EP170 - Former Monk and Long-Term Peace and Environmental Activist, Satish Kumar: Your Soulful Awakening Awaits

One Idea Away Podcast

In our fast-paced world, it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the idea of success--the hunt for more and a bigger piece of the pie. But competition’s getting increasingly fiercer, and on this quest of achievement, we’re losing our connection with who we are, our purpose, and our way in the world. Today, Satish Kumar, former monk and long-term peace and environmental activist, spells it out simply: if you’re looking for fulfillment, look within and drop your idea of success. Sound impossible in our economic climate? Listen in and think again!

Satish has been quietly setting the global agenda for change for over 50 years. At age nine he left his family to join the wandering Jains, at 18 Satish decided he could achieve more back in the world, campaigning for land reform in India and working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a renewed India and a peaceful world into reality. His autobiography, No Destination was first published by Green Books in 1978 and has sold over 50,000 copies. Satish is the author of, You Are, Therefore I Am: A Declaration of Dependence, The Buddha and the Terrorist, Soil, Soul and Society, and the upcoming 2019 release, Elegant Simplicity. He’s on the advisory board of our future plan at the Unique Online Community, sharing ideas for real change, and in recognition of his commitment to animal welfare and compassionate living, he was also recently elected vice president of the RSPCA. Satish continues to teach and run workshops on reverential ecology, holistic education, and voluntary simplicity and is a much sought-after speaker both in the UK and abroad.

Your soulful awakening awaits and it’s well within your grasp!

Key takeaways:

Your simplistic future. Life’s filled with responsibilities and challenges that seem so beyond our control. Satish emphasizes that the only way to fight off this world’s complexity is through simplicity, but what does that look like? Your sustainable, bright future’s found in these THREE words . . . [15:30].

Your soulful quest. Our education system prides itself on cultivating our brains and thinking qualities. Knowledge is the key to success. But what if you turned your direction toward your heart instead of your mind--what life would that create for you? Where would it lead you? Fulfillment waits HERE . . . [18:50].

Your deep disconnection. We’ve missed the realization that ecology means knowledge of our home planet and economy means management of it. Without that understanding and respect, we’re living dangerously, on the verge of internal destruction--but there’s hope! May the healing process begin . . . [26:40].

Your life mission. You go to college so you can get a job, make money, and live a prosperous future--but does that job help you contribute to the world and bring you meaning? If the answer’s “no,” then you’ve got some work to do. The ONE question you must ask yourself daily . . . [33:43].

Tune in and turn the volume up for a dose of inspiration and life lessons. You're never more than One Idea Away from a whole, new reality.