The Building of a Community
A Heartfulness Approach
‘I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” — Mother Teresa.
This has a profound meaning. It reminded me of what I read from the book, ‘Youth: A Time of Promise and for Effort’ by Shri P. Rajagopalachari, the third Guide of Heartfulness. In this book, he mentions that no human being lives by himself. He says “we live on the work of so many people, thousands of people, millions of people — people work to provide our electricity, people work to bring our houses, people work to provide what we eat, what we drink”. How can we say, “I am living by myself; I have a right to live by myself, similarly when I don’t live by myself, I cannot live only for myself. So, I have a debt, which I have to give back to society”.
According to the United Nations, Youth is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood’s independence. That is why, as a category, youth is more fluid than other fixed age-groups. Yet, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education and employment, because ‘youth’ is often referred to a person between the ages of leaving compulsory education, and finding their first job They are full of energy and vigor, freshness vigor, spirit, etc.
The youth of today are tomorrow’s innovative creators, builders, and leaders. They have the power to bring about change in Society. It has been said that good governance is realistic with youth empowerment. The pivotal role of youth, who are afresh with ideas and ideals plays an important role in this movement of civil society and can influence the political administration for the benefit of the society. They have the unique ability to face any issues and challenges. They have the capacity to make a huge difference in society and the entire world. It is only through a strong youth representation that the dynamism and vigor of a country can be maintained. So the current Global Guide of Heartfulness, Daaji has also been focusing on youth from a spiritual angle too as they are our future humanity. He has been encouraging the youth to be a catalyst in this Heartfulness Movement for a peaceful society.
‘Making of a Youthful Global Heartfulness Community’ was described very nicely by Mr. Victor Kannan, Director of Heartfulness Institute, USA during his talks in the virtual event of the Global Youth Volunteer Integration Program. He spoke about DNA; this idea of community is embedded in our DNA. Like any other DNA, it needs to manifest, it has to be expressed, it has to become real. Manifesting not just through meditation practice but through thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and our actions naturally. How nice it is to see the ‘Heartful Community’ being built with Commonality, Cooperation, Co-existence, Conviction, Courage, Mutual Trust, and Unity.
These are a few Cs is what we can gather from his talk:
Along with the above 8 C’s and mutual trust. How do we have unity? Victor Kannan has beautifully explained that it is through the manifestation of internal harmony which extends into an external harmony. But how do we have internal harmony? It is through our daily practice of heart-based meditation and when we always center ourselves with the identification of the source of divine light in our heart and remain connected with the source — everything around us looks peaceful. That is because our mind is not fogged with disturbance. We start to identify, relate and connect with other human beings as originated from the same source. We start loving each other unconditionally in toto as one single human race devoid of prejudice, racism, casteism, etc. We start to develop a sense of belonging-ness towards each other, naturally.
With the help of ‘Heartfulness Cleaning,’ we are also able to clear the fog and remove unwanted weeds of darkness, impurities, and complexities from our minds and retain clarity of mind and heart. The cleaning (rejuvenation) process is an effective tool that aids us in removing prejudice, hatred, and other negative elements from our system. So, after achieving the internal harmony, we are able to extend to external sources as prescribed in our Heartfulness.
Basically, we cannot save another person from drowning, unless we know swimming. So, the priority is to focus on ‘self’ first, so when we are at peace with our internal self, we are able to cooperate, coexist with great conviction, courage, and heartfully communicate with each other, with compassion and with a common goal. As the saying goes ‘well begun is half done.’ It can be begun with the help of an energetic youthful force who can contribute towards this humanity with a full spirit. Spirituality unites us. We build a ‘Global Heartful Community’.
Victor Kannan mentioned the community well-being wherein our individual effort will get multiplied by the efforts of the others. He quoted Daaji talking about group meditations and the ‘Egregore’ effect. Our Heartfulness Logo represents this ‘Egregore’ which is in other words a ‘Heartful Community’ with a common goal. It means many hearts coming together and meditating.
So, let us collectively pray for the making of a Global Heartfulness Community with peace, love, and faith.
Check out:
https://heartfulness.org/en/youth-cis/
Download: HeartsApp — Meditate with trainer anytime anywhere
References:
Pages 75 and 76 of ‘Youth: A Time of Promise and for Effort’ talks by Shri P. Rajagopalachari,
https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-definition.pdf.[PR4] [PR5] [KK(6]
https://medium.com/@pradeepkumarpanda/role-of-youth-in-shaping-indias-future-2301290bceed
