Meditation + Talk: Lead with Peace and Purpose

June 7, 2025

This week, guest teacher Mandar Apte explored one of the central dilemmas of our time: how do we stay hopeful and take meaningful action in a world overwhelmed by violence, division, and despair?

Mandar speaks to the pain of witnessing repeated tragedies—school shootings, systemic injustice, deep social disconnection—and the helplessness that can follow. But instead of shutting down, he invites us to open up: to cultivate inner peace, connect across divides, and bring compassionate presence into the heart of suffering.

The message is clear and urgent—real change starts with how we breathe, how we show up, and how we come together to create a culture of safety, healing, and belonging.

Click here to join the free Wednesday Meditations – which are open to everyone!

A Meditation on Imagine

Download the Audio of this Meditation

A Talk on How to Lead with Peace and Purpose

Download the Talk: Audio | Transcript

Mandar Apte is the Founder and Executive Director of Cities4Peace, a strategic peacebuilding consultancy of the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values. Prior to this, Mandar worked at Shell for nearly two decades and managed Shell’s Game Changer social innovation and impact investment program. Mandar is also the Producer/Director of From India With Love documentary film that promotes India’s ancient message of nonviolence. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Mandar has studied, practiced and taught meditation practices for the past two decades.

These teachings are offered freely, at no charge.

And if you like, you may wish to participate in the age-old tradition of generosity through making an offering yourself – called “dāna” – to support Rick and the Wednesday Meditations. Generosity itself is a beautiful practice that opens and gladdens the heart, relaxes the contraction of “self,” and ripples out into the world to touch many people – and perhaps, eventually, even oneself.