Awakening Wholeness

This book is a manual for learning to live a life of joy, ease, and grace, and for working with others to make a difference in their lives. It is ideal for young people in the age group of 15-35. It is also for the ‘Young at Heart’ (YAH!). That could include almost anyone.

This book is an invitation for us to remember our role as Leaders; as creators of a new story for ourselves and life in all its forms. This offering is an evolving co-creation, a simple map for creating a life of love and an opportunity to serve. We invite you to remember the magnificence, beauty, and power of who you really are.

As I am sitting here in my study right now, there are over a thousand books around me—on the floor, stuffed in boxes, and in piles, gathering dust. I have outlived many of these books. An item on my “To-Do List” is to give them away. Some of these books contain great wisdom and ideas that can heal us, heal our relationships, and heal our planet five times over!

But am I putting all this knowledge into action? Can I, at any given moment, put it all into action together? Does not each moment contain within it the resources and wisdom that I need to act upon intelligently now? The short answer is “Yes!” So, do books really help? It is a bit funny that I am writing about why books don’t really help at the start of one more book!

Well, here is a metaphor that may serve us all: ‘When a thorn is embedded in my skin, I can use another thorn to take the first one out, and then throw away both the thorns.’ Let this book be that thorn to remove all thorns. Remember to gift the book forward after it has done its work.

“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

The world today (September 2021) is undergoing the agony of a major transition. The pathways into a new world are unclear. The future appears uncertain. The way we carry out our daily lives, communicate, and interact with the people on the planet is shifting. We are evolving from one way of living to another.

You, as a young person, have the power within and around you to provide the heart, creativity, and leadership to co-create a world that serves us all. Connecting to the joy and abundance that is always present, will catalyze inspiration and compassionate action in you and in others as well.

“Consider that your joy and abundance are like the sun. For many of us this ‘sun’ is overshadowed with clouds. These clouds could take the form of anxiety, fear, hatred, a sense of isolation, or even a sense of deficiency. All these clouds come from an illusory or false notion of who we are.”

Let’s take a look at what these clouds look like.

To understand the concerns and anxieties of youth, through a collaboration with the Charter for Compassion, we held listening circles for young people in 2020 (24th & 26th June, 2nd & 3rd July 2020). We shared our visions and listened to you. We reached out to young people from all over the world, inviting them to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Here is a visual summary of what we heard you say. It’s drawn by Nitya Wakhlu.

While listening to young people from many parts of the world, in response to the question of the common concerns that young people face today, we found an overwhelming incidence of social anxiety.

The emotional stress of competing in the world, anxiety, mental health and issues, along with the pressures of body image and body shaming, and the pressures of exams. We heard a deep concern about the environment, and also about their job and career. The clouds we saw were of pressure, stress, loneliness, alcohol and drug abuse, little time for reflection, cyber addiction, and an overuse of technology. Over 50% spoke of their perpetual distraction due to social media.

Many lamented that they were “being forced” to take up things not aligned with their deepest calling. We picked up what appeared to be a serious lack of confidence and anxiety. Suicide among young people (15-29years) accounts for one-third of all suicides globally and is the second leading cause of death in this age group.

In game theory, this is a situation in which the rewards / benefits and costs / effects experienced by all players do not balance (i.e., they add up to less than or more than zero). In these situations, one player’s – or, country’s, organization’s, community’s – gain is not necessarily another player’s loss.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.