Thames Speaks with Harendra Singh Jodha – LIVE

Thames Speaks – Satsang with Mohanji
10/03/22

Host: Good evening. We had many guests in the past, and we discussed various issues and different topics. I think every human being wants to meet people who can transform their lives.  Today’s episode is based on transformation. I will share my ideas about transformation. The one thing needed for transformation is conversation. In the past, in history, we had many discussions which changed human civilization and impacted human lives.

Quoting a few such discussions, there was a discussion between Rishi Yagnyavalkya and his wife, Maithreyi. There was one more discussion between Lord Krishna and Arjuna; there was a discussion between Yama and Nachiketas, and there was a discussion between Menanda (Milinda) and Nagasena.

Today on the bank of the Thames river, we will have more discussion, where I, as a seeker, will ask questions. Our guest is well known to everyone. He is the founder of Mohanji Foundation, ACT 4 Hunger, and has done a lot of work. He is himself an amazing master from the Indian and Himalayan traditions.

I can say many things about Mohanji, but I think with time, his words and whatever he has done in the past, namely his work, will be much more valuable than his own biodata! I would like to welcome Mohanji to the show. Pranaam, Mohanji!

It’s great to have you on this platform today. I think the audience will be enlightened and understand exactly who we are, what our ultimate aim in life is, and what exactly we want to achieve in life.

BE YOU, original YOU

One of your core messages, behind all the charities and your programs is called ”Be you”. I would like to start my program with this: What is basically your core message “Be You” and how exactly does it help human beings to realize their own potential?

Mohanji: Thank you Harendra for having me here. It’s wonderful that I am able to speak to you and speak to all of you. The core message, “Be you” – this is not only from me. This is the fundamental of Sanatana dharma, where all individuals are respected, appreciated, and recognized as unique. We all are. But our system sometimes likes us to be stereotyped or another brick on the wall. That’s not our state usually.

We are completely free, completely original and what you are minus your relations, your position in the society and your possessions – that’s you.

Whenever we ask somebody who they are, they always talk about “I am so and so”, and “I am in this position” or we respect people based on their richness and wealth and such. Minus all that, what exactly you are- that’s the original you. It’s the responsibility of all of us, to understand what we are, minus our position, possession, and relations. Three things. That’s my core teaching.

Host: We live in the West. We believe in a capitalist world; we believe in a materialistic world. Whenever people ask us about our own life, we will talk about our car; we talk about our house; we talk about our possessions and definitely positions, as well. Maybe we will talk about our links or connections. I think this is how a human being tries to portray his own image. Basically, he is completely different from what he is actually!

Similarly, about 400 years ago, there was a person called Peer Dastagir. He met Baba Guru Nanak and asked three basic questions.

Delusions that we carry all our life

The first question was: “If God has created the world, then who created God and who was before God?” His second question was: “Where does God live?”  Third question was: “What does God do?”

These three basic questions I can still see in the younger minds of this western world. Whenever they are in the seeking mode, they look for answers to these three questions and wonder what they will be. I believe you are the right person to whom I can ask these questions.

Mohanji: Wonderful. The first part of your explanation is very interesting for me. We have to bank on something else to say who we are. This is exactly the delusion we carry all our life. Because we believe we have to talk about ourselves as  somebody’s child, somebody’s son or daughter, somebody’s wife or sister or brother or any relationship, we can only talk about us as a relative existence.

We are part of the relative existence. But there is an absolute existence that’s possible. That’s exactly where we are looking at. This is the path of spirituality Sanatana dharma talks about. It’s simply acceptance; acceptance of oneself, one’s conditions and one’s originality.

Now the delusion that we carry; we spoke about our possessions, and all these things; when do we have them?  Only during the waking state, when we are awake. Where are these or will they bother us when we are dreaming, or when we are in deep sleep? Every 24 hours we are going through these three states: waking, dream, and deep sleep state.

In two of these states, none of these things matter; our position in society has no value; possessions have no value, and so also relations. But they have great value only during the waking state. We are banking on them to portray our image in the world.

That’s often the delusion that we carry. If we lose something, we are in tremendous problems because we are so dependent on it.

Now, coming to the questions which Peer Dastagir ji asked Guru Nanak: ”If God created the universe”,- the answer lies there itself. God did not create the universe. Many, many beings created what we see from pure energy. God is pure energy, brighter than a million suns. That’s the image which Lord Krishna portrayed to Arjuna in chapter 11 (of the Bhagavad Gita), that everything – past, present and future sits together in this thing called God, which is complete brilliance.

God is a presence. From the presence, matter conglomerates. Just like the Sun is a presence. Sun is not doing anything on earth. Its presence activates the earth. Our soul is presence. Soul is not doing anything. Soul is just being available, but it activates a life. When the soul is inside the body, we call it life.

When the soul leaves the body, we call it death. So, this is the fundamental principle we must understand. God is not sitting down and creating. In our system, we had many Prajapatis; they were creators, and we can think of them as architects, sculptors, or painters – creative people.

They had great imagination; they delicately assembled elements and had the technology or the knowledge to bring the soul factor into their creation. That is similar to how pranapratishta is done in the temples today. It is the same system. But pranapratishta is inducing a particular frequency into an idol, which can communicate silently through energy transfer in the temple.

That’s why Hindu temples are not just places of worship. They’re places of activation, rejuvenation, and reinvention. Similarly, God’s position was first probably the creation of an atom, which has come from energy conglomeration.

When an atom is dissected, raw energy is released- theory of atomic bomb. So, God’s creation, its creation was an atom, which means a unit and unit created space. Space means when objects are formed – out of the ocean of Consciousness; an object is created, an object between objects, which is energy conglomeration, space was created.

When space was created, space created time. Nobody created time. Space created time, from here to there. That’s how time was created. Time happened. Nobody created it. Space made the possibility of time. Time, space, object – this is how life was created.

It’s a spontaneous movement. Nobody is sitting down and creating. But we are creating our destiny through our unfulfilled desires, inclinations, tendencies. All these things ask us to come back in another body. Whatever we deny, whatever we suppress, whatever we postpone is equal to another existence. So, our flow of life tells us what we are looking at. Our delusions tell us that we need another birth.

Fundamentally speaking, God as a human or a body or a factor did not create; it happened because of the presence of God. God means pure effulgence – brightness. God is pure brightness and brilliance, and from there, energy conglomerated into the matter. The matter has a duration. Energy has no duration. Soul has no duration. The soul is not bound by time; matter (body) is bound by time.

If we understand this factor, we understand the entire creation. There are various frequencies operating, which we call lokas (worlds). So, each world is equal to a different frequency. Beings of those frequencies exist there. That’s how we think about heaven, a particular frequency, where those kinds of beings exist.

Then there are denser frequencies. Earth is particularly having many frequencies. So, we have a multiple range of people existing. This is the sum total of it. This is exactly explained, as per Sanatana dharma principles.

Superficial content in today’s world with no real transformation

Host: I can understand this. There’s a huge difference in the understanding of the people; those who spend their entire lives trying to understand God try to liberate themselves and attain moksha. There are laymen like me who are starting this journey or are trying to understand this aspect.

Now here’s a question that’s relevant to millions of people. Because whenever they discuss this topic, then they will find thousands of people who will talk nicely, in beautiful flowery language, but in reality, there may be no content in it. In other words, there is superficiality in the content; it is not one that will transform someone. What do you think about it? Why are people easily and quickly attracted by such talk? How can they find those who can give them content and transform their life?

Mohanji: I always believe everybody has eyes to see. Nobody is blind. All the people of the earth have clarity and the power to see. People cannot fool others, and this is a statement. But then, why is there superficiality? It’s because of our refusal to leave our comfort zones. This is one of the reasons why many people talk superficially, write superficially, and sell those things. It’s because people do not want to break their boundaries.

Normally we follow a pattern – when a child is born, first and foremost, education, education such that they get a good job. Then it is marriage, children, house, then retirement and all the usual things. This is what society calls success. If a person has achieved all this on his own, he is a successful person. Marriage happens that way. Why we have superficial stuff which is sold well is because people like entertainment, but not transformation.

Transformation is sometimes painful. You may have to face harsh realities. People are not ready. This is possibly the reason why superficial content is sold well.

Now, there are three types of intellect or intelligence; the intellect aspect – for every human being. The first aspect is called ‘shruta buddhi’, which means what we learn from the mouths of people, teachers, religion, parents, and society. We acquire this knowledge from outside, and we believe that it is fine – that it is enough for our life.

The second level of intelligence, or intellect, is called ‘yuktha buddhi’ – the logical mind. That means something which we have identified; we have invented, we connected from within and found out. This is the second aspect.

These are the two aspects with which all the people exist on earth.

There is a third aspect called ‘rithambara buddhi’, which is cosmic consciousness. The path towards that is awareness. But not exactly the knowledge from the world; that does not work there. The cosmic consciousness path is the path to liberation. The path of awareness is liberation.

Acceptance-awareness-liberation

The first step is acceptance – acceptance of you as a complete being and acceptance of everything that you are, including your weaknesses and strengths as your totality, your originality. Not that you appreciate it, boast about it or are proud of it. That’s not important.

Acceptance is totally important. That leads to awareness, and awareness leads to liberation. So, then you are in the cosmic consciousness level. That is the symbolic representation of Lord Ganesha – a huge head, which can understand the entire cosmos, the universe. He revels in that awareness.

This level of teaching is very difficult to understand. That may break many boundaries. But people are happy to receive the first level – the acquired knowledge, from society, from the teachers, from various places.

The second level is higher. We see scientists, intellectuals, writers and thinkers; they’re happy to use the logical mind, and there ends the story. None of these things can connect us to God. We can only become aware of something written by somebody or taught by somebody.

Analysis cannot get us to God. Awareness can get us to God.

God means supreme consciousness. Any teaching which takes us beyond these first two levels of intellect is not really appreciated. When we talk about the truth as it is, it is not appreciated.

But what is appreciated? About God, about something. We like the things about truth, not the truth. Our world operates thus. So, people say, “Okay, let it all happen that way; I also get my money.” That’s why superficial programs exist.

The truth about spirituality is transformation – from mind to consciousness. The journey is from mind to consciousness. If that’s not happening, it’s a wasted exercise. God is not sitting there looking at what you’re doing, how much you are praying, etc. Depending on how transformed you are, you can start feeling God.

To reach your soul, you have to connect to yourself. There’s nothing you can connect to outside. To reach God, the path is inside (within). You have to go within, and then you are everywhere. First, you become a unit; then, the unit becomes the universe.

This is not easy to teach. Acceptance is primary, and you have to be fully in charge of yourself and fully connect to yourself. You can’t blame people or blame the situation. You cannot be egoistic and cannot be proud of some materials. We need to be always aware.

Birth is one boundary, and death is another boundary. Between these boundaries, we call something as life. This life is important – to identify ourselves as to who we are and why we are. If these two are identified, we will reach where we have to reach.

Host: I think it has also addressed the basic question which I asked you. But the one amazing thing which you said is that maybe it’ll be quite difficult to attain God through all these different types of analyses, comparisons and accumulation of a lot of knowledge. As I was thinking about this, the first thought which came to my mind was Mirabai. Probably in her lifetime, she never analyzed or compared different paths. What she did was she just merged with the One. She found Lord Krishna within her heart!

Similarly, I believe people, who are fed up with different types of philosophies, are now moving towards a new idea called experience. They are looking for spiritual interaction. Basically, they are looking for an experience which can enlighten them, liberate them or help them attain moksha. I think this is a huge shift in the last 20 to 30 years, which I’ve noticed in the middle class; they’ve shifted from analysis to experience.

In the past, a lot of people have explained how you can experience the presence of God. As you said, BE YOU means wherever you are, if you are experiencing what is happening around you, if you live in the present moment, this is probably how you connect with God.

What do you think will help in this present time? Especially now, when life and the whole world are full of uncertainty, you see the geopolitics in Ukraine, and you also see there was a pandemic in the world. When the world is full of uncertainty, how can a person connect to God? How will it help them to come out of all those situations and do something which can connect him or her to God?

Mohanji: I think this question is not easy to answer, but it’s very relevant. Flexibility is one word I can think about. What Covid taught us is that what we thought of as important in the world is not so important anymore. People were addicted to doctors, medicines, etc. During Covid, they couldn’t even go to hospitals. So, at every level, they were tested; comfort zones were broken. But that’s a sign of the times.

Soon after Covid, we have the war. I don’t know if Covid has concluded now; probably more variants are coming, too. War is also unpredictable. I mean, this can spill over, and it’s predicted that in this decade, we will see a world war. What’s burning now may spill over eventually. So, this decade is very critical, very crucial. We can’t sit quietly and think that nothing will affect us.

First of all, as I said earlier, God is a presence; the soul is a presence. We need to be more and more aware of which level we are operating. As you rightly said, in the story of Mirabai, her strength was her bhakti. Hanumanji’s strength was bhakti, devotion – unshakable devotion. Nobody could upset it; very strong devotion. When we have that kind of devotion, we become invincible, like Hanumanji. Ashta siddhis and nava nidhis happened to him because of his unshakeable connection to Ram; he was very strongly connected.

How is our connection to the Supreme Consciousness represented by any form – Lord Krishna, Lord Ram or any other form you connect to easily? It’s usually conditional. A conditional connection is a transactional connection. A transactional connection cannot guarantee any kind of elevation. Like “I love you, provided you do this for me.” That’s conditional. I love you for no reason – that’s unconditional.

What we need today is the freedom to share, and what we see today is created by collective consciousness; the consciousness of a group of people who have not been sensitive enough and believed that by conquest or control, they could rule the world.

The system error that we see today, which is permitting wars, bloodshed, and displacements, cannot be changed overnight by a few people, including spiritual people. What we need today is collective consciousness rising to the level where we should refuse wars and bloodshed; even from the school level, there should be no competition, no comparison, and no imitation. This is essential.

We are all unique beings, and we appreciate, accept and respect people. So how do we develop our spiritual quotient? Through internal purification. The best way to purify eternally is selfless service. Serve the helpless within the capacity you have or within your limitations.

Nobody says you should give money. You can share what you have in abundance. You can share time. You can share love; you can share skills. You can share clothes and food. You share what you have in abundance, but you should do it consistently. One thing which is essential for transformation is consistency. What consistency? Consistency with conviction; we should believe in it.

A Guru or God is never insecure. Whether you follow them or not, they wouldn’t care. But we need to connect to somebody or something consistently so that we become aligned; we become stabilized. Then we can go beyond.

This is Kali’s time – kaliyug. Eight billion people are out there. Eight billion people are eight billion mouths, eight billion hearts, and eight billion thoughts. They are only individualistic, and we cannot expect that everybody will think the way you do. But you can think. You can make your life so powerful, so meaningful, that it activates many people around you. 

Society becomes better because of enlightened people who want nothing from society, not people who want everything from society.

Our strength is in what we give, not what we take. 

This kind of fundamental shift of awareness is necessary today, especially because all around us, we see chaos. We can’t blame others; blaming is ignorance. We can’t blame the world. What we are experiencing today is so. We cannot just reverse it, rehearse things and do things differently etc.

Every path is good, provided it suits you

We can live differently. We can connect differently and always remember, like Krishna said, “You worship anybody, but eventually, it comes to me.” That’s Supreme Consciousness speaking. That’s exactly what it is.

We connect to any object or anything which suits us, but it reaches Supreme Consciousness. Like Mirabai, great bhakti is good, or like Ramana Maharshi had great knowledge is also good, or seva or service is also good.

In the Raja Yoga path, Supreme Consciousness, a direct connection to the formless is also good. Every path is good, provided it suits you. It should be as you are, as you naturally can be. Otherwise, everything is just an activity.

A boat is required to cross the river. The boat should be used only to cross the river; after you reach the other side, you must walk. So, every practice and every method is to shift to the next level. After that, we will probably have another boat. Trust that we will get it. That trust is very important – in ourselves or others.

The trust factor is the fundamental walking stick or fundamental thing we need for ourselves to walk the path. Trusting in ourselves, believing in ourselves, having faith in ourselves – that will take us forward.

I am also aware of the fact that as an enlightened person, you have also founded many charitable organizations like Ammucare, Mohanji Foundation, ACT Foundation and ACT for hunger. These are different initiatives done in different countries; there are different organizations. We will discuss all these ideas and initiatives, where you have initiates and methods, and how to give back to society, to the community, after the break.

So, I would like to take permission from my audience, we will be right back here after the break. Until then, wait for us.

Good evening. Welcome back to the show Thames speaks. Today, we are fortunate; we have an amazing guest. He is very popular in Europe, and he is not only an enlightened Master, but he also does a lot of service for human beings.

So, in the second part, we will discuss mainly those services which people can do. How can we do selfless seva? My first question before we reach the second part: What type of achievement a human being can achieve in his lifetime that we can consider one of the finest or the best achievements?

The importance of the contentment factor

Mohanji: In my opinion, contentment, in everything you do is important – be content. Today, what I see in the educational system also, the contentment factor is not given any importance. People choose money, choose to make money, take such courses which will fetch money, and those kinds of things. You can see many people in the world are not happy, not content.

I would give all the marks to contentment; every moment of contentment, being happy. This is very essential today. I think in a lifetime, the best achievement you can have is a contented life. It doesn’t mean there’ll be no fluctuations. It doesn’t mean that there’ll be no problems in life. There will be problems, but at the same time, you are fully content, or you are fully fine in your own skin, contented, and happy. This is probably the best thing you can achieve in this life.

Coming back to the teachers and the superficial teachings, consistency is important. There’s a saying,” If you knock on the same door many times, you are a seeker. If you knock on many doors, you are a beggar!” 

Consistency and contentment – great achievements in a lifetime

Many times, we go to many people and many teachings in a very insecure way. That’s why exploitation happens. That’s why superficiality happens because nobody will take responsibility for the people who are wandering.

But if they are with you, then they become your responsibility. Consistency is very important to achieve something. Two things I talk about are consistency and contentment. These are great achievements in a lifetime.

Host: I agree with you. I think a lot of people do not really enjoy their job when they do it. They feel that they should have been doing something else. So, they don’t live in the present moment. They live in an imaginary world where they really want to do something else, and they want to solve other problems rather than enjoy the present moment.

My next question will also be similar to this. Even if people want to do those things that they enjoy, they may have a job – a cleaning job or a driving job, yet they have desires. What can we do with such human desires? Should we stop those human desires? If we stop them, those desires may haunt them in future. What should we do with those desires?

Mohanji: First and foremost, we must identify our nature right from childhood. There are many education systems today which communicate with the child’s nature so that their nature can be developed. That will give tremendous contentment to children as they grow up. So, first and foremost, there should be no denial of our own nature.

Secondly, in case it happens, they are stuck in a job for the sake of earning money or for the sake of survival without any escape. If that’s the case, whatever your nature is, you can develop that as a hobby which you can fall back on later, which can even be a hobby that may fetch some money and support from society.

Especially when we do things that society needs, society will support us. Many of the things which you just explained about charity work and other platforms, it’s not charity. It’s about your contentment, your fulfilment. This is very important. Whatever you do, if there is no fulfilment in it, it’s short-lived.

The right action is always the one that suits you. The right path is the path that suits you. The right shirt is the one that suits you. That’s the only thing we need to remember. Does this suit me? If no is the answer, if something does not suit us, we should have the guts to walk away – to be honest with ourselves. We should be extremely honest with ourselves; only then can we be honest with the world!

Some things don’t suit us, but we suffer, and our whole life goes like that. Whatever we suppress, whatever we deny, whatever we do not accept, they are all postponements for another time. That means probably another life. These are recipes for a new life.

Fulfilment is very essential in our life

We are run by patterns; similar issues and similar problems keep repeating, becoming patterns. Eventually, patterns control our births. We take many births in the same pattern. Now with regression therapy, etc., people understand this. It’s important for us to know that fulfilment is essential. If a lifetime is spent on activities which are not fulfilling, that’s a completely wasted life. We have to be aware. We have to start with self–respect. We are important.

Each of us is unique, and we are important. You are the most authentic expression you can ever find, or you’ll ever find anywhere. Everybody else you see only in your waking state. You are always with you in the waking state, dream state, and deep sleep state. Our authenticity, what we are, is essential to accept, essential to love, and essential to respect.

Acceptance, love and respect towards ourselves will automatically align us to have a life which is reasonably set on our nature, basic nature. That will lead us to greater contentment and fulfilment.

Host: I know there’s a lot of discussion and debate about contentment and desires and unfulfilled projects. A lot of people spend their whole life completing those things because they feel they are visionaries and have created and visualized their own life – basically, what they would want to become after 10 or 20 years. Yet, this creates a lot of unhappiness. I think this is the root cause of unhappiness in this world at the moment.

My next question is based on the fact that recently, in the pandemic, through Ammucare, you have delivered Rs. 1.6 crore worth of food donations in India. You’re completing 22 years in this particular field.

Mohanji: Ten years. 22 years I worked, and after I left the job, it’s ten years now.

Host: Sorry, apologies for my facts. After you’ve completed all these years, what do you think? You’ve created all these platforms, different charities, those charities which are focusing on humanity, those charities which are focusing on hunger and other things. How would you summarize these activities? What exactly have you done in the last ten years?

Mohanji: I don’t know whether I’ve done anything. I think most of these things happened through me. When I started ACT Foundation in 2003, I was interviewed by the press. It was interesting. I still remember. They asked me the question, “Do you have a lot of money with you?” I said, “No, I am working. I have a salary.”

“So, how are you going to run this organization, Ammucare?” Then they asked, “Do you have people with a lot of money with you?” I said, “No.” They ridiculed me and said, ”Oh, this is not going to work!”

People told me explicitly, “Why are you starting something when you don’t have the resources to run it?” I said, “If what I’m doing is worthwhile to the world, it will run by itself.” Now we are in the 19th year and in 21 countries! It has grown.

I’ll never claim that this is my supreme power or anything. It grew because of so many people involved in it; so many volunteers! Our organization is 100% volunteer based. We hardly have expenses on people. Of course, we are bound by each country’s taxation system. We follow the rules very strictly. In London also, we have the ACT Foundation, a 100% charity serving food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care.

We have the Mohanji Foundation involved in meditations and all aspects of a spiritual nature. These are separate organizations. All are adding value to society. I believe in one thing, which I’ve proved too. As I said earlier, this is the tenth year after I left my job.

I was in the shipping business before. I left the job and joined an activity which was completely uncertain. There was no salary; no idea about income. Also, I had decided I wouldn’t live on any charity money. I wouldn’t live selling God, which means some gospels or something like that. So, I set these two boundaries because all of us need a plan and some values in order to be in the system.

I’ll give you a simple example. Even if it is one dollar or one GBP received, we issue a receipt. So, that’s documented. That money goes to the bank; it tallies with the statement of accounts. Then whatever we spend has an invoice; that also tallies, and then there are pictures of the activity. There’s a straight line where you can trace everything.

Our authenticity is our integrity

I believe that the number one reason for our growth is transparency. Everybody knows what we are doing; it’s obvious. The second one is our people who like to do things and are looking for somebody authentic. Our authenticity is our integrity. We strictly stick to a system where everything is transparent, and everything is understandable and visible. In today’s times, especially with social media, etc., proper visibility is very important.

As you said earlier, Harendra, why do certain people not take the step – one reason is simply fear of society. Nothing can stop us. If we have Icchha Shakti – determination, nothing can stop us.

Secondly, clarity is very important. We need to know what we have to do and why we are doing it; then, nobody can stop us.

All these organizations, like World Consciousness Alliance, for example, are a conglomeration of entertainers in the world. There are people from the film industry and people from the entertainment industry joining together to raise the awareness of the current generation and the generations beyond.

Because they are influencers, they can reach people. It’s not only about meditation and spirituality; it’s about transformation at their level because all the people here are their own frequencies. Nobody is the same as another. There could be similarities, but they are not the same. Each person can add value to somebody’s life.

We have different organizations catering to different people. ACT4Hunger is only for food distribution. So many people were hungry during Covid because, during Covid, most of the ashrams in India were closed. They didn’t entertain people. What would the wandering monks do? So, we went around and started distributing food to the people on the streets, and the monks, the spiritual people who were wandering. In fact, they were not allowed to wander during those days.

Adding value in the right way, at the right time – this is important and needs flexibility. Always thinking on your toes – what we have to do. We cannot have only a rigid system which will work in a particular way. We need to be always flexible and always ready to adapt to the need of the hour.

There are a few factors here – one is determination. There’s no substitute for determination. Second is discipline – this is very important. We need to have discipline. The third is definitely to follow the systems, the government. Never have any kind of uncalculated money or things which are in the dark; no ambiguity.

The fourth is to trust the people and give them full freedom. Because we are a platform, we have many, many people in different countries. They all have great hearts. They have great determination, and they have great willpower. We trust them. They are my family. I always call all of them my family. They are my family indeed, not just my blood relations; it’s everyone!

This makes them feel at home. Today, all the world needs is love, support, and compassion, to get out of this competition and comparison. We don’t need to compare; we don’t need to compete. All these platforms, different platforms, if you go to mohanji.org, you can find them. They are all for people with different frequencies.

You cannot substitute one with another. I don’t think I created anything. All these happened through me because society needed them. All the things that society needs happen through me in my own way. I don’t claim to be a great visionary or anything. I just try to do what is essential for society today.

ACT4Ukraine

Host: I think you believe in the philosophy that you’re not a doer, just a medium, who is facilitating to create these platforms, and the blessings and inspiration are coming from above, the ultimate source – God.

Mohanji: Yes.

Host: My next question is similar. The world is full of uncertainties. Eastern Europe is the centre of geopolitics, especially Ukraine. Millions of people are being displaced, rather, there’s forced displacement or there’s migration because of the clash with Russia. A lot of people are suffering because they don’t have proper food or shelter. You started ACT4Ukraine. What do you think about it, and what are you planning to do through ACT4Ukraine?

Mohanji: We are already functioning. ACT4Ukraine is a particular hashtag we created to serve the refugees, the displaced of Ukraine. Many are in different countries. We have registered offices in multiple countries, in the neighbourhood, but not in Ukraine. We normally work hand in hand with the government organizations or somebody who’s from the official side so that everything is more transparent. There are multiple needs because these are people who had everything at one time in the past. Now they have been displaced, so we can’t treat them as poor people or as wandering people; they’ve been forced into the situation.

What are we doing now? A few organizations have joined hands – Mohanji Foundation Switzerland office is acting as the central body, and then we have ACT Foundation, which is in 21 countries, including the UK. From the UK, a full-fledged vehicle is going with materials to Moldova to serve the many refugees in Moldova from Ukraine. Proactive work is going on right now.

ACT4Ukraine is the need of the hour. We need to help people when they need it most. I always believe in one thing – never leave the hands of people who are suffering, who are weak. We should never do that. Never leave their hands. When they are strong, when they don’t need any help, that’s fine. But I always tell people: Our strength is in our ability to stand by people who are weak. Never leave their hands.

This is exactly what we’re trying to do. We are now raising our support activity in Slovenia. Then there’s work happening in Romania and Moldova, and a vehicle is going from the UK as well. The UK team members are driving the vehicle with supplies. All these things are happening.

Responsibility to share

It’s our responsibility to share what we have. Nobody says that we should share everything we have. What we should do is we should feel for others and help in any way we can.

Now, if we discuss geopolitical situations, especially politics, why did this war happen? I would only say that it’s the effect of collective consciousness. How come the first world war happened, and then the second world war happened? Various wars happened. These are all madness, absolute madness. Any displacement is madness. Nobody wants to entertain wars. Nobody likes violence. Violence hurts us more than others.

I always tell one thing – there are no dos and don’ts in the path of spirituality. But one thing I say don’t do is violence in thoughts, words, expressions and actions; thoughts, words, and actions. You shouldn’t be violent because the violence that we see externally has its root internally. It has started from inside, and it’s overflowing into the world outside. Once it has overflown, it’s like a volcano. Once the lava overflows, it destroys everything on the way.

Now, we can’t say that the war is now fine or that it’s contained. No, it’s not. It can burn like this for a long time. Probably towards the end of this decade, we can see a world war because people will polarize. Countries will polarize; they’ll come together, and they’ll probably nurture the wounds rather than try to heal them.

But as people, I’m not even talking about enlightened people. As good people, compassionate people, and kind people, we have to share what we have. It’s our responsibility to do that. This is what we should nurture from the school level; from every level, we need to be responsible. We always talk about rights. I always believe that we have no authority to talk about rights when we don’t serve our responsibilities.

If we are a citizen of a country, we are responsible to that country first. We need to provide for that country. Like we’re doing the fruit tree plantation here; in the next couple of days.

Host: Before I can go to that question, in every program, I always ask the guests about their favourite book. But I know you are also an amazing writer. You’ve written books such as “Mast”, “The Power of Purity”, “Mind”, “Success”, ‘, “Kailash with Mohanji: The Inner Kora”, and “Silence of Shiva”.

I definitely think you might have a few favourite books, but we’ll continue this discussion maybe at some other point. I know in 2020, we were supposed to have an amazing event in the Parliament, and we couldn’t do it. Now we’re going to a small event, in collaboration with the Mayor of Wokingham Borough Council, for Fruit Tree Plantation. But we’ll also discuss this later.

Today we have a restriction, and that’s time. It may be like an endless discussion because it’s creating more enthusiasm in me and the audience, too; those who are watching definitely love this discussion.

Finally, I can say, “Trust unites. Fear divides. Mercy heals, and love conquers.” So, definitely, love will conquer. We all should fill our hearts with love. Definitely, this discussion is also in the tradition of those discussions which have happened in the past. We will continue with this discussion in the future. Thank you very much. Thank you for joining this, Mohanji.

Mohanji: Thank you so much for having me here, Harendra. I really appreciate it. All the best to all of you.

Transcribed by Nada Rakovic
Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan