What is the call of the time? At this moment, what is the world calling from its leaders?
Many years ago, The Call of the Time started as a process to create a new community of leaders. Going against all odds, it proposed to create a community of leaders who think, more than doing.
We live in a world of doing and so that is what is so new in relation to COTT - we don't do, we just think and we let our thought get stronger and stronger.
I've participated of its 12th edition. It was in a wonderful place near Oxford, England, where one day Lewis Carroll looked amazed at his student, Alice, and created one of the masterpieces of universal literature; at that same place, a group of leaders get together almost every year to go through the glass that separates us from a better world.
It was a free space where people can say whatever they feel related to the topic. It was a strange title for me, even though I am with spirituality for almost 3 decades: The power of Pure Thoughts in the Collective Experience. But it gained new context in the voice of those people whose lives are dedicated to humankind.
Peter Senge was there. I am a kind of his admirer for many years, since the launch of The Fifth Discipline. He was our facilitator and he was also a participant there. He helped us to open our hearts completely and free ourselves to lead better, to look at others in a better way. Thanks to his magic way - soft, almost non-existent - an American facilitator could share what happened when she got divorced and I was able to share my own situation with my father whom I still never met in person since I was 3. He helped a Muslim sheik meet an Israeli Professional through their hearts which are equals. And he helped us to hear the horrible and fascinating story of a massacre in Africa told by a leader who helped so many at that moment and yet, sounded as he did not do a thing.
If Peter helped our minds to meet, our hearts melt with Dadi Janki, the maximum leader of Brahma Kumaris in the world. When she first entered the hall, she just stopped and looked at each one, with so much force and power. Her contribution was valued as treasure by everyone, it does not matter Dadi does not have any kind of certificate and she had went through proper education only for 3 years in her life. She is a leader everyone wanted to hear and be close to her.
Her example of a small white stone used by Indians in the past to purify water captivated everyone in such an extent that one of the participants collect lots of stones from the soil and gave one to each of us. The idea behind is that if a small stone can purify water that can help so many, what can't we do for the world? That is the power of pure thoughts - to purify the atmosphere around.
The end was emotional: we all stood up and sang Row, Row, Row Your Boat (yes, that song...). There was a unity among us, a common feeling, and one of us let that go, crying. Dadi just embrace her and dried her tears with a big smile. We all left smiling, that is probably why we have COTT - to teach us, leaders, to smile again, a smile that comes from a deep reflection.
Take care!
