BLOSSOM TAITON LINDQUIST: Famous singer and dancer, Sweden & Group: (Singing)
I have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything,
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale, you can take the future even if you fail,
I believe in angels, something good in everything I see,
I believe in angels, when I know the time is right of me,
I’ll cross the stream, I have a dream,
I have a dream, a fantasy, to help me through reality’
GURUDEV SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR: What creativity, lovely.
In Sweden, we have also discussed the importance of our inner peace; that actually violence and stress in the society only mirrors our inner status. But of course, it is also tempting to blame the others, to point fingers to say that it is your fault and to look at others as role models. But we do understand that we need to take personal responsibility. Actually many years ago when I interviewed Depak Chopra at such a programme once, you said that addiction is the deepest hindrance of our society, and that it would take many-many forums. But the good news was that behind the addiction there was something good and very deeply human, namely the search for spiritually ecstasy. So if we were only to find otherwise healthy ways to find spiritual ecstasy that would help us and heel us. We do have an area here in Sweden that is very successful in that area and we will share that video. First Gurudev, please tell us what do you think are the most powerful ways and healthy ways to reach spiritual ecstasy?
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I would say two things - one is finding the love deep within you, this you can do through deep breathing exercises and meditation. Second, expressing that love in action, as service to people around you; that would give you immense satisfaction. Usually people seek for job satisfaction. I would say you can’t get job satisfaction by just doing some job to earn for yourself. But if you are doing a job that would help others, if you are doing a service that would brighten the faces and lives of people, then that will give you immense satisfaction. So finding love inside within you, understanding you are a fountain of love, and then expressing it in life as service; these two are essentials.
Annika Dopping: Beautiful. Thank you. We will tell you that one of the favorite Swedish ways to reach spiritual ecstasy is our old tradition of choir singing, and almost one out of 10 Swedes is a member in choir. There has been profound research conducted in this area where they have proved that it is healing, soothing, relaxing, and calming. In a few moments, we plan to engage all of you in a huge, global choir, singing a famous Abba song. You will have to guess which one we will pick (clapping). This way, by uniting our voices all over the world, we will take practical action to release tons of oxytocin, which is one of the reasons that this is so healing. It is the love hormone or feeling good hormone. Oxytocin is released immensely in choir singing, and we will create spiritual ecstasy and peace of mind across borders, building relationships and triggering our experience of being a small, but very important part of the huge organism of mankind. So, we will be back soon. Thanks for now from Sweden.
GURUDEV SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR: I would like to say that Annika Dopping did a program called Ageing Gracefully and I was also a part of that. It is so essential to educate or to make people aware that people in their sixties and seventies and further on are really wanted by the society and the society respects them. That respect for elders and giving them a sense of belongingness that they are wanted, they are no longer thought to be like useless people, but they are really wanted, and respected. This gives them the dignity that is really due to them. It’s beautiful.