An Evening of Conversation & Meditation It's easy to compromise on our humanity and that of others when we're preoccupied with meeting our basic needs. A Compassionate response to life's challenges can be hard to hold on to. When our inner compass is guided by our natural goodness, we inherently live with care and respect - nothing and no one can take that away. Can we hopeful for a more dignified world? One without war or poverty? Equal of opportunity? No Suffering? Brahma Baba, the founder of the Brahma Kumaris, had an unwavering fath in humanity and our ability to change the world for the better. This event honours the vision and faith he had and we invite you to join us to explore what we can do as individuals to rekindle human dignity. With Sister Jayanti, Sudesh Didi, Glynis German and Nina Buchanon.

Life is a series of mini-deaths and new beginnings. Year by year, and even moment by moment, scenes, roles and relationships are embraced and then fade away. Life by its very nature is transient and yet sometimes we find it difficult to let go and move on. Join Ash Patel to explore how we can fully savour the richness of each experience in life without holding on and welcome a bright future free from shadows of the past. Ash works as a Sales leader in the IT industry. He is an experienced practitioner of Raja Yoga meditation and its teachings having realized the power of meditation and good wishes. With compassion and heartfulness, he continues to learn and apply its practical application across all aspects of his life, to bring about transformative change.

Something or someone has just upset you: a perceived injustice, a disappointment or a flash of jealousy, maybe. When an emotional storm is raging inside us, it seems we have two options. We either ‘express’ - let it all out, speak our heart, but often the repercussions double our trouble. Or we ‘suppress’ - keep it all in, allow it to fester and ferment and risk creating serious illness in the long term. Is there a third way? By ‘processing’ the emotions, checking the reality of the thoughts that are fueling the fire inside us, perhaps we can ultimately find the truth that sets us free. Speaker: Radha Gupta Radha is a meditation teacher based in Rome, Italy. She was introduced to Raja Yoga during her childhood in India where she grew up. She deepened her practice in the UK and subsequently in Italy where she currently coordinates the activities of the Brahma Kumaris centre together with her work at a Rome-based UN Agency.

Whether it is blaming circumstances or blaming people this widespread habit of making others responsible for the difficult things that happen to us is endemic in today’s world. But is this blame culture helpful and what do we stand to lose by playing it? Our speaker, Erik Larson, will explore the deeper reasons behind this common but complex habit and share practical ways to move on to more enriching and rewarding responses. Speaker: Erik Larson Based in New York, Erik has been involved with the Brahma Kumaris for over 35 years. With a background in Civil Engineering and experience in property loss control for over 30 years, he blends the very practical with the very spiritual to achieve a common-sense way to look at life and to help others. Erik is a Director of the Brahma Kumaris (USA) and also BK representative to the United Nations. He is a member of the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief and a member of the Committee of Religious NGOs. Erik is also a founding member on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum.

Everything that we can measure fluctuates, whether it is our bank account, waist measurement or popularity. Abundance doesn’t have a number, but it does have a frequency. And once we tune into it, we truly break free of the fear of lack, loss and limitation; and ultimately start to dwell in a state of joy and abundance, no matter what life gives or takes away. Sister Dr. Jenna is the author of the recently released book Meditation: Intimate Experiences with the Divine through Contemplative Practices, which includes over 30 contributing authors. As an acclaimed, trusted spiritual mentor she is committed to bridging divides in societies and building relationships between global influencers. She is the founder and director of the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Museum, located in the metropolitan Washington D.C.area, host of the popular America Meditating Radio Show and recipient of the President’s Lifetime National Community Service Award. Websites: www.MeditationMuseum.org & www.AmericaMeditating.org

Honouring World Kindness Day It is a well-known phenomenon that humans mirror each other. Kindness is contagious, you can’t help but pass it on, and when you do, the first person to benefit is you. Kindness offers the giver, receiver and even an observer of it, benefits of health and happiness. And yet it seems to be in increasingly short supply. Our speaker, Neville Hodgkinson, will describe discoveries that have allowed him to increase his own KQ – his Kindness Quotient. Neville is an author and journalist who specialised for much of his career in writing about health and medicine. His books include I Know How to Live, I Know How to Die – the Teachings of Dadi Janki, and Will To Be Well - the Real Alternative Medicine. He is a Raja Yoga practitioner with the Brahma Kumaris and lives at the Global Retreat Centre, Oxford.

In Wayne’s Dyer’s movie ‘The Shift’, he talks of the morning of our lives being a youthful time of egoistic pleasure and power seeking. Whereas the afternoon, when we mature, we shift into living with purpose and meaning, in service to others. This shift, is essentially one of perspective. From fear, survival and scarcity into love, abundance, faith and cooperation. Our speaker, Eric le Reste, will explore the understanding behind and importance of perspective and share his practical experience of making the Shift. A journalist, producer and award winning documentary maker, Eric has been with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC/Radio-Canada, for more than 30 years. Throughout his career, Eric has always maintained a special interest in spirituality and serves as the National Coordinator for the Brahma Kumaris in Canada. He participates in various international projects, including ‘Images and Voices of Hope,’ a project dedicated to inspiring new restorative narratives in the media.

Lack of vitamin D eventually causes all sorts of physical and mental struggles. We need sunlight to survive and thrive. It’s the same with the soul. Without light, and the clarity, energy and inspiration it gives us, we start to operate as if we were existing miserably in the dark with no power. We don’t need to wait for summer to absorb this vitamin D, we just need to throw open the curtains on our minds anytime and let it in. Speaker: Elizabeth Padilla is a meditation teacher and practitioner with over 37 years of experience with Raja Yoga Meditation. She lives at the Brahma Kumaris Anubhuti Meditation & Retreat Center just north of San Francisco, California, where she manages the programming and retreats. She is a gifted actor and singer, trained at the American Conservatory Theatre. A facilitator in the Appreciative Inquiry method and Self Managing Leadership, she now designs and facilitates retreats, seminars, and workshops for personal development.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is a celebration of the homecoming and of regaining the lost sovereignty - very relevant to the current times and highlights our own story of victory of good over evil. Join us for a very special event - a lively conversation on the spiritual significance interspersed with reflective moments.

When you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, to one another, and to God Kahlil Gibran In Gibran's famous prose he paints a beautiful and powerful picture of what it is to work with love. But what if you hate what you are doing? Should you simply leave it and follow your dream, or learn to love what you do. Maybe neither seems possible. Our speaker this evening will explore this common and complicated dilemma which many of us face. Speaker: Rachel Priestman Rachel’s varied career has spanned librarianship, urban regeneration, PR and marketing, events and arts management - and a few other things in between. She currently volunteers with the Brahma Kumaris at Global Co-operation House in London, where she helps with media and public engagement activities.

The world is a web of inter-locking, interactive communities of interest through which we fulfil our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs and connect with others in ways that give greater meaning and purpose to our life. This evening we will celebrate the essence of three very different but exciting communities where people feel valued and respected and able to make a contribution to making the world a better place. The UK Values Alliance and Brahma Kumaris (UK) are delighted to invite you to join two special online events exploring and celebrating this year’s theme of COMMUNITY – the theory and practice of how to create powerful, positive communities in which people feel valued, accepted and heard in a world that often rides rough-shod over our humanity. Contributors: Zina Manda is the compassionate co-founder and owner of an award-winning community café situated in a medical centre in an area of London challenged by poverty and isolation. The Lounge Café is mainly staffed by volunteers in need of work experience and provides high quality, freshly cooked meals at affordable prices. It also runs a pay-forward scheme to feed customers who have no money; offers classes on how to eat well and cook on a budget and supports asylum seekers and others in a variety of ways. Onjali Q. Raúf is a dynamic, multi award-winning children’s author and women’s and refugee human rights activist. She is the founder and CEO of Making Herstory which works to end the abuse, enslavement and trafficking of women and girls in the UK, and O’s Refugee Aid Team which mobilises aid convoys and funds to help frontline refugee response teams across northern France and beyond. She is the author of six books, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Boy at the Back of the Class. In 2019 she was listed as one of BBC’s 100 most influential women from around the world. This year she was awarded an MBE for her services to women’s rights and children’s literature. Daxa Shah is the inspiring co-ordinator of ‘Inner Space Wembley’ – a community centre that supports individuals, local communities and businesses to cope with the stresses of life today through a variety of free self development courses, talks and raja yoga meditation. In 2014, she was recognised by the Mayor of Brent as a ‘Community Champion’ for her service to Wembley’s ethnically diverse population. She works tirelessly with the local authority as a Multi-Faith representative.

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” – Howard Zinn A conversation between faith leaders and scientists sharing their vision of a flourishing and sustainable world. Many people now recognise that as citizens of planet earth we are living through a critical moment of choice as we wake up from the slumber of materialism and profit at any cost. Whilst our efforts have been focused on turning back the clock in order to reverse the damage done, perhaps the time has now come for a radical re-think, a re-envisioning of how to create a world in which we can all thrive. This event, as a contribution to The Great Big Green Week, brings together faith leaders and scientists to share their vision of what a flourishing and sustainable world would look like, along with practical insights as to what we can do to get there. Dr. Thomas Bruhn is a physicist leading the transdisciplinary research groupTransformative Spaces and Mindsets (TranS-Mind) at the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam.Dr Bruhn is also leading a project to explore how the transformation of mental paradigms and specific qualities like mindfulness and compassion can be integrated into processes for sustainability. Before joining the IASS he did research on semiconductor nanomaterials in Berlin, Rome and Marseille. He is also a member of the German Association of Scientists (VDW). Philippa Blackham is a journalist and radio presenter. Having worked for BBC Radio 4 in the UK for many years she now coordinates a national project, 100 Women of Spirit, which recognises the spiritual contribution to society made by women. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister and student of Raja Yoga Meditation with The Brahma Kumaris. Canon Giles Goddard has been Vicar of St John’s since September 2009. He is Chair of the Inclusive Church and is closely involved in helping the Church of England to be more fully inclusive. He is chair of Faith for the Climate which aims to support interfaith work on climate change and is a member of the Church of England’s Environment Working Group. He has also written a book: “Space for Grace – creating inclusive churches”. Maureen Goodman is the Programme Director for the Brahma Kumaris UK and the Brahma Kumaris representative at the United Nations, Vienna. Maureen’s work with the spiritual and ethical dimensions of climate change explores the nature of harmony and the connection between our inner state of being and the state of our Earth. She was a member of the BK delegation to COP 26, contributing to workshops and dialogues on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of climate change. She also contributes to the Spirit of Humanity Forum, a platform for leaders to discover new and values based ways to move forward. James Mair is Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology. He has done 40 years of research and teaching activities at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, together with collaborative research projects on marine biodiversity studies in various countries in Latin America. He is interested in the connection between human spirituality and its practical application in ecological sustainability activities. Prof Mair has been a guest speaker at Brahma Kumaris side events at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP14 in Egypt in 2018 and at the recent UN Oceans 2022 conference in Lisbon.