Nilakshi is the Director, Office of Public Affairs at the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India. She promotes social change, including fostering a new culture of equality in India and the transformation of society structures that prevent women’s full and meaningful participation in public life.

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NILAKSHI RAJKHOWA

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">NILAKSHI RAJKHOWA is the Director, Office of Public Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i Faith in India. During the Mahotsav, she challenged everyone to join together to overcome our current crises, by starting with the heart.</h4>&nbsp;Heartful greetings on behalf of the Baha’i Community to each and every one of you. I’m delighted and honored to be part of this Global Spirituality Mahotsav. Thank you for bringing us all together.I would like to begin with a quote from the Baha’i writings, “O SON OF SPIRIT, my first council is this: possess a pure, kindly, and radiant heart that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable, and everlasting.”&nbsp;It all starts with the heart, and what Heartfulness is trying to do is unlock the hearts of everyone so that we can embrace love, unity, compassion, and break our barriers of caste, religion, and gender. I’m so happy to be part of this, and want to share a few thoughts from the Baha’i community.&nbsp;Friends, we see many factors keeping India together as a nation. One vital cohesive force binding the nation is spirituality. It finds expression in valuing human beings as the creation of the Divine, and is open and accepting of people of all backgrounds who view the reflection of the sacred in all living beings. This enjoins respect, gentleness, and nonviolence in relationships as the ideal way of life. It is this spirit of all-embracing oneness that is conveyed in the ancient ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the world is one family.&nbsp;The unity of nations will be a stage in the progressive manifestation of oneness in the social and political realms. It will reach its fruition when the principle of oneness of humanity is established in the consciousness of people, and when nations across the world unite as one family.&nbsp;Over the past few decades, there has been a resurgence of religious fundamentalism that represents religious extremism and intolerance. It has increasingly entered the political and social mainstream, and in many countries it dominates public discourse. This has created confusion around the concept of religion, as its unifying and constructive role has been obscured by the tendency to view it solely through an identity lens. These challenges come at a time of great uncertainty, when the need for unity is vital to successfully navigate the waves of present and impending crises. These crises include the Covid pandemic, geopolitical instability, war, economic recession, climate change, terrorism, the food crisis, and the energy crisis.&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">History bears witness to the fact that only religion is capable of stirring the depths of human motivation and calling forth the spirit of nobility, sacrifice, and initiative needed to achieve such an objective.</h4><hr><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/human_fellowship2_68674c19de.webp" alt="human-fellowship2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_human_fellowship2_68674c19de.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_human_fellowship2_68674c19de.webp 502w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/human_fellowship2_68674c19de.webp 502w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;The need of the hour is constructive dialogue, a discourse involving leaders and representatives of all religions on religion’s contribution to social harmony. The ground for such a discourse can be laid by clarifying the fundamental nature and purpose of religion, and the common foundations of all religions. Such a discourse must show a practical path forward for inter-religious collaboration. Preserving the tradition of inter-religious fellowship requires efforts from individuals, communities, religious leaders, and institutions. However, such efforts can close in on themselves if inter-religious unity is considered an end in itself, and is not viewed from the context of society’s needs.&nbsp;At this moment in history, unless united communities are driven by a common objective to contribute to the transformation of society, and to ever-increasing material and spiritual prosperity, unity can become a pretext for passive conformity with the status quo, with all its attendant challenges and injustices.&nbsp;The most secure basis of inter-religious harmony lies in coming together to apply spiritual principles to build a united, just, and prosperous world. The complex and unprecedented challenges of the 21st century will require us to make deep changes in our patterns of thought and behavior, and the willingness to make profound sacrifices for the common good. The kind of structural and systemic changes needed to become more united and restore our balance with nature will require selfless efforts on a scale and for a duration never before witnessed.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Youth can move the world. They have a critical role to play in the fields of development, peace, &nbsp;and the prosperity of humanity.&nbsp; Young people want a better society, no matter where they live. &nbsp;They tend to believe in unity and be relatively &nbsp;unburdened by biases and prejudices. They want &nbsp;peaceful and prosperous futures for themselves and their peers.</h4><hr>History bears witness to the fact that only religion is capable of stirring the depths of human motivation and calling forth the spirit of nobility, sacrifice, and initiative needed to achieve such an objective. The world is in dire need of religion to once again course through our veins, to stir a common and collective response to our challenges.&nbsp;Religious leaders have a role to direct the attention of their congregations to the needs of the world. Many heartening examples of this were witnessed during the worst phases of the Covid-19 pandemic. Twenty-five leaders of religions and interfaith movements in India issued a joint statement to reiterate those religious principles having the greatest bearing on people’s responses to the crisis. The statement, which was coordinated by the Baha’i community of India, called upon all religions to unite in a common commitment to spiritual principles relevant to the crisis. And that statement is just as relevant to the current challenges we all face: recognizing the oneness of religion, the oneness of humankind, selfless and sacrificial service to the common good, and complementarity between science and religion. Although it was a modest effort, it illustrates the tremendous potential for positive social change that resides in the untapped spirituality of the common people, which faith leaders can together inspire for the well-being of all.&nbsp;Another group with great capacity and potential is our youth. Youth can move the world. They have a critical role to play in the fields of development, peace, and the prosperity of humanity. Young people want a better society, no matter where they live. They tend to believe in unity and be relatively unburdened by biases and prejudices. They want peaceful and prosperous futures for themselves and their peers.&nbsp;It is time to let unity and harmony become the dominant narrative, and strongly associated with our identity, relegating conflict among religions to an earlier and less mature stage of our history. Let us harness the edifying power of religion toward constructive endeavors that can bring about spiritual and material prosperity. In this way, India can contribute to global peace and harmony, assuring its place as a leader in spirituality and inter-religious harmony.&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">It is time to let unity and harmony become the &nbsp;dominant narrative, and strongly associated with &nbsp;our identity, relegating conflict among religions &nbsp;to an earlier and less mature stage of our history. &nbsp;Let us harness the edifying power of religion &nbsp;toward constructive endeavors that can bring &nbsp;about spiritual and material prosperity.</h4><hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/human_fellowship3_a1c7741c40.webp" alt="human-fellowship3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_human_fellowship3_a1c7741c40.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_human_fellowship3_a1c7741c40.webp 600w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/human_fellowship3_a1c7741c40.webp 600w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL</h4><hr>

Human fellowship

Nimo is a child at heart. He loves animals, finds heaven in nature, expresses himself through the performing arts, loves food while enjoying a health-conscious lifestyle, and finds deep joy in seeing others in joy, good health and peace. His journey has led him on a path of service and love. A world-renowned musician, he’s a simple dude who likes to laugh and share his heart with all beings.

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Nimo Patel

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<h4>
 With an Ivy league education, this MTV rap/hip hop star was living the
 American dream and working on Wall Street when the events of 9/11 unfolded
 in front of his eyes. Giving up the corporate world,
 NIMO PATEL decided to pursue his
 passion for music in LA, but a chronic health issue led him to seek
 Ayurvedic treatment in India. He stayed back for 6 months to volunteer at
 the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, and continues to this day working with the
 slum children of the city when he’s now working for his own non-profit
 organization, Empty Hands Music.
 VANESSA PATEL caught up with him in
 June to learn more about his mantra, “Service, Simplicity &amp;
 Songwriting.”
</h4>
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 Q: Hello, Nimo, so happy to have this opportunity to chat with you. How
 are you doing during this lockdown?


 NP: Wonderful! Breathing, and deep
 breathing, doing good. You know, it’s a time of reflection and
 introspection, to reflect on the way we live, how we interact with each
 other, with humanity. It’s really a blessing. There’s so much suffering
 going on, so this is a gift of transformation. Obviously, we will get
 through this suffering, but hopefully, we can use it for the betterment of
 humanity. So, collectively and individually, this is a gift in many ways,
 although in the short term it’s tough to digest.
 


 How are you doing?


 Q: Doing well. As you said, using this time to reflect. And one of the
 things I realize is that we don’t need a lot of the stuff we’ve
 accumulated in our lives. You already started this process several years
 ago when you took up a life dedicated to service. So, when you did a
 U-turn from your previous lifestyle and did a ‘material’ cleanse, would
 you say this was a spiritual shift?


 NP: For me, the spiritual journey is
 such a gradual process, so even the word ‘U-turn’ feels a bit abrupt, as
 though I saw the sign right away and it fixed everything. Instead, I would
 say, my journey has been ongoing – from the seeds that were planted when I
 was young, from memories of going to the temple, to being exposed to such
 a diverse group of friends and community in elementary school, high
 school, then college. Just the diversity around me was a spiritual
 teacher, in a sense, to accept and embrace all faiths. Whether I’m in an
 honors class with people with a certain mindset, or on the sports team
 playing basketball with people of a different mindset, that for me laid
 the foundation. It’s hard to capture, and I feel so honored and blessed to
 have grown up in that diverse community outside Los Angeles, and later on
 going through college.
 

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 class="w-100 lazyload"
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 I feel one of the major triggers for me happened when I was working on
 Wall Street and 9/11 happened before my eyes; seeing that happen and then
 embracing things, the ongoing process of healing and reflection. That was
 literally the biggest trigger. I was one and a half years out of college,
 and it hit hard: “What are you actually doing with your life?” You never
 know, you could have literally been gone today. You don’t know when this
 is going to end, when this magical journey you’re blessed with on planet
 Earth is going to end. So, that triggered me to say, “I don’t think I’m
 having a purpose at this company at a deeper level.” I needed to follow my
 passion and it pushed me to leave New York to pursue music, media and
 entertainment.
 


 And then, another thing triggered me along the way, which was my health
 journey. I got this chronic illness in my hand, called carpel tunnel
 syndrome or repetitive stress injury, which gradually got worse. I was
 doing a lot of computer work at that time in 2002, as my friends and I had
 just started an online comic strip that turned into a media company and
 animation studio. And through that, by 2005 the problem started
 increasing, and by 2006 it was unbearable. By 2007, it was so bad I
 couldn’t even brush my teeth or hold a bag.
 

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<h4 style="text-align: center">
 “What are you actually doing with your life?” 
 You never know, you could have literally been gone today. 
 You don’t know when this is going to end, 
 when this magical journey you’re blessed with 
 on planet Earth is going to end.
</h4>
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 It was then that my dad suggested getting Ayurvedic treatment, and my
 parents knew a healer in India. I had tried everything in the allopathic
 world and alternative medicines, and I had nothing to lose, because it
 wasn’t getting better.
 


 In 2004, because of this suffering, which was both physical and mental –
 we create it in our mind because of what’s going on – it led me to pursue
 meditation at a deeper level. My roommate in NY had once told me about
 Vipassana and it was the perfect time to try it. It became a big part of
 my life. Being in a deeper connection with my mind and body was one
 benefit. I stopped drinking alcohol; I thought if I really want to heal,
 then I need to purify my mind and body. I became more health conscious
 than before, took a deeper stand.


 When I came to India, another seed was planted. I arrived in Ahmedabad
 and stayed with my cousin and his wife (whose house I’m at now). I
 volunteered for 6 months at Manav Sadna, the NGO that I have been
 volunteering with for 10 years. The seed planted in my heart back then was
 working with children; we recorded a music album called Let Them Sing. It
 was an album of their voices, their stories. When I went back to the US
 the journey continued. There was funding to open an animation studio and I
 got into that. Again, a trigger came up, “What are you doing?”.
 


 You know, Vanessa, when I graduated from high school my dream was to
 become the CEO of Warner Bros. I always had a passion for media and
 entertainment. I chose Wharton Business School because I wanted to bridge
 business and entertainment; that was my vision. So, this animation studio
 was a dream for me. I’m not even mentioning the music stuff, which I loved
 – that was definitely my passion. But this career dream was as a
 businessman blended with entertainment, so, having the studio gave me that
 space and all the partners I was working with were amazing. It was in that
 space that I realized I wasn’t happy. I had worked so far in my life for
 this career goal, and I was finally in the space that resembled it, and
 still I was suffering in my heart. I was not feeling any sense of
 fulfillment or purpose. So either I could go with what the mind said,
 which was “You’re successful, you’re on a successful path”, or I could
 follow this soft, quaint voice which was not really able to reveal itself
 because the mind and the ego were more deceiving. But I’m so happy that,
 somehow, the suffering in whatever form it was, was calling out to say,
 “Please listen.” It was saying, “You need to start again.”
 


 I said to myself, “These last 10 years of your career have been amazing.
 You’ve been able to experience the world in such an amazing way.” I mean,
 we were touring as a music group, and the media and entertainment
 opportunities were really exciting, but there was something missing. And
 to listen to that voice was the key thing for me. I didn’t know what that
 meant, to be honest, and that was the scary part of it. The vulnerability
 that came with the change – from a mindset of set a goal and reach the
 goal to the mindset of surrender, but you don’t know where it’s going to
 lead you – was scary, but I felt that that was the only way I was going to
 realign myself at a stage in my life where I could still do it. I think we
 can do that at any stage, but I felt that at 30 I still had the capacity
 to follow my heart instead of going with what seems to be right in
 everybody’s mind or in the outside world, or from a material point of
 view.
 


 There’s a quote from Mahatma Gandhi that I always like to share, and it
 helped me at that time: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself
 in the service of others.”

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 <img
 class="w-100 lazyload"
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 alt="service3"
 />

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 I had felt lost in my own way, because my heart was not connecting with
 the external. So, basically, the next phase of the journey of my life
 became: What does it mean to serve? Not merely because I want to help
 others, but because I really need to understand myself. If service is the
 best medium to find myself, then what a win-win!


 After I moved to Ahmedabad, although I had external goals, for the next
 two years I was really focused on, “How am I purifying my own mind and
 heart in being a part of others’ journeys?” And that then became the
 formula.


 Q: You said that you didn’t want service to be ego-based, to have as
 little attachment to it as possible. So, you went out there with the idea
 to serve and actually felt yourself being served. That must have been a
 very humbling experience. Were there people in your life, your peers,
 perhaps, who questioned your new way of life?


 NP: Yes, there are all types of
 resistance when you’re going against the external grain, and also going
 against the internal wiring of your own conditioning. So, for sure, the
 journey with mom and dad, with friends and family, and with college mates
 especially, because they are all successful in different ways – for them
 to see me living this new life, a lot of questions kept coming up. But,
 the most important thing was to keep digging and trying to understand
 myself – why I was doing what I was doing. In the beginning phase it was
 an experiment! I remember thinking, “I can do this for a year, why not?
 And then start something else, or get a nice paying job, whatever it is,
 I’m fine, I have enough savings.”
 


 That’s how it started, and I said to myself, “I need to commit at least
 one year, and I need to go all in.” I remember one of my mentors, someone
 I’m close to here in Ahmedabad, said something that had such an effect on
 me: “Beta, you should live life like a flashlight. In the dark, you have a
 light and you see 6 feet in front of you. You don’t need to see more than
 that, actually, because with every step you take you’ll still have 6 feet
 of light in front of you. So, what’s the need to look back and stumble?”
 That really clicked with me, because it had always been, “What’s your 5,
 10, 15-year plan, your retirement plan?” So, this became an experiment to
 learn, to grow, and to rewire myself, because I realized that my wiring
 was not the way it should be. Why? Because I was suffering.


 I truly felt, and still feel, that we have the full capacity to minimize,
 if not eradicate, our suffering, but there are so many layers on us. So,
 it was really an opportunity to find out what’s creating the suffering
 and, in the process of service, how I was going to touch upon these
 layers, one at a time. We’re not going to clear everything in one go; it’s
 a lifelong journey.
 


 In that first year, my parents gave me the benefit of the doubt: “He was
 doing good, now he wants to do this, okay.” And in the second or third
 year, my dad specifically said, “You realize that if you want to live this
 type of life, you have to be passionate about it, and you’re going to have
 to simplify your life. Are you okay with not having so much and not doing
 all these things?” And after the third year, he was like, “Is this really
 what you want to do? Are you sure?” Then, little by little, they embraced
 the work I was doing, they were exposed to it, they started taking part in
 it. They started understanding, and being around me, with me. I think they
 started seeing the value in it, the purpose and joy in it, and the meaning
 in it.


 Q: And the fact that it was making you happy.


 NP: Absolutely! That was the impact
 on them. They were thinking not only of my own joy, but also what is it
 doing for the world, and they started seeing value in it. And when I
 reconnected with my music, in the third year after I moved to Ahmedabad, I
 started sharing that with the world as a gift. I didn’t want to charge for
 it. I wanted it to be pure, from a space of offering and not from me as an
 artist. A lot of people started questioning me then, too. And my dad and
 my uncle started wondering what I was doing.
 


 At one point, I was in Denver with my family and I remember asking my
 father, “Dad, when somebody is working for a company, he’s adding value to
 the company, and for that he’s getting compensated with a cheque every two
 weeks. So, that’s the materialistic business world we’re talking about.
 So, don’t you think that when, from my heart of hearts, I try my best to
 do my small part for the world, whatever that might be, God is going to
 support me, just as the boss supports his employee?” And I think it
 clicked for my dad at that point, and it was a nice turning point for him,
 as well, to realize that it’s much beyond the numbers game.

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<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">
 We have the full capacity to minimize,&nbsp;if not eradicate, 
 our suffering, but there are so many layers on us. 
 So, it was really an opportunity to find out 
 what’s creating the suffering and, in the process of service, 
 how I was going to touch upon these layers, one at a time.
</h4>
<hr />
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 It has been amazing, Vanessa, this journey of surrendering. As a human
 being and as a being full of ego, there are a lot of things that come up
 and it happens in phases. I’m much more grounded and connected to the
 Source during certain phases, and then I get karmically oriented, and I
 start doing projects and get caught up in the doing – even though it might
 be service, you’re still in this mindset of trying to account for
 something. Then I lose that stillness in me, which is the most important
 thing to me, the whole process. But I go back to “I’m not doing this to
 accomplish something, I’m doing this to purify my heart,” &nbsp;then it
 comes back.
 


 I’m on this journey with noble friends and family, who are walking this
 path together, not only to serve externally, but also purify internally.
 To me, that’s been the blessing on this path, and I couldn’t care less
 what I accomplish. If I die today, it would be feeling so humbled and
 blessed, crying tears of joy, and thanking God and all those people around
 for this journey that has unfolded.
 


 To be continued


 <a href="https://manavsadhna.org/">https://manavsadhna.org/</a> 
 <a href="https://www.emptyhandsmusic.org/"
 >https://www.emptyhandsmusic.org/</a
 > 
 <a href="https://gandhiashramsabarmati.org/"
 >https://gandhiashramsabarmati.org/</a
 >

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 class="lazyload w-100"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Simplicity_Colors_fe5a4b5f32.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T07:33:24.316Z"
 alt="Simplicity_Colors"
 />

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<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Interview by
 VANESSA PATEL 
 Photographs courtesy of NIMO PATEL
</h4>
<hr />

Service, simplicity, and songwriting - part 1

Service, simplicity, and songwriting - part 2

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Nina Rubinstein Alonso

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">NINA RUBINSTEIN ALONSO reminisces about the early days of Heartfulness in the West.</h4><hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Shahjahanpur, India</h4>I’d been in a gloomy mood when my husband Fernando suggested I try <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/on-meditation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meditation</a> with his friend Jim who lived nearby. He had been to India and met a guru named Babuji. From the first sitting I felt heart-connection. And I wondered where this had been all my life. But I still had questions, and wondered if the calm I felt meditating could be self-hypnosis or fantasy.To be certain, I had to travel to Shahjahanpur and meet Babuji. Fernando came, too, and we spent hours with Babuji every day, spiritual energy flowing in a loving, pure atmosphere. There were no charges, not even for our meals or our room at the ashram, donations optional. During evening meditation the hall doors stayed open and we heard birds chirping as they fluttered to their nests in a high corner, a reminder of the physical world.<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Dole, France</h4>Hundreds of people are in a huge tent. Chariji scans the crowd then says, “Please start meditation.” I’m deeply absorbed until I hear buzzing, not sure where it’s coming from, suddenly I hear a yelp as if someone got stung or scared by a bee. Then silence continues until Chariji says “That’s all,” ending the sitting. &nbsp;Not sure what happened, I opened my eyes and notice everyone seems fine. The bee, or whatever it was, has gone.<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Madras, India</h4><a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/heartful-village-life-rural-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Group meditation</a> is on the second floor of a building in Madras. We’re seated close together but it’s comfortable, and I’m grateful to be with Chariji though still jet-lagged and fuzzy-headed from hours of travel. Meditation is deep until hollering starts from the building next door, people yelling, then clattering and pounding. Later we learn the racket was from construction, but it didn’t matter as I was so deeply absorbed, noise was happening but it didn’t disturb.<hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/interruptions_in_meditation2_e0dc713b72.webp" alt="interruptions-in-meditation2.webp"></figure>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Manapakkam, India</h4>Years later, we’re at the Babuji Memorial Ashram in Manapakkam, thousands of people in the hall, just settling into meditation when a loud microphone-amplified voice from a mosque nearby starts calling people to prayer, chants repeating on and on. Doesn’t matter, as we’re in another realm, meditation unbroken. The thought arises that we’re all reaching for the divine by various routes, wish everyone accepted differences, didn’t argue, didn’t hate each other, didn’t attack and murder over divergent paths, leaders, histories.<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Copenhagen, Denmark and Munich, Germany&nbsp;</h4>For weeks we meditated with Babuji and Chariji in a large house in Copenhagen, then came by train to Munich. But this living room is small, latecomers are seated outside in the garden as the weather is mild. After an especially deep sitting Sonia and I are in a nearby restaurant when my heart starts beating so intensely I can’t eat. I ask a trainer what it means, but he’s not sure. I get a chance to ask Chariji, and he looks at me with a deep gaze then says that what I’m feeling is an overflow of love for the Master, beloved Babuji which resonates, feels true. After a few hours the intensity of the heartbeat softens. I always feel heart pangs during sittings, sense the flow of Transmission.&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/interruptions_in_meditation3_062182cbcd.webp" alt="interruptions-in-meditation3.webp"></figure>&nbsp;<hr>Paris, FranceWe’re at a university auditorium, and Babuji, elderly and frail, needs assistance walking to his chair on the right side of the stage. Chariji’s sitting in the center preparing to give the sitting when I see ripples of light moving through the air, visible waves of energy like ripples flowing from Babuji’s heart to Chariji, sense that these ribbons of heart light will be transmitted to us during the sitting. I close my eyes and the meditation is intense, so pure and absorbing that I forget what I saw before it started. I only remember those ripples of light years later during another meditation with Chariji, a glimpse of what’s being given to us.<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">My Ballet Studio, Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts</h4>We’ve been meditating here Sunday mornings for many years, a rectangular basement space set up for ballet, simple and quiet. A few arrive late, some leave early but meditation is undisturbed by mortal motions. When Covid hits in March 2020, I’m forced to close the studio after teaching there for twenty-six years.<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Lake View Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts</h4>Construction noise starts early, bulldozers hauling earth in the yard next door. Even after decades of meditation I feel intense emotions while dealing with problems I don’t know how to solve, fears about what’s next. I’m unsure how I'll maintain this house that’s in my name, partly because Fernando already owned another property, mostly because he’s generous and loving. But now he’s gravely ill with lung cancer, enduring years of chemo treatments, and I fear losing him.In 1985, Chariji visits and gives group sittings in our living room, but he notices my anxiety and gives me an individual sitting in my small upstairs meditation room. While walking outside I point out flowers called Forget Me Nots, and he says they’re spiritual reminders of constant remembrance. Later that afternoon he strolls down my driveway carrying a stack of pizzas as he heard that whoever was supposed to coordinate lunch for our Cambridge group forgot. Smiling with loving generosity, he hands each of us a slice.Before leaving he asks to meet my husband who’s been resting in bed all day, and Fernando agrees, slowly making his way downstairs. Chariji shakes his hand and thanks him for his hospitality, and I feel Transmission flowing with love and compassion. Fernando’s love and sensitivity brought me to meditation years earlier, and when he passed away the following year, &nbsp;July 1986, Chariji stayed in touch with me, told me to write, answered my letters with immense kindness and generosity. He told me that meditation sustains us, “change after change.” About the spectrum of human pain Babuji used to say, “So suffering.”A few years later, Chariji came to New York and we met at Kamlesh Patel’s home on Staten Island, the dear one we now call Daaji, guide of Heartfulness. A small group gathered around his dining room table then, but these days our numbers are enormous in Kanha Shanti Vanam and elsewhere as the Mission keeps growing.<hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/interruptions_in_meditation4b_9a2b299762.webp" alt="interruptions-in-meditation4b.webp"></figure>&nbsp;

Interruptions in meditation

Founder of ServiceSpace, Karma Kitchen, DailyGood and KindSpring, he successfully works to integrate the Gift Ecology, technology and volunteerism. He is recognized globally for creating a culture that brings harmony and inclusiveness.

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Nipun Mehta

Gift ecology

<h4>NIPUN MEHTA is one of the founders of ServiceSpace, Karma Kitchen, DailyGood, KindSpring and other organizations that successfully work within the Gift Ecology. From a young age, he was inspired by the need to serve others. Early role models like J. Krishnamurti, Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Goenka further fuelled that urge so that it has blossomed into a life of joyful, cheerful service. He was the recipient of the Dalai Lama’s Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award in 2014, and appointed to President Barack Obama’s Council on Poverty and Inequality in 2015. Here Nipun continues to explain the principles underlying the Gift Ecology to ELIZABETH DENLEY.</h4>Q: What happens in that dynamic of trust in relationships when people’s innate tendencies and fears surface? And of course they will, because we’re all human. We’re all carrying baggage from the past – culture, family, whatever – and these things arise. How do we deal with it?That’s why relationships are complicated. Anyone who has been in any relationship will tell you that it’s not so simple. It’s not like I give you five bucks, you give me the food and that’s the end of it. If I’m actually engaging with you in a multidimensional way, that’s going to evoke something – it may trigger me in certain ways. It may be much simpler and more convenient for me to not have that relationship and just engage in a transaction. So then why engage in relationships when it requires so much of me?Q: This is the critical question, Nipun, because this is at the root of so much that needs to change in our societies globally today. Not just in the West. It’s the same in India, and it’s the same in China. This is the million dollar question.Yes indeed.Q: How do we work with relationships? It’s not transactional in the sense that people are not doing something for money, and they’re not even doing something for recognition a lot of the time. The whole ethos of service, seva, is anonymity, humility, the Gandhi values etc. So how do we build this culture of trust without having transactions, without having carrots, if you like?<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nipun_mehta2_a6290a9527.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T06:14:55.643Z" alt="nipun-mehta2">It takes many inner capacities that we need to cultivate. And if we do cultivate those inner capacities, the reward is that we get a high bandwidth engagement with life. So then we may ask: What actually happens when I’m in a relationship and certain parts of the relationship are difficult? And I have to now deal with those difficult parts to get to the high bandwidth engagement with life. I need to grow in equanimity, I need to grow in tolerance, and I need to grow in patience.It’s much easier in a consumeristic mindset, where we think, “Hey, I want this, I want it now, and I want to get to the next thing.” And if we keep doing it, that consumerism is going to get us to a very cheap engagement with life. So how do we build the virtues that lead to a higher engagement with life? And as we inch towards that high engagement of life, what we understand is that it’s never been between us and the other person in a one-to-one way ever. It’s just that we have reduced it to that.One of my friends was in San Quentin prison with people who had committed at least one murder. They were in a circle and they were sharing. At one point my friend got a board and asked, “Can you tell me how long you’ve been in jail?” He started writing it down and everyone shared: 20 years, 40 years, 12 years, and so on. He added it up and it was something like 484 years. Then he created another column and asked, “How long was your moment of rage?” 2 minutes, 7 minutes, 40 minutes, 1 minute, and he added it up and said, “In this circle, for a couple of hours of rage we have spent hundreds of years in jail.”That kind of a mirroring created a very powerful vibe in the room. During the follow-up circle of sharing, one of the guys said, “You know what I think? Hurt people hurt people. A person is never negative to you in a one-to-one sort of way. Just as we pay forward kindness, we also pay forward negativity. We also pay forward selfishness.” So he said, “I hurt somebody because someone hurt me.” The circle continued, and a little bit later another member of the circle said, “I’d like to add to that. Hurt people hurt people, but I think healed people heal people.”<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">So when we look at relationships and the inconvenience of them, it is actually an invitation to grow in virtue, so that we’re able to go from that cheap bandwidth to a much deeper engagement in a much more multidimensional way. And if we do that, then in that field so much can grow, and in turn we can build trust in society.</h5><hr>So who do I have to be when I see somebody harming me? Who do I have to be to hold that whole lineage of conditions and have a big enough heart to say, “I will endure this and rebound it back with compassion.” The reward for that is not just that the other person might be healed in some way, but that you are graced with an incredibly high bandwidth engagement with the present moment.We saw people like Gandhi do exactly this. Godse put 3 bullets through him, and Gandhi’s response was, “Bless you, bless you, bless you.” He was not condoning the negative action, but rather he was saying, “I oppose the action, but you are much more than that action, and I love you.” That larger ‘you’.So when we look at relationships and the inconvenience of them, it is actually an invitation to grow in virtue, so that we’re able to go from that cheap bandwidth to a much deeper engagement in a much more multidimensional way.And if we do that, then in that field so much can grow, and in turn we can build trust in society.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nipun_mehta_381fdf86a8.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T06:15:55.703Z" alt="nipun-mehta">Q: So will this spread, do you think, to all the Afro-American kids who are in prison, all the Latino boys who are in prison? You know there is a lot of cultural divide, even in a wealthy country like the US. And I know there are people like the Greater Good Science team who are trying to address those social issues, because it isn’t an equal playing field either. So who is responsible for this?You and I! We can’t lose our agency through this process. Even with generosity – we tend to view generosity as a luxury sport. We say, “Look, if you accumulate like me and become very successful, then you can give.” But actually it’s not a luxury sport. Those who have the least end up giving the most.My wife and I were on a walking pilgrimage in 2005. We ate whatever food was offered and slept wherever place was offered, and those who had absolutely nothing would borrow food to feed us. We are wired to care, we are wired to give, we are wired to be related&nbsp;– and neuroscience now confirms all this. So we know that we want to do this, but we need spaces where we can explore it further. Of course it will take time. This isn’t a quick fix; it’s not going to happen overnight; .As you said, we have a lot of inequities. But fortunately, generosity, compassion, kindness are not reserved for those who have ‘made it’. There is no worthy destination until we arrive at acting with compassion in any moment&nbsp;– even if it’s silent, even if it’s a humble prayer. I have had homeless people on the streets start out by asking me for money, and by the end they offer me money. It’s not that I’m asking for money, but it’s just that they feel a kinship, they feel a brotherhood. And when you feel that brotherhood, you want to serve that brotherhood.So how do we tap into that kind of agency and trust the ripple effect? This is not going to happen overnight, because the problem was not created overnight. It took a long time. It’s just that we weren’t paying attention when it was drip by drip by drip. We were de-capacitating ourselves drip by drip by drip. And now, drip by drip by drip we have to turn it around.So if you ask, “What’s the quick fix solution?” I would say there isn’t any. And so you may ask, “Are you still committed to that? Are you committed to spread love, to do that small act of kindness, to plant that tree under whose shade you will never sit, whose blossoming you may never get to witness?” I’m willing to do that. It makes me come alive. I don’t need that immediate feedback loop. So if you and I are willing to step into the space, then I think that’s the start of the revolution.Q: Right. So what are the projects in your revolution at the moment? What’s happening and what’s going to happen? What’s your vision?So ServiceSpace is an incubator of many different projects. We have some that are online, like DailyGood and KarmaTube. These projects create online communities, spread inspiration. Some are offline, like Awakin Circles and Karma Kitchen. Some are in-between, like KindSpring, home of the Smile Cards, that create an online community, where people share stories, but the Smile Card act is actually in person, in offline space.So we have been creating this ecology of many different projects. But what binds all of them together is not the projects but the process. That process, for the entire ServiceSpace ecosystem includes an alignment with three basic building blocks:<ol><li>The first principle is that we’re volunteer run. When no one is paid, we are driven entirely by intrinsic motivations. Initially, that sounds cute, when you’re starting and you say, “We’re five volunteers.” But when you’re 500,000, the field of intelligence, that field of purely intrinsically motivated intelligence, is just profoundly different in its patterns of innovation.</li><li>The second principle is that we work with what we have. Not seeking or scheming. And the way it manifests concretely is that we never fundraise. We just say, “This is what we have,” so we work with what we have, which forces us to look at multiple forms of capit We’re no longer only thinking that money equals wealth; that is, we don’t think without money we can’t do anything. Quite the opposite. Money is one form of capital, but so is time, so is attention, so is technology, so are stories, cultures and so on. Our creative constraint invites us to engage with other forms of capital.</li><li>The third principle is that we focus on small, which means that we never say, “Go out and try to change the world.” We never design for that threshold of impact. And when you’re small, the onus is on you to be the change. You can’t say, “Oh, I’m trying to change this in this person.” You say, “Oh, am I being the change?” And if I’m being the change, am I growing in equanimity? Am I growing in tolerance? Am I growing in patience? Am I growing in compassion, generosity, and kindness? Am I manifesting that in every relationship? And am I then trusting the ripple effect of that, as opposed to trusting the ripple effect of the might of one’s organization?</li></ol><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nipun_mehta4_f0946607fc.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T06:16:32.444Z" alt="nipun-mehta4">So these creative constraints are what encompass the whole ServiceSpace ecosystem. So we have many projects, doing so many things and touching millions of people on a regular basis, but underneath them, the way I parse it is that it’s actually about the process underneath, which are these core values.Now, looking at the field, what is emerging right now?One thing that has recently emerged is this idea of a Laddership Circle. We talk about leadership, which is command and control, whereas laddership is about being in the back of the room, tuning into the myriad relationships that make up that community. And you change an ecosystem not by power, not by control, not by force and coercion, but actually by nudges, predicated on your capacity to know the interrelationships between everybody.For example, look at the way acupuncture works. If I have a neck ache, the acupuncturist may place a little pin on my arm – because the knee is connected to so many other parts and it creates this ripple effect that heals my neck. Similarly, we do that in a social context. It works in the same way, and it’s far less violent than other options.Then, the question is – how can we &nbsp;create a whole context, especially for young people, to hold all this, not as a leader, not as somebody who is mighty and centralized, but as a decentralized ecology that you hold with this kind of a heart? And that’s not something that is taught, and we don’t explore it. So we’ve started these Laddership Circles, which have been remarkable. We just had a Nobel Peace Laureate who joined one of these circles. They are peer-learning circles, so one person doesn’t teach another person. There are small groups of 6 to 8 folks, with 2 or 3 anchors who are just holding space on the side. And you’d be amazed how much we can learn from each other if get out of that hierarchical mindset.<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">How do you create a whole context, especially for young people, to hold all this, not as a leader, not as somebody who is mighty and centralized, but as a decentralized ecology that you hold with this kind of a heart?</h5><hr>Q: So it’s an enabling model.It’s a model for growth. It’s not a manufacturing model but a gardening model. It’s something that’s emergent.Another project, which isn’t released yet, but which I’m excited about, is actually creating an eBay-like space, where you can pay not just with financial capital but also with other forms of capital. So I knitted this beanie for the love of it, because I enjoy knitting. Now you may be able to pay and maybe I need to get some money out of it. But I may also be happy if you go out and do an act of kindness and share the story with me. Or if you donate money to another NGO and send me the receipt. Or if you meditate for an hour and send me a reflection. We all know we value these actions, but we have never connected people in that sort of a way. And why not?So I’m very excited about this idea. There was a monk who came out with a CD, and he came to us and we were talking about how he was going to distribute it. We said, “You know, instead of just putting a price tag and doing the regular kind of distribution, why don’t you give people the option to also do an act of kindness and send you the story?” And hundreds of people sent stories! Can you imagine being a producer of value, in that sense, and receiving payment in alternate forms of wealth? Sure, I am not denying the power of financial capital. We all need money to pay our rent and pay our bills and things like that. But at the same time we can’t just blindly be focused on it. We can’t discount the immensity of other forms of capital that satisfy us, that nourish us, and that actually are regenerative, that nourish the person who gives, that nourish the person who receives. So how do we create a platform to facilitate these kinds of connections in a many-to-many sort of a way? I am excited about that.Q: That’s a real gifting ecosystem.Yes. And isn’t it amazing that we have all these innovations and technologies and we don’t think about alternate capitals? It’s almost like back in the days when NBC, CBS, and other centralized TV stations were there doing the work, but none of them could come up with a YouTube, because they were so entrenched in that worldview.Similarly I think that this is the time when spiritual people really need to get active, and active people &nbsp;get spiritual. We’re in a time when that kind of intelligence needs to arise. The innovation that came from YouTube disintermediated the NBCs of the world, and we saw it happen across the board: CDs turned into iTunes, billboards turned into Google AdWords. But now how do we bring these spiritual qualities into greater circulation, leveraging modern technologies and their new possibilities? And I think that’s the potential of our times and the need of our times. If we don’t do that we are going to continue to strip down of what it means to be alive.Q: And if we do do it?If we do do it, then I think we’ll have a higher engagement with life and a lot of virtue will grow in the field of our relationships, of our deep relationships. And I’d rather see that kind of a world.Thank you.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Interviewed by ELIZABETH DENLEY</h4><hr>

Gift ecology - part 2

Many to many

Nirja Parikh

<h4
 id="h-nirja-parikh-is-a-pediatric-physical-therapist-an-ayurvedic-consultant-a-certified-yoga-instructor-and-a-bharatanatyam-dancer-she-shares-her-journey-of-how-scoliosis-impacted-her-dance-career-and-how-yoga-helped-her-body-heal-and-her-mind-persevere">
 NIRJA PARIKH is a pediatric physical
 therapist, an Ayurvedic consultant, a certified yoga instructor, and a Bharatanatyam dancer. She shares her
 journey of how scoliosis impacted her dance career, and how yoga helped her body heal and her mind
 persevere.</h4>



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Growing up in North Carolina, my talented mom taught me my first choreographed dance routines. I felt at ease when
 performing on stage and enjoyed dancing at various cultural events to Bollywood film songs.&nbsp;At 12, I started
 training in Bharatanatyam, a form of Indian classical dance, and by 16 I had transitioned to advanced training. I
 also joined ballet classes and eventually took a gap year in India after graduation, so that I could focus full-time
 on classical dance.



We all grow up having dreams and ambitions, but many of us never see them fulfilled. I did not want to look back and
 regret not having followed my instincts. As a child, I always enjoyed going to India, and dreamt of going back there
 to learn dance and explore my cultural roots. After college, I auditioned for a dance reality show called Dance
 India Dance. During the fifth round, one of the judges disqualified me when he observed my spine curvature.
 I’ll never forget his statement, “I do not think it is safe for you to continue, given the situation with your
 back.”&nbsp;



With that one statement my dreams fell apart. I came back to the US to get my back checked. I knew I had scoliosis
 (curvature of the spine), but I had never thought it would limit me physically. The judge was right: X-rays showed
 that the curvature of my spine had increased from 12 to 60 degrees, affecting my shoulder blades, rib alignment, and
 breathing. I was immediately taken into surgery, and with two rods, fourteen screws, and two weeks in hospital, my
 whole life changed.



After surgery, the orthopedic surgeon remarked, “Look at you! You’ll be able to do backflips now!” I would come to
 resent that statement, because I believed him. Spine mobility is critical for a dancer, and I later learned that I
 had limitations in extension, rotation, and side bending. I had to re-learn how to move my body in a new way, and
 that is how Yoga became a core part of my life.



I had learned Mala meditation, Sanskrit mantra recitation, and Pranayama breathing as a child. Revisiting
 these lesser-known parts of yoga helped me heal after surgery. Yoga saved my body, which at the time had limited
 motion. Yoga helped me appreciate my new movement patterns and allowed me to let go of my ahankar (ego). By
 not comparing my new body to my old one, I began to appreciate the present moment.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Nonetheless, it was a tough journey. It required turning away from media stimulation and focusing entirely on myself.
 With dedicated practice, I eventually felt like my atman (soul) was reborn into a new body, despite being
 only 22 at the time.&nbsp;What helped me most was the practice of Pratyahara, which involves meditating in
 isolation for a couple of hours. Pratyahara is considered the fifth of the eight limbs of yoga, and it
 allows us to calm the wandering mind and senses. Pratyahara helped me find calm, take control of my
 emotions, and improve my psychological immunity.



The more I learned about yoga, the more I realized that elements of it had been instilled in me since adolescence,
 without the label. For example, I regularly attended Swadhyaya every Sunday, in which we studied the
 eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, recited Sanskrit slokas, prayed, fasted, and maintained a
 sattvik diet.&nbsp;This facilitated my journey to becoming a yoga instructor, because I was already so
 connected to the spiritual roots of yoga.



But I was intimidated by the other instructors when I first started teaching yoga at the local gym. The other
 instructors could handle the physically-taxing poses. To fit in, I molded myself into the Yoga costume, purchasing
 expensive leggings and accessories from popular athleisure brands. Despite my attempt to fit in and demonstrate my
 qualifications, I still felt unsettled, and at times humiliated and belittled. For example, I would hear the other
 instructors make comments like, “I’d love to go to India to practice yoga, but it’s so dirty.”



After finishing a Yoga Teacher (YTT-200) certification in 2016, I started applying for jobs. I was repeatedly not
 selected, despite having a multi-dimensional understanding of yoga.&nbsp;I realized it was because most studios
 cared only about my appearance and ability to handle physically-taxing poses, a symptom of how the West has
 glamorized the physical positions of yoga and the multi-billion dollar “athleisure” industry behind it. In
 subsequent years, I learned how culturally appropriated Yoga was in modern-day society. This fueled my passion to
 educate people on the true roots of yoga.



I am optimistic that change is coming in the yoga industry. I have been inspired by a small group of masters who are
 finally speaking out about this, and are being heard. As I hone my practice, I have started incorporating elements
 of the yogic culture, including Sanskrit chants. I recently began studying the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, and the
 Yoga Sutras in depth. Rather than treating yoga just as a profession, I consider it a lifestyle. I try to instill
 yoga into every part of my life – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.



Yoga is a gift. It is a journey and a way of life that enables people of all races, religions, and body types to
 reach their potential, physically and spiritually.



I thank yoga for connecting me with my cultural roots, for making me stronger physically, and for giving me an avenue
 to cope with stress.&nbsp;



<hr class="vertical-space1">

Yoga helped me heal

Niroop owns and runs the restaurant 615chutney in Nashville, Tennesee. 615chutney started off as the only Indian food truck serving vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free South Indian food. His goal has always been to bring South Indian cuisine to the US.&nbsp;

niroop-prabhakar.webp

Niroop Prabhakar

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">NIROOP PRABHAKAR owns and runs the restaurant 615chutney in Nashville, Tennessee. 615chutney started as the only Indian food truck serving vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free South Indian food. Niroop’s goal was to bring South Indian cuisine to the US. He believes that customer service is the key. The voices of his customers and employees matter to him. Here he is interviewed by the Heartfulness Wellness Team.</h4>&nbsp;Q: Can you please share your journey from India to the US and how you started 615chutney?NP: My dad used to say, you can live without anything else but you cannot live without food. That inspired me to get into this noble art of serving food and making good food accessible to everybody. The journey of my food business started with meeting family, eating food like a feast, and sharing love and affection with all mycousins, uncles and aunts.At the end of the day, I wanted to make sure that food was being served with love and the hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day. I was born and raised in Tamil Nadu, then moved to the US in 2008, and ended up in Tennessee. Both states have the initials TN. Well, 615chutney was born.&nbsp;The main goal is to give authentic South Indian food to the southern part of the country, and give it in a special way with good customer service. I empathize with my customers and make sure that my employees are happy when they’re serving the food.Q:&nbsp;The way you connect with your customers through your service is fascinating. What is the reason for reducing the number of seats in your restaurant?NP: Initially, the business started as a food truck and I was serving vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food which is nothing but the basics of South Indian cuisine—idli, dosa, vada, and pongal.With gluten-free being the future of food, I was able to align my products with whatever the customers wanted. In 2019, we started a brick-and-mortar setup. In a couple of years, the area was hit by a tornado, then Covid-19.Covid helped us think out of the box. I moved to a different location and reduced the number of seats, making sure I accommodated as many guests as possible but at the same time allowing time to talk to everybody individually.Business is all about relationships, and when it comes to the food business, hospitality is key. In Tamil we say “Virunthombal”and hospitality is in our DNA in the south of India. In the south of the United States, I feel at home just by giving southern hospitality. Of late, hospitality has become zero in the Hospitality industry. We have to revive that.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/serving_smiles2_9b45bef70f.webp" alt="serving-smiles2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_serving_smiles2_9b45bef70f.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_serving_smiles2_9b45bef70f.webp 800w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/serving_smiles2_9b45bef70f.webp 800w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;There's a reason why I connect with the guests who eat in my restaurant. Reducing the seats has given me ample time to talk to everybody individually. Yes, it’s difficult to remember a person by his or her name, but every employee of my restaurant knows every customer, and we believe that every customer is a celebrity.Everybody is treated equally and everybody eats the same food.&nbsp;The goal for 615chutney was to make sure that everybody has access to good food served with love.&nbsp;Q:&nbsp;Beautiful concept! As we say in Indian culture, “Atithi devo bhava,” we have to give from our hearts. Once in the Nashville Voyager magazine, you mentioned, “Do good as much as you can. If you can’t do good then at least don’t do bad.” What inspired you to say that?NP: My dad always said it. I don’t know for what reason, but it went deep into my heart. With anything I do, I make sure there is a good outcome.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/serving_smiles3_66daa9d525.webp" alt="serving-smiles3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_serving_smiles3_66daa9d525.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_serving_smiles3_66daa9d525.webp 670w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/serving_smiles3_66daa9d525.webp 670w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Everybody has different circumstances, everybody cannot be in the same situation as you are in. My dad was a banker, and he used one word a lot—empathize. Put yourself in their shoes and see what they are going through.Despite what they are going through, they have taken the time to drive to your restaurant. They’ve looked at your restaurant at least ten times. They have heard about you and they’ve seen your pictures, and when you’re giving food that they can cook at home, what makes your restaurant stand out? What makes your food different? So that is when I realized that customer service is key. Whoever comes, whatever situation they are in, make sure that you do your best and make sure that they eat, have a good time, and spend their time with a smile.For this, we need good ingredients, good chefs, and a good environment for employees to work in. It is not easy to source great ingredients, and sometimes your chef is upset. Sometimes a customer thinks the food is spicy, and when the food comes back to the kitchen the chef should make sure he says,“I'm sorry, let me make another one for them.”That’s what it is.It's all about giving and taking. When my dad said “Do as much good as you can and if you cannot do good then don’t do bad,” it is only this. When the food is sent back to the kitchen, my chef can be upset saying, “Come on this is not even spicy for me. Why are they doing it?” but any wrong that happens has to be fixed right away. It’s like a game where everybody wants to win, but no one wins when you don’t empathize.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">When you give food,&nbsp; give it from your heart.</h4><hr>Q:&nbsp;Talking about ingredients, running a restaurant for the masses is a challenging task. How do you maintain your food supply chain?NP: The sourcing of ingredients is directly from India. Also, I’ve found an importer in Atlanta that guarantees the ingredients will be here within a month. When the ingredients are fresh, it shows in the food, whether you are at home or in a restaurant. If the ingredients are fresh, the food is eaten.Then comes the chef's cooking with love. Our job is to make sure that everybody who is working is happy and is enjoying what they do. When you love what you do then you will end up doing what you love. When this happens, an employer or manager will be excited saying,“My guests are enjoying the food! My chefs are cooking better food! What is the point of me having a long face?”&nbsp;What I’m trying to say is: when you give food, give it from your heart.Every guest or patron is not a dollar sign. They are your family. Food is one way you can connect to somebody, make them laugh, feel happy and light.Then, when they walk out of your restaurant, they will talk about the entire experience, not just the food, or the waiter, or the robot that serves food in my restaurant. The pandemic helped us think out of the box, so I added the robot!&nbsp;Q:&nbsp; That’s amazing. Before we wrap, what is the one thing that you would like to share with our readers as a takeaway?NP: Making sure food is available to everybody. There is no point saying, “This is good food, so I have to charge that extra dollar.” It’s all about quality and quantity, not just quantity and price. We need to make food available and accessible, and not charge extra for good food.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM&nbsp;</h4><hr>

Serving smiles: from heart to table

Nitin is the Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa business area of Serge Ferrari. Based in Singapore, he is also a family man and is actively involved in Heartfulness activities in SE Asia. Nitin has been a Heartfulness practitioner for almost 20 years and a certified trainer for 16 years.

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Nitin Govila

<hr><h4>Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific, Middle-East and Africa business area for Serge Ferrari, NITIN GOVILA is constantly on the move. But despite very busy days he finds time to recharge his batteries to be in tune with himself. His secret? For 19 years now he’s been meditating as an integral part of his life.</h4><hr><h4><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Nitingovila_73ce7c67c3.jpg"></h4>After having collaborated for seven years with a French roofing company, Nitin joined Serge Ferrari in 2016, a choice that reflects his desire to meet new challenges in a more extensive geographical area. “Serge Ferrari stands out by their ability to be active in many market segments and have a desire to function as a local company in the countries where they are established. The Group takes on more and more local people to deal with markets that vary from country to country. The scope covered by the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa business area means we rub shoulders and deal with various cultures that lead us to aim at both multiple and unique market segments. Such diversity makes work both very interesting and very demanding,” he explains.His first meditation experience dates back to 1998 when one of his sales managers at that time raised his awareness and introduced him to Heartfulness Meditation. This was a discovery that did not occur without questions. “It took me a certain time and understanding to plunge into the first meditation session but I’ve never regretted making that choice because it turned out to be a very good way to find a balance between my working life and my personal life,” says Nitin.Heartfulness Meditation began in India, and is now practiced in over 130 countries around the world. It is a silent meditation with attention centered on the heart, and it can be practiced anywhere, without excessive requirements. “There is no dress code, nor a position to respect; just close your eyes and direct your attention to your heart. You can meditate anywhere, at any time, even in a noisy environment, in a plane, in a train, or in the office – whenever you have a moment to spare. Depending how much time you have, you can meditate for a short period of 20 or 30 minutes, or for an hour. It doesn’t matter where or how long, it all depends on your willpower,” explains Nitin.&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">Meditation provides inner peace that ultimately reflects — consciously or not — outwards and is part of our ability to interact with our environment. Meditation improves our concentration. You can really manage to concentrate when your mind is not disturbed.</h5>&nbsp;<hr>As for taking an hour or more each day to meditate, he adds: “Instead of thinking we must take so much time to meditate, we need to reverse the perspective. Meditating enables us to have more time, inasmuch as a mind that has meditated allows us to do everything more efficiently.”During those 19 years of regular practice Nitin has observed many benefits: “Meditation provides inner peace that ultimately reflects — consciously or not — outwards and is part of our ability to interact with our environment. Meditation improves our concentration. You can really manage to concentrate when your mind is not disturbed. In that respect there is also some serious reasoning to integrate: if meditation is introspective and initially requires effort, we don’t concentrate in order to meditate but we meditate to develop the ability to concentrate. At Serge Ferrari, I have considerable responsibilities and so my meditation helps me face up to any problem or react to challenges in that context. That’s one of the reasons why I continue with Heartfulness Meditation. And today I cannot do without it.”&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">At Serge Ferrari, I have considerable responsibilities and so my meditation helps me face up to any problem or react to challenges in that context. That’s one of the reasons why I continue with Heartfulness Meditation. And today I cannot do without it.</h5>&nbsp;<hr>In 2001, Nitin became a life coach (trainer) for Heartfulness Meditation. In his spare time he accompanies people to discover meditation by giving them some keys to learning. Voluntary coaching satisfies a desire to share with others what he sees as freely accessible kindness. “No money interest motivated that choice. I simply want to exchange with people who would like to understand better what they practice,” he explains. “Briefly, as you will have understood, everyone who feels the need can start and use it. All Heartfulness Meditation coaches are volunteers. Likewise, being a coach has no hierarchical notion. Those who practice are asked to meditate at their own pace and conveniece of time; we lead them all to evolve at their own pace, depending on their own feelings. When I speak for the first time with a beginner, I tell him, ‘You only need only one thing – your willpower.’”In short, you can understand that all who feel the need are capable of meditating. There’s no particular esoteric need or initiation rite liable to stir up skepticism. It’s sufficient to want and be ready to dive deep into yourself.<hr>Reprinted with permission from Serge Ferrari’s internal magazine, Zebu, printed in English, French and German.<hr>

With peace on his shoulders

A lifelong writer, Noelle is also a mainstream and academic editor, writing coach, and spiritual counselor, with many publications, including articles in Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation (Rowman &amp; Littlefield, 2015) and Trust Your Life (Unity Books, 2011). She is grateful for the gifts to share and apply spiritual principles.&nbsp;

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Noelle Sterne

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">NOELLE STERNE tackles the most uncomfortable of emotions, envy and jealousy, and how competition with others can either cripple us or force us to try a more positive and enlightened approach.&nbsp;</h4>For me, competition takes the form of predictable pangs of envy seeing the high school science nerd who sat in the back getting a MacArthur Fellowship. Or my friend marrying a billionaire tech mogul. Or a book club member whose novel never seemed to be finished landing a contract with a major publisher. Or, as I was working on this article, a novelist who has written 14 Course in Miracles bestsellers, publishes in the top magazines, and appears on many television shows.&nbsp;In a Unity booklet, 40 Days of Letting Go: Lent 2023, the Reverend Cylvia Hayes describes those envious feelings perfectly: “Competitiveness keeps us focused on who we think we’re supposed to be rather than celebrating who we already are… our sense of worth on a comparison with others’ accomplishments, rather than truly appreciating our own unique talents, traits, gifts, and expressions.”Much as I try distractions, the comparisons and pangs sit heavy on my heart, coloring everything—the wonderful pasta meal, the delicious nap, the invigorating swim. I repeatedly tell myself that the successes of others don’t have to affect mine, but I’m never convinced. Soon the pangs spread and become full-blown depression. &nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Strategies</h4>I’ve tried many tactics to dilute the depression. Console myself with the nerd’s lack of a significant relationship (in contrast to my longstanding one). My girlfriend’s losing battle with weight (in contrast to my slimming down and keeping down). The book club member’s frizzy hair (in contrast to my sleek pixie). The multi-novelist’s penchant for formularized paranormal romance, which I’d never do. But, at best, these are band-aids. I immerse myself in my writing, attempting to block out everything else. But soon my plaguing inner editor rears up: This is garbage. Throw it out. You’ll never get anywhere.I go out with friends. Or watch a string of rom-coms or lawyer shows while decimating a whole bag of corn chips. Or sleep too much.None of it works. The feelings can’t be covered, substituted, or held at bay for long. I’ve tried to block them out with whatever method, and I feel no better. And then they spiral into a fireworks of fervent vindictive wishes (the nerd’s latest invention blows up, my girlfriend gains so much weight she can hardly walk, the book club member fails to deliver her manuscript on time and her contract is cancelled, the novelist’s next one is a turkey).I really hate myself for those malevolent wishes of my small mind, ungenerous spirit, and cruelty I didn’t know I was capable of.So, what to do?<h4 style="text-align:justify;">How to counter the cruel competitive feelings?</h4>I’ve learned to turn away from the thoughts that lead to those competitive and depressive feelings. My methods of spiritual reading and meditation may not be for you, but I’ve found them supremely helpful, and you might want to test them out.&nbsp;Turning away is hard when the anguish seems to have me enslaved. If I’m successful, turning away is only half the remedy. It may weaken the intensity and the hold those feelings have on me, but more is needed.&nbsp;Thoughts trigger feelings, and I remind myself that I have the mental capacity and will to change my thoughts. The remedy, again not easy, is consciously to substitute other thoughts.&nbsp;I discovered a Bible passage that became the perfect substitute for my teeth-gnashing envy. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the fledging church at Corinth, Greece, about their conflicts with leadership and personalities. As with many of Paul’s letters, he supports and encourages the members, urges them to solve their disagreements, and always reminds them of the supremacy of God.&nbsp;In the passage that struck me (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11), Paul addresses the erroneous idea that one person’s “gift” is better than another’s. It also resonates down the ages with a priceless lesson, especially when that ol’ devil competition rears up.Appropriate to the culture and time, Paul enumerates gifts each person is given—wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of different tongues, speaking in tongues and interpreting them, and the crowning conclusion:All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines (1 Cor. 12:11).Although Paul’s examples of “gifts” may differ from the ones we covet today, his insights apply. For me, it’s the talents and successes of novelists. For my obese girlfriend, it may be the diet and willpower of an impossibly slender model. For my book club colleague, it may be the perseverance of another author whose books make it into movies. For the paranormal romance novelist, it may be writing a wholly realistic novel.&nbsp;Yet, who is to say that an author has more gifts to share than an airport attendant, a senator than a sanitation worker, a physicist than a plumber?Some of the gifts may seem more important, more contributory. But again, who is to say that the sanitation worker isn’t providing daily blessings to everyone in the neighborhood? A Course in Miracles reiterates Paul: “Love makes no comparisons.”&nbsp;I invite you to think of your own gifts and whom they bless.In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron comments that competition and jealousy are “always a mask for fear: fear that we aren’t able to get what we want; frustration that somebody else seems to be getting what is rightfully ours even if we are too frightened to reach for it.”&nbsp;Cameron says that competition is a “spiritual drug.” We focus on the wrong thing, on them and their accomplishments, instead of our own work. Her solution is to “go within,” to what “our inner guidance is nudging us toward.” As we turn within, our own work rises up to greet us, we get excited about it (at least a little), and become engrossed in it rather than bemoaning our ill luck in the wake of another person’s successes.If you’re jealous of a friend who writes good crime novels, Cameron says, “Try writing one.” For me, with gnawing jealousy of the novelists, the answer is to finish my damn novel and start sending it out. Cameron is also reassuring, obliquely echoing Paul: “The truth… is that there is room for all of us.”&nbsp;In addition to her sage advice, I’ve found another antidote for that insidious poisonous devil competition: gratitude—to recognize my gifts and be constantly thankful for them. Every time the devil threatens, I turn away and instead say to Him, “Thank You for what I have and can give.” It works.Paul offers more: Each of us is given gifts or desires “as He determines.” Therefore, should we not thank Him for His particular gifts to us and the many opportunities—places, people, situations—to use them? Yes.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/devil_competition2_977b3e17d6.webp" alt="devil-competition2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_devil_competition2_977b3e17d6.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_devil_competition2_977b3e17d6.webp 381w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/devil_competition2_977b3e17d6.webp 381w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;And should we not develop and use them to our utmost? Yes.He has given us gifts according to our capacities for our own and others’ good. Should we not express gratitude? Yes.Reminders such as these show me how to stop fueling the competition engine that erodes my writing, my desire to contribute, and my enjoyment of life. The engine sputters to a stop. With a grateful heart, I return to my work.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Thoughts trigger feelings, and I remind myself that I have the mental capacity and will to change my thoughts. The remedy, again not easy, is consciously to substitute other thoughts.&nbsp;</h4><hr>

That ol’ devil competition

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Norman Vincent Peale

Choose Joy

NSN is founder and CEO at Sensei Technologies. He has been practicing Heartfulness meditation for 20+ years and is deeply interested in the science of spirituality, software architecture & design philosophies. He also works with Brighter Minds to develop tools and techniques to enhance cognitive skills, especially for children.

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NS Nagaraja

<h4>N.S. NAGARAJA writes about sleep, dreams, cartoon heroes, near death experiences, twisting space and possibilities. What can our senses really tell us about the world around us and inside us?</h4>

Yes, I should have just slept that night. I was half asleep and ready to rest. The inseparable, my phone, caught my attention, and so I checked one last time for the day. There was a message from an old school mate, and it said a thing or two, ending with, “On matters of God, I am undecided.” I stared at it for some time not knowing how or what to say.

This spiritual field of feelings is not easy to explain to the intellectual mind. I felt, “Intellect of this kind could be considered as a state of ignorance for the other kind!” In the same half asleep, I happened to read a short article on Near Death Experiences, which said that NDE research is only records of the experiences of people who went through it, and that is not scientific enough. It said that NDE could simply be a neurobiological condition produced under low oxygen levels in the brain, leading to hallucination. How convincing (not)!

I thought, “Less oxygen leads one to biological death, is it not?” But this particular article was trying to convince us that one day science will be able to show that NDE is a creation of the brain and there will be methods to simulate that condition in the brain. Long ago, when I started meditation, I used to think that meditation could just be triggering a chemical change in the brain. Subsequently, my brain allowed for many possibilities and helped me transcend the trap of theories so that I could explore reality with an open mind. The same questions, time and again, cross many minds. Now it was surely time to sleep.

I slipped into sleep with some sort of awareness. Of course it was not a NDE for sure! Now I was in a dreamy state in which there was an idea: what if, now, at this moment, the physical space around me has another dimension? ...

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<h4 class="text-center">Article by N.S. NAGARAJA</h4>
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When I was half asleep

<hr><h4>NS NAGARAJA presents to us an index of some theories of consciousness that have been put forward in the fields of philosophy, science and spirituality. They are not the only theories, but they do awaken the curiosity to discover more!</h4><hr>‘In Search of Consciousness’ is a nicer title than the article itself, and you will find out soon enough! This topic is all about a self in search of itself. For what purpose? When the finder finds oneself, who will know the answer? The finder or the found? Sometimes philosophy sounds like this, doesn’t it! The purpose of this article is to capture key ideas about consciousness from the perspectives of philosophy, spirituality and science, and to motivate you to Google more – this is certainly not an exhaustive list. Not only that, this indexing type of article may encourage you to search, think and tinker with consciousness itself!<h4>What is consciousness?</h4>Let us start with a simple definition by Dr Christoff Koch: “Consciousness is everything that we experience.”We have a physical body that performs many functions. Likewise, we all have, “Something in us that makes awareness or perception possible.” We know the simple sensory inputs of smell, taste, sight, touch and sound, which generate rich inner experience. The inner experience can be joy, pain or complex imagination, and so on.Is the experience a physical phenomenon, arising out of complex information processing in the brain? Or is it a non-physical phenomenon associated with constructs like the soul or the self, or some universal field of energy?Some philosophers consider experience as the hard problem of consciousness. Some scientists argue that once we understand how it works, it will be yet another physical process. This article will list some of the key intuitive approaches (spiritual approaches) and more mechanistic approaches to consciousness.<h4>Theories of Consciousness</h4><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/buddha_ee8681b1fa.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"><h5 style="text-align:center;">The Buddhist concept</h5>Way back in 400 BC, Buddhist philosophy proposed that consciousness is the life force that continues across rebirths, and also posited that there are 9 levels of consciousness:Levels 1 to 5 arise out of the five senses: eyes – sight, nose – smell, ears – hearing, tongue – taste, and body – touch;Level 6 is the mind consciousness related to ideas and thoughts;Level 7 is the inner life that creates the sense of self and is associated with emotions and attitude;Level 8 is the subconscious, the repository of all karmic effects, that lives beyond this life; andLevel 9 is pure consciousness – a life force that creates complete harmony of the internal and external, and a sense of connectedness or oneness.Buddhism provides a set of practices to expand or deepen consciousness through meditation and contemplation.&nbsp;<hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/plato_4882bd57bd.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"><h5 style="text-align:center;">Plato</h5>Around the same period, Plato theorized that the mind receives information through senses, and the soul uses this information to create form and perception.The allegory of Plato’s Cave is a simple thought experiment that gives interesting insights on how Plato viewed the problem of perception. Aristotle, who was Plato’s disciple, argued that the soul is seated in the heart and is the principal power by which life itself happens. Aristotle seemed to imply that consciousness is the property of the soul itself.&nbsp;<hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Integrated_information_theory_12c9539661.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"><h5 style="text-align:center;">Integrated Information Theory and Consciousness Meter</h5>Many scientists have tried to derive an understanding of consciousness by starting with the laws of physics, and therelationship between consciousness and the brain is still a subject of deep research. On the other hand, Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is a body of research that seeks to explain consciousness by first accepting its existence, and then reasoning about what sort of physical entity could manifest consciousness.IIT was first proposed by Giulio Tononi in 2004 and has since undergone many improvements. Some characteristics it attributes to consciousness are:It exhibits composition where there are distinct elements in it that are part of the experience.Each experience is distinct and differentiated from other experiences in the past or future.It is unified and it cannot be reduced to smaller experiences of phenomena inside it.IIT lays down certain postulates on what a physical entity like the brain that manifests consciousness needs to have. It should have cause-effect power, meaning it can influence other entities and can be influenced by other entities.IIT also gives an account of why conscious brains might have evolved: brains that reflect the causal structure of their environment in their internal causal structure can adapt better.IIT lays down facts about relationship between the brain and consciousness as well as providing certain inferences and extrapolations about consciousness. For example, the cerebral cortex is more likely to manifest consciousness than the cerebellum, because the neurons in the cerebral cortex can form a complex large enough for consciousness whereas the neurons in the cerebellum do not.IIT also predicts that experiences can be had even when the cerebral cortex is silent, like in states of meditation. This body of knowledge has become an important step in advancing our understanding of consciousness.Tononi and team have developed a tool to measure the consciousness level of a person. The Zap and Zip Technique involves sending an intense magnetic pulse through the skull and recording the induced electrical flow in the neuronal networks. A simple algorithm is then used to compute the complexity of brain activity. When tested on normal people, people under the influence of anesthesia, and people in a comatose state, the values obtained have consistently shown that it is possible to quantify and determine whether someone is conscious or not. Further research might help us understand how widespread consciousness is in nature.&nbsp;<hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/tunnel_ba5a6d4163.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"><h5 style="text-align:center;">Global Workspace Theory</h5>Imagine you are seated in a theater, looking at the stage. On stage there are many actors, objects, the backdrop, movement, colors and sound. Now imagine a spotlight focused only on one actor and his actions. Everything else is still there, but it is not the focus. The director, technicians, audience and all other activities have slipped into the background and the spotlight highlights the one actor and his movement as the main focus. All the complex co-ordination, support and direction processes are all hidden. The conscious part is seen by the audience, directed by the spotlight. Hold on to this idea.Now think that the whole brain is a theater, with many parts of the brain performing various functions. Now assume that our focus (spotlight) is on some set of thoughts or experiences; our conscious awareness is mainly on one thing, and all others are in the background. Global Workspace Theory proposes that all sensory and other inputs are communicated to all cognitive functional components of the brain. The conscious experience is generated as a result of some focused neuronal activities, and many others are hidden in the background to support this. According to GWT, consciousness in an integrative function of the brain to generate the rich experience. Bernard Baars is the architect of this theory, which provides an interesting perspective to origins of consciousness.&nbsp;<hr><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/neurons_4172bde57f.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"></h4><h5 style="text-align:center;">Orchestrated Objective Reduction – the Quantum View</h5>Many scientists have constructed new theories to explain consciousness. Karl Pribam, David Bohm and many others have believed that classical mechanics is not sufficient to explain the phenomenon of consciousness. They propose that the quantum mechanical phenomenon, the entanglement and superposition, may play a role in brain functioning and, in some way, provide the basis for conscious experience.Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff have been working since the early ’90s on a theory of consciousness known as Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR or OOR). OOR is a new effort to bring physics and neuroscience together to explain how the brain may be involved in the process of consciousness. The fundamental hypothesis is that the neurons have molecular structures (microtubules), which can potentially support quantum processes. This theory argues that consciousness is not because of some complex processing in the brain, but instead it is because of quantum processes inside neurons. Such a possibility in theory opens up large scale information processing, and even takes perception beyond the individual into the realm of a connected universal field. There seems to be some early evidence to prove the existence of quantum activity in brain cells.&nbsp;<hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/body_points_eb7a325f26.jpg" alt="in-search-of-consciousness"><h5 style="text-align:center;">Subtle Body Approach – Energy Field</h5>In the Heartfulness philosophy, consciousness is seen as the integrated field of the subtle body, which has a spectrum consisting of the subconscious, conscious and superconscious. The expansion of consciousness from the current level of a person to the depths of the subconscious and the heights of the superconscious is known as spiritual evolution. And this evolution continues beyond the consciousness spectrum. Daaji has written extensively on the spiritual anatomy of the chakras, the subtle bodies and consciousness. Daaji’s integrative approach provides simplified and rich information, and many new insights for all who want to dive deeper in the mysteries of consciousness.In search of consciousness, outwardly, will give you lots of theories. In search of consciousness inwardly, what will you get?Deep within it is bliss; high above it is oneness.Transcending consciousness; what lies beyond?<hr><code>References:</code> <code>Integrated information theory, </code><a href="http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Integrated_ information_theory"><code>http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Integrated_ information_theory</code><code>&nbsp;</code></a> <code>Integrated information theory: from consciousness to its physical substrate, </code><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn.2016.44"><code>https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn.2016.44</code></a><hr>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by NS NAGARAJA</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

In search of consciousness

<h4>NS NAGARAJA shares some thoughts on the science of peace.</h4><hr>Peace is something everybody wants. Perhaps it is one of the top ten highly prized items! What is this peace?Peace is “freedom from disturbance.” A disturbed state comes when there is disruption from normal and steady functioning. This applies to an individual inside, as well as to a community, a state or a country. By the time I finished writing this line, almost accidentally I read something about T. S. Elliot’s The Waste Land. I was sure that I would not be able to read and understand 434 lines of poetry, but I wanted to check what it was about. The ending caught my attention: “Shantih shantih shantih.”. I was not interested in The Waste Land any more, but in the person who wrote it, and what made him write “Peace, peace, peace” at the end. He must be a noble soul.The Nobel prizewinner had a great amount of disturbance in his personal life. It pushed him to create great literary works like The Waste Land that left a yearning with the signature saying, “We want peace, peace and peace.” Elliot moved on from The Waste Land and produced other great works, perhaps in the state of peace.This led me to explore more of the science of peace. The first reference I came across is from the field of practical philosophy taught in the Upanishads. I must warn you that I know very little about the Upanishads, but they talk about Tapa trayas, the three kinds of troubles (I had a lot of them!) and how to resolve them and achieve peace. Adi bhautika (physical realm) troubles arise out of external circumstances, Adi daivika (divine realm) troubles arise out of karmic laws and Adhyaatmika troubles arise out of one’s own self – body and mind.The Upanishads preach that shanti mantras (prayers for peace) can bring the troubled individual out of this troubled condition. Now my curiosity started growing. We all know that a particular state of being embodies a certain level of consciousness, but that itself is a knowledge and we may not have of full understanding of it. In the ancient teachings, mantras were used to invoke certain knowledge and a condition in the person reciting them, whereas repeating them mechanically is a ritualistic act with little or no results.&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/peace_from_the_waste_land_other_realms_1_img_bf1ec4f39c.jpg">&nbsp;Here are some of these prayers called shanti mantras.One from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:Aum! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe), It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone. Aum! Peace! Peace! Peace!This evokes a sense of the vastness of existence. The “I” is part of such infinity. Moving the mind in this thought itself can be elevating. Attaching the mind to that higher ideal, that Reality, even if it is temporary, will produce corresponding vibrations and feelings.This one from the Taittiriya Upanishad brings a simple idea of togetherness. If we truly immerse our minds in the meaning, will we not start caring about our co-travelers?Aum! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together; May we work conjointly with great energy, May our study be vigorous and effective; May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any). Aum! Let there be peace in me! Let there be peace in my environment! Let there be peace in the forces that act on me!&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/peace_from_the_waste_land_other_realms_2_img_ae4136f5d7.jpg">&nbsp;The following shanti mantra from the Aitareya Upanishad is about integrity and being truthful:Aum! May my speech be in accord with my mind; May my mind be in accord with speech. O Self-effulgent One, reveal Thyself to me. May you both (speech and mind) be the carriers of the Veda to me. May all that I have heard not depart from me. I shall join together day And night through this study. I shall utter what is verbally true; I shall utter what is mentally true. May That (Brahman) protect me; May That protect the speaker (i.e. the teacher), may That protect me; May That protect the speaker – may That protect the speaker. Aum! Peace! Peace! Peace! Lead us from the unreal to the real Lead us from darkness to light Lead us from death to immortality Aum! Peace! Peace! PeaceNow, can all this knowledge and understanding of peace come without truly being in that state of being, that spiritual condition? Ponder over it.Let the spiritual condition create the necessary awareness and knowledge in us. If pursued under proper guidance and with the help of Yogic Transmission, meditation can truly create that spiritual condition in us. Let peace not remain as knowledge or definition. Let it be the foundation of our existence and help us launch our consciousness into a realm yet to be known.&nbsp;

Peace from "The Waste Land" and other realms

<h4>N.S. NAGARAJA introduces the methods and practices of Brighter Minds, which help children develop cognitive and intuitive abilities and confidence. It is a difference approach to education that opens the heart.&nbsp;</h4><hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice. –Brian Herbert</h4><hr>Can we improve all three? How much of learning is predetermined and how much can be molded? What really goes on in the brain when we are learning something? Do we have tools and methods to continually enhance learning effectiveness and experience?We have been exploring these questions at Brighter Minds. Recent advances in the field of neurosciences, particularly in brain neuroplasticity, suggest that learning is continuously possible. The process of learning is an outcome of the connections and re-connections among the 80 billion neurons that make up the human brain, with each cell having a potential to make several thousand connections with other cells.Learning in a way is directly proportional to the number of connections possible in a person’s brain. Scientists have observed that the connections start happening soon after birth. Initially they happen at the rapid pace of 2 million connections per second, so that by the age of two the brain has made over a trillion connections. After that the connections start pruning, particularly those that are not used, and by the age of 12 years 50% of connections are lost. So the exposure that the child has between the ages of 2 and 12 decides how much of the brain stays wired. And this determines the extent of learning that is possible.It also tells us that this age group needs attention. Recent evidence indicates that appropriate tools and training in a conducive environment can stimulate neuroplasticity in the brains during this age and beyond.Inspired by the vision of creating a brighter world for tomorrow and taking cues from the latest advances in neurosciences, the Brighter Minds team developed an innovative cognitive training program for children. Its mission is to inspire and equip every child with ways to enhance cognitive functioning so as to achieve personal excellence and instil self-confidence.The initial research not only helped to design the ongoing product and program, but also showed encouraging results. Parents of the children who participated reported improved focus, comprehension and memory, emotional stability, self-confidence, empathy and calmness among their children. The program not only enriches the intelligence quotient (IQ), but also the emotional quotient (EQ) as well, which is recognized as a vital element to effectively problem solve in today’s world.Initiated in India, the program is now present in 12 countries across Asia, the Americas, Europe, Oceania and Africa. Additional research is being done to understand the long term impact of the program.For more information, visit www.brighterminds.org.&nbsp;<hr>References:Eagleman, D. 2015. The Brain: The Story of You, Pantheon, USA. Goleman, D. 1995. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Bantam, USA. Shichida, M. 2009. Children Can Change Through Right Brain Education, Shichida Educational Institute, Japan.<hr>

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