For a week Hotel Shiva Yog Sthal provided a wonderful refuge for meditation, writing and doing laundry. Located 100 meters up the hill from the busy main street of Laxman Jhula, it is a modest hotel with friendly staff and clean accommodation. With two days still to go before my motorcycle journey into the foothills of the Himalayas (and Mahavatar Babaji country), I decided to spend my last two days in Rishikesh at Parmarth Niketan Ashram.

After dropping off my backpack, I meandered through the shops, vendors, sadhus, beggars, scooters, fruit peddlers, schoolchildren, monkeys and cows to the white sandy banks of the Ganges below the Ram Jhula Pul suspension bridge. Here cows, dogs, and Babas share the beach with foreign tourists and visitors from other parts of India. I had just settled in to reading a book, perched against a rock, when a young boy approached offering a flower in exchange for money.

During our playful banter a young Indian man stopped to talk to me, and soon I was surrounded by his friends. Visitors to Rishikesh, they were eager to learn all about me, and our conversation drifted to spirituality, meditation, and the oneness of being. We hugged each other, and then they waved me over to have some tea next to a Baba perched on a blanket near a man peddling drinks.

Sharing tea with Baba, one of my new friends translated Baba’s answers to his many questions. What was the most important thing in life? “Peace,” answered Baba, and continued slowly, “Following your Guru. Being good to other people.” I pressed my hand to my heart and nodded warmly. We spoke more about the importance of having an open heart to people from all walks of life and from all social classes, from beggars to even the filthy rich: One Love. They asked me what I thought of Trump.

“Well, even God resides in his mud-covered soul,” I replied. “That’s a tough one.”

We parted ways after many hugs, and after an early evening meditation, I joined the worshippers gathering at Parmarth Niketan Ghat for evening Aarti. For those who don’t know, this is a divine light ceremony filled with song, prayer, and various rituals for giving thanks to Mother Ganga, as well as for thanking God for providing us with His nourishing light throughout the day. Mother Ganga is more than a river. She is the Divine Mother delivering gifts along her banks as she rolls from the Himalayas to the sea. Anyone who has stood on her shores in the wonders of nature has felt this strong vibration of the holy river.

How amazing that friends, small children, old grandmothers who can barely walk, and foreigners from all walks of the world come here to share two hours of peaceful sitting along the river’s banks. The sense of community deepens with the evening sky. And when Sadvij Bhagawati Saraswatiji spoke, she commented on this wonder and how on this day, which was International Human Rights Day, we should remember how all people have the right to a decent life. Our greatest responsibility as humans is to help guarantee that right for everyone, because we are all connected, and we are all one. Her words echoed my conversation with my new friends on the beach just hours before. Coincidence? Such a “coincidence” is the synchronicity of rightful living. Events flow in harmony when we are in tune with the Universe. Life has shown me this again and again. And the attunement now was to embrace as One Love interconnected through the Ultimate Spirit.

Sadvij Bhagawati Saraswatiji invited everyone back to the ashram for evening Satsang, and there a question led into further investigation of our oneness in Spirit. All around us the world crumbles, from wars, environmental devastation, climate change, inequality, and racial and social division sowed between us by the ruling class. The Internet and social media have become powerful tools of manipulation and mind control, using algorithms and other technology to pit us against one another, allowing the destroyers of our world to deflect attention from their nefarious activities. They work tirelessly to tear apart our One Love and sow hatred and greed.

Just this morning I read a horrifying statistic: Just 0.001% (56,000 people) control THREE TIMES as much wealth as HALF OF HUMANITY (4 billion people). Check it out here. It’s economic genocide.

We cannot be discouraged by these facts. We cannot be driven into apathy by the sheer immensity of our problems. Find that love in your heart and let it grow. Have compassion and awareness for all: One Love.