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Tejinder Kaur Basra

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">TEJINDER KAUR BASRA shares findings from the panel discussion she moderated during the Global Spirituality Mahotsav with SULEKHA KUMBHARE, SWAMI ATMARPIT RAKSHITJI, MARK MILTON, and Dr. DILSHAH SINGH ANAND on work as a source of happiness in society.</h4>&nbsp;Work is the foundation upon which communities are built, the catalyst for innovation and progress, and the bedrock of social cohesion.&nbsp;The true value of work lies not in its economic output but in its ability to enrich our lives and uplift our communities.&nbsp;What actionable insights can we glean from this perspective? And how&nbsp;we must recognize&nbsp;the interconnectedness of our work with the greater fabric of society and strive to align our professional pursuits with the values and aspirations of our communities.Each panelist shared their life story in brief and their own perspectives to life and work. Their personal experiences and the influence of their spiritual practices on their work gave a glimpse of their life’s purpose. They also shared how they integrate their spiritual practices into their professional lives to find greater meaning and fulfillment. A few examples were shared as tips for the audience to implement.Ms. Sulekha’s life story is one of inspiration, deeply influenced by her politician father’s dedication to serving the underprivileged. Following in his footsteps, she established the International Dragon Palace Temple in Kamptee, a suburb of Nagpur, India, in collaboration with Noriko Ogawa of Japan, renowned for promoting peace, humanity, and friendship globally. Through this initiative, she has created schools and institutions catering to economically disadvantaged children and youth. She is also actively engaged in women’s empowerment initiatives in rural areas near Kamptee.&nbsp;Sulekha attributes her personal transformation from fiery to calm and composed to the practice of Vipassana, which is also offered at the temple. She emphasized the importance of giving back to society, recognizing that personal development must be accompanied by a commitment to serving others.Swami Atmarpit Rakshitji is a committed renunciate, who has dedicated his life to spiritual growth and selfless service under his guru’s guidance. As the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine, Sadguru Echoes, he actively contributes to his organiation’s activities and teachings. He attributed the beginnings of his spiritual journey to his guru, instilled in him during his youth.Swamiji stressed the significance of having a higher purpose in life, urging individuals to strive to fulfill their potential with sincerity and dedication. He promoted the idea of selfless work. And he shared an acronym for “work” he devised to demonstrate how individuals can discover meaning in their lives: W for worry-free, O for organized planning, R for maintaining relationships and work-life balance, and K for following a spiritually enlightened master who inspires contributions towards societal betterment.Mark Milton focused on active listening in our relationships with others, reminding us that it cannot only be intellectual but has to be with compassion and empathy. He explained that during conversation our mind is usually thinking of how to answer or offer an opinion, so we don’t actually listen to others. We need to bring our awareness to creating another space to stay present, called presencing. According to him, meditation is the best approach, in his case Vipassana. He said that the issues of global warming, wars, etc. are mirroring our relationships together, and when we bring love into our hearts we will manifest it in the world, too. He called this relational consciousness.Dilshahji started his life with very meager means of living, and survived because of the emotional support of his wife. He has now built the MCI group of companies, having offices in almost all ports in India and abroad. He draws fulfillment from running a school for underprivileged children. &nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/purpose_of_work2_c836f8a9a1.webp" alt="purpose-of-work2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_purpose_of_work2_c836f8a9a1.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_purpose_of_work2_c836f8a9a1.webp 792w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/purpose_of_work2_c836f8a9a1.webp 792w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;

The purpose of work and its role in a happy society

Terran is an occupational therapist who worked in the USA and Scotland for over 40 years, and now provides Developmental Therapy at the Wellness Center in Kanha Shanti Vanam. She has noticed a dramatic improvement in many children when exposure to EMRs and electronic screens is significantly reduced.

terran-daily.jpg

Terran Daily

One day God was enjoying the beautiful world He had set in motion. 
He loved the sky, sometimes pure blue with white clouds. 
Sometimes filled with gray clouds that turned to rain falling from the sky. 
“What a good idea!” He thought when he saw the yellow sun lighting and warming the earth. 
“And another good idea!” when he saw the silver moon shedding its gentle light in the night sky. 
He loved the plants with their many colors – green, yellow and red leaves; tree trunks shiny gray or deep mottled brown. 
Flowers of red, orange, yellow, blue and purple. 
 
“I love all this,” He thought. “And yet something is missing.” 
“I know, the world needs children! But what color should these children be? 
“Blue like the sky? 
“Green like the leaves? 
“Orange, purple and yellow like the flowers?”
None of those ideas seemed quite right. “I know!” He said. “Let them be the colors of all my favorite candies!” 
“Some of them can be the color of dark chocolate, some of them the color of milk chocolate, some of them the color of caramel, and some of them the color of vanilla taffy.” And so the children were. When God saw the children of all these colors, He was very happy.
“They are all beautiful. They are all my children, and I love them, every one.”
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by TERRAN DAILY 
Illustration by ANAYA PATEL</h4>
<hr>

The color of children

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<h4>TERRAN DAILY begins a series of articles that offer parenting and teaching tips for today’s children. She sets the scene by explaining the consciousness shift we are undergoing from a mechanistic worldview to a systems worldview, and how as adults this changes the way we nurture our children.</h4>
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Children are different now. People have probably been saying that for centuries, maybe because the adults who say it see things from such a different perspective than when they were children. Or maybe it’s true, that each generation of children is different from the last generation, as humanity evolves. But really, children are different in the last 50 years or so, and may be becoming more and more so, because humanity is not just slowly evolving but has reached a critical juncture where it must either change with lightening speed or largely disappear. 
If you are a parent or teacher, you will probably know the New Children well. They are gifted in many ways. Have you not been amazed at the words that come from the mouths of very young ones – the wisdom, the confidence, the understanding of things that took older generations much longer to learn? Perhaps you know children who are gifted with psychic or healing abilities, or are exceptionally musically or artistically talented? Or those who can do amazing things on computers with little or no instruction? Have you noticed how connection with nature has become an intense need for many children, as important as eating, sleeping and playing? Maybe you know children who are extremely empathic and compassionate, or others who are warrior spirits with high integrity, fiery determination and no tolerance for hypocrisy or manipulation?
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These are the New Children, magical in many ways, but often a challenge for their parents and teachers. These New Children have many qualities that don’t easily fit into our accustomed systems of child-rearing or schooling, because these same children may also be:
Extremely strong-willed, to the point of appearing controlling or defiant; 
Explosively angry when they don’t get their way; 
Distractible, impulsive, and disorganized; 
Attention-seeking; 
Wiggly, fidgety and constantly in motion; 
Dreamy and in their own world, seeming not to hear you or notice what is going on around them; 
Sleepy and hard to motivate; 
Absent-minded and scattered; 
Obsessed with certain subjects but uninterested in others; and 
Any mixture of the above.
In this series of articles, we will throw some light on the reasons for the gifts and the challenges, and give some practical recommendations on how best to live with and guide these beings. 
One thing these children have in common is that they march to their own drum, not ours. It is as if they have come into the world “pre-programmed” for certain roles, which may well involve living in completely new ways. Many of our social structures seem to be failing at present, and these are the children who will have to find new, more workable ways of living – in terms of science and technology, social and economic structures, interpersonal relationships, and inner development. In a way, they will be our teachers.
<h4>Humanity is evolving</h4>
Many seers and traditions have foreseen this era as a period of huge transition – the end of an old way of life and the beginning of a revitalized way of being – for the Earth and for humanity. In each tradition, the coming of the new is not without its birth pangs. The transition between the old and the new is seen as a time of great turmoil. It is not hard to see the challenges and upheaval that are present in today’s world – global warming, extreme weather, extinction of a huge number of species, pandemics, social unrest, economic turbulence, terrorism, a growing disparity between rich and poor, and the list goes on. So is the world falling apart? Is it the end of humanity or civilization? Or is it possible that something new and better will emerge?
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<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">One thing these children have in common is that 
they march to their own drum, not ours. 
It is as if they have come into the world 
“pre-programmed” for certain roles, 
which may well involve living in completely new ways. </h5>
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We can view this question from the point of view of science. Science itself has been undergoing a massive transition from the turn of the 20th century. Physics has evolved from a Newtonian mechanistic view to a quantum view of the world as a network of interconnections and interactions among wave-like probabilities. We must comprehend that the buildings we live and work in are not solid “things,” constructions of wood or brick held together by nails and mortar, but are actually energy fields held together by forces we don’t fully understand. How do we find our way in such a world?
And it doesn’t stop there. Since the 1930s, biologists, chemists, ecologists, mathematicians and others have been working with a similar line of thought, developing a multidisciplinary field known as systems theory. Systems theory also challenges our human tendency to see the world as a collection of separate “things” by shifting our focus from “things” to networks.
Let’s take a human cell as an example. It is not just a building block of something larger, but is a vibrant living system of processes and interrelationships in itself. It is defined by a membrane, and within that membrane it is bustling with activity. The cell transports nutrients through its membrane, transforms the nutrients to energy, and uses that energy to carry out its functions, which vary according to what kind of cell it is. Red blood cells carry oxygen to other parts of the body, white blood cells attack foreign invaders, muscle cells contract to do some work for the greater system of the human body, and so on.
<img class="img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_new_children3_70952bf06d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T11:07:14.023Z">
Each cell synthesizes and repairs its own sub-cellular structures, excretes waste products, and changes its activities depending on what is needed for its own well-being or for the organ of which it is a part. It is a highly complex, organized and self-regulating system. No one makes rules or laws about how it should work; it simply finds its own way forward through a process of self-organization. It is as if there is an organizing principle that is part of life itself. 
A cell is its own small world. And yet the cell is nested in a more complex system, an organ, and the organ is part of a still more complex system, the organism – in our example, a human being. Human beings are in turn, parts of still more encompassing systems, such as families, communities, countries and Planet Earth. Humans, along with all the other plant, animal, microbial and mycological species, that live alongside them, make up complex ecosystems. 
At each level, these various living systems are made up of dense and overlapping connections and interrelationships. No part of a system is separate and unaffected by other parts. When any part of a system changes, the whole system changes, often in unpredictable ways. You have probably heard of the butterfly effect, where a butterfly flapping its wings in Siberia causes a snowstorm in Texas. We are that interrelated.
May I illustrate this with a vivid real-life example? In Yellowstone National Park, a beautiful wilderness area in North America, the wolves and the elk had lived together in balance for centuries. 
There were never too many elk, because the wolves ate them. And there were also never too many wolves, because when the wolf population became too big, there weren’t enough elk to feed them all, so some of the wolves would die. Then humans, the great systems unbalancers, intervened. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, ranchers began to kill off the wolves of Yellowstone to protect their cattle. By 1926, the wolves were completely gone.
The elk population blossomed. Hungry elk stripped large areas of the park of vegetation, especially along the river banks, where delicious grasses and young saplings grew. This had a huge impact on the ecosystem. With less vegetation, there was not enough food for the birds, and several species dangerously declined. The population of magnificent grizzly bears dwindled because they did not have enough berries to eat in the winter. Beavers, who depended on the young trees near the rivers for food and for dam building materials, disappeared completely. The riverbanks did not have enough vegetation to prevent erosion during the yearly floods, so their banks washed away, causing the rivers to become wider and more winding. Eliminating wolves from the ecosystem caused rivers to change their course! A small change had huge and unexpected effects. 
Fortunately, these negative effects began reversing when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995. The elk population is now under control. The vegetation is returning, providing food for a greater variety of species and stability for the river banks to prevent further erosion. Beavers have come back into the park and are busily rebuilding their dams that slow the yearly floods to further prevent erosion. The system is rebalancing.
As well as demonstrating the butterfly effect, this story also illustrates another property of living systems: they are governed through internal feedback loops. In most cases, systems are self-balancing, remaining in dynamic equilibrium, like the original balance between wolves and elk in Yellowstone.
When a system is stressed, it can flip into runaway feedback mode, sending it into states of greater and greater imbalance. In our example, when the wolves were eliminated, Yellowstone’s ecosystem became more and more imbalanced and did not have any way to correct the downward spiral until the wolves were finally reintroduced.
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<img alt="The New Children" class="w-100" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_new_children4_2bcb51ca2d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T11:07:14.395Z"><hr class="vertical-space1">
There is one last but very significant property of living systems: When a system is stressed and enters a runaway feedback loop, it begins to disintegrate. It then enters what is known as a bifurcation point, where it can continue disintegrating and finally fall apart, or it can jump to a higher level of organization. In other words, when the system’s outlook is at its worst, it has the opportunity to transform and evolve. Very small changes in the system can have powerful and far reaching effects at times of bifurcation.
This is where we tie back in with the New Children. Humanity is currently in a state of disintegration with many runaway feedback loops in action. So which way will we go? To complete disintegration or to a higher level of organization? Small changes could have large and determining effects. This is one reason that I practice Heartfulness Meditation and encourage others to meditate as well. If positive changes occur in enough of us, if a small but critical mass begins to be the change we would like to see in the world, this small shift could just tip the system toward evolution rather than dissolution.
Could the New Children with their special gifts be an important part of this process, a kind of leavening in the system that could powerfully tilt humanity toward evolution? If that is the case, it makes our roles as adult guides even more important. We are the ones who guide children through their challenges so that their beautiful gifts can manifest.
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<h4>Domination Culture, 
Partnership Culture</h4>
The transition that I have described in physics and biology, from a mechanistic worldview to a worldview based on energy, relationships, and networks, is reflected in the social sciences as well. Cultural historian and systems scientist, Riane Eisler, differentiates between dominator systems and partnership or connection systems. Dominator systems are top-down, hierarchical social structures that see humans as innately selfish or aggressive, and in need of being controlled. They use fear, reward and force as the means of control. Eisler holds that humans have lived primarily within dominator systems for the last 10,000 years. Prior to that, when humans lived in small bands of hunter-gatherers, they lived within partnership social structures, based on mutual respect. 
n partnership systems, people are recognized as having a strong innate desire to contribute to the well-being of others and the welfare of the whole. Open, respectful communication – working things out together – is the tool used to maintain social order. Force, or fear of force, is not needed. Eisler feels that a return to partnership systems is badly needed in today’s world to remedy the greed, violence and disregard for others that is endemic around us. She has promoted partnership structures in economic and political systems, in communities, schools and families.
You may be able to sense that dominator systems are related to the older, mechanistic view of the world, while partnership systems are related to the network or connected systems approach that is now coming to the fore. It is sobering to note how many of our traditional ways of parenting or teaching children spring from the dominator system: “You will do as I say because I am your parent, or your teacher, and if you don’t, there will be consequences.” 
Imposing our ways on these New Children simply doesn’t seem to work – they just resist or ignore. What does work is to treat them with respect, humor, playfulness and presence. They need to know that we are with them, willing to help them accomplish goals that make sense to them. They respond to inspiration and loving guidance, but try to control them arbitrarily and you’ll have a fight on your hands! 
The articles to follow will explore some of the challenges that the New Children may be facing, and alternative ways to interact with them that are more likely to lead to harmonious and joyful outcomes for all concerned. 
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by TERRAN DAILY</h4>
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The new children

<h4>
 TERRAN DAILY
 explores the effects of electromagnetic radiation on our lives, and offers
 us ways we can protect ourselves and our children by eliminating or
 minimizing our exposure. She also suggests how important it is that we relax
 into the natural frequency of the Earth to regain health and happiness.
</h4>

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 Many of the children who have recently been born into our world are wise
 beyond their years, often highly intuitive, intelligent, and creative, yet
 also often extremely headstrong, sometimes too active for older folk to keep
 up with, other times delicate and shy, often passionate in expressing their
 needs and preferences.&nbsp;



 These children can be challenging.&nbsp;They are born with qualities that
 are uncomfortable for us, that will be needed in our ever more chaotic
 world. And they face multiple challenges that earlier generations did not
 have to deal with.



 Our world has never been an easy place.&nbsp;Humans have always had to deal
 with environmental adversities, and the resulting displacements and
 famines.&nbsp;We have struggled with our fellow humans through social
 inequality, conflict, domination, violence, etc.&nbsp;But there are
 present-day sources of distress that were not there for our grandparents or
 great-grandparents – electromagnetic radiation, electronic screens, toxins
 in our food, water, air, and homes, and ever increasing levels of stress, to
 name a few.&nbsp;These adversities impact all of us, particularly our
 children with their sensitive, developing nervous systems.&nbsp;


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<div class="text-center">
 <img alt="the-effects-of-electromagnetic-pollution" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_effects_of_electro_magnetic_pollution2_6a6f491e7e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T08:23:23.045Z" />
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 Here we will consider electromagnetic radiation. Some of the information is
 sobering,&nbsp;but there are things we can do.&nbsp;This series of articles
 will also offer practical tips to help ourselves and our children regain
 balance.&nbsp;



 An earlier article, “<a href="https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/the-new-children/">The New Children</a>” from
 August 2020, highlighted the fact that stress and disintegration can
 be stimulants for living systems (whether cells, people, ecosystems,
 civilizations, or humanity as a whole) to take a leap to a higher level of
 organization.&nbsp;If we guide them well, our children have that special
 spark needed to lead humanity into a thriving future in a new form–a way of
 being we have only dreamed of.


<h4>
 The Earth’s
 Heartbeat
</h4>


 When we think of electromagnetic radiation, we often think of Wi-Fi, cell
 phones, and 5G, but life on Earth has been intertwined with electromagnetic
 fields since it first emerged billions of years ago. The natural
 electromagnetic fields were our womb, the matrix within which life
 developed.&nbsp;



 It is the Earth’s magnetic field that moves the needle of a compass, and
 helps guide birds and other animals in their migrations. The Earth is bathed
 in electromagnetic frequency.&nbsp;This frequency was first calculated by
 the German physicist Winifred Otto Schumann, who proposed that extremely low
 frequency waves, sparked by lightning, circle the Earth.&nbsp;Maybe you can
 picture these waves, bouncing from the ground to the ionosphere in a kind of
 dance, some joining together, others overlapping, creating a rhythm with a
 long-lasting base note and effervescent harmonics at higher
 frequencies.&nbsp;This is the exquisite heartbeat of the Earth. Schumann
 calculated the base frequency of these waves as 7.83 Hertz. This has been
 empirically verified and is known as the Schumann Resonance.



 Imagine the astonishment of Schumann and his colleagues when they realized
 that this frequency is almost identical to the brain’s alpha wave rhythm,
 measured as 7.812 Hz. Surely this is not a coincidence. The human brain, an
 electrical organ, must have evolved in synchrony with the Earth’s natural
 electromagnetic field. They began to see human brain waves as intimately
 connected with the Earth’s electromagnetic frequencies, and their research
 confirmed that human health and well-being are influenced by electromagnetic
 interactions.&nbsp;


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 <img alt="the-effects-of-electromagnetic-pollution" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_effects_of_electro_magnetic_pollution3_ea3b1f6da4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T08:25:23.080Z" />
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<h4 class="text-center"
 id="h-german-physicist-winifred-otto-schumann-proposed-that-extremely-low-frequency-waves-sparked-by-lightning-circle-the-earth-maybe-you-can-picture-these-waves-bouncing-from-the-ground-to-the-ionosphere-in-a-kind-of-dance-some-joining-together-others-overlapping-creating-a-rhythm-with-a-long-lasting-base-note-and-effervescent-harmonics-at-higher-frequencies-this-is-the-exquisite-heartbeat-of-the-earth">
 German physicist
 Winifred Otto Schumann proposed
 that extremely low
 frequency waves, sparked by lightning, circle the Earth.&nbsp; Maybe you can picture
 these waves, bouncing from the ground to the ionosphere in a kind of dance, some
 joining together, others overlapping, creating a rhythm with a
 long-lasting base note and effervescent harmonics at higher frequencies.&nbsp; This is the exquisite
 heartbeat of the Earth.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Later researchers have expanded on this.&nbsp;In one interesting experiment,
 Professor Rutger Wever of the Max Planck Institute had student volunteers
 live for four weeks in an underground bunker that excluded the Earth’s
 electromagnetic field.&nbsp;After a few days, his subjects experienced
 disrupted circadian rhythms, headaches, and emotional malaise.&nbsp;Then,
 when Wever artificially introduced the Schumann Resonance into the bunker,
 unbeknown to the students, their health and well-being quickly
 stabilized.1 After extensive research, NASA introduced Schumann
 Resonance generators into space craft to maintain the health of the
 astronauts. Just as a young infant needs to hear their mother’s heartbeat
 for well-being, we humans need to feel the pulse of our mother Earth.&nbsp;


<h4>
 Human-created
 Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)
</h4>


 We think that life began evolving on Earth between 3.7 and 4.3 billion years
 ago, cradled in the Earth’s natural magnetic and frequency fields, and that
 Homo sapiens appeared around 300,000 years ago. For all but the last 150 of
 those years, we were cradled in the Earth’s natural fields.&nbsp;



 In the early 20th century, scientists and engineers began
 experimenting with ways to capture and use human-produced electromagnetic
 fields.&nbsp;By the mid 20th century, homes had electricity, then
 telephones, radios and televisions were introduced.&nbsp;Telephone lines and
 high voltage electric lines crisscrossed the countryside.&nbsp;What an
 exciting and freeing revolution it must have been!&nbsp;No-one thought about
 possible unintended consequences.


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<hr />

<h4 class="text-center">
 Just as a young infant
 needs to hear their mother’s heartbeat for well-being, we humans need to feel the
 pulse of our mother Earth.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Inventions snowballed – computers, internet, Wi-Fi, and cell phones with
 ever faster and more powerful cellular networks. Radio waves and microwaves
 beamed from towers and satellites. Smart electric meters, smart televisions,
 smart refrigerators, smart thermostats, all beamed waves back and forth to
 talk to each other.&nbsp;We now live in a thick electromagnetic soup,
 millions of times more powerful than the electromagnetic radiation in which
 we evolved.



 The Schumann Resonance cannot even be measured near cities, cell phone
 towers, or high-power lines now.&nbsp;Many of us are living without our
 mother Earth’s heartbeat. It is drowned out by a huge roar.



 The huge number of artificial EMFs is not the only problem. There is also
 the frequency.&nbsp;The frequency of the Schumann Resonance is an extremely
 low 7.83 Hz.&nbsp;The frequencies of the EMR surrounding us is many millions
 of times higher than the Schumann Resonance (see the chart below).&nbsp;The
 electromagnetic roar that surrounds us is both huge and extremely high
 pitched.&nbsp;We may not hear it, but our cells do!


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 <img alt="the-effects-of-electromagnetic-pollution" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_effects_of_electro_magnetic_pollution4b_9e9e023fa4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T08:26:38.625Z" />
</div>

<h4>
 The Effects of
 EMR on our Bodies
</h4>


 Our bodies use electrical charge for many processes.&nbsp;Neurons use
 electrical charge to send signals to one another; hearts use electrical
 charge to contract and pump blood throughout the body; and muscles use
 electrical charge to contract, allowing us to move.&nbsp;The body also uses
 electric charge to maintain the integrity of important barriers like the
 blood-brain, blood-eye, blood-placenta, and blood-testes barriers, to
 determine what is and is not allowed into these important and sensitive
 organs.&nbsp;



 Looking more deeply, almost every cell in our bodies depends on electrical
 charge to operate small channels through its membrane that allow some
 substances in and keep others out.&nbsp;Malfunction of these channels can
 cause oxidative stress, free radical damage to the DNA and other cellular
 structures, and even cell death.


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<div class="text-center">
 <img alt="the-effects-of-electromagnetic-pollution" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_effects_of_electro_magnetic_pollution5_e128be48e1.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T08:27:53.941Z" />
</div>

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<hr />

<h4 class="text-center">
 The body’s electrical
 activity involves sensitive balance and timing, and all these systems evolved within
 the
 Earth’s natural electromagnetic fields.&nbsp;
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 The body’s electrical activity involves sensitive balance and timing, and
 all these systems evolved within the Earth’s natural electromagnetic
 fields.&nbsp;It is not a big leap to imagine that massive bombardment with
 artificial EMFs could be disruptive to the delicate electro-chemical balance
 of our bodies.&nbsp;And that is exactly what a growing body of research
 indicates.&nbsp;&nbsp;



 Bio initiative 2012, updated in 2022,2 is probably the most
 comprehensive review of studies on the adverse health effects of EMFs.
 Prepared by 29 doctors, scientists, and health experts from around the
 world, it has reviewedaround1800 studies on adverse health effects of EMFs
 produced by sources like powerlines, electrical wiring, appliances, cell and
 cordless phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi, laptops, routers, baby monitors,
 surveillance systems, and wireless utility meters.&nbsp;&nbsp;



 These studies found evidence that EMR within the ranges commonly encountered
 in modern life can cause:


<ul>
 <li>
 Disruption to calcium channels in cell membranes, flooding cells with
 calcium and causing oxidative stress and damage to DNA, mitochondria, and
 cytochromes.
 </li>

 <li>
 Opening the blood brain barrier, allowing potential toxins and
 microorganisms to enter.
 </li>

 <li>Changes to neuron firing rates.</li>

 <li>Changes to the heart muscle and blood vessels.</li>

 <li>
 Decrease in melatonin production.&nbsp;Melatonin is needed for good sleep,
 and also supports the immune system, body mass regulation, bone formation
 and the body’s ability to detoxify.
 </li>
</ul>

Also that EMR negatively impacts:&nbsp;

<ul>
 <li>Sleep, energy levels, and immune function.</li>

 <li>Mood and cognitive function.</li>

 <li>Fertility and reproduction.</li>

 <li>Fetal development.</li>

 <li>Behavior and learning in children.</li>
</ul>

And increases the risk of:&nbsp;

<ul>
 <li>Brain tumors, acoustic neuromas, and other cancers.</li>

 <li>ADHD, and possibly autism in children.</li>
</ul>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="text-center">
 <img alt="the-effects-of-electromagnetic-pollution" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Pollution_6_0f526af948.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T08:28:59.734Z" />
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="text-center">
 It is not a big leap
 to imagine that massive bombardment with artificial EMFs could be disruptive to the
 delicate electro-chemical balance of our bodies.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Modern communication has brought many advantages.&nbsp;When I was in
 college, I went to the library to do research, pulling musty volumes from
 the shelves and writing notes on index cards.&nbsp;Now, I am writing this
 article from my home, using several printed books (most of them bought
 online), accessing other books on my e-reader, and using many online
 resources.&nbsp;Communication, convenience, and access to resources using
 EMFs have become a part of our lives, almost the cement holding our social
 and economic systems together.&nbsp;But with the research that is emerging
 about EMR’s harmful effects, we must give careful thought about when and how
 to use this modern magic.&nbsp;&nbsp;


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_experiment

2 https://bioinitiative.org

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

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

<hr />

The effects of electromagnetic pollution

How to protect yourself from EMR

Thaneeya creates colorful art ranging from abstract to photorealism, with a special focus on vibrantly detailed art. Her work hangs in private collections around the world, and is also found on T-shirts, puzzles, jewelry, and in coloring books, which have sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into several languages. Thaneeya also enjoys travel, photography, reading, and learning new things.

Thaneeya-McArdle.jpg

Thaneeya McArdle

<h3 style="text-align: center;">AN ART ESSAY</h3>
Abstract art is an ideal way to express matters of the spirit that can’t be easily
 verbalized. It transcends the boundaries of language, drawing viewers into an internalized space where they can
 experience the artwork in a personal, subjective way, extracting whatever meaning it stirs up inside them. I
 generally don’t assign any specific meaning to my abstract art, because I prefer the viewer to interpret each piece
 in his or her own unique way. The colors and chaos paradoxically induce a quiet mental stillness, as I allow my eyes
 and mind to travel across the many details without assigning meaning to what I’m seeing. I just let the art take me
 for a ride.
<img alt="orderly-chaos" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/orderlychaos2_d7c2c15a70.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T14:42:11.583Z">

My abstract art explores how color, pattern, composition and personal symbology express
 the mystery and delight of our existence. It manifests the intangible elements of everyday existence – emotions,
 thoughts, energy – by translating them into colors and patterns. It is often highly detailed because of my desire to
 achieve balance through multiplicity, in order to reflect the complexity of human consciousness and our shared
 experience in the multiverse. The result is a whimsical concoction of color and form, interwoven into a lyrical,
 visual harmony.
This style of abstract art can be described as “orderly chaos.”
<img alt="orderly-chaos" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/orderlychaos3_9b3739b581.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T14:43:32.611Z">

My first abstract art was in 2003, experimenting with a variety of tools and surfaces,
 as well as various methods of mark-making. It wasn’t long before a personal style naturally emerged, with an innate
 tendency towards bright, eye-popping colors and intricate detailed designs. I am particularly influenced and
 inspired by folk art from cultures around the world, such as Persian miniatures, Mexican huichol and alebrije,
 Aboriginal dot painting. Modern art influences include Hundertwasser, Klee and Kandinsky.
<img alt="orderly-chaos" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/orderlychaos4_cfe6f860e5.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T14:44:21.869Z">

These abstract paintings range in size from a tiny 3″ x 3″ to a relatively large 30″ x
 40″. Most pieces are somewhere in between. I’ve come to enjoy creating abstract art on a small scale, with as much
 visual information as possible in a relatively limited space while respecting the overall cadence and flow of each
 piece. When working on canvas, the painting often extends onto the sides, creating a 3-D work of abstract art.
<img alt="orderly-chaos" alt="orderly-chaos" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/orderlychaos5_5067bd716e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T14:45:03.451Z">

This colorful abstract art uses acrylics, colored pencils, watercolors, watercolor
 pencils, alcohol markers, paint markers, pens and mixed media, as well as art-making Apps on an iPad, such as
 Procreate, and Adobe Illustrator on a desktop computer.
Abstract art can be an eye-catching and uplifting companion in your everyday life,
 thanks to the variety of products featuring these whimsical abstracts.
<a style="color: #cf3636; text-decoration: underline;"
 href="http://www.thaneeya.com" target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.thaneeya.com</a> 
 <a style="color: #cf3636;" href="http://www.art-is-fun.com" target="_blank"
 rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.art-is-fun.com</a>

<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Art and article by Thaneeya McArdle</h4>
<hr>

Orderly chaos

Kamkura, Japan.webp

The Buddha

True love

The Heartfulness Learning Center

<h2 style="text-align:center;">Students' Contributions From The Heartfulness Learning Center</h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/peace_artworks_THLC_2_9a8bdca2b6.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">Artwork by AVIYUKT</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/peace_artworks_THLC_3_87603a5b36.jpg"></figure><h4 style="text-align:center;">Artwork by HARSHA R</h4>&nbsp;&nbsp;

Peace - students' contributions

The Mother

Self-discipline

Theodore Roosevelt

How to get along with people

Theophile is a lawyer. He worked in finance in Paris and New York for 15 years and now lives in Chamonix, France. 



THEOPHILE-STREBELLE.jpg

Théophile Strebelle

<h4
 id="h-th-ophile-strebelle-has-worked-as-a-lawyer-in-paris-and-new-york-for-15-years-his-busy-work-schedule-was-taking-a-toll-on-him-so-he-decided-to-take-a-break-and-is-currently-in-india-here-he-shares-with-us-how-a-practice-of-meditation-helped-him-break-the-thought-pattern-that-was-driving-his-life">
 THÉOPHILE STREBELLE has worked as a lawyer in
 Paris and New York for 15 years. His busy
 work schedule was taking a toll on him, so he decided to take a break
 and is currently in India. Here he shares with us how a practice of
 meditation helped him break the thought pattern that was driving his
 life.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 For most of my professional life, my main concerns have been
 productivity and efficiency: how can I execute the maximum number of
 tasks as perfectly as possible in a minimum amount of time? My days
 started with a list of things to do and my life energy was used to
 execute them. My reward for that was an ephemeral feeling of
 accomplishment. Every day would start with a new “to-do” list. I was
 doing what I had been taught at school, and then at work: executing what
 people were expecting from&nbsp;me.&nbsp;



 After years of living this way I could see an improvement in my
 profitability but none in my well-being. The number of things that I
 “had to&nbsp;do” was increasing. My mind was pushing for more action
 every day.&nbsp;



 One day, I started to seriously question this never-ending push for
 action and achievement. Where is this drive coming from? Is this way of
 living a part of my nature or only the result of my education?&nbsp;



 To find out, I made a radical change in my life.&nbsp;I stopped working.
 What would happen to my mental state if I had nothing to do?&nbsp;I
 organized my life in a way that I had zero obligations. No work, no
 social interactions. At that time I was thinking that this decision
 would instantly erase my mental loops and bring me immediate balance and
 calmness.&nbsp;



 Things didn’t go that way. At all. I first started doing things that I
 have always wanted to do. Spending time in nature, in creative
 activities, reading books, and learning new skills. I was enjoying these
 activities and my mind was stable and focused while performing
 them.&nbsp;However, while I was inactive and at rest, my mental activity
 was still very strong and my thoughts were all over the place. There was
 no improvement in my overall well-being. I was fulfilling my desires but
 nothing had changed. Worse, the activities I was doing were stimulating
 me so much that the lows felt lower. I was not satisfied. It felt like
 the changes I had made to my existence were not right.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img alt="finding-peace2" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/finding_peace2_255aaca640.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T07:46:22.420Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 I was looking for guidance when a friend of mine suggested meditation. I
 thought I had nothing to lose and was willing to give it a
 try.&nbsp;This is where the real change happened. I got introduced to
 the practice by a trainer and right after the first session I slept
 profoundly, like I had not slept in a very long time.&nbsp;I remember
 being surprised by such a quick change and decided to give a serious and
 disciplined shot to the practice. I started meditating every day and at
 fixed hours.&nbsp;At first, my mind was still racing, and my thoughts
 were altering my ability to concentrate. Slowly, session after
 session,&nbsp;I started noticing small changes. My mind was getting
 clearer. My focus during the day was increasing and the number of
 thoughts was decreasing. I was not feeling any urge to feed my mind with
 multiple thoughts. At the same time, I realized that some thoughts were
 signals to the changes I had to make in my life. Some others were
 unimportant and I could let them go.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
 <figure>
 <img alt="finding-peace3" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/finding_peace3_c0f063421c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T07:47:01.897Z" />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center"
 id="h-it-triggered-an-almost-vital-motivation-to-deepen-my-practice-and-put-my-thoughts-at-the-service-of-the-expansion-of-my-heart">
 It
 triggered an almost vital motivation to deepen my practice
 and put my thoughts at the service of the expansion of my
 heart.
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 Then, in a very subtle way, the space that had been made available in my
 mind started to fill with a sense of calmness and balance I had never
 experienced before. I had learned how to remain unmindful of my thoughts
 so that they did not affect or trouble me. That state became so precious
 that my will for growth became a priority. It triggered an almost vital
 motivation to deepen my practice and put my thoughts at the service of
 the expansion of my heart.&nbsp;



 Today, after a few months of regular practice,&nbsp;my mind has become
 clearer than it has ever been my entire life. My focus has increased. I
 feel lighter. I found the courage to make decisions I had
 avoided&nbsp;for many years. I feel transformed, anew, and refreshed. I
 know better where my priorities are, and what is right when I make
 decisions.&nbsp;This practice has been a time- and life-saver. I know
 that today I found the perfect tool for growth and a guide toward peace,
 my heart.

Finding peace of mind

Thich Nhat Hanh

Awareness is like the sun

A smile

The present moment

The author of many hundreds of YouTube videos on health and nutrition based in part on his personal experience. He started the Regénére movement in France, to help people towards a more natural approach to health and well-being.


Thierry-Casasnovas.jpg

Thierry Casasnovas

Choosing life

<h4>
 In part 2 of this interview,
 THIERRY CASASNOVAS continues his
 advocacy for life. He shares his own journey with
 CELINE FRÉSARD, the stages of his
 rebirth after being left for dead by doctors, and the consciousness he
 has derived from this profound experience. He speaks about the role of
 food in our lives, and how to fill the void.
</h4>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 It is the path of revelation and awakening. 
 This revelation on the mental, 
 physical and spiritual levels is essential. 
 Once a person has experienced it, 
 everything is possible.
</h5>
<hr />

 Q: At the end of part 1, you told us about the turning point, the
 trigger, a kind of explosive transformation that leads to never seeing
 the world the same way again. You were talking about revelation.


 <img
 class="img-float-left has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/THIERRY_CASASNOVAS_0b1dbb662e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T05:42:18.979Z"
 alt="THIERRY-CASASNOVAS"
 />I am someone who respects God, but I am not religious. Religion
 appropriates spirituality, by making people believe that there is no
 spirituality outside it, but if someone tells me that they have
 encountered life, I answer, “You have the same spiritual experience as I
 do.” Even if I use Christian terms to express it, we follow the same
 spiritual path of encounter and wonder towards life. Using a more
 Asiatic approach, it is the path of revelation and awakening. This
 revelation on the mental, physical and spiritual levels is essential.
 Once a person has experienced it, everything is possible.


 For example, after months and months in hospital, the only refuge I
 found was with my parents. I had nowhere else to go. After seeing
 several doctors march past, who could not do anything for me, they
 understood that I was dying, they took me in. You can imagine their
 panic seeing their child dying at 33. It was a disaster.


 The morning I was supposed to go to the hospital again, I knew I was
 leaving to die. I was going into palliative care because the doctors
 didn’t want me to die at my parents’ home. That’s when I experienced
 this turning point you mentioned.


 My father came to my room to tell me that my things were being prepared
 for my departure and I looked at him and told him, “I’m not going to the
 hospital. You’re going to take care of me and I know I’m going to live.”
 What captivated me at the time was that he didn’t even hesitate for a
 second, but simply replied, “Okay, that’s fine.”


 Later, I asked him what made him accept such a radical choice, when I
 was apparently dying, and my only chance of surviving a little longer
 was the hospital. He replied, “I looked into your eyes and there was a
 flame in them that I hadn’t seen in months.”


 <img
 class="has-img-center lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/choosing_life2_156cb9a588.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T05:43:01.397Z"
 alt="choosing-life2"
 />


 The flame was present. And the funny thing is that my mother was so
 panicked and emotional – she’s a mother – that she didn’t see it, and
 she called me crazy. So my father held her by the arm and said, “Look,
 now pack your bags and leave, because I have to take care of him and I
 can’t take care of you at the same time. We’ll give you news. Go on a
 trip, and I’ll take care of my son. I need to be one hundred percent
 with him.”


 I was in agony, I was physically dying, but the very moment there was
 this change in me, I was alive again. The future had taken over.


 The revelation of life in me has taken months, even years, to make its
 way, because I am still improving in relation to my state of health and
 vitality. At the age of 45 I have not yet reached my optimum. But within
 a few months without treatment, the tuberculosis that was eating away at
 my lungs had gone – I no longer had any tubercular lesions, the
 hepatitis that was eating away at my liver had disappeared, and so had
 the pancreatitis. I started to gain weight and energy; I started to walk
 and run. I was no longer at risk of cardiac arrest. I was getting better
 and better.


 It is this round trip between what is happening on the spiritual, mental
 and physical levels that is so fascinating.


 Q: So even totally exhausted people can come back to life?


 Yes, but first they must go through this turning point, they must regain
 confidence in their life processes. Then, even if they are extremely
 tired, they will live. However, like me with my father in my story, they
 need someone to support them. We need each other.


 The relationship to health and care has been professionalized,
 medicalized and reserved for a caste of accredited professionals. In
 what I present here, however, in the path to life, we discover that the
 care given to the body, which is relatively simple, comes above all from
 the intention of the other. That is, anyone who intends good for someone
 else will be the best caregiver they can dream of. My father had no
 medical expertise.

<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 My father, without any knowledge, 
 had only one thing, the most powerful tool: love. 
 Not some light New Age niceness and kindness, 
 but the most powerful transformative force.
</h5>
<hr />

 I had been living in hospital corridors for years. Doctors with ten,
 twelve and fifteen years of experience, great specialists, analyzed me
 in all directions, and passed cameras through all my orifices. I was
 literally tortured by these examinations. Even with all these
 techniques, they couldn’t do anything to stop me from dying.


 My father, without any knowledge, had only one thing, the most powerful
 tool: love. Not some light New Age niceness and kindness, but the most
 powerful transformative force. With this love, my father cured me with
 very simple things. He massaged me, fed me good food, spent time talking
 to me, offered me presence, and took care of me. Thanks to all this, my
 father allowed me to live. Without him I would never have made it. Of
 course there were also friends who prayed and meditated for me, who
 surrounded me with their presence, their motivation and their support.
 All this together nourished life in me.


 Now, all my work is a plea to let people know that each of us is the
 best caregiver in the world. We don’t need any particular skills, just
 the desire to care for others.


 In the Bible, there is an absolutely fabulous passage. Jesus, followed
 by a huge crowd, enters a house to heal the sick. A man arrives, carried
 on a stretcher, who is unable to get near Jesus. His friends climb on
 the roof, remove the tiles and lower the stretcher with ropes just in
 front of Jesus. Can you imagine the determination of these people? For
 me this message is sumptuous. They destroy the roof so that their friend
 can reach the source of life. They do not neglect anything; they give
 everything so that their friend can come back to life.


 This is really the message: the inner transformation, then the strength
 of the people around us to help in a practical way. I was at the point
 where I couldn’t even cut my food, where I was totally disabled in a
 chair. I had to be put to bed, helped to get up, and washed. Obviously,
 alone I would have died. So, first comes the inner change and next the
 neighbor.

<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 Relationships are concrete and tangible, 
 where you touch the other person, 
 you have them in front of you, you look into their eyes, 
 you hear the sound of their voice, 
 you feel the warmth of their body, 
 and all the energy they give off.
</h5>
<hr />

 Q: In your first videos, you said that we all have a God-shaped
 hollow inside. It brings me back to the question of what we eat and
 why we eat. Today we no longer really eat to eat; we eat things we
 don’t want without being hungry. This no longer corresponds at all to
 a natural need. Can you tell us about our relationship to food?


 We talk indiscriminately about food and diet, whereas in fact we should
 distinguish between them. The food we eat, our diet, provides our body
 with the nutrients it needs to function properly: fats, carbohydrates,
 proteins, minerals, vitamins, trace elements, antioxidant factors etc.
 We therefore need enough quality food in sufficient quantity. We know
 all too well the problems caused by a lack of nutrition for the body.


 But food is much more than that. Researchers have quantified the
 relationship between food and diet. According to them, our diet does not
 represent more than 30% of our food. And what is our food? The food we
 eat is what we take from outside that will bring physical
 nutrients to the body. On the other hand, food as nourishment is
 everything we receive from the outside, in the true sense of the word,
 which nourishes our being. The problem is that we bring nourishment back
 to food, because we only consider ourselves in our bodily form, as a
 body. The bankruptcy of religion that has led to a bankruptcy of
 spirituality means that here in Europe we live in a secular society that
 prohibits all forms of spirituality. And human beings do not only have
 physical needs.


 For me, it is obvious that we are more than a body, so we have other
 needs. Today, our way of life does not take into account the fundamental
 and vital needs of the human being, not to mention spiritual needs and
 our relationships with others, for example.


 We constantly talk about relationships on Facebook, but it’s making fun
 of the world. Relationships are not created by typing on a keyboard!
 Relationships are concrete and tangible, where you touch the other
 person, you have them in front of you, you look into their eyes, you
 hear the sound of their voice, you feel the warmth of their body, and
 all the energy they give off. That’s a relationship! A relationship is
 not just about sending each other a little text message from time to
 time. Our being is not adequately nourished by that type of exchange. As
 our vital needs are not met, we desperately seek to meet them, and since
 the most accessible thing is food, we compensate for all the emptiness
 in our life by eating.


 <img
 class="has-img-center lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/choosing_life3_3f8e9aadab.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T05:43:42.273Z"
 alt="choosing-life3"
 />


 This means that we end up with obese bodies desperately in search of
 food. It’s like saying, “For my body to work properly, I need to eat
 apples,” and in front of you there’s a field full of fruit, but not
 apples. You then test all the fruit to discover that they are not
 apples. You go on eating but you never find your apple, you never find
 exactly what nourishes you and satisfies your hunger. So you become
 obese eating all the other fruits while still starving.


 It is one of the characteristics of our time – physically obese and
 spiritually hungry. Inside, we are hollow, we are desperate. For me,
 despair in our societies is the greatest. We are trying to compensate,
 but the good news is that we’ll never make it. We can eat, eat, eat, and
 we will continue to remain hungry. Then, one day, in weary desperation,
 we may say to ourselves, “Okay, I want to find a food source that
 satisfies me.” This is the real spiritual process; searching for true
 food, the bread of life, the bread that gives life.


 And in this process of revering life, of feeling wonder at the beauty of
 life, I too went in search of life, to find this food and stop being a
 hungry person who is never full. It is one of the wonders I have
 discovered.


 Q: For you, what is the best way to fill this void?


 It’s a full-body dive inside. Christian spirituality is often associated
 with religion, and I can testify from my own experience that one can
 live a true Christian spirituality without being religious. In
 everything I read, including the Bible, I see that the truth, life, God
 … everything is within us.


 And since it’s within us, we have to dive inside. I want to meet this
 life, meet this presence, because when I meet it, I have direct
 experience. And the direct experience does not need religious dogma or
 ceremony; it is pure. That’s what I am looking for and that’s what I
 encourage you to do. Dive inside.


<hr />

<h5 style="text-align: center">
 And since it’s within us, we have to dive inside. 
 I want to meet this life, meet this presence, 
 because when I meet it, I have direct experience. 
 That’s what I am looking for and that’s 
 what I encourage you to do. Dive inside.
</h5>

<hr />


 To come back to the Bible, which I often quote, I have several friends
 who have been interested in the Hebrew version, because Hebrew is very
 refined in terms of subtleties. And when Abraham, the great patriarch of
 all monotheistic religions, receives God’s message, God says to him,
 “Lekh lekha” (pronounce ler lera), which means in Hebrew, “Turn
 inwards. Go inside yourself.” Isn’t that what all oriental meditative
 practices offer?


 So why oppose spiritual practices when the religious texts say to go
 inside yourself? Go to life. And the moment you meet life, that day you
 are enlightened. Then there is no more religion, no more culture, no
 more separation. You love your neighbor as yourself; you experience the
 direct encounter with the other, with the living. This is what I aspire
 to, because divisions are sources of discord, violence and separation.


 To be continued. In the third part of this interview, Thierry
 Casasnovas speaks about his experience of fasting and the practical
 aspects of fasting.

<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">Interviewed by&nbsp;CELINE FRÉSARD</h4>
<hr />

Choosing life - part 2

<h4>
 In part 3 of this interview,
 THIERRY CASASNOVAS continues his
 advocacy for life. He shares his own journey with
 CELINE FRÉSARD, and the role of
 fasting in the healing process.
 </h4>
 
 Q: Can we move to a subject that is very dear to you – fasting? Can
 you tell us about your experience of fasting and its role in the
 body’s regeneration process?
 
 
 TC: In fact, this topic is a
 continuation of what we have just been speaking about, because the
 approach I propose is:
 
 
 1. Realization of life itself 
 2. Observation of life itself 
 3. Worship of life in itself
 
 
 We discover it, we understand it, and we love it.
 
 
 Now, you don’t love something without respecting its needs. So you start
 honoring and serving life, which means respecting the vital needs of
 your body. And in this context, fasting is magnificent.
 
 
 Fasting is a complete turn around from modern, secular science, which
 asks us to do this analysis, take this remedy, have this operation, and
 so on. In fasting, we sweep it all away. It’s science for dummies,
 healing for dummies. There is nothing to understand, nothing to buy,
 nothing to do. You do nothing and let it all happen.
 
 
 Fasting is an experience in which you realize that your outwardly
 oriented hyperactivity deprives you of all the life that is within
 yourself. Fasting is doing nothing on the external physical level.
 
 
 Normally, fasting means abstaining from food, sometimes even abstaining
 from liquid, abstaining from frenetic activity, and remaining quietly at
 rest. The law of homeostasis tells us that any living system returns
 spontaneously to a state of equilibrium, and it returns to balance all
 the more spontaneously if we are at rest. Fasting is the experience of
 rest, therefore the optimal experience of the development of life
 itself. It is an extraordinary moment when you can drop everything and
 observe life spreading inside yourself. You have nothing to do, so you
 remain quiet, and all of a sudden the fire that was dying out in you
 grows and strengthens. Imagine that possibility, if each of us realized
 it!
 
 <hr />
 <h5 style="text-align: center">
 Fasting is an experience in which you realize 
 that your outwardly oriented hyperactivity 
 deprives you of all the life that is within yourself.
 </h5>
 
 
 We start with a lot of fire, we have this very important flame, we are
 young and we have energy. Then as life progresses, the flame begins to
 decline. At some point, we open our eyes and ‘Ooh la la’ we see that it
 has really diminished. So we stop, let it grow again, and return to
 life. Can you imagine what a healthy lifestyle that is? It is beautiful.
 Every time you see your flame go down slightly, you know what you have
 to do. Stop. Fasting is a perfect way to achieve this. It is the fastest
 way to let life flow through you when you need it.
 
 
 But a lot happens in the body. Things we don’t understand. It is
 necessary to simply cross them with the conviction and certainty that
 everything that happens during fasting goes in one direction only –
 towards life. Everything that happens is good. Absolutely nothing can
 happen in our body that does not go in the direction of life. It’s
 impossible because life is moving towards life.
 
 
 So fasting is the maximum experience of deploying the life force in
 oneself. Moreover, in this process of introspection, there is a physical
 and a spiritual dimension. It comes back to Lekh lekha. In fasting, even
 on the spiritual level, what must happen happens.
 
 
 Q: You present fasting as a return to life, but there are certain
 uncomfortable stages and moments when you feel weak, when you question
 yourself. It can create fear and anxiety. Can you explain to us what’s
 going on?
 
 
 TC: I work from the conviction that
 the fasting process is moving towards life. Let’s take a concrete
 example: this summer I injured myself. I received a heavy load on my leg
 that cut my skin right down to the tendon. Today my skin has
 reconstituted itself. It is all pink. This I call life. But to get
 there, I had to go through the healing process, with a phase where the
 scar was nasty and painful; it was a necessary step.
 
 
 <img
 class="has-img-center lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/fasting2_a6769fd36e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T08:16:31.594Z"
 alt="fasting2"
 />
 
 
 Life goes towards life, and to achieve this it uses its own paths of
 regeneration. Sometimes we understand them, sometimes we don’t. It is
 important to study them, because there is indeed no reason to suffer
 just for the sake of suffering, and we can learn to relieve the body to
 the maximum in order to facilitate this path. But it is still necessary
 to go through the process.
 
 
 For example, when I hurt my leg and the wound was purulent, and not at
 all pretty, if I had opened the wound so as not to see that, I would
 have blocked the repair process from happening naturally. I supported my
 body by putting Aloe vera on the wound to soften and accelerate healing,
 and honey because it is a wonderful adjuvant for healing, but I could
 not prevent the wound stage. We can relieve and support healing, and we
 can promote the cleansing of the body, because it is important to help
 it remove the waste it has accumulated, but there will be some
 uncomfortable moments.
 
 
 Imagine you are driving on the highway and your fuel gauge lights up.
 You have two options. First, you can take a hammer and destroy the
 dashboard so that you no longer see the fuel gauge. The equivalent is
 often done when the body shows symptoms: we go to the doctor and come
 out with products that treat symptoms, without solving the underlying
 problem, which seems to be of no interest to anyone. We suppress the
 body’s signals: if we have inflammation, we take anti-inflammatory
 drugs; if we have a fever, we take medicine to reduce the fever; if we
 have pain, we take a painkiller. It is not complicated to cut off the
 functioning of the nervous system to eliminate pain, but did we solve
 the underlying problem that caused the pain?
 
 
 In the second option, you see your gauge light up, you’re in a hurry,
 you really don’t want to stop because it’s raining and cold, but you
 stop anyway to refuel. The healing process is similar – we stop and
 refuel. It’s not always unpleasant, but it can be. The body has a lot of
 waste to dispose of, so it shows symptoms. And we have learned to run
 away from the symptoms all our lives.
 
 
 Discomfort or pain is a normal signal from the living that indicates we
 have reached our limit. We have to slow down. Sometimes we are confused
 by what happens in the body during the cleaning and regenerative
 processes, but whatever happens, the only thing to remember is that it
 goes in the direction of life. This is the nature of the living. At the
 beginning we need to repeat it to ourselves: “The body is moving towards
 life.” I try to support, help and accompany people through the process,
 especially when it is unpleasant, to make it easier.
 
 
 Q: So if we can get through the inconvenience of cleaning, what we
 call detoxification, we get to something else.
 
 
 TC: Yes. This is what I call
 crossing the veil. The first is the fear of symptoms. This is what we
 are hooked on in today’s medicine. We are so afraid to feel, to be
 sensitive, and so afraid to suffer even a little, so as soon as we see a
 symptom approaching we run to the doctor and take medicine. In doing so,
 we may take a step back and not cross the veil. At some point, however,
 we have to cross it. And this requires conviction, commitment,
 determination, trust and tranquility. And this tranquility and
 conviction can only be based on one thing – the knowledge of the living.
 We can only cross the veil when we know why we are crossing it. Often
 it’s not much, though we make a big deal out of it.
 
 
 For example, if you have a liver problem and you fast, the liver will
 produce bile when it cleans itself, and you will probably vomit it up.
 One of my associates had hepatitis B that spoiled his life, and he had
 been in treatment for many years. While fasting, he vomited for three
 days, but it wasn’t a disaster because after those three days his liver
 was healed.
 
 
 So turning around every time a symptom appears is not living. We stay in
 a warm hell, while we are asked to go through that mirror and access
 life. Life awaits us on the other side, it awaits us in complete
 confidence in its power – a confidence that allows us to cross the
 illusion of symptoms and truly begin to live.
 
 To be continued
 <hr />
 <h4 style="text-align: center">Interviewed by CELINE FRÉSARD</h4>
 <hr />

Choosing life - part 3

<h4>
 In the final part of this interview,
 THIERRY CASASNOVAS continues his
 advocacy for life. He shares his own journey with
 CELINE FRÉSARD, and the role of
 fasting in the healing process.
 </h4>
 
 <img
 class="img-float-right has-img-center-in-mobile lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/THIERRY_CASASNOVAS_1_12c98e45f7.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:19:34.028Z"
 alt="THIERRY-CASASNOVAS" />Q: To help us overcome the fears you mentioned earlier, that can be
 generated in us by certain reactions in our bodies, could you tell us
 about the stages of fasting and the main symptoms that can
 occur?
 
 
 TC: The first principle is: by
 fasting one becomes a fasting specialist. That is, the knowledge of
 fasting comes through experience, gradually recognizing symptomatic
 expressions.
 
 
 The second principle is: the limit of what is acceptable is set by the
 person for themself.
 
 
 The good news is that once the body is cleansed, the reactions stop. For
 example, I am used to fasting, so I can do it for days while continuing
 my activities, and no one will realize that I am operating without water
 and food. I don’t have any painful manifestations like joint pain,
 because the cleaning work has already been done.
 
 
 But let’s say you are fasting for the first time. You may feel tired,
 have a headache, a rash of pimples, or other symptoms. At some point you
 may say to yourself, “No, this is too much, I’m stopping.” You will
 resume your normal food intake but feel bad that you couldn’t continue.
 In fact, stopping is not so bad, because the next time you will go a
 little further. This is how the knowledge is gradually built. For me,
 the key words are listening, feeling and progressiveness.
 
 
 There is no problem in stopping a fast because you consider the symptoms
 to be too severe. When you get back to it, your body will immediately
 take you back to where you stopped. It tells you: “You stopped and I’ll
 take you back.” It will put you back in front of the same kinds of
 symptoms until you have gone through the fear stage, and until you have
 given your body enough time to clean itself up. So the process will be
 done, and progressiveness, listening, gentleness, kindness are the keys.
 
 
 Q: Can you tell us about some physiological processes associated with
 fasting, such as hormesis, autophagy, and the important brain protein,
 Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)?
 
 
 TC: The law of hormesis is the
 second magnificent law of life. I told you about the first, the law of
 homeostasis, which says that any system spontaneously returns to a state
 of equilibrium and will return to it all the more spontaneously if it is
 placed in a state of rest.
 
 
 The law of hormesis defines what rest is. It is the proper use of the
 organism, in other words, when we do not exceed our body’s ability to
 adapt to any situation. It is a totally individual factor, because the
 upper limit is different for everyone, and this happens in every area of
 our lives. The law of hormesis tells us: every time we utilize our body
 without exceeding the adaptive capacity of the individual, the body
 improves its functioning. Rest is not about leaving your body alone in a
 dusty corner, it is about utilizing it within the limits of its adaptive
 capacity. And the law of hormesis tells us that when we extend our body
 and being as a whole to the limit of what we can tolerate, this is where
 the gain will be maximum. In these situations, BDNF, which promotes the
 growth of neural tissue, is released in response to eustress. Overall it
 makes you smarter and livelier, by increasing neural pathways.
 
 
 <img
 class="has-img-center lazyload w-100 h-auto"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/choosinglife4_2_643aa7a9bf.jpeg?updated_at=2023-04-05T12:20:47.624Z"
 alt="choosinglife4-2"
 />
 
 
 We are therefore designed to be regularly subjected to adaptive demands,
 to stresses that stimulate our body’s adaptive capacity. The problem
 comes in today’s society, in which we find ourselves in situations that
 are beyond our ability to adapt. We are often in situations of chronic
 anxiety, and when we return home we have only one desire, to sink into
 absolute comfort, and that is atrophy. The right measure is neither in
 going beyond our limits or into atrophy, but in between, with adapted
 challenges that push us to the limit of our adaptive capacity without
 defeating us. This is the law of hormesis that guides any improvement in
 our functioning. And it is super important.
 
 
 This is reflected physically and morally. If not challenged, our muscles
 atrophy. It is automatic. If not challenged regularly in other ways
 also, within our limits, we automatically regress.
 
 
 Q: What about autophagy?
 
 
 TC: Autophagy is one of the wonders
 of fasting that illustrates the laws of homeostasis and hormesis. When
 we stop eating, healthy body tissues feed at the expense of degenerative
 tissues. In times of food scarcity, the healthiest parts of us will feed
 and let the most degenerate parts starve to death. It is a regulatory
 process in which what is not functional will disappear, allowing for
 renewal. Even if a part of us dies, the constant cell renewal will
 create new cells and tissues that will be healthy. So the process of
 autophagy is the normal renewal of the organism, where the healthy feeds
 at the expense of the unhealthy. It is the evacuation of waste, the
 elimination, renewal and permanent rejuvenation of the organism that
 takes place particularly during periods of rest and fasting. This is
 when autophagy is at its peak.
 
 
 Q: The body gets rid of its own toxins, waste and tumors?
 
 
 TC: Exactly. Waste is what cannot be
 used by the body, so it will be disposed of by the body. On the other
 hand, the body feeds on its fats and, since food resources are limited
 while we are fasting, the energy from these fats will be directed to the
 healthiest cells so that they replicate themselves, and the unhealthy
 cells will simply die.
 
 
 Q: So should we wait until we are sick before we start fasting?
 
 
 TC: As I understand it, disease is
 the signal that we have overtaken the body’s adaptive mechanisms. So the
 intelligent solution would be to feed the adaptive systems so that we do
 not get sick.
 
 
 Unfortunately, for many of us, our culture does not invite us to
 consider our lifestyle in this way. Sometimes we have to fall sick in
 order to change our habits. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it is
 often a powerful motivation.
 
 
 However, supporting a healthy lifestyle can begin at an early age, and I
 am very happy when parents contact me and tell me that they have
 understood the importance of feeding their children well.
 
 
 Q: You mean everyone can fast, including children and the
 elderly?
 
 
 TC: Anyone can fast, as long as it
 is freely chosen; otherwise it is food deprivation and abuse. Children
 often spontaneously feel the need, especially when they are sick, so you
 can tell them, “Look, there’s a chance you’re not hungry and that’s
 normal. This is what’s going on in your body, so it is not the time to
 eat.” This will give them a knowledge that will accompany them
 throughout their life – to listen to their bodies’ natural needs.
 
 
 The main thing is to listen to yourself and respect yourself. When it
 gets too difficult, just stop. It is all about feeling. For some it will
 be a few hours and for others a few weeks. It depends on the person. The
 best rule to make sure you don’t make mistakes is to go slowly and
 gradually. If you can’t swim, you don’t jump into a big pool without a
 float, or you risk drowning. You start by going into the small pool
 where you can touch the bottom, and then you experiment slowly. With
 fasting it’s the same. If you’ve never fasted, start by delaying the
 first meal. For example, you may wait one hour before eating breakfast,
 then another, and eventually you end up not eating until noon. You have
 done what is called an intermittent fast and that is perfect.
 
 
 Gradually, you will delay lunch and make only one meal a day. And the
 day you feel really comfortable with that, you’ll be fasting till the
 evening and you’ll have done 24 hours of fasting. This is how, by
 progressing slowly, you get to know your body with peace of mind, to
 discover its reactions, how it works, and then you are a winner.
 
 
 At this point you have experience, and you have built knowledge that no
 longer depends on an external authority but on what is happening inside.
 You are free. You feel a total freedom, because you have met life.
 
 <hr />
 <h4 style="text-align: center">Interviewed by CELINE FRÉSARD</h4>
 <hr />

Choosing life - part 4

Thom is a founder and Director of Education for The New York Center for Nonviolent Communication. He is the author of The Compassion Book, founder of The Compassion Project, and the author of Shifting Toward Compassion and 64 Days for Peace.



Thom-Bond.jpg

Thom Bond

The universal language of life

<h4>
 THOM BOND is a thought leader, peace
 educator,
 author, and mediation consultant who is best known for “The Compassion Course.” He’s also the founder
 and
 Director of Education for the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication (NVC). In part 2 of this
 interview,
 he talks with ELIZABETH DENLEY about his personal experience with NVC, and the associated learning
 curve.
</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1">



Q: Can you talk about your journey with NVC? Is it ongoing? Is
 there an unfolding sense of wonder? Or is it simply a framework? How do you see this whole
 process?



TB: When we first start the process of integration, we
 make visitations into the parallel universe. Then, if somehow we can create a new path by practicing over and
 over
 and over again, we start seeing a new set of things out there. As one of my students said, it changed her
 relationship with her husband, her cat, and her plants. I was just like, “Yes, yes, yes! You’ve got it right!”




It’s a never-ending story, a never-ending process. It’s always about, “What else can I learn about life today? What
 else can I experience that’s happening to me in a life-connected way?” And, when I live in a life-connected way
 –
 which means I see the divine energy of life in you – that’s what I’m going to relate to: not the behaviors but
 the
 beautiful life that’s in you. It’s not easy, but over time we really start to see beyond the surface.



So, you could yell at me, “Thom, you’re a loudmouth. You just love to hear yourself talk. You’re driving me
 nuts.” Instead of trying to defend myself, I could say, “Wow, you’re hurting right now. You’re in pain. I’m
 hearing that. I can only imagine it’s really frustrating for you right now to be here with me. You’d love
 something
 to be different.” If I buy into the outer judgment, then I’m going to say, “No I’m not! What about you?” …
 and
 here we go, right?



There’s a way to break that cycle. First is to empathize with myself enough to know what I want in life. Even in the
 moments when somebody is coming at me I still know what I want. Second, I know how to get through that process:
 we
 start with what I call lifting light weights. Don’t work with devastation; work with annoyance, and work your
 way up
 to devastation.



<hr class="vertical-space1">



<figure><img decoding="async" width="625" height="800" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_Beautiful_Life2_37827e343a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:07:44.430Z">
</figure>




<hr class="vertical-space1">



Going way back to before I met Marshall Rosenberg, if I think about how many feelings I had then, I would say two –
 good and bad. Then I picked up his list of feelings, and it blew my mind. I realized, “Wow! I can have such a
 rich
 experience if I’m willing to see it. And somebody has given me words for it.” I love that, by the way. I really
 studied those words, because they were so helpful. Imagine, there’s a feeling called “nettled” versus just
 “pissed
 off” or “not happy.”



So, we start to look at the nuances of what we feel, and when we express them we also start to notice them in others,
 and we ask people about how they are feeling. What are we doing? Well, we’re inviting a life-connected
 relationship
 in that moment. That’s the process.



I have noticed that it actually goes in stages. I’ve watched this for over two decades now and I’m no different than
 any other human. First I found out NVC existed, which was really important (I prefer to call it NBR – Needs
 Based
 Relating – but let’s call it NVC here). Before that, I’d never heard of it. I didn’t know what it was or what it
 did. That was the starting point. Somebody had to tell me about it.



That’s why we constantly do intros, very carefully. The intros are the hardest trainings. The advanced trainings take
 care of themselves. It’s that beginning where we’re going to make the first turn off the superhighway of
 judgment
 and cultural bent, and say, “Well, there is this little path over here, let me show it to you. ”That’s how it
 starts.



Then, when we know NVC exists, we say, “Okay, needs; I think I know what needs are. I get it. I think I know what
 feelings are. I can even name them.” We start to see them and name them.



<hr class="vertical-space1">



<hr>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center">I want to help people get
 into relationship with their feelings and needs, so that they move past that point of
 thinking that
 “feelings are a bad idea, and needs mean I’m selfish,” and find out that actually it’s a way
 to live
 life.</h4>



<hr>



<hr class="vertical-space1">



Then comes the next part, where it’s our habitual self up against this incredibly brand-new conscious self. This lays
 the groundwork for our transformation.



So what is it I want to do as a trainer? Well, I want to help people get into relationship with their feelings and
 needs, so that they move past that point of thinking that “feelings are a bad idea, and needs mean I’m selfish,
 ”and
 find out that actually it’s a way to live life. It’s an awareness that can inform them so well that they can
 simply
 transcend those outer layers of conflict, the judgment of right/wrong thinking, should/shouldn’t thinking. NVC
 goes
 right past it.



As trainers, we have to be good at it. I’m very rigorous as a trainer. I will never say this is easy. I will never
 tell you that you’re doing something you are not. It’s so important for us to do this well so that we can
 sustain
 the practice.



It’s the relationship part that really gets a lot of us. We start a relationship and we develop that relationship.
 The next part is: “Okay, now that I have this relationship with needs, what does that mean for me?” Well, it
 means
 that I can be empathic. And if I can be empathic, that means I have my hands on the buttons and levers of
 compassion. And now I have some say in how I’m going to be in the world, and I can really start living out my
 values.



<hr class="vertical-space1">




<figure><img decoding="async" width="625" height="800" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_Beautiful_Life3_6c61170e0e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:32:20.365Z">
</figure>




<hr class="vertical-space1">



Q: That was just lovely. You just defined the process so simply,
 thank you. Any last things you want to add?



TB: Well, yes, thank you. You guys have been great
 partners for us in the past. We reopened the registration for you two years ago, because somebody at
 Heartfulness
 found out about The Compassion Course the day after we closed the registration. So we re-opened it, and quite a
 few
 folks came.



I haven’t found anything that is not compatible with it. I work with rabbis, priests, ministers, etc., and everyone
 says, “We want to have a more compassionate self.” And we have the skill set to actually be it.



One thing I would add is that I don’t believe this comes easy, but it does happen if you stay with it, which is why
 my course is one year. In fact, it’s perpetual, because the day one course stops, the next day a new one starts.
 Some people take the course every year, so it’s a pretty long-term prospect.



<hr class="vertical-space1">




<figure><img decoding="async" width="625" height="730" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/The_Beautiful_Life4_761a3edde1.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:33:52.580Z">
</figure>




<hr class="vertical-space1">



Marshall asked me, “Can we teach this without the language model please? Can we teach this as awareness, as
 consciousness?” That has been my goal. Then it stays with us. We don’t have to memorize it. We live it. It’s
 real,
 it’s part of us. It’s not something we do; it’s who we are. And that’s way harder than memorizing observations,
 feelings, needs, and requests. The thing is, it works.



I worry for NVC because I think some people oversimplify it. They don’t perhaps know how to teach it at an advanced
 level and so they leave people short of the line. So if anyone out there thinks they have studied NVC and it
 hasn’t
 worked, maybe it wasn’t NVC that they were actually being taught, because it works when we teach it carefully.




<hr>



<hr class="vertical-space1">



<h4 class="has-text-align-center">It’s an awareness that can
 inform them so well that they can simply transcend those outer layers of conflict,
 the judgment of
 right/wrong thinking, should/shouldn’t thinking. NVC goes right past it.</h4>



<hr>



<hr class="vertical-space1">



Q: Thank you so much, Thom.



TB: Cool. Today is a wonderful day. Last week, the
 largest publisher in Germany published The Compassion Book in German. So the course is now in 15
 languages,
 and the book is in 3. It’s a process, and it’s just going to keep going I hope.



Q: And this magazine goes out across about 160 countries, so
 hopefully it will also generate more interest.



TB: Thank you.



Q: Wonderful, and lovely to meet you.



<hr class="vertical-space1">

The beautiful life that’s in you

Thomas is a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany. He is a researcher and a bridge builder, helping experts and change-makers from all sectors of society to come together to explore the topic of sustainability, listen to each other, and develop solutions.



Thomas-Bruhn.jpg

Thomas Bruhn

<h4>THOMAS BRUHN is a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany. He is a researcher and bridge builder, helping experts and change-makers from all sectors of society to come together to explore the topic of sustainability, listen to each other, and develop solutions.</h4><h4>In part 1 of his conversation with JUDITH NELSON at the Spirit of Humanity Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland, he talks about the walking holiday he had after finishing his studies, and how it informed his perspectives on nature and sustainability.</h4><hr>Q: I was intrigued by some of the content of your session this morning, particularly when you talked about your walk, where you went from a mindset of “think, think, think” and “work, work, work” to something very different. Can you explain more?TB: That transformation came after I completed my diploma thesis. It was an intense phase of working, where I had little space for myself. Originally, I had huge plans after my studies like, “I’ll go to the Himalayas, or the Rocky Mountains, or the Andes,” but I didn’t have time to organize anything. I ended up packing a very small bag and started to walk in Germany. I only had a plan for the first three days, because there was a place I had been in my youth with my parents, and I thought, “That’s a nice place to start.” There is a place in the very south of Germany and I had intense memories of that place. I thought I would like to end up there.&nbsp;When I started walking, I realized how long it took for me to calm down, certainly a whole week. All sorts of things came to mind – music, songs, inner voices. I thought of my diploma thesis. Was there something I had done wrong? Because I was walking and I was on my own, I could observe and allow everything to be as silly as it seemed.&nbsp;<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/A_sustainable_mindset2_f26c785097.jpg" alt="">&nbsp;<hr>I wrote everything down in a diary, but the real beauty was the experience of transformation throughout that journey. I learned to let go of planning and I enjoyed that so much. In fact, it was like a pilgrimage. The less I planned, the more I was surprised at what happened. There were such beautiful encounters. Each of them was very small and insignificant.Along that road, there was one thing that everybody told me: “Oh, you must see that particular place.” But that was the least touching experience of the whole journey because it was loaded with expectation and planning. Everything that happened when I let go of planning was such a blissful experience. So, it’s the best type of holiday I have had!&nbsp;<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/A_sustainable_mindset3_0481ee2a7a.jpg" alt="">&nbsp;<hr> &nbsp;&nbsp;<hr><h4>Everything that happened&nbsp; when I let go of planning&nbsp; was such a blissful experience.</h4>&nbsp;<hr> &nbsp;&nbsp;<hr>I didn’t take a tent with me, so I really didn’t know where I would sleep. Maybe everything would be occupied, maybe I would have to hitch-hike a little bit. Right after that pilgrimage, I met my wife. For years, I told her about this kind of traveling, and she said, “Yeah, sounds nice, but I don’t know, especially not knowing where I’m going to sleep.” Five years later, we did a similar trip together. Doing it as a couple was such a profound experience of letting go and trusting whatever comes up. So that’s the story of that experience. [Laughs]Q: You also talked about needing a lot less than we think we do. Can you expand on that?TB: Yes. I was carrying so little, but by the end of my travels I realized there was so much I took with me that I didn’t need. Even food. I needed less and less food during the trip. You might expect that hiking is intense for the body, so you would need a lot of food, but no, it was less and less.&nbsp;By the end, I didn’t even need any kind of impulses from the surrounding environment. It was not like I was taking a specific path to have perfect experiences. It was just, “Okay, I’m on the road, walking, and that satisfies everything I need.”&nbsp;Because I hadn’t had that experience before, I didn’t know whether I’d return after a week, or my mind might go crazy without the usual needs – distractions or calling people. In the first week I had my phone with me and I did call quite a few people just to connect, or just to let my parents know that I was okay. Even all that communication dissolved throughout the travel. That was very beautiful as well.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/A_sustainable_mindset4_8821ab4181.jpg" alt="">&nbsp;<hr><hr><h4>I feel that in any moment&nbsp; I’m a human being,&nbsp; I’m an organism,&nbsp; I am Nature in myself.</h4>&nbsp;<hr> &nbsp;&nbsp;<hr>Q:&nbsp; The other very interesting thing in your talk was your positivity and your sense of not being separate from Nature. Could you explain a bit more?TB: That’s a weird paradox within myself. On the one hand, I don’t feel disconnected from Nature, but I grew up in an industrialized society and I work in a concrete building, and so forth. So, I feel I’m not as connected with Nature all the time as I am when I’m walking through a forest. At the same time, I feel that in any moment I’m a human being, I’m an organism, I&nbsp;am&nbsp;Nature in myself. I often wonder if the experience of “I am Nature” is not so much about the environment that I’m in as it is about the Nature that I experience in my own being, actions, and in my relationships with people and with everything around me. So, I can be alive in any context, you could say.&nbsp; &nbsp;A relationship with Nature, for me, doesn’t necessarily mean trying to find the perfect, pristine, non-human Nature out there and thinking, “Now I’m in Nature.” No,&nbsp;I am&nbsp;Nature in any moment … learning to be Nature.<hr>To be continued.We thank our partner, the Spirit of Humanity Forum, for facilitating this interview.&nbsp;<hr> &nbsp;&nbsp;<hr><h4>Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

A sustainable mindset

<h4>
 THOMAS BRUHN
 is a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies,
 Potsdam, Germany. He is a researcher and a bridge builder, helping experts
 and change-makers from all sectors of society to come together to explore
 the topic of sustainability, listen to each other, and develop
 solutions.
</h4>

<h4
 id="h-in-part-2-of-his-conversation-with-judith-nelson-at-the-spirit-of-humanity-forum-in-reykjavik-iceland-thomas-talks-about-embracing-mortality-finding-a-purpose-defining-our-role-in-the-world-and-the-shift-humanity-is-living-through">
 In part 2 of his conversation with
 JUDITH NELSON
 at the Spirit of Humanity Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland, Thomas talks about
 embracing mortality, finding a purpose, defining our role in the world,
 and the shift humanity is living through.
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 Q: In the Forum, you touched upon having no fear of death.
 You talked
 about the way the world is going, making a lot of people quite frightened.
 Can you tell us about that?



 TB: That’s a
 profound topic. When I was nineteen, I did my civil service in a home for
 the elderly, where people spent the last months of their lives. I really
 connected with people there. My grandmother died when I was nine years old,
 but at nineteen I was better able to engage with old people.



 Witnessing the final stages of their lives influenced me a lot. What was
 important for them? What did they reflect upon? Some had a hard time letting
 go because of unresolved relationships, or some trauma they hadn’t worked
 through. This influenced my own reflection about what kind of life I wanted
 to live.&nbsp;



 At nineteen, you’re busy finding out how awesome life is,&nbsp;but it was
 also important for me to embrace and welcome mortality. I can’t say that I’m
 not afraid of death. I want to experience life, and there is so much I
 haven’t yet lived. At the same time I find comfort in the notion that this
 existence is finite and impermanent. I can’t do anything about it
 anyway.&nbsp;



 The question for me is, “What is the purpose of my time here, and how should
 it be fulfilled?” That gives me a good orientation and makes me take things
 less seriously. “What is my contribution? What feels most meaningful?”&nbsp;



 Some people have a hedonistic attitude like, “I’m going to die anyway, so
 let’s have a party as long as it lasts.” That’s not the kind of life I want,
 but it does help me to be aware it’s finite.&nbsp;



 My work is dedicated to sustainability, and to more livable ways of life. My
 life is my responsibility, and if I have lived the wrong life when I leave
 this world, it’s only myself that I’m hurting. I’m also experiencing what’s
 happening in the rest of the world, and there’s so much suffering and
 destruction.



 Loss of biodiversity is de facto a degradation of the aliveness in
 this world. It is not easy to say I’m not afraid, because so much is beyond
 me. I love this world; it’s beautiful. I love humans, and I also love what
 we can contribute to this world. It’s more difficult to come to terms with
 the current crisis we’re experiencing as a globalized civilisation.&nbsp;


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 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Life_Death_Fear_pupose1_14b2189385.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T17:53:59.104Z" />


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 Q: Do you have any idea of a way forward through that? I
 know it’s a big
 question, but what can you contribute going forward? And how do you
 sustain yourself through all of
 this?&nbsp;



 TB: Ten years
 ago, my mind was on the big abstract topics like climate change, the
 technologies to mitigate climate change, global warming, CO2
 emissions, and so forth. I still see a lot of value in those developments,
 but I also realize that the world I experience is a manifestation of a
 certain culture, and this culture is a manifestation of a certain
 understanding of being human. How do I define what it means to be human? How
 does that drive me to consume my surroundings, and to sustain my own
 aliveness? That is a paradox in itself!&nbsp;



 In the book Ishmael, Daniel Quinn writes, “You are captives of a
 civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the
 world in order to live.”This is a very profound refection for me. How do we
 define life if it is at the expense of everything around us, even at the
 expense of ourselves?&nbsp;



 In the last ten years, I’ve gone through a shift in what I see as the next
 steps, and what my contribution can be. I see a different paradigm and a
 different culture emerging. Everywhere, there are young people and others
 who feel that our dominant culture doesn’t provide a meaningful life. They
 are like small islands where different modes of living are practiced.
 Sometimes I wish I could live the life I experience in these islands, but I
 cannot. Maybe I am just too much a child of this civilization that is not in
 harmony.



 My contribution is to connect these many islands, because they are often
 isolated and even suppressed. I enjoy connecting these marginalized
 change-agents, to give them a certain visibility, to show there is a
 potential for a different type of human life emerging, while the old one is
 reaching its limits. That’s the role in which I see myself.



 When I was fifteen, there was a popular game: “If you were a tool, what type
 of tool would you be?” I remember saying “a watering can.” That’s still how
 I feel twenty years later [Laughs]. I want to be a watering can for the
 plans I see growing as seeds in the middle of concrete environments. I feel
 like I’m standing in the middle, keeping a crack open so that something can
 grow, but I also feel my own limitations because I embody so much of the old
 paradigm. It’s a challenge for me to let go of the way I have grown up. Does
 that make sense?


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<h4 class="text-center">
 I want to be a watering can for the plans I see
 growing as seeds in
 the middle of concrete environments. 
 I feel like I’m standing in the middle, keeping a crack open so that
 something can grow.
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 Every time I speak about it, I realize it’s quite a tension I’m sitting in,
 but somehow I feel that the tension is exactly my role. It’s the right thing
 for me to be in.&nbsp;



 Q: Almost like a bridge, perhaps?



 TB: Yes, like a
 bridge or a gatekeeper.



 Q: Do you do any practice to sustain your inner
 world?



 TB: Yes and no.
 There are many practices I find valuable. I have come into contact with
 different approaches since I was fifteen, but they never became part of my
 everyday life. Over the past couple of years,&nbsp;I have been practicing
 Mindfulness and Compassion Meditation, but not like some people do. You
 could say it’s a moment-by-moment practice for me just to stay conscious of,
 “Am I the being I want to be? How purposeful am I being? How present am
 I?”&nbsp;



 I don’t want to push that into a corner of meditation and then go back to my
 work. When I have written thirty emails in a row, I sometimes notice I’m not
 writing as compassionately as I did in the beginning. Am I sensitizing
 myself to the quality I bring to those relationships and to those
 encounters?



 Sometimes it is playing the piano, sometimes it is hiking, or sitting in a
 meadow and looking at a lake. I don’t have a fixed routine, and at the same
 time I’m drawing on different experiences from people who have shared their
 practices with me. They are influencing the way I try to be present.


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