I wanted to give an update on why Ukraine matters. And why this cause is so important to all of us, not just the team of 400 people who run Mindvalley but to everyone who is part of our global community.
Many of our team comes from Eastern Europe and Russia. Russian was in fact the first international language Mindvalley courses were translated into. Estonia was our first office outside Kuala Lumpur. Across all these countries people have similar culture and history. And a large chunk of that history is the joint oppression we all faced under the Soviet Union.
My children have had great-grandparents murdered by the Soviets. They were shot in the head and their bodies dumped in an unmarked grave. Our family farmland was stolen from us. The country of Estonia was reduced to poverty.
We gained our independence in 1991 along with other countries like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine.
We are not going back and people here would rather fight and die than let Putin’s army take over.
Europe allowed Hitler to take the Saarland. He didn’t stop. History shows that dictators seldom satisfy their hunger and decide that enough is enough.
This is why we have Mindvalley members in Ukraine picking up arms and getting ready to fight for their land. This is why almost our entire team in Estonia marched this weekend in protests in Tallinn. This is why members in Romania are helping find homes for refugees crossing the border.
If Ukraine falls, the entire world has failed to stand up to the biggest schoolyard bully of our century.
When I was 21 I decided to go to Bosnia as a photojournalist to document to Bosnian War.
My exhibit can be seen online in an old 1997 site here.
I went to Bosnia because back then I was horrified to read in the papers about the genocide of Bosnian muslims. I could not sit still. The internet was not a thing back then and so when it was safe and the war had just ended I went to Bosnia with my camera and slept in the streets to document the horrors there. If you read the captions next to my pics you will see this caption next to a pic of a bullet riddled apartment.
IN MEMORIAM:
OUR COMMITMENTS, PRINCIPLES AND MORAL VALUES
DIED : BOSNIA, 1994
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 1,000TH DAY OF THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO.
This is an obituary that appeared in the New York Times in late 1994, bordered in traditional black and signed by more than seventy members of the Western World’s political and cultural elite.
If we don’t do everything we can we risk another Bosnia. And we also spit on our commitments, principles and moral values.
Mindvalley’s goal has always been to help bolster unity and to spread enlightened ideas. Courage, unity, bravery, standing up to dictators are all enlightened ideas worth spreading.
This is what we’re doing next and we invite you to join us.
1. We enforced work rules that allow our employees to take time off work to support Ukraine and a free Russia.
Anyone who is helping Ukrainian defenders or Russian protestors can take time off work to do what they need. Salaries will be secured. If you have employees in Eastern Europe we encourage you to do the same
2. Our team in Estonia is prepared to turn our entire office into a refugee center.
Europe is estimating 7 million refugees. If we get permission from the building we will allow Ukrainians to use the office to sleep and work and we will provide 3 months of healthy good food and all necessary supplies. Mindvalley members in Europe are encouraged to take in refugees.
3. We have started working with Ukrainian and Russian meditation authors to build a free library of meditation sounds and therapeutic modalities like hypnosis or RTT.
These will be available for free on the Mindvalley app in the Russian language.
If you can produce audio-based meditations in Russian or Ukrainian to help people with the myriad of emotions they are feeling now –email kristina@mindvalleyrussian.com with your meditation audio, your picture, and a description.
We will make it free on the Mindvalley app.
4. We will be launching an NFT project to create art commemorating Ukrainian resistance, amplifying the message of unity with the Russian people and giving a giant middle finger to Putin.
The art will be sold on Opensea for approx 1 ETH and 10% of proceeds go to artist and 90% to Ukraine and Russian causes fighting Putin.
If you’re an artist who wants to participate – email me at ceo@mindvalley.com.
5. We will be accelerating hiring for positions when Ukrainians apply.
There is so much talent in that country that will need work and jobs. We encourage you all to start hiring and looking at Ukrainian talent. They are simply some of the best talents we’ve ever hired across the world.
6. We will make Mindvalley free or $1 for Ukraine (we may have to charge $1 due to tech platform requirements).
We will consider making it free in Russian too. This will end the profitability of the Russian business but it’s the right thing to do.
Finally, our tribe storyteller, Marta Maxim, who is Ukrainian, is on the ground in Lviv Ukraine supporting her troops. You can follow her on instagram at marta.maksym.10.
It helps to hear the voices of people who are living through this so we can understand what Ukrainians are going through.
PS – What I’m seeing on the bright side is how this war is unfolding. Unlike the Bosnian War this time I see a massive difference in the world’s reaction. The outpouring of love and support for Ukraine has been amazing. And I’m so happy to see people make a distinction between ‘Russian’ and ‘Putin’. The Russian people are not the enemy but victims of Putin’s evil and propaganda. And Ukrainians and their heroic leaders have become global symbols of courage.
I don’t know how this will end – but my team and I are doing everything we can to support the brave people of Ukraine. And I’m proud to see how the entire world has united behind this cause. May your prayers be with Ukraine tonight.
Global Live Meditation for Peace in Ukraine
Marie Diamond guides you for 90 minutes in 18 languages in Meditation to create world peace and to bring peace to East Europe and bring Light to the Ukrainian and Russian People.
