The Emerging New World
By Anandagiri / Senior Faculty Teacher at One World Academy
Has the world really become a better place, or is it only an exaggerated point of view of the optimist. I do believe that the new information revolution has caused a radical change in the way we think and act. I saw a clear transformation in my own ways of thinking since the advancement of the information age, and I know I’m not the only one. With such proximity to the world around you, it is almost impossible not to develop new bonds and friendships. One’s will has to and must be influenced. Humans are social beings, it is by way of influencing and being influenced that we advance ourselves as a species. Trying not to be influenced in a world that is developing and enhancing together is a near impossibility. However, in living a life of awareness one can choose one’s influences at least for the most part and be more constructive than destructive.
When I traveled out of my homeland for the first time it was on a three month visit to the Americas. The trip was centered on the US for doing a series of short lectures and weekend seminars. I eventually ended up traveling for almost two years starting in May ‘96 thru June ‘98. I met a diverse group of people on these trips and returned home with a wealth of new experiences. A community development project under the guidance of the founder of One World Academy kept me from furthering my travels. The project was popularly known amongst our friends as the 100 villages project. The idea of the project was to help create a happy individual. My teacher believed that happiness is the true index for development. I spent most of my next six years with the people of these villages: eating, playing cricket, watching movies, and meditating with them. Living amidst the rural people of India for this long a period caused considerable perceptual and emotional shifts in me.
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From suffering to service
By Anandagiri / Senior Faculty Teacher at One World Academy
I am certain most of us would concur with the view that ‘suffering’ has been one of humanities biggest challenges. By ‘suffering’ we are referring to the psychological pain we experience in its varied forms; as fear, hurt, disappointment, anxiety, shame, regret, etc. It is this psychological discomfort, we fear more than anything else. Of course no one likes physical pain either and we do our best to prevent it from happening, but it is the disturbed state of mind that scares us the most.
How do we habitually respond to this challenge called suffering?
Not knowing how to deal with suffering we are constantly finding newer and newer ways of distracting ourselves from this pain. We have even invented ideas like ‘suffering is good for us’, ‘life is not a bed of roses’, ‘it is meant to be’, ‘It is a divine plan’, ‘God wants us to suffer’, ‘suffering is God’s way of showing how much He loves us’. How do we even know that suffering is good for us or that it is a divine plan and yet we take refuge in these baseless beliefs.
We are prepared to engage ourselves in any activity, physical or mental, that can provide us a distraction from our psychological discomfort. We are ever so ready to embrace any view no matter how irrational or baseless it is, if it promises to provide us some solace. Some of us have even made ‘suffering’ a sacred thing, believing suffering to be the only path to salvation or enlightenment. Although deep in our hearts we know these ideas to be utterly baseless, we are still scared of questioning them because we are afraid that we might loose the little comfort they keep providing us. We refuse to enquire because we are terrified of facing this monster called ‘suffering’. If we realized the falseness of these beliefs, it would then become impossible for us to take refuge in them any longer and we may not want that to happen.
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GODS OF THE NEW WORLD
By Anandagiri / Senior Faculty Teacher at One World Academy
I am certainly not the kind that believes in an omnipotent God but if God were to be perceived as an act of help, then I must say that the conscious children of this generation are the gods of our new era.
Some of us refer to these gifted kids as ‘indigo children’, while others believe them to be ‘sparks of God’ or ‘reincarnated masters’. I see them as conscious individuals with a new way of thinking and a whole new way of being. They seem to live in awareness of the world of which they are a part, while at the same time experiencing a deep connection with it. The relationship they share with themselves, with the other and with the world around, permits them to feel very little sadness or loneliness.
COULD THIS NEW WAY OF BEING BE A RESULT OF THEIR INCLUSIVE THINKING?
I do agree that our rapidly changing times, with its exponentially growing technologies have certainly influenced our way of thinking. Most children of today are more world centric in their thinking compared to our yesteryear generations. The information driven world that we live in today has given birth to new friendships: inter-religious friendships, inter-racial friendships, inter-cultural friendships and international friendships.
While this is all true, I am still of the opinion that the biggest influence on the child is its immediate environment and particularly the parents. The child not only observes and learns from its parent’s actions but is equally perceptive to its parents thinking as well.
The conviction I experience in regards to the views I share is the result of my interactions with a gifted child. Although I am a monk myself living with a community of dedicated teachers, I have had the fortune of being friends with a little one. My interactions with her over the last several years have influenced my own views of the world. I feel compelled to share with you what I see in this child and may be in children like her that live amongst us.
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The New World Citizen
by Anandagiri / OWA Senior Faculty
In the summer of 2009, I was visiting the city of Los Angeles to speak at a conference. A week prior to the event myself, along with Krishna (founder of One World Academy), his wife Preetha and their 6 year old daughter Lokaa, were visiting a store for some grocery shopping. The name of the store was Bristol farms and they sold mostly organic foods.
We had finished our shopping and were gently pushing our nearly full cart to the parking lot with Lokaa sitting on top. As we walked we saw three young children, two girls and a boy, running towards us.
They looked between 9 and 11 years old. The children ran up to us and volunteered to push our cart for us in exchange for a small donation. We were surprised at their boldness and also curious to find out why they needed this money so desperately that they were willing to chase people in the parking lots to get it. We were deeply moved with their courage and innocence.
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The Inseparability of All Existence
By Anandagiri / Senior Faculty Teacher at One World Academy
A simple question at dinner
After another fun day at the school, we gathered at the dining place for our evening meal. There were students from third grade all the way up to tenth grade waiting in the room; I myself was in my seventh grade then. Our principal too joined us for dinner like he did on most days; this was a special evening though. He had something interesting to tell us or may be I should say that he had a very special question to ask us. The question appeared a simple one, a very harmless question in fact. He pointed to the nice shirts we wore and asked; “Children, is this shirt your shirt?”
Initially we got a little scared and confused listening to the question. We wondered; ‘Why such a strange question all so sudden?’
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Is Freedom for All or is Freedom for the Virtuous Only?
Is Freedom for All or is Freedom for the Virtuous Only?
Ananda Giri, Senior Faculty Teacher at One World Academy
In the summer of 2006, I had visited Stockholm, Sweden for a spiritual
conference. Prior to the event, I was scheduled to meet with a
well-known author from Sweden. The meeting took place at a hotel lobby
by the beautiful Stockholm harbor. I was already in the lobby waiting
for the gentleman to arrive. As soon as he stepped into the lobby, he
walked right up to me and greeted me with a handshake. It was not
difficult for him to identify me, as I was the only Indian in the
room. The writer was a middle-aged gentleman full of enthusiasm and
his works were mostly contemporary in nature. We were keen to learn
from each other and our learning took place, primarily in the form of
exchanging views.
The most significant moment of the meeting to me however, was when he
asked me, “Ananda Giri, would you be interested in sharing with us
about love. What according to you is love?”
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Art of Listening
Good communication begins with the art of listening. Listening is not only about listening to the other; it is also about listening to oneself. An individual who has learnt to listen to himself, who is aware of his own thought processes is more willing and also better at listening to another. One who is a stranger to himself is also a stranger to another. And when you listen to another, you not only pay attention to what the other is saying but also to the assumptions and concepts that arise within you even as you listen.
A New Generation of Organisations
When destructive emotions and self-centeredness eat away at the human heart among the leaders, organizations become cancerous. They grow only to self-destruct from within. When happiness and well-being of every single member of the organisation becomes a priority, we are creating a new culture, a new generation of organisations for a new age.
Awareness
Awareness is the observation of the mind in action. Awareness of oneself helps resolve conflict and move to a place of peace and joy. Right actions are born from right decisions and right decisions are made from a right state of mind/being. Awareness enables you to create a better world for yourself as well as for the people around you.
Doing and Being
Life is both about doing and being. We all know that ‘doing’ is external. It is about action. ‘Being’ is about the internal experiences of life in terms of joy, peace and harmony. And the two are mutually inter-dependent.
Transformation of the Individual
We know that psychological structures have over powered the external systems, be it a family or an organisation, the community or the country that you are living in. Hence, a change in the system alone is insufficient, what is necessary is also the transformation of the individual.
Is the ability to love oneself dependent on external circumstances?
How many of us like to believe that success in our professional careers determine our feeling of self-worth and our ability to love ourselves? How many of us experience a rising or dwindling of love for ourselves based on our professional achievements or failures? While our achievements definitely determine the extent to which we earn respect and fame in the society we live, can they really become the basis for loving and respecting ourselves? This raises a very crucial question: is the ability to love oneself dependent on external circumstances at all? For if it did, it would defy the unconditional nature of joy or love. It would also defy the proverbial saying, ‘Money can’t buy happiness or love’. So, once again, it is important to reiterate that change should never occur to escape from situations. Rather, it should be born from a feeling of self awareness.
Driven by the Ideal of Perfection
To stay on the path of progress and not be driven by the ideal of perfection, an enquiry into the self is vital. Self-enquiry is one of the most important tools in determining the best way forward in life. It is a mirror of our minds and helps us understand ourselves and our actions. In the case of perfection and progress, self-enquiry could reveal whether one is driven solely by the idea of perfection when faced with a task or whether one is propelled to move forward using awareness, inspiration and passion as tools for growth.
Perfection
Perfection maybe a good thing, but when one is driven by the idea of perfection to the point of obsession, one can experience enormous stress, which keeps one from being constructive. The irony of trying to be perfect is that while you believe you and everyone else benefits from it, it often leads to a profound sense of self-lack because however well you may perform you always fall short of your own high expectations. This keeps you from moving forward. A perfectionist arises from an unhealthy place in his or her drive towards achievement.
Seeking for a change
As we set out seeking for a change, let us first ask ourselves as to what really needs to be addressed. We could thereby spare ourselves the arduous effort of trying to change the world instead of ourselves with merely a deepening of awareness. The crux of this understanding is in enquiring into the very motive behind this seeking. Does this seeking for change arise from wanting to grow or taking our life to the next level of perfection? At the very outset this question might seem redundant. One might ask: “Why else would I be wanting to experience something new if not to experience growth?” However, an astute observation could shockingly reveal that this desire for change could be the result of a desperate need to avoid the sense of an inner void - a sense of struggle with one’s own existence compounded by feelings of self-hate and purposelessness. Once again, we might be inclined to think: "Well, is not the need for change always felt only when there is a sense of inadequacy? If I am totally contented, where is the need to look for newer vistas or fresher pastures?" It is here that we need to understand the subtle difference between seeking for growth versus being uncomfortable with or trying to evade one’s own reality. Though very different, these two experiences could appear similar to a mind clouded in conflict. Often, what could be masquerading as a passion for change might well be a desperate attempt to get away from an existing problem.
Growth
While the need for change is undeniable, it is necessary to shed the light of awareness on the factors that govern or dictate this need. This is extremely important, for the direction of change in our lives is determined by the extent of our awareness or unawareness. Growth and learning in a positive sense could be defined as a process of change initiated in awareness, going hand in hand with joy and well-being. On the other hand, a process of change initiated in unawareness often tends to be rash and unmindful of the impending consequences on oneself as well as on others and therefore becomes a harbinger of pain and conflict.