A remarkable event was held in the House of Lords of the UK Parliament on Monday 20 May, to honour Kamlesh D Patel affectionately known as Daaji, the Global Guide of Heartfulness. The event provided a unique opportunity to learn about Heartfulness Meditation directly from Daaji and with dialogue to promote harmony, peace and unity. The event ‘In conversation with Daaji to explore inner peace to world peace’ was organised by Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and hosted by Lord Loomba CBE, while the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC moderated the 'Fireside Chat' with Daaji.
Welcoming the guests, Lord Loomba said, “I am delighted to welcome Daaji to the House of Lords of the UK Parliament at the historic Palace of Westminster. Last year in the same room we honoured Daaji and that time he connected us through a Video message. This time we are fortunate enough to meet and greet him personally.
“Daaji has brought India’s spiritual treasures to the entire world and has built the world’s largest meditation centre, Kanha Shanti Vanam, in Hyderabad, which accommodates over 100,000 meditators at once. I appreciate Daaji’s efforts in bringing the leaders from multiple faiths together. Heartfulness has become a global force for inner transformation transcending continents and cultures and sowing seeds of spiritual well-being. Daaji’s teachings offer a pathway to peace. I want to acknowledge his lifetime dedication to humanity and noteworthy efforts in education, wellness, and environmental initiatives through Heartfulness.
"I also want to acknowledge the vital role of CB Patel in serving the community for the last five decades. CB has been tirelessly campaigning through its flagship newspapers Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar for the British Asian community, with groundbreaking publications and events.”
Lord Loomba also requested Daaji that it would be a great honour for the Loomba Foundation if, on 23 June, International Widows Day could be commemorated at the Kanha Shanti Vanam.
Addressing the audience from diverse categories and faiths at the House of Lords, Rev. Daaji said, “We have heard about peace but have you experienced peace? What we have experienced is perhaps silence. Peace is not being a zombie. Once you experience the divinity within your heart then there will be no questions. Troubles will come but they won't be so miserable. The route to everything is Meditation.
“We often talk and express our concern about various kinds of pollution but the root of every pollution is thought pollution. We can clarify our mental tendencies only through meditation. That’s the only way. Heartfulness offers meditation, an experiential spirituality.
“Knowledge or information has to be backed by experience otherwise that knowledge remains hollow, empty and that’s very dangerous. I am not emphasising the role of religions because the religions have totally failed. Religions have divided humanity to a large extent. Even within one sect, there are many fighting sects. Spirituality is the only hope that I can see. Spirituality is not information, it's your inner conviction through experience. Through experience, you would be able to see the next step. There is nothing in this world we can compare to divinity."
Introducing Brighter Minds, which is an initiative of Heartfulness based on the science of Neuroplasticity, Daaji said, “It is a training methodology designed to catalyse cognitive growth for children between the ages of 5 and 15 for a lifetime of learning. Using our proprietary interactive tools and techniques, each of our training programs aims at whole-brain activation where the right brain is stimulated through exercise, sound waves and relaxation to achieve left-right equilibrium. The result is an intellectually, socially and emotionally brighter mind. To develop a better future for our youngsters and carry on our target of saving the planet in multiple ways and dimensions. We are ready to launch this programme in the school.”
Kapil Naidu gave a live presentation and briefed more about Brighter Minds.
CB Patel, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar said, “I have been to Kanha Shanti Vanam for two days. Daaji is doing wonderful work for empowering humanity through meditation. In today’s world, we talk about world peace but it always starts from inner peace.”
His Excellency Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK said, “Thank you Daaji for being here. It’s a pleasure to hear from you in person. It's all about our rich culture. It is all about being tuned to what is around you and tuning with it from the heart. The essence of society is not about tolerance but acceptance.”
HE Gyan Chandra Acharya, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Nepal to the UK, said, “Daaji’s speech was a melody of peace. When in day-to-day life we lose touch with our heritage, spirituality with Heartfulness is a very strong message of revival, going back to the roots. Nepal is known for the Himalayas and meditative thoughts, we would like to take more benefit of Daaji’s work in our country.”
HE Janet Charles, High Commissioner of Dominica, said, “I am delighted and honoured to be here. There is nothing better than having inner peace and spirituality. Dominica would like to work with Daaji, especially for younger people and education.”
The event was successfully compered by Asrhya Lakshman and the vote of thanks was delivered by Mahesh Liloriya, Group Editor ABPL.
Certificate of Excellence
Daaji was conferred with an award and certificate of excellence in 'Empowering Humanity through Meditation' and the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC was honoured with an award and certificate of excellence in 'Vital Role in Delivering Climate Solutions' by Lord Loomba, High Commissioner of India to the UK, Ambassador Extraordinary of Nepal, High Commissioner of Dominica and CB Patel.
Commonwealth Secretary-General moderates the 'Fireside Chat' with Daaji
SG: It was my pleasure to appoint you on behalf of the Commonwealth to Global Peace and Faith Ambassador. The commonwealth is made of people of absolutely every faith. Spirituality is present in all of them, even those who have no faith at all. What made you start on this journey towards spirituality?
Daaji: I had this fire in me from early childhood to pursue a spiritual path. So, when I became a bit independent, at 17-18 years of age, Ramkrishna Paramhansa and his disciple Swami Vivekanand’s book were the source of inspiration for me. Their influence was so intense on my heart that on every page I read I used to cry. My dream was to become like Swami Ji, take off like Sanyasi and travel across all the holy places. So, one day I really took off. During my vacation after my second year of Pharmacy college, I came to my village and near my village there was Narmada River and a beautiful Shiva Temple. I saw some Aghori Babas. I spent the entire day in their presence. One elderly came to me in the evening and said, "Son, what are you doing here?" I said, would you become my Guru? His face was melting and his eyes were full of tears, he said, Son, go back home. I also took off and became a sanyasi and ascetic. I haven't found anything so far; I have only become a beggar. By leaving home you are not going to find God. You will be found by your Guru. In the same month, my friend took me to an ashram and asked me to meditate and that’s how my journey began.
The thing is, we have been conditioned and so influenced that Sadhus and Sanyasis are worshipable but if you get into the inner life of all these individuals, the reality is different. Many Gurus are known for shopping. They charge for the disabled, one who contributes the most can sit on the front row. It's as if you can buy God. My Guruji used to say that if you want to share Brahmavidya it must be free. It cannot be sold. So, it creates so much passion within me to spread spirituality. That’s why through Heartfulness we are promoting that no one should be charged. The app is also free; you can download it. You don’t need to fall on the feet of any Guru. Simply follow the steps and experience. That’s all.
SG: Can you tell me more about Kanha Shanti Vanam? You have turned a barren land into a lush green forest. How did you do that?
Daaji: Kanha Shanti Vanam became a reality due to thousands and thousands of volunteers. It's not a one-man job. The most important thing is water, without water, there is no life. So, we created a lot of small check dams and pits. We put Charcoal in the pits. This charcoal absorbs the moisture and nutrients also. The underground was purer, as Charcoal purifies water and also holds nutrients for a long time. Being a pharmacist, I knew the nature of Charcoal. Charcoal by nature absorbs everything. But if you put charcoal in a barren land without charging it with some bio-nutrients, it will absorb the nutrients and the plant will die. So, we saturated the charcoal with biowaste. We worked on these two principles. In the beginning, since there was no water, I used to ask every visitor to bring a gallon or two gallons of water and adopt a tree. This is how in two years the entire 1400 acres of land was transformed. We have developed rainforests.
SG: Along with Kanha Shanti Vanam, how did you grow spirituality into diverse faith followers and non-believers?
Daaji: I want to share a real experience of our Aadi Guru Shri Ramchandra Ji of Fatehgarh. In 1927 he travelled by train and visited the Malva district. While walking through the forest, he was attracted towards nature, the land, water, trees and sky. That place reminded him of Kakbhushundi’s ashram. He said that the spiritual charge can be easily established in nature in comparison to human beings. If human beings are given the divine charge, some can receive it but lose it instantly. Very rare, one in a million can receive it, hold it and multiply it. That’s not with the plants, nature. Trees retain it even after death. So, my passion was to create a forest kike that. I made up my mind to develop a forest of a few acres. That’s how Kanha Shanti Vanam helps experience spirituality, holding it and multiplying.
SG: What would you like every one of us to do to make this troubled world more peaceful?
Daaji: Sensitise your inner consciousness through meditation. Have the courage to follow the voice of your conscience. Otherwise, the divine voice stops coming to us.
