World Festival of the Heart — Exploring the ‘Power of Love’
The World Festival of the Heart is an event to be held in Melbourne, November 2012; it will seek to explore how we can use 'heart-power' to improve the well-being of the world.
Sri Chinmoy has a very famous and much quoted aphorism:
“When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God.” [1]
In an explanation of this, Sri Chinmoy elaborated by saying that here ‘God’ means universality.
He said that when we use the power of love, individuality immediately disappears and is replaced by universality or a positive feeling of oneness; however when we use the love of power, we feel separate and superior, feelings that very often lead to destruction.
Using this deeply insightful and meaningful ideal to build upon, the World Festival of the Heart, an event to be staged in Melbourne, Australia in November this year, was born. The Festival is a gathering of luminaries across the fields of spirituality, science and the arts, to celebrate their wisdom and life achievements, and to collectively explore how we can use “heart-power” to improve the fundamental wellbeing of all life on our planet.
Our world is standing on the brink of a new era and all around us we are witnessing a thrilling convergence of these three amazing fields of endeavour. Festival organisers are planning a three-day program that will explore this “convergence” and the possibilities it holds to change our lives in unimaginable ways.
Festival organisers are creating a program full of activities: workshops, music, dialogue, devotions, performance, concerts, an expo and a grand forum. The program is designed for anyone who has a passion for life, for the world and our future. Themes for Festival participants to explore will include:
- The Great Mystery: life, consciousness and the universe
- The Universal Heart: recognising the oneness in diversity of all life
- Creative Living: using heart-power for a healthy, happy and harmonious life.
Further information and contact details for the Festival can be found at www.festivaloftheheart.org.
Footnotes[1] Sri Chinmoy, 1970, Meditations: Food For The Soul
Stories
First-hand experiences of meditation and spirituality.
'You two have been friends for many hundreds of years'
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
A love that was thick like butter
Mahatapa Palit New York, United States
Time seemed to freeze
Brahmata Michael Ottawa, Canada
Reflections on meditation
Janaka Spence Edinburgh, United Kingdom
The oneness of all paths - personal experiences
Nirbhasa Magee Dublin, Ireland
Muhammad Ali: I was expecting a monster, but I found a lamb
Sevananda Padilla San Juan, Puerto Rico
The day I recieved my spiritual name
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bhutan, A Country Less Travelled...
Ambarish Keenan Dublin, Ireland
A vision at 3 a.m in the morning
Abarita Dänzer Zürich, Switzerland
My love of spiritual poetry
Manatita Hutchinson London, United Kingdom
President Gorbachev: a special soul brought down for a special reason
Mridanga Spencer Ipswich, United Kingdom
Believe, take a step and proceed: a 6-day race experience
Susan Marshall ,
Praying for God’s Grace to Descend
Sweta Pradhan Kathmandu, NepalSuggested videos
interviews with Sri Chinmoy's students
How I became interested in meditation
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
How meditation helped me swim the English Channel
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
Making progress on Sri Chinmoy's Path
Daulot Fountain Seattle, United States
My first impressions of Sri Chinmoy's philosophy
Lunthita Duthely Hialeah, United States
The value of meditation in a stressful job
Garga Chamberlain Bristol, United Kingdom
Things I have learnt from the spiritual life
Sanjay Rawal New York, United States