The School of Greatness - 374 How to Overcome Suffering with Meditation Master Preetha ji

Episode Date: August 31, 2016

"You don't need a negative state to propel you." - Preetha Ji If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/374

This is episode number 374 with One World Academy co-founder Prita G. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro-athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome everyone to a very special edition of the School of Greatness podcast where we

talk about how to overcome suffering and dive deeper into your spiritual joy. On the podcast today, we have co-founder of One World Academy, Prita G. Her and her husband, Krishna G, started One World Academy in 2009, and it is a wisdom school for enlightenment. It is based in a new tradition where the focus is on knowing oneself and discovering that we are connected to all that exists. Krishna G and Pritaaji are enlightened world teachers whose vision is to free individuals of all forms of unhappiness.

Their teachings challenge every justification for living in sorrow and inner isolation. And we cover a number of things on this episode. isolation. And we cover a number of things on this episode. One of them being why people feel alienated and isolated so much more now today than ever before. How to focus on your spiritual vision. And what does that actually mean? Also the key to living your life from a place of joy, a three-minute suffering meditation that we do on the podcast that you'll get to experience why you don't need to suffer to achieve the success you want in life and so much more. So many incredible leaders, executives, people like Tony Robbins have been to One World Academy and swear by it as an incredible tool and incredible wisdom to help them overcome their

own inner suffering and move towards the life of their dreams. So we have a real treat today with Prita G in the house, and I'm so glad to bring her on. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only, Prita G. Welcome everyone back to the School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about our guest today. Her name is Prita.

Hopefully I'm pronouncing that right. And thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for the opportunity, Luis. I'm very excited about this. You are the co-founder of One World Academy, which is a wisdom school for enlightenment in India. But you have programs all over the world now. Yes. And essentially it's a school about meditation.

Is that right? It is a school of wisdom as well as meditation. Wisdom and meditation. What's the difference between both? Meditation is a practice by which the wisdom that you gain from the academy becomes your experience. Okay. Okay.

So it is just not an intellectual understanding, but it becomes your personal experience. And we believe in the coming together of both the wisdom as well as a direct experience for a transformation in consciousness. Okay. Perfect. So the experience is in your academy, it's a five-day experience, school? Is that what it is? Yes. We start off with small meditative practices, which is like a three-minute practice, then a nine to 12-minute practice. Then we have a two-and-a-half-day practice. Two-and-a-half-day is the being limitless that's happening around the world. Back in the campus in India, it's a five-day process, which is field of transformation. Gotcha. Okay.

It is a journey. It is an academy where you learn, where you grow. And the purpose and the vision for this academy is for the birth of a new consciousness, is to bring about a revolution in one's consciousness. Okay. Where are our consciousnesses at right now? Where are humans' consciousness at in general that you're seeing? In general.

Before they come into this practice practice where do you see people is it mostly suffering is it confusion is it uncertainty to go at the basic level our consciousness is feeling separated we feel alienated and we feel isolated we start seeing as being separate and we are going towards the entire movement in One World Academy is a movement towards expanding your sense of self, where you feel connected, where you feel expanded, where you feel the experience of love, serenity, peace, and joy. Why do we feel so disconnected?

We feel disconnected because we are engaged with ourselves. We are thinking about ourselves. Not selfish, I'm not talking about that. We are suffering. And the entire thinking is revolving around oneself. And when thinking

is, if you see states of anger, fear, jealousy, frustration, if you look into those states, if you actually see what is happening, you would see the entire thinking is revolving around yourself. Why did this happen to me? Why did he do this this way? I probably deserve something more.

But the entire thinking revolving around oneself. And as we suffer more, as we stay in these limited states more, you're alienating oneself. More. More. Wow. But when we say we are in a state of love, when we're in a state of joy,

if you see and observe how you feel, the thinking is not revolving around yourself. We're not talking about pleasure, but we're talking about a state of love, a state of joy, a state of connection. It doesn't alienate you, right? Yeah. It expands.

And you bring together so many people in your lives. So true. And that experience is so very beautiful. It's so very nurturing and enriching. Wow. Okay. It seems so simple when you say it like that. Where does suffering...

We have a path. We have a path? We have a path to move from this state. A path, yeah. A path to move from the limited state, from feeling alienated, to move into this beautiful state of feeling connected. How easy is it for us to go back to the disconnected state? After coming to the program or before coming to the program? Both.

We have a set of teachings. We have a set of insights. We have a set of teaching. We have a set of insights. So after coming to the program, when people do get back to the states of disconnection, we teach them how to bring the awareness into themselves, where they can move away from that state to a beautiful state. We have tools, we have techniques, we have practices, whereby they move into those beautiful states.

But even with the tools that we learn, we could still easily go back to a negative place or disconnected. But then you know you're there. Yes, you're aware of it. Yes. For most part of our lives, we really don't know that we're there. We're not aware of it. We're not aware of it.

We don't know that we're actually separating. We don't know that we're isolating ourselves. We don't know that we're actually in a state of stress or in a state of mental chatter or frustration or anger. We don't know. Yeah. But we just continue living our lives because the education that we have had has not given us tools to look inside.

Is the education in India different than the education? No, it is just the same. Really? It's probably more competitive there because of the population. Really? Yes. So they don't learn these tools that you have growing up? No.

Okay. But you're trying to bring that to the awareness. We actually work with a lot of, we used to work with a lot of children, but we're getting back to work with them. Yeah. Because we feel by learning these tools early in their lives, there's a huge difference in the way they live their lives. I have a 13-year-old daughter. Right.

So I can see how much it impacts a child. We don't teach her as lessons, but she knows it's a way of life. Yes. Yes. Why do we need to have a vision? Why is it important to have a vision for our lives in order to feel fulfilled or have a meaningful life? Because there's so many people that come to me and say, I don't know what I want. I don't know what my mission is, my vision is. How do I find it? And they're feeling uncertain

and frustrated without a vision. So do you feel like it's important to have a vision? Yes. So let me explain to you. We all have a vision. I assume that we have a vision, a vision moving towards greater success, a vision moving towards contributing more, a vision moving towards having more beautiful relationships. Yes. We all have a vision moving forward in the external life. And few people are not able to find that also. Yeah.

That is sad. One World Academy focuses on a spiritual vision. We focus on a spiritual vision of having a vision for your internal state. Because we are not taught to move away from our limiting suffering states. We're not taught to what? To move away from. Move away from. Yeah.

Gotcha. We don't have a path nor are we taught that To move away from. Move away from. Yeah. Gotcha. We don't have a path nor are we taught that you don't need to live like this. Yeah. You stay in frustration, continue to achieve success.

You stay in stress, you want to stay in stress and anxiety, wanting to create more wealth. Right. But how many of us actually know we need to live our life,

life from place of joy and still you can be so much more powerful in achieving success, Many of us actually know we need to live our life from a place of joy. And still, you can be so much more powerful in achieving success, in creating wealth, in contributing to your family, to your society, to your organization. The focus of One World Academy is to bring about a strong vision. You hold a strong vision for living in a beautiful state. A state where you can move away from this place of suffering to no suffering. From feeling disconnected to feeling connected. From feeling separated to feeling one. What inspired you guys to create this academy in the first place?

And how long has it been around? Yes. To talk about myself. So we're two individuals who've come together to build this academy. To talk about myself first. My glimpse of awakening started when I was nine years. I always could feel another, feel another's pain and feel another's joy. I always felt connected. But at nine, I saw that the world that I was living in was not feeling the same as what I was feeling. It was just a glimpse. I was too young.

At around the age of 17, I started to practice meditation. But it's nothing deep. I've always focused on the mosquito that is hovering or the something silly. The focus was not centered around myself. But down the line, I started having these experiences and expanded states in consciousness to just name a few.

A state where there were no mind commentaries. No mind commentaries. No chatter in the minds. No chatter in the mind. Negative, positive. Just still. No chatter. No chatter in the minds. For a few. mind. Negative, positive? Just still. No chatter. No chatter in the minds.

For a few. It is not a state that lasted for days together. I have had those glimpses. A state where there was no separate self. Like I did not feel separate from you. I did not feel separate from the other. Really? What does that feel like?

Just the experience. A state of bliss. It just came and went. It is not... For a moment. Minutes. For a few minutes. Gotcha.

Yes. Okay. And then a state where the mind was not separating as boundaries between past, present, and future. Where life was just a flow for a few moments. But these states have left a lasting impression. Right. Like, you know there is a state in consciousness where there is deep inner stillness, right? Sure.

There is no mind commentary. You know it is your experience. So when my mind moves into judgment, it's easy to move out of it. When I actually feel separate, when I suffer, I know there is a space in consciousness where you're actually connected. It has been my personal experience. So you feel connected. So it's easy to move out of this space of suffering. And you actually, when you see life is a flow, you're not stuck.

You're not stuck between the past, the present, and the future. You know life is a flow. It's going to flow. How often do you feel suffering now, or do you? I do suffer. Really? Yes. Why and when?

I do suffer when I think about myself, when my thinking revolves around myself, when I feel angry, when I feel hurt. I do suffer. How often does that occur? It probably occurs, but how often, how easy it is for me to get out of the space. To shift.

Yes, the shift, the movement away from suffering to no suffering is very quick. So it's not days or weeks anymore. No, just a few moments. And then you move on. Move on. What do you go through in your mind or heart or spirit when that occurs? When you're frustrated, you're angry about whatever happened, someone else, something that happened.

What do you do to shift? If we can go back to the question that you asked me earlier, and then I can get back to this. Perfect. Yes, probably leave a connection. Perfect get back to this. Perfect. Yes. Probably it will give a connection. Perfect. So that was my experience. Yes. But I didn't start an academy then.

At 17, right? This probably happened when I was in the early 20s. Okay. Yeah. It continued to happen. My husband, we're married for 20 years now. Wow. And the academy is seven years old.

Yeah. Seven years years now. Wow. And the academy is seven years old. Yeah, seven years old now. He also has had many transcendental experiences starting from the age of 11. He's had many experiences. But then the urge to start an academy happened when we had an accident in the Big Bad Lake in California. Really? I'm going there this weekend nothing serious i have a cabin there this weekend you can have fun okay good i'm like uh maybe i should

cancel the trip no it was just it was just a bad day okay so he had we we had an accident it was me my husband and my daughter daughter was five and a half years old. We fell into the water. We were on a jet ski. And it was a very sad moment for us as a family because we wanted to make sure everything is right. We want to make sure everything is right. At least he wants to make sure that everything is right,

happens right for me and the little one. And he just wants everything to be perfect. He doesn't like us to be hurt. Of course. Yes, he wants us to be in a beautiful place all the time.

This happened when we were all in the water. Probably he suffered the most because he was feeling bad. He was feeling he was in a very bad space. Yeah. In those moments in water, he had fundamental insights into life, into suffering, into the fundamental root cause of suffering. root cause of suffering.

It came as an insight that dawned on him because he was trying to grapple to every idea. He was trying to think about a real, why did it happen? Why did God make this happen to me? How did it happen to me? And he had a fundamental insight into all of human suffering. And he saw that every idea

that he was trying to take refuge, whether it is a concept or an idea or a metaphysical idea or a religious idea or a spiritual idea, everything was just an escape from suffering. And in order to actually be free from suffering, he had to see his truth. He had to see the entire journey of his thinking. And from that space of seeing the truth, he had a magnificent expansion in consciousness. Wow. That was the experience then.

But that experience became the foundation for One World Academy. Wow. A foundation of One World Academy, Wow. A foundation of One World Academy which has the wisdom to pierce through suffering and also has a practice and process to move people away from the suffering.

It is not something that is going to last for a few minutes and go away, but it's going to last for probably a few minutes, the experience, but it will leave a lasting impact on the way you think, the way you experience, the way you live. So that became the foundation for One World Academy. And now getting back to the question that you asked me, what is the question? How do you move through suffering, I believe, was the question, when a moment of anger, frustration...

I believe was the question when the, when a moment of anger, frustration. So we have the tools, we have the path to more of suffering. So I can, I can, we can also,

we speak a lot in the two and a half day program, but we make them experience it as well. So it is just not an intellectual understanding. For most part of our lives, we really don't know that we're suffering. We don't know that we are in this limiting states of anger, of fear, of frustration, of stress, of anxiety. Yes? Yes. We feel in that space, life feels so difficult.

Yes. In that space, life feels so painful, so heavy. So we have a practice, even the smallest three-minute practice that we see. Get to your emotion. What is the exact emotion that is arising within you now? It is a small practice for three minutes. So people learn that practice, they know what exactly they're feeling.

And it involves a small technique of visualization to move them away from that emotion to a place of calm. Should we try it? Yes, definitely. You want to try? Sure. Or do you want to try with me or the audience or both of us? Yes. Okay, perfect.

Close your eyes. Can you practice three conscious breaths where you inhale deep and let your exhalation be prolonged? So let us do it for three conscious breaths.. what is the exact emotion that is arising within you right now? It can be an emotion which is limiting, say anger, fear, frustration, stress, anxiety. Or it could be an emotion which is a beautiful state.

It can be a state of calm, peace, love, joy, serenity or bliss. joy, serenity, or bliss. Recognize the exact emotion that is arising right now. As you recognize this emotion, observe your mindset. Where is your thinking revolving around? Is it moving into the past? Or moving into the future? Or is it moving in the present?

Are you just in the present? Observe your thinking. If you're obsessing about your past, or obsessing about your future, or are you in the middle of your skull, the place around your Thank you. I'm going to let you ready. you may open your eyes. So why that process? What does that process do for us? It actually helps in getting in touch with your emotion.

You don't know. You feel so clouded because you're so fast. You have to do one after the other. You have to send your children to school. Then you have to get to work. And then you have to attend to all the problems there, the challenges there, then get back. Life is so fast. We're reacting a lot.

We're reacting, not even knowing from which place you're coming. So this process is to be aware of how we're feeling. Yeah. And it is just a three-minute process. It doesn't take longer than three minutes. So when we're aware that, okay, I'm frustrated. Actually, what happens is, if you think this as the brain, this is how the brain looks, right?

Yes. So the entire activity around the brain when you're in the negative states, when you call it negative states, the limiting states where you feel separate, it's about fear or anger or frustration. It is this part of the brain, which is the limbic system that gets activated. When we're frustrated or angry. When you're frustrated and angry. Okay.

So it's this. This entire part, we can call it the neocortex. Mm-hmm. And this part of the brain is responsible for analytical thinking and logical thinking. So we're not concerned about it. We have enough schooling already happening and all skills given too. So the journey that is happening right now, a journey, a moment within, a moment of actually knowing what is happening,

it focuses on activating the mid-prefrontal cortex. It focuses on activating the mid-prefrontal cortex. Mid-prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for experiencing the expansion and experiencing connection, and it's a place of greater wisdom. This small practice that we did kind of moves away from the limbic, activity from the limbic system to the mid-prefrontal cortex. Okay. So we're activating a different part of the brain. Different part of the brain, which is kind of neglected.

Refocusing our attention on something different. How did you learn all this? We want to help people. We want to help them move out of the suffering states to a beautiful state. We know life can be lived out of a beautiful state. You don't need to suffer all along in order to create wealth. You don't need to suffer all along to achieve. You don't need to suffer, be in those painful states of stress and anxiety.

Because if you're not in that space, you can create so much. You can innovate so much. You can create nurturing relationships. create so much. You can innovate so much. You can create nurturing relationships. You can stay in a beautiful state at all the time, having the space of joy and then still go about doing whatever you want to achieve, but in a more, what do you say, more intelligent way. Intentional. Yeah. Yeah. And so how did you learn these practices? How did you, did you go to a number of centers yourself? Did you learn from meditation experts?

Did you learn the science behind this? Like what did you, did you research? Science decides, we did research ourselves. So we have a lot of, a team of faculty working. So we do our research. We practice it on ourselves. We see what is working for us before we give it out. And the entire objective, actually we started off teaching at a very high level.

We started giving the wisdom. But what we felt first was very difficult for people. The wisdom was difficult for people? To assimilate. To learn. To learn. To learn and to put it in their lives. You have to feel it and experience it and then you can... Yes. So we started with all these practices.

So it is a combination of wisdom and practices that will kind of keep them growing, evolving spiritually at every stage in their lives. Gotcha. So you'll teach the information but then you have people practice the information so it actually stays in their body as opposed to just... And it leaves them transformed.

It is an experience for them. It is not an intellectual understanding. It is definitely not an understanding. It is a practice. Yes. Because we're used to doing things, but not used to seeing what's happening within. So you're turning, you're making an entire turn in their way of thinking, the way of seeing.

When did you start meditating yourself? I did tell you, when I was 17. When you were 17, did you start daily practice or did you... I just practiced whenever I wanted. Gotcha. There was nothing structured it is just we just practice did someone teach you or is this just a way of culture it's just a culture it's just there gotcha okay i'm just curious um if someone like passed this on to you

it's a family tradition so gotcha okay family tradition so your daughter you say you're not she just knows it because you're practicing it and yes so she probably wouldn't sit down and meditate she's probably right now there at it probably yeah she's done it a few times a couple of times yes but i was just reading um an essay of hers from an from school she doesn't know i read it but i just picked it up and i read i was reading it and whatever she writes she gets it back to a place of being in a beautiful state. She gets it back being in a beautiful state and impacting the world. And world can be a beautiful place if you are in yourself in a beautiful state.

So she's probably it's her way of life right now because it's what is happening in the family. Natural. When your husband or your daughter or someone close to you, you see them experiencing anxiety, stress, frustration, disconnection from their source. What do you do in that moment? I don't teach. You don't teach. What do you do? I connect.

I embrace. You hug. You connect. You say something loving. Yes. Because, see,, you say something loving because see if you are in a beautiful state the beautiful state leaves you in a place of feeling whole

feeling not divided feeling connected and from this place of wholeness it doesn't stop with you, you know you are having something nice it doesn't stop with you it extends it extends into connecting with the other. It extends into impacting others.

It extends into healing the other. It is not about, like if you are in a horrible state, you know how much pain you can create. Yeah, around it, with everyone else around you. Yeah, the life, everything can be just perfect, but you can create so much of pain around you. But if you are in a beautiful state, it extends as connection. There's love and healing around you as well.

It's a place of actually feeling, but everybody in a bad state, then we have to use the teachings. You say, okay, guys, stop. Stop and absorb. And the fastest to do is my husband. He doesn't need three minutes. It's like 10 seconds, a moment. Very fast. So he can recognize and be like, let's shift. Yes. Okay. He's amazing, man.

Really? You should meet him. I would love to meet him. Yes. Yes. I already want to come to India now and do this. So you don't teach, okay? Your way of being is what resonates.

Your energy. Yes, at that moment. That moment. So should you say when any time here, if someone's frustrated or angry or stressed, I should just give them a hug? Yeah, over here, yes. If you're in a beautiful state, the hug can create magic. It would be amazing. I love the hug.

Yes. That works for me. the hug can create magic it will be amazing I love to hug so that works for me what does it do to us emotionally

when we feel a hug or give a hug do you know a sense of comfort a sense of feeling connected right what if someone doesn't want that

they're so angry they're just like get away from me it's not a question of not wanting it's an Indian culture we don't hug. Oh, you don't. You don't.

I tried to hug you guys in the beginning and you were like, uh. In Indian culture, we don't hug. It is namaste. Oh, okay. But it's a beautiful feeling to hug. So you don't hug at all? No, I hug my husband. I hug my daughter.

Gotcha. But not strange white men like me. We're like being like, who is this guy giving me a hug? I apologize. No, it's okay's we understand the culture gotcha gotcha um okay so you but you don't hug other people though you don't hug anyone outside of your family in india is that right if they're feeling anger we hug women we hug gotcha the same gender yeah But not big white men. I'm sorry. No, it's fine.

It's fine. What's the biggest misconception you see that people have around meditation and this practice? They say, I think they feel it is only for a few. But what we feel it is for everyone. Yeah. It is of utmost importance to everyone, especially taking into consideration the present lifestyle that we're leading. The busy, stressful. The stressful levels.

Non-stop. I mean, it's unbelievable stress levels out there. Yeah. Everywhere. Everywhere. Every country. Every city. Every country. Every. Everywhere. Everywhere. Every country. Every city. Every country.

Every place. Every individual. Every age. Why? Why do we have so much stress today? Because we have not brought attention to ourselves. We are just building over stress. We don't know that there is another way of living.

We don't know that it is possible to achieve even if you're not in that space. So many people think only if you're stressed, you're going to achieve. Only if you're in fear, you're going to move forward. But not many people know that you can be in a beautiful state of calm, but still achieve. It is a state of calm courage through which you can move through life and still achieve. It is a state of calm courage through which you can move through life and still achieve. Why do people feel they need to achieve in order to, when they achieve, generate wealth, have whatever, then they'll be peaceful, then they'll be calm, then they'll be happy? That's wrong understanding. That's the way the civilization is structured. But we're pushing

ourselves too far. Because it's coming at a cost of health. It is coming at a cost of a relationship. It is coming at a cost of our own success. Our own achievements. You can live in a beautiful state, but yet be so much more successful. You don't need a negative state to kind of propel you. Because we are stuck with ideals.

So many of us are stuck with ideals and values and we just want to live by that, not bringing a little bit attention to what is happening inside. We want to contribute. We want to grow. But if it becomes an ideal, if it happens irrespective of your internal state, it's not going to be fulfilling. In this state of joy, in this state of connection, to live is joyful. To live in a beautiful state is joyful. To give is joyful. To receive is joyful.

To achieve is joyful. To relate is joyful. You can do this from this place. You don't need to be in that space of agitation, anxiety, hurting yourself. You can still move ahead in this place. How does someone let go of guilt or shame if they become aware that, wow, I've been living this way my entire life.

I've been angry towards people. I've been nasty. I've been... For people who come to a program, it is shocking how much of their life that they wasted.

Right. So how do they let go? They probably have wasted decades. Right. Just living from one place or just living from one experience.

Yeah. And then have values or ideals or whatever you want, and living from that space, hurting themselves constantly, how do they move out of it? We have a huge reservoir of practices and processes and wisdom with all that. They get out of it. They cut through suffering.

Wow. Because I can imagine the amount of, you think, oh, for 40 years I've been living this way, acting this way towards people. How do I let go of the shame and the guilt that I feel now? Must be challenging for some. Oh, it is challenging, but they do. They do. They do get out of it. It is shocking for them when they get out.

Right. And it feels like so many years of wasted life. Right. it out. And it feels like so many years of wasted

life. It feels just that one incident has taken control of my life and nothing

else had, I actually was not present to situations, I was actually not feeling alive

to situations, I'm not feeling connected to anybody because of that one particular incident and

I've held on to it and that has been ruling all my life. It comes as a big shock. And they feel so much of freedom

when they actually get to the other side. It feels so much of liberation and freedom. Right. That's cool. How many people go to your center every single year? How many go through the five-day experience in India? In India, around this year, probably 400. 400. Is it every month?

Every month we have programs. Every other month we have programs, or depending upon the month, fewer. Gotcha. Gotcha. And who are some of the notable people that have gone through that you're allowed to talk about? Tony Robbins talks about he's probably gone there, I think, a couple times, maybe at least once. Yeah, he's come there once.

One time. Why did he go when he does a lot of these things himself already? Why did he feel the need to go? And who else goes? Tony Robbins loves to learn. Yes. He loves to learn and he loves to share. Yes.

So he wanted to learn something. So he did come to learn. Yes. He loves to learn and he loves to share. Yes. So he wanted to learn something. So he did come to us. And it has been a very liberative experience for him. For him and his wife, Sage. Yeah. They practice to get back to a beautiful state. They now know how important it is to live a life with a spiritual vision. And how it is important to act from this place

of a beautiful state and which they say right which we say which one will academy says is the right action for life so they have had a very beautiful liberative experience and the importance of living in a beautiful state the holding a spiritual vision for the inner state has become very important to them. That's cool. Very cool. Who else has gone? And why do these top, you know, We have leaders coming,

wanting to bring about a change. Yeah. We have had K.C. Shihan, the ex-CEO of Patagonia. Okay. He's a very good, he comes to us many times. Wow.

So he takes the philosophy back to his organization earlier but now i don't know where he is so right yes and then we've had um yeah we have edica ford okay erica ford is a peace leader in from new york and she says that she has been living life she's been one she's been a peace, working from a place of anger. Oh, wow. Yeah. There's a lot of those out there. Wanting to change the system, wanting to change frustrated from the

place of anger. It's hard to create peace when you're angry. Yeah. She's been a peace leader acting from a place of anger, which has transformed to being a peace leader from awakening to oneself within. And now she's a true heart leader. A heart leader.

She has had a tremendous influence on her society. She works to create peace in a place which is very difficult. And the way she's gone about it and the way she actually shares her experience of awareness and experience of awakening into love, into peace.

And she has impacted her entire team. So it doesn't stop. So we have leaders coming because if a leader gets transformed, I mean, Ben, you're here. You're trying to lead lives of so many people. If you are getting transformed, if you know that there is a better way to live life, there is a greater way to live life from a beautiful space, the impact that you can create would be amazing. So Erica Ford is an amazing peace leader.

Now she calls herself a heart leader. I like that. Yes. Heart leader. Heart leader who's impactful. That's cool. And then we have many business people coming to us. Yeah, yeah.

Heads of corporate and Mike Novogratz. Okay. I don't know if you're aware. He was in Fortress Management. Fortress Fund, yes. Okay, cool. So he's moved out of Fortress now. But he keeps coming to us.

I mean, there are centers like this all over India, I'm assuming all over the world. Why do people come to you as opposed to these other places? There's lots of retreat centers, meditation centers, teachings that are similar. Ours is not a meditation school. Lewis.

Ours is not only a meditation school, which will give you a practice, which will move you into a place of calm. We have a greater vision. Our vision is to transform human lives. Our vision is to transform human consciousness. And we have a path for it. A path for it is coming together of the wisdom

as well as the practice, as well as having a direct experience. Because I've had this experience where there is no mind chatter. I can get out of judgment very fast. That's what I told you some time back. It's going to be powerful. Yes. So an experience, the impact that it leaves, it transforms.

It transforms the way you experience life. leaves. It transforms. It transforms the way you experience life. So the recent Facebook post I shared was like a recent, we have the field of transformation back in India, right? So a participant is sharing his experience.

It's a small post. He says, you know what, I just finished my program, the 5-day retreat, 5-day intensive journey, spiritual journey that is happening, that happened in Chennai at One World Academy. I want to put it in words, but I realize words

are not adequate. All that I could recommend you, to everybody who's reading the posters, please get there, whatever it takes. Because it transforms. It leaves a huge impact, not only for yourself, as you said, it extends for your family, for the wealth that you're trying to create, for the success that you're trying to create, or for the contribution that you're trying to make to the world.

It has a huge impact. I love it. I'm in. I'm coming sometime, this year or next. I want to make it happen. It has to be this year. This year. November then. Yes, November will be a great month. Okay. We have three in November actually. Really?

Tony Robbins is coming with his Plaid group. Oh, wow. So he's making a platinum trip to India with his platinum partners. And he's bringing the group. Okay. Well, maybe I'll come then or around then. So awesome. I'm excited.'ll come then or around then. So, um, awesome. I'm excited.

Uh, a couple of final questions for you. What are you most grateful for in your life recently? I'm very grateful to my husband for every act that he does consistently over the past. He has done for the past 20 years. Because he actually believes in living in a beautiful state. And even if there is a little thinking that's happening within me, he wants me to see that I'm in a beautiful state.

The consistent attention that he can bring to my inner world, to my feeling, the way I feel, the way I experience joy or suffering, the attention that he can bring is amazing. And I'm forever grateful. I think that'll be the first thing that I'll be

grateful for any time in my life. Really? Yes. That's cool. That's very cool. How did you guys meet? In India, we have the custom of, not custom, I would say, we are cousins. We've known each other forever. But it's a tradition in India where cousins get married. Gotcha.

Gotcha. Okay, cool. This is a question that I ask everyone at the end. It's called the three truths. Three truths. Three truths. Okay. Three truths.

So, let's say it's many, many years from now and it's your last day. It's your last day here. And everything you've ever created is gone for whatever reason. It's just been erased hypothetically. Obviously, it'll live forever, but it's gone. And someone gives you a piece of paper and says, we want you to write down the three things you know to be true from everything you've shared and learned in life. What are the three things you know to be true from everything you've shared and learned in life. What are the three things you know to be true that you would pass on to everyone?

And it's just one piece of paper, three truths. What would your three truths be? Life is very short. We can live it from a beautiful place. We can connect to other to impact lives. we can connect to other to impact lives and from this place of being in a state

awakened to love from a state awakened to calm courage from a state awakened to joy you can create a new world I like that before I ask the final question I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Prita, for your incredible gift to humanity in transforming lives.

Thank you, Louis. Thank you for this opportunity, for taking it to millions. Yeah, yeah. transforming hate into love and for creating heart leaders as opposed to a peace leaders or angry leaders angry peace leaders and you're transforming relationships in the process with people's selves but then with their families and their communities and everyone else so i want to acknowledge you for your constant contribution to serving, for traveling all over the world, taking 24-hour flights every week to get this message out there and to be in service to others. It means a lot to me. Yeah.

Where can people find out about this? Is it oneworldacademy.com? Yes, you're right. And they can come to a workshop in India or there's different centers and workshops around the world. Definitely, yes, around the world. So you can go to a two-day workshop in a state or city near you. I don't know when this podcast is going to be online. We have something happening on October 7th, 8th, and 9th in Los Angeles.

Perfect. There you go. So anyone in Los Angeles, come. And all the information for all these dates is at oneworldacademy.com, right? Yes. Okay, perfect. Perfect. Final question for you is, what is your definition of greatness?

My definition of greatness is to be in a place where you can connect and love. Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you. There you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

If you did, make sure to share this with your friends. I think it's such a powerful experience for us to learn how to meditate and overcome any type of suffering. We've all experienced some type of pain, and we're probably going to continue to experience some type of overwhelm or stress or confusion or frustration at some point in our lives. This is a tool. This is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to improve ourselves so that we can move out of frustration in a moment second, as opposed to a day or a week or month or sometimes years that it takes people to get out of their head and into their hearts to transform and break through from

the stress or the overwhelm that is holding them back. So make sure to check out the full show notes at lewishouse.com slash 374. You can check out the link for oneworldacademy.com if you want to check out the different retreats that they have there in India or all over the world. I'll be experiencing it sometime this year as well. And make sure to let me know what you enjoyed the most or the biggest takeaway you got out of this. You can leave it a comment on the blog, lewishouse.com slash 374, or on the YouTube channel.

You can leave a comment there as well as we'll be posting this out on YouTube and everywhere else on social media. I really hope you enjoyed this one. Make sure to connect and look at the One World Academy information as well as see if it's right for you. I think this is some powerful tools and information that we could all use to help us in our life. Not the only thing, but definitely one tool we could start to tap into to see how we can take our lives to the next level. So thank you guys so much for being a captive audience, for spreading the message of greatness,

for doing the work, for stepping up each and every day because life isn't always easy and clean. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it's messy in our business, our relationships, our health. It's not always going to be perfect. And you get to acknowledge where you're at in your life right now and know that, hey, I might be in a messy place right now, but I don't have to stay in a messy place. So I want to acknowledge you all for doing the work, for listening consistently, for spreading the message.

It means the world to me, and it's so much fun to connect with all of you when I get to meet you guys in person. So many of you come up to me on the streets or at events and say hi and say which episodes impact you the most. So thanks so much for doing that and saying hi to me, guys. Always give me a high five or a hug, whatever you feel most comfortable with. I love you guys.

Thank you so much for being here. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Bye.