Thoughts on living in an awakening world

Awakened Master Prajnaparamita

An Interview with Prajnaparamita, an awakened Master

Prajnaparamita is leading a retreat at Kawaipurapura on Feburary 16 and 17. Find out more here.

1. There seems to be a big shift in the way businesses are being run and in the way people are reconsidering their lives. What do you see happening?

Globally, structures are breaking down on all levels. They can no longer hold themselves. The banks, politics and many corporations, the way they were used to operating is no longer possible.

What have we done? Our outlook has been the ‘economy’, with ever increasing production and higher assets.

People are tired under the old structures in which they feel empty and lifeless. Many feel betrayed and angry and I sense there is a veil of sadness over humanity globally. For so long shopping has been our foremost remedy but now even this no longer fills the hole in our hearts.

We witness climate change and pollution inflicted on such a massive scale. We have been living so selfishly and greed-based, stealing our beautiful planet from our children. Now we’re reaping the bitter fruits of our carelessness. The earth is crying out for awareness. Our lives are crying out for awareness.

So now! This is the time for fundamental change – everybody feels it.

Competition has been our ruling creed for so long. It is something we learn about in primary school. We learn to compete, we learn to win and that’s has become the norm in our western society. It’s killing us. When we observe nature, everything is co-operating. It’s only the ‘civilised’ human beings that compete. We are in fighting mode, we strive for the top, we want to win. It is a masculine aspect, that has been suiting a male-orientated society for a long time.

This era is now coming to an end. We need to redefine our definition of success. We need to make a shift from competition to co-operation and connect the brain with the heart.

2. Is it as simple as a change of perception?

Yes, and this is demanded in our time. Let’s listen to our conscience, to the wisdom of our children and realise the statement that nature is making these days.

This is where the younger generation have an advantage. I have such confidence in them. They have energy and a resilience to break through it all. They have such refreshing creativity and playfulness. They are the world of tomorrow!

Co-operation requires a mind that is transformed from a fragmented sight to a sight of totality. Selfishness no longer has a place here. Decisions will then be made from an entirely different point of view, incorporating all aspects and all people involved: what is good for the business, what is good for the workers and what is good for the boss. When we are willing to live like this, everybody feels responsible, connected, and respected.

3. I’ve often heard you say it is not money, it’s mind.

It is mind. It’s not money. Money has been a way of living. Economy has been a way of living, but it has been so cold, tight and dry. Our mind is basically the only thing we need to address. We cannot bring this split mind into the new world.

4. As a member of the older generation, what would you say are the pitfalls for the creative generation?

Be honest. Make ‘being green’ not just a new marketing thing, but allow it to root in awareness of totality. If you are not aligned with this honesty and this consciousness, it is the same old pattern in a new outfit. We need to realise that we, all of us, are inhabiting this living planet.

We are all brothers and sisters and we live together with the trees, the lakes, the forests, the mountains, the animals. We can no longer continue harming our environment. We hear a lot about global thinking, but global consciousness is another thing.

This is an outcome of realising unity consciousness in your very heart. This means profoundly realising Oneness and acting accordingly. This means to no longer honour fears and a fragmented mindset. This means to no longer deny and ignore what is really true.

5. Can you say more about this fragmented mindset?

We tend to see ourselves as a person, separated from the rest of the world. We are working towards achieving a goal, and solving problems. Then, when we get what we are after, our joy and delight does not last long. The drive, stress and strain of pursuing our goal is over, soon to be replaced by disillusion and boredom. No matter how hard we strive, it is never enough. We stay unfulfilled and restless.

We are outwardly always in search of completion, overlooking that we have only imagined ourselves to be separated from totality.

Fortunately, more and more people these days are getting very tired of all striving and contemplate about real success and lasting satisfaction. Many come to realise that the frustration and sadness basically is an outcome of our sense of separation from wholeness.

When one finally stops and lays the mind to rest in the heart, one comes to see that there is one spirit moving through everything. And that nothing is out of connection. You come to see that actually your unified heart is your very home. And you realise that the identification with this separated entity called ‘I’ is delusionary and has never been true.

This realisation is such a relief and brings about a fundamental change in how you operate. It’s exhilarating, energising and liberating to acknowledge.

The mystics have testified over the centuries that truth and truth alone will set you free.
We are entering now a new time. There are massive changes, not only on our planet but in our universe and it seems we are entering now a completely different time span that is very beautiful actually, that is more ruled by what’s called feminine energy, more caring and more united. Caring, uniting, serving, acknowledging, co-operating, rooted in love and respect.

6. Do you think this emerging trend is strong enough to really make a change?

Yes, because it is surfing on a wave of cosmic transformation. We may have a few more really upsetting events. I hope not, but it may be. It is a very, very big transition that we are going through these years. The focus was on December 2012, but it seems to me that we are in the middle of this transition that may go on for a couple more years.

7. It seems to me you are talking something that is not a choice, something that is a natural destiny.

Contemplating about what is really true, turns you inside. You heart knows and you learn to listen to your inner wisdom. More and more your choices will come from choicelesness, as you just obey what is shown inwardly. It is the end of effort and striving, the end of inner fight, the end of fighting for improvement, or fighting against something. Then your actions will be anchored in love and you will have a natural tendency to serve.

Like a king or a queen should be a servant to his or her people. So a person can serve the call of the heart, the call of destiny, the call of the blueprint of your life.

8. How do encourage this natural tendency?

Trust yourself, be honest, be still, 5 minutes a day, and listen within. You can start teaching this at school, start teaching toddlers, one minute a day. Just be still. It is easy. It costs no money, nothing.

But do you really want to access yourself, let go of all ideas and even your erroneous point of reference, called ‘I’?

9. Do you think people do not give enough attention to this inner world?

Many do, to an extent, as long as it is comfortable. But when reflection is touching something that is uncomfortable or painful, many cover it up again.

You are intelligent and sensitive, look now. Face everything, exactly as it is and no longer allow fear to be your boss. You are young and healthy, you are not under threat. Look now! Dig up your impersonal power, the power of love.

Then you cannot help but live love-based instead of money-based. You will be instantly happy and at ease, no matter what. Then you live life as life itself, total, One. In the new world that is dawning, you, being stable and living from the heart, will benefit the world best.

10. You have this ‘place of awakening and natural living’ in France and you are the steward of this place. When I am there I see co-operation happens everywhere, people are very honest, and they are very sensitive to each other. How do you cultivate those qualities?

I’ve never been leading a business. I just look and make the decisions on the ground as to what is serving everybody. And all decisions are based on that. What is good for everybody?

I consider the whole picture. And the people are happy and thriving. They feel acknowledged and responsible. If they feel fit, they contribute a lot. If they don’t feel fit, they rest a lot. We remember the transformative force of play, we remember what it is to live without purpose.

And if we can do it here, it can be done everywhere. We only need to validate ourselves and be honest, so we no longer need to live in a suffocating web of rules and regulations. Realising the interconnectedness and sacredness of all and everything, we will have to re-invent our economy and society so that it is no longer based on fragmented ideas.

Humbly working together, everything needs to be re-shaped, playfully and artistically. It is now that we need to be true to ourselves. It is now that we need to stop being engaged with fear and control. What freedom, what joy, what power and dignity to live our best lives!

About Prajnaparamita:

Prajnaparamita first came to New Zealand in 2010 and was deeply touched by its natural beauty and the profound wisdom that resided with its people. Meeting Maori wisdom keepers Ruth Tai and Dr Rangimarie Rose Pere, she is now returning to see more of the land, meet more of the people and reconnect with old friends. She will be giving public satsangs at Kawaipurapura retreat centre on 16 and 17 February.

For more information on Prajnaparamita click here.