Searching the Self – Serving Society – Saving the Environment
This is a signature stress reduction programme of the Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre.
Our lives as human beings are often dominated by ‘doing things’ or ‘fixing things,’ without taking time to experience or take control of the present moment. This results in ‘unawareness’ of what we are doing. As human beings our lives are interconnected with those of other humans, animals and the plant world. When ‘unawareness’ governs our minds, all our actions and decisions will be influenced by it and will negatively impact these connections. It will also keep us from being in touch with our own bodies and how we are affected by our own thoughts, emotions and actions. By cultivating ‘mindful awareness’ we will strengthen our capacity to be in touch with our body and its signals and maintain our mind body balance.
Intelligence is the distinctive faculty which makes humans stand out among other beings. Mind body interactive practice will allow us to explore this faculty in order to achieve our common goal of happiness.
The entire programme encapsulates three themes:
- Searching the Self
- Serving Society
- Saving the Environment
Searching the self
We will learn the art of experiencing moment to moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings and sensations through meditation practices, a body scan exercise, mindfulness exercises including mindful yoga in order to regain the right balance between mind and body. We will acquire the skills to differentiate between wholesome and unwholesome thoughts, feelings and sensations and develop greater resilience in our mind and body.
Serving Society
We will learn the art of strengthening our capacity to respond to stresses and tensions of the people we interact with in our personal and professional lives. We will learn how to compassionately deal with human suffering without getting entangled in the negative emotions of others through universal loving kindness meditation.
Saving the environment
We will learn to appreciate even the little things in nature in order to relax our hearts and minds through meditative reflections with nature and water therapy exercise.
Youth and Adults
Children
In a society that offers children everything based on materialism and the quest for instant gratification, through “Mindfulness for Children” Vishva Niketan offers children an opportunity to get in touch with their inner selves and their minds with all their hidden faculties, latent abilities and subtle complexities. As they learn to observe their active minds, they come to understand how to develop more focused attention on the present moment. Vishva Niketan offers this non-sectarian program with meditation techniques (whilst taking due care that meditation will not become a burden for children) interactive exercises, games and dialogues to help them deal with very fears and anxieties of childhood and adolescence.
Through an exciting path of self-discovery, interactive exercises, open conversation and shared learning, children will practice and apply powerful principles of the mind, body and heart connection.
Executives
Our 24-hour days need not be filled with responsibilities, deadlines, difficult choices and anxiety. If we are open to the lessons each situation holds, we can do more than merely cope with such challenges. The Spiritual Resources for Responsible Corporate Management programme is designed to help busy corporate leaders to develop keen insights into their business community and a sustainable support system for facing challenges. It also provides a platform to develop a deeper self-awareness that helps create effective solutions to deal with any situation that may arise in the workplace.
Meditation and dialogue at the Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre begin with fundamental assumptions: each of us has a mind and a heart. Our physical being is guided by psychological and spiritual energy. If we tap our inner strengths we can find the presence of mind to flourish. Through this programme, with mindful and creative interactions among the leaders of the corporate world, the individuals as well as their organisations can benefit enormously by mastering the skills that help discover resources we never knew we had.