Robert Charles Swan

Threat to our planet

Robert Chilton is an IT specialist based in New Jersey who works internationally on projects to preserve and share the literary and cultural heritage of the Indo-Tibetan traditions. His current project is www.gompaservices.com. With a BSc in Computer Science and an MA with focus in Tibetan language and Buddhist literature, Robert's interests include philosophy, music, physics, cognitive science, and contemplative practices.

Robert-Chilton.jpg

Robert Chilton

<h4>ROBERT CHILTON has spent most of his adult life keeping alive the written
 traditions of Buddhism in the Tibetan language. The significance of this work is that many of the original Sanskrit
 texts of the Buddha and the early Buddhists were lost, so now these Tibetan texts are the most accurate record we
 have of the Buddha’s teachings. Here he shares with ELIZABETH DENLEY how he
 ended up in Kathmandu and eventually took on this archival work of preserving one of the world’s great traditions.
</h4>
Q: Robert, you’ve been involved with the Tibetan and
 Nepalese monasteries for some time. Can you tell us what you have been doing there?
RC: Well, in a sense it started because I was a
 seeker. I was trying to find a way to have some sort of an authentic spiritual life, first within the Christian
 tradition, and then by a number of interesting ‘coincidences’ I managed to find myself in Kathmandu in Nepal.
I met Tibetan lamas there, and they were not only as knowledgeable as the best
 professors I’ve had at Duke university, but they also had the other side, which was they’d developed a humanness.
 They were both the best scholar you might meet as well as your favorite grandfather or grandmother, who would just
 know what you needed and find a way to give it to you. And I thought, “Okay, this is an authentic path.”
When I first came back after spending about a year and a half in Asia – Nepal, India,
 China – my family and close friends said, “So did you convert to Buddhism?” I said, “No, no, it wasn’t like that. As
 I’ve learned more about the teachings in the Indo-Tibetan tradition, I’ve realized that it’s what I’ve always
 believed. That’s what makes sense to me, and that’s the world I understand and experience. And if that’s what
 Buddhists believe then I’m also a Buddhist, because it makes sense.”
Q: When was this?
RC: This was in 1986, 1987, 1988. Then in 1989 I
 went to the University of Virginia and got a master’s degree.
Q: In Tibetan?
RC: They called it Religious Studies, but my focus
 was Tibetan language and Indo Tibetan Buddhist literature and philosophy. So that was a change, because previously
 I’d studied psychology. I was a major in psychology and computer science at Duke.
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Q: So, the best of both worlds!
RC: In a certain way, but they all pointed in the
 same direction: I was interested in human consciousness and what it could be.
It became apparent to me at that time that Western psychology was really in its infancy
 and that in the East there was much more development of the knowledge of consciousness, psychology, and how to
 develop as a human being. The West was good at developing the material world, but if you wanted to develop the
 human, the mind, at that time it was much, much better to go to Asia.
After I got my degree I had knowledge of Tibetan, and a fair knowledge of Tibetan
 Buddhism. I’d done meditation practice for several years in India, Nepal and also in the USA, as well as studying
 Zen and Insight meditation. And I heard there was a project where they could give me some work, which would combine
 my IT expertise with the fact that I could read Tibetan and knew Tibetan script. It was a project to save Tibetan
 books digitally.
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Of course this was originally an Indian tradition. They were Sanskrit works that were
 translated into Tibetan – many of the Sanskrit originals were lost subsequently – but they were also translated into
 Chinese in some cases. The Chinese already had concepts and philosophy so they tried to map it, and it wasn’t always
 a very good map. The Tibetans really didn’t have philosophy, so they just had to make up new terms to match the
 Sanskrit. So there was a very good correspondence between the meaning they had in Tibet and meaning they had in
 Sanskrit. So in a sense, many of the lost Buddhist treasures of Sanskrit knowledge were preserved in Tibet.
I worked for that project for 15 years as the Technical Director, and it employed
 Tibetan refugees, first in the monasteries and also later in some of these refugee settlements, to type the books.
 They could read Tibetan, and we taught them how to use a normal keyboard and type the Tibetan letters using English
 letters. And they became touch-typists! We didn’t need very expensive computers, and there was also no problem of
 conversion because the English letters were readable universally.
Q: So it was the transliteration of the Tibetan.

RC: Yes. And of course we could convert it anytime
 we wanted to Tibetan script. Also, the people who developed the skills could type anything. They could touch-type at
 high speed. So it was a win-win: we had a very inexpensive labor force by western standards, and they could produce
 a great line of books of over 300,000 pages.
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Q: Tell us about these books.
RC: These are teachings that were attributed to the
 Buddha and also the commentarial tradition of the Indian masters, who followed after the Buddha. They cover all of
 the main four Indian Buddhist philosophical schools. This is another interesting topic, because it’s not like
 there’s only one view to the Buddha’s teachings.
He didn’t teach that there’s one view that everyone has in common; it depends more on
 where you are and what is good for you. There are different ways to look at it, from the point of view of what you
 might call hermeneutics.
There’s a real lesson there about what is true for a person at a certain time. And
 that’s been one of my favorite topics, which I studied and have had a chance to teach as well.
So on one hand I have done this job, and on the other hand I’ve been continuing to study
 because I just really love the meditation and the philosophy and the practice and having the chance to be with the
 lamas and teachers.
Q: So are they translated into English as well?
RC: Yes, there are translations in English of some
 of the books. I don’t even know what percentage it would be, but certainly less than 50% of even just the core canon
 has been translated. I’d probably put the number closer to 20%.
Q: They must be some of the most original Buddhist
 teachings that exist.
RC: Yes. The Pali Canon, which is the southern
 school, has been fully translated into English, and there’s some overlap. But what they call the Kangyur or
 Kanjur in Tibetan, the translated words of the Buddha, is about 85,000 pages.

Then there’s the Tangyur or Tanjur, which is three to four times that
 amount. So by the time we added it all up, it was around a quarter of a million pages.
Q: So are these like the Gospels in the Bible that
 disciples of the Buddha have written?
RC: Well, it was an oral tradition. The Buddha,
 unlike Christ who taught only for 3 years, lived till the age of 80 and he was enlightened when he was 30. So he
 taught for almost 50 years. It was an oral tradition that was passed down for several hundred years before it was
 written.
Q: So what did you learn from this?
RC: One of the most important lessons for me is
 that it’s not a doctrine where we learn to believe what we are told, but rather it’s a method where we’re given the
 tools to see for ourselves how things are and check to see if it’s true.
One of the very famous sayings of the Buddha is, “Just as a goldsmith tests his gold by
 burning, cutting and rubbing it, so you must examine my words and accept them, but not merely out of reverence.” And
 that’s sort of the real thing. If it’s not practical, if it’s not something that you can apply right away in your
 life, then just leave it. You don’t have to say it’s bad, you just leave it aside and say, “Well, may be some other
 time, another place that will be relevant. But what I need to focus on is right here, because this is practical to
 my life right now.”
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I also had another kind of insight. Someone asked me a beautiful question about free
 will and predestination, as they’d heard that I had studied Buddhism for the past few years. I said, “Well, we have
 some very, very limited free will, some very limited ability to make decisions that are really coming from inside
 knowledge. But as we practice, and as we gain more and more awareness, the freedom of movement that’s possible
 expands, and it becomes greater and greater.”
There’s a lot of talk in Buddhism about liberation and Nirvana. What does it
 mean? It can simply be translated as freedom. The question is: How do you get to freedom?
It’s that development that each moment you can make a choice that can either in the
 future make you have less possibility to choose or more possibility to choose. And if you make good choices, you
 expand the number of choices you can make in the future, the range of choices you can make. How do you respond? Do
 you react according to your habits? Or do you have the chance to have that little gap of time where you consider
 “How am I going to respond to this? How am I going to think about this?”
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The Buddhist messages all come from how we think – that’s the first step. If we think
 wrongly, we’re necessarily going to make a wrong decision. It might be good-wrong or bad-wrong, it’s kind of
 interesting. You can do something that you feel is good, for example, you could give money to someone who needs
 something, but if you’re doing it thinking someone’s going to see you doing that, the motivation there is sort of
 mixed. Then there’s really the bad stuff, like, “That’s not mine, but it’s going to be mine now.” That’s just plain
 old bad. And then there is what they call uncontaminated good, which is when you have the right motivation for doing
 a good action and you carry it out, and then you rejoice afterwards, not because someone saw you, but because it’s
 in the nature of goodness, the way the universe is structured.
Daaji was saying that God is the principle and the rules. When you’re in conformance
 with the principle and the rules, then it’s good. And when you are not in conformance, then you have the collisions,
 the problems, the mental afflictions and all that.
Q: How does it work as a Westerner in this tradition? Is
 it a natural fit or are there issues having grown up in a Western culture?
RC: Most of the people I spend time with are not
 Western Buddhists. I spend time with Tibetans. My wife’s family is Mongolian and they’ve been Buddhists for 300
 years, and I spend time in their temples and with their lamas. For myself, I was trained as a scientist and was a
 very skeptical person. My father, who found an Eastern path in the Sikh tradition, would talk about karma and
 rebirth, and I was like, “Maybe. I don’t know. I’m a scientist, and until you can show me it’s true or not true, I’m
 just going to leave it on the table and say maybe yes, maybe no.” So I’d heard about rebirth and reincarnation, I’d
 heard about karma, but I didn’t have any conclusion. I had studied psychology: nature and nurture.
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And then I went to Kathmandu and met Lama Lhundrup, who was the abbot of Kopan
 monastery. His English in the 1980s was of very limited vocabulary, but what he was able to express in an hour and a
 half answered so many of my questions. He completely convinced me that of course there is rebirth and reincarnation,
 and of course I had had multiple lives before. He convinced me that meditation is absolutely necessary. He said,
 “You feed your body every day with food, you have to feed your mind every day with meditation.”
He just hit all the high points in an hour and a half. It gives me chills now even just
 thinking about it, because I’d had all these questions for 5, 6 or 7 years. I’d read Alan Watts, I’d read Thomas
 Merton, and I was like, “Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know.” And then I met this lama and I’m like, “Okay, this is the
 real deal! Now I know where the wisdom lies – at least one of the places where wisdom lies.” Even though it was
 broken English, it was understandable.
To be continued.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Interviewed by ELIZABETH DENLEY</h4>
<hr>

A tibetan journey

<h4>ROBERT WELTON is a metaphysician living in Santa Barbara, California. In this
 article from his book, Be Your Own Light, he shares his insights on relationships, soul mates, and love.
</h4>
The purpose of our lives is revealed in our relationships with family, friends, lovers,
 enemies, and everyone we chance to meet. Everyone plays a part in everyone else’s life experience. In great or small
 roles, people appear on the stage of our lives in different costumes, in different lifetimes. Their true character
 or importance may not be recognized except in hindsight.
Mystics report that kindred spirits, like birds of a feather, group together for each
 migration through the material world. These soul support groups encompass all types of people from all walks of life
 because, help or hindrance, friend or foe, all polarities are necessary for allweather navigation and course
 corrections.
The circles of family, friends, work mates, acquaintances and strangers, occupy
 different orbits of intimacy. In friendships we often find our true “family” of soul mates, those with whom we can
 be most intimate and vulnerable. They can bring out the best and the worst in us. Both reflections of personality
 are needed to witness our strengths, and the weaknesses that need exercise.
The success of a relationship depends upon the degree we allow ourselves to become
 vulnerable. We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable selves to be known, and when we honor the spiritual
 connection that grows from that offering, with trust, respect, and affection. When you are in love, you must be
 authentic without any pretense. You must be a flame without any smoke.
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Love is a feeling that defies description in every language. Each experience of love is
 unique and different, combining wings that have never flown together before. Each love passing through our lives
 leads to a greater understanding of ourselves and the beloved. Love is a bridge that connects us to the wisdom of
 our hearts.
Love, like happiness, is not perfected until it is shared. You cannot kiss your own
 lips. Paulo Coelho, the famous Brazilian novelist of The Alchemist, wrote, “Love is not found in someone
 else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person. The universe only
 makes sense when we have someone else to share our feelings with.”
Love is the Alchemy, the magic Elixir of Life that transforms two into One. In love, the
 different colors of your being become unified as one pure white light. Hindus call this state of being,
 Ananda, meaning, happiness, joy and bliss. In every life Signs appear, pointing the same way as all Masters
 have pointed. The Path to Happiness and Joy follows Love wherever it goes.

Raymond Moody, an American medical researcher of near death experiences and author of
 the bestseller, Life After Life, wrote, “People who return from near death experiences tell us that in the
 seeming closing moments of their earthly lives, they learned that the most important thing we can do while we are
 here is to learn to love.” Once you have learned to love, you will have learned to live.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROBERT WELTON 
 Art by JASMEE RATHOD</h4>
<hr>

A flame without smoke

<h4>ROBERT CHILTON has spent most of his adult life working with traditions of
 Buddhism in the Tibetan language. In Part 1, he shared the significance of this work in preserving the most accurate
 record we have of the Buddha’s teachings. In part 2, he tells ELIZABETH DENLEY
 about the Gompa Tibetan Monastery Services, where technology is used to connect the monasteries with followers, and
 create a platform for sharing the ancient wisdom.</h4>
Q: So what is happening now with the Tibetan monasteries? I don’t mean politically, but
 is the tradition alive still?
RC:&nbsp;These great masters were able to come out
 in the early 1960s. They eventually were able to reform the monasteries and continue their training. They were in
 refugee camps, first in Indian prisons, and then they were in these camps where they were living in tents with
 keep-guards to keep the elephants from rampaging through the camps. They went through a lot of hardships, but they
 were able to keep transmitting the knowledge.
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The system of the monasteries is all about how to keep the knowledge alive from one
 generation to the next. And that was happening in Tibet since the time it was transmitted from India, in places like
 the great monastery in Nalanda and other great monasteries in India. They kept it going, and up till now they’ve
 been able to keep it going.
It used to be that every extended family would send at least one boy to the monastery to
 become a monk. It was just normal. And there were all these people in Tibet who were also coming into India through
 Nepal and Bhutan, and they would come into the monasteries and take up their spaces, cohorts in their classes, but
 recently the police forces have stopped that flow.
The monasteries and nunneries are doing great things in their local communities in terms
 of social welfare programs. They’re the ones who establish the clinics. They have hospitals, library resources, and
 there are people for any spiritual needs to be met in various ways, such as with prayers and advice, giving names to
 the children and blessings, and so on. All this plays a very vital role within the refugee communities in India and
 Nepal. Also, people in these communities have found ways to go abroad, to Malaysia, Singapore, USA, Canada and
 Australia.
There’s a need for them to have access to spiritual services, and that’s the project I’m
 working on now. That’s called Gompa Services, or Gompa Tibetan Monastery Services. Gompa Services is an online
 service platform that connects more than 50 monasteries and nunneries in India and Nepal to the world of their
 followers.
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If people want to watch a webcast of a teaching, or some special ceremonies or a public puja, or if they want to
 arrange their own personal puja with a dedication for a specific purpose, they can do all that through the website.
 If they want to make donations toward other social projects, like the ones that help expand a library or build
 needed dormitories, they can make offerings through our service. We don’t charge any fees on those transactions.
We have members who help support the functions. It’s been going on since we started in
 2014, and we really got launched in the last couple of years. We started a publicity launch a few months ago, in
 terms of making ourselves widely known, after we had made sure everything was working well.
Q: So is this mainly for India and Nepal, or is it global?
RC:&nbsp;The monasteries and nunneries that we’ve
 been connecting through the platform have been in India and Nepal. Our main coordinating office is in Dehra Dun,
 which is in North India. And we also do webcasting up in the North: whenever we have any events we send our crews
 out for the webcasting. We also have one in the South in Karnataka state that covers the southern region. There are
 a number of monasteries in that area, where people arrange pujas on demand. And then we also have our Kathmandu
 office for most of Nepal. There are other places, but it is mainly Kathmandu where most of the monasteries and
 nunneries are located.
We have recently been looking at bringing individual Dharma Centers – where they have
 events or teachings that are relevant to the community or followers worldwide – into our platform. Basically we have
 a system of providing for the distribution of the webcasts, which is all integrated. People can sign in with a user
 ID, they can make donations or not, it’s up to them.
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But most of what’s really happening, in terms of the big events, is happening in the
 monasteries and the nunneries, especially for the arranged pujas. You have 200 monks who do the prayer for half a
 day, and there’s an energy. It’s really extraordinary when there are that many people all doing the same practice,
 and they’re trained to do it.
Q: There’s a history of Buddhism in the Indo-Nepali part
 of the country, which goes back to the original traditions.
RC:&nbsp;Yes, that’s definitely true, but it’s much
 more. I think in our educational system we value empirical evidence. What people are only starting to realize
 broadly is that the foundations of what we call empirical evidence are completely subjective in a sense. For
 example, first there was Einstein and his theory of general relativity. Then you had Neils Bohr and Heisenberg and
 the whole quantum worldview, which has taken a long time for the average person in the West to even understand.
One of my personal hobbies is to study quantum physics, and luckily I have enough
 mathematical and scientific training that I can sort of follow it. What I find fascinating is that when I read one
 of the early Indian philosophers, Nagarjuna, and his presentation of the Middle Way, he says that nothing exists the
 way it appears to, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. When I put that up against the quantum worldview, as I
 understand it, there’s a way I can interpret the data coming from quantum theory that lines up pretty closely with
 what was said 2000 years ago in India. So we’re going back to what the Indians have always been teaching, and what
 the West is finally coming to.
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Another great example is that the English and other scholars, who encountered Indian
 philosophy in the 1800s, dismissed it as very speculative: There was this idea that there’s not just a world, but
 countless world systems; these huge universal world systems. What were they thinking? They were just trying to do
 this kind of mental gymnastics and see who could outdo whom, and turn to describing the physical world.
And then you know, a century and a half later, guess what? The West is saying that there
 are all these multiple millions and uncountable world systems. It’s all expanding, and whether it’s going to
 contract or not contract, we do not know. Everything of the Indian philosophies that was laughed at as ridiculous,
 now is acknowledged as the way it is, according to the West.
My mother-in-law is a nurse, and she had been studying both her nursing and Indian
 explanations of karma when she came across a passage in one of the early Indian books. If you look at who has the
 biggest karmic impact, in terms of doing a good action or a bad action, one of the biggest is the parent, the mother
 in particular. And then there was a recorded case with one mother who had the ovum and another mother who carried
 the baby to term. At the time she was reading it, it was a long time ago when surrogacy wasn’t done yet, and my
 mother-inlaw was saying, “Why would they even speculate on this? Why is this in a book from 500 BC or 300 BC?”
A few years later they did exactly that. Answer the question now: Which one has the
 karma of being the mother? There are just so many cases! I could write a book about all the times the West has come
 around to the ideas that they previously dismissed as ridiculous Indian ideas, and now they go, “Oh, actually that’s
 true!”
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Q: Well, the concept of nothingness is from the Indian
 philosophy. So many of the fundamental principles of mathematics came from India.
RC:&nbsp;William James, the psychologist, said
 around 1900, “The nature of the human mind is that it cannot stay on a single thought or a single object for more
 than a second or two.” Meanwhile these meditators in India could just stay there; forget hours or days, they could
 just stay there. That was completely out of the mindset of the Western scientists of the Victorian era.
Q: One thing that amazes me that Babuji said is, “The way
 forward for humanity is Eastern heart and Western mind, together.” It’s not that you need one; you need both.
 Somebody like you has the possibility to live that, right?
RC:&nbsp;That’s my goal. I feel so blessed that I
 was given a rigorous scientific education at a time when quantum theory was known, general relativity, transistors,
 everything that we know about the natural world, and at the same time, the great thinkers of India like Nagarjuna
 and others had been translated.
Before 1980 you could not find a good translation of Nagarjuna, and before 1980 you
 really couldn’t find any presentation on general relativity or quantum theory for lay people. And now you find both
 if you know where to look. Someone has to still show you some of these things, because they are pretty impenetrable
 at a certain superficial level, but if someone leads you through it, you can get it. I teach a one-week symposium on
 this.
Q: You are welcome to do it sometime here.
RC:&nbsp;I’d love to. It would be a blast! Thank
 you very much.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Interviewed by ELIZABETH DENLEY</h4>
<hr>

A Tibetan journey - part 2

Robert Frost

All the difference

Ros lives in Abingdon near Oxford, UK, and has worked with groups of all ages during her working life. She has always been interested in how we can change and transform. In recent years she has been teaching psychotherapy and qualitative research and is a Heartfulness trainer.

ros-pearmain.jpg

Rosalind Pearmain

<h4 style=" margin-bottom: 32px;">ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares her experience of tuning in to others.</h4>

Think of the heart as an infinitely expanding space. Can anyone limit their capacity to love or care about others or nature or animals? This is the most special surprise about the heart. Mystics have always told us that it is an infinite space that can contain the universe. Now we can all make the same discovery quite easily.
Start by simply bringing consciousness to the area of the heart in our chest. Suppose that the Source of Light of our existence, of our real essence, is there. Open up a space to find a soft, deep, safe place inside so that you feel a bit more space and ease. Then it is possible to feel the same with others.
Feel attuned to your heart and you will quite naturally feel more harmony with others too.

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Try an experiment:</h4>
First look at people with your mind’s eye. Then imagine you are seeing them with your heart. Feel the difference. You will discover a simple common humanity between you.
The word ‘tolerance’ has a root meaning about simply about making space for others to co-exist. The heart is always there to create such a space.
How can we start to feel this kind of inner space and warmth?
What about the other bit of me that judges, that closes down, that shuts others out and keeps me separate from others, especially if they are different?
Much of the time we react because we feel vulnerable or nervous.
We feel exposed and insecure.
We want others to make us feel good.
But inside we feel lacking or inadequate.
All of these thoughts and feelings can be traced to experiences we have had in our lives. They are engraved on our system, programs in our make up, and they often lead us to negative repetitive life choices in which we feel stuck. They create barriers and layers like cobwebs around our soul. Over time, we lose that sense of simple and soft, deep connection with our Source inside our heart.


<hr>

<h5 style="text-align: center;">Feel attuned to your heart
and you will quite naturally feel
more harmony with others too.</h5>

<hr>
Yogic Transmission nourishes and relaxes us from within, like a permanent inner stream of light. It also simply dissolves the barriers very subtly and gently.
At the end of each day we remove all the weight and pressure of the day, leave us feeling like vapour, filled with a source of light. Over time, slowly and surely, we feel free of limiting patterns. We find a new kind of lightness and balance that keeps us afloat in the midst of chaos and stress.
We emanate the same feeling to others. They feel our calmness and ease and relax.
Does this all sound too good to be true? For once it is not.
Of course, we have ups and downs. Change is never linear. But over the years we stick with it because it reliably brings us deep joy, continuing discoveries, and real beauty that you cannot imagine. Simply try it for yourself.



<hr>

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>

<hr>

Lightness & balance in relationships

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares her appreciation of the Quakers, their principles and their
 way of living.</h4>
The big test in following any spiritual way is to really know what is our inner truth or
 guidance. Second, how do we bring that awareness into everyday existence, so that we walk the talk, we embody our
 inner knowing in every moment?
There is one group in the world – sometimes described as “the longest lasting leaderless
 group” – whose high reputation for integrity is founded in centering their whole lives on inner discernment. The
 Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as the Quakers, has been going since the seventeenth century. I have
 come to appreciate that it is through a courageous adherence to inner discernment and practical expression that their
 impact in the world has been so transformative and powerful. It is carried through into every aspect of life, every
 day, in relation to the whole of humanity and creation.
If you have come across Oxfam, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Cadbury chocolate,
 Rowntree’s sweets and Clarks shoes, these organizations were originally founded out of Quaker inner guidance and
 consideration for what was needed in organizing business. In the nineteenth century, drinking chocolate was seen to be
 a good alternative to alcohol!
The Quakers also have a permanent presence in the UN, in conflict resolution in wars,
 and in conflict zones, helping refugees. They started the Kindertransport during the 1930s, which saved many lives.
 They befriend the outcast of society, and so have been very involved with prisoners and with prison reform.
Here is the key principle for their approach, which you can find on their UK website:

Quakers try to live according to the
 deepest truth we know, and we connect most deeply to this in the stillness of worship. This means speaking the truth at all times, including to people in positions of power.
 As we are guided by integrity, so we expect to see it in public life. 
We believe that, as Quakers, we should
 put our whole lives under the guidance of the Spirit.
The Quaker movement started during the ferment of change during the 17th century in
 England. George Fox was born to strictly religious parents in 1621, and underwent a profound spiritual crisis at the
 age of 19. He was appalled by the schism between religious beliefs and the actual behaviors of those who should be
 exemplars. He left his home and job and, in despair, sought for years for spiritual solace.
Eventually, inspired by his own visions and mystical leadings, he came to the
 understanding that everyone could have a direct, personal experience of God, which he called “the inner light”. He
 then started traveling all over the country spreading this message. Those who took it up were called ‘Friends of the
 Light’. They were persecuted a great deal and imprisoned, but by 1660 there were 50,000 followers. He traveled to
 Europe, the West Indies and America to spread the message, as did his wife, Margaret Fell. These early Friends or
 Quakers were all young people in their twenties and thirties.
Quakers turned against organized religion and churches. Fox argued that Jesus should not
 be sought in a stable but in people’s hearts. They met in silence with the idea that in this silence they could wait
 for divine light or the presence of God in the gathered meeting. If someone felt inspired to share an inner discovery
 they were free to do so, and the ‘quaking’ could be a part of the feeling of this! Basically they felt that there was
 no need for priests, for special buildings, even for special days. Every day was the Lord’s day. Everyone had God
 within them.
This core principle of faith, where each person waits for the inner light to guide them,
 is the central ground of Quaker belief and practice. Out of this central principle came a commitment to an unshakeable
 integrity of being in every area of life. For example, it was a principle to refuse to swear on the Bible in legal
 proceedings, because of the utter commitment to truth and honesty that was fundamental to being a Quaker.
Another core value has been simplicity:
We try to live simply and to find space for the things that
 really matter: the people around us, the natural world, and our experience of stillness.
Needless to say such a radical view did not go down well with the political and
 religious power structures of the times. Quakers were persecuted, imprisoned, and had their businesses destroyed
For Quakers, truth is not fixed. It has to be discerned, felt and known as an inner
 experience. It continues to unfold and be revealed. It can express in living values in different ways, which are
 called testimonies. This means there is no fixed text for Quakers. There is a book called Faith and Practice, which
 continues to evolve with new wisdom and discoveries. For this approach to be honored, to be lived, it requires another
 value, a commitment to listen for the truth in other’s ideas and philosophies, to be humble, open and fundamentally
 tolerant of others and difference.
The unity we seek depends on the willingness of us all to
 seek the truth in each other’s utterances.
Holding dearly the idea that God is in everyone, Quakers work in the world at all times
 to affirm equality in every sphere of life, to embrace peace, simplicity and justice. They are pacifists, and many are
 willing to go to prison if their beliefs go against the laws of the land – for example not supporting taxes to pay for
 weapons of destruction.
Quakers are perhaps best known for their peace testimony, which is based on believing
 that love is at the center of existence and that all human life is of equal worth. As pacifists, Quakers were
 conscientious objectors during the world wars but they also worked extensively for peace and for refugees. They are
 currently very much focused on sustainability.
Here are a few of the suggested guidances from the book, Faith and Practice. Many of the
 suggestions come in a form of enquiry inviting personal reflection.
<img class="has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/quarker2_ad67f2e6dd.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-30T09:48:17.885Z">

Seek to know an inner stillness, even
 amid the activities of daily life.
Take time to learn about other
 people’s experiences of the light.
Spiritual learning continues
 throughout life and often in unexpected ways. Are you open to new life, from whatever source it may come? 

Do you work gladly with other
 religious groups in the pursuit of common goals? While remaining faithful to Quaker insights, try to enter
 imaginatively into the life and witness of other communities of faith, creating together the bonds of friendship.
 
Live adventurously. When choices
 arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and
 the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking
 clearness, asking for God’s guidance and offering counsel to one another? 
Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle
 freely chosen is a source of strength. Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford.
 
We do not own the world, and its
 riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the
 beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with
 reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation.
Of course, having all these noble principles is not always easy. So Quakers aim to
 encourage and support each other in trying to live their inner truth faithfully. It is also not always easy to be the
 partner of a Quaker with their predilection for direct honest talk! I know very well from my many years of marriage to
 someone born into a Quaker family. More fundamentally though, I have always found Quakers to be sincerely open to
 listening and learning from others. I am deeply grateful and inspired by their presence in the world.

<hr>

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>

<hr>

Living inner truth

<h5>
 Miriam Hanid and Jamie Drew live in Suffolk, UK, and have been involved
 in meditation and music since their teenage years. They met in a heavy
 metal club ‘in their reckless youth’! Miriam played wind instruments and
 piano before coming to the Brazilian drums, but it is singing that she
 enjoys the most. Jamie has played guitar but now focuses on drums. They
 currently play in a local band called Janifour.
 </h5>
 <h5>
 Miriam is also an extraordinary silversmith who has been selected for
 many awards and commissions. She had a solo exhibition in Edinburgh in
 this year’s festival. Many of her works are inspired by water.
 </h5>
 <hr class="vertical-space1" />
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="231"
 height="172"
 class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_1_ae2fa8c6ed.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:20:58.542Z"
 />I use water as a metaphor for the divine current of energy
 flowing 
 through all forms of life. 
 I record the ever-changing element of water 
 in drawings and photographs. 
 Rough sketches are transferred to the silver, 
 informing the visual framework. 
 The silver’s form then changes rapidly throughout the making
 process.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: left">
 How did you come across Heartfulness meditation?
 </h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Jamie</h5>
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 class="img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_2img_f5aa9fa3c0.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:21:39.143Z"
 />It was through a close friend of mine that I came to know about
 Heartfulness but I had for a while sensed there was a greater purpose to
 life. When I first met Miriam 14 years ago we talked a lot about
 spirituality and meditation without really understanding it.
 Nevertheless, the sense of purpose and wonder were there and Miriam was
 and still is a great inspiration.
 
 
 Also my father deserves a mention, as he has been a massive influence,
 sharing crucial books such as The Power of Now and
 Buddhism Plain and Simple, and of course his own experience. I remember a time when we were in
 Heathrow airport on our way to Thailand, accompanied by two close
 friends of mine, and he gave the most inspirational talk. We were 19 at
 the time and were totally transfixed as he spoke about awakening to
 one’s true self. I asked him what had triggered this initial response
 and he said, “I just didn’t want to be the person who didn’t know.”
 
 
 That struck a massive chord in me as I thought of all the disasters that
 could happen here on earth, to sort of stumble through life blindfolded,
 thinking that consumerism is all there is would be the greatest mistake.
 
 
 These were the people who either directly or inadvertently guided me
 towards Heartfulness and, out of all the practices of meditation I have
 tried, I settled with this because of the transmission.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Miriam</h5>
 
 I started Heartfulness meditation practice after Jamie went to India for
 two months and returned as a changed person, after meditating daily. I
 instantly wanted to join and was able to learn it while I was at
 University.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 How has it affected your lives?
 </h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Miriam</h5>
 
 From the moment I started meditating regularly, I was more focused doing
 my degree work, had a larger perspective on life, and felt really
 grounded in my own experience of meditation. I met literally hundreds of
 amazing people who inspired me at seminars and centres in India,
 Germany, Denmark and the UK.
 
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="307"
 height="359"
 class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_3_304147ccf3.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:22:15.504Z"
 />To describe how Heartfulness has affected my life is really too vast a
 subject to put into words, but perhaps an attempt at this would be to
 say that the start of my journey led me to a small iceberg. Over the
 years, like a diver in a vast ocean, I have discovered that the iceberg
 is getting bigger and bigger and I am still only at the beginning. What
 is describable in words is really only a tiny portion of the immensity
 of the journey of the heart.
 
 
 I have been very fortunate to have been guided along this path, and the
 support of having a heart-centered approach has been invaluable to my
 life, work, family and relationships.
 
 
 It has made my life a lot more cherished and meaningful, being more
 attentive to the language of the heart, and I feel I am more determined
 in all areas with a strong will implanted in my mind to achieve the
 best. Even if I can’t always achieve everything I wish for, I feel that
 the determination is what counts.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Jamie</h5>
 
 Heartfulness has without doubt deepened my understanding of life. I
 would say to go beyond your own self-proposed limitations, to see things
 in a new way, is to be in touch with your inner Self. This in turn opens
 your mind and develops a better understanding of people because
 ultimately you understand yourself at a deeper level. This is the
 process going on within me and it is certainly a result of meditation. I
 have felt a depth of peace and joy, which has been at times
 insurmountable and even a sense of eternity.
 
 
 I’ve recognised that its okay that there is an existence greater than my
 ego and that I’m part of a greater whole. If this life has given me an
 opportunity to even glimpse that through the practice of Heartfulness,
 then what a miracle it all truly is.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 How does it come into your music?
 </h5>
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="320"
 height="305"
 class="img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_4_3ecf54b963.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:22:51.065Z"
 />If spirituality has something to do with going beyond the limitations
 of your ego then every musician out there has had a spiritual
 experience, whether they claim to be spiritual or not. When you are able
 to get out of the way and lose 
 yourself in your instrument, then you can truly become a vehicle through
 which the music can flow.
 
 
 If you can be totally absorbed and unmindful of yourself, you often play
 things which you didn’t know you could play and feel things in a new
 way. This is really where the magic happens and every musician knowingly
 or unknowingly strives for it.
 
 
 Of course there are techniques you need to develop, but technique alone
 is not the pinnacle of importance. The most captivating music arises
 when we let go and become in touch with our true nature, and then the
 music will reflect such a condition. This is the great challenge when
 playing live. Then we have the responsibility of performing, so it is no
 longer just the other band members and myself, but also the collective
 attention of a hopefully receptive audience.
 
 
 Once again, if you can get lost and lose any bodily tensions and any
 fear, then the audience will sense this and respond accordingly.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="175"
 height="166"
 class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_5_b6f1a8c7c2.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:23:44.158Z"
 />Miriam
 </h5>
 
 Music to me now is a journey of sharing. Sharing the process of creating
 music with others, sharing my voice and connection with others, and
 sharing a creative process in the experience rather than the results.
 Music can also be encrypted with feeling and emotion, which is something
 the audience feels when listening to it, and meaning is inherent in the
 artists’ lives and timing of writing a piece of music.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 How do you integrate the culture of playing in a band at gigs with
 spirituality?
 </h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Jamie</h5>
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="298"
 height="178"
 class="img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_6_c7c48fd281.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:24:24.446Z"
 />I feel life is a spiritual dimension rather than spirituality being
 something you ‘do’ in life. A lot of people have questioned how I can
 meditate one minute but then listen to rock music. For me that is the
 same as asking, “How can you meditate and then watch action movies
 packed with violence?” Some of the most spiritual movies ever made have
 also contained violence. The Matrix, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings:
 there’s a great deal of truth within the plots of these movies, but I
 guess it is a case of becoming conscious of why you are watching them.
 Rock music reaches out to a massive audience, so if you can weave a
 spiritual message within it then it too becomes a great medium.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Miriam</h5>
 
 I use subtle suggestion, imagining that the whole room is filled with
 people who are becoming lighter and brighter in their hearts while
 listening to our music, that their problems of life and struggle are
 removed for the duration of the gig, and we are all on the same level of
 consciousness in the music.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 What are the challenges and advantages of being young and living a
 spiritually focused life?
 </h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">Miriam</h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 width="242"
 height="340"
 class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" style="width:auto; height: auto;" 
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_7_1d9c928b6c.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:24:55.281Z"
 />
 </h5>
 
 One advantage of being ‘kind of’ young is that I have lots of ideas on
 how to integrate spirituality into my working life; a challenge is
 having time to implement them all! I am also able to connect with a
 variety of people from different backgrounds through the medium of my
 work, which broadens my perspective and makes me appreciate my role as
 an artist in today’s world.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 How has Heartfulness impacted on you as a silversmith?
 </h5>
 
 I started meditation before I started my business in silversmithing, so
 in a sense it has always been part of my life as a silversmith. I think
 one of the main factors is that I feel like I’m capturing my connection
 to spirituality through my silver pieces, and this is reaching people in
 a particular way. The tactile quality of the silver pieces has always
 been something that collectors and clients particularly admire, and as
 the pieces are made with that in mind I feel that is where the
 connection is. I could be wrong, but that is my feeling. The visual
 themes of movement in the silver also speak to the people who buy my
 work, and I feel this is evocative of the connection that flows from
 artist to buyer.
 
 <h5 style="text-align: justify">
 What is it you feel you want to express through your art?
 </h5>
 
 <img
 alt="Spiritual-work"
 class="lazyload w-100"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/silver_and_water_2_c35b6ae5eb.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T05:25:33.182Z"
 />I draw on a range of themes and inspirations, but essentially I try to
 make objects that inspire and encourage people to look deeper to
 discover subtleties that may not be visible to the naked eye. The visual
 aspect of my work is only one part of it. As soon as a person picks up a
 piece, there are instantly the qualities of touch, temperature, weight,
 shape and size which travel through the nerves, send signals to the
 brain and ultimately are transformed into an emotion or feeling. It is
 this that I am expressing through my work.
 
 
 Metal interwoven with light 
 a glimpse of sun inherent on earth 
 from the bounds of the deep ground.
 
 
 The hands that work a material so bright 
 must capture a gentleness, 
 a cradle of the earths graceful hold.
 
 
 Make me into a vessel 
 to hold the quietest sounds 
 to comfort, to nurture and bring out 
 your subtlest thoughts.
 
 
 Make me into a river 
 to carry the flow of life 
 through generations of souls.
 
 
 I know you have a vision 
 which lends its joyful and bright lustre 
 to the hands of men .
 
 <h6 style="text-align: center">
 Poem written at the Heartfulness Retreat Center in Jutland, Denmark,
 October 2015
 </h6>
 &nbsp;
 <h5 style="text-align: center"><hr /></h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: center">Interview by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h5>
 <h5 style="text-align: center"><hr /></h5>

Silver and Water

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares some observations and insights into how our minds work in day-to-day life, and the quality
 of consciousness that results from calming the mind.</h4>
<h4>
 <hr class="vertical-space1">
</h4>
As soon as we wake up in the morning, our attention goes somewhere. Like a radar system, our minds pick up whatever
 seems to be loudest in their field of sensitivity. They might go to uncomfortable thoughts about the day ahead. They
 might focus on the question of how tired we still feel, or how drained we are, or how we can motivate ourselves to
 leave the snug invisibility of the duvet realm! Our attention might go of course to the dreams from which we have
 just awakened. Our focus might be seized by our nearest and dearest, our problems at work, our pets demanding
 attention, or our children needing help. It could also be that our direction of mind goes towards something to which
 we are looking forward.
So each day, we start the waking hours with mind activity that also has physical experience and emotions mixed with
 it. If you think about it, very often the first impressions of the day are shaped by the kinds of thoughts,
 sensations and emotions that arise when we wake. They affect the day that unfolds, like a filter or haze or
 particular tune playing across the course of the day. This is like a quality of consciousness.
There can be so much variation in how we feel when we wake up. We can feel down or up, energised and fresh or tired
 and depressed. Children seem always to wake up with some kind of zest for the new day. I was surprised once when I
 interviewed Heartfulness meditators and heard a few say that the practice made a difference to how they felt in the
 morning. They felt a kind of joy for the adventure of the new day ahead. It reminded them of how they had felt as a
 child.
There are two different threads of awareness weaving together here. It seems that there is
 a part of us that is always aware of something, as if we are making a map with our experience, through our brain and
 nervous system, telling us what is going on from moment to moment as it keeps changing. So we have a sense of being
 here in an environment and time, being alert to what is going on and vigilant in spotting new things happening. On
 the other hand, we can get in the car to drive a familiar route and find that we do not even notice where we are
 until we realise we have gone into autopilot and taken a turn that is not the one we wanted on this occasion! So our
 attention has gone somewhere else – perhaps to the challenging situation we will face at the end of the journey. Our
 awareness of where we are, here and now, is not very conscious at all. But if we look more closely, we discover that
 there is another part of us that is watching the flow. It is like a part of us stands on the riverbank and watches
 the flow of the water go by, the flow of stuff in our body-mind, but is also apart from it. It might suddenly alert
 us to the fact that we have taken the usual turning instead of the one we really want this time round.
<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">… if we look more closely, we discover that 
 there is another part of us that is watching the flow. 
 It is like a part of us stands on the riverbank 
 and watches the flow of the water go by, 
 the flow of stuff in our body-mind, but is also apart from it.</h5>
<hr>
Considering how vast the processing capacity of our brains and nervous systems are, we are
 hardly using much of it most of the time. “The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Each neuron forms
 about one thousand connections to other neurons, amounting to more than a trillion connections… Yet neurons combine
 so that each one helps with many memories at a time, exponentially increasing the brain’s memory storage capacity to
 something closer to around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes).”
Reber P., Scientific American, May/June 2010, ‘Mind and Brain’
<img decoding="async" alt="self-being-consciousness" width="720" class="lazyload w-100"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/consciousness_img2_b7e7cb3fd2.jpg">
So we have been given a phenomenal capacity to work with many dimensions of experience and
 consciousness of living in this vast universe. Yet, most of the time, if we are honest, what preoccupies our minds
 are all kinds of rather small and limiting thoughts, ideas, emotions and obsessions, as a kind of undercurrent
 bubbling away. Our minds seem to run away from us and bother us with relentless activity.
Alternatively, we might feel a bit empty and bored, and desperately seek to find something
 to fill our attention, such as food or distractions – our smart phones, computer games, TV shows or music. Our radar
 systems seems to be easily attuned to emotional and turbulent feeling experiences. Our awareness or consciousness is
 often taken by the more dramatic waveforms of emotion than the more harmonious ones of calm.
What shifts us out of these patterns? Physical activity or relaxation can help us feel
 connected to ourselves in a whole and immediate way, and also present and grounded in the moment. When we feel
 especially close to others, this can also release us from all the drama in our minds so that we can let go. Being in
 nature can suddenly awaken us to the simple and direct enjoyment of sun on skin or the flooding of colour from the
 greenness of nature. Immersion in water is the chance to feel even more sensation, as well as a quality of cleaning
 and refreshment, a kind of resetting of self into balance.
Over thousands of years, human beings have struggled with the same problems while facing
 life and adversity. Usually, painfully, there is no way to escape the givens of our existence. The only option we
 have is in our attitude towards facing them. We have choices in how our mind-body works with the struggles of
 living, but to be aware of these choices we have to look at how our likes and dislikes keep us spinning in the same
 wheel like a hamster.&nbsp; Have you ever observed how your mind repeats the same thoughts and patterns and
 feelings, so that there does not seem to be a way out? Our radar system can be trained to focus somewhere else, less
 noisy and clamouring. We can find ways to interrupt or change the ceaseless chuntering of our mental flow.
<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">Our radar system can be trained to focus somewhere else, 
 less noisy and clamouring. 
 We can find ways to interrupt or change 
 the ceaseless chuntering of our mental flow.</h5>
<hr>
So the practice of meditation came about in a myriad of forms. It gave a rocky but stable
 base on which our radar system could rest in the middle of a&nbsp; turbulent ocean of life. This tool for opening
 our mind and our consciousness from its prison gives us the main chance we have for transformation and for
 discovering the ingredients for a harmonious, inspiring and fulfilling life.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>
<hr>

Consciousness

<h4>Have you noticed how happiness affects your ability to communicate? ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares some ideas on how we
 connect with others through the different dimensions of the heart.</h4>


Every day we are involved in countless meetings with others – as we pass acquaintances or neighbors in the street, as we
are with family or friends, as we work or play. If you pay attention, you can discover that your heart is always
involved somehow in these encounters. There are three different dimensions of the heart that help us connect with each
other. They are like aspects of most musical instruments:
<h3>Tuning in</h3>
<img class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_connection_heart_every_moment_meeting_2_920fafee70.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-02T05:48:36.578Z"
 alt="spiritual-relationship" width="426" height="350" />The first is how we join in a song or a dance or music
 making – or even play with a baby. We have to catch the same note, the same intensity or shape of movement, the same
 phrasing. We tune in and join with the person. Sometimes we can feel this is absolutely perfect and in tune, and
 immediately both of us feel glad to be meeting. At difficult times, it is the opposite: we make an upbeat approach
 when they are flat or distracted or sad. Then our meeting can feel off-key and jarring. But if we wait, listen and
 feel a bit more, and keep trying to attune with our heart radar, then we are able to find a way of joining and
 connecting as we go along. It is just like tuning into a radio station.

<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Creating space - amplifying</h3>
The second goes a bit further than tuning. Our hearts need to be open, to receive the
 other person’s being, their feelings and experience. We drop our focus on our own preoccupations. We let go of our own
 needs being heard, and make as big a space as possible to accompany the person in front of us. Here we are using the
 infinite space of the heart to care for others, to hold them, to love them. We can expand this beautiful quality of
 receiving and of compassion to really give attention and love to the person. It is as if we literally give them space
 to be, to exist. So they feel safer and more at home.

<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Resonating and connecting</h3>
The third is like a kind of sounding board in a musical instrument. When we receive the
 other person’s news or feelings or concerns, we find a kind of resonance within us, we join them in sharing the
 experience, like humming. Our heart is moved and stirred. Then the other person feels felt by us and their hearts are
 touched too and it is as if it goes back and forth. Have you noticed that when you feel really well and happy, and
 your heart is open, all these steps of this arc of meeting flow into a beautiful movement towards others without
 effort? And, in contrast, when you are affected by negative thoughts or moods, do you feel a bit constricted and
 stuck? One more thought. If you put these three elements together, of opening, expanding and resonating, they are like
 the sacred sound of A-U-M.

<h6 style="text-align: justify; margin-bottom:15px;">Based on the book, The Heart of Listening: Attentional
 Qualities in Psychotherapy and Counseling, published by Sage Continuum.</h6>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<hr />

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

The art of connection: how our heart is in every moment of meeting

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN looks at the emotional issues facing young people today, and
 shares her research findings on the importance of feeling safe and grounding ourselves in the inner shelter of the
 heart.</h4>
It seems as though there is a strong human feeling towards old and tall trees as if we
 want them to keep growing and expanding onwards into the sky. We are drawn to look up wondrously. How do they manage
 to do this without falling over? Perhaps there is an echo of our own longing towards transcendence and the expansion
 of our consciousness.
As one of the ’60s and ’70s generation, I realize that we had that yearning to go beyond
 limits, to experience as many different kinds of mind-expanding opportunities as possible. We wanted to disrupt and
 change things that seemed limiting. Did we also undermine the roots of our societies that had allowed this heady
 growth to evolve? Perhaps we made it harder for our children and even more so for our grandchildren to find
 stability and an inner base of support?
When my son was 18, his best friend died in a tragic accident, falling out of a car. Within a short period of time,
 another friend fell off a balcony at a party and also died. One more later fell out of a tree. Needless to say, this
 shocking loss of poignant, youthful promise had a deep rippling impact on many. Symbolically, they alerted me to the
 question of how we fall out of our lives, ourselves, so easily in our youth in different ways.
At present, we are aware of the escalating problems of young people around the world,
 who are often depressed, lonely, despairing, anxious. They are on the front line of a world that we have created and
 they are showing us that it is not working for them. We fall out of ourselves often as teenagers trying to fit with
 outside demands and pressures from others. We may feel that we have to hide ourselves away to fit in. We lose faith
 with our own inner self. Can we ever find a way to fall back inside?
<img decoding="async" class="lazyload img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/heartroots2_255f20fccf.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T13:49:30.438Z">

At the time of these deaths, I wanted to do something constructive. Having observed the
 transformative effect of Quaker summer schools for teenagers for my own children, I wondered if they could be
 offered far more widely. Finding an American model based on creative arts, I worked as an adult volunteer in both. I
 also visited a summer program for teenagers run by Heartfulness in Europe. From a small piece of qualitative
 research carried out in each, I discovered that the most significant aspect for the young people was the sense of
 safety they got from all of these structures which had ground rules of inclusion and encouragement for everyone
 equally.
“I had never felt so safe,” said one. “I cried when I had to leave.” It was a bit of a
 shock to hear how these young people felt so unsafe to be themselves. They felt a lack of supportive acceptance from
 their parents and peers. They felt a level of conditional love, dependant on pleasing their parents. They also
 experienced exclusion and denigration from peers and constant pressure from expectations in the education system.
 Some experienced far more dangerous conditions in urban settings from crime and gangs. Ten years later, the
 situation appears to be worsening. The pressure of social media now adds to the feeling of shame and self-hatred
 that young people may feel in comparison with an illusory ideal projected outside and beyond reach.
Another small piece of research emerged in my doctoral study: Heartfulness meditators
 experienced far higher levels of a deep sense of safety at some time in their experiences of meditation than another
 comparison group.
All the studies of attachment and neuroscience show us that we cannot learn and
 integrate information if we are feeling anxious or under threat. This can be aroused from our own inner self-attack
 as much as from others. So how can we fall back inside to the inner shelter of our heart, the source of love and our
 true being?
I had thought it was the deep taproot in a tree that anchored it so securely. But on
 further investigation, it seems that it is a system of shallow, thin horizontal roots that give trees their
 stability. These roots spread two or three times as wide as the height of the tree. Thin delicate roots mix with
 other fungi and fibrous material and put down vertical shoots as well. So it is the small horizontal roots that
 reach out and support the tree in its connection with the earth and other organisms.


<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">It anchors us into the environment of our true
 Self, 
 our ground of being, and into the earth and&nbsp;connection with others. 
 We can be sheltered in our divine source&nbsp;as well as connected 
 with the world.&nbsp;This is
 Heartfulness. 
 It is a way to fall back inside ourselves 
 and never fall out again.
</h5>
<hr>
This is a beautiful metaphor for the working of the heart. It anchors us into the
 environment of our true Self, our ground of being, and into the earth and connection with others. We can be
 sheltered in our divine source as well as connected with the world. This is Heartfulness. It is a way to fall back
 inside ourselves and never fall out again.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>
<hr>

Heart roots

<h4>
 ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares feelings
 and experiences about how consciousness evolves in the heart through
 human life, and how meditation allows us to access those subtler states
 of fluid being we knew as children.
 </h4>
 
 When we see our natural world in documentary films, we are stunned and
 awed by the exquisite beauty of form, process and intricate complexity
 in biological systems. I wonder if we could see the unfolding of
 consciousness within human beings, we would be even more deeply moved.
 It could be something more dimensional than a tree growing, a crystal
 forming, a choir or symphony in harmony, and all in its formation
 creating such a beautiful wave form, a vibration, a mellifluous cadence
 to enhance the whole universe.
 
 
 I imagine that we come from a fluid and entirely connecting flow of
 being-love. At birth, our soul flower enters into the density of our
 human vehicle of sentience. It affords a solid shock of sensory waves –
 the new field for our consciousness to re explore.
 
 
 This field of consciousness is our shimmering, vibrant space of many
 felt domains that reveal our world to us.
 
 
 The sphere of heart mind manifests the embodied experience of the
 present moment.
 
 
 There are many embodied and visceral sources of experience and knowing
 that unfold through our awareness each day.
 
 
 For a baby, they are merged into a unity of senses, feelings, emotions
 and the gathering grasp of meaning – always within a relational
 connectivity.
 
 
 As language slowly offers a shorthand for these moments, we are able to
 exercise a more instrumental grasp of our consciousness and share this
 with others. At the same time, increasing coordination and motor skills
 open up possibilities of spatial experience in speed, in trajectory, in
 weight and lightness, and emerging control and direction.
 
 
 Also our intellect gathers increasing discernment to apply to
 understanding.
 
 
 Meanwhile, our sense of self is becoming more sharply edged. It is also
 sensed as a vulnerable, small craft floating in a vast ocean of life and
 the universe. It seeks to feel more secure and more solid to face its
 unfolding challenges.
 
 
 Reflecting on this wondrous journey through childhood, we can be very
 moved by the openness and curiosity in children, without judgment, and
 the sense of their consciousness offering a space of such expansion,
 discovery, joy and intensity. Being immersed in the present moment
 allows for loss of self in the action of the game or the story.
 
 
 Knowing is about body experience; moving as a snake or a bear is the
 most immediate way for young children to access consciousness of the
 experience of the animal through their heart-minds.
 
 
 Yet it is a field of depth and feeling. There are terrifying monsters as
 well as benevolent heroes, and there are many limitations and
 disappointments to face as well as fun to enjoy.
 
 <hr />
 <h5 style="text-align: center">
 Reflecting on this wondrous journey through childhood, 
 we can be very moved by the openness and curiosity in children, 
 without judgment, and the sense of their consciousness offering 
 a space of such expansion, discovery, joy and intensity.
 </h5>
 <hr />
 
 As adults, increasingly we have learnt to use our shorthand maps to
 navigate life experiences. As left-brain devices, they give us abstract,
 cognitive schemas to shape and organize our present experience into
 predictable patterns. But the vaguer, felt, implicit background of the
 present moment of consciousness is often increasingly ignored in the
 rush of life pressures. Yet these implicit, tacit areas of consciousness
 are our underlying ground of relation, of meaning and depth to our
 evolving sense of being. They are just as important as the linear flow
 of doing, thinking and reacting. These moments of being may be tasted in
 nature, in rest, in connection with each other, and in response to music
 and beauty.
 
 
 Meditation starts to reverse some of these processes. It allows us to
 put to one side the automatic categorizing and naming of the contents of
 our awareness into words and concepts. It allows us to sink through and
 dissolve the fixed patternings and shapings of our experience into more
 subtle and precise feelings and qualities. Different sensory experiences
 may be far more synaesthetic and intertwined during meditation – as they
 were in our infancy. We rediscover an openness and feeling base to our
 field of consciousness. The exquisite and mysterious heart as the subtle
 organ of perception and consciousness is central to this field of
 consciousness. It seems to operate both as a radar system and an
 organizing and synthesizing matrix. It integrates and brings our field
 of awareness into a coherent and resonant equilibrium. Its dynamic
 spaciousness contains everything, whether positive or negative. We are
 reminded of the joy of that present centered mode of awareness that we
 tasted as children.
 
 
 As we open ourselves to this deeper, subtler ground of awareness of the
 heart, we start to resonate with our divine Source within. With
 Heartfulness Meditation, the frequency of Transmission helps to purify
 our heart and dissolve layers that have obscured this presence from our
 conscious awareness. As the sense of self becomes less hard-edged and
 more diffuse in this being-feeling-sensing state, we intrinsically feel
 nature more directly. We feel a kinship of humanness through heart
 connections rather than mind thoughts. We are part of things like a wave
 rather than a particle. Our field of feeling consciousness expands –
 with loving prayers and suggestions, and in meditative gatherings across
 the world.
 
 
 This process has a quality of beauty that calls us further. It is more
 transparent, more delicate, more refined; reminiscent of the world we
 came from perhaps. Many of us recall special moments as children, where
 we were transported in awareness by pools of stillness, depth or wonder
 unexpectedly opening in nature; or in moments of worship; or in the
 atmosphere created by pious people with whom we came in contact. Some
 children’s storybooks provide a taste of these ethereal and more
 transparent worlds in the realms of the Faery and other magical places.
 We find wonderful transformational elements, such as a fire of roses in
 The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald, or Lothlórien
 in Lord of the Rings. Music is also an element that transports
 us to more subtle landscapes within the heart mind field.
 
 <hr />
 <h5 style="text-align: center">
 Many of us recall special moments as children, 
 where we were transported in awareness by pools of stillness, 
 depth or wonder unexpectedly opening in nature; or in moments of
 worship; 
 or in the atmosphere created by pious people with whom we came in
 contact.
 </h5>
 <hr />
 
 There are also the different myths and stories from different cultures
 that illustrate deep spiritual themes, inspiring heroics and ennobling
 struggles. They offer a colorful play of the human drama through the
 ages. They give a rich psychic ground for our symbols, imagination and
 intuition.
 
 
 There is a kind of tension in life’s journey between the earlier
 eagerness to embrace the total experience of being embodied and alive
 and the later one of savoring simpler, subtler, beautiful essences. This
 is very well understood in the approach to Japanese Noh theatre.
 
 
 Something inspires us to follow a spiritual way, where we direct our
 consciousness more and more towards the deeper, softer and plainer sense
 of being within our core. Something attracts us towards finer feelings
 and increasing balance, away from the turbulent waters we have
 encountered in our consciousness. We seek resonance with our inner
 Beloved and a larger field of consciousness is revealed by that presence
 at the most subtle level felt by our hearts. This can be radiated around
 us to include the whole field of our heart-mind consciousness.
 
 
 <img
 class="has-img-center lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Consciousness2_ac0b1a1f2e.jpeg?updated_at=2023-04-06T12:42:44.476Z"
 alt="Consciousness2"
 />
 
 
 We are no longer an isolated particle in a sea of energy. Instead we
 feel deeply connected with the Source of creation, with the hearts of
 others, with nature, and both the suffering and inspiration of humanity.
 
 
 There may be glimpses of a higher perspective – how within a meditation
 group each one’s field of consciousness is combined to create a higher
 frequency of love. This can affect the whole world like a circling
 necklace of jewels.
 
 
 Each human gift can grow and contribute to a heightened resource of
 synergy, more and more aligned with the divine Source. And the resulting
 higher vibrational frequency affects not only this world but others,
 too, where the laws of space and time are perhaps in a different key and
 there are different joys and illuminations.
 
 
 How extraordinary to be afloat in this cosmic sea of consciousness,
 guided by our beloved, wise and revered teachers and sages, deeply
 grateful for life, for being within our heart Source, for being in this
 unfolding mystery.
 
 <hr />
 <h4 style="text-align: center">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>
 <hr />

The beauty of unfolding consciousness

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN has been a Heartfulness practitioner for over 40 years. Here
 she shares some tips from her own experience that can help deepen meditation and take us further on the journey of
 evolution.</h4>
A true spiritual practice does not impose dogma or an authoritarian approach&nbsp; to
 spiritual exploration. This places the responsibility on each one of us to sustain a constant interest and
 motivation in our experience and to try to increase our capacity to perceive subtle changes in our evolution. Our
 consciousness is able to stay attuned to inner sources of nourishment during Heartfulness Meditation because of the
 Transmission we receive.
The focus is to become one with the Source, with the beloved within, with love itself,
 and to disentangle ourselves from the complexities of wishes, desires and deep tendencies, which create resistance
 and reaction to change and to our harmonious relations with others around us. Everything can teach us more, help us
 learn more, change ourselves and enable us to give more.
We can change our prejudices, reactive patterns and negative emotions. A wonderful tool
 is a diary to record everything that we observe in meditation and daily life, with a curious, open and honest
 approach, like a mirror for ourselves over time. The Heartfulness approach completely embraces living in the midst
 of life, accepting partners and families, work and community, facing all manner of challenges.
<h4 style="color: #e8788c; text-align: justify;"><img decoding="async" alt=""
 class="lazyload w-100"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/steadywork2_1ffba1ce75.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T04:23:22.725Z">
</h4>
Here are some practical ideas that may
 support a deepening of your experience in meditation. You can also discover your own to share. The most
 important key is just to take interest:
Pray for help if you feel stuck or unmotivated.
If it is a difficult day, bring this also into your meditation.
Find some inspiration from messages, books or talks, perhaps in just one sentence. Read
 and absorb and then bring this quality into your meditation and see what happens.
Cultivate an inner loving and truthful witness of yourself within.
Take time to be grateful and appreciative of what you have received or learned.
Take time at the end of the meditation to note how are you feeling, and try to keep it
 as a whole sense to which you can refer during the day.
Experiment with keeping attention in your heart during the day and observing thoughts
 vigilantly.
Approach each meditation as an entirely new experience rather than one that you expect
 to be in a certain familiar pattern.
Write down in your diary whatever you discover as a pioneer researcher.
Include in your prayer at night a request for a deeper meditation in the morning.
Take a good amount of time to find and feel your heart. Don’t rush. Then, after a while,
 make the suggestion that the Light is already present in your heart, and slowly focus awareness on this with
 openness, waiting to receive gladly whatever comes.
Try recalling the profound core of longing in your soul that has brought you to this
 moment and opportunity.
Try consciously putting your heart completely wholeheartedly into the meditation.
Try anticipating your opportunity to meet the Divine within with joy and eagerness and a
 sense of discovery and wonder.
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>
<hr>

The steady work of evolution

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN shares her experience of what brings meaning, depth and purpose to everyday living.</h4>
Like so many precious projects on our Earth, in a local small town there exists a wonderful venture that helps young people who have been homeless and are having problems rebuilding their lives. I was invited to participate in a regular session of sharing some experience on what gives meaning to life. What to say?
I could talk about a heart-based meditation called Heartfulness, but what then? On reflection, I am realizing that what has been most important about meditating on the heart has been to steadily discover more ways to feel life and living.
Many people have the idea that meditation leads us into a rather dull state of calm and withdrawal or detachment. Cartoonists often depict meditators as zoning out and floating on a cloud. Suppose it is the very opposite!
The first time I noticed an increased feeling effect, was on my return from a visit to my first teacher in this Heartfulness approach – a man called Babuji. On the plane, I plugged in the most basic kind of earphones of the ’70s, and listened in rapture to the music playing. Today sound systems are marketed and sold like temples to music, the electronics endlessly refined and housed within the most exquisite wooden casings, like sculptural masterpieces. But at the end of the day, what good is the most perfect sound system if the person listening has inner distortion created by the turbulence of the stuff of everyday life?
The effect is to muffle and distort our inner ability to listen. It is difficult to be in a pure enough state to really feel and savor beautiful music. It is not easy to find the capacity to tune in, to expand an inner space to receive, to let the music flow directly and touch us deeply. Yet this is exactly what I found had changed as a result of meditating for a few days and receiving the help of my beloved teacher in cleaning my heart.
When we are moved or touched it can be as if our heart hurts or vibrates. The hardest aspect of being human is that we are faced with such deeply sad or overwhelmingly painful experiences at times. In the short term, we can close our hearts and withdraw from the risk of that pain being repeated. We can go numb or hard or distract ourselves or hide away and try and disappear. I am sure I learned to do all those things to some degree in my earlier life.

<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">Listening to this extraordinary 
 feeling-heart instrument 
 we can know precisely and subtly 
 what is going on. 
 Everything that seems outside of us 
 in space and time can be felt 
 very precisely within our heart 
 as it affects and impacts us. </h5>

<hr>
Today, it is the very echo of those very painful moments in my heart that helps me connect and resonate every day with other human beings and with life on this planet. A lot more space has been made through the cleaning process. But it is not really empty space – it is a space of resonance. It is like a rock wall of a cave that has been carved out by water and ice and heat and pressure so that it is worn away and smoothed down. Now I feel that the human heart is big enough to hold everything, and to hold it all in compassion and kindness so that it is more bear-able. It is a place of feeling to hold feeling, to allow it to mean more and more, and to stir us more and more deeply. This is the best source of inspiration and creation.
Everything can be felt more – the sky, clouds, trees, colors, light, seasons, forms, living systems, changes, the elements of water, air, earth and fire, children, the presence of loved ones, conversations and moving about all fill me with a very simple delight and enjoyment. That is, if I keep a daily sense of freshness and newness coming with the meditation practice. They can also be a source of much more subdued softness and comfort in bleaker times. It seems to be a way that the heart is tuned into Nature. There is a simple level of joy or ordinary relief in feeling connected with the world. The heart feels this even in dark times. We are more connected through suffering than anything else.
It is not here a matter of lists of ‘favorite things’ like the song in The Sound of Music. Instead, through meditation, our heart shows us that it is like a very extraordinary musical instrument, through which we attune to and amplify the sounds of everyday life. Daaji has described the heart as the center of all the spiritual centers and sub-centers in the human system and field of existence.
It seems then that all reflection and experience can be gathered in the heart and felt more and more deeply and widely. In deepening the resonance of any experience we feel more and more stirred, moved and inspired. It is a process of creativity in slow motion as life moves through our field of awareness. Through our heart center we feel its meaning and connection more and more like a song. This can keep reverberating on and on. It can go on being refined and understood, shared and expressed, in each moment. It is our quintessential source of intelligence through refined feeling.
Listening to this extraordinary feeling-heart instrument we can know precisely and subtly what is going on. Everything that seems outside of us in space and time can be felt very precisely within our heart as it affects and impacts us. It is as if the heart gathers the information from the different senses and distills them into a specific sound, a vibration that is moving and meaningful, connecting us to the universal Source of all.
In meditation, the heart feels what it receives from the Source and responds to new notes, new soundless music and infinite beauty from deeper dimensions and worlds… And so it goes on.
That is what gives meaning to life for me.

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

<hr>

What gives meaning to life?

<hr><h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN, Ph.D., has been integrating the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, and spirituality, through both practical and philosophical approaches, for over 40 years. Here she explores the way a spiritual practice opens up levels of feeling and sensitivity as we expand into deeper and deeper levels of consciousness, and how our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies are integrated through the heart.</h4><hr>The great divide between scientific and mystical views of reality lands on the question of our subjective awareness. Measures can be made of physiological and behavioural effects of meditation practices, but it is much harder to demonstrate objectively the transformative experiences that a seeker may undergo in a disciplined practice over years.Ultimately it comes down to how someone feels. This domain of feeling is so extraordinary and intricate in our subjectivity, and yet it has often been quite disregarded as the source of our capacity to orientate and connect with our environment. The word “feeling” is ambiguous in the English language. It includes both emotions and the more diffuse area of perception. In its medieval origins it meant the physical sensation of touch through experience or perception. Touch remains the most helpful way of capturing the lived experience of feeling as we encounter daily life. The domain of feeling is continuously flowing through a shifting synthesis of qualities and textures as an overall array of diffuse meaning coloring and sculpting our responses and moods.Music is a primordial expression of such feeling. Within our current dominant scientific discourse, the fact that such a feeling array is informing us of much more than our physical and mental state is not yet articulated. Yet from the perspective of perennial philosophies, within the experience of feeling are all the domains of our subtle fields of consciousness.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Touch as a Core Sense</h4>According to the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner, we have twelve senses in our makeup. The sense of touch is core. Through touch we are woken up to the world, and through the radiation of touch information throughout our system we are enlivened. We are reminded of our primordial separateness and our wish to connect through touch. Steiner said that without touch we would never become conscious of the Divine. When we touch something we are both so close and so far from it.Sensitivity is our radar system. In the confusion of different information pathways in which we are ceaselessly immersed, sensitivity is our capacity to fine tune, to touch as it were, significant elements from the whole. So sensitivity is expressed in our fields of perception, and our capacity to notice – and further to notice what we notice. This perceptual capacity continues to develop throughout life. Specialists in any field become hyper-conscious of such elements as electric fields, or the way that patients’ skin color denotes subtle changes in health, or the way that plants signal malaise, or if notes played are off key.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Discernment</h4>The distinction to be made between scientific and metaphysical approaches to knowledge has been in the discernment of information. Spiritual traditions have confronted this issue by evolving specific protocols of practice, of directing attention, of cultivating a stringent observer and witness, and of purifying the filters of attachment and desires and egotism that cloud the lens of perception. Within Vedic philosophy, the higher realms of human consciousness involve a shift from thinking consciousness to a more direct feeling consciousness.In the Heartfulness tradition of meditative practices, all the teachers have proposed that the realm of the divine is known through feeling, and this feeling connects the divine Reality with the whole field of humanity. It is an unimaginable realm. We can only conceive it as a kind of enormous filigree network of intensity which is absolutely soft and fine. It is at the most subtle level of our existence. One clear sign of a spiritually evolved person, a truly human person, is one who is consistently alert and sensitive to situations and others. So from this point of view, the journey of spiritual evolution is one of increasingly refining our tools of perception, our capacity to feel the faintest trace of something, and to glimpse its meaning directly.<hr>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">In the Heartfulness tradition of meditative practices, all the teachers have proposed that the realm of the divine is known through feeling, and this feeling connects the divine Reality with the whole field of humanity. It is an unimaginable realm. We can only conceive it as a kind of enormous filigree network of intensity which is absolutely soft and fine.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Mind as Embodied Cognition</h4>In Eastern philosophies, “mind” is not seen as identical with “intellect” in the way that we may view it in the West. In fact, it is more equivalent to the entire field of sensibility in which we are immersed. Within this model, and especially in the Yogic and Sufi traditions, the heart is understood to be the base of mind. In a sense, it is the primary port of call for our sense of being and aliveness. It is equivalent to the entire nervous system within us. The heart is the field for the mind. The heart is the place of sensitivity to all the feedback from the entire array of sensory input: the whole bodily landscape.As the meeting place of all the subtle fields of sentience within us, the heart has the capacity to integrate awareness into a core understanding. Within spiritual evolution, the task is to refine knowing – to rely on feeling more than thinking, because it is less constrained by concept. The mystic’s quest to know the Divine cannot be based on an intellectual process. As Jung said, “We do not do well to look at the sky with the intellect. It is neither adequate for the knowledge of the psyche.”&nbsp;<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Feeling_sensitivity2_c16a462097.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T12:01:41.469Z">&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:justify;">The Feeling of What Happens</h4>Antonio Damasio is a neuroscientist whose research and thinking has challenged the separation of mind and feeling. He offers a model of consciousness and a sense of self which is rooted in a more global conception of bodily and affective experiencing. In his work, The Feeling of What Happens, he proposes that thought and consciousness in fact derive from feeling: apart from specific emotions, we can be aware of a continuous flow of background feeling within our consciousness. Damasio suggests that background feeling is the way that the brain minds the body. Through the different systems involving the endocrine system, the internal milieu, the visceral, vestibular and muscoskeletal systems, our sense of self in relation to experience continuously re-orientates and adapts. Background feeling is the way that current information is mapped through our sensory and nervous systems.From these observations, he suggests that there are two kinds of consciousness – one would be core, and the other elaborated or autobiographical. These also correspond with two senses of self. A core sense of self is ceaselessly created with every moment of experiencing. Damasio suggests that two parallel mappings of body states are going on. So as I sit here at my computer, my brain is mapping the physical location of my body, the activity in my fingers, the words I am thinking about and typing through the keyboard, and all the related events and surroundings in which all of this happens. However, at the same time, there is a more subtle presenced feeling going on to accompany all of this; it is not just fingers typing and a body sitting here, it is a sense of visceral closeness and intimacy, a kind of touch to all of this, which I feel as my self.<hr>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">As the meeting place of all the subtle fields of sentience within us, the heart has the capacity to integrate awareness into a core understanding.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<hr>This results from the secondary mapping process, how this background sense is subtly modified by each new moment experienced as a bodily felt sensing. It is this to which we can often have direct access during meditation or reverie. It is a direct cognition and would include a mental flow of images which are continuously unfolding and are not limited to visual representations. Images involve a synthesis of sensory modalities, sensory and affective elements.Damasio proposes that consciousness originates when this kind of wordless knowledge, representing what is perceived, is experienced also as creating a change within the organism. Such perception arises from the additional sensory motor and affective responses. Wordless knowledge arises in its simplest form at a mental level as a “feeling of knowing.” Therefore, the original basis of consciousness is the feeling of what happens when any form of perceiving is going on. It is this particular accompanying feeling that gives rise to us claiming the experience as belonging to us personally as a sense of self.Our culture is visually dominated. It attributes objectivity to what can be seen rather than what can be felt. Damasio wonders whether in less complex societies, human beings were naturally more aware of these inner processes of self than we are today. This interesting observation also links the contemporary and perennial perspectives. The latter continually urge us to bring our attention inward rather than allow ourselves to be fragmented by the pull on our senses toward so many external influences. This brings us back to the heart of all of this.In yogic science, there is the notion that we have inner senses, known as indriyas, which can discern a more profound awareness of being. When our attention is overly focused on external experience, we tend to identify increasingly with a bodily oriented and bound sense of self. But when we increasingly learn to discern through our more subtle perceptual systems, then we become closer to the deeper Self within. Paradoxically, this Self feels more than the bodily-oriented self. As we go deeper, we utilize the resources of our subtle bodies at finer and finer levels of vibration, each yielding a different kind of reality.If the realm of the divine is at the subtlest level, then the task in evolution is to develop the sensitivity of mind to perceive and become one with this subtlest level of existence. Once we start to imagine this, we realize that this kind of perception is based on the capacity to pick up fainter and fainter cues, to feel and to be increasingly sensitive to almost “soundless notes.” This is how rishis in ancient times were able to hear and “know” extraordinary philosophical truths. We may experience these kinds of perceptions as a more diffuse synthesis, like a texture or quality, which are refined and often convey to us very beautiful intimations of aliveness and feelings beyond words.<hr>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">If the realm of the divine is at the subtlest level, then the task in evolution is&nbsp;to develop the sensitivity of mind to perceive and become one with this subtlest level of existence.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;&nbsp;<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Feeling_sensitivity3_5d4c10e05e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T12:03:48.050Z">&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:justify;">The Role of the Heart</h4>In most human societies, a person will point to their heart when they refer to themselves. Focusing attention on the heart brings our sense of self inward to a central core location. Both in the East and the West, the heart is regarded as the place of soul, of love, of knowledge and wisdom. These come through feeling rather than intellectual construct. From recent research carried out by Pearsall, the HeartMath organization, and others, the heart is the largest oscillator within our system, which can entrain others if it is tuned into coherent wave forms. These occur when a person is feeling loving and calm. So the heart can connect with others. This results in more and more attunement to the feelings of others and an increase in capacity for empathy.In the Heartfulness Way, a modern form of Raja Yoga, and in Sufi practices, the heart is gradually purified of background impressions that restrict perception and cognition, so that there is a clearer field of experiencing and feeling. The heart carries these impressions of experience. If consciousness is based on feeling, and the heart center is the base of this, then spiritual practice is the task of refining the “mirror or lens of the heart” so that what is discerned in the midst of awareness is less and less determined by accumulated impressions and tendencies. Ram Chandra, the second Heartfulness Guide in the lineage, once said, “The heart is the field for the mind to work, and this is the instrument by which we develop the discriminating faculty.”This refining process is central to spiritual practice, so that we can become perfect instruments – as if we could play divine music. Like any instrument, the heart’s capacity to resonate truly can be distorted by the influence of other dissonances. It is through an attuned sentience and the heart’s refinement that the spiritual aspects within us can be felt and glimpsed. In <a href="https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/space-time-creation-universe/">2016</a>, Daaji emphasized that the purpose of life is to facilitate expansion of consciousness to its fullest potential. This expansion eventually takes us to a state of lightness and joy where the subtle body is pure, simple and refined. Then, there is no longer any separation between the heart and the mind – they are one. The heart is the field of action for the mind and vice versa. He says that this integrated, holistic state of being is known as Yoga.<hr>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">It is through an attuned sentience and the heart’s refinement that the spiritual aspects within us can be felt and glimpsed.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;The heart can reflect the profound qualities of humanness, love, compassion, sharing, peace, a deeper sense of relatedness, as well as other qualities of infinite variation. In purifying the heart center, openness to experience is increased with a simultaneous openness to compassion.From all of these perspectives, it can be argued that in order to “know” something we need to be able to feel. In spiritual evolution, this capacity for feeling needs to be refined to increasingly subtle levels to go beyond our patterns of attachment, desire and fear. If we are able to refine feeling, we are closer to the most profound depths of the divine Self and the divine field of existence, which is centered in the heart. So, in this way, feeling is the base of our connection with a unified ground of existence and our true identity. This leads to a divine humanness that is infinitely soft, infinitely simple and close to nature.Here is an image that may capture such a beautiful state of being: We need to be as soft as cotton, so that a needle can pass through without touching. Only then, through this infinite realm of feeling, do we become one with the Source of all existence.References Childre, D. et al., 2016. Heart Intelligence: Connecting with the Intuitive Guidance of the Heart. Waterfront Digital Publications. Damasio A., 2000. The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness. William Heineman, London, UK. Helminski K., 1999. The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation. Shambhala, Boston, USA. Jung C.G., 1993. The Practice of Psychotherapy. Routledge and Kegan, London, UK. Patel, K.D., 2016. Space, Time and the Creation of the Universe. Heartfulness Magazine, Vol. 1, 8: pp. 35-40. <a href="https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/space-time-creation-universe/">https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/space-time-creation-universe/</a>. Pearmain R., 2001. The Heart of Listening: Attentional Qualities in Psychotherapy. Sage, London, UK. Pearsall P., 1998. The Heart’s Code. Thorsons, London, UK. Rajagopalachari, P., 1994. Heart to Heart, Vol. 3. Shri Ram Chandra Mission, USA. Ram Chandra, 2020. Reality at Dawn. Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation, India. Schmidt, S. and H. Walach, 2014. Introduction: Laying out the field of Meditation, in Research in Meditation – Neuroscientific Approaches and Philosphical Implications. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality,Vol. 2. Eds. S. Schmidt and H. Walach. Springer Press, Switzerland. Skolimowski H., 1994. The Participatory Mind: A New Theory of Knowledge and of the Universe. Penguin Books, London, UK. Soesman A., 2001. Our Twelve Senses: Wellsprings of the Soul. Hawthorn Press, USA.<hr>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by ROSALIND PEARMAIN</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

Feeling, sensitivity, and consciousness

<h4>
 ROSALIND
 PEARMAIN
 challenges our current worldview on research methodology, and the relative
 importance of left-brain and right-brain processes in human understanding
 and consciousness studies. She references the ground-breaking work of Iain
 McGilchrist, whose thesis has debunked the old paradigms of the human
 brain.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 We may not all be creating sophisticated experimental designs and calculating
 how significant results might be, yet each of us encounters new situations
 each day with our family, colleagues, organizations, and communities. We bring
 our understanding and our hypotheses, and we modify them as they may be
 challenged or altered by the response of others.



 We keep learning. Life gives us many opportunities to re-search, and to
 challenge outworn assumptions, not least the kind of unknowns we have faced
 through the pandemic.



 For most of my life, I have been curious about the realms of experiencing,
 feeling, the non-verbal, and the implicit realms of knowledge. How do we
 understand the different qualities felt in the presence of women? What
 elements contribute to change in experiential learning and groups? How does
 attending sensitively to the relational process support therapeutic change?
 What is so transformative for young people about some summer school programs?
 How does meditation contribute to change and growth?



 When we hear music, dance, spend time in nature, and meditate, we find
 ourselves in a flow of feeling alive that is immediate and meaningful. Yet
 somehow, all this subjective experience is often missing from the way we value
 knowledge.&nbsp;



 On one level, they are felt and known realities, which we can describe and
 name. They are also vital in the field of psychotherapeutic learning and
 training. On another level, they are perceived as occupying a zone of
 impressionistic and unreliable qualitative feeling. Our culture prefers to
 make “things” out of experiences, and apply measures and models very fast.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 When we hear music,
 dance, spend time in nature, and meditate, we
 find ourselves in a flow of feeling alive that is immediate and
 meaningful.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 So, I would like to introduce you to the extraordinary work of Iain
 McGilchrist, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, and previously Professor of
 Literature at Oxford University. He has spent the last 10 years writing a
 3-volume work illuminating this dilemma. It is based on an earlier book,
 The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the
 Western World.1



 His research is based on various sources and disciplines, including the
 observation of patients with injuries to either hemisphere of the brain. It is
 also founded on very wide scholarship. His book is an inquiry into the
 asymmetry of the brain, and the differences between left and right hemispheres
 that occur not only in humans but other species, such as birds. He dismisses
 the simplistic, outdated, and popular notions of this asymmetry from the
 1960s. He observes how birds need to keep part of their attention on finding
 small seeds in a small area, while at the same time keeping their awareness
 vigilant and broad to spot possible threats, mates, or other environmental
 occurrences.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="322" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/we_are_all_reasearchers2_c485a21b5c.jpg" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 This kind of distinction is also true for us. There is a purpose in having two
 hemispheres. Both are needed:



 “Both attend to the
 world and bring the world into being for us in two
 largely opposing ways; the left hemisphere paying narrowly targeted
 attention to a detail that we need to manipulate; the right hemisphere
 paying broad, open, sustained, vigilant, uncommitted attention to the rest
 of the world while we focus on our desired detail.&nbsp; This means that
 each hemisphere brings into being a world that has different qualities. In
 the case of the left hemisphere, a world of&nbsp;things&nbsp;that are
 familiar, certain, fixed, isolated, explicit, abstracted from context,
 disembodied, general in nature, quantifiable, known by their parts, and
 inanimate.&nbsp;In the case of the right hemisphere, a world
 of&nbsp;Gestalten, forms, and processes that are never reducible to the
 already known or certain, never accounted for by dissolution into parts, but
 always understood as wholes that both incorporate and are incorporated into
 other wholes, unique, always changing and flowing, interconnected, implicit,
 understood only in context, embodied, and animate.&nbsp;The left hemisphere
 is a world of atomistic elements; the right hemisphere one of relationships.
 Most importantly the world of the right hemisphere is the world
 that&nbsp;presences&nbsp;to us, that of the left hemisphere
 a&nbsp;re-presentation: the left hemisphere a map, the right hemisphere the
 world of experience that is mapped.”2



 McGilchrist has undertaken this project from both historical and current
 observations, and from a concern that our culture appears to be increasingly
 imbalanced towards the left hemispheric sphere of bringing reality into being.
 The left hemisphere is a closed system not functioning in present time. It is
 valuable in helping us grasp tools, make maps, and find words. It represents
 elements as fragments and parts, and tends towards a decontextualized and
 abstract kind of machine model of experience, which facilitates our
 manipulation of the world and our stress on technical approaches. It tends
 toward an absolute right or wrong mode of knowing something.



 “The left hemisphere
 is principally concerned with manipulation of the
 world. The left hemisphere deals preferentially with detail, the local, what
 is central and in the foreground and easily grasped.”3



 However, it is the right hemisphere that presents us with the relational,
 embodied, pre-conceptual, changing, empathic and present-time holistic grasp
 of reality, which is more fluid.



 “The right hemisphere
 is concerned with the whole picture, including the
 periphery or background and all that is not immediately graspable. It is
 essential for understanding the other’s point of view, essential for
 empathy. The right hemisphere is concerned with understanding the world as a
 whole, and how to relate to it.”4


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="700" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/we_are_all_reasearchers3_700x274_7ab67c0a02.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T09:22:58.192Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

He also says:


 “I believe that
 nowadays we live no longer in the presence of the world,
 but rather a re-presentation of it. This re-presentation has all the
 qualities of a virtual image; an infinitely thin, immobile fragment.”5



 Consider here how often people express things as mathematical concepts, with
 computer analogies, or as algorithms.



 Most spiritual traditions and approaches to meditation have techniques to help
 us suspend or ignore some of the left hemispheric processes of categorizing
 and applying maps to experience. In different ways, they focus attention on
 the embodied and present moment elements of experience as it unfolds and
 flows, such as breathing or a following a specific focus in awareness.



 McGilchrist suggests that the right hemispheric mode of knowing is more
 reliable than the left. He quotes Einstein who said that “the intuitive mind
 is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.” He raises the
 question,
 “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFs9WO2B8uI">What if our society has forgotten this
 gift?</a>“


Most essentially, McGilchrist proposes:


 “It is true we can see
 the world only partially, but we still each see the
 world directly. It is not a re-presentation, but a real presence: there
 isn’t a wall between us and the world.



 “The nature of the
 attention we bring to bear is of critical importance
 here. A maximally open, patient, and attentive response to whatever-it-is is
 better at disclosing or discerning reality than a response that is
 peremptory, insensitive, or – above all – shrouded in dogma.”6


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img decoding="async" width="600" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/we_are_all_reasearchers4_0f80a0de2e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-13T09:24:56.624Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 “It [consciousness] is
 not fixable in space, or quantitative, but
 qualitative and experienced in the flow of time. And if things turn out to
 be interconnected, not atomistic – and they are – each consciousness has its
 impact on the universe that cannot be quantified. Within my experience of
 the world, very much can be changed by my response to whatever-it-is; in a
 sense everything can be changed.”7



 What do I take from all this? A simple, humble, patient, open attention will
 help us be more encompassing in our understanding, and in our relating to each
 other and the world. Everything is more fluid and more interrelated than we
 can know, though we may feel it. And these perceptions are real and precious
 in our relation with each other and the world we hope to sustain and help
 flourish.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />


 References:



 1. The story that led to this title is this:&nbsp; Once a wise spiritual
 Master was a ruler of a country that flourished. As it flourished it grew and
 he needed to trust emissaries to act on his behalf in far flung regions.
 Eventually, one of these decided to advance himself instead of representing
 the Master. He saw his master’s tolerance as weakness not wisdom and became
 contemptuous of him. In this way the Master was overcome by his emissary.
 People were tricked, the country became a tyranny, and eventually it fell
 apart in ruins.



 2. McGilchrist, I., 2021. Consciousness as Relational,Science of Consciousness.<a
 href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fciCsq0uBUI">Essentia Foundation</a>.



 3. McGilchrist, I., 2021.The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the
 World, Vol. 1.Perspectiva Press London


4. Ibid.

5. Ibid


 6. McGilchrist, I., 2021. Consciousness as Relational,
 Science of Consciousness. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fciCsq0uBUI">Essentia
 Foundation</a>.



 7. McGilchrist, I., 2021.
 The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the
 World, Vol. 1. Perspectiva Press London


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL
</h4>

<hr />

We are all researchers

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h4>
 ROSALIND
 PEARMAIN
 explores the notion of losing balance and restoring it, and how we
 have to lose our old balance in order to find a new one.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 A Pilates teacher once suggested that if you ever suffer an ankle injury
 it helps to practice standing on that foot alone (when it is
 sufficiently recovered)as often as you can. Why? Because the nerves are
 also injured in sprains and the neural connectivity between the foot and
 the brain is undermined. Standing on one leg restores the passage of
 information from the ankle to the brain so that your balance and
 movement become more resilient again.



 I find this a good metaphor. Balance is a shifting and dynamic notion;
 not about achieving a static point but sustaining dynamic equilibrium,
 which is far more fluid in living systems. It tells me that what is
 important with balance is opening and restoring the flow of information.
 We could say that we become imbalanced whenever we block or close down
 to a wider understanding of our situation, our relation, and our
 context. We lose the ground upon which we stand and substitute for more
 abstract thoughts and memories. It is as if we literally lose our
 under-standing.



 This happens for me when I fall back on old patterns and get stuck. It
 could happen when I repeat past judgments and ideas about a person or
 situation that has changed, and get into conflict. We can see this
 happen with our friends, families, bosses, and also in political
 situations all the time.



 It seems that we have to apparently lose our balance, our old stance, in
 order to find a new one. We have to sometimes let go of what we hold on
 to in order to keep our sense of upright strength, in order to move
 forward and explore new territory. Is this what we do every time we take
 a step and walk forward?



 Within psychology, there are many different ways to make sense of how we
 lose balance in our relationship with the world:


<ul>
 <li>
 For those with painful beginnings, we can understandably become fixed
 on trying to mend early wounds and sufferings with all those we meet.
 This means we are not really connecting with the present situation and
 its requirements at all.
 </li>

 <li>
 We can become totally preoccupied by our fears, anxieties, and
 sometimes wishes for others – this often happens when we become
 parents.
 </li>

 <li>
 In severe situations, the inner self is so fragile that all efforts
 are extended to protecting it from suffering ever again – such as we
 see in narcissistic responses. With this attempt to protect the self,
 huge efforts are made to ward off any information that is not the same
 as we feel and want to hold on to. It is experienced as threatening.
 We can all feel something of this with our vulnerable egos.
 </li>

 <li>
 There are some situations, like trying to reach an airport to catch a
 plane or be in time for a meeting, when transport breaks down, when
 our focus and sense of balance are reduced to a very fragile thread
 like crossing a high wire!
 </li>

 <li>
 Jung described the complex of powerful archetypes that we all share in
 our deep unconscious selves, that also weave together with our
 personal psychological history. In this way, we can become
 hyper-sensitized to specific themes, e.g. the abandoned child, the
 martyr, the good or bad mother, the oppressive authority, the
 revolutionary overthrower. They can dominate our responses to
 situations in such a way we do not allow other information to come in.
 </li>

 <li>
 We can also sometimes over-identify with roles that we play at work or
 in our family, and lose contact with the wider and deeper aspects of
 our being in the world.
 </li>
</ul>

How can we restore
 balance?
</h>


 Taoism is a way of wisdom based on the notion of intrinsic balance
 within the dynamic flow and interplay of opposites. It requires us to
 recognize ceaseless movement in living systems, and to resist fixing
 ideas or attachments to one side of a situation. By not doing,
 everything is accomplished. By seeking only one side of things we make
 the other more solid and rigid.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img width="700" height="577" alt="lose-balance2" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/lose_balance2_700x577_1b20794583.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-26T07:09:23.171Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 In my very limited exposure to practices such as Tai Chi, I found you
 have to keep your knees bent. You have to be able to bend with pressure.
 It is a helpful metaphor to notice the moment of stiffening against and
 resisting information coming to us, and to mentally relax and move with
 it.



 Sometimes there needs to be time and compassion and healing for our own
 wounds before we can let ourselves consider those of others.



 Pausing and breathing in any situation, taking a step back, and focusing
 entirely on the present moment are very helpful. In a few minutes we can
 monitor all the sensory information coming in at this moment: the feel
 of surfaces meeting the body and feet, the temperature and scent of the
 air, the sounds we hear, the kind of light and sky that is unfolding,
 the sense of being alive. Enjoying that moment can then help us be open
 to exploring what we are feeling in a deeper way.



 It can be interesting to consider how many others have been involved in
 our being in this moment so far today? Those involved in power
 distribution, manufacture of objects, the cultivation and provision of
 food, etc.



 Doing something physical, being in nature, and talking to someone else
 also help us to regain a sense of perspective, a right relation with
 what is going on.



 Finally, meditation is a practice that is especially helpful in
 restoring balance. It can help us find an inner ground that supports us
 through harsh winds and shocks. We feel more anchored and rooted to a
 very deep reality that transcends this small moment.



 We need to feel safe to risk being open. “Under-standing” is a wonderful
 word. I am thinking of it like the roots connecting trees, nourishing
 and supporting growth among them.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img width="700" height="697" alt="lose-balance3" class="lazyloaded has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/lose_balance3_700x697_6913af66e3.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-26T07:10:06.580Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 Meditation is a practice
 that is especially helpful in restoring
 balance. It can help us find an inner ground that supports us
 through harsh winds and shocks. We feel more anchored and
 rooted to a very deep reality that transcends this small
 moment.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 For Equilibrium, a Blessing: Like the joy of the sea coming
 home to shore, May the relief of laughter rinse through your
 soul. As the wind loves to call things to dance, May your
 gravity by lightened by grace. Like the dignity of moonlight
 restoring the earth, May your thoughts incline with reverence and
 respect. As water takes whatever shape it is in, So free may
 you be about who you become. As silence smiles on the other side of
 what’s said, May your sense of irony bring perspective. As
 time remains free of all that it frames, May your mind stay clear
 of all it names. May your prayer of listening deepen enough to
 hear in the depths the laughter of god. – John O’Donohue


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
 Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL
</h4>

<hr />

What does it mean to lose balance?

<h4>ROSALIND PEARMAIN explores the reasons we meditate, and how they evolve over time. As we expand our awareness, we move from the mundane to the sublime, and experience more of our humanity and our inner Being.</h4>This is a question that keeps unfolding like a set of nesting Russian dolls. Imagine you are new to the whole idea and are asking such a question. Meditation may promise you better focus, relaxation, refreshment. Or you may want to meditate to enjoy being quiet and still, and listen to something that feels safe and loving in your heart. You may simply be curious or interested in a new experience of being. You may wish to meditate to become closer to your Higher Self, the Ground of Being within.But how does meditation help with any of these? In a simple way, meditation utilizes our capacity to rest consciousness with a focus, like a beam of light. Babies like to throw objects and see what happens. Suddenly, something that we could see, feel, and hold in our baby hand can move somewhere else and be different. With luck it might be returned by someone who speaks or smiles or adds something that changes it all again. So the baby throwing game goes on, helping us to learn about the space beyond and surrounding and within our awareness...Through development we go on “throwing” objects into different spaces. We meet and receive those of others through our attachments, our intentions, play, actions, sounds, feelings, words, games, ideas, stories, art, music, and the complex intellectual mysteries of the material world – all expanding and changing while we keep re-orientating our grasp on it all. We keep moving. Life seems to keep expanding.Meditation helps us to pause; to focus a piece of our consciousness like a pebble and cast it into the open space of our heart-mind awareness, the ocean. At the beginning, it may be caught up in swirls of currents and weeds caused by our emotions and mental distractions; it may seem to float or get stuck on the surface of the water. Yet still it reflects back something of who we are and helps us to be more transparent to ourselves.&nbsp;When we are able to clear these blockages and whirlpools, steadily, with the help of a Guide and transmission, with patience, the pebble of awareness can drop deeper and deeper each time. We can allow our consciousness to gradually sink toward the center of our existence and the reality within our heart.This inner world is increasingly subtle and formless, known by feelings that become increasingly precious and fine. Meditation becomes a heart pathway of focused feeling – we could say love – to touch the intimations of this deepest source. It is beloved, and it is the Beloved. There is the promise of becoming one with the Beloved so all separation across space can disappear.From far across the vast spaces of many lives, we have been throwing out our search beam to reacquaint ourselves with this source, this original home. Gradually, with more practice of Heartfulness meditation and increased intensity in longing and waiting, the solid walls of separateness start melting and disappearing. We feel permeated by the presence of the beloved in our daily lives. We feel as if we are meditating all the time in this presence of love. Such a state of being radiates love far beyond our small self.Why then do we meditate? We have a spark of the divine realm within us that seeks to know itself and become one with its origin. It is a vast mystery.&nbsp;In human existence, we are seemingly cast into space and time, and we throw out our search beam to find our original source. Yet this seed core is exquisitely close, deeply sheltered in the subtlest particles of our heart. Only when our consciousness is refined sufficiently to feel its softest expression, to be softness itself, can it touch and merge with such a state of vibration and harmony. Perhaps then, it can “breathe” such a love into the entire atmosphere of the Earth and even other worlds.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">We can allow our consciousness to gradually sink toward the center of our existence and the reality within our heart. &nbsp;</h4><hr><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_meditation_help2_0fcc49ac00.webp" alt="how-meditation-help2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_how_meditation_help2_0fcc49ac00.webp 114w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_how_meditation_help2_0fcc49ac00.webp 365w," sizes="100vw"></figure>

How does meditation help?

Roswita

Roy T. Bennett

What you can create

Ruben Montagnoli

<h4>In La Thuile, Italy, the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup was held from 29 February to 1 March 2020. Here, SYLVIE BERTI ROSSI and RUBEN MONTAGNOLI share their experience as Heartfulness trainers at the event.</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<img class="has-img-center lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ski_world_300x179_1_54ccc78e64.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:05:49.639Z" />

In the heart of the Alps, a few minutes from Mont Blanc’s shining glaciers, the Heartfulness team gathered for three days of snow and joy in La Thuile, a town in the Aosta Valley of northern Italy. We were supporting the athletes, teams, and the general public at the Alpine Ski World Cup, as an official partner, in what turned out to be a special time in the history of international ski events.
We provided special support for the ski teams in their hotels, offering the experience of Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation practices. We were also able to present Heartfulness activities and values through various press conferences and presentations, social activities, and interactions with the public.
Some of the athletes had been practicing Heartfulness for some time. One of them, Frederica Brignone, the winner of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2020, shared her positive experience in an interview published in the newspaper La Stampa on 12 March. She said that thanks to this meditation she had reached a state of grace that made her more conscious.
<img class="img-float-left lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ski_world3_8909bcf1f7.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:06:54.698Z" />
 The shadow of COVID-19 virus threatened to impact the World Cup event one week beforehand, so the organizing committee, along with the regional authorities and the International Ski Federation, opted for a safety protocol imposing a reduction in the number of people in and around the event.
Despite these restrictions, 66 athletes from 24 countries gathered late on Friday afternoon to compete on the most technically challenging ski slope of the circuit of the women’s World Cup. Neither the virus nor fifty centimeters of new snowfall could stop the competition on Saturday morning, when the Austrian rookie Nina Ortlieb won all the races, taking the lead from the local champion, Federica Brignone of Italy. Later, Corinne Suter of Switzerland went on to win the Crystal Globe in the downhill category.
Meanwhile, around 30 volunteers offered Heartfulness practices in the local hotels for both tourists and fans. In the stadium, the Heartfulness Lounge was situated at the finishing line of the course, and VIPs from the corporate world were able to experience what Heartfulness can offer individuals and organizations. Despite the difficult conditions, the adaptability, flexibility, and calm approach of our volunteers exemplified our social media tag for the event, #howwedocalm.
Our volunteer trainers were able to teach Heartfulness practices to athletes, journalists, coaches, physiotherapists, staff, and teams, as well as to members of the organizing committee, thousands of fans, skiers and tourists, and the Heartfulness Corporate Team shared a daily meditation program with VIP guests, including partners and sponsors, helping them to deepen their experience.
As an official partner of the event, we also presented the newly released Italian version of The Heartfulness Way (published by Mondadori) to the media and guests gathered in the Montana Lodge Hotel.
<img class="w-100 has-img-center lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ski_world6_8553ad7a29.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:08:07.393Z" />

Alain Desvigne, President of the Heartfulness Institute, France, spoke about the link between sport and meditation: “Although at first view, meditation and sport don’t seem directly connected, as meditation is about ‘not doing’ and sport is about perfect action, today the link between meditation and sport is well established. Sporting teams and athletes are turning increasingly to meditation and Yoga to help improve their performance. Indeed they need to increase their focus and emotional balance amidst the pressures of highly competitive environments. Meditation also helps them to integrate all aspects of their busy, often stressful lives, supporting them before, during, and after the race.
<img class="w-100 has-img-center lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ski_world4_74d0c86686.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:09:57.285Z" />

“Athletes have to prepare their minds in order to reach their peak performance. Heartfulness meditative practices are easy to learn, and help people develop an effortlessly focused mind. In fact, the goal of meditation is to create a permanent meditative state, whatever the circumstances.
“That brings us to the second step, the race. Meditation is basically a technique which helps to create a state where the mind is focused without effort. You are 100% present in the here and now. If you watched the women who were racing today closely on the screen, the level of presence they had when they were racing is exactly that meditative state. When you race down a slope at 130 km/hour, you don’t have time to analyze. It is the inner stillness with full focus that allows you to grasp the situation.
<img class="w-100 has-img-center lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ski_world5_831a31737f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:11:57.849Z" />

“And the third step, after the race, we call the recovery period. The body is exhausted. And this is where we find another benefit of meditation: It gives you the ability to reconnect, to recover, to refresh, revitalize and rejuvenate yourself, so as to regain inner strength.
“Heartfulness offers meditation on the heart; and there is a direct link between the inner condition of the heart and our state of mind. As we say, ‘When the heart is at peace, the mind is at rest.’ Heartfulness allows the mind and the heart to be in tune and work together.
“Why are we here, in this context of sport? It’s not only to help athletes reach their peak performance. In fact, the core values of sport are very close to the values of Heartfulness. If you look back at the original spirit of the Olympic Games, it was about creating a peaceful world, a better world, a harmonious world. It was about bringing everyone together. That’s where sport and Heartfulness meet.”
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by SYLVIE BERTI ROSSI and RUBEN MONTAGNOLI</h4>
<hr>

The Audi FIS alpine ski world cup

Ruby is a Heartfulness trainer, tutor, mentor, and sometimes writer. She has an M.Ed. in Education and Psychology from the University of Cambridge, and has worked in community and mental health. She is passionate about volunteering, service, meditation, languages, and finding beauty in the world around her.

Ruby-Carmen.jpg

Ruby Carmen

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
<h4>
 All around the world, we are in lockdown in a bid to slow down the spread
 of the COVID-19 virus. And we are coming to terms with this collective
 experience. Here, RUBY CARMEN shares
 some insights, inspirations and suggestions for coping well in this
 extraordinary time.
</h4>
<h3 style="text-align: center">
 Tips for coping
</h3>
<h4>DEVELOP STRUCTURE AND ROUTINE</h4>

 In lockdown, many of us have been given the gift of time. In a recent
 article published in the
 <a
 style="color: #b56d6d"
 href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/opinion/scott-kelly-coronavirus-isolation.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/opinion/scott-kelly-coronavirus-isolation.html"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >New York Times</a
 >, astronaut Scott Kelly offers some excellent advice on putting structure
 and routine into your day, including fixing a time to get up and go to bed.
 Having structure is helpful for well-being and can offer a sense of purpose
 for both adults and children. There is an element of security and safety in
 routine. Where possible, create some boundaries of work space and home
 space, and allow yourself and your children time off.
 

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <img
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/one_Human_family2_d5818d772f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T04:15:52.707Z"
 alt="one_Human_family2_d5818d772f"
 />
 

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h4>JOY AND PLAY</h4>

 Allow time for joy and play. This feature of the human condition has
 manifested in the exponential growth of online kindness groups springing up
 like flowers, and the outpouring of multiform and multimedia creative
 outlets and ways of expression – online singing and music making, art
 classes, ukulele playing classes, and meditation sessions across the globe.
 New possibilities continue to arise, as human beings endeavor to express
 themselves and connect with each other.
 

<h4>
 COMMUNICATE AND CONNECT 
</h4>

 Share stories. This is an opportunity to connect deeply with our loved
 ones. If we are not with them, video calls are indeed a gift. In the absence
 of technology, children can write letters, and send drawings to their
 grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts. Limit talking about the lockdown
 and the virus. In particular, avoid talking about it in worried, anxious
 ways in the presence of young children, who in turn will model anxious adult
 behavior.
 

<h4>
 ACCEPT AND ACKNOWLEDGE 
</h4>

 Work towards accepting how you truly feel. On the days you feel sad, angry
 or frustrated, sit with those feelings for a little while. Give yourself a
 hug. And when you are ready, let go. Diary writing or journaling is another
 option, in particular on the difficult days where you feel you have had
 enough. Both our physical and mental well-being need to be prioritized,
 especially under our current circumstances.
 

<h4>BE INSPIRED</h4>

 Look for inspiration in each day. Take time to observe the exceptional
 courage, bravery and self-sacrifice of others: Nurses, doctors, paramedics,
 those who deliver food, serve in stores, pharmacists, and those who continue
 to keep communal spaces clean. The heart fills up with gratitude that cannot
 be truly expressed in words. The Italian children who drew pictures of
 rainbows with the caption “Everything will be alright,” the opera singers on
 balconies who are so touching and truly inspirational. Imagine all these
 acts of human kindness that we have witnessed, and those that are hidden. We
 are sharing a collective experience of hope for our human family, realizing
 the innate goodness of the human heart.
 

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
<h4>
 <img
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/one_Human_family3_f502e9b140.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T04:17:31.644Z"
 alt="one_Human_family3_f502e9b140"
 />
</h4>
<h4><hr class="vertical-space1" /></h4>
<h4>COMMUNITY</h4>

 Plug into your local and global communities. There are neighborhood
 WhatsApp groups, online coffee meetings, parent support groups etc. The list
 is endless. Forums exist to help and support the needy in our communities.
 Depending on our skills we can offer practical support to others. One
 example, provided by the Heartfulness community, of which I am a part, gives
 me a unique sense of unity and oneness. Daily and weekly, we are sitting in
 our homes meditating together virtually.It is wondrous to witness the human
 ability to adapt and find creative solutions, thriving under difficult and
 restricted circumstances. To instill a sense of meaning, we can look to
 create more structure in our daily lives, allowing time for joyful, playful
 activities. We may also recognize the importance of communication and our
 ability to connect in whatever forms are available to us. Perhaps, above all
 else, we can exercise greater acceptance of how we feel from day to day, and
 allow ourselves time to process it. This could be through diary writing, the
 experience of silence, or the practice of meditation. Find inspiration in
 each day and reach out to local and global communities. We are one human
 family living in extraordinary times.
 

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
OTHER RESOURCES: 

 <a
 href="https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/coronavirus/helping-parents-and-kids-stay-cool-and-collected-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/coronavirus/helping-parents-and-kids-stay-cool-and-collected-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/</a
 > 
 Guided visualisations and relaxation for children at
 <a
 href="https://www.heartfulness.uk/primaryschools/"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >https://www.heartfulness.uk/primaryschools/</a
 > 
 <a
 href="http://www.heartfulness.org"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >www.heartfulness.org</a
 >
 and
 <a
 href="http://www.heartfulness.org"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >www.heartfulnessinstitute.org</a
 > 
 <a
 href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/</a
 > 
 <a
 href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/opinion/scott-kelly-coronavirus-isolation.html"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer"
 >https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/opinion/scott-kelly-coronavirus-isolation.html</a
 >

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
&nbsp;

<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Article by RUBY CARMEN 
 Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL 
 
</h4>

<hr />

One human family

<div class="post-single-content">
 <h4 id="h-"></h4>

 <h2 class="has-text-align-center">
 How communication changes lives
 </h2>

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded.
 It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own
 darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.
 Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
 

 —Pema Chödrön

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 Compassion – just one word – seems so relevant in this moment, in particular
 in the grieving, loss-filled times we are living in.
 

 
 It is not always easy to define or capture the true meaning of the word, but
 we can certainly feel it, and sometimes its absence. One more literal
 definition of compassion is “to suffer together,” and although not an exact
 translation, in Hindi and Urdu we have the word hamdardi – our
 (shared) pain.
 

 
 Researchers in the field of positive psychology and emotions describe
 compassion as the feeling that comes when faced with the suffering of
 another, accompanied by the need to relieve that suffering.
 

 
 So, how can we relieve the suffering of others, especially when everything
 seems too much? People often talk of compassion fatigue, but we also know
 that we can clearly be compassionate and empathic, mirror neurons being
 considered the cornerstone of human empathy (V.S. Ramachandran et al, 2007).
 How then? We can listen with our hearts, and listen with our whole being,
 our whole undivided attention and presence.
 

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <hr />

 <h5 class="has-text-align-center">
 Empathic listening can allow the speaker to release and
 let go of
 so much, easing their emotional burdens and feel “met,”
 cherished, human. In doing so, we remember our beautiful and
 sometimes bruised humanity in all its colors of joy and sorrow. Our
 oneness.
 </h5>

 <hr />

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 And what is this “presence”? When we are there completely for that other
 person, friend, family member, lover, sister, brother, or even a stranger.
 No judgment; instead, non-judgment. No covering over the awkward silences
 with our words; instead, embracing the silence and holding that space for
 others, honoring that and allowing whatever needs to be said, even unsaid.
 Offering our pure, unconditional attention, where we hear and feel the
 feelings behind the words, if possible with love, without any underlying
 intention.
 

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <div>
 <figure>
 <img width="700" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/our_shared_humanity2_fd1e5a0dab.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T12:47:44.602Z" />
 </figure>
 </div>

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 In that moment of compassion and empathic listening, the listener can even
 forget themselves completely. It is an experience akin to the dissolution of
 the ego, of “no self.” Empathic listening can allow the speaker to release
 and let go of so much, easing their emotional burdens and feel “met,”
 cherished, human. In doing so, we remember our beautiful and sometimes
 bruised humanity in all its colors of joy and sorrow. Our oneness.
 

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />
</div>

Our shared humanity

<h4>RUBY CARMEN explores the often repressed emotion of grief, and shares some ways we can accept it, value the meaning behind it, and integrate it into our being as an expression of love.</h4>“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.&nbsp; All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat,&nbsp; and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”—Jamie AndersonGrief, it seems, is often unsaid, unexpressed, and avoided at all costs, until we are overwhelmed and it looms large and can no longer be denied.&nbsp; Since the pandemic, grief has been an undercurrent, and at times the feeling is palpable. It seems that there is little space for it to be expressed, never mind honored.&nbsp;Grief is understood as a natural human response to loss, and in particular to loved ones. It covers so many situations, not only death or separation; it can be the loss of a dream or a friendship; it can be a divorce, a miscarriage, unemployment, or even retirement.1 Needless to say, the pain of the loss can be overpowering, bringing us to our knees, both literally and metaphorically.&nbsp;From a personal viewpoint, I am able to name a number of life situations that have triggered grief in me that can be felt in the heart and in a way demand to be processed rather than pushed aside until a more convenient moment.&nbsp;Grief can take the form of a cycle, that is to say denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. Not necessarily in a set order, one after the next; it can move in circles, leap frogging over one element, even a mix of one or more of these elements. These stages were conceptualized by the Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying (1991). She is considered a pioneer in the West for end-of-life care and near-death studies.&nbsp;What has become apparent to me personally, and also while witnessing friends and dear ones come to terms with loss, is the impact of religion, spirituality, culture, and societal norms on the form in which grief is permissible. What comes to me is that we could do better. Are our coping mechanisms enough?&nbsp;Oftentimes, grief is hidden, buried deep in our hearts. It can be like an old wound that remains inside, nameless, formless, and then something in the present touches on it and we are reminded that it is still there, sitting silently, waiting.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Oftentimes, grief is hidden, buried deep in our hearts. It can be like an old wound that remains inside, nameless, formless,&nbsp; and then something in the present touches on it&nbsp; and we are reminded that it is still there, sitting silently, waiting.</h4><hr><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/talking_with_grief2_8f75e8b095.jpg"></figure>One approach that came into my field of consciousness was to “talk” to the grief and, in doing so, recognize that it exists rather than pretending it is not there, that it has been dealt with, processed in whatever way we might explain it away to ourselves. In order to “survive,” our emotions, especially big, heavy ones, get stored away under the category of “I will come back to this later,” or “I can’t deal with this right now, I have a job to do,” and other such rationalizations. In the busy modern world, it seems there is no time or appropriate space to deal with grief or loss.&nbsp;Talking to grief goes like this:&nbsp;Me: Oh, it’s you?&nbsp; I thought you had gone.&nbsp; Grief: No, I am still here, I never left you.&nbsp; Me: It hurts and I keep thinking that you might go away, and leave me in peace.&nbsp; Grief: Well, it doesn’t seem to work that way, you know. I am part of you, not separate. In fact, you are holding onto me, not the other way round.&nbsp; Me: (Laughing) You don’t say. So tell me, grief, what do I do? How can I get through this grief that reappears especially when I least expect it.&nbsp; Grief: Get through?&nbsp; Me: Yes.&nbsp; Grief: You know about acceptance?&nbsp; Me: Yes. Sometimes this acceptance business is hard to actually do. It can happen at a mental or intellectual level, and then all of a sudden, it is so overwhelming and difficult. It needs to be at the level of the heart.&nbsp; Grief: Your heart, yes, and also self-compassion. To grieve is a natural thing. It tells you that you are human and capable of loving, of love.&nbsp; Me: So, accepting that I feel grief and that it hurts bad, not to mention giving myself some compassion, can help, right?&nbsp; Grief: That’s right. It can help release the pain of the loss, and it can dissolve in your tears and in the sharing of your grieving pains.&nbsp;This is the conversation thus far. Grief need not be an enemy or “avoided like the plague,” as the English expression goes. Instead, at an individual and collective level, we can embrace it and ask how we can allow ourselves to feel grief and grow from it rather than be overwhelmed by it. And we can consider reaching out to empathic elders, dear ones, therapists, counsellors, and support groups wherever there is a safe space to give voice to grief.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Grief need not be an enemy or “avoided like the plague,” as the English expression goes. Instead, at an individual and collective level, we can embrace it and ask how we can allow ourselves to feel grief and grow from it rather than be overwhelmed by it.</h4><hr><a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm">1 https://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm</a>&nbsp;

Talking with my grief

Rumi

What is your myth?

What you love

Do things from your soul

Connection

From your soul

Trust that

An award-winning industrial designer and innovator who founded Publicolor, a long-term youth development program, to educate disadvantaged youth and prepare them for jobs: publicolor.org.

Ruth.jpg

Ruth Lande Shuman

<h4 style="text-align: center">
 AN ART ESSAY &amp; INTERVIEW
</h4>

 Volunteers are the lifeblood of Publicolor. In 2000 we won one of our
 country’s highest honors, the President’s Service Award, from
 President Clinton for our work with volunteers in the community.


 Every year over 1000 volunteers join us as painters on Saturdays in
 under-resourced schools and community sites. We transform these sites
 through warm color and thoughtful design. Publicolor paints dignity,
 respect, inspiration and safety in low-income neighborhoods.


 Corporations love to send their employees to paint alongside our
 students as they see this as a great team-building opportunity. It’s
 also a special way for corporate employees to participate in their
 company’s philanthropy. Publicolor students consistently mention
 Saturdays as their favorite part of Publicolor, citing getting to meet
 new people as most special. They cherish learning about new job
 options and what it takes to succeed. Publicolor’s volunteers are
 treasured role models!


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor2_a4d5c84881.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:44:56.128Z"
 alt="publicolor2" />


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor3_0f88c82378.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:45:48.000Z"
 alt="publicolor3" />


 Academic tutors also join us as volunteer leaders of our weekly
 career exposure workshops, and as mentors for our high school seniors
 and college freshmen. With the help of our volunteer painters,
 Publicolor has transformed about 500 sites. With the help of our
 tutors, 85% of Publicolor students enter college not needing
 remediation versus 19% of their school peers. Thanks to our mentors,
 98% have stayed in college after their freshman year versus 66% at the
 City University of New York. Since most of Publicolor students are the
 first in their family to go to college, the encouragement and guidance
 they receive from our volunteers is invaluable.


 For all these reasons, Publicolor treasures our volunteers. We
 couldn’t do what we do without them!

<h3 style="text-align: center">
 Interview with Ruth Lande Shuman, founder of Publicolor
</h3>

 
 Q: Please share with us the mission of Publicolor.


 RLS: The mission of Publicolor is to
 creatively engage high risk, low-income students in their education and
 prepare them to be productive in the workplace.


 Q: How did the organization form?


 RLS:&nbsp;I was very concerned back
 in the late ’80s about the rising dropout rate. All I could think of was
 the horrible impact that would be on the future of our economy. In
 another life I had helped develop the Big Apple Circus and was a
 founding board member. I got to see a lot of schools that had our arts
 and education program, and many of them were in east Harlem. All of them
 looked and felt like prisons.


 I thought to myself: It’s no wonder that kids are dropping out; it’s no
 wonder that parents aren’t showing up for parent teacher conferences; I
 wouldn’t go to such a hostile environment. And it’s no wonder teachers
 are burning out. That was the lightbulb moment!


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor4_d26c9bb1c0.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:46:24.411Z"
 alt="publicolor4" />


 At the same time I had just finished a masters in industrial design at
 Pratt with a specialty in the psychological effects of color. Color has
 a huge effect on our attitudes and behaviour. So I thought about putting
 a paintbrush in the hands of disaffected students – the ones who are at
 high risk of dropping out. I wanted to teach them the marketable skill
 of commercial painting, and teach them strong and transferable work
 habits. And along the way, they would develop a sense of pride and
 ownership of their school, and start attending school more regularly.
 Also, if they spend any time with me, they’ll get to understand the
 importance of education and how that’s going to be their path out of
 poverty.


 So I mentioned the idea to the woman who ran the circus’ arts and
 education program. She also ran an educational complex in East Harlem,
 and she said to me, “Come on in. I want you to paint my whole school.”
 It was a city square block school of five storeys. The project was a
 huge success. Estee Lauder had wanted to do something in that school and
 the principal suggested that they meet with me. They loved the idea and
 they volunteered. We did a lot of prepping with the kids during the week
 and on weekends. We primed all the hallways, all the stairwells, and
 then drew thousands of linesm because I had a rather complicated design.
 Literally, within one day, from Estee Lauder, my friends, the teachers
 and the principal, we had 350 volunteers and we painted all the public
 spaces of the school.&nbsp;It was rather extraordinary.


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor5_6302b79294.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:47:00.971Z"
 alt="publicolor5" />


<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Then the school’s Chancellor came by and pulled me aside and said, “This
 is a catalyst for change. I want you in my schools. I’ll send out an RFP
 for a school beautification program.” So I filled out the application
 with the Department of Education and we won the contract. I took a
 little time off to set us up as a non profit organization, and then we
 were!


 Then I met with the Deputy Chancellor for Operations who asked me which
 school did I want, and I told him I wanted his lowest performing school.
 In the contract I was very specific that I wanted their lowest
 performing schools. That’s how it got started.


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor6_dbcb775d4d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:47:39.957Z"
 alt="publicolor6" />


 Q: That’s a beautiful story. What were some of the reactions after
 these drastic changes to the schools?


 RLS:&nbsp;There was one father who
 said that it was as if Santa Claus had come and left this gift. It was
 just so gorgeous. He said something about Santa and his elves, because
 when he arrived on Monday to drop his son, he couldn’t believe what he
 saw. The whole school was completely transformed. The kids love it.


 I have learned – and at first it hurt my feelings – that change is very
 difficult for many people. For some, their initial reaction was not
 fantastic. But what I have understood is to give them two weeks to
 adjust, and almost everybody ends up loving the change. And there are
 always going to be a few who don’t like yellow, or don’t like the blue
 that I chose for the doors. In the end, if we’ve used any color that the
 kids and the principal don’t particularly like, then we change it.


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor7_78af02b117.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:48:27.019Z"
 alt="publicolor7" />


 Q: Is there a student who stood out as being especially enabled by
 the transformation or the mentoring program?


 RLS:&nbsp;Oh, that’s hard, as there
 are so many. One comes to mind. One of my students is a girl called
 Cecile, whose mother was very, very sick when she joined our continuum
 program. She claims it was because of us that she stayed in school and
 didn’t drop out, and she really didn’t want to drop out. She went on to
 college and said that she would have dropped out again after her first
 year because her mother was so sick. But we gave her a lot of support
 and explained why college was so important for her and how it would make
 her mother proud. Her mother passed away after her sophomore year, and
 she had a mentor who encouraged her to stay in school. She went to one
 of the top culinary schools in the country and she now has a job working
 in food services for Google. She also works for us on Saturdays as a
 site staff member.


 <img class="lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/publicolor8_74de447413.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T07:49:06.856Z"
 alt="publicolor8" />


 There’s just one more thing: I remember once we replicated in Pittsburgh
 and there was a guy at Carnegie who did a study on volunteerism and
 wrote a piece about Publicolor. What he and I uncovered is just how much
 better an employee feels about their company after they’ve participated
 in a volunteer program. They take great pride in the fact that their
 company is volunteering to help X, Y or Z. What we’ve noticed apart from
 the pride factor is also the magnificent team building opportunity. We
 have a lot of feedback about that from volunteers.


 Q: Thank you so much for your time.


 RLS:&nbsp;Thank you, my pleasure.

<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Art Essay by PUBLICOLOR 
 Interview by EMMA IVATURI
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The lifeblood of Publicolor

Akutagawa_Ryunosuke.webp

Ryunosuke Satoro

Drop in the ocean

Sairam is Co-founder and Director of Research at UrbanKisaan, dedicated to environmentally safe and sustainable agricultural technologies. He has published over 30 articles in international journals, and received multiple awards. He was listed in the top 10 leaders in the Agriculture Industry for the year 2021.

Sairam-Reddy-Palicherla.jpg

Sairam Reddy Palicherla

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 SAIRAM REDDY PALICHERLA
 is one of the founders of UrbanKisaan, creating a sustainable and safe
 future using hydroponics. They are creating local micro farms, with a low
 carbon-footprint, and igniting agri-entrepreneurs to bring positive change
 for humanity and the planet. Here he speaks with
 LEAH RICH
 about the work UrbanKisaan is doing, and Kanha Shanti Vanam as a model for
 feeding a whole community.
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 Q: Good morning Dr. Sairam. Thank you for taking the time
 to speak about
 hydroponics with us. Let’s jump right in. To start, what got you
 interested in hydroponics?



 SR: The
 interest here at Kanha was led by Daaji. He wanted to explore various
 non-conventional and sustainable ways of growing food. He has been doing
 this for the last twenty years, in his backyard in the US. This has been his
 passion – exploring alternative ways of growing food.



 Prior to seventy years ago, food was nutritious and safe, but the quantity
 was not enough to feed the people of the world. There was a desperate need
 to increase the productivity, so fertilizers, pesticides and hybrid crops
 were introduced. This is also when the needs of the trader came into the
 picture – transportability, storability, shelf life, and packing in boxes
 became the focus. This happened at the expense of the nutrient content of
 the food and the needs of the consumer.



 In the last seventy years, there’s been a complete shift in food growing.
 Now we satisfy our hunger but not our nutritional needs. That is where the
 challenges come. It’s time to shift back to local food production – I call
 it micro farming.



 Q: So how does hydroponics fit in? I thought the nutrients
 in our produce
 come through the soil, but in hydroponics there is no soil. Can you
 explain?



 SR: Our
 understanding of the source of a plant’s nutrition is also limited. When
 testing the nutrition content of crops grown in soil and the same crops
 grown hydroponically, is there any difference?



 When we measure vitamins, minerals, macro nutrients, protein, carbohydrate
 and fat, research shows that plants can take up these nutrients equally well
 from soil and the liquid formula used in hydroponics. A large body of
 research shows that there is no difference.


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<img decoding="async" width="700" height="466" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Hydroponics2_db9786ceb2.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T13:14:09.630Z" />


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 Q: How do you ensure the required nutrients are in the
 hydroponic
 formula?



 SR: There are
 three groups of minerals that a plant uses to meet its basic needs: macro
 minerals, micro minerals and major minerals. These are all present in the
 hydroponic formula. The rest happens inside the plant. Vitamins are
 manufactured inside the plant. Plants also require light and sufficient
 carbon dioxide to grow.



 Q: So, what about meeting the need for light for plants
 grown
 hydroponically?



 SR: There are
 two systems of hydroponics. One uses natural sunlight, for example, a
 hydroponic tower on a balcony, or a green house. The other type is for
 growing crops indoors, using artificial light. Typically, LED lights are
 used. They are low power consuming light sources and the beauty of LED is
 you can define the spectrum of light that they emit.



 Plants require different spectra of light for different purposes. For
 example, photosynthetic activity requires red light. Hormonal activity
 requires blue and yellow. We can measure how much light a plant needs for a
 particular spectrum and provide it using LED lights.


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<h4 class="text-center">
 Now we satisfy our hunger but not our nutritional needs.
 That is
 where the challenges come. It’s time to shift back to local food
 production – I call it micro farming.
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 Q: Coming to the individual level, why do you feel is it
 important for
 households to grow food hydroponically?



 SR: Six or
 seven years ago, I came across a news article that was published by an
 agriculture university, showing the levels of pesticides and heavy metals in
 the food we consume. They went around the city of Hyderabad and collected
 samples of vegetables from organic stores, supermarkets, roadside shops, and
 farmer’s markets. They analyzed the samples in their laboratory,and to my
 surprise and agony, all the vegetables were heavily contaminated with heavy
 metals. 45% of the produce from organic stores was contaminated with
 pesticides, and 100% was contaminated with heavy metals.



 This is because the areas where food was grown were near polluting
 industries. And the surrounding soil and water body in every city, whether
 it be a reservoir or a canal is being contaminated by the toxic effluents.
 This contaminated soil and water is being used to produce the crops we are
 consuming. So even if produce is grown using an organic methodology, without
 chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the soil and water used to grow them is
 polluted. It’s impossible to avoid heavy metals like arsenic and lead.



 This is where I see a huge need for home growers. And hydroponics is one
 method we can all use. I call our home growers micro farmers.


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<img decoding="async" width="700" height="466" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Hydroponics3_9221eb8abb.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T13:16:04.875Z" />


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 Q: What are the advantages of hydroponics? Can you offer
 some tips and
 guidelines for people who are reading this and interested in starting a
 small hydroponics system at home?



 SR: It requires
 very little water, and you can automate it. If you go away on vacation, your
 crops can be watered while you are away. It doesn’t need much space. You can
 easily grow the leafy greens required for your household. All you need is a
 roof top or balcony that receives three to four hours of direct sunlight per
 day. You need four by five feet of space. If outdoor space is not possible,
 you can use an indoor kit with LED lights.



 Now, expanding this to the community level, at Kanha we have enough
 hydroponically grown produce to meet the demands of the community.



 Q: Are you aware of other communities setting up similar
 operations?



 SR: This is a
 growing field. People are overcoming their doubts about hydroponically grown
 vegetables, as they learn about it and taste the produce. In Singapore, for
 example, where they have very little land to grow vegetables, they use
 rooftops to grow their vegetables hydroponically. We call them rooftop
 farms.



 Q: This seems like a replicable model in urban areas
 worldwide.



 SR: Yes,
 definitely. It is being well accepted worldwide.



 On the commercial side, our first farm at Urban Kisaan was a rooftop farm in
 the heart of the city of Hyderabad. This is where we demonstrated that it
 can be part of smart city planning.



 At Kanha, we have built six rooftop greenhouses. Different systems are being
 used to grow different types of food. We’re growing many types of leafy
 greens, tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, and hot peppers. We can grow
 anything we wish.



 The cost of the setup is an investment, but I’m sure in the near future
 governments will offer incentives and subsidies.


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<img decoding="async" width="700" height="466" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Hydroponics4_13fbb14f24.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T13:17:24.975Z" />


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 Q: What about universities and corporations?



 SR: University
 hostels are asking for vertical farms to be installed. And corporates are
 asking them for their employee restaurants. Generally, they prepare fresh
 food, such as salads.



 Supermarkets are also interested. The indoor kits are being installed in the
 supermarkets so that consumers harvest directly from there.



 In terms of environmental impact, these initiatives are doing two very
 important things:


<ol type="1">
 <li>
 They are cutting off the logistics component of food production. This
 reduces the carbon emissions as there is no transportation involved.
 </li>
 <li>
 There is no wastage either. In typical farming operations, up to 40% of
 the food grown is wasted before it reaches the consumer.
 </li>
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Hydroponics is reducing both carbon emissions and wastage.


 Earlier we had backyard farming. That is becoming more difficult these days
 as we don’t have much time to devote to it, and there is a lack of space in
 our urban areas. If you have the space and the time, there is nothing like
 it. But if you don’t, you can try hydroponics as a micro farming option.



 It’s time to promote micro farming,to decentralize farming. Micro farming
 cuts down wastage, and allows you to grow safe, nutritious food even in
 urban high-rise environments.



 Q: Dr. Sairam, thank you so much for this eye-opening
 conversation.


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<h4 class="text-center">Photographs courtesy of URBAN KISAAN</h4>

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