| Posted: May 24 2010,03:54 |
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Postal address of organization/institution
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309-B Sector 15A, Noida 201301 ,INDIA
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E-mail address of organization/institution
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ahimsa.trust@gmail.com
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Website address of organization/institution
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http://www.ahimsatrust.org/index.html
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Telephone of organization/institution
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+91-120-2511633, +91-120-2512162
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PRIORITIES: All of the organization's domains of culture of peace activity |
EDUCATION FOR PEACE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN RIGHTS
WOMEN'S EQUALITY
UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY
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TOP PRIORITY: The organization's most important culture of peace activity |
EDUCATION FOR PEACE
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PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS: What
partnerships and networks does your organization participate in, thus
strengthening the global movement for a culture of peace? |
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ACTIONS: What activities have
been undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the ten years of the Decade? If you already made a
report in 2005, your information from 2005 will be included in the 2010
report.
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Ahimsa
is a volunteer driven, non profit organisation geared towards cultural,
social development and educational work aimed at creating peace and
harmony within oneself, ones' family and in society. Ahimsa aims to
spread the ethics of peace and non violence through alliances and
programmes in the areas of mindfulness in education, culture,
environment, gender sensitization, responsible tourism and sustainable
livelihoods.
Ahimsa Trust is involved in a Mindfulness in
Education initiative, inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh which is based on
mental training to bring a moment to moment awareness of what is going
on within oneself and outside oneself. This mind training allows
students, teachers, parents and administrators to develop well-being
and social emotional learning (SEL). Following Mindfulness practices on
a daily basis allows children and others to develop stillness, calm and
ease so as to look deeply at the body, emotions, perceptions,
volitions, mental formations, thoughts, speech etc. This not only helps
in mental processes of concentration, attentiveness, memory, judgement,
impulse control and reasoning but also helps enhance academic
performance, decrease stress, resolve conflicts and build community.
Towards this Ahimsa Trust is setting up a Mindfulness Practice Centre
in the village of Rajpur near Dehradun in Uttarakhand, India.
Our Prgrams:
1)
PADSA Programme for Artisan Development in South Asia Under the
auspices of the UN and supported by its voluntary arm UNV the Programme
for Artisan development in South Asia or PADSA was a pioneering attempt
to bring artisans and all that they and their lives represent into
sharp focus. It was an initiative that started in November 1992 at
villages located in 4 countries India Nepal Bhutan and Sri Lanka.It
emphasized interaction and exchanges between diverse artisans and
underlined the importance of the barefoot expert suggesting that
artisans themselves could solve the problems of other artisans It also
experimented with national UN Volunteers to gauge their effectiveness
vis a vis traditional international UN volunteers. The story of
PADSA was published as a chapter entitled The Art of Building
Peace: Artisan Skills for Development and Peace in South Asia " by
Shantum Seth, in a book 'Volunteers against Conflict, published by the
United Nations University Press. A short film was also made
entitled 'Speaking Hands'.
2) Based on the experience gained by
PADSA the Inter regional Volunteers Programme for Artisans Support
(IVPAS) was formed to focus on one critical element. It centered around
the crucial need to create a global voice for the artisan.
3) The
ADL Project grew out of the combined wisdom and thought and felt
experience of the PADSA and IVPAS programmes.In the initial two years
an attempt was made to make a self- sufficient artisan organization of
about 50 craftspeople living around and in Santiniketan, in West Bengal
.One such artisan led organisation was set up by the programme, nearby
in Bishnupur, called "Karu udyan'. It had artisans form 7 ifferent
trades, a difficult feat in a society that has a caste system based on
occupations. This part of the project was funded by the United Nations
Volunteers.
4) The Life Skills Development and Sustainable
Vocational Training Project seeks to empower young people from
marginalised rural and urban families to acquire skills, a working
knowledge of the market and an all-round education in order to acquire
some additional income sources for themselves and their families. The
Vocational Training programmes offered will try to upgrade existing
skills among the community while maintaining the organic natural
resource base. Efforts will be made to keep the products and the
services as environmentally sustainable as possible. The Project has a
specific gender component which addresses the needs of young married
women who can be motivated to improve the nutrition, education and
health status of their families, while allowing them some room for
further emotional and intellectual growth. The Project Facilitators
will also attempt to collect as many successful case studies of
existing Vocational Training programmes.
5) A natural development
for Ahimsa was being involved in the promotion of Volunteering. It
became a key player in the lead up and follow up to the International
Year of Volunteering 2001. It initiated volunteer involvement and
campaigns in groups to clean up the Yamuna river, a Schizophrenia
support group, groups to help bridge the digital divide, Gandhi
volunteers and street theatre festival to coincide with International
Volunteer Day each year on the 5th of December.
6) Ahimsa Trust's
educational work offers teachings in Mindfulness to children, teachers
and individuals. Ahimsa shares practices of mental training that are
developed as part of India 's great heritage of understanding the mind.
7) Mindfulness-based Education” is an exciting and important new development in kindergarten to class 12 education.
8)
Inspired by the example of the community of mindfulness practitioners
led by Thich Nhat Hanh and other intentional communities in India and
around the world there arose a strong urge to develop a similar base in
India that will allow people to touch peace within themselves and live
in aware and peaceful coexistence and harmony with each other and
nature while serving the community around them.
This would be a
spiritual social and educational community that would share the
practice of mindfulness in everyday life. A place for retreat and study
the centre would run courses workshops and retreats and be a fourfold
community home for those who want to live in the beauty and magic of
mindful awareness.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
On 16 January 2010:
A talk titled "The Secular Buddha" by Stephen Batchelor* at India
International Centre, New Delhi. Chair: Shantum Seth *Stephen Batchelor
is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his
secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism.
On 18 July 2009, An
evening of Mindfulness:There was a short Dharma talk, a period of
meditative practice and Zen awareness to ‘bless’ the forthcoming book
of our Dharma sister, Poonam Srivastava, entitled 'A moment for the
mind', being published by our sangha press, Amber.
On 21st May 2009: Book Launch of Amateur Plays written by Children
On
the 28th of March, Ahimsa Trust organised the launch of Teach Peace - A
Sahabhagi Times Foundation initiative in Delhi. The Launch was followed
by a panel discussion on the Quest for Peace in Turbulent Times - a
dialogue on non-violence. Among the members of the panel were
activist-actress Nandita Das, Dharmacharya Shantum Seth and spiritual
guru Dr. Deepak Chopra.
We at Ahimsa Trust, are delighted to
share that Thich Nhat Hanh's book 'Calming the Fearful Mind, A Zen
Response to Terrorism' published by Amber Books was launched by the
Honourable Chief Minister of Delhi, Shiela Dixit on 14th of February at
the India Habitat Centre. The CM expressed her appreciation for the
timely publication of the book and relevance of Thich Nhat Hanh's
message, with whom she interacted during his India visit, last October.
The occasion was also marked by an engaging panel discussion on
'Appropriate Responses to Terrorism' with a focus on the role of
education as a critical change agent for long-term preventive
approaches to terror. Prominent panelists including Syeda Hameed,
Member Planning Commission, Ashok Desai, former Attorney General of
India, educators, Abha Adams and Dilip Simeon, Zen teacher Shantum
Seth, participated in the discussion moderated by Sonia Singh of NDTV
and chaired by Dr. Karan Singh. The discussion ranged from the
importance of training children to handle fear, to the reality of being
faced with a live terrorist situation as in Mumbai, to ask who is the
terrorist/asura as in Gaza, and to see the terrorist as a victim of
circumstance too. There was an interesting exchange on the
efficacy of the non-violent vis-à-vis the violent responses to terror,
and the importance of long-term preventative approaches. Also, how to
be careful not to stereotype a terrorist as being from a particular
community. There was a strong feeling that the book should be
translated into Indian languages. An equally responsive audience,
helped conclude the discussion by highlighting their views on the
subject. We feel the session planted seeds of introspection
amongst all present. A positive general consensus emerged, to further
Thich Nhat Hanh's viewpoint of compassionate engaged action, to deal
with different shades of social terror infliction.
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PROGRESS: Has your organization
seen progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain
of action and in your constituency during the second half of the
Decade? |
Mindfulness
is increasingly recognized as an essential support for students,
teachers, school administrators, and parents. Decades of research and
practice have proved it to be a powerful tool, benefiting one’s health,
optimising academic ability, enhancing social and emotional relations,
and most importantly, promoting a sense of wellbeing. At the same time,
the practice of mindfulness decreases stress, attention deficit issues,
depression, anxiety, and hostility. It is a foundation for education,
providing the optimal conditions for learning and teaching, supporting
all pedagogical approaches. We are dedicated to bringing all these
benefits to the field of education as a service to the country.We focus
on introducing these practices to teachers so that they can use it in
their own lives and, based on their experience, share it with their
students.
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OBSTACLES: Has your organization faced any obstacles to implementing the culture of peace and nonviolence? If so, what were they?
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not reported
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization in the short, medium and long term to
promote a culture of peace and nonviolence? |
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GLOBAL MOVEMENT: How do you think the culture of peace and nonviolence could be strengthened and supported at the world level??
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