Namasté Reader Spotlight

Odell Johnson – Missouri
Namasté reader since 2007

This month we interview Odell Johnson, a Namasté reader who has achieved the distinction of Vedic Master, an honorary title for those who have become certified instructors in all three areas of The Chopra Center’s Teacher’s Path: meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda. Odell lives in Missouri and is currently completing a doctorate in religion, health, and African Studies. He is also working on a spiritual autobiography called The Journey Home.

How long have you been a Namasté reader and what led you to subscribe?
I’ve been a Namasté reader since becoming certified as a Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga Instructor in July 2007. Namasté keeps me connected to The Chopra Center’s community of thought and events, and it has given me new insights along my path. The newsletter offers practical guidance in mind/body practices that I’ve been able to apply in my own life on a daily basis. As an Ayurvedic instructor, I’ve been able to use Namasté as a resource for advanced practices and new ideas for the classes I teach.

What was going on in your life that led you to enroll in a Chopra Center experience?
Religion, church, and spirituality have always been at the forefront of my life. My father was a pastor and traveling evangelist in the Baptist church, and I grew up immersed in teachings about God, the Bible, and prayer. I ultimately enrolled in seminary school and started on the path to become a priest. However, I always felt in the depths of my soul and heart of hearts that God was more expansive than anything I had ever been taught. This was creating an enormous spiritual conflict deep within my soul.

About four years ago I came across Deepak Chopra’s book How to Know God in a bookstore, and the title immediately resonated with my quest as a seeker. Suddenly, a whole new Christian world view began to evolve in my consciousness and I began to read more books about higher states of consciousness. I decided to go hear Dr. Chopra speak, and had the opportunity to speak with him briefly in person.

That was a turning point for me, as I realized that I had been looking for God in all the wrong places – in the synagogue, the stained-glass images, the diluted gospels. I saw how limited and constricted I had been all those years and began to see God in all people and everywhere. It has been an enlightening experience for me.

How have you transformed?
The Chopra Center experience has now opened up rivers of knowledge like living waters, flowing from my soul to the external matter of universal existence.

As a teacher, my experience has allowed me to help others see how beautiful, wonderful, and powerful they really are. When I look into the eyes of my students of different colors, creeds, and religions, I know that we are all divinely fueled by one spirit.

Do you have a favorite Chopra Center event?
My first Seduction of Spirit is by far the best and most memorable experience so far. Before that event, I had never seen nor been in an environment of people from all over the world, from all different backgrounds and beliefs, yet seeming to share the same destiny of spirit. The experience of deep meditation and silent witnessing marked a new beginning for me, as I began to break through the battles and limitations of my own mind, going from a state of constriction to greater “un-restriction” and freedom.

How would you describe your life at this point?
Today I feel like I have journeyed home to a quiet place deep inside where universal consciousness roams. Christianity remains a part of me, along with the new perspectives I’ve developed. My world view has left the material mind-set and repositioned itself from the depths of the earth beyond the stars and the moon. Each day I focus on being mindful of the Seven Spiritual Laws and apply them to the various aspects of my life. Because of that, and embarking on the Chopra Center experience, I am in blissful Divinity forever.