Yoga: Peace, Unity, and Healing

Sharing Collective Meditation in Stillness: Tuesday, June 19

The International Day of Yoga (IDY) Committee at the United Nations organized a unique event with a focus on meditation and silence. Meditation is a form of yoga that promotes inner peace and well-being, through connection with something beyond the self and the creative force of life. In meditation, we can experience a heightened sense of self, of others, and of the deepest part of that goodness within all beings. We can experience a sense of unity in a special way beyond words.

Collective meditation can strengthen our connection to that quality of our essential human-ness, to human dignity, to acceptance, to peaceful consciousness and to many kinds of healing.

To create an atmosphere that allowed for this experience, three Yoga Masters shared briefly on peace, unity, and dignity. After each presenter, the entire gathering reflected for five minutes, in silence, on the words they heard with the aim of going into an experience of them. Enriching musical performances followed each period of silence. It was amazing how quiet and still the 80 plus people who were present, remained.

BK Gayatri Naraine, UN Representative of the Brahma Kumaris and Vice Chair of the IDY Committee at the UN, shared on the virtue of Peace reminding everyone that peace is our innate nature, and that yoga is a wonderful method to access that peace from within. She further explained that yoga means connection and at the UN, the Brahma Kumaris has connected with various tenets integrating the spiritual significance that offers deeper meaning and give a higher purpose.  For example, ‘to reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person’ (Preamble, UN Charter); ‘all human beings are born free and equal endowed with reason and conscience’ (Human Rights Declaration); and ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. (UNESCO Constitution).  When people are able to connect to the spiritual significance of the tenants, it is then possible for the tenets to have relevance to people’s lives and contribute to their well-being in a practical way.  

Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda of Yoga in Daily Life, spoke on the aspect of Unity and Yoga, the unifying force, stating that with yoga, every thing comes together because we are all one and belong to One. Swamiji was a special guest accompanying the Minister of AYUSH in India in New York for World Yoga Day events. 

Cosmologist, Ms. Jude Currivan, then took yoga to another level by describing yoga as a means to connect with our Dignity or spiritual worth. She stated that this is a pivotal time in history – the ‘aha moment’ where yoga becomes the uniting force within the abundant diversity. This is the time when we either wake up, grow up, clean up, rise up, or not. Ms. Currivan, based in the UK, specially joined us for this event.

The program was opened with welcoming remarks and moderated by Ms. Denise Scotto, Esq., Chair of the International Day of Yoga Committee at the United Nations. As many already know, Denise worked in the UN DESA and is a lawyer representing legal NGOs that are accredited to the UN.  She is a meditator for roughly 25 years.

As a final touch to this uplifting afternoon, each participant was given a ‘blessing’ card.

The event took place in the beautiful chapel of the United Nations Church Center, NYC, in the late afternoon on a very hot day. Yet, with the wise words of the speakers and the serene and enrapturing music of the violin, flute and piano, few felt the heat, but instead, were lost in the experience of peace and tranquility.

Musicians were volunteers who are facilitated by TWNY Music Guild, a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate opportunities for student performers.

Many shared how refreshed and energized they felt as they left the chapel.

The program was also webcast. To learn more about the work of the IDY Committee at the UN, you are invited to visit, and like, their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/YogaDayCommittee/