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www.heartfulnessmagazine.com
April 2024
The Healing Power
of Trees
DAAJI
How Can We
Give Back?
PATRICIA
SCOTLAND
Deep U
MARIA DANIEL
BRÁS
Regenerative
Business
ANTOINE DENOIX 
ALAIN DESIVIGNE
Environment
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CREATIVE TEAM
Editorial Team — Elizabeth Denley, Mamata
Subramanyam, Vanessa Patel, Kashish Kalwani,
Christine Prisland, Sara Bubber, Pankhi Chauhan
Design, Art  Photography — Uma Maheswari G,
Lakshmi Gaddam, Anagha Kulkarni, Jasmee Mudgal,
Ananya Patel, Arati Shedde
Writers — Sara Bubber, Daaji, Antoine Denoix, Alain
Desvigne, Victor Kannan, Jason Nutting, Gorakh
Parulkar, Christine Prisland, Jemina Watstein
Interviewees — Maria Daniel Brás, Patricia Scotland
Support Team — Balaji Iyer, Subash Kannan, Karthik
Natarajan, Ashraful Nobi, Jayakumar Parthasarathy,
Nabhish Tyagi, Shankar Vasudevan
ISSN 2455-7684
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Copyright © 2024 Heartfulness Education Trust.
All rights reserved.
Heartfulness
Dear readers,
One definition of “regeneration” is renewal or revival. While this can be applied to many aspects of our
lives and our world, it is arguably most vital right now for our planet.
The effects of climate change have gone so far that reversal is impossible. Instead, we have entered a
critical season of regeneration, during which all of us must come together to re-energize Mother Earth
and her occupants with nourishment, compassion, and healing for the future.
In this edition, Daaji speaks of trees and Nature, Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General,
speaks to school students about how to give back, Maria Daniel Brás dives into Deep U, and Alain
Desvigne and Antoine Denoix inspire each other with ideas for regenerative businesses. Victor Kannan
celebrates the Inner Peace Museum at Kanha Shanti Vanam, and Gorakh Parulkar writes on conflict
resolution. Christine Prisland takes us for a walk in the woods, Jason Nutting highlights the benefits of
eating slowly, Jemina Watstein shares 3 art activities we can do to calm our minds, and Sara Bubber tells
our children a Buddhist story on moderation and sets them a few challenges.
How are you contributing to regeneration? Email us at contributions@heartfulness.org to share your ideas.
Happy reading,
The editors
Regeneration
April 2024
6 Heartfulness
inside
self-care
The Healing Power of Trees
Daaji
12
Deep U
Interview with Maria Daniel
Brás
16
The Benefits of Eating
Slowly
Jason Nutting
23
inspiration
Sat, Rajas, and Tamas
Daaji
28
How Can We Give Back?
Interview with The Rt.
Hon. Patricia Scotland, KC,
Commonwealth Secretary-General
30
creativity
Inner Peace Museum
Victor Kannan
68
3 Activities to Calm the
Mind
Jemina Watstein
74
children
A Tale of Moderation
Sara Bubber
78
workplace
Regeneration Business
Antoine Denoix and Alain
Desvigne in conversation
38
relationships
Understanding the Knots
Gorakh Parulkar
54
environment
A Walk in the Woods
Christine Prisland
60
April 2024 7
DAAJI
Daaji is the Heartfulness
Guide. He is an innovator and
researcher, equally at home in the
fields of spirituality, science, and
the evolution of consciousness.
He has taken our understanding
of human potential to a new
level.
MARIA DANIEL BRÁS
Maria is part of the Presencing
Institute and U-school for
transformation, which focuses
on societal systems innovation.
She is a co-host for Deep U
retreats, an inner transformation
accelerator, and a Heartfulness
trainer. Maria is initiating a
regenerative project in Portugal
for global well-being.
VANESSA PATEL
Vanessa is a Heartfulness
practitioner, a Heartful
Communication facilitator,
and an editor of Heartfulness
Magazine. She lives in Baroda,
India, where she has worked
with schools and educators to
bring dynamic English language
programs to children of all ages.
ANTOINE DENOIX
Antoine Denoix is the CEO of
AXA Climate, an entity within
the AXA Group established
five years ago to address climate
and environmental adaptation
challenges. Antoine is also an
accomplished author, with three
books published by Dunod.
ALAIN DESVIGNE
Alain is co-founder and CEO of
Amarenco, a leading European
regenerative company. Previously,
he led Solon France, was a
General Manager of Samsung
Green Energy, and worked as
a Business Unit Director of
Engie Water. He has an MBA
from INSEAD, a Master’s in
Environmental Sciences from
ENGEES, and is President of
Heartfulness Institute France.
PATRICIA SCOTLAND
As the first woman to be
appointed Rt. Hon. Secretary-
General of the Commonwealth,
Patricia’s career has been marked
by a number of firsts. She is
mobilizing the 56 nations of the
Commonwealth to tackle climate
change, and, through women’s
enterprises, to build the resilience
of more vulnerable countries.
Heartfulness
8
contributors
VICTOR KANNAN
Victor is an avid practitioner
and trainer of Heartfulness. As
a career CFO, he combines the
benefits of meditation in the
everyday management of his
duties and responsibilities. He
lives with his wife in Atlanta.
JEMINA WATSTEIN
Jemina has been an international
art educator for 17 years and is
currently working on a Ph.D.
dissertation in International
Educational Leadership. Jemina
provides an inquiry-based
experience for students so they
can be their best selves and create
unique works of art.
CHRISTINE PRISLAND
Christine began her spiritual
journey at the age of 24 with an
overland trip to India, where she
met her spiritual guide in 1972.
She has been a Heartfulness
practitioner and trainer ever
since. She has been an editor for
35 years, and also a university
administrator at Simon Fraser
University, Vancouver, Canada.
SARA BUBBER
Sara is a storyteller, Montessori
consultant, and a children’s book
author. She is also a naturalist,
doing her doctoral work in eco-
consciousness in childhood. She
has been practicing Heartfulness
for eight years and is a certified
trainer.
JASON NUTTING
Jason is an exercise and nutrition
expert, who began in the US Air
Force, evolving into a certified
coach specializing in fat loss,
performance, and nutrition.
Co-founder of ONE GYM in
Greenville, SC, and creator of the
Living Lean Blueprint, his work
emphasizing personalized fitness
solutions.
DR. GORAKH
PARULKAR
Gorakh is a pathologist, director
of a diagnostic service, and a
Heartfulness practitioner and
trainer. His interests include
listening, storytelling, trekking,
organic farming, and just being.
April 2024 9
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with
your one wild and precious life?
MARY OLIVER
self-care
The Healing Power
of Trees
D
ear friends,
In the early 20th century,
the great sage, Ram Chandra
of Fatehgarh (Lalaji), visited
a village in the tribal area of
Rawati in present-day Madhya
Pradesh, India. He was greatly
taken by the place, which
reminded him of the ancient
ashram of Kakabhushundi.
Whoever entered that ashram
experienced a sense of
liberation.
Lalaji liked the natural beauty
and innocence of the village
people. He wanted to stay
there, and realize his dream of
building an ashram like that
of Kakabhushundi. He wrote,
“Such places have a better
capacity to absorb feelings
and Transmission than people
do, and can retain them for
a longer period. As a result,
whoever goes there cannot
but be influenced. This is the
YES, YOU CAN DO IT!
DAAJI shares his experience
of the healing power of
trees, and how a simple
tree practice improved his
health. He invites us all to
try that same practice.
Heartfulness
12
Trees, on the other hand, retain
spiritual charge as it is given, without
creating disturbance. They are
vibration banks that retain the divine
charge of Transmission. So future
generations also benefit from them
holding spiritual charge.
a very dynamic consciousness
that gives us the potential to
willfully evolve, but also of
going in the opposite direction.
By and large we do not know
how to use what is given to
us, and we tend to lose it.
In addition, our constant
activity of thoughts, emotions,
and actions create thought
pollution, changing the
environment around us.
Trees, on the other hand, retain
spiritual charge as it is given,
without creating disturbance.
They are vibration banks
that retain the divine charge
of Transmission. So future
generations also benefit from
them holding spiritual charge.
Trees do not go backwards in
the field of evolution, but they
also cannot evolve willfully. It
is actually their lack of will that
protects the charge once it is
absorbed in them.
reason why even today this
place looks like Brindavan.
Even if one looks at it from
the traditional angle, one can
do better sadhana here than in
other places.”
In 2007 I went looking for this
village, now called Raoti. On
reaching the railway station,
I could see that there were
hardly any trees for hundreds
of hectares; they had been cut
down. And as I reached the
village, I noticed the stream
had almost dried up. Yet on
the banks were beautiful trees,
including a huge banyan tree
with a giant canopy. Perhaps
Lalaji visited this very spot. I
sat there and felt immensely
benefited.
Why are trees so special? First,
they retain spiritual charge for
a longer period than humans,
because their consciousness is
of a different quality. We have
April 2024 13
SELF-CARE
Trees are also conduits for the flow
of energy from the earth upward
and from the cosmos downward.
Through this flow, they sustain
all the lifeforms around them
by distributing their charge, for
example, through fungal networks
in the soil, and in all the lifeforms
that live on and among their
branches and leaves.
Have you ever observed the
branches and leaves of a large
tree dancing in the breeze? You
can feel the joyous expansiveness
in their movements. Whereas
when a branch is being cut, the
feeling is of a totally different
nature—constrictive and defensive.
During different seasons, also, the
energy flow will vary. In winter,
the energy and nutrients flow
versa. There is a healthy exchange.
Trees and humans generally have a
good relationship. We have to look
after them.
A simple tree practice
So here is the simple practice that
healer taught me. I invite you to
try it also.
After asking a tree for
permission to sit, with a prayer,
you may sit on the ground with
your back against the trunk of
the tree. Make sure the width of
the trunk is narrower than your
back.
Whatever illness or disturbance
you have in your system, offer it
to the tree, saying, “Please take
this away. Also, take whatever
you need from me, and give me
the strength to survive and heal
myself.”
I wish you all the best of health
and well-being,
Daaji
down into the roots to regroup and
remain dormant for some time,
so that in spring they can rise up
and the tree flourishes with new
buds, new leaves, flowers, and
eventually fruits for the production
of seeds. In extreme heat also,
trees conserve their energy
remarkably, and only produce the
bare essentials. Everything is about
maintenance at that time.
We have a lot to learn from
being with trees. In fact, once
when I was very sick, I was told
by a healer from Europe, “Why
don’t you sit with a prayer to a
tree, asking the tree, ‘Will you
exchange?’” Our relationship with
trees is complementary. What
is not good for us, like carbon
dioxide, they can use, and vice
Heartfulness
14
SELF-CARE
April 2024 15
SELF-CARE
MARIA DANIEL BRÁS met up with VANESSA PATEL in February 2024 at Kanha
Shanti Vanam, where Maria was co-conducting a 4-day immersive experience in
Deep U, along with Vasco Gaspar and Stanislas Lajugie. They blended knowledge
and tools from various heart-centered, awareness-based, and trauma-informed
approaches, to enable connectedness and innate inner wisdom. Vanessa
was a participant in the workshop, and invited Maria to share more about her
experiences.
DeepU
Heartfulness
16
Q: I’ve just completed the Deep
U retreat with you, Vasco, and
Stan, and I came to realize that
you are fully trained in Theory
U and have worked with Otto
Scharmer. Can you explain a
little more about what that is?
I work at the Presencing Institute,
which was co-founded by Otto
Scharmer and the MIT Sloan
School of Management teachers.
He wrote the book, Leading from
the Emerging Future, with Katrin
Kaufer on how true change
happens in the world. It doesn’t go
directly from problem to solution;
you need an inner journey to get
there. That’s why it’s called Theory
U. You stop to see what’s around
you, and you stop downloading
the old patterns so you are ready
to see the new. Like artists who
keep looking at a landscape for
many hours, then stop, go within,
and something emerges from that
space. That’s how creativity works.
Otto and Katrin interviewed many
people, multi-level innovators
from all sorts of professions, and
they found that this is how the
real process of transformation
happens. We may say it’s new, but
it’s actually replicating what we
already know from the past.
The Presencing Institute is
focused on outer transformation,
how to reinvent the systems that
we have in society, like finance,
education, governance, etc. It gives
changemakers the tools for free
under Creative Commons. It’s all
about elevating consciousness.
It’s connected with Heartfulness
as well. Deep U, in particular, is a
program that focuses on the inner
journey, and on transforming,
changing, and opening our inner
system. Then, we are ready for
outer transformation.
Q: It helped to access the inner
system, to what lies deep within,
and that emerged through some
of the exercises we did. It helped
my spiritual process in that it
gave me glimpses into parts of
myself I hadn’t really thought
about. That was a revelation for
me.
It definitely gives us more
awareness into our unconscious
patterns in our day-to-day lives,
either because we are meant
to be that way because of our
nervous system, or because of what
happens in our minds.
Then we create the layers, the
blockages that stop us from
being able to connect with others
and ourselves in a different way.
Sometimes, we are very critical
of ourselves. It’s really about
being aware of those layers and
being able to take decisions to
remove them, for example, by
doing practices like Heartfulness
Cleaning and other techniques,
and also by doing therapy.
Without those layers, we can be
better toward ourselves, toward
others, and toward nature.
Q: How many of these Deep U
workshops have you done so far?
April 2024 17
SELF-CARE
This was the seventeenth one, and
the first in Asia. Most have been
in Europe, and one in the US.
Q: Do you design such programs
for corporates?
That is a major part of Vasco’s
work.
Q: I hope you do many more. It’s
a very interesting approach—a
blend of spiritual techniques,
and techniques based on
psychology and self-exploration.
What kind of feedback have you
had so far? Have you seen shifts
in people?
The participants are the best
people to answer! We have heard
very beautiful things. One that
stood out was someone who said,
“It was the first time I was able to
be myself.”That is strong. We are
very grateful for that.
Q: As you said, this program
helps to remove barriers, and
shows that it’s okay to be
yourself and not apologize for it.
We create a safe space together.
We hope people feel safe enough
for that opening, and through the
tools and technologies we share,
they find ideas on how to do that
for themselves.
Q: That was a big part of my
own experience. Not only did I
feel safe and very supported, it
was almost a sacred space that
enabled me to explore myself.
Can you tell me a little bit about
your own spiritual journey? What
brought you to where you are
now?
I don’t know exactly when it
started. As a child I was at a
Catholic school, because in
Deep U is a
program that
focuses on the
inner journey, and
on transforming,
changing, and
opening our inner
system.
18
SELF-CARE
Portugal the main religion is
Catholicism and we had sessions
at school to learn about Jesus and
God. I remember even at the age
of five questioning the stories we
were told. I had a kind of crisis
at that age, thinking that God
needed to be different, because
why was there so much suffering?
I remember the moment clearly. I
was angry, because I was thinking
about my grandmother, who was
a victim of domestic violence. I
thought, “Is this the God that they
speak about?” And I decided I
didn’t believe in religion.
At the same time, several times a
day, not only when I was in need, I
was speaking to an entity that was
bigger than myself, and hoping
that being would listen. I was very
fortunate to have an inner voice
that somehow knew what to do.
But I wasn’t super aware of it. That
came much later and now I am
aware of it.
Heartfulness Meditation is
a recent practice for me. My
husband Vasco was meditating, but
I had a very rational mind because
of the lack of trust I felt about
God. I took refuge in science,
and everything that couldn’t be
explained was hard for me to
believe. When Vasco became a
Heartfulness trainer, he offered to
introduce me to the practice. He
didn’t tell me anything about how
it worked, but at the end of the
first session I started to cry and
said, “Thank you for cleaning me.”
After the second session, I said,
“I know where the light is.”These
words came out of me, I don’t
know how. Since then, I have been
meditating.
Q: What were your takeaways
and insights about this particular
Deep U retreat that we just did?
There was more of a spiritual
approach to it than you have
done previously.
Yes, that’s correct. In every
program we introduce people
to Heartfulness, that’s the main
purpose. But here in Kanha,
it’s obvious. Just being in this
environment is transformational.
We can take ourselves deeper,
I was very fortunate
to have an inner
voice that
somehow knew
what to do.
April 2024 19
SELF-CARE
faster, potentially more than in
other programs we have done.
The transformation is always part
of it, but here Heartfulness is so
present, including through the
volunteers who helped us create
the experiences.
Usually, a workshop is intimate,
with around twenty participants;
here, there were almost 100. It was
an experiment to see if it would
work. The ecosystem and the
volunteer attitude that exist here
are beautiful. They represent how
we can live from a different place
than we usually live in our society,
especially in the West. Sometimes
those concepts are forgotten, and
seeing everyone so involved is
beautiful. People realize how many
hearts need to be open to do this
work.
Q: That is special, to
acknowledge the people who
were involved in the background,
who were facilitating the daily
flow of activities.
And of course, the participants
meditated together with others in
the meditation hall and listened
to Daaji speak. Spirituality is
directly presented here, whereas in
programs in the West, sometimes
it is in the background, sustaining
everything. We can’t always talk
directly about spirituality, as some
people might not be ready for it.
This program has given glimpses
of how to speak about it.
Q: So that gives you the
opportunity to offer more. Can
you explain the concept you
introduced in the workshop of
giftivism, paying it forward? Is
it that whatever you feel you
received you are putting forward
to somebody else who can
benefit from it?
That was actually an inspiration
from the very first program. The
first time I came to India, we
stopped in Kanha for twenty-four
hours. It was barren land at the
time. We went to Ahmedabad for
a retreat with Nipun Mehta called
Gandhi 3.0, on “kindorism,” the
opposite of terrorism. We didn’t
know what to do with it. It was
such a restructuring of our way
Just being in this
environment is
transformational.
We can take
ourselves deeper,
faster, potentially
more than in other
programs we have
done.
Heartfulness
20
SELF-CARE
of being, our Western society,
where you always give something
in exchange, right? It was so
beautiful, and changed us. We
really wanted to implement it in
our program.
So Deep U became an incubator
for the kindness factor. For
example, we involve people
who have done the program to
stitch the little felt hearts every
participant receives and gives to
others. There are people gifting
their time and their knowledge.
We invite people to pay it forward.
The program doesn’t have a fixed
price; everyone is invited to give
a donation or volunteer their
time, or give whatever multiple
form of capital they have. It’s not
transactional. It’s important to
keep the chain going, because if we
keep kindness to ourselves, then
what is the impact?
While it’s important to be kind
toward ourselves, we can expand
and have an impact in the world.
Kindness touches people, and
they are transformed by it. That’s
why Deep U is an incubator for
kindness and for pay it forward.
It’s all about service that gives rise
to hope and doing it for the next
person. I feel very grateful and
blessed because these programs
are embedded in a sense of service,
and that’s a beautiful way to live.
Q: That stood out. So did the
fact that participation in each
workshop exercise was a choice:
“Let me invite you to take part
if you feel you are ready.” That
invitation was so important,
especially for those who are
hesitating. The approach was so
soft. Sometimes we forget that
people are not always ready
to leave their safe space and
dive into unfamiliar territory, yet
they feel pressure to participate
despite their reservations.
It’s like our meditation. The
subtle approach gets a better
response than the harsh push,
right? Everything is an invitation.
If someone is not ready, it’s okay.
Maybe later they will be. But they
need to feel safe and that they are
not missing the train.
Q: You said you had an inner
voice growing up. We’re so used
to being told that the voice is
outside. We don’t know to listen
to this little voice until, in your
case, as an adult you became
conscious of it and started
listening to it.
I think it was because I was an
only child and spent a lot of
time alone. Also, my husband
and I grew up together. He’s
three months older, and he has a
sister. They were always fighting,
whereas I found peace being by
myself. In those moments alone, I
heard the voice inside more clearly.
It wasn’t always loud; almost like
a gut feeling. I sometimes use the
expression of being the only sane
person in the family, and that kept
me in balance all these years. It
made me seek the person within
for guidance.
While it’s important
to be kind toward
ourselves, we can
expand and have
an impact in the
world. Kindness
touches people,
and they are
transformed by it.
April 2024 21
SELF-CARE
Q: What’s next for you and the
Deep U team?
This retreat happened as an
invitation from Daaji and the
feedback has been good. We are
receiving requests to do it again,
here and in Europe. We are open
to invitations to see where they
lead us!
Q: Thank you so much Maria, it’s
been such a pleasure.
Thank you Vanessa.
It’s like our meditation. The
subtle approach gets a
better response than the
harsh push, right?
Everything is an invitation.
Heartfulness
22 Heartfulness
SELF-CARE
Eating Slowly
JASON NUTTING explores the benefits of mindful eating, and
takes it to the next level by introducing a core principle of
Heartfulness in order to bring about physical, mental, and
spiritual well-being at mealtime.
I
n a world where the pace of life
seems to accelerate with each
passing day, the ancient wisdom
of Indian sage Patanjali offers a
beacon of light, guiding us toward
the virtues of mindfulness and
moderation. Patanjali, revered for
his Yoga Sutras, emphasized the
importance of harmony between
the body, mind, and spirit—a
concept that feels more relevant
now than ever, especially in the
context of eating and well-being.
The foundation of mindful
eating
Mindful eating is not just a
practice but a philosophy. When
embraced, it can transform
our relationship with food. It’s
about engaging all our senses,
recognizing our responses to
food, without judgment, and
acknowledging our emotions
and physical cues. This approach
stands in stark contrast to today’s
fast and often mindless eating
habits, which contribute to weight
gain and also detach us from the
joy and nourishment food is meant
to provide.
April 2024 23
Patanjali’s teachings and
modern research on the art
of eating
Patanjali taught the importance
of Sthira (steadiness) and Sukha
(ease) in our practices, which can
be beautifully applied to the act
of eating. Eating slowly and with
intention encourages a steadiness
of mind and body, allowing for a
deeper appreciation of each meal,
promoting better digestion, and
satisfying us with smaller portions.
Research echoes these teachings,
showing that slower, more mindful
eating can lead to weight loss
and improved health. A study
in the Journal of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics found that
people who eat slowly tend to
consume fewer calories, experience
increased fullness and, ultimately,
see a reduction in weight. Slow
eating allows the body time to
signal fullness, reducing the
likelihood of overeating.
advises us to eat in a state of inner
connection, inviting us to tune
in to our food and our bodies.
It’s about creating a moment of
calm in our otherwise hectic day,
turning a simple meal into an
opportunity for meditation and
reflection.
Mindfulness and
Heartfulness: a harmonious
blend
Mindful eating is deeply connected
with the principles of Heartfulness,
which include conscious awareness
and heart-centeredness. One of
the key Heartfulness principles
It’s about creating a
moment of calm in
our otherwise hectic
day, turning a simple
meal into an
opportunity for
meditation and
reflection.
Heartfulness
24
SELF-CARE
Ways to eat slowly and
mindfully
1. Begin with gratitude:
Before eating, take a moment
to express gratitude for your
meal. This can help center
your mind and prepare you for
a mindful eating experience.
Reflective questions to
deepen your practice
1. What emotions or thoughts
arise when I eat slowly and
without distractions? How
do they differ from when I
eat quickly or mindlessly?
2. How does the practice of
expressing gratitude before
meals change my eating
experience?
3. In what ways can I
incorporate the principles
of Heartfulness into my
daily eating habits?
By integrating these practices
into a daily routine, we embark
on a journey not just toward
weight loss, but toward a deeper
connection with our food,
our bodies, and ultimately,
our inner selves. This mindful
approach to eating, inspired by
the wisdom of Patanjali and
the principles of Heartfulness,
offers a path to a healthier,
more harmonious life.
2. Use all your senses:
Observe the colors, smell the
aromas, and savor each bite.
This not only enhances the
experience but also slows
down the pace of eating.
3. Chew thoroughly:
Make a conscious effort to
chew your food multiple times.
This aids digestion and gives
your body time to recognize
when it’s full.
4. Put down your utensils:
Between mouthfuls, put down
your utensils. This simple act
can help pace your eating and
encourage mindfulness.
5. Eliminate distractions:
Turn off the TV and put away
your phone. Eating without
distractions encourages you
to focus on the meal and your
body’s cues.
6. Check in with yourself:
Pause periodically during
the meal. This helps prevent
overeating and promotes
satisfaction with less food.
Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM
April 2024 25
SELF-CARE
What is the good of your
stars and trees, your sunrise
and the wind, if they do not
enter into our daily lives?
E.M. FORSTER
inspiration
Sat, Rajas, and
Tamas
Dear Daaji,
What does it mean to live in tune
with Nature?
Dear Josh,
We are encouraged to lead a life in tune with Nature. Being in tune
with Nature means following the unwritten Divine Laws. Any act that
is in tune with the Divine Laws can be called sattvic. Following and
acting according to the man-made laws that give you happiness can be
called rajasic. Following neither the Divine Laws nor the man-made laws,
breaking all the rules for the sake of self-satisfaction, can be called
tamasic. From which level are you resonating, and with what?
Following the Divine Laws, listening to your conscience, automatically
grants you peace and contentment. That experience or state is heavenly.
Breaking all the laws makes you restless, though you may act otherwise and
laugh like the demons in the Ramayana epic. That experience or state is not
heavenly, and we call it hell.
Joyfully abiding by the Divine Principles is a sign of complete
acceptance and surrender to His will. The attitude of “Let Thy will be
done, dear Lord” makes a lot of sense here.
Active modern-day life allows little time to reflect, introspect, meditate,
and implement what is good, even when we want to. But if we want to grow
LETTERS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Heartfulness
28
spiritually, we must spiritualize our material life, as it is the only solution.
We will have to retreat now and then to revive what matters most.
We must at least be able to perceive if our actions will yield joy or sorrow.
Most of us miss out at the very onset in realizing the consequences. That is why
the Great Masters, in their mercy, have laid down certain principles for our
benefit, saving us precious time.
Can anyone write principles on whom to marry, for example, or which degree
to go after? They would say marry the one you love and ensure the other person
also loves you. Our mistake is in translating looks, behaviors, talk, status, etc.,
as love. This aberration changes our perception, blinds us, and eventually makes
us pay a hefty price. We succumb to family pressure or community pressure.
We commit to various prejudices and stubbornness. The planets in the sky are
actually very kind in comparison.
It is funny when we see people interpreting the statement, “You are what you
eat,” by saying that if you consume chicken, you become chicken; if you
drink cow’s milk, you may become a cow! That sort of tangential argument is
counterproductive, even when well-intentioned. No logical mind will accept
it. Instead, the proverb makes a lot of sense when we consider the nature of
food from the perspective of the gunas .
Here, the consumption of various foods is according to the subtler or grosser
quality of the food plus how it is consumed. The same sattvic food can create
a tamasic effect if the mind is not in tune with Nature, or the food was
gathered by questionable means.
Please refer to my talk on these three gunas while reading Chapter 1 of Truth
Eternal.
Stay safe.
With regards,
Kamlesh
April 2024 29
INSPIRATION
Her Excellency,
PATRICIA SCOTLAND,
KC, The Rt. Honorable
Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth, visited
Kanha Shanti Vanam in
January 2024. During her
visit, she received the
inaugural Heartfulness
Changemaker Award for
outstanding commitment
to service through
compassionate action in
her work. Here, she speaks
with students from The
Heartfulness Learning
Center on climate change,
service, dreaming big, and
making a difference.
How Can We
How Can We
Give Back?
Give Back?
Q: Good evening your
Excellency. It is our
pleasure to talk with you.
We’d be delighted if you
would tell us about your
life growing up, and what
influenced you to pursue
your career?
First, I am thrilled to be with
you. And the performance you
gave was so wonderful I had
tears in my eyes.
As the Secretary-General, I
am responsible for helping 56
countries—that’s 2.5 billion
people—and 60% of them are
under the age of 30. That’s
1.5 billion young people. All
of you young people in the
Commonwealth, I believe that
you are all mine.
So, I was extremely proud
to hear from you. And I was
touched by what you sang:
a million dreams, a million
dreams, looking at how the
world could be, should be, and
can be. All of you are going
to make it as beautiful as you
would like it to be. I was so
thrilled that you’re dreaming. So
dream big and don’t let anyone
tell you that your dreams cannot
come true. Because they can.
You have to work hard. You have
to love harder. And you have to
pray and know that each of you
has been given a talent by God.
It’s your job to find that talent,
hone it, and use it for the benefit
of other people. And if what I
saw on this stage is even a tiny
drop of your talent, you are
absolutely amazing.
Let me tell you a bit about me,
because that was your question. I
was born on a small island in the
Caribbean, the Commonwealth
of Dominica. Dominica has
about 72,000 people.
I was born in the fishing village
of St. Joseph. I have eleven
brothers and sisters, and am the
tenth of twelve children. My
family moved to England when
I was really small, and I grew up
in the East End, the poorer end
of London. At that stage, many
people thought the likelihood
of me succeeding in anything
was small, because there was a
pecking order. I was told it was
white male, black male, then
white female. And then at the
bottom of the bottom of the
bottom was black female.
I had a fantastic family,
full of love, care, and great
determination. And they told me
what I’m going to tell you: You
can do anything if you choose.
Don’t believe anyone who tells
you it’s impossible. Everything
looks impossible until it’s done.
And you are going to do it.
I said to my father, “But Daddy,
nobody else has done this
before.”
To which he said, “Oh, good,
that means you can be the first!”
So if anyone tells you, “No one
has done this before,” what are
you going to reply?
Q: I’ll be the first.
Good.
The other thing I learned was
that it’s really important to
support your friends, and for
31
April 2024
INSPIRATION
your friends to support you.
All of us need friendship and
support. Never underestimate
what a wonderful thing a smile
can be. When you’re having a
really bad day, you think things
cannot get any worse, and a
friend turns to you and smiles, it
makes all the difference.
Kindness is an incredible,
important part of your survival.
I’ve found that being kind to
friends means that your friends
tend to be kind to you.
Q: That’s inspiring and
heart-touching. Ma’am,
we’re curious to know
about your favorite
subjects in school.
My favorite subject was
English. I loved English, I loved
language, I loved literature, and
I loved History; but I come
from a family of scientists, and
they wanted me to be a scientist.
There’s almost every form of
scientist in my family—chemical
engineering, pharmacology,
agronomy—you name it, they
are doing it. They thought I
should be a physicist, because
we didn’t have one. I had no
intention of being a physicist,
and my seven brothers thought
that maybe the brain had started
to run out when it got to me,
because I was only a lawyer.
I also loved knowing about
people. Whatever you choose,
choose a subject you love, not
You can do anything if you choose.
Don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s
impossible. Everything looks
impossible until it’s done.
32 Heartfulness
Heartfulness
INSPIRATION
a subject someone else loves. If
you choose a subject you love, it
will never be work, it will always
be joy.
How were my subjects related to
my career? The most important
thing about being a lawyer
is understanding language,
construct, the love of language.
How to communicate, and how
to create ideas have been really
important. I love law because
I can use it as a tool to deliver
justice. I always was absorbed
by things that were fair and
unfair. I hated to see people
being bullied, people not having
their say, having their rights
denigrated, not being cared for.
And I always wanted to make a
difference so that people would
get their rights.
Q: Could you please
help us understand the
Commonwealth? What
are its goals, and how
can the youth of India
be more inclusive and
more involved with the
Commonwealth?
India was pivotal in helping to
create the new Commonwealth.
Many of the countries had
been members of the British
Empire. In 1949, when a total
of eight countries (including
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)
became independent, the
question was: Were they going
to stay within the family of the
Commonwealth? India’s Prime
Minister made the decision
to stay. When they asked him
why, he said it was because the
Commonwealth brought a touch
of healing; the Commonwealth
family of nations shared so many
things.
We have the same language,
we communicate in English,
we have the same common
law structure, the same
parliamentary system, the same
institutions. We fought together
through two world wars. If you
go to the Millennium Gates
in London, you will see the
names of those who sacrificed
their lives. And you will see that
India had the highest level of
Distinguished Service Orders.
In 1953, the Queen of the
UK and the Commonwealth
said that it was an entirely
new concept, built on the
fundamental and best elements
of humanity, kindness,
friendship, and respect. The
Commonwealth could be a
beacon for the rest of the world.
Together, countries coming from
five different regions—Europe,
Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the
Pacific—with different people,
different languages, and with
the same heart, looked at the
values they shared. And they
If you choose a
subject you love, it
will never be work,
it will always be
joy.
33
INSPIRATION
realized that if humanity needs
to survive, we need to work
together.
The Commonwealth was
about democracy. It was about
freedom. It was about human
rights. It was about enhancing
trade. Fifty years ago, the
Commonwealth decided the
most important thing was our
children. We were the first
organization to have a dedicated
youth program. In 2022, when
we met in Shogun, Kigali, the
leaders reinforced that that fifty-
year celebration of youth must
continue, because the children
of our Commonwealth are our
future, the leaders of today, not
just tomorrow.
The Commonwealth has been
responsible for some remarkable
things. Many of you were not
alive when South Africa was
divided on the grounds of race
under apartheid. Black people
had few to no rights, and white
people dominated. It was the
Commonwealth that said, “You
cannot have a system where one
citizen doesn’t have the same
rights as the other. Everyone
in our Commonwealth has to
be equal.”The Commonwealth
challenged South Africa and
said, “You have a choice. If you
wish to stay in our family, you
cannot have apartheid. And
if you want to have apartheid,
you cannot be in our family.”
South Africa left, but the
Commonwealth continued to
fight hard to end that system.
You talked about climate change.
In 1989, in Langkawi, the
Commonwealth came out with
a Declaration saying that if we
do not change, climate change
would become an existential
threat. We have continued to
fight for climate justice ever
since. We are pushing for a
regenerative approach that will
reverse the climate decline.
You cannot have a system
where one citizen doesn’t have
the same rights as the other.
Everyone in our Commonwealth
has to be equal.”
34
INSPIRATION
Looking at all the things you’re
doing here in Kanha, I believe
we can do this.
You can join the
Commonwealth Youth
Network. We need your voice,
your passion, your courage,
your knowledge, and your
innovation, because this
Commonwealth is only going to
remain wonderful if you make
it so. It has to be how you want
it to be. Nothing changes unless
we change it. It starts with us.
Q: I’m sure many of us
here are inspired by your
answer and want to take
up a career in the field
and express our opinions
to make the world a
better place.
How can we as students
contribute directly to the
fields of sustainability
and innovation?
One of the most important
ways is by sharing your ideas.
We looked at those who are
making the biggest difference in
the world, in terms of discovery,
innovation, and change. And
most of them are below the
age of thirty. If you look at the
founders of some of the biggest
unicorns, many of them started
as micro, small, and medium-
sized businesses, which were
innovative, different, and
challenging the norms.
I would invite you to think
about a problem you’re
passionate about, and then ask
yourself this question, “How
can I help to solve it?”
Remember that you won’t have
to solve that problem on your
own. But someone has to take
the first step. You can do it
in school. A group of you can
take something, research it,
understand it. Then you can
ask yourself, “How do I make it
better?”
Everything you are doing
at school can be part of the
Commonwealth Year of Youth,
because other young people
will want to know what you’re
doing. You’re learning things,
you’re growing, you’re changing,
and that knowledge needs to
be shared with others. The
Commonwealth is great at
pooling the knowledge from all
different areas.
There’s a lot to do. Please join
us. Never worry that what
you’re doing is too small. It is
never too small. We each have
to start from wherever we are,
and someone has to put the first
foot forward.
To be continued.
We each have to start from
wherever we are, and someone has
to put the first foot forward.
35
April 2024
Workplace
Be moderate in order to
taste the joys of life in
abundance.
EPICURUS
Illustration by ANANYA PATEL
Regenerative
Business
In January 2024 in Paris, two key figures in the environmental energy
revolution in Europe met to explore regeneration together. They are
ANTOINE DENOIX of AXA Climate and ALAIN DESVIGNE of Amarenco.
Enjoy their synergy and discoveries!
What is regeneration?
Antoine: For me, regeneration
is putting ourselves at the service
of life. For a business, being
regenerative involves thinking and
operating as a living system, within
planetary boundaries. And to have
the intention of developing life,
both human and non-human.
Alain: For me, regeneration
happens when all living beings are
singing together.
We talk a lot about ecosystem
services, but that’s the tragedy of it
all, because it’s an anthropocentric
vision of nature. So I prefer to
add the notion of “homosystem”
services, i.e., the services that
human beings can provide to the
rest of Nature, in order to establish
reciprocity.
The difference between the two
is that other beings naturally
provide these services to human
beings, whereas human beings
have a choice of whether or not to
contribute to life on our planet.
A synonym
Antoine: life
Alain: consciousness
A drawing
Antoine: interconnected
ecosystems
Alain: From the periphery to
the center and the center to the
periphery.
A painting
Antoine: Hunters in the Snow by
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, for the
landscape, and the footprints of
the hunters, which mark the return
home
Alain: A mural called Farming in
Harmony, created by Amber Art
 Design, which is located at the
Rodale Institute Headquarters,
Kutztown, PA, USA
Heartfulness
38
An inner state
Antoine: joy
Alain: vacuity
A journey
Antoine: a book
Alain: inner
A poem
Antoine: Calendrier pour le
nouvelle foi [Calender for the New
Faith] by René Char
Alain: The Soil Never Sleeps by
Adam Horovitz
A specific location
Antoine: Le Plomb du Cantal,
Auvergne, France
Alain: our very tiny planet
(Earth’s diameter is about 1.346
trillionths of a light-year while the
observable universe is estimated to
be about 93 billion light-years in
diameter)
A picture
Antoine: Le Plomb du Cantal,
Auvergne, France
Alain: Chernobyl 2023
An orientation to thought
Antoine: metaphysical
Alain:integrative
A color
Antoine: the blue of the sky,
always within sight, looking up
Alain: brown because it reminds
me of the soil
A piece of music
Antoine: Goldberg Variations by
J.S. Bach, played by Glenn Gould
Alain: silence
An attitude
Antoine: humor
Alain: listening with generosity
A moment in the history of
our planet
Antoine: 1906, when Marcel
Proust took up his pen to write
his masterpiece, The Search for Lost
Time
Alain: 2024
A moment in your life
Antoine: my daughter’s birth
Alain: now
A relationship
Antoine: friendship
Alain: multi-dimensional
A country
Antoine: France
Alain: India
A person
Antoine: my father
Alain: my mother
A company
Antoine: human journey
Alain: every company in the
future
April 2024 39
WORKPLACE
Heartfulness
40
WORKPLACE
A Meeting of Hearts and
Minds
Alain: I remember the
synchronicity of our first
connection. Within the same
week, my general manager in
Asia met your general manager
in Singapore. Other members of
our teams met at HECTAR, the
agricultural campus spanning over
600 hectares at the gates of Paris
that brings together agriculture,
entrepreneurship, and technology
into a unique ecosystem. I
stumbled upon one of your
LinkedIn posts, which echoed a
lot of my own reflections.
I remember my stream of thoughts
when I saw your title, Chief
Ecosystem Officer, and wondered,
“What is the actual role of that
guy at AXA Climate?” I initially
thought you were part of the
C-level executive team, not the
actual CEO.
Antoine: During our first call, I
quickly felt a strong connection
between us. From the first seconds,
confidence was there. We went
straight to the essence: our deep
source of motivation, namely
serving life, human and non-
human, through our companies.
Our collaboration since has kept
this aspect.
Alain: You explained the
mission of AXA Climate: making
regenerative business universal.
But I don’t recall you sharing why
you created a business with such
a mission. What was the trigger,
the context, the beginning of your
journey? Was it the result of a long
study and introspection or sudden
lightning?
Antoine: It is the fruit of a
journey lasting more than five
years. When I launched AXA
Climate with five employees in
2019, we started as an insurer,
without expertise on climate and
environmental issues. At the time,
my mission was to reduce suffering
in the world of work.
We gradually drew on the thread
of science: climate, planetary
boundaries, volume-based
economic models. We understood
that reducing negative impact was
not enough. The planet was in
such a state that it was necessary
to deconstruct and rebuild the
very idea of businesses; to no
longer think of them and build
them as extractive machines, but
as living ecosystems serving life, as
regenerative businesses.
After five years, AXA Climate
has nearly 200 employees working
to make this regenerative path
possible, through training,
insurance, finance, and general
advice.
And you, Alain, taking your
business on the path of
regeneration has not been ordinary
either! When you first spoke to me
about it, giving yourself this vision
was a bet. Only a few at Amarenco
were aware of the concept. Would
you tell me what route you took?
Alain: Yes, and it often feels like
we are still at the beginning of this
journey into the unknown!
I had an epiphany a few years ago
when I watched Kiss the Ground,
an inspiring groundbreaking
documentary that reveals soil as
the iceberg hummock, because
there lies a real solution to our
global environmental crisis. I
started to study more about life
in the soil, and the consequences
of the absence of life in the soil.
I was blown away by the fact that
humanity stomps the ground
without being aware of all the
treasures it contains. I started to
better understand what Antoine
de Saint-Exupéry meant when
he wrote, “What is essential is
invisible to the eye,” in his book,
The Little Prince.
I came to realize that capitalism is
either regenerative or degenerative.
There is nothing in between. It’s
either a force for good or a force of
destruction. So, do corporate living
organisms have a choice other
than using this energy as a force
for good?
After my epiphany and the follow-
on period of study, I started to
look at how the company could
contribute to the emergence of
a regenerative economy at the
heart of its activity. Together, with
April 2024 41
WORKPLACE
a unanimous board resolution
to allocate capital to integrate
ecosystem regeneration in each of
our new projects, this is how the
transformational journey started.
As you know, I am a fan of your
flagship initiative, The Butterfly
School, an amazing journey you
co-created with Lumia and La
Joli Prod to support businesses
to become regenerative. I have
offered the training to all my 300
employees, and I love it because
it energized me. It gave me hope
that intentions behind companies’
trajectories can be genuine, and
the role of corporate ecosystems
can really evolve and contribute
in a positive way to the evolution
of nature with the right shift in
consciousness.
In the course of this training,
you refer to 9 principles of living,
somehow mirroring the nine
planetary boundaries. If you had
to pick one principle that you
personally resonate with the most,
which would it be and why?
Nature is our inspiration
Antoine: To get as many people
on board as possible, we have a
model of inspiration available:
nature. What if a company is a
living ecosystem, like a forest?
It would operate according to
very different principles (the 9
principles that you mention):
decentralization, sub-optimality,
singularity, limited growth, etc.,
which are all big words compared
to the current doxa.
My favorite is the most difficult
to achieve—sub-optimality. We
have lived for decades in the
omnipresent cult of performance,
meaning we are constantly seeking
to optimize a limited number of
quantifiable variables (GDP, yields,
profit, etc.) in a mechanical way.
This obsession has condemned
us, gradually, to destroy other
less quantifiable variables, often
from living things. And this
frantic race places us—society,
businesses, and individuals—in a
condition of extreme fragility and
non-adaptability. For example,
what happened when a simple
carrier got in the way of the Suez
Canal, blocking the flow of all
our imported goods? Look at the
depletion of our soils following the
practice of intensive agriculture.
Compare this with a company
that favors resilience over
performance. It will have an
easier time adapting; this is the
great inversion. For example,
what happens when we prioritize
stocks, diversity of suppliers, and
resources of the local territory,
close to consumers? Today,
electronic products are constantly
“reissued” in evermore efficient
versions with more features. What
if, instead, we choose to favor
repairability, using modular parts
that are available nearby?
There is also the question of
preserving health at work. Many
employees are overworked,
with consequences that lead to
absenteeism and burnout. Here
again, we can take inspiration from
nature. Our body temperature,
37°C, is far from the optimum
for enzymes, which is 40°C,
but the differential allows our
body to maintain a large margin
of maneuver in the event of
infection. We need to reintroduce
inefficiency into systems!
You also adhere to a different
vision for your company.
Amarenco is a reference in the
market; and now that you have
reached a significant size you are
making an impact. How do you
manage to bring these principles
to life on a daily basis? Especially
with different shareholders, it
must not be easy!
Alain: We are still far from living
all the principles as a collective
being on a daily basis. I am a
follower of the Lao Zu philosophy:
“a journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step,” so we
started by choosing to develop
and invest in projects that are
regenerative in nature.
We successfully found our
singularity, which is to generate
and supply regenerative electrons.
This means deploying electricity
that not only reduces the energy
carbon footprint, but also creates
a positive environmental and
Heartfulness
42
WORKPLACE
social impact wherever we deploy
our infrastructures. We have
developed a robust science-based
methodology to measure and
assess impact. We don’t claim
to have all the solutions as we
are pioneers. We nevertheless
advance with conviction, passion,
determination, and humility. We
clearly don’t know everything, so
we study, try, learn, and improve.
Expressing our singularity (which
is one of the nine core living
principles from The Butterfly
training) every day, and staying
confident that our sincere
intentions and hard work will yield
the fruits we hope for, is making
us “alive”!
Working with challenges
One principle I find challenging
is decentralization. The industry
in which we operate is capital-
intensive, and the gravitational
forces resulting from the need of
financial shareholders to control
their investment has the potential
to interfere with decentralized
governance where everyone feels
the decision is the result of a
symbiotic approach.
I believe that the need to control
any type of energy flow, including
financial flow, is linked to a
difficulty in accepting uncertainty
and a lack of trust in others. When
a small group of people are trying
to exert high levels of control over
a larger group of people, they do
try to create a sense of security and
predictability. And the bigger the
April 2024 43
WORKPLACE
Heartfulness
44
WORKPLACE
energy quantum, the bigger the
compulsion to control exists from
such people. But please don’t get
me wrong. I do believe in regular
checkpoints, sharing analytics,
risks, and challenges encountered,
as well as getting inputs from the
different stakeholders.
I might sometimes appear too
idealistic, but I dream of being
able to operate in my company the
way I cook with my wife and adult
kids over Christmas. We start with
a common intention: to contribute
to this precious moment when
our family members are together
by giving the very best through
a memorable meal. We carefully
select the dishes, everyone comes
with different suggestions, and
we joyfully converge to a set of
two menus, one for December 24
evening, and one for December 25
noon. Then a method, the recipes.
After that, we gather the
ingredients and utensils, we
collectively agree upon who will do
what, and we allocate one person
as the owner of each dish, with the
others supporting as needed. And
then, well, we execute!
Even when we have to adapt
during execution, because we
forgot a utensil or because we don’t
have enough of one ingredient, it
is harmonious because we trust
each other and we accept (and
actually cherish) uncertainty. This
organic harmonious energy flow
leads to the best Christmas meals
we can dream of, and a point of
reference in our lives.
So Antoine, I am now offering you
a challenge: When are we going
to celebrate a Christmas meal
together?
Antoine: Next Christmas for
sure! But my three daughters will
tell you that I am a disaster in the
kitchen, beyond repair! So I'll take
care of the drinks.
Alain: I guess you also
have moments of wonder.
And, of course, moments of
discouragement too! Is there
one moment of wonder you still
cherish today and would like
to share? And one moment of
despair? How did you manage to
overcome it and move on?
Antoine: I waited many years
to realize what a wonderful thing
human encounter is. When we
go beyond the utilitarian angle—
what purpose will this person
serve me?—we achieve joy. Each
meeting is an opportunity for
learning together: What will this
person teach me? I really like the
sentence of Saint Benoit: “Go into
contact with those from whom you
expect nothing.”The uniqueness of
each person and each connection
amazes me.
Moments of discouragement?
Frequent of course. Before
AXA Climate, I held a very
senior position in AXA France,
April 2024 45
WORKPLACE
despite my young age. However,
I went through a period of deep
depression. I felt disconnected.
What saved me was a little inner
voice, which told me in difficult
times, “Real life is elsewhere.”
I knew I had to listen and drop
everything to start from scratch
with AXA Climate.
One thing about you has always
struck me—the diversity of your
profile. Since you were little, you
have always traveled and lived in
different countries. Would you
share with us what positive things
this has brought you?
We are truly one
Alain: If I had to extract the
quintessence of what I have
learned from that exposure to a
wide spectrum of cultures, family
history, and experiences, it would
be that we are truly one at the
core of our being. We all share
the same feelings—love, sorrow,
hopes, doubts, and so on. When
my mind wants to take me to the
shores of isolation and seclusion, I
firmly remind myself that we are
all one, and the feeling triggered
in my heart is a springboard to
restart afresh with a deeper level
of awareness of the undercurrent
unity with everyone.
It seems that more and more
young people experience and suffer
from eco-anxiety. What do you
recommend to them to deal with
the fear of environmental doom?
Antoine: I think that anxiety
comes from the gap between
an external situation and a
powerlessness to act. This is what
paralyzes many young people in
particular. My way of overcoming
this anxiety? Take action, whatever
the scale, no matter how small.
Regain the capacity for action, like
the hummingbird. All the activists,
entrepreneurs, and leaders I meet
who keep smiling have different
ways of saying the same thing: At
least I have done my part.
And do you feel anxiety on the
subject? You told me you practiced
an hour of meditation every
morning. You project a lot of
serenity.
Alain: I do believe it depends on
the speed at which we will be able
to arrive at a level of collective
consciousness where the tipping
point is reached. I am full of hope
by nature, and fully resonate with
what you share, i.e. focusing on my
own evolution of consciousness by
doing my part.
Self-regeneration
I guess if people in regenerative
ecosystems are not able or willing
to regenerate themselves, it is
pointless. How do you regenerate
yourself?
Antoine: Personally, through
reading. My little daughter asked
me a few days ago, “Dad, why
do you read so much?” I replied,
Heartfulness
46
WORKPLACE
April 2024 47
WORKPLACE
find it an infinitely renewable
source of energy!
I have meditative time in the
morning when I wake up, and in
the evening before going to sleep,
and sometimes for a few minutes
during the day when my heart
calls. It’s a buddy in the true sense
of the word, one of incomparable
loyalty and boundless generosity
that invites me to join whenever it
feels I need it.
I go to India because I have a
family home in Hyderabad, in
(happy as well as unhappy) I go
through in life, Proust finds the
right words.
And how do you regenerate? The
last time we saw each other, you
were going to India to recharge
your batteries.
Alain: I love the space of the
heart. It regenerates me because I
feel so connected to the heart of
humanity in that space. When I’m
fully connected I feel nothing but
hope, courage, beauty, gratitude,
compassion, and joy. And I also
“Opening a book means meeting a
friend, living or dead, and starting
a discussion with them. It is magic.
There are thousands waiting
for you at the library.” Marcel
Proust in particular accompanies
me. He has the reputation of
being a difficult author but the
story he tells is simple: That of a
small child who wakes up in an
unknown world, and asks himself
the essential questions: who am
I, how to be loved, what are the
hidden truths behind the things,
places, people around me, how to
create joy? In each strong moment
Heartfulness
48
a natural setting called Kanha
Shanti Vanam. It’s a physical space
that resonates deeply with the
space in my heart. Each time I go
there, it allows me to dive a little
deeper into the experience of our
interconnectedness.
What about you, Antoine? Do you
have a special place where you go
to recharge your batteries?
Antoine: Yes, Cantal, a
mountainous region in central
France. A deserted, mineral
landscape. I like to walk there,
bathe in the unique light.
Alain: The life force is so strong.
I really enjoyed the Netflix
documentary, A Life On Our
Planet, where David Attenborough
shows Pripyat, the city evacuated
in the aftermath of the 1986
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
disaster.
Between the time Attenborough
was a child in 1937 and today, the
world population has increased
from 2.3 to 7.8 billion people,
while the remaining wilderness
of the planet has decreased from
66% to 35%. Kids born today
will face catastrophic species loss
in the 2030s, coral reef and fish
populations dying in the 2050s,
and agricultural crises in the
2080s. With our planet becoming
4°C warmer in the 2100s, large
parts of the Earth will become
inhabitable, leading to millions
of climate refugees and the sixth
mass global extinction event.
The irony is that the biodiversity
of Pripyat has skyrocketed since
1986 in the absence of people.
Attenborough shows us how
nature has taken over the city and
it has become a sanctuary for wild
animals.
So, do you believe that it does not
really matter what we eventually
do, because nature will continue to
When I’m fully
connected I feel
nothing but hope,
courage, beauty,
gratitude,
compassion, and joy.
And I also find it an
infinitely renewable
source of energy!
April 2024 49
WORKPLACE
thrive anyway without us? Or do
you believe we have a role to play
in contributing to the evolution
of Life with all its diversity of
species?
Antoine: I deeply believe that
man has a role to play, because
he too is alive and connected to
everything around him. The big
question is for him to reveal his
role, to find his place. Certainly
not in exploitation, domination, or
extraction, as it has been too often
until now. I like the idea that man
is there to give thanks, to take care,
to develop life with his singular
qualities: consciousness, culture,
art... A regenerative enterprise is
not a company that fades away, but
rather a company that resolutely
places itself in its territory.
Alain: At the end of each
introductory interview during the
Butterfly training, you ask: “If you
were a plant, which one would it
be and why?” So which one would
it be for you?
Antoine: The olive tree. Each
olive tree has a very unique shape.
It is rooted, it bears fruit, and
has the mark of Mediterranean
culture, for which I have so much
attachment. And you, Alain?
Alain: Tough one! I would
probably say chili plants. In
addition to the long list of their
health benefits, they produce chili
peppers all year, and in nearly all
climates around the globe. On top
of that, I just love spicy food!
Silence, consciousness,
and regeneration
Antoine: How do you pass this
on to your children?
Alain: You would actually have
to ask them! I’ve never really
reflected on that so far... Mamma
mia, your question is really
baffling! What comes to mind
spontaneously is that it happens
very naturally, without intention,
when I make myself fully available
to them and they do the same
with me; in other words our full
presence, our full attention. From
experience, the simple fact of
being wholly together, without
restrictions or reservations, creates
the field for transmission.
I will go even a step further.
Silence has so much to pass on. At
the heart of silence lies vacuity and
we’re always trying to fill it. Yet
I find that it’s in vacuity that the
source of creation lies. So, it’s in
these privileged moments that the
most beautiful things are created,
they emerge and are passed on.
I don’t know if you’ve seen Coline
Serreau’s 1996 film, La Belle Verte.
At the end, there’s a concert of
silence. It’s like a silent orchestra
that we all enjoy together.
I’d like to ask you another
question, too. What is
consciousness and what link do
you make between consciousness
and regeneration?
Antoine: I think of this link as
spiritual. The way for humans to
participate in the regeneration
of creation, of what surrounds
them, is through the use of
consciousness. Of an expanded
consciousness, more and more
expanded. To be conscious is to
escape in a way, to connect to
something greater, to return to
oneself, differently, as if magnified,
as if sublimated. In a personal
way, the path of conscience
therefore takes the contours of the
path of faith, quite simply. The
religious experience is above all an
experience of consciousness.
Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL
The way for humans
to participate in the
regeneration of
creation, of what
surrounds them, is
through the use of
consciousness.
Heartfulness
50
WORKPLACE
April 2024 51
r
e
l
a
t
i
o
n
s
h
i
p
s
The point of life is happiness.
THE DALAI LAMA
UnderstandingtheKnots:
TheArtofConflictResolution
Heartfulness
54
DR. GORAKH PARULKAR shares his ideas and insights on conflict
resolution. He is a pathologist by profession, and director of
the Gurukrupa Diagnostic Services, Harda. Here he compares
psychological conflict with his work in pathology dealing with
disease, and draws some interesting parallels.
Y
ou might ask, “How is
pathology related to
conflict resolution?”
Well, “pathology” is the
combination of the words pathos
and logos, the study of suffering.
Isn’t that what conflict is all
about? It is the source of so
much suffering in our lives,
whether physical, mental, in
relationships, at home, or in
the office. First, we have to
understand what conflict is.
Is it a disagreement? Yes, it
is. When my colleague or
spouse has an opinion that
does not match mine, we are
in disagreement. And if my
insistence gets involved, then
this disagreement can escalate
to a conflict. But conflict is
not just a psychological thing.
In our bodies, there are many
systems working simultaneously.
As long as they are in harmony,
supporting each other, we are
healthy. But when they are
in conflict (when one system
becomes a problem for another),
we have a disease.
Disagreement to conflict
The same thing happens in
families and organizations.
We may disagree, and it may
develop into a conflict, but
is it a fight? Not yet. We
have various ways to resolve
it. Unfortunately, and not
uncommonly, we do fight. We
go from a disagreement of what
is right, to a conflict of who is
right, to the idea that I have
to prove myself right and the
other person wrong, and then
we fight.
And is it not painful? Is it not
the cause of so much suffering
in our lives?
Can we try to go beneath the
surface, to see if there’s any
way to stop the conflict from
escalating? Can we take it
another way, maybe agree to
disagree, or come up with a
solution that includes both
points of view?
Lord Buddha and the rope
Lord Buddha traveled with his
disciples from place to place,
and they had a routine. Every
morning he would sit with
them and share his insights.
One day, they saw Lord Buddha
coming toward them with a
rope in his hands.
He sat and asked his disciples,
“What’s this?”
They said “Lord, this is a rope.”
Then he tied a knot and again
asked them, “What is this
now?”
They answered, “Lord, this is a
rope with a knot in it.”
He tied another knot, then
another knot, then he asked, “Is
April 2024 55
RELATIONSHIPS
this the same rope I brought
with me initially?”
They were puzzled. “Yes, Lord.
It is the same rope but it has
three knots in it. It is not simple
anymore.”
So he said, “Suppose if I want
to get it back to simplicity and
plainness, how do I do that?”
The disciples replied, “Undo the
knots.”
Then Lord Buddha started
pulling the rope. The disciples
knew that he was trying to
teach them something.
When he didn’t stop, one of
the disciples said, “Lord, if you
pull the rope, the knots will not
open, they will only get tighter.”
With a smile, Lord Buddha
asked, “Then tell me, how do I
open these knots?”
The disciple said, “Lord, you
need to release the tension, and
then closely observe the knots
to understand how they were
tied in the first place. Then you
will know how to open them.”
In Heartfulness meditation, we
just do that. We relax our minds
and go within to see where the
knots are. We try to understand
the complexities and
complications that have formed
in our minds in the past, and
once we understand how the
knots are made we can unravel
them, solving our conflicts.
What happens if we don’t know
how to do that? We make an
effort. No one really likes to be
in conflict. We all want to be at
peace. We all want harmonious
relationships. And we try our
best. Sometimes, when those
efforts don’t lead to much, then
we start wondering, “Where
is it that I’m going wrong?
Are my efforts pulling the
rope tighter?” Letting go and
relaxing give us that quantum
of time to go beyond the rush
of emotions that sometimes
happens in conflict.
Heartfulness
56
If I know what things are really important in life, then I won’t want to
compromise them. When I do compromise them for the sake of something
else, am I not short changing myself? All we have to do is align our efforts to
what is important. Isn’t that what conflict resolution is all about?
Not important Important Very important
Health
Trust in your
relationships
Harmony in your
family
Health of your loved
ones
Being at peace
Proving yourself
right
Getting the other
person to agree that
you are right
Laughing together
Playing together
Eating together
Reflect on your preferences
April 2024 57
RELATIONSHIPS
He that plants trees loves others
besides himself.
THOMAS FULLER
environment
A Walk
in the
WOODS
CHRISTINE PRISLAND explores the special atmosphere
of peace and healing in her local coastal rainforest in
British Columbia, Canada, that heals visitors while it is
also regenerating itself.
Imagine taking a walk in the forest right now. You feel the earth and leaves under your feet,
the snap of twigs. You listen to the birdsong and look up through the breaks in the canopy to
the sky above, noticing how the light filters through to a point just further along the path.
You breathe in, deeply. You smell the distinct forest aromas: Moss, Sap, Earth and Wood. You
take it all in.
—Yoshifumi Miyazaki
As I start my walk, I am struck
immediately by the peace
and stillness of entering a
different world. A tangled bush
immediately catches my attention,
moss covering the branches like a
blanket, with a few wizened fruits
peeking through.
On the other side of the path, I
look down on a small still pond. It
looks primeval, like a place where
the Jedi Master Yoda would feel at
home.
Walking onward, I notice the
abundance of moss and lichen.
They radiate a deep green and
white light, and grow in profusion
on branches, tree trunks, rocks,
and bare wood. Some resembling
creatures in a primeval forest.
M
y favorite walk is in
the coastal rainforest
near Victoria, British
Columbia. Normally I go there in
the warmer months, but this year
I visited in February. It is a chilly
month of mud, sometimes snow,
often rain, messy, and bathed in
a filtered light that outlines the
surroundings that are hidden
during the more bountiful months
of the year.
April 2024 61
ENVIRONMENT
Crossing the wooden bridge,
I see deep into the forest—
the cliffs, rocks, and ferns
that often are hidden in the
summer months. It is like
seeing the “bones” of the land.
Immediately I feel the magic
of the place seep into my
bones, into my very being. And
I feel transported to another
level of awareness, of acute
observation and connection.
This awareness is enhanced
by the rushing sounds of
the creek joyously tumbling
down the hillside on its
way to the sheltered ocean
waters of the inlet.
Heartfulness
62
ENVIRONMENT
This special place, part of a larger provincial park, is and has been many
things. A place where for centuries, the indigenous peoples lived in
harmony with their surroundings. It provided food, building materials,
clothing, fresh water, the bounty of the sea, and a place for spiritual
practices.
In the early 1900s, a cement company established a limestone quarry,
creating a factory, houses, a railway, and clay mill, with a dock for
steamships. After a few short years, the limestone was exhausted, and the
town abandoned. The evidence of building foundations, such as the old
clay mill, are scattered about down the hillside and onto the shores of the
inlet itself.
The foundations are also covered with moss as the forest is rapidly
reclaiming its existence with the help of the nearby indigenous peoples,
the W
̱ SÁNEĆ [Saanich], who are stewards of this magical and mystical
land. They are planting native trees and removing invasive species. It
is happening in a very organic way, slowly but surely helping nature to
return to this place of healing.
Walking down the hill through the forest to the tranquil inlet, I arrive at
an open grassy area with benches. It is an ideal place for contemplation,
graced by the most unique tree I have ever seen on the coast, locally
known as the Snoopy tree.
I feel the magic of the place seep into
my bones, into my very being. And I feel
transported to another level of
awareness, of acute observation and
connection.
April 2024 63
ENVIRONMENT
Further on, I meet an indigenous
teacher from the local high
school on a field trip with his
students. We stop for a chat, as
often happens with people who
come here. He tells me that the
name of this place is SṈIDȻEȽ
[pronounced sngeet kwith], the
place of the blue grouse. Before
the cement company came, there
were hundreds of blue grouse
nesting in the forest across the
inlet.
The industrial noises of blasting
the limestone, the ships, and the
factories killed the grouse. He said
they have never come back in the
hundred years since, because their
collective memory thinks it is a
bad place.
Walking on, I feel a little sad, but
also a sense of comfort that this
place is being returned to nature
with help. It is becoming what it
ought to be, allowing nature to
reclaim its space.
Heartfulness
64
ENVIRONMENT
As a part of the reclamation of the land, I marvel at the
quirkiness of the birdhouses installed by a local group to
attract the purple martins, who were more abundant in
years past.
After a small beach, and just before the path ends, lies
further industrial evidence left behind a century ago.
Things too heavy and awkward to move, and too solid
to decompose.
Moving onward, I visit a very special tree alongside the
inlet—a huge western red cedar within a low cement
wall decorated with modern graffiti. As I meditate
under this majestic grandmother tree, I feel a sense of
timeliness, of deep peace and healing.
Retaining this peace, I slowly make my way back to the
car, renewed within, and with hope in my heart.
I hope you, too, will find a forest or a place in the
wilderness where you can regularly go for solace, for
peace, and to observe the changes that remind you of
our connection to this planet and its rhythms.
Reference:
Curry, G., 2015. Tod Inlet—A Healing Place, Rocky Mountain
Books.
Photos by Gary Langstaff and Christine Prisland
Walking on, I feel a little sad,
but also a sense of comfort
that this place is being
returned to nature with help.
It is becoming what it ought
to be, allowing nature to
reclaim its space.
April 2024 65
ENVIRONMENT
creativity
Art is a wound turned into light.
GEORGES BRAQUE
Inner
Peace
Museum
Heartfulness
68 Heartfulness
VICTOR KANNAN recently visited the Inner Peace Museum at
Kanha Shanti Vanam, and invites us inside its doors to feel the
calmness that inner peace brings.
M
ost peace museums around the world are dedicated to wars.
Indeed, they are peace museums because they remind us of
what passed, and that which should never come to pass again.
However, in Kanha Shanti Vanam, on the outskirts of Hyderabad in
India, there is a museum that is dedicated to a different kind of peace:
peace of mind, peace of heart, and peace of soul. It is first of all a humble
tribute to the great souls of humanity who tread the path of unity and
love, the path of spirituality, and of the Almighty. And it is also more
than that. The Inner Peace Museum is unique in that it is an experiential
museum. It proffers to the visitor an opportunity to soak in its lush,
verdant surroundings, meditate in its atmosphere effused with subtle
Divinity, be inspired by its art and installations, and feel inner peace.
April 2024 69
CREATIVITY
World peace is achievable once
individual peace is at hand.
And peace is already there. Our
philosophy makes us understand
that: peace is our fundamental
nature. A meditative practice helps
us arrive at a meditative state
and constantly keeps fuelling peace
within as well as with people we
meet, wherever we go; we are in
some way contributing to peace
because of who we are.
The intensity of your inner peace
will be exposed the moment you drop
all ideas of pride, ego, desires, etc.
You will be unburdened so much that
you will be surprised with your own
nature which is full of peace.
—Daaji
70
CREATIVITY
The exhibits of the Inner Peace Museum reflect humanity’s quest for the
highest through the ages, and the inner journey inspired by the world’s
rich spiritual heritage, realized through meditation.
The artists who contribute their original work for the museum come from
around the world. Inspired by their stay and experiences in the pristine
environment of Kanha Shanti Vanam, they create in the museum studio.
These individual and collective works represent diverse faiths and schools
of thought from around the world, ranging from the ancient forms of
worship to modern scientific ideas, all united in the singular urge of all
life to evolve to the Highest.
CREATIVITY
72 Heartfulness
CREATIVITY
The Inner Peace Museum inspires us to focus on
true peace, the inner peace in our hearts, which if
established will automatically lead to external peace.
It also brings to light the universal concept of Unity,
the fact that we are all united by that singular urge
to evolve to the highest as human beings, whether
through religious thought, science, philosophy,
literature, art, music, spirituality, or simply by virtue of
being human.
For more information, please contact us at
ipm@heartfulness.org.
The Inner Peace
Museum inspires us to
focus on true peace,
the inner peace in our
hearts, which if
established will
automatically lead to
external peace.
73
April 2024
CREATIVITY
3 Activities
toCalmtheMind
(Even If You Aren’t an Artist)
JEMINA WATSTEIN has taught art all over the world, including
Thailand, Germany, and the United States. She encourages all
her students, and now us, to lean into our innate creativity,
sharing three simple activities that will help us connect with our
inner artist and feel more connected to ourselves.
All too often I hear people say,
“I can’t even draw a stick figure,”
and my heart hurts a little
because yes you can! And when
you do, you probably smile and
laugh a little at what you drew.
That is the power of art-making:
you feel good even if you aren’t
an artist, although I would
argue we are all artists in some
capacity. If you give yourself the
grace of taking a break from
the daily grind, even for five
minutes, to dabble with some
art-making, you will feel good
inside.
Start the
journey
Pick up a pen and paper. Keep
it simple. Start with a spiral.
Around and around you go. Take
a mindful breath while you do it.
Not so bad, right?
Now make another spiral. Try
overlapping them or use a
different colored pen. You don’t
like it? Throw it away and try
drawing circles tomorrow. Be
persistent. Set a timer. Five
minutes every day and you will
feel the positive benefits.
I know what you are thinking:
“This author is crazy. I’m not an
artist.” Sorry, my friend, you are
sadly mistaken. You are an artist
and it is time to embrace your
growth mindset and give it a try.
Be curious!
Here are three simple creative
activities you can try at home:
75
CREATIVITY
Embrace
those
mistakes
Get yourself a sketchbook and
a favorite pen. Perhaps you
will have to buy a few pens to
find out which is your favorite.
Embrace your mistakes and
learn from them. After a few
days of spirals and shapes, you
will be ready to kick it up a
notch. It’s time to bust out of
your comfort zone.
Draw what you see. Where’s a
great place to start? The cup you
are sipping from as you read this
article. Is it terrible? Turn the
page and try again tomorrow.
You will improve with practice
and having all your sketches in
one place will prove this to you
over time.
76 Heartfulness
Heartfulness
CREATIVITY
10
for 10
Along with drawing from
observation, there are many
prompts to kick up the
creativity and have fun. One is
10 for 10—10 drawings for 10
seconds—each using the same
object or random shapes. How
does each drawing change?
Which one do you like the
best?
There are numerous drawing
prompts on the internet.
Channel your feelings,
experiences, and dreams for
inspiration. Ready to tackle
your self-awareness?
Draw something that makes
you smile whenever you think
about it. Self-management?
Draw a worry dragon that holds
your concerns. Want to be
silly? Draw yourself with your
superpower.
Drawing is meditative and great
for the brain; you will also feel
good inside. So many other
media will too. My current
favorite is weaving. I recently
taught a fiber arts class and
all the students commented
how much they enjoyed the
relaxing qualities of weaving.
It is fun, and the fibers feel so
soft in your hands. Weaving
fosters mindfulness; through
the repetition—over under,
over under—you will feel calm
and focused. It is easy to fix
mistakes, or perhaps you will
embrace them and consider
them happy accidents.
Making art is good for the
soul. It gives us the opportunity
to understand ourselves, our
thoughts, and our actions.
77
CREATIVITY
The king who tamed
wild horses
Once upon a time, there
lived a king who was fond
of chasing wild horses and
taming them. His fellow
soldiers enjoyed joining him
in this activity. It was fast,
strategic, and fun. Some of
the soldiers, along with the
king himself, enjoyed training
the horses after their capture.
People from far and wide
joined the king’s services to
watch this exciting event
twice a year.
But lately the king had started
feeling lethargic, and the chase
was no longer exciting. He
would finish the chase just as
it began and took no interest
in running behind fast horses.
One time, the king’s nephew
was riding close to him when
the king ordered them to
stop. The nephew asked him
why and the king took it as a
personal offense, questioning
his orders. He considered it a
snide comment on his health
and body.
As the king was having lunch,
his nephew Sudassana walked
in and reminded him that the
great teacher, Gautama Buddha,
would be delivering a lecture in
his kingdom. The king wanted
to listen to the teachings of
the Buddha, so he finished his
lunch and left for the grove
with Sudassana. As the Buddha
preached on, the king kept
pinching himself to stay awake
after all he had eaten.
As the crowd cleared after the
lecture, the king approached
the Buddha, who asked after
the king’s well-being. The
king complained of his ill
health, his inability to do fast
A Tale of Moderation
SARA BUBBER shares a Buddhist story on moderation, in honor
of World Health Day on April 7. She also offers some easy tips
we can start applying to live a healthier and happier life.
Heartfulness
78
more food. As time went by,
the king stopped overeating
and Sudassana did not need to
recite the verse.
The king began to enjoy his
horse chases again, to remember
all the things he had to do, and
to discharge his duties well.
He even stopped getting angry
at small things and stopped
misinterpreting people’s
comments.
A few months later, Gautama
Buddha was in his kingdom
once again and the king went to
listen to his sermon. Afterward,
he met the Buddha, who asked
after his well-being, and the
king thanked him for helping
him to be a healthy man.
Gautama Buddha was very
happy, and explained to the
king that health is the greatest
acquisition, and contentment is
the best happiness one can ask
for. The key is to be moderate
in all that one does.
Based on a Buddhist story:
https://www.ancient-buddhist-
texts.net/English-Texts/Buddhist-
Legends/15-06.htm
activities, and his persistent
lethargy throughout the day,
more so after meals. Buddha
admonished him, saying that
if one overeats like a hog, he
will never be free from the
birth cycle on this Earth, and
proceeded to give him a verse
to recite whenever he asks for
more servings.
The king expressed his
helplessness to learn new
things due to his poor memory.
Gautama Buddha offered to
give the verse to his nephew,
Sudassana. Every time the
king ate a meal and started
to overeat, Sudassana would
recite the verse given by the
teacher, and the king would
restrain himself from taking
April 2024 79
CHILDREN
Tips to maintain your health
On April 7, we celebrate World Health Day, because the World Health Organization (WHO) had its
first meeting on that day in 1948. WHO spreads the message of good health as “a state of complete
physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
How can we maintain good health?
Health is the greatest wealth we have. We are able to do so many things because our bodies and minds
run smoothly. How can we make sure they continue to run like this for as long as possible?
Here are some tips for your daily routine:
1. Eat well: Food is the fuel for our body. Give your system a light,
simple, and balanced diet to keep it effective. Of course you can
eat out, but the number of times you eat simple meals should be
much more than eating junk food.
2. Sleep well: Your body needs lots of rest. It repairs itself
as we sleep. Therefore, giving yourself that eight hours of
sleep becomes necessary to stay alert and healthy.
3. Keep your mind engaged: Keep yourself busy with activities you
enjoy: learning new things, playing new games, and engaging
in hobbies keep the neurons firing in your brain and keep your
mind active.
4. Stress-free and time-out practices: Include some
practices to manage the stress you gather during the day.
Journaling, playing music, meditating, and reading for fun
are activities that reduce stress. Even simple quiet time
can help you recharge and re-enter the world with a fresh
outlook.
80 Heartfulness
5. Exercise: Your body is designed for movement, so put on those
running shoes and go for a run, play that much-needed game of
basketball, or jump into the swimming pool in summer. Even
playing tag and catch are good games to keep your body fit and
healthy.
Activity: What is your healthy word?
Find all ten words related to health and well-being in the following crossword:
H B A A M R E E B H
S H A P P I N E S S
M E E O O K E L M I
O S S L T O R M E M
D A B O T S G B S P
E W A V L H Y Z I L
R M O E F B B A C E
A A E B X G D F R D
T P B A L A N C E U
I S B J M Z B U X U
O V C Z H E D I E T
N S T A M I N A M A
Answer can be found at the bottom of the article on the website at:
https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/en/a-tale-of-moderation.
April 2024 81
Master the habit of meditation
The Heartfulness app offers daily
practices to awaken the potential
for a joyful existence. Download
it at
heartfulnessapp.org
Heartfulness Yoga
Teacher Training Course
Learn to teach the eight limbs of
yoga. Merge the traditional art of
yoga with a modern professional
approach.
heartfulness.org/yoga/
Publications by Daaji
#1 BESTSELLERS
How meditative practices lead to
changes in lifestyle, both personal
and in relationships, which lead
to greater freedom in designing
our destiny.
designingdestiny.com
theheartfulnessway.com
the wisdombridge.com
Meditation Masterclass
In these 3 online masterclasses,
you will learn the practical
benefits of meditation and other
yogic practices. Masterclasses are
available online each day after you
sign up and accessible throughout
the day.
heartfulness.org/masterclass
Spiritual Anatomy
by Daaji
From the bestselling author of The
Heartfulness Way and Designing Destiny
A must-read for seekers, meditators,
and anyone who wants to cultivate
joy in their life..
spiritualanatomy.com
Find Your Community
Find a trainer or meditation
center near you!
heartfulness.org/en/
connect-with-us/
Heartfulness
82
Learning,
The Heartfulness Way
Explore simple Heartfulness
practices through our
self-paced courses for
beginners and advanced
learners alike.
learning.heartfulness.org
HFNLife strives to bring products
to make your life simple and
convenient.We offer a set of
curated partners in apparel,
accessories, eye-care, home
staples, organic foods and more.
The affiliation of our partner
organizations with Heartfulness
Institute helps in financially
sustaining the programs which we
conduct in various places across
the world. hfnlife.com
HFNLife
Heartfulness Magazine - April 2024 (Volume 9, Issue 4)

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Heartfulness Magazine - April 2024 (Volume 9, Issue 4)

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  • 2.
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  • 4. Order copies online: single, 12-month subscription and 24-month subscription: subscriptions@ heartfulnessmagazine.com Printed copies are also available at selected stores, airports and newsstands, and at Heartfulness centers and ashrams. SUBSCRIBE TO Heartfulness Magazine Available in print and digital versions heartfulnessmagazine.com/subscribe CREATIVE TEAM Editorial Team — Elizabeth Denley, Mamata Subramanyam, Vanessa Patel, Kashish Kalwani, Christine Prisland, Sara Bubber, Pankhi Chauhan Design, Art Photography — Uma Maheswari G, Lakshmi Gaddam, Anagha Kulkarni, Jasmee Mudgal, Ananya Patel, Arati Shedde Writers — Sara Bubber, Daaji, Antoine Denoix, Alain Desvigne, Victor Kannan, Jason Nutting, Gorakh Parulkar, Christine Prisland, Jemina Watstein Interviewees — Maria Daniel Brás, Patricia Scotland Support Team — Balaji Iyer, Subash Kannan, Karthik Natarajan, Ashraful Nobi, Jayakumar Parthasarathy, Nabhish Tyagi, Shankar Vasudevan ISSN 2455-7684 CONTRIBUTIONS contributions@heartfulnessmagazine.com ADVERTISING advertising@heartfulnessmagazine.com SUBSCRIPTIONS subscriptions@heartfulnessmagazine.com www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/subscriptions EDITOR — Neeraj Kumar PRINTED BY — Sunil Kumar RK PRINT HOUSE, H.No.11-6-759, 3rd Floor, Anand Complex, Lakdikapul, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500004, India. PUBLISHER — Sunil Kumar representing Heartfulness Education Trust 13-110, Kanha Shanti Vanam, Kanha Village, Nandigama Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana, 509325, India. Copyright © 2024 Heartfulness Education Trust. All rights reserved. Heartfulness
  • 5. Dear readers, One definition of “regeneration” is renewal or revival. While this can be applied to many aspects of our lives and our world, it is arguably most vital right now for our planet. The effects of climate change have gone so far that reversal is impossible. Instead, we have entered a critical season of regeneration, during which all of us must come together to re-energize Mother Earth and her occupants with nourishment, compassion, and healing for the future. In this edition, Daaji speaks of trees and Nature, Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General, speaks to school students about how to give back, Maria Daniel Brás dives into Deep U, and Alain Desvigne and Antoine Denoix inspire each other with ideas for regenerative businesses. Victor Kannan celebrates the Inner Peace Museum at Kanha Shanti Vanam, and Gorakh Parulkar writes on conflict resolution. Christine Prisland takes us for a walk in the woods, Jason Nutting highlights the benefits of eating slowly, Jemina Watstein shares 3 art activities we can do to calm our minds, and Sara Bubber tells our children a Buddhist story on moderation and sets them a few challenges. How are you contributing to regeneration? Email us at contributions@heartfulness.org to share your ideas. Happy reading, The editors Regeneration April 2024
  • 7. inside self-care The Healing Power of Trees Daaji 12 Deep U Interview with Maria Daniel Brás 16 The Benefits of Eating Slowly Jason Nutting 23 inspiration Sat, Rajas, and Tamas Daaji 28 How Can We Give Back? Interview with The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland, KC, Commonwealth Secretary-General 30 creativity Inner Peace Museum Victor Kannan 68 3 Activities to Calm the Mind Jemina Watstein 74 children A Tale of Moderation Sara Bubber 78 workplace Regeneration Business Antoine Denoix and Alain Desvigne in conversation 38 relationships Understanding the Knots Gorakh Parulkar 54 environment A Walk in the Woods Christine Prisland 60 April 2024 7
  • 8. DAAJI Daaji is the Heartfulness Guide. He is an innovator and researcher, equally at home in the fields of spirituality, science, and the evolution of consciousness. He has taken our understanding of human potential to a new level. MARIA DANIEL BRÁS Maria is part of the Presencing Institute and U-school for transformation, which focuses on societal systems innovation. She is a co-host for Deep U retreats, an inner transformation accelerator, and a Heartfulness trainer. Maria is initiating a regenerative project in Portugal for global well-being. VANESSA PATEL Vanessa is a Heartfulness practitioner, a Heartful Communication facilitator, and an editor of Heartfulness Magazine. She lives in Baroda, India, where she has worked with schools and educators to bring dynamic English language programs to children of all ages. ANTOINE DENOIX Antoine Denoix is the CEO of AXA Climate, an entity within the AXA Group established five years ago to address climate and environmental adaptation challenges. Antoine is also an accomplished author, with three books published by Dunod. ALAIN DESVIGNE Alain is co-founder and CEO of Amarenco, a leading European regenerative company. Previously, he led Solon France, was a General Manager of Samsung Green Energy, and worked as a Business Unit Director of Engie Water. He has an MBA from INSEAD, a Master’s in Environmental Sciences from ENGEES, and is President of Heartfulness Institute France. PATRICIA SCOTLAND As the first woman to be appointed Rt. Hon. Secretary- General of the Commonwealth, Patricia’s career has been marked by a number of firsts. She is mobilizing the 56 nations of the Commonwealth to tackle climate change, and, through women’s enterprises, to build the resilience of more vulnerable countries. Heartfulness 8
  • 9. contributors VICTOR KANNAN Victor is an avid practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness. As a career CFO, he combines the benefits of meditation in the everyday management of his duties and responsibilities. He lives with his wife in Atlanta. JEMINA WATSTEIN Jemina has been an international art educator for 17 years and is currently working on a Ph.D. dissertation in International Educational Leadership. Jemina provides an inquiry-based experience for students so they can be their best selves and create unique works of art. CHRISTINE PRISLAND Christine began her spiritual journey at the age of 24 with an overland trip to India, where she met her spiritual guide in 1972. She has been a Heartfulness practitioner and trainer ever since. She has been an editor for 35 years, and also a university administrator at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. SARA BUBBER Sara is a storyteller, Montessori consultant, and a children’s book author. She is also a naturalist, doing her doctoral work in eco- consciousness in childhood. She has been practicing Heartfulness for eight years and is a certified trainer. JASON NUTTING Jason is an exercise and nutrition expert, who began in the US Air Force, evolving into a certified coach specializing in fat loss, performance, and nutrition. Co-founder of ONE GYM in Greenville, SC, and creator of the Living Lean Blueprint, his work emphasizing personalized fitness solutions. DR. GORAKH PARULKAR Gorakh is a pathologist, director of a diagnostic service, and a Heartfulness practitioner and trainer. His interests include listening, storytelling, trekking, organic farming, and just being. April 2024 9
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  • 11. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? MARY OLIVER self-care
  • 12. The Healing Power of Trees D ear friends, In the early 20th century, the great sage, Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh (Lalaji), visited a village in the tribal area of Rawati in present-day Madhya Pradesh, India. He was greatly taken by the place, which reminded him of the ancient ashram of Kakabhushundi. Whoever entered that ashram experienced a sense of liberation. Lalaji liked the natural beauty and innocence of the village people. He wanted to stay there, and realize his dream of building an ashram like that of Kakabhushundi. He wrote, “Such places have a better capacity to absorb feelings and Transmission than people do, and can retain them for a longer period. As a result, whoever goes there cannot but be influenced. This is the YES, YOU CAN DO IT! DAAJI shares his experience of the healing power of trees, and how a simple tree practice improved his health. He invites us all to try that same practice. Heartfulness 12
  • 13. Trees, on the other hand, retain spiritual charge as it is given, without creating disturbance. They are vibration banks that retain the divine charge of Transmission. So future generations also benefit from them holding spiritual charge. a very dynamic consciousness that gives us the potential to willfully evolve, but also of going in the opposite direction. By and large we do not know how to use what is given to us, and we tend to lose it. In addition, our constant activity of thoughts, emotions, and actions create thought pollution, changing the environment around us. Trees, on the other hand, retain spiritual charge as it is given, without creating disturbance. They are vibration banks that retain the divine charge of Transmission. So future generations also benefit from them holding spiritual charge. Trees do not go backwards in the field of evolution, but they also cannot evolve willfully. It is actually their lack of will that protects the charge once it is absorbed in them. reason why even today this place looks like Brindavan. Even if one looks at it from the traditional angle, one can do better sadhana here than in other places.” In 2007 I went looking for this village, now called Raoti. On reaching the railway station, I could see that there were hardly any trees for hundreds of hectares; they had been cut down. And as I reached the village, I noticed the stream had almost dried up. Yet on the banks were beautiful trees, including a huge banyan tree with a giant canopy. Perhaps Lalaji visited this very spot. I sat there and felt immensely benefited. Why are trees so special? First, they retain spiritual charge for a longer period than humans, because their consciousness is of a different quality. We have April 2024 13 SELF-CARE
  • 14. Trees are also conduits for the flow of energy from the earth upward and from the cosmos downward. Through this flow, they sustain all the lifeforms around them by distributing their charge, for example, through fungal networks in the soil, and in all the lifeforms that live on and among their branches and leaves. Have you ever observed the branches and leaves of a large tree dancing in the breeze? You can feel the joyous expansiveness in their movements. Whereas when a branch is being cut, the feeling is of a totally different nature—constrictive and defensive. During different seasons, also, the energy flow will vary. In winter, the energy and nutrients flow versa. There is a healthy exchange. Trees and humans generally have a good relationship. We have to look after them. A simple tree practice So here is the simple practice that healer taught me. I invite you to try it also. After asking a tree for permission to sit, with a prayer, you may sit on the ground with your back against the trunk of the tree. Make sure the width of the trunk is narrower than your back. Whatever illness or disturbance you have in your system, offer it to the tree, saying, “Please take this away. Also, take whatever you need from me, and give me the strength to survive and heal myself.” I wish you all the best of health and well-being, Daaji down into the roots to regroup and remain dormant for some time, so that in spring they can rise up and the tree flourishes with new buds, new leaves, flowers, and eventually fruits for the production of seeds. In extreme heat also, trees conserve their energy remarkably, and only produce the bare essentials. Everything is about maintenance at that time. We have a lot to learn from being with trees. In fact, once when I was very sick, I was told by a healer from Europe, “Why don’t you sit with a prayer to a tree, asking the tree, ‘Will you exchange?’” Our relationship with trees is complementary. What is not good for us, like carbon dioxide, they can use, and vice Heartfulness 14 SELF-CARE
  • 16. MARIA DANIEL BRÁS met up with VANESSA PATEL in February 2024 at Kanha Shanti Vanam, where Maria was co-conducting a 4-day immersive experience in Deep U, along with Vasco Gaspar and Stanislas Lajugie. They blended knowledge and tools from various heart-centered, awareness-based, and trauma-informed approaches, to enable connectedness and innate inner wisdom. Vanessa was a participant in the workshop, and invited Maria to share more about her experiences. DeepU Heartfulness 16
  • 17. Q: I’ve just completed the Deep U retreat with you, Vasco, and Stan, and I came to realize that you are fully trained in Theory U and have worked with Otto Scharmer. Can you explain a little more about what that is? I work at the Presencing Institute, which was co-founded by Otto Scharmer and the MIT Sloan School of Management teachers. He wrote the book, Leading from the Emerging Future, with Katrin Kaufer on how true change happens in the world. It doesn’t go directly from problem to solution; you need an inner journey to get there. That’s why it’s called Theory U. You stop to see what’s around you, and you stop downloading the old patterns so you are ready to see the new. Like artists who keep looking at a landscape for many hours, then stop, go within, and something emerges from that space. That’s how creativity works. Otto and Katrin interviewed many people, multi-level innovators from all sorts of professions, and they found that this is how the real process of transformation happens. We may say it’s new, but it’s actually replicating what we already know from the past. The Presencing Institute is focused on outer transformation, how to reinvent the systems that we have in society, like finance, education, governance, etc. It gives changemakers the tools for free under Creative Commons. It’s all about elevating consciousness. It’s connected with Heartfulness as well. Deep U, in particular, is a program that focuses on the inner journey, and on transforming, changing, and opening our inner system. Then, we are ready for outer transformation. Q: It helped to access the inner system, to what lies deep within, and that emerged through some of the exercises we did. It helped my spiritual process in that it gave me glimpses into parts of myself I hadn’t really thought about. That was a revelation for me. It definitely gives us more awareness into our unconscious patterns in our day-to-day lives, either because we are meant to be that way because of our nervous system, or because of what happens in our minds. Then we create the layers, the blockages that stop us from being able to connect with others and ourselves in a different way. Sometimes, we are very critical of ourselves. It’s really about being aware of those layers and being able to take decisions to remove them, for example, by doing practices like Heartfulness Cleaning and other techniques, and also by doing therapy. Without those layers, we can be better toward ourselves, toward others, and toward nature. Q: How many of these Deep U workshops have you done so far? April 2024 17 SELF-CARE
  • 18. This was the seventeenth one, and the first in Asia. Most have been in Europe, and one in the US. Q: Do you design such programs for corporates? That is a major part of Vasco’s work. Q: I hope you do many more. It’s a very interesting approach—a blend of spiritual techniques, and techniques based on psychology and self-exploration. What kind of feedback have you had so far? Have you seen shifts in people? The participants are the best people to answer! We have heard very beautiful things. One that stood out was someone who said, “It was the first time I was able to be myself.”That is strong. We are very grateful for that. Q: As you said, this program helps to remove barriers, and shows that it’s okay to be yourself and not apologize for it. We create a safe space together. We hope people feel safe enough for that opening, and through the tools and technologies we share, they find ideas on how to do that for themselves. Q: That was a big part of my own experience. Not only did I feel safe and very supported, it was almost a sacred space that enabled me to explore myself. Can you tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey? What brought you to where you are now? I don’t know exactly when it started. As a child I was at a Catholic school, because in Deep U is a program that focuses on the inner journey, and on transforming, changing, and opening our inner system. 18 SELF-CARE
  • 19. Portugal the main religion is Catholicism and we had sessions at school to learn about Jesus and God. I remember even at the age of five questioning the stories we were told. I had a kind of crisis at that age, thinking that God needed to be different, because why was there so much suffering? I remember the moment clearly. I was angry, because I was thinking about my grandmother, who was a victim of domestic violence. I thought, “Is this the God that they speak about?” And I decided I didn’t believe in religion. At the same time, several times a day, not only when I was in need, I was speaking to an entity that was bigger than myself, and hoping that being would listen. I was very fortunate to have an inner voice that somehow knew what to do. But I wasn’t super aware of it. That came much later and now I am aware of it. Heartfulness Meditation is a recent practice for me. My husband Vasco was meditating, but I had a very rational mind because of the lack of trust I felt about God. I took refuge in science, and everything that couldn’t be explained was hard for me to believe. When Vasco became a Heartfulness trainer, he offered to introduce me to the practice. He didn’t tell me anything about how it worked, but at the end of the first session I started to cry and said, “Thank you for cleaning me.” After the second session, I said, “I know where the light is.”These words came out of me, I don’t know how. Since then, I have been meditating. Q: What were your takeaways and insights about this particular Deep U retreat that we just did? There was more of a spiritual approach to it than you have done previously. Yes, that’s correct. In every program we introduce people to Heartfulness, that’s the main purpose. But here in Kanha, it’s obvious. Just being in this environment is transformational. We can take ourselves deeper, I was very fortunate to have an inner voice that somehow knew what to do. April 2024 19 SELF-CARE
  • 20. faster, potentially more than in other programs we have done. The transformation is always part of it, but here Heartfulness is so present, including through the volunteers who helped us create the experiences. Usually, a workshop is intimate, with around twenty participants; here, there were almost 100. It was an experiment to see if it would work. The ecosystem and the volunteer attitude that exist here are beautiful. They represent how we can live from a different place than we usually live in our society, especially in the West. Sometimes those concepts are forgotten, and seeing everyone so involved is beautiful. People realize how many hearts need to be open to do this work. Q: That is special, to acknowledge the people who were involved in the background, who were facilitating the daily flow of activities. And of course, the participants meditated together with others in the meditation hall and listened to Daaji speak. Spirituality is directly presented here, whereas in programs in the West, sometimes it is in the background, sustaining everything. We can’t always talk directly about spirituality, as some people might not be ready for it. This program has given glimpses of how to speak about it. Q: So that gives you the opportunity to offer more. Can you explain the concept you introduced in the workshop of giftivism, paying it forward? Is it that whatever you feel you received you are putting forward to somebody else who can benefit from it? That was actually an inspiration from the very first program. The first time I came to India, we stopped in Kanha for twenty-four hours. It was barren land at the time. We went to Ahmedabad for a retreat with Nipun Mehta called Gandhi 3.0, on “kindorism,” the opposite of terrorism. We didn’t know what to do with it. It was such a restructuring of our way Just being in this environment is transformational. We can take ourselves deeper, faster, potentially more than in other programs we have done. Heartfulness 20 SELF-CARE
  • 21. of being, our Western society, where you always give something in exchange, right? It was so beautiful, and changed us. We really wanted to implement it in our program. So Deep U became an incubator for the kindness factor. For example, we involve people who have done the program to stitch the little felt hearts every participant receives and gives to others. There are people gifting their time and their knowledge. We invite people to pay it forward. The program doesn’t have a fixed price; everyone is invited to give a donation or volunteer their time, or give whatever multiple form of capital they have. It’s not transactional. It’s important to keep the chain going, because if we keep kindness to ourselves, then what is the impact? While it’s important to be kind toward ourselves, we can expand and have an impact in the world. Kindness touches people, and they are transformed by it. That’s why Deep U is an incubator for kindness and for pay it forward. It’s all about service that gives rise to hope and doing it for the next person. I feel very grateful and blessed because these programs are embedded in a sense of service, and that’s a beautiful way to live. Q: That stood out. So did the fact that participation in each workshop exercise was a choice: “Let me invite you to take part if you feel you are ready.” That invitation was so important, especially for those who are hesitating. The approach was so soft. Sometimes we forget that people are not always ready to leave their safe space and dive into unfamiliar territory, yet they feel pressure to participate despite their reservations. It’s like our meditation. The subtle approach gets a better response than the harsh push, right? Everything is an invitation. If someone is not ready, it’s okay. Maybe later they will be. But they need to feel safe and that they are not missing the train. Q: You said you had an inner voice growing up. We’re so used to being told that the voice is outside. We don’t know to listen to this little voice until, in your case, as an adult you became conscious of it and started listening to it. I think it was because I was an only child and spent a lot of time alone. Also, my husband and I grew up together. He’s three months older, and he has a sister. They were always fighting, whereas I found peace being by myself. In those moments alone, I heard the voice inside more clearly. It wasn’t always loud; almost like a gut feeling. I sometimes use the expression of being the only sane person in the family, and that kept me in balance all these years. It made me seek the person within for guidance. While it’s important to be kind toward ourselves, we can expand and have an impact in the world. Kindness touches people, and they are transformed by it. April 2024 21 SELF-CARE
  • 22. Q: What’s next for you and the Deep U team? This retreat happened as an invitation from Daaji and the feedback has been good. We are receiving requests to do it again, here and in Europe. We are open to invitations to see where they lead us! Q: Thank you so much Maria, it’s been such a pleasure. Thank you Vanessa. It’s like our meditation. The subtle approach gets a better response than the harsh push, right? Everything is an invitation. Heartfulness 22 Heartfulness SELF-CARE
  • 23. Eating Slowly JASON NUTTING explores the benefits of mindful eating, and takes it to the next level by introducing a core principle of Heartfulness in order to bring about physical, mental, and spiritual well-being at mealtime. I n a world where the pace of life seems to accelerate with each passing day, the ancient wisdom of Indian sage Patanjali offers a beacon of light, guiding us toward the virtues of mindfulness and moderation. Patanjali, revered for his Yoga Sutras, emphasized the importance of harmony between the body, mind, and spirit—a concept that feels more relevant now than ever, especially in the context of eating and well-being. The foundation of mindful eating Mindful eating is not just a practice but a philosophy. When embraced, it can transform our relationship with food. It’s about engaging all our senses, recognizing our responses to food, without judgment, and acknowledging our emotions and physical cues. This approach stands in stark contrast to today’s fast and often mindless eating habits, which contribute to weight gain and also detach us from the joy and nourishment food is meant to provide. April 2024 23
  • 24. Patanjali’s teachings and modern research on the art of eating Patanjali taught the importance of Sthira (steadiness) and Sukha (ease) in our practices, which can be beautifully applied to the act of eating. Eating slowly and with intention encourages a steadiness of mind and body, allowing for a deeper appreciation of each meal, promoting better digestion, and satisfying us with smaller portions. Research echoes these teachings, showing that slower, more mindful eating can lead to weight loss and improved health. A study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that people who eat slowly tend to consume fewer calories, experience increased fullness and, ultimately, see a reduction in weight. Slow eating allows the body time to signal fullness, reducing the likelihood of overeating. advises us to eat in a state of inner connection, inviting us to tune in to our food and our bodies. It’s about creating a moment of calm in our otherwise hectic day, turning a simple meal into an opportunity for meditation and reflection. Mindfulness and Heartfulness: a harmonious blend Mindful eating is deeply connected with the principles of Heartfulness, which include conscious awareness and heart-centeredness. One of the key Heartfulness principles It’s about creating a moment of calm in our otherwise hectic day, turning a simple meal into an opportunity for meditation and reflection. Heartfulness 24 SELF-CARE
  • 25. Ways to eat slowly and mindfully 1. Begin with gratitude: Before eating, take a moment to express gratitude for your meal. This can help center your mind and prepare you for a mindful eating experience. Reflective questions to deepen your practice 1. What emotions or thoughts arise when I eat slowly and without distractions? How do they differ from when I eat quickly or mindlessly? 2. How does the practice of expressing gratitude before meals change my eating experience? 3. In what ways can I incorporate the principles of Heartfulness into my daily eating habits? By integrating these practices into a daily routine, we embark on a journey not just toward weight loss, but toward a deeper connection with our food, our bodies, and ultimately, our inner selves. This mindful approach to eating, inspired by the wisdom of Patanjali and the principles of Heartfulness, offers a path to a healthier, more harmonious life. 2. Use all your senses: Observe the colors, smell the aromas, and savor each bite. This not only enhances the experience but also slows down the pace of eating. 3. Chew thoroughly: Make a conscious effort to chew your food multiple times. This aids digestion and gives your body time to recognize when it’s full. 4. Put down your utensils: Between mouthfuls, put down your utensils. This simple act can help pace your eating and encourage mindfulness. 5. Eliminate distractions: Turn off the TV and put away your phone. Eating without distractions encourages you to focus on the meal and your body’s cues. 6. Check in with yourself: Pause periodically during the meal. This helps prevent overeating and promotes satisfaction with less food. Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM April 2024 25 SELF-CARE
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  • 27. What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? E.M. FORSTER inspiration
  • 28. Sat, Rajas, and Tamas Dear Daaji, What does it mean to live in tune with Nature? Dear Josh, We are encouraged to lead a life in tune with Nature. Being in tune with Nature means following the unwritten Divine Laws. Any act that is in tune with the Divine Laws can be called sattvic. Following and acting according to the man-made laws that give you happiness can be called rajasic. Following neither the Divine Laws nor the man-made laws, breaking all the rules for the sake of self-satisfaction, can be called tamasic. From which level are you resonating, and with what? Following the Divine Laws, listening to your conscience, automatically grants you peace and contentment. That experience or state is heavenly. Breaking all the laws makes you restless, though you may act otherwise and laugh like the demons in the Ramayana epic. That experience or state is not heavenly, and we call it hell. Joyfully abiding by the Divine Principles is a sign of complete acceptance and surrender to His will. The attitude of “Let Thy will be done, dear Lord” makes a lot of sense here. Active modern-day life allows little time to reflect, introspect, meditate, and implement what is good, even when we want to. But if we want to grow LETTERS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS Heartfulness 28
  • 29. spiritually, we must spiritualize our material life, as it is the only solution. We will have to retreat now and then to revive what matters most. We must at least be able to perceive if our actions will yield joy or sorrow. Most of us miss out at the very onset in realizing the consequences. That is why the Great Masters, in their mercy, have laid down certain principles for our benefit, saving us precious time. Can anyone write principles on whom to marry, for example, or which degree to go after? They would say marry the one you love and ensure the other person also loves you. Our mistake is in translating looks, behaviors, talk, status, etc., as love. This aberration changes our perception, blinds us, and eventually makes us pay a hefty price. We succumb to family pressure or community pressure. We commit to various prejudices and stubbornness. The planets in the sky are actually very kind in comparison. It is funny when we see people interpreting the statement, “You are what you eat,” by saying that if you consume chicken, you become chicken; if you drink cow’s milk, you may become a cow! That sort of tangential argument is counterproductive, even when well-intentioned. No logical mind will accept it. Instead, the proverb makes a lot of sense when we consider the nature of food from the perspective of the gunas . Here, the consumption of various foods is according to the subtler or grosser quality of the food plus how it is consumed. The same sattvic food can create a tamasic effect if the mind is not in tune with Nature, or the food was gathered by questionable means. Please refer to my talk on these three gunas while reading Chapter 1 of Truth Eternal. Stay safe. With regards, Kamlesh April 2024 29 INSPIRATION
  • 30. Her Excellency, PATRICIA SCOTLAND, KC, The Rt. Honorable Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, visited Kanha Shanti Vanam in January 2024. During her visit, she received the inaugural Heartfulness Changemaker Award for outstanding commitment to service through compassionate action in her work. Here, she speaks with students from The Heartfulness Learning Center on climate change, service, dreaming big, and making a difference. How Can We How Can We Give Back? Give Back?
  • 31. Q: Good evening your Excellency. It is our pleasure to talk with you. We’d be delighted if you would tell us about your life growing up, and what influenced you to pursue your career? First, I am thrilled to be with you. And the performance you gave was so wonderful I had tears in my eyes. As the Secretary-General, I am responsible for helping 56 countries—that’s 2.5 billion people—and 60% of them are under the age of 30. That’s 1.5 billion young people. All of you young people in the Commonwealth, I believe that you are all mine. So, I was extremely proud to hear from you. And I was touched by what you sang: a million dreams, a million dreams, looking at how the world could be, should be, and can be. All of you are going to make it as beautiful as you would like it to be. I was so thrilled that you’re dreaming. So dream big and don’t let anyone tell you that your dreams cannot come true. Because they can. You have to work hard. You have to love harder. And you have to pray and know that each of you has been given a talent by God. It’s your job to find that talent, hone it, and use it for the benefit of other people. And if what I saw on this stage is even a tiny drop of your talent, you are absolutely amazing. Let me tell you a bit about me, because that was your question. I was born on a small island in the Caribbean, the Commonwealth of Dominica. Dominica has about 72,000 people. I was born in the fishing village of St. Joseph. I have eleven brothers and sisters, and am the tenth of twelve children. My family moved to England when I was really small, and I grew up in the East End, the poorer end of London. At that stage, many people thought the likelihood of me succeeding in anything was small, because there was a pecking order. I was told it was white male, black male, then white female. And then at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom was black female. I had a fantastic family, full of love, care, and great determination. And they told me what I’m going to tell you: You can do anything if you choose. Don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s impossible. Everything looks impossible until it’s done. And you are going to do it. I said to my father, “But Daddy, nobody else has done this before.” To which he said, “Oh, good, that means you can be the first!” So if anyone tells you, “No one has done this before,” what are you going to reply? Q: I’ll be the first. Good. The other thing I learned was that it’s really important to support your friends, and for 31 April 2024 INSPIRATION
  • 32. your friends to support you. All of us need friendship and support. Never underestimate what a wonderful thing a smile can be. When you’re having a really bad day, you think things cannot get any worse, and a friend turns to you and smiles, it makes all the difference. Kindness is an incredible, important part of your survival. I’ve found that being kind to friends means that your friends tend to be kind to you. Q: That’s inspiring and heart-touching. Ma’am, we’re curious to know about your favorite subjects in school. My favorite subject was English. I loved English, I loved language, I loved literature, and I loved History; but I come from a family of scientists, and they wanted me to be a scientist. There’s almost every form of scientist in my family—chemical engineering, pharmacology, agronomy—you name it, they are doing it. They thought I should be a physicist, because we didn’t have one. I had no intention of being a physicist, and my seven brothers thought that maybe the brain had started to run out when it got to me, because I was only a lawyer. I also loved knowing about people. Whatever you choose, choose a subject you love, not You can do anything if you choose. Don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s impossible. Everything looks impossible until it’s done. 32 Heartfulness Heartfulness INSPIRATION
  • 33. a subject someone else loves. If you choose a subject you love, it will never be work, it will always be joy. How were my subjects related to my career? The most important thing about being a lawyer is understanding language, construct, the love of language. How to communicate, and how to create ideas have been really important. I love law because I can use it as a tool to deliver justice. I always was absorbed by things that were fair and unfair. I hated to see people being bullied, people not having their say, having their rights denigrated, not being cared for. And I always wanted to make a difference so that people would get their rights. Q: Could you please help us understand the Commonwealth? What are its goals, and how can the youth of India be more inclusive and more involved with the Commonwealth? India was pivotal in helping to create the new Commonwealth. Many of the countries had been members of the British Empire. In 1949, when a total of eight countries (including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) became independent, the question was: Were they going to stay within the family of the Commonwealth? India’s Prime Minister made the decision to stay. When they asked him why, he said it was because the Commonwealth brought a touch of healing; the Commonwealth family of nations shared so many things. We have the same language, we communicate in English, we have the same common law structure, the same parliamentary system, the same institutions. We fought together through two world wars. If you go to the Millennium Gates in London, you will see the names of those who sacrificed their lives. And you will see that India had the highest level of Distinguished Service Orders. In 1953, the Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth said that it was an entirely new concept, built on the fundamental and best elements of humanity, kindness, friendship, and respect. The Commonwealth could be a beacon for the rest of the world. Together, countries coming from five different regions—Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific—with different people, different languages, and with the same heart, looked at the values they shared. And they If you choose a subject you love, it will never be work, it will always be joy. 33 INSPIRATION
  • 34. realized that if humanity needs to survive, we need to work together. The Commonwealth was about democracy. It was about freedom. It was about human rights. It was about enhancing trade. Fifty years ago, the Commonwealth decided the most important thing was our children. We were the first organization to have a dedicated youth program. In 2022, when we met in Shogun, Kigali, the leaders reinforced that that fifty- year celebration of youth must continue, because the children of our Commonwealth are our future, the leaders of today, not just tomorrow. The Commonwealth has been responsible for some remarkable things. Many of you were not alive when South Africa was divided on the grounds of race under apartheid. Black people had few to no rights, and white people dominated. It was the Commonwealth that said, “You cannot have a system where one citizen doesn’t have the same rights as the other. Everyone in our Commonwealth has to be equal.”The Commonwealth challenged South Africa and said, “You have a choice. If you wish to stay in our family, you cannot have apartheid. And if you want to have apartheid, you cannot be in our family.” South Africa left, but the Commonwealth continued to fight hard to end that system. You talked about climate change. In 1989, in Langkawi, the Commonwealth came out with a Declaration saying that if we do not change, climate change would become an existential threat. We have continued to fight for climate justice ever since. We are pushing for a regenerative approach that will reverse the climate decline. You cannot have a system where one citizen doesn’t have the same rights as the other. Everyone in our Commonwealth has to be equal.” 34 INSPIRATION
  • 35. Looking at all the things you’re doing here in Kanha, I believe we can do this. You can join the Commonwealth Youth Network. We need your voice, your passion, your courage, your knowledge, and your innovation, because this Commonwealth is only going to remain wonderful if you make it so. It has to be how you want it to be. Nothing changes unless we change it. It starts with us. Q: I’m sure many of us here are inspired by your answer and want to take up a career in the field and express our opinions to make the world a better place. How can we as students contribute directly to the fields of sustainability and innovation? One of the most important ways is by sharing your ideas. We looked at those who are making the biggest difference in the world, in terms of discovery, innovation, and change. And most of them are below the age of thirty. If you look at the founders of some of the biggest unicorns, many of them started as micro, small, and medium- sized businesses, which were innovative, different, and challenging the norms. I would invite you to think about a problem you’re passionate about, and then ask yourself this question, “How can I help to solve it?” Remember that you won’t have to solve that problem on your own. But someone has to take the first step. You can do it in school. A group of you can take something, research it, understand it. Then you can ask yourself, “How do I make it better?” Everything you are doing at school can be part of the Commonwealth Year of Youth, because other young people will want to know what you’re doing. You’re learning things, you’re growing, you’re changing, and that knowledge needs to be shared with others. The Commonwealth is great at pooling the knowledge from all different areas. There’s a lot to do. Please join us. Never worry that what you’re doing is too small. It is never too small. We each have to start from wherever we are, and someone has to put the first foot forward. To be continued. We each have to start from wherever we are, and someone has to put the first foot forward. 35 April 2024
  • 36.
  • 37. Workplace Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance. EPICURUS Illustration by ANANYA PATEL
  • 38. Regenerative Business In January 2024 in Paris, two key figures in the environmental energy revolution in Europe met to explore regeneration together. They are ANTOINE DENOIX of AXA Climate and ALAIN DESVIGNE of Amarenco. Enjoy their synergy and discoveries! What is regeneration? Antoine: For me, regeneration is putting ourselves at the service of life. For a business, being regenerative involves thinking and operating as a living system, within planetary boundaries. And to have the intention of developing life, both human and non-human. Alain: For me, regeneration happens when all living beings are singing together. We talk a lot about ecosystem services, but that’s the tragedy of it all, because it’s an anthropocentric vision of nature. So I prefer to add the notion of “homosystem” services, i.e., the services that human beings can provide to the rest of Nature, in order to establish reciprocity. The difference between the two is that other beings naturally provide these services to human beings, whereas human beings have a choice of whether or not to contribute to life on our planet. A synonym Antoine: life Alain: consciousness A drawing Antoine: interconnected ecosystems Alain: From the periphery to the center and the center to the periphery. A painting Antoine: Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, for the landscape, and the footprints of the hunters, which mark the return home Alain: A mural called Farming in Harmony, created by Amber Art Design, which is located at the Rodale Institute Headquarters, Kutztown, PA, USA Heartfulness 38
  • 39. An inner state Antoine: joy Alain: vacuity A journey Antoine: a book Alain: inner A poem Antoine: Calendrier pour le nouvelle foi [Calender for the New Faith] by René Char Alain: The Soil Never Sleeps by Adam Horovitz A specific location Antoine: Le Plomb du Cantal, Auvergne, France Alain: our very tiny planet (Earth’s diameter is about 1.346 trillionths of a light-year while the observable universe is estimated to be about 93 billion light-years in diameter) A picture Antoine: Le Plomb du Cantal, Auvergne, France Alain: Chernobyl 2023 An orientation to thought Antoine: metaphysical Alain:integrative A color Antoine: the blue of the sky, always within sight, looking up Alain: brown because it reminds me of the soil A piece of music Antoine: Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, played by Glenn Gould Alain: silence An attitude Antoine: humor Alain: listening with generosity A moment in the history of our planet Antoine: 1906, when Marcel Proust took up his pen to write his masterpiece, The Search for Lost Time Alain: 2024 A moment in your life Antoine: my daughter’s birth Alain: now A relationship Antoine: friendship Alain: multi-dimensional A country Antoine: France Alain: India A person Antoine: my father Alain: my mother A company Antoine: human journey Alain: every company in the future April 2024 39 WORKPLACE
  • 41. A Meeting of Hearts and Minds Alain: I remember the synchronicity of our first connection. Within the same week, my general manager in Asia met your general manager in Singapore. Other members of our teams met at HECTAR, the agricultural campus spanning over 600 hectares at the gates of Paris that brings together agriculture, entrepreneurship, and technology into a unique ecosystem. I stumbled upon one of your LinkedIn posts, which echoed a lot of my own reflections. I remember my stream of thoughts when I saw your title, Chief Ecosystem Officer, and wondered, “What is the actual role of that guy at AXA Climate?” I initially thought you were part of the C-level executive team, not the actual CEO. Antoine: During our first call, I quickly felt a strong connection between us. From the first seconds, confidence was there. We went straight to the essence: our deep source of motivation, namely serving life, human and non- human, through our companies. Our collaboration since has kept this aspect. Alain: You explained the mission of AXA Climate: making regenerative business universal. But I don’t recall you sharing why you created a business with such a mission. What was the trigger, the context, the beginning of your journey? Was it the result of a long study and introspection or sudden lightning? Antoine: It is the fruit of a journey lasting more than five years. When I launched AXA Climate with five employees in 2019, we started as an insurer, without expertise on climate and environmental issues. At the time, my mission was to reduce suffering in the world of work. We gradually drew on the thread of science: climate, planetary boundaries, volume-based economic models. We understood that reducing negative impact was not enough. The planet was in such a state that it was necessary to deconstruct and rebuild the very idea of businesses; to no longer think of them and build them as extractive machines, but as living ecosystems serving life, as regenerative businesses. After five years, AXA Climate has nearly 200 employees working to make this regenerative path possible, through training, insurance, finance, and general advice. And you, Alain, taking your business on the path of regeneration has not been ordinary either! When you first spoke to me about it, giving yourself this vision was a bet. Only a few at Amarenco were aware of the concept. Would you tell me what route you took? Alain: Yes, and it often feels like we are still at the beginning of this journey into the unknown! I had an epiphany a few years ago when I watched Kiss the Ground, an inspiring groundbreaking documentary that reveals soil as the iceberg hummock, because there lies a real solution to our global environmental crisis. I started to study more about life in the soil, and the consequences of the absence of life in the soil. I was blown away by the fact that humanity stomps the ground without being aware of all the treasures it contains. I started to better understand what Antoine de Saint-Exupéry meant when he wrote, “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” in his book, The Little Prince. I came to realize that capitalism is either regenerative or degenerative. There is nothing in between. It’s either a force for good or a force of destruction. So, do corporate living organisms have a choice other than using this energy as a force for good? After my epiphany and the follow- on period of study, I started to look at how the company could contribute to the emergence of a regenerative economy at the heart of its activity. Together, with April 2024 41 WORKPLACE
  • 42. a unanimous board resolution to allocate capital to integrate ecosystem regeneration in each of our new projects, this is how the transformational journey started. As you know, I am a fan of your flagship initiative, The Butterfly School, an amazing journey you co-created with Lumia and La Joli Prod to support businesses to become regenerative. I have offered the training to all my 300 employees, and I love it because it energized me. It gave me hope that intentions behind companies’ trajectories can be genuine, and the role of corporate ecosystems can really evolve and contribute in a positive way to the evolution of nature with the right shift in consciousness. In the course of this training, you refer to 9 principles of living, somehow mirroring the nine planetary boundaries. If you had to pick one principle that you personally resonate with the most, which would it be and why? Nature is our inspiration Antoine: To get as many people on board as possible, we have a model of inspiration available: nature. What if a company is a living ecosystem, like a forest? It would operate according to very different principles (the 9 principles that you mention): decentralization, sub-optimality, singularity, limited growth, etc., which are all big words compared to the current doxa. My favorite is the most difficult to achieve—sub-optimality. We have lived for decades in the omnipresent cult of performance, meaning we are constantly seeking to optimize a limited number of quantifiable variables (GDP, yields, profit, etc.) in a mechanical way. This obsession has condemned us, gradually, to destroy other less quantifiable variables, often from living things. And this frantic race places us—society, businesses, and individuals—in a condition of extreme fragility and non-adaptability. For example, what happened when a simple carrier got in the way of the Suez Canal, blocking the flow of all our imported goods? Look at the depletion of our soils following the practice of intensive agriculture. Compare this with a company that favors resilience over performance. It will have an easier time adapting; this is the great inversion. For example, what happens when we prioritize stocks, diversity of suppliers, and resources of the local territory, close to consumers? Today, electronic products are constantly “reissued” in evermore efficient versions with more features. What if, instead, we choose to favor repairability, using modular parts that are available nearby? There is also the question of preserving health at work. Many employees are overworked, with consequences that lead to absenteeism and burnout. Here again, we can take inspiration from nature. Our body temperature, 37°C, is far from the optimum for enzymes, which is 40°C, but the differential allows our body to maintain a large margin of maneuver in the event of infection. We need to reintroduce inefficiency into systems! You also adhere to a different vision for your company. Amarenco is a reference in the market; and now that you have reached a significant size you are making an impact. How do you manage to bring these principles to life on a daily basis? Especially with different shareholders, it must not be easy! Alain: We are still far from living all the principles as a collective being on a daily basis. I am a follower of the Lao Zu philosophy: “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” so we started by choosing to develop and invest in projects that are regenerative in nature. We successfully found our singularity, which is to generate and supply regenerative electrons. This means deploying electricity that not only reduces the energy carbon footprint, but also creates a positive environmental and Heartfulness 42 WORKPLACE
  • 43. social impact wherever we deploy our infrastructures. We have developed a robust science-based methodology to measure and assess impact. We don’t claim to have all the solutions as we are pioneers. We nevertheless advance with conviction, passion, determination, and humility. We clearly don’t know everything, so we study, try, learn, and improve. Expressing our singularity (which is one of the nine core living principles from The Butterfly training) every day, and staying confident that our sincere intentions and hard work will yield the fruits we hope for, is making us “alive”! Working with challenges One principle I find challenging is decentralization. The industry in which we operate is capital- intensive, and the gravitational forces resulting from the need of financial shareholders to control their investment has the potential to interfere with decentralized governance where everyone feels the decision is the result of a symbiotic approach. I believe that the need to control any type of energy flow, including financial flow, is linked to a difficulty in accepting uncertainty and a lack of trust in others. When a small group of people are trying to exert high levels of control over a larger group of people, they do try to create a sense of security and predictability. And the bigger the April 2024 43 WORKPLACE
  • 45. energy quantum, the bigger the compulsion to control exists from such people. But please don’t get me wrong. I do believe in regular checkpoints, sharing analytics, risks, and challenges encountered, as well as getting inputs from the different stakeholders. I might sometimes appear too idealistic, but I dream of being able to operate in my company the way I cook with my wife and adult kids over Christmas. We start with a common intention: to contribute to this precious moment when our family members are together by giving the very best through a memorable meal. We carefully select the dishes, everyone comes with different suggestions, and we joyfully converge to a set of two menus, one for December 24 evening, and one for December 25 noon. Then a method, the recipes. After that, we gather the ingredients and utensils, we collectively agree upon who will do what, and we allocate one person as the owner of each dish, with the others supporting as needed. And then, well, we execute! Even when we have to adapt during execution, because we forgot a utensil or because we don’t have enough of one ingredient, it is harmonious because we trust each other and we accept (and actually cherish) uncertainty. This organic harmonious energy flow leads to the best Christmas meals we can dream of, and a point of reference in our lives. So Antoine, I am now offering you a challenge: When are we going to celebrate a Christmas meal together? Antoine: Next Christmas for sure! But my three daughters will tell you that I am a disaster in the kitchen, beyond repair! So I'll take care of the drinks. Alain: I guess you also have moments of wonder. And, of course, moments of discouragement too! Is there one moment of wonder you still cherish today and would like to share? And one moment of despair? How did you manage to overcome it and move on? Antoine: I waited many years to realize what a wonderful thing human encounter is. When we go beyond the utilitarian angle— what purpose will this person serve me?—we achieve joy. Each meeting is an opportunity for learning together: What will this person teach me? I really like the sentence of Saint Benoit: “Go into contact with those from whom you expect nothing.”The uniqueness of each person and each connection amazes me. Moments of discouragement? Frequent of course. Before AXA Climate, I held a very senior position in AXA France, April 2024 45 WORKPLACE
  • 46. despite my young age. However, I went through a period of deep depression. I felt disconnected. What saved me was a little inner voice, which told me in difficult times, “Real life is elsewhere.” I knew I had to listen and drop everything to start from scratch with AXA Climate. One thing about you has always struck me—the diversity of your profile. Since you were little, you have always traveled and lived in different countries. Would you share with us what positive things this has brought you? We are truly one Alain: If I had to extract the quintessence of what I have learned from that exposure to a wide spectrum of cultures, family history, and experiences, it would be that we are truly one at the core of our being. We all share the same feelings—love, sorrow, hopes, doubts, and so on. When my mind wants to take me to the shores of isolation and seclusion, I firmly remind myself that we are all one, and the feeling triggered in my heart is a springboard to restart afresh with a deeper level of awareness of the undercurrent unity with everyone. It seems that more and more young people experience and suffer from eco-anxiety. What do you recommend to them to deal with the fear of environmental doom? Antoine: I think that anxiety comes from the gap between an external situation and a powerlessness to act. This is what paralyzes many young people in particular. My way of overcoming this anxiety? Take action, whatever the scale, no matter how small. Regain the capacity for action, like the hummingbird. All the activists, entrepreneurs, and leaders I meet who keep smiling have different ways of saying the same thing: At least I have done my part. And do you feel anxiety on the subject? You told me you practiced an hour of meditation every morning. You project a lot of serenity. Alain: I do believe it depends on the speed at which we will be able to arrive at a level of collective consciousness where the tipping point is reached. I am full of hope by nature, and fully resonate with what you share, i.e. focusing on my own evolution of consciousness by doing my part. Self-regeneration I guess if people in regenerative ecosystems are not able or willing to regenerate themselves, it is pointless. How do you regenerate yourself? Antoine: Personally, through reading. My little daughter asked me a few days ago, “Dad, why do you read so much?” I replied, Heartfulness 46 WORKPLACE
  • 48. find it an infinitely renewable source of energy! I have meditative time in the morning when I wake up, and in the evening before going to sleep, and sometimes for a few minutes during the day when my heart calls. It’s a buddy in the true sense of the word, one of incomparable loyalty and boundless generosity that invites me to join whenever it feels I need it. I go to India because I have a family home in Hyderabad, in (happy as well as unhappy) I go through in life, Proust finds the right words. And how do you regenerate? The last time we saw each other, you were going to India to recharge your batteries. Alain: I love the space of the heart. It regenerates me because I feel so connected to the heart of humanity in that space. When I’m fully connected I feel nothing but hope, courage, beauty, gratitude, compassion, and joy. And I also “Opening a book means meeting a friend, living or dead, and starting a discussion with them. It is magic. There are thousands waiting for you at the library.” Marcel Proust in particular accompanies me. He has the reputation of being a difficult author but the story he tells is simple: That of a small child who wakes up in an unknown world, and asks himself the essential questions: who am I, how to be loved, what are the hidden truths behind the things, places, people around me, how to create joy? In each strong moment Heartfulness 48
  • 49. a natural setting called Kanha Shanti Vanam. It’s a physical space that resonates deeply with the space in my heart. Each time I go there, it allows me to dive a little deeper into the experience of our interconnectedness. What about you, Antoine? Do you have a special place where you go to recharge your batteries? Antoine: Yes, Cantal, a mountainous region in central France. A deserted, mineral landscape. I like to walk there, bathe in the unique light. Alain: The life force is so strong. I really enjoyed the Netflix documentary, A Life On Our Planet, where David Attenborough shows Pripyat, the city evacuated in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Between the time Attenborough was a child in 1937 and today, the world population has increased from 2.3 to 7.8 billion people, while the remaining wilderness of the planet has decreased from 66% to 35%. Kids born today will face catastrophic species loss in the 2030s, coral reef and fish populations dying in the 2050s, and agricultural crises in the 2080s. With our planet becoming 4°C warmer in the 2100s, large parts of the Earth will become inhabitable, leading to millions of climate refugees and the sixth mass global extinction event. The irony is that the biodiversity of Pripyat has skyrocketed since 1986 in the absence of people. Attenborough shows us how nature has taken over the city and it has become a sanctuary for wild animals. So, do you believe that it does not really matter what we eventually do, because nature will continue to When I’m fully connected I feel nothing but hope, courage, beauty, gratitude, compassion, and joy. And I also find it an infinitely renewable source of energy! April 2024 49 WORKPLACE
  • 50. thrive anyway without us? Or do you believe we have a role to play in contributing to the evolution of Life with all its diversity of species? Antoine: I deeply believe that man has a role to play, because he too is alive and connected to everything around him. The big question is for him to reveal his role, to find his place. Certainly not in exploitation, domination, or extraction, as it has been too often until now. I like the idea that man is there to give thanks, to take care, to develop life with his singular qualities: consciousness, culture, art... A regenerative enterprise is not a company that fades away, but rather a company that resolutely places itself in its territory. Alain: At the end of each introductory interview during the Butterfly training, you ask: “If you were a plant, which one would it be and why?” So which one would it be for you? Antoine: The olive tree. Each olive tree has a very unique shape. It is rooted, it bears fruit, and has the mark of Mediterranean culture, for which I have so much attachment. And you, Alain? Alain: Tough one! I would probably say chili plants. In addition to the long list of their health benefits, they produce chili peppers all year, and in nearly all climates around the globe. On top of that, I just love spicy food! Silence, consciousness, and regeneration Antoine: How do you pass this on to your children? Alain: You would actually have to ask them! I’ve never really reflected on that so far... Mamma mia, your question is really baffling! What comes to mind spontaneously is that it happens very naturally, without intention, when I make myself fully available to them and they do the same with me; in other words our full presence, our full attention. From experience, the simple fact of being wholly together, without restrictions or reservations, creates the field for transmission. I will go even a step further. Silence has so much to pass on. At the heart of silence lies vacuity and we’re always trying to fill it. Yet I find that it’s in vacuity that the source of creation lies. So, it’s in these privileged moments that the most beautiful things are created, they emerge and are passed on. I don’t know if you’ve seen Coline Serreau’s 1996 film, La Belle Verte. At the end, there’s a concert of silence. It’s like a silent orchestra that we all enjoy together. I’d like to ask you another question, too. What is consciousness and what link do you make between consciousness and regeneration? Antoine: I think of this link as spiritual. The way for humans to participate in the regeneration of creation, of what surrounds them, is through the use of consciousness. Of an expanded consciousness, more and more expanded. To be conscious is to escape in a way, to connect to something greater, to return to oneself, differently, as if magnified, as if sublimated. In a personal way, the path of conscience therefore takes the contours of the path of faith, quite simply. The religious experience is above all an experience of consciousness. Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL The way for humans to participate in the regeneration of creation, of what surrounds them, is through the use of consciousness. Heartfulness 50 WORKPLACE
  • 52. r e l a t i o n s h i p s The point of life is happiness. THE DALAI LAMA
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  • 55. DR. GORAKH PARULKAR shares his ideas and insights on conflict resolution. He is a pathologist by profession, and director of the Gurukrupa Diagnostic Services, Harda. Here he compares psychological conflict with his work in pathology dealing with disease, and draws some interesting parallels. Y ou might ask, “How is pathology related to conflict resolution?” Well, “pathology” is the combination of the words pathos and logos, the study of suffering. Isn’t that what conflict is all about? It is the source of so much suffering in our lives, whether physical, mental, in relationships, at home, or in the office. First, we have to understand what conflict is. Is it a disagreement? Yes, it is. When my colleague or spouse has an opinion that does not match mine, we are in disagreement. And if my insistence gets involved, then this disagreement can escalate to a conflict. But conflict is not just a psychological thing. In our bodies, there are many systems working simultaneously. As long as they are in harmony, supporting each other, we are healthy. But when they are in conflict (when one system becomes a problem for another), we have a disease. Disagreement to conflict The same thing happens in families and organizations. We may disagree, and it may develop into a conflict, but is it a fight? Not yet. We have various ways to resolve it. Unfortunately, and not uncommonly, we do fight. We go from a disagreement of what is right, to a conflict of who is right, to the idea that I have to prove myself right and the other person wrong, and then we fight. And is it not painful? Is it not the cause of so much suffering in our lives? Can we try to go beneath the surface, to see if there’s any way to stop the conflict from escalating? Can we take it another way, maybe agree to disagree, or come up with a solution that includes both points of view? Lord Buddha and the rope Lord Buddha traveled with his disciples from place to place, and they had a routine. Every morning he would sit with them and share his insights. One day, they saw Lord Buddha coming toward them with a rope in his hands. He sat and asked his disciples, “What’s this?” They said “Lord, this is a rope.” Then he tied a knot and again asked them, “What is this now?” They answered, “Lord, this is a rope with a knot in it.” He tied another knot, then another knot, then he asked, “Is April 2024 55 RELATIONSHIPS
  • 56. this the same rope I brought with me initially?” They were puzzled. “Yes, Lord. It is the same rope but it has three knots in it. It is not simple anymore.” So he said, “Suppose if I want to get it back to simplicity and plainness, how do I do that?” The disciples replied, “Undo the knots.” Then Lord Buddha started pulling the rope. The disciples knew that he was trying to teach them something. When he didn’t stop, one of the disciples said, “Lord, if you pull the rope, the knots will not open, they will only get tighter.” With a smile, Lord Buddha asked, “Then tell me, how do I open these knots?” The disciple said, “Lord, you need to release the tension, and then closely observe the knots to understand how they were tied in the first place. Then you will know how to open them.” In Heartfulness meditation, we just do that. We relax our minds and go within to see where the knots are. We try to understand the complexities and complications that have formed in our minds in the past, and once we understand how the knots are made we can unravel them, solving our conflicts. What happens if we don’t know how to do that? We make an effort. No one really likes to be in conflict. We all want to be at peace. We all want harmonious relationships. And we try our best. Sometimes, when those efforts don’t lead to much, then we start wondering, “Where is it that I’m going wrong? Are my efforts pulling the rope tighter?” Letting go and relaxing give us that quantum of time to go beyond the rush of emotions that sometimes happens in conflict. Heartfulness 56
  • 57. If I know what things are really important in life, then I won’t want to compromise them. When I do compromise them for the sake of something else, am I not short changing myself? All we have to do is align our efforts to what is important. Isn’t that what conflict resolution is all about? Not important Important Very important Health Trust in your relationships Harmony in your family Health of your loved ones Being at peace Proving yourself right Getting the other person to agree that you are right Laughing together Playing together Eating together Reflect on your preferences April 2024 57 RELATIONSHIPS
  • 58. He that plants trees loves others besides himself. THOMAS FULLER environment
  • 59.
  • 61. CHRISTINE PRISLAND explores the special atmosphere of peace and healing in her local coastal rainforest in British Columbia, Canada, that heals visitors while it is also regenerating itself. Imagine taking a walk in the forest right now. You feel the earth and leaves under your feet, the snap of twigs. You listen to the birdsong and look up through the breaks in the canopy to the sky above, noticing how the light filters through to a point just further along the path. You breathe in, deeply. You smell the distinct forest aromas: Moss, Sap, Earth and Wood. You take it all in. —Yoshifumi Miyazaki As I start my walk, I am struck immediately by the peace and stillness of entering a different world. A tangled bush immediately catches my attention, moss covering the branches like a blanket, with a few wizened fruits peeking through. On the other side of the path, I look down on a small still pond. It looks primeval, like a place where the Jedi Master Yoda would feel at home. Walking onward, I notice the abundance of moss and lichen. They radiate a deep green and white light, and grow in profusion on branches, tree trunks, rocks, and bare wood. Some resembling creatures in a primeval forest. M y favorite walk is in the coastal rainforest near Victoria, British Columbia. Normally I go there in the warmer months, but this year I visited in February. It is a chilly month of mud, sometimes snow, often rain, messy, and bathed in a filtered light that outlines the surroundings that are hidden during the more bountiful months of the year. April 2024 61 ENVIRONMENT
  • 62. Crossing the wooden bridge, I see deep into the forest— the cliffs, rocks, and ferns that often are hidden in the summer months. It is like seeing the “bones” of the land. Immediately I feel the magic of the place seep into my bones, into my very being. And I feel transported to another level of awareness, of acute observation and connection. This awareness is enhanced by the rushing sounds of the creek joyously tumbling down the hillside on its way to the sheltered ocean waters of the inlet. Heartfulness 62 ENVIRONMENT
  • 63. This special place, part of a larger provincial park, is and has been many things. A place where for centuries, the indigenous peoples lived in harmony with their surroundings. It provided food, building materials, clothing, fresh water, the bounty of the sea, and a place for spiritual practices. In the early 1900s, a cement company established a limestone quarry, creating a factory, houses, a railway, and clay mill, with a dock for steamships. After a few short years, the limestone was exhausted, and the town abandoned. The evidence of building foundations, such as the old clay mill, are scattered about down the hillside and onto the shores of the inlet itself. The foundations are also covered with moss as the forest is rapidly reclaiming its existence with the help of the nearby indigenous peoples, the W ̱ SÁNEĆ [Saanich], who are stewards of this magical and mystical land. They are planting native trees and removing invasive species. It is happening in a very organic way, slowly but surely helping nature to return to this place of healing. Walking down the hill through the forest to the tranquil inlet, I arrive at an open grassy area with benches. It is an ideal place for contemplation, graced by the most unique tree I have ever seen on the coast, locally known as the Snoopy tree. I feel the magic of the place seep into my bones, into my very being. And I feel transported to another level of awareness, of acute observation and connection. April 2024 63 ENVIRONMENT
  • 64. Further on, I meet an indigenous teacher from the local high school on a field trip with his students. We stop for a chat, as often happens with people who come here. He tells me that the name of this place is SṈIDȻEȽ [pronounced sngeet kwith], the place of the blue grouse. Before the cement company came, there were hundreds of blue grouse nesting in the forest across the inlet. The industrial noises of blasting the limestone, the ships, and the factories killed the grouse. He said they have never come back in the hundred years since, because their collective memory thinks it is a bad place. Walking on, I feel a little sad, but also a sense of comfort that this place is being returned to nature with help. It is becoming what it ought to be, allowing nature to reclaim its space. Heartfulness 64 ENVIRONMENT
  • 65. As a part of the reclamation of the land, I marvel at the quirkiness of the birdhouses installed by a local group to attract the purple martins, who were more abundant in years past. After a small beach, and just before the path ends, lies further industrial evidence left behind a century ago. Things too heavy and awkward to move, and too solid to decompose. Moving onward, I visit a very special tree alongside the inlet—a huge western red cedar within a low cement wall decorated with modern graffiti. As I meditate under this majestic grandmother tree, I feel a sense of timeliness, of deep peace and healing. Retaining this peace, I slowly make my way back to the car, renewed within, and with hope in my heart. I hope you, too, will find a forest or a place in the wilderness where you can regularly go for solace, for peace, and to observe the changes that remind you of our connection to this planet and its rhythms. Reference: Curry, G., 2015. Tod Inlet—A Healing Place, Rocky Mountain Books. Photos by Gary Langstaff and Christine Prisland Walking on, I feel a little sad, but also a sense of comfort that this place is being returned to nature with help. It is becoming what it ought to be, allowing nature to reclaim its space. April 2024 65 ENVIRONMENT
  • 66.
  • 67. creativity Art is a wound turned into light. GEORGES BRAQUE
  • 69. VICTOR KANNAN recently visited the Inner Peace Museum at Kanha Shanti Vanam, and invites us inside its doors to feel the calmness that inner peace brings. M ost peace museums around the world are dedicated to wars. Indeed, they are peace museums because they remind us of what passed, and that which should never come to pass again. However, in Kanha Shanti Vanam, on the outskirts of Hyderabad in India, there is a museum that is dedicated to a different kind of peace: peace of mind, peace of heart, and peace of soul. It is first of all a humble tribute to the great souls of humanity who tread the path of unity and love, the path of spirituality, and of the Almighty. And it is also more than that. The Inner Peace Museum is unique in that it is an experiential museum. It proffers to the visitor an opportunity to soak in its lush, verdant surroundings, meditate in its atmosphere effused with subtle Divinity, be inspired by its art and installations, and feel inner peace. April 2024 69 CREATIVITY
  • 70. World peace is achievable once individual peace is at hand. And peace is already there. Our philosophy makes us understand that: peace is our fundamental nature. A meditative practice helps us arrive at a meditative state and constantly keeps fuelling peace within as well as with people we meet, wherever we go; we are in some way contributing to peace because of who we are. The intensity of your inner peace will be exposed the moment you drop all ideas of pride, ego, desires, etc. You will be unburdened so much that you will be surprised with your own nature which is full of peace. —Daaji 70 CREATIVITY
  • 71. The exhibits of the Inner Peace Museum reflect humanity’s quest for the highest through the ages, and the inner journey inspired by the world’s rich spiritual heritage, realized through meditation. The artists who contribute their original work for the museum come from around the world. Inspired by their stay and experiences in the pristine environment of Kanha Shanti Vanam, they create in the museum studio. These individual and collective works represent diverse faiths and schools of thought from around the world, ranging from the ancient forms of worship to modern scientific ideas, all united in the singular urge of all life to evolve to the Highest. CREATIVITY
  • 73. The Inner Peace Museum inspires us to focus on true peace, the inner peace in our hearts, which if established will automatically lead to external peace. It also brings to light the universal concept of Unity, the fact that we are all united by that singular urge to evolve to the highest as human beings, whether through religious thought, science, philosophy, literature, art, music, spirituality, or simply by virtue of being human. For more information, please contact us at ipm@heartfulness.org. The Inner Peace Museum inspires us to focus on true peace, the inner peace in our hearts, which if established will automatically lead to external peace. 73 April 2024 CREATIVITY
  • 74. 3 Activities toCalmtheMind (Even If You Aren’t an Artist) JEMINA WATSTEIN has taught art all over the world, including Thailand, Germany, and the United States. She encourages all her students, and now us, to lean into our innate creativity, sharing three simple activities that will help us connect with our inner artist and feel more connected to ourselves.
  • 75. All too often I hear people say, “I can’t even draw a stick figure,” and my heart hurts a little because yes you can! And when you do, you probably smile and laugh a little at what you drew. That is the power of art-making: you feel good even if you aren’t an artist, although I would argue we are all artists in some capacity. If you give yourself the grace of taking a break from the daily grind, even for five minutes, to dabble with some art-making, you will feel good inside. Start the journey Pick up a pen and paper. Keep it simple. Start with a spiral. Around and around you go. Take a mindful breath while you do it. Not so bad, right? Now make another spiral. Try overlapping them or use a different colored pen. You don’t like it? Throw it away and try drawing circles tomorrow. Be persistent. Set a timer. Five minutes every day and you will feel the positive benefits. I know what you are thinking: “This author is crazy. I’m not an artist.” Sorry, my friend, you are sadly mistaken. You are an artist and it is time to embrace your growth mindset and give it a try. Be curious! Here are three simple creative activities you can try at home: 75 CREATIVITY
  • 76. Embrace those mistakes Get yourself a sketchbook and a favorite pen. Perhaps you will have to buy a few pens to find out which is your favorite. Embrace your mistakes and learn from them. After a few days of spirals and shapes, you will be ready to kick it up a notch. It’s time to bust out of your comfort zone. Draw what you see. Where’s a great place to start? The cup you are sipping from as you read this article. Is it terrible? Turn the page and try again tomorrow. You will improve with practice and having all your sketches in one place will prove this to you over time. 76 Heartfulness Heartfulness CREATIVITY
  • 77. 10 for 10 Along with drawing from observation, there are many prompts to kick up the creativity and have fun. One is 10 for 10—10 drawings for 10 seconds—each using the same object or random shapes. How does each drawing change? Which one do you like the best? There are numerous drawing prompts on the internet. Channel your feelings, experiences, and dreams for inspiration. Ready to tackle your self-awareness? Draw something that makes you smile whenever you think about it. Self-management? Draw a worry dragon that holds your concerns. Want to be silly? Draw yourself with your superpower. Drawing is meditative and great for the brain; you will also feel good inside. So many other media will too. My current favorite is weaving. I recently taught a fiber arts class and all the students commented how much they enjoyed the relaxing qualities of weaving. It is fun, and the fibers feel so soft in your hands. Weaving fosters mindfulness; through the repetition—over under, over under—you will feel calm and focused. It is easy to fix mistakes, or perhaps you will embrace them and consider them happy accidents. Making art is good for the soul. It gives us the opportunity to understand ourselves, our thoughts, and our actions. 77 CREATIVITY
  • 78. The king who tamed wild horses Once upon a time, there lived a king who was fond of chasing wild horses and taming them. His fellow soldiers enjoyed joining him in this activity. It was fast, strategic, and fun. Some of the soldiers, along with the king himself, enjoyed training the horses after their capture. People from far and wide joined the king’s services to watch this exciting event twice a year. But lately the king had started feeling lethargic, and the chase was no longer exciting. He would finish the chase just as it began and took no interest in running behind fast horses. One time, the king’s nephew was riding close to him when the king ordered them to stop. The nephew asked him why and the king took it as a personal offense, questioning his orders. He considered it a snide comment on his health and body. As the king was having lunch, his nephew Sudassana walked in and reminded him that the great teacher, Gautama Buddha, would be delivering a lecture in his kingdom. The king wanted to listen to the teachings of the Buddha, so he finished his lunch and left for the grove with Sudassana. As the Buddha preached on, the king kept pinching himself to stay awake after all he had eaten. As the crowd cleared after the lecture, the king approached the Buddha, who asked after the king’s well-being. The king complained of his ill health, his inability to do fast A Tale of Moderation SARA BUBBER shares a Buddhist story on moderation, in honor of World Health Day on April 7. She also offers some easy tips we can start applying to live a healthier and happier life. Heartfulness 78
  • 79. more food. As time went by, the king stopped overeating and Sudassana did not need to recite the verse. The king began to enjoy his horse chases again, to remember all the things he had to do, and to discharge his duties well. He even stopped getting angry at small things and stopped misinterpreting people’s comments. A few months later, Gautama Buddha was in his kingdom once again and the king went to listen to his sermon. Afterward, he met the Buddha, who asked after his well-being, and the king thanked him for helping him to be a healthy man. Gautama Buddha was very happy, and explained to the king that health is the greatest acquisition, and contentment is the best happiness one can ask for. The key is to be moderate in all that one does. Based on a Buddhist story: https://www.ancient-buddhist- texts.net/English-Texts/Buddhist- Legends/15-06.htm activities, and his persistent lethargy throughout the day, more so after meals. Buddha admonished him, saying that if one overeats like a hog, he will never be free from the birth cycle on this Earth, and proceeded to give him a verse to recite whenever he asks for more servings. The king expressed his helplessness to learn new things due to his poor memory. Gautama Buddha offered to give the verse to his nephew, Sudassana. Every time the king ate a meal and started to overeat, Sudassana would recite the verse given by the teacher, and the king would restrain himself from taking April 2024 79 CHILDREN
  • 80. Tips to maintain your health On April 7, we celebrate World Health Day, because the World Health Organization (WHO) had its first meeting on that day in 1948. WHO spreads the message of good health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” How can we maintain good health? Health is the greatest wealth we have. We are able to do so many things because our bodies and minds run smoothly. How can we make sure they continue to run like this for as long as possible? Here are some tips for your daily routine: 1. Eat well: Food is the fuel for our body. Give your system a light, simple, and balanced diet to keep it effective. Of course you can eat out, but the number of times you eat simple meals should be much more than eating junk food. 2. Sleep well: Your body needs lots of rest. It repairs itself as we sleep. Therefore, giving yourself that eight hours of sleep becomes necessary to stay alert and healthy. 3. Keep your mind engaged: Keep yourself busy with activities you enjoy: learning new things, playing new games, and engaging in hobbies keep the neurons firing in your brain and keep your mind active. 4. Stress-free and time-out practices: Include some practices to manage the stress you gather during the day. Journaling, playing music, meditating, and reading for fun are activities that reduce stress. Even simple quiet time can help you recharge and re-enter the world with a fresh outlook. 80 Heartfulness
  • 81. 5. Exercise: Your body is designed for movement, so put on those running shoes and go for a run, play that much-needed game of basketball, or jump into the swimming pool in summer. Even playing tag and catch are good games to keep your body fit and healthy. Activity: What is your healthy word? Find all ten words related to health and well-being in the following crossword: H B A A M R E E B H S H A P P I N E S S M E E O O K E L M I O S S L T O R M E M D A B O T S G B S P E W A V L H Y Z I L R M O E F B B A C E A A E B X G D F R D T P B A L A N C E U I S B J M Z B U X U O V C Z H E D I E T N S T A M I N A M A Answer can be found at the bottom of the article on the website at: https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/en/a-tale-of-moderation. April 2024 81
  • 82. Master the habit of meditation The Heartfulness app offers daily practices to awaken the potential for a joyful existence. Download it at heartfulnessapp.org Heartfulness Yoga Teacher Training Course Learn to teach the eight limbs of yoga. Merge the traditional art of yoga with a modern professional approach. heartfulness.org/yoga/ Publications by Daaji #1 BESTSELLERS How meditative practices lead to changes in lifestyle, both personal and in relationships, which lead to greater freedom in designing our destiny. designingdestiny.com theheartfulnessway.com the wisdombridge.com Meditation Masterclass In these 3 online masterclasses, you will learn the practical benefits of meditation and other yogic practices. Masterclasses are available online each day after you sign up and accessible throughout the day. heartfulness.org/masterclass Spiritual Anatomy by Daaji From the bestselling author of The Heartfulness Way and Designing Destiny A must-read for seekers, meditators, and anyone who wants to cultivate joy in their life.. spiritualanatomy.com Find Your Community Find a trainer or meditation center near you! heartfulness.org/en/ connect-with-us/ Heartfulness 82
  • 83. Learning, The Heartfulness Way Explore simple Heartfulness practices through our self-paced courses for beginners and advanced learners alike. learning.heartfulness.org HFNLife strives to bring products to make your life simple and convenient.We offer a set of curated partners in apparel, accessories, eye-care, home staples, organic foods and more. The affiliation of our partner organizations with Heartfulness Institute helps in financially sustaining the programs which we conduct in various places across the world. hfnlife.com HFNLife