“Mother Gopi Gita works a kind of magic with children. I’ve seen it on the playground in occasional visits to her school, as when a first grader went running to her in tears with a scraped elbow. He left shortly thereafter with dry eyes and newfound strength. Or when a slightly older child wanted an adult to make the other girls treat her fairly. After stopping to speak with Mother Gopi Gita at a playground picnic table, the student went back to the group with whatever nugget of wisdom the magician had shared, all of a sudden able to intervene for herself, without adult help. And I’ve seen that same magic at work in a classroom of students who – after greetings and a few words – showed a quiet, new focus for their morning activity.”