Maui resident joins world leaders to discuss how love, compassion and intuition can address global challenges.Across the globe, in Jaipur, India, 92-year-old Dadi Janki, spiritual head of the Brahma Kumaris and a woman who works endlessly for world peace, reminded an assemblage of 500 spiritual, religious, educational and political leaders from across 45 countries that “No seed ever sees the flower it produces.” The five-day program, at which the internationally renowned mentor and teacher shared her valuable insight, was organized by the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW), a group most simply defined as a network of women leaders with the goal of fostering global unity and peace-building. They seek to bring spiritual, educational and economical resources to aid in healing conflict and relieving social and economical stresses.
The GPIW reasons that at the heart of many global problems resides a gender imbalance. At a point in time where violence and weaponry seem ever-increasing, environmental degradation continues at a frightening rate, and corruption seems to pervade governance and economics, they wonder, what would change if women had an equal role in government, education and economics? How can women, or feminine attributes—love, compassion, consensus, intuition—address these global challenges? The latest GPIW program, entitled “Making Way for the Feminine,” convened in Jaipur this March as an effort to explore the shifts in awareness needed to achieve a greater gender balance.
Serendipitously, Myra Lewin of Launiupoko was going to be in India last March for another unrelated conference. “Most typically, I wouldn’t be one of the types of people that would be [at the GPIW conference],” explained Lewin. “There were spiritual and religious leaders, leaders in government, leaders in education. But they had put a call out in some of the yoga and spiritual communities that they had a little bit of space, so I applied.” Consequently, an invitation was extended to Lewin, and she thus found herself in Jaipur, amidst such powerful leaders as Dadi Janki, Amritanandamayi Devi (most commonly referred to as “Amma” or the “hugging saint”), and world-renowned mystic Anandmurti Gurumaa.
Lewin has a private yoga practice, in which she teaches all aspects of the ancient discipline. She also works as a mediator, privately and in the community for the nonprofit Mediation Services of Maui. Lewin recognized that her lines of work would serve as effective avenues to bring back pertinent information and messages she was to learn at the conference.
To understand why such a gender imbalance exists, the attendees explored how women and feminine qualities, which, it is recognized, belong to all, are regarded. “One of the primary things, of course, is the mistreatment of women, or women being in not very well-regarded situations, so that the feminine energy is not coming forth… We looked at how we regard the feminine aspect in males as well, how we can start to break out of some of our old patterns so that we can start to see what the possibilities are.”
Attendees divided into groups of about 25 to discuss topics of interest including honoring Earth and life systems to change the treatment of the planet, how feminine principles in government can provide a new moral framework, how feminine principles in business can create an economic system driven more by contribution to social good than greed, and strengthening and improving education. “We talked specifically about how you educate the whole person, how you empower people, not just women into tapping into the feminine principal—using intuition, using nonviolent ways of approaching situations,” recalled Lewin.
In addition to group discussions and keynote speakers, forums were held in which leaders from around the world discussed controversial subjects. The panels discussed heated issues with an undertone of acceptance and exchange. And there was a special meeting which brought together the people from the U.S. and the people from Iraq.
“The session allowed us to get perspective,” explained Lewin. “[The Iraqis] recognize that they live in a place that’s wrecked. The situation is intolerable and ridiculous. Their neighborhoods are locked up and they can’t walk down the street… It was interesting to hear them talk about their experiences.”
The conference also highlighted how feminine principals can guide a new generation of leadership. Many young people attended the conference who want to become leaders in their respective fields. “[The GPIW] has small programs all over the world for the young people. The conferences teach them leadership skills and how to deal with their feelings and with their differences.” If young people are interested in the GPIW, Lewin suggests they go to the Website, www.gpiw.org.
The GPIW plans on having another forum in about two to five years. Until then, Lewin plans on keeping the channels of communication open with those she met at the conference and to continue on her path of creating peace and unity here on Maui. “Everything we do matters. I think that was probably the most important thing I got from the conference,” Lewin said, recalling Janki’s seed-to-flower metaphor. “Every little thing we do makes a difference, so just don’t do anything that goes in the wrong direction.”