Musings: A Visit to India – Gathering Lessons for our Youth

Because of this, the focus of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation (www.TKF.org) has been for the last 21 years placed upon the youth, teaching in clear heartfelt terms the principles of nonviolence, empathy, compassion, forgiveness and peacemaking.

Recently, I was invited to India to speak to the students at Amrita University founded by the Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, also known simply as “Amma” (www.Amma.org). In fact, as I write this newsletter from the beautiful state of Kerala – following my memorable and well-received visit to Amma’s ashram – I am in deep gratitude that I have learned more from Amma and the sages of India than what I have taught.

Here are some of the highlights…

Amma emphasizes the importance of educating our youth in spiritual matters. The current educational system, Amma recognizes, has been reduced to a tool for obtaining material success. This serves to inflate the ego. What we truly need today is egoless, compassionate leadership. She says, “We should eliminate the egotistical notion that our life will become fruitful through human effort alone. We should bow down. Only then will the power supporting the cosmos flow into us.”

The younger generations possess tremendous energy. If this energy is properly channeled, as TKF strives to do, our youth can perform wonders. It they change, the world will change. This reminds me of a famous Gandhi quote: “If we are to reach real peace in this world, we shall have to begin with children.”

Amma is concerned that today’s youth are missing a very key element in its growth. “Today, the phase of human life known as youth is disappearing. We jump straight from childhood into old age. In fact, youth is the center-point of life. It is a time when we are neither child nor adult.”

As we know adolescence can be a difficult time. The youth experience many challenges as they navigate the entry into adulthood looking for direction for their lives, dealing with raging hormones, a clear identity, self-esteem, sexual orientation, gender issues, divorce or separation of parents, peer pressure, the challenges and temptations of drugs, alcohol and violence as well as a plethora of other challenges.

Yet this is the most opportune time to train minds through a “true education,” which emphasizes the values of spirituality, empathy, compassion, tolerance and respect for all races and religions – values consistent with what TKF teaches and more importantly role models.

Amma has acknowledged the Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda whose vision of spirituality as he taught over 100 years ago was “a way of living to be performed in the world, while interacting with all types of people and facing all circumstances and challenges with courage and composure.”

In his latest column in the Saudi Gazette, Khalaf Al Harbi, a liberal journalist and thinker based in Saudi Arabia, heaps praises over India describing it as the most tolerant nation on Earth.

In India, there are more than a 100 religions and languages. Yet the people live in peace and harmony. They have all joined hands to build a strong nation that can produce everything from a sewing needle to the rocket that is preparing to go to Mars.

Harbi says he feels a bit jealous because he comes from a part of the world with one religion and one language and yet there is killing everywhere. Said Harbi, “No matter how the world speaks about tolerance, India remains the oldest and most important school to teach tolerance and peaceful coexistence regardless of the religious, social, political or ethnic differences.”

Someone once said, “As long as there are birds, flowers and children, everything will be all right with the world.” But I believe we need to include luminaries and visionaries like Amma and the sages of India and other nations. I learned a lot from India and was hugely blessed for such a rich visit. Once I kissed India’s sacred ground, I left the country after a truly auspicious and palpable experience.