Awakin Talks Launch: What A Joy And A Privilege!

What a privilege it has been to launch Awakin Talks with all of you. Now transitioning from local Awakin Talks, like above, to virtual.

It is a privilege because our practice is to offer without an agenda. We serve as if our life depends on it, and yet we have no endgame in mind. It’s deceptively simple. The ego wants to see immediate feedback loops, build this feeling that its existence matters, manufacture meaning by creating a larger context. An endless list of conscious and subconscious trickery. But our collective practice is to drop all that. On a recent call, Preeta referred to ServiceSpace’s uniqueness as being “empty at the core”, void of an “original sin”. It’s not a new idea, obviously. So many of us grew up hearing about “karma yoga”, action without expectation of reward. The profound beauty of karma yoga lies in the practice. And our entire ecosystem is a space for that kind of service.

When we do it right, two things invariably happen. One is internal and another is external.

Internal effect is sheer JOY. A joy that has no reason, and needs no reason. So many of us experienced this over the last 10 days of Awakin Talks. Not to imply that the effort is all rosy peachy -- Jignasha would walk long distances in a locked-down village to find Internet; Drishti and Rohan spent so many nerve racking hours to prep their interludes; Sachi put late-nighters to digitally remaster the video (with Meghna’s above and beyond animation); professor :) Gayathri helped Zeal and Arti fact-check all the wisdom nuggets; Rohit, Swara and N2 held unending tech calls; IIM-wallahas, Ashima and Vineet, repeatedly said yes to do anything and everything.

What awakens joy isn’t the work or the outcome, but the practice of letting go -- of the destination, of the doership, of everything we have the capacity to release.

If ever a volunteer gets a bit frazzled, Rahul unfailingly asks them, “Is this bringing you joy?" Without that, it's not worth doing it. It’s not that each action will be an indulgence in feeling good, nor that it will be a repentance that ignores self-care. Sincere service moves us beyond those momentary clouds to be illumined by the rays of the overarching sun. No matter what the weather, joy is always there. Buddha called it “mudita”, an appreciative joy when others benefit. It’s a state that has no opposite. There is no way to compare it to anything else, yet it’s always there -- when we serve without expectations. Joy for the sake of joy.

Individually, we can all practice this. But network science tells us that our behavior is best predicted by the web of relationships we are embedded in. That’s why Buddha would wager all chips on the table for noble friendships, and that’s why we see an exponential rise in our joy when a "flock of birds" reinforces any principle of nature.

Tagore famously said, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” In our circle, this is an alive, vibrant reality. And THAT is a privilege.



The second, external effect of such frictionless service is what Audrey often calls, “speed of love”. This is not fast, or slow. It is not small or big. It is simply the pace of emergence.

Few months ago, Rahul and Jignasha held a seed for Awakin Talks. They waited on it, and then, in less than 10 days, a team of 23 people had launched an entirely new platform, created new processes, envisioned a pilot project, attracted an audience of 900 RSVP’s and has become a regular feature. Someone joked that no amount of money can deliver this. That’s certainly true. :) Still, the premium isn’t on throughput of talent or quality of outcomes -- it’s more on learning to dance to the rhythm of love. Our practice of agenda-less service is what affords us the ears to hear this sacred song and then move to its beat.

We sometimes stumble into this "speed of love" in our daily life, but then it gets mired in a solid Mumbai traffic jam :) with our secret desires. In our community, we very mindful of this trap. Everyone knows that we would work in exactly the same way, whether we had 9 RSVP’s or 9 million. The more we are rooted in outcomes, the less we value the ripples. For us, because outcomes are practically nothing, ripples become everything. After a while, the converse reveals itself too -- that everything is a ripple. No beginning, no end. No place for the Self to make an island.



Such a mindset means we are just nonstop. Or as Trupti calls it “ungottable”. :) Pre-call, during-call, post-call, we just keep doing our bit ceaselessly.

Post call, many dozens of listeners shared remarkable feedback that wowed our speakers. More than 20 people signed up to volunteer, and various folks are now integrated into the transcription process already. We also setup capacity for audio and video. Right before the call, someone accidentally logged into our Zoom call. “Hi, this is Rohini,” she announced, until she realized she’s in the wrong place. That accident led to an email exchange and she’s now our confirmed speaker on May 24th. One of our speakers, Rajni, herself is signed up to volunteer as a moderator for a call with Ramachandra Guha this week. About 70 people signed on to our follow-up WWGD circle. One listener posted a 19-page summary, and now is “honored” to be our nuggets volunteer for the coming week.

On the side, Meghna, Darpan, Drishti, Vidhi and Nisha had a call on doing virtual “HHH retreat” over a weekend, and now 20 callers have signed up for it. Similarly, Rohit initiated a “KarunaVirus India” where Pintu, one of the largest diamond merchants in Asia, signed on to volunteer with an enthusiastic “Anything you need to me to do!” Half a dozen others joined as well.

Literally, there would’ve been hundreds of ripples.​​​​​​ ​#SpeedOfLove

For the mainstream, this is too trivial to put so much effort in; that mindset prefers strategies to optimize for external impact, internal meaning, and collective progress. For Karma Yogis, such opportunity-cost questions never arise. It's all an opportunity for joy, and trust in love. That's it. Organically, the effect of our actions crystallize itself into an glorious engagement spectrum with many-to-many networks -- at the pace of emergence.

This week, Sister Lucy and Abhay Bang are our speakers. Both legends of grassroots social change. Our content team created seven drafts to nail down the perfect bio, social media team has already spread the graphics, DailyGood featured an article, 282 RSVP’s are already in; two everyday heroes in Bhaskar and Zeal have got many excited; we now have new and dedicated volunteers for audio, video and nuggets; many new transcribers are just awaiting marching orders post-call. All the while, Rahul and Jignasha are already plotting the May 24th call. :)



Swami Chinmayanand once said, "The reward for service is more service." What a joy! What a privilege.