Women's Day: Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati says Jane Goodall embodies all that is right about humanity
Over these decades Jane has continued to be an extraordinary source of inspiration and strength.
By ET CONTRIBUTORS | Updated:
BCCL
By Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati
When I was growing up as a pre-teen and teenager in Los Angeles, all my friends had pictures of movie stars, rock stars and other heartthrobs taped up on the walls of their bedrooms. My walls were plastered, however, with pictures of chimpanzees. I covered my room with pages carefully cut from National Geographic magazine, filled with images of African jungles and jet-black chimp families.
In the midst of these exquisite images of the forests of Tanzania and their much-too-cute primate inhabitants, sat (or sometimes stood) a young woman. Jane Goodall. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said, “Jane Goodall.” Jane was the hero of my youth, and her impact on my life has only grown with time.
Jane embodies to me all that is right about humanity, not only about women. She is the embodiment of the motto “Love Conquers All”, having proven to astonished scientists across the world that yes, given love, chimps will love you back as well as let you become members of their family, granting you access to secrets of their world, their social interactions and their habits.
She served as the bridge between my life of great privilege and opportunity in Los Angeles and the world of Mother Earth and Mother Nature from which we come and which holds the keys to the deepest meaning, love and joy we can experience. Jane also embodies for me the courage of living one’s dharma.
She moved from Britain to the jungles of Africa as a young woman to live amidst the chimps because it interested and excited her, but then she stayed because living among them touched a place not only in her intellectual, scientific brain but also deep within her intuitive, loving heart.
When I first became enamoured with Jane as a young girl, I had no idea that her courage would serve as a model for me in my life’s choice of leaving California to live in an ashram on the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh because my heart was opened, touched and transformed and I knew I had found my dharma.
Over the last few decades, with the blessings of my Guru Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, my life has been dedicated to engaged spirituality, spirituality IN action, a spirituality that infuses, impacts and informs not only the mantra I chant and the prayers I say but also the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the items I own, and every aspect of how I move through the world.
Over these decades Jane has continued to be an extraordinary source of inspiration and strength. Her work for the protection of Mother Earth and all the brothers and sisters of every species with whom we share it teaches, touches and inspires people all over the world and, most importantly is a direct outcome of her personal, deep, lovefilled experiences of living as one with the chimps in the forest.
As I have grown in my spiritual leadership as well as environmental protection leadership, I hold Jane as the model of what feminine leadership means to me. She embodies the full coexistence of tenderness and strength, compassion and fierceness, surrender and determination.
In 2015 at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, I had the opportunity to meet her. As we hugged after the meeting, tears of awe, love and gratitude streamed down my cheeks.
(The writer is president, Divine Shakti Foundation, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh)
When I was growing up as a pre-teen and teenager in Los Angeles, all my friends had pictures of movie stars, rock stars and other heartthrobs taped up on the walls of their bedrooms. My walls were plastered, however, with pictures of chimpanzees. I covered my room with pages carefully cut from National Geographic magazine, filled with images of African jungles and jet-black chimp families.
In the midst of these exquisite images of the forests of Tanzania and their much-too-cute primate inhabitants, sat (or sometimes stood) a young woman. Jane Goodall. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said, “Jane Goodall.” Jane was the hero of my youth, and her impact on my life has only grown with time.
Jane embodies to me all that is right about humanity, not only about women. She is the embodiment of the motto “Love Conquers All”, having proven to astonished scientists across the world that yes, given love, chimps will love you back as well as let you become members of their family, granting you access to secrets of their world, their social interactions and their habits.
She served as the bridge between my life of great privilege and opportunity in Los Angeles and the world of Mother Earth and Mother Nature from which we come and which holds the keys to the deepest meaning, love and joy we can experience. Jane also embodies for me the courage of living one’s dharma.
She moved from Britain to the jungles of Africa as a young woman to live amidst the chimps because it interested and excited her, but then she stayed because living among them touched a place not only in her intellectual, scientific brain but also deep within her intuitive, loving heart.
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When I first became enamoured with Jane as a young girl, I had no idea that her courage would serve as a model for me in my life’s choice of leaving California to live in an ashram on the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh because my heart was opened, touched and transformed and I knew I had found my dharma.
Over the last few decades, with the blessings of my Guru Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, my life has been dedicated to engaged spirituality, spirituality IN action, a spirituality that infuses, impacts and informs not only the mantra I chant and the prayers I say but also the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the items I own, and every aspect of how I move through the world.
Over these decades Jane has continued to be an extraordinary source of inspiration and strength. Her work for the protection of Mother Earth and all the brothers and sisters of every species with whom we share it teaches, touches and inspires people all over the world and, most importantly is a direct outcome of her personal, deep, lovefilled experiences of living as one with the chimps in the forest.
As I have grown in my spiritual leadership as well as environmental protection leadership, I hold Jane as the model of what feminine leadership means to me. She embodies the full coexistence of tenderness and strength, compassion and fierceness, surrender and determination.
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In 2015 at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, I had the opportunity to meet her. As we hugged after the meeting, tears of awe, love and gratitude streamed down my cheeks.
(The writer is president, Divine Shakti Foundation, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh)
The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Women Rich List is out. In its second year of existence, the list continues to celebrate women wealth creators in the country. And despite strong murmurs of an economic slowdown, this list has something to cheer about, after all.
The number of women in this year’s rich list has grown to 152 women. And while that can hardly be called an equal representation - with just about 16 percent of the total number of individuals - it’s a leap from previous years where women were hardly visible.
Here's a list of this year's entrants:
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
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