Spiritual Magazine | Wellness Magazine

January 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
Inner dimensions
AN ART ESSAY Artist BRONWYN CALEY speaks with ROSALIND PEARMAIN about her art and her philosophy of life, and shares some of her paintings. Q: What is the inspiration for your art? BC: A drawing I made as a young child of seven years old amazed me, as it felt like a kind of magic! I had drawn a full-length portrait of a friend, small, and in pencil. It had captured something of her essence. I remember it to this day. Fairy stories, with beautiful illustrations, were a childhood favorite. Later, art was at the center of my education and at the center of my life. I loved so many things from the art world: other artists’ work, other students’ work, exhibitions, museums, architectural magazines, churches, stained-glass windows, crafts. I was all the time studying, creating and making. Progressing to art college led me into new directions, from drawing, painting and sculpture to costume design, dance, performance and then to making tapestries. My tutors were inspiring and helpful, with opportunities to learn new skills. Q: How has your work evolved over time? BC: It has constantly changed. The need to balance making a living and having a space to work has been a major challenge throughout my life. Consequently I worked as a part-time teacher, leaving time for creativity. Support came from various sources such as Northern Arts grants, exhibitions, publications and creative friends – writers, poets, artists, publishers and craftspeople. Some recognition from major galleries gave me confidence in the works I had produced. During my time living in Durham, I had what I can only call a mystical experience of being in Divine Light: it felt timeless, with a sense of “a peace that passeth all understanding.” That became a major source of inspiration over many years. The move to…

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In the Field, January 2020, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
European youth at heartfulness headquarters
ALESSANDRA VEGLIA is a second year student from the University of Trieste, Italy. She is doing a Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and Development Cooperation, and is currently doing an internship at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the Heartfulness Center near Hyderabad in India, as part of her degree. She has been interacting with other visiting fellows and interns from around the world, who are currently also training and volunteering in various capacities in the campus, and took this opportunity to interview them. I have always left the job of interviewing to others where possible, because of a sense of uneasiness in intruding upon people’s lives. But here in Kanha it is unthinkable to run away from weakness, so not surprisingly I was asked to interview some of the Europeans staying in the ashram, to explore the impact of Heartfulness on their lives. After accepting the idea, I ended up enjoying the task immensely, for I could frame the interviews in the guise of a lively chat, and together with my questions I shared my own experience and opinions with those in front of me. I decided to limit my research to youth between the ages of 16 and 28, and the first very willing victims were three girls from France, the eldest being 17. They came to Kanha because of their interest in environmental issues, and after ten days concluded that this is the ideal venue when looking for inspiration. They founded an association to raise awareness on ecology and to address others in their own age group. The creation of their own website is in progress. At Kanha, they did field research, collected data, worked on an environmental curriculum for school students, and they are now ready to create a movie. In their local Heartfulness center in France, they participate in…

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January 2020, Thought in action, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
Heartful communication
LIZ KINGSNORTH introduces Marshall Rosenberg’s practical approach of Nonviolent Communication, and how it is integrating with Heartfulness into Heartful Communication. “Make sure that your acts and your words reflect the work being done in your heart.” —Babuji Tensions were high during a 3-day peace-building dialogue between community leaders from Palestine and Israel. My cofacilitator and I were worried. The hope and determination that people had arrived with was under threat from divisions, frustrated efforts, and pain. The breakthrough came when we asked participants to simply walk along the beach with someone from the other community. As the pairs set off, they walked with distance between them. An hour and a half later they returned. Many were visibly different, a kind of serenity and fragility in their open faces. There was an air of gentle connection, a sense that people had truly met each other. Many described the powerful impact of their walks together. “I will see things differently now,” said one. They had uncovered their common humanity, shared that they had the same needs – to give their children a good education, to celebrate their culture, to live in safety, and so on. From that moment, I was able to do what I was there to do: offer the perspective and skills of Nonviolent Communication to support their ongoing dialogue and projects. When I first came across the approach called Nonviolent Communication, which is the one of the key components of Heartful Communication, I realized it was transformative. Only with time and experience, I began to understand how profound it is as a way of being, a way to understand human behavior. It helps us experience the one-ness of humanity in a tangible way … in each moment, every day. NVC originated through Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, who passed away in…

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Focus, January 2020, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
Love alone can save the world
DAAJI introduces DR. ICHAK ADIZES to the audience at the international Heartfulness Center at Kanha Shanti Vanam: “It’s such a pleasure this morning to have Dr. Adizes amongst us. I would call him a guru of management. He has many tricks, which are not spoken, not written, but which he delivers based on his personal experience and personal intuition. However complex any protocol may be, he will dissect it and simplify it for any organization – a university, an industry, a government, a spiritual institution, or a family. His principles are mind-blowing. His Adizes Methodology is very worthwhile if you are in the field of management, if you’re a game changer. “So we’ll have a taste today. I always want to listen to him because he has very refined ideas when he speaks. If you watch his words, his style and his attitude, you will learn a lot. Welcome Dr. Adizes.” Namaste and greetings to you all. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share with you some experiences, thoughts and insights that I’ve been developing over 50 years of working with companies, prime ministers, and generally with people. What is it all about? It’s about change. This is nothing new. Change has been going on forever, from the Big Bang (maybe even before that) and it will go on forever. So what? Whenever there is change there are problems. Why problems? Because, what is change? Something new. And then when you’re confronted with something new, you have to decide what to do about it. It’s like coming to an intersection in a foreign country – something new – and now you have to decide, “Do I go left? Do I go right? Do I go back? What do I do?” Some people cannot make a decision. They say,…

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Be inspired, January 2020, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
A user’s guide to living
DAAJI introduces us to a user’s guide to daily living and human transformation. This series is based on a book written more than 75 years ago, by RAM CHANDRA, called Commentary on the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg, which is entirely relevant for anyone wishing to evolve to their highest potential in today’s world. Origins Some 75 years ago, a holy man in a remote town in Uttar Pradesh in the north of India decided to put into words some amazing truths that he had received through direct perception in a superconscious state. As a result, he came up with a method by which people could completely transform themselves and reach the highest level of consciousness possible, and go beyond. This method was based on taking the essence of the ancient practices of Raja Yoga, and modifying them for the present era of humanity. His name was Ram Chandra, and he was known to many as Babuji. Here is the preface to his first book, Commentary on the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg, which was originally written in the Urdu language, and has now been translated into over 30 languages worldwide: A Word In this book I have endeavored to put up in words those spiritual secrets which have up till now come down from heart to heart. But since they relate to direct perception, which depends upon the study of Nature and can be revealed by means of vibrations, it is not only difficult, but almost impossible to express them adequately in words. “True love cannot be expressed by words. This is the very reality which is inexplicable in any way.” In this respect, I may therefore say that it is proper for the readers to try to reach up to the real spirit, ignoring the defects of expression…

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Be inspired, January 2020, VOLUME 5 / 31 Dec 2019
Principles of conversation
Back at the turn of the 20th century, the great yogi RAM CHANDRA (LALAJI) shared some tips about communication with his associates in a small town of northern India. Today these principles are even more relevant in corporate boardrooms, parliaments, universities and school classrooms the world over. Imagine if we could all follow this approach to communicating with others! The world would be transformed. The style of speech should be devoid of rise and fall in pitch. On the contrary, it should be like the divine current, flowing evenly since the beginning of creation. I had copied just that and innumerable are its benefits, beyond the possibility of narration. This is a philosophy, that when the flow of conversation proceeds in conformity with Reality, there develops a state of harmony between the two. Through that harmony, the divine way starts developing automatically. This results in effectiveness, as whatever is spoken goes on touching the hearts of others. In other words, a sort of relationship with the current of Reality is established. When a relationship is created, effectiveness has to be there. If we copy it, only those words will flow during conversation that are intended and are right. To achieve this, we first of all try to remove the rise and fall in the voice while speaking, which is also called sharpness. This flow of speech will go on acquiring harmony with the current of Reality, to the extent that such a reduction is achieved progressively. By ‘sharpness’ I do not only imply anger, which is very heavy and should not be allowed at all in this context. What I mean is that the flow of speech should not carry any kind of weight in it. An illustration of this is a current of still air. It is very difficult…

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THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

It changes everything

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in It changes everything, January 2020, VOLUME 5

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Heartful communication

in January 2020, Thought in action, VOLUME 5

LIZ KINGSNORTH introduces Marshall Rosenberg’s practical approach of Nonviolent Communication, and how it is integrating with Heartfulness into Heartful Communication. “Make sure that your acts and your words reflect the...

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in Focus, January 2020, VOLUME 5

DAAJI introduces DR. ICHAK ADIZES to the audience at the international Heartfulness Center at Kanha Shanti Vanam: “It’s such a pleasure this morning to have Dr. Adizes amongst us. I...

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in Be inspired, January 2020, VOLUME 5

DAAJI introduces us to a user’s guide to daily living and human transformation. This series is based on a book written more than 75 years ago, by RAM CHANDRA, called...

Principles of conversation

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Taste of Life

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in January 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5

AN ART ESSAY Artist BRONWYN CALEY speaks with ROSALIND PEARMAIN about her art and her philosophy of life, and shares some of her paintings. Q: What is the inspiration for...

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in Interview, January 2020, VOLUME 5

PETER KATER is a Grammy Award-winning musician and author, who also conducts musical, healing and creative retreats in beautiful natural settings. Here he talks with MEGHANA ANAND about communicating feelings...