Ep 29: Share Necessities with Arjuna O’Neal
Click here for full episode transcript.
Share Necessities with Arjuna O'Neal
Episode 29: Show Notes.
This podcast is about a lot of things, like hope and perseverance, but, if there is one thing that all of Light’s guests have in common, it’s that, at some point in their life, they discovered that the light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel was inside of them all along.
This week, we hear from someone who had to die in order to find his light. After being shot, he flat-lined and, while he obviously recovered, he was transformed. After making a deal with God, he went on to become a mentor and set up a non-profit in South Central Los Angeles called Share Necessities, which helps teach and inspire underprivileged and at-risk kids mindfulness, yoga, and social responsibility practices.
His name is Arjuna O’Neal, and he grew up on the east side of Detroit, Michigan, where his surroundings were governed by violence, drugs, and gangs, all of which which negatively influenced his perspective on life. However, he was able to rewrite the traumas and painful experiences in life that keep him stuck and prevented him from living in their full potential and highest vibration.
His latest achievement is his new business called Mind Elevation, which focuses on helping others do the same. In this episode, he shares with us with how the seeds of his transformation were planted and began to sprout in the face of tragedy. Listen in as he shares with us his journey and the incredible impact he is making today for some of our most underserved communities, by sharing the same tools he used to develop and rebuild himself.
Key Points From This Episode:
Arjuna explains why his favorite activity as a child was being outdoors in nature.
What it means to be part of a Hare Krishna community, as Arjuna was during his childhood.
What Arjuna understood about the meaning or significance of his name as a child.
The spiritual practices in the Hare Krishna community and the early abuse and neglect Arjuna experienced in his life.
Reintegrating into the mainstream world in Detroit and experiencing bullying in school.
How Arjuna’s father used his spiritual knowledge as a means to manipulate and control.
Arjuna’s father imparted a sense of mistrust in others, of getting ahead without helping others.
The hypocrisy between what his father was teaching him and what they celebrated at temple.
Getting kicked out of school and the record or reputation that followed Arjuna afterwards.
Why Arjuna couldn’t envision his future as a teenager or comprehend success.
While everyone feared his father, it looked like he was following his spiritual philosophy.
Becoming a drug dealer had nothing to do with wanting to sell drugs – it was about building a relationship with his father.
Arjuna tells a story about how far he was willing to go to have a relationship with his father.
What Arjuna calls his first real assignment and coming up with his own rules.
Aspiring to reach the top, putting in the work, and going around his father’s superiority.
How Arjuna came to have a bounty on his head, ordered by his own father.
Learning that his father was just a regular person with a damn good mask on.
The circumstances that led to Arjuna getting shot and how it helped him create a connection with himself through meditation.
How being close to death recreated the feeling of love and comfort he wanted from his family.
How Arjuna’s experience of dying helped him understand the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
Rewriting his own story by looking back and acknowledging how his actions affected others.
Using his story to change the lives of others in jail before starting Share Necessities.
The genesis of Share Necessities and how Arjuna ended up homeless in California.
By moving to Los Angeles, Arjuna was trying to recreate himself and share his experience.
How and why Arjuna raised $20,000 to create an experience that people would remember.
The process of getting vetted by the gangs in the areas in order to open up his new center.
Building relationships with locals, reaching people that weren’t able to access the center.
Why Arjuna didn’t want the community he was in to think he was there to save them.
Bringing to the community the forgiveness and compassion he learned while he was dying.
What Arjuna would say to the 18-year-old version of himself: play with self-love.
What success looks like to Arjuna now – creating an opportunity to expand knowledge.
Why Share Necessities is not a drop-off center – parents have to be present.
The power of recognizing how powerful our minds are.
Tweetables:
“One of the things [my father] imparted was you can't trust people. That creates fear. There was a savage mentality. You didn't do things to help other people get ahead. You made sure you got ahead. That teaches you, as you get older, [to] be selfish, inconsiderate. He taught me the values that would make you a successful street person. But an everyday society person? No.” — Arjuna O’Neal [0:19:44]
“What my dad wanted was [for] me to be more like him, and how he did it was he made me feel like the only way that I could actually spend time with him was that I had to show him how to use my education or my smarts to advance in the streets.” — Arjuna O’Neal [0:30:38]
“Through this whole story, the only thing that I can tell you that was really wrong with me was just that I was hurt. Deeply hurt and abandoned. I didn't feel like I had anybody. That was it. But just from those two feelings, I was able to fuel myself in a way that made me dangerous. I was a different kind of dangerous.” — Arjuna O’Neal [0:47:04]
“In my mind it was like, ‘If I have to die, I can’t die in this space of fear, panic, or remorse, feeling bad about myself.’ I said, ‘If I’m going to go out, I need to go out in a state of higher consciousness,” all of the stuff that I was taught through the Bhagavad Gita. ‘I need to raise my vibration. At least I need to die in a God consciousness.’” — Arjuna O’Neal [0:58:10]
“That forgiveness, that level of compassion that I was allowed to experience in that moment, is the same forgiveness and compassion that I’ve been able to use to not only heal myself, but that I can use anywhere in the world, with anyone, in any circumstance.” — Arjuna O’Neal [01:00:28]
“A lot of times, in life, when we flow and things are happening, we think about what happens to us. Rarely do we sit back and just contemplate on how our actions ripple out, and how many people we've affected by how we behave.” — Arjuna O’Neal [01:10:34]
“I didn't want the community to feel like I was coming in there to save them. I wanted to gift the community with the same blessing that I had. When I found myself, when I saw the value of myself, I began to move different. I began to think different. That's the gift that I wanted to bring to the community.” — Arjuna O’Neal [01:32:09]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: