life situation, or a reflection. But they all carry the same hope in their hearts: that a more peaceful world will come.<h4 style="text-align:center;">LYNDA LEOGAH FORKWA</h4>A typical crisis situation reveals a disconnect at all levels. What do I mean by this? Political disconnect (we can see that all over the world), economic disconnect, social disconnect, cultural disconnect, and sadly, spiritual disconnect.&nbsp;The big question is, how do we encourage the language of peace in our current situation? How do we co-create a regenerative future for all? How do we enable a peaceful coexistence on Earth for all Earth’s citizens? How do we create a global atmosphere where all cultures are respected in their diversity?&nbsp;In my own little way, I encourage the language of peace by tapping from within; tapping into my inner values, tapping into my inner home. What about you? What are the differing levels of contributions to this Earth? How do you intend to make a gesture for others to follow? If you’re unsure about how to go about it, I invite you to join me on the <a href="https://www.homeforhumanity.earth/onehomejourney">One Home Journey</a>, a course that intends to connect cultures, to build a regenerative future for all. We need a new framework for the future, to save the future, save citizens, and shape the future of our children, our children’s children. The time to act is now.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/language_peace2_196e7364d4.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">NOOR BALFAQEEH</h4>This is the first time I am speaking in a church. Coming from an Islamic background, it’s really an honor, and I can’t describe in words how proud I feel of being here with you today in this Forum.&nbsp;I would like to share a quote from a book I read at the beginning of the year, The Secrets of Divine Love. It is written by a Muslim lady, A. Helwa, who tried to redefine Islamic teachings in a very unique way. I’ll share a quote about love, as love is what we’ve been talking about for the last few days.“We polish our heart to unveil the interconnectedness of creation, to embrace the places within us where love lives and compassion flourishes. And to see that beneath all outward defenses we all originate from a single seed of divine vibration. When we fully face Allah [and Allah, by the way, is how we call God in Arabic], we become like a holy mirror that contains the entire world within our love. After all, our journey here is not to just connect with the Divine in worship. But once we do this, to return to that creation as a sign of Allah’s unending love on Earth. You are not just a pottery fashioned from dust and water. You were sent to be Allah’s eyes on Earth. You were sent as a reflection of love and compassion for all those with hurting hearts. You were sent to reflect Allah’s mercy upon the entire universe.&nbsp;“As the 9th century Persian mystic, Iman Junayd said, ‘A Muslim is like Earth. Even if impurities are thrown on it, it will blossom into a green pasture.’ We are called to be like a date tree so rooted in the love of Allah that when people throw stones at you, you reply with food that tastes sweet.”&nbsp;Thank you.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/language_peace3_b95359e1d2.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">MARTIN FRICK</h4>When I was invited to speak about the language of peace, the first thing I thought about was food because when there is no peace one of the starkest consequences of war is hunger. Today we have 350 million people who are acutely hungry. Despite Covid, despite climate change, the biggest driver of hunger is still war. And hunger is what you get when everything goes belly up with international cooperation. In the end, it’s always the same people going hungry.&nbsp;I also want to speak about food because it’s the most essential, human, and connecting thing I can think of. We are in a Christian church, and breaking bread is the most Christian gesture there is. In every single religious tradition food has a special meaning, because food is not a given, it’s a gift we share. If we are conscious about it, it’s actually a way out of many crises.&nbsp;For example, food connects to climate change in a very direct way. Every year we are losing three times the size of Switzerland to land degradation. If we work together to restore the barren land for agricultural use, we will improve food security, we will bring communities together, we will bring herders and farmers together, we will bring Christians and Muslims together. It is around food that we can do that.&nbsp;The most beautiful thing is actually what makes plants grow. The biggest miracle for me is carbon dioxide. Plants take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and use a process called photosynthesis that has been working for 3.5 billion years to bind CO2 and at the same time produce food.So I want to conclude with hope. I’ve been involved with the climate crisis since 2007 when I framed the notion of climate justice. Equitable and fair food production can lead to climate justice. If we get it right, the climate crisis is our common enemy and nothing unites us more than a common enemy. It’s not one human tribe against another human tribe. It’s the human race against an existential threat, and that is my hope.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/language_peace4_5922e467dc.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">LUNGELWA MAKGOBA</h4>I greet you all in the language of peace and love. I am immensely blessed to be here in this community where I have felt welcomed and experienced love. I would like to share a prayer from my faith tradition in my mother tongue, Xhosa, a language spoken by the majority in the southern part of Southern Africa, the tip of our continent. The language of peace is love, and that’s the language we speak here.&nbsp;As I say these words, and offer you this prayer, it’s a reminder to myself that we stand on holy ground. It is all holy ground, you are holy ground; you are made of the Earth yourselves. We will all go out into the world to feed the hungry spirits and be the love that our world needs. The language of peace is love. If we get the love right, we’ll get the peacemaking right.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/language_peace5_4c36c0a725.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">LISA REEFKE</h4>Hello everyone. I have been asked many times over the past three days, “Who are you?” I’m Lisa, an international civil servant. I’ve been on a journey of inspiration and humility. I so wish I could take you all on this journey and see the incredible moments I’ve lived while traveling and serving in different conflicts across continents, talking to presidents, ministers, political opposition leaders, community elders, women, and young people. I feel deeply privileged for this opportunity. I’ve chosen two examples – one at the very onset of my career, twenty years ago, and a more recent example.&nbsp;Shortly after the independence of Timor-Leste, I traveled there to see what it would be like to build a country, to work with the people. I was invited to a meeting with the President of this newly born country. You imagine presidents living in big palaces, but he did not; he was working from a palace of ashes, a burnt down building. He worked from there for years. He would sleep with the people in the park. He was the President. He was a former fighter for the country’s independence. He wanted to be close to his people. What a humbling experience.Now I’m working in Afghanistan, and I’ve been there for a number of years. I talk to the Taliban and it’s hard. I think the place has really taken me to my limits. I feel at times frustrated, and sometimes angry, but who am I to be angry? I have spoken with some amazing women, and one of these brave young women told me, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Over the years, these and many other experiences, day-to-day, have humbled me, have made me believe in our common humanity.&nbsp;As I have continued my journey, I have often asked myself, “Who am I to judge?” I keep in mind what a beloved poet, very well known in Afghanistan, said centuries ago, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field. I will meet you there.” Thank you.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/language_peace6_e6c691cd08.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">ILA&nbsp;MALHOTRA GREGORY&nbsp;</h4>An Invitation to Mirror/Mirrorswe are both portals and mirrors windows to where we could go and reflections of where we aresmooth, honest, jagged, shattered the truth of this mirror dependent on our heartsto mirror asks us to live in our heart in the nia that abides in each one residing in the makeen, expansive and graciousrecognizing all as empty and full the paradox of this complex lifecan we hold this?can we come as we are and reflect from a place of pure love?can we dance with the shards?united in deep devotion for creation let us be both one and many loosening our grip on the distinctions they may dissolve we may flourishour beings rest in bhakti our mirroring is devotion in service of the world we long to see of the beings we long to be

The language of peace

JFK was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was President at the height of the Cold War, and was an inspiration to many due to his courageous oratory, humor, charm, and youth. He was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and was instrumental in establishing the Peace Corp, the Alliance for Progress with Latin America, and the Apollo Program.

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John F. Kennedy

Fitness@work

John Hartford

Rhythms of the universe

John Holmes

Lift people up

John Muir

Everybody needs beauty

John O’Donohue

Hidden resources at work

Your unfolding life

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John Quincy Adams

Inspire others to dream

Johnathan Jena

Never forgotten

Jon is an American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He was a student of Zen Buddhist teachers Philip Kapleau, Thich That Hang, and Seung Sahn and a founding member of the Cambridge Zen Center. He teaches Mindfulness and his stress reduction program, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_stress_reduction">mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)</a>, is offered by medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations around the world.

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