During His Holiness Younus AlGohar's (YAG) visit to Ontario, Canada, the Asian Television Network invited His Holiness to speak to them about the importance of spirituality and issues affecting the Asian community in Canada. The following is the transcript of the interview conducted by Amin Dillon (AD) of Asian Digest.
AD: Welcome to ATN, I am your host Amin Dhillon and today on the show we have a very special guest. I have His Holiness Younus AlGohar, a world-renowned speaker and healer. Well, welcome to Canada. It's a pleasure to have you.
YAG: Thank you very much.
AD: Let's talk about what brings you to Canada. You're here to give some talks, some speaking opportunities to connect with people. This is where it is really interesting: the topic is The Sun Rising from the West.
YAG: Yes.
AD: Very interesting title. So tell us a little bit about what is the topic all about?
YAG: Well, let me give you my background information. We are a spiritual organisation; we are a multi-cultural, multi-religious organisation. People from different religions come and they share our thoughts and spiritual knowledge. And I travel all around the world giving lectures on spirituality and also spiritual healing. And this particular topic, Sun Rising from the West, is the topic I am going to speak on locally in Toronto.
AD: And you've already had some dates here where you've spoken to the audience, so what has the reception been like?
YAG: Yes. It's been good. It's been wonderful. People who are interested in spirituality, they come in to see me. They are listening to the lectures and they really appreciate it.
AD: How do Canadians rate among the global audience in terms of spirituality? Do you find Canada is quite up high in terms of wanting to connect to spirituality - are they interested? Or do you find that, here, maybe it's a little bit of a different attitude?
YAG: Actually, we come from the east side of the world and our brand of spirituality is a little different to what they perceive of spirituality. So, there is a little difference between spiritual understanding and spiritual knowledge. However, we are trying to raise awareness of our brand of spirituality in the USA and Canada; people appear to appreciate it and they like it.
AD: Actually, I want to know what that means - because in Canada we have a wide variety of different backgrounds here. And you just said your speaking engagements are open to anyone - any faith, any background can come, right?
YAG: That's true.
AD: So, I know in Canada, oftentimes when people come here, they do get a very diverse group of audience. So, you've been speaking on a couple of occasions here - do you find that most people are coming in from one, kind of, background? Or do you see quite a wide variety of people represented there?
YAG: I see a variety of people come from different backgrounds.
AD: All different ages, different faiths?
YAG: Yes.
AD: It's interesting. And so, you also do free spiritual healing which I think is so interesting because that sounds really great! What does that mean?
YAG: Spiritual healing is an art of spirituality. When we do spiritual healing, we are actually sharing with people our energies. With the help of those energies spiritual healing is done. And I remember my master telling me that this spiritual healing must be provided to all different types of people, free of charge. The moment I start charging people, this will stop.
AD: I've been to, I would some astrologers or people that, you know, just to get some guidance sometimes. I was always interested in that. But I don't think I have ever been to a spiritual healer, so for people that have never gone, like me, can you maybe walk us through what happens? How do you connect with them?
YAG: Let me tell you first that this is not our business; we do it as a humanitarian aid, to help people. So, when we perform spiritual healing, the focus is on our heart and we actually transmit divine energy into people and that heals them.
AD: So, let's say I came to one of your speaking engagements and I said, 'You know what, I really want to come and reach you.' How would you be able to get me to open up and be able to get to my core and help me overcome it? How do you do that?
YAG: Well, people have different issues and different problems but we cannot cover all the issues and all the problems. We have two points that we normally take care of. Number 1: spiritual yearning that people have in their lives; they are missing out inner peace, so we tell them how to obtain spiritual bliss inside their heart and how to have spiritual health restored in them. And then, spiritual healing, which can heal their bodies as well. We only cover these two points.
AD: Well, you talk about spiritual healing in terms of body, so what kind of ailments have you seen people come to you for?
YAG: From different ailments, people came to me with different ailments and I blew on them and gave them water -
AD: - But what kind of issues do people have?
YAG: Different problems: like AIDS, people who were suffering from heart diseases - and different kind of diseases. When we performed the spiritual healing on them, they did benefit from this spiritual healing and the health is restored completely in them.
AD: And can we quickly talk about in terms of, aside from the physical, you were just saying people come to you feeling, yearning for spirituality. So, for me, when you said that, I was thinking that sometimes people just aren't happy with their lives. They want to make a change but they don't know how. So, what are the common issues people are coming to you with? Right away, I'm thinking stress just from everyday life. Is that right?
YAG: Yeah, that's right but our issue is to help people who want to love God. It's not about happiness for a common man who is not interested in God or in his life hereafter. We are actually focused on people who want to love God, who want to love humanity and serve humanity. We give them this knowledge of spirituality, with the help of which, they can connect themselves with all different realms. There are many realms and we have seven souls in us. We teach them how to enlighten, empower and open the inner eye and be able to perform spiritual journeys beyond these galaxies and beyond the cosmos.
AD: We're going take a little commercial break but when we come back, I want to talk to you about how the common person incorporates spirituality into their day-to-day.
AD: Welcome back to ATN, I am your host Amin Dhillon and of course we're still with His Holiness Younus AlGohar. Now, he's here in Canada on various speaking engagements so you can catch him here soon. Now we were just talking about how you've got a couple of dates here in Toronto. How it kind of works for people just joining us is you give a little bit of a speech, you take questions from the audience and you do free spiritual healing after the show. So, I think that's really very interesting. Here in Canada, we're always hearing the negativity, we're hearing people are stressed out. A lot of immigrants come here so it's like starting fresh [for them] - there's a lot that people are going through. In spirituality, I know there are a lot of organisations out there that really just try to help people to get balance and find happiness within themselves and to find a way to cope - because those are the most important things. You also do physical healing as well, so that's an added step. Talk to us about the common person - you know, people out in the streets, just regular folk that maybe aren't super religious, maybe they don't have any background in spirituality but they want that connection. How do you help people find spirituality in their day-to-day, in their regular rituals, regular stress of life? How do they incorporate that?
YAG: The brand of spirituality that we advocate and present to people can really help the common man. But you can understand that we are a compound creature: soul and body. All the time we are taking care of our body, beautifying ourselves, putting on good clothes and getting into shape, going to the gym and everything - but we are not working enough for the spiritual aspect of our person. This is why we don’t have peace in our life, this is why we are always restive. This is why we don’t find the content of the heart. And a common man can get that bliss by doing a little bit of meditation every day.
AD: Meditation?
YAG: Meditation everyday with the name of God, whichever religion they come from. Any name of God that they use at their temples, churches, mosques. If they contemplate on their heart with the name of God and spend 10-15 minutes, and try to synchronise that name of God in the beating system of their heart and see the name of God will be synchronised in the beating of the heart. And if it doesn't, then there is an image on the moon: the image of Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi; look at the moon and ask Them to help you. They will help you have this word, this name of God implanted in the beating system of your heart. When you feel the energy of God is filling up your heart, you will feel content and you will feel peace. This will help you. When you feel good, you perform well.
AD: It sounds very simple, 10 minutes in your day to just meditate.
YAG: Yeah.
AD: And like you just said, it's for any faith. So that sounds simple because I know sometimes some people get nervous, right? They [think] 'Oh, I have to be religious' or 'I don't want to get with one organisation'. They keep it very open-ended. So why is that it feels like it's so simple but not many people are doing it?
YAG: Actually, it has nothing to do with any religion. People need to understand: spirituality is not a religion. Spirituality is the art of reviving your soul and making your soul happy, so that you can feel happy. But in many religions, spirituality has been a part of the religion, however, only some contents of spirituality were discussed in religions - like Hinduism, Islam, Judaism. Judaism talks about Kabbalah, Islam talks about the Sufi version of Islam and then Hindus are very famous for spirituality.
AD: It has nothing to do with religion but yet I feel like it's so simple -
YAG: It is very simple.
AD: Do you find that people - once they come to one of your talks or hear about this, that they incorporate it and continue on, or do you find that they kind of start maybe and then kind of fall off and then just kind of distracted? What do you find?
YAG: A lot of people are suffering today and they are getting depressed, they have everything yet the depression doesn't go away. They take medicine but the medicine doesn't help. This spirituality, the art of making yourself happy - it's nothing to with any religion. So spending 10 minutes for anybody is not a big deal and sitting in your cosy home and spending 10 minutes - and it has nothing to do with any religion, so it's very easy for everybody. They should try it.
AD: Yeah, for sure. Let's also compare East to West, because I know you've spoken around the world. For me, when I think about spirituality I think of when I was over in India. You know, there, that's when I really became aware of spirituality because I just find the attitude there is very more open and because - in a way, it's almost part of the culture that people have their shrines at home or whatever they use to, kind of, meditate. You know, there it's openly discussed - in the West, not so much. So, talk to us about your thoughts: what are the similarities you are finding between East and West in terms of spirituality and then how are we still very different?
YAG: Eastern spirituality is very difficult for some people of the West, and it's a little different. In Eastern spirituality, people on the spiritual path do go through a process of thorough cleansing of the inner. They spend a lot of time in the jungles; they keep themselves starved for many weeks. But what happens after that? They become really pure inside out and they learn to control their anger, their desires, lust and all these problems. Whereas, in the West, people are not aware of this thing. Their approach to spirituality is very superficial; their aim and target, by acting upon acting upon spirituality, is to achieve a little bit of peace in their life. Some people opt to go for yoga and other stuff, however, in Eastern spirituality it is a very full kind of spirituality where people purify themselves, mortify themselves and become really holy - like Sai Baba and Anand Guruji, Guru Maa and Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji. They were all pictures of God, they were kind of embodiment of God on earth.
AD: That's what I was saying: when I was in India, there is that vibe. I would just walk around and I would see people - where there is something happening, like something bad or even if something good is happening, the first thing people would say is, 'Let's gather people together,' or 'Let's do an offering' or 'Let's gather blessings -'
YAG: True.
AD: Or 'Let's go to this temple.' You know, even in the small villages, they would have like just a little something, whatever they wanted - a shrine or whatever they wanted to do just so people could come and be in that mind space to go seek blessings, meditate. It's part of life there. And to me that was like, wow, it's not even questioned and then here I feel like you were saying yoga - it's almost like a fad, it's like a trend where people go and it's cool to do yoga. But spirituality, I feel like it's whatever becomes the 'thing' to do. Why is that?
YAG: Because of different aims. Like people back home in India and Pakistan, they go into spirituality for their connection with God, so their offerings and their struggle, their hard work and turmoil they go through - it's all based on their pure intentions. Whereas, in the West, people are not after God; people just want bliss in their life, they want to feel good. So, if spirituality is confined to this 'feeling good', it's not a very profound form of spirituality.
AD: So, that's where you come in, right? So we've got to take a little commercial break, we've got lots to talk about still.
AD: Welcome back to ATN. I am your host Amin Dhillon and we are still chatting with His Holiness Younus AlGohar. Now, we were just talking about spirituality. We've got lots to talk about because spirituality is so open-ended, right? Now you co-founded an organisation, called Messiah Foundation International, so talk to me a little about what this organisation is about and what do you do?
YAG: Messiah Foundation International was formed in 2002 and our headquarters are in London, UK. It's a multi-faith, multi-cultural spiritual organisation where people from different religions join and learn spirituality.
AD: So, you said you do speaking online as well as here, so where can people get connected with you?
YAG: All the information is available on our website. A lot of people are now getting attention and they are learning more about this Sufi path of Islam.
AD: So, is it every month that you go online and do a -
YAG: No, every day.
AD: Everyday? Wow. Perfect. So, is it a live streaming or -
YAG: Live streaming.
AD: So we air across Canada and I'm sure there are people that would love to really use your knowledge to incorporate into their lives. So what are maybe a few tips that anyone watching can incorporate into their lives in terms of getting connected with spirituality or just finding that inner peace?
YAG: I have a very important message for everybody: there is an image of Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi on the Moon - and anybody, if you look at the image on the Moon and you are in a problem, you are in trouble, ask for help and I tell you that you will not be disappointed. Those who are wishing to enlighten their hearts: look at the image on the Moon and say the name of God - in any language, any religion you follow - say the name of God three times. And the picture on the Moon is so powerful that it will send spiritual vibes into your heart and it will enlighten your heart. And for spiritual healing, look at the image on the Moon, and believe you me, you will be blessed. And if what I said is true, then I'll come back here and we'll have a talk again and people can then see whether I was lying.
AD: Well there you have it. I love that it's open to everyone. So doesn't cost anything, doesn't require much of anyone just, 10 minutes of your day to get in touch. So thank you so much for coming.
YAG: Thank you very much.
AD: Of course, make sure to check on his website for daily speeches as well as check out his tour date to see if he is coming to a city near you. That brings us to the end of today's show. Thank you for watching ATN.
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