Becoming Nature

EMILIE MOGENSEN rekindles a correspondence with her father, THOMAS MOGENSEN, which she started in her youth. Years later, she now asks him about what truly matters to him after a lifetime of meditation, spirituality, and living in the world.

History is repeating itself and I’m remembering sitting as a young girl in Manapakkam Ashram, where I spent long periods of my youth. I would stay in the simple dormitory and truly enjoy the simplicity of bare feet and daily meditations. A rather big contrast to my young life back in Denmark. This was before the internet, and I would send my father handwritten letters sharing my experiences with him, getting the replies a few weeks later by snail-mail. Those were the days!

One letter I remember in particular had me explaining to my dad how fortunate I felt to spend so much time with my spiritual guide at the time, Chariji. I wrote how I didn’t feel I deserved this time of magic, where I received so much attention and presence, opening up a window to my inner dimensions to an extent I long for today.

The reply from my dad was very different from what I expected. He simply wrote that I didn’t deserve it, and that is what makes a spiritual guide special. He gives it anyway! He gives something that no human can ever deserve. With advice not framed as advice; that is how my dad always brought us up, my brother and me. He wanted us to discover from within and not because of outer dogma.

I live according to this profound wisdom every day-no human can ever deserve what is so much bigger than any action or any thought or any feeling. It evokes humility.

After the release in April of my dad’s book, In the Light Awakening, I got the inspiration to renew the letter exchange, this time over email from one part of Denmark to another.

Emilie: Hi dad, congratulations on your new book being released! We are all very happy for this achievement, and I am eager to ask a few questions. If you could put only one word on what your spiritual guide Babuji was for you, what would that word be?

Thomas: Becoming.

Emilie: Evolutionarily speaking, we are in the midst of so many planetary and human crises, and working with educational projects for young people, I know how extremely challenging it can be to be young nowadays. How can “Becoming” be translated into something that your three grandkids, aged 16, 18, and 23, and all other youngsters can benefit from today?

Thomas: Benefit and becoming walk hand in hand. Babuji always said, “On and on.” Young and old. It is our trademark. Then we will become One.

Emilie: Not everyone has had or will have the opportunity to spend time with spiritual guides, in person, as we have had in our family. What would be your best experience in life, where you felt this becoming in another way than sitting at the feet of Babuji in Shahjahanpur? And why?

Thomas: It happened to us. It can happen to anyone. I was 22 when Babuji picked me and your dear mother up. Then you, your brother, your sister, and my grandchildren blessed my life. What can be greater!  I became a grandfather.

Benefit and becoming walk
hand in hand. Babuji always said,
“On and on.” Young and old. It is our
trademark. Then we will become One.

Emilie: Can becoming be cultivated intentionally? How?

Thomas: By being aware.

Emilie: You have always been ahead of your time. You started meditation more than 50 years ago, and now we see meditation becoming mainstream in the world. You put my brother and me into a progressive school, where values of compassion, solidarity, and creativity dictated the agenda. Now we see alternative schooling systems popping up all over. What is the future like in 50 years from now, if we make it through the planetary and human crises we are in?

Thomas: More natural. If we dare to become natural human beings, we need nothing else. It solves everything.

Emilie: What is the most important skill to develop in order to reach the vision you just unfolded?

Thomas: To bow our heads and give our hearts to Nature. Inside and outside.

Emilie: I know it was not always easy to go your own way. Your parents were not particularly fans of you traveling to India as a 21-year-old. What made you able to continue this inner quest of yours, despite being rather different in society back then?

Thomas: I had to. The past was the past back then, too. Who wants to be stuck in the past?

Emilie: When you are no longer here on the planet, what would you like to be remembered for? What story would you want us all to share about you?

Thomas: Not me. Share Babuji’s great message for all humanity.

Emilie: This makes me curious. I resonate with living in a state of surrender to that vision, but what if I am not yet there, where I feel a deep meaning in truly forgetting myself and allowing something bigger to unfold? How can young people in today’s world tap into this and truly show up in the world with a sense of authenticity?

Thomas: By flying with both wings, as we say in Heartfulness. The material wing and the spiritual wing. Meditation teaches us to do that.

Emilie: I am inspired when you mention Nature, as I work with regenerative education, where we use Nature as role model in how to facilitate learning around sustainability. Biodiversity is the foundation of a truly resilient ecosystem, meaning we all are different, and this is seen as a strength in our organizations, schools, societies, etc. As we harness this difference, how can we hold a vision of Oneness?

Thomas: Oneness comes first. Oneness is our Nature. Look at children playing. What a beautiful resilient ecosystem they have. They fight and then they find their Oneness again. That is the spirit of Heartfulness Meditation. We are all in the same boat.

Emilie: Thank you dad, and may the wisdom in your book reach the hearts of many. May it inspire and invite some deepfelt inner reflection, and a good amount of loving, rebellious, spiritual activism.

Thomas: A big hug to you and everyone else.