CURRENT EVENTS
SANGHA MEETINGS
Ahimsa Trust organizes regular mindfulness meditation practice sessions in Delhi which are led by Dharmacharya Shantum Seth, members of the Order of Interbeing and Sangha members.
Please contact your coordinator (depending on which geographical region would suit you) directly for details:
DELHI LOCAL SANGHA LOCATIONS
South- DLF, Gurgaon and neighbourhood
Volunteer co-ordinator - Indira Unninayar (9810269803) indiraunninayar@gmail.com
Practice Facilitator- Ajeer Vidya ajeer.vidya@gisil.com
Meeting: Every 2nd Saturday of the month (3 pm to 5 pm)
Venue: Global - Arts - Space Village, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Gittorni, Delhi (Please confirm with
coordinator)
Central- most of South and New Delhi including Sundar Nagar, Jorbagh, Defence Colony, Saket, Hauz Khas, Kalkaji, Green Park etc
Co-ordinators- Anita Anand (9811157812) aa.comfirst@gmail.com
Sheela Reddy (9810323534) sheela@outlookindia.com
Practice Facilitators: Poonam Sahi poonambsahi@gmail.com
Bandana Sen bandanabooks@gmail.com
Meeting: Every 1st Thursday (6.30pm to 8.00 pm) and third Saturday (4.30 pm to 6.00 pm) of the month
Venue: D-9 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024
West- Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Chanakyapuri, Patel Nagar etc.
Co-ordinator/ Practice Facilitator- Raka (9873656665) angajafoundation@gmail.com
Meeting: Every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month (6 pm to 7.30 pm)
Venue: 20, Paschimi Marg, Vasant Vihar, Ground Floor, Opposite of Little Pearls School, New Delhi
East: includes Maharani Bagh, Friends Colony, Noida, Ghaziabad
Coordinator: Poonam Bajaj (9958107917) punam2233@yahoo.com
Practice Facilitator: Poonam Bajaj (9958107917) punam2233@yahoo.com
Meeting: 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month (4 pm to 6 pm)
Venue: 309-B Sector 15A, Noida 201301
North - University area
Coordinator: Honey Oberoi: 27662593 and 9873435949 honey_vahali@rediffmail.com
Practice Facilitator: Kamal Saxena saxena.kamal@yahoo.co.in
Meeting: 4th Tuesday of the month (4 pm to 6 pm)
Venue: Students Activity Centre, Delhi University (next to Central Reference Library,
Delhi University, Arts Faculty)
DAYS OF MINDFULNESS
Every month a half day of mindfulness is organized by Ahimsa Trust which is open to anyone interested. All the Delhi local sanghas meet together for half a day where we meditate together, listen to some teachings, practice walking meditation, have discussions etc. For more details on specific dates, please email: ahimsa.trust@gmail.com
OTHER EVENTS
27th May 2010
Buddha Purnima
We shall be meeting (like every year) to celebrate Buddha Purnima on the evening of Thursday the 27th of May at Sanskriti Kendra on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. Invitation and map below.
Please mark it in your diary.
On 23 April 2010
Return of the Pilgrim, Half-day of Mindfulness
Dear Sangha friends,
It has been a while since we all met as a collective Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon sangha.
Dharmacharya Shantum Seth is back in Delhi from his winter season of pilgrimages. We felt this would be a good opportunity for us to practice sitting, walking and sharing the Dharma together.
We would like to invite you to Half a day of Mindfulness on Friday, 23rd of April 2010 at 8 Padmini Enclave, Hauz Khas (off Aurobindo marg).. home of Prama Bhandari (tel number 011 26862807 and mobile 9810645467). (Prama and Ranji Bhandari have once again generously agreed to host the session at their residence).
The plan is to meet from 5pm to 9pm including dinner for which it would be nice if all of us can carry some food which can be shared in Mindfulness.
A lotus for you
Ahimsa Trust
On 16 January 2010:
A talk titled "The Secular Buddha"
by
Stephen Batchelor* on 16th January 2010 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:
As we welcomed back the monsoon, we gathered to share an evening of mindfulness together. We met at Diya Walia’s home in Maharani Bagh, New Delhi.
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.
This is Poonam's first book, which is both inspired and inspiring. The poems are insightful, honest and beautiful and help us touch the magic of the moment.Thich Nhat Hanh has kindly blessed this book with these words:
“These are poems of Mindfulness. They are clear as crystals. They show us what is happening now. That is already insight. And we know what to do and what not to do, whether we should go ahead or should stop. We recognize what happens with a smile. This is a good practice.”
On 21st May 2009:
On 9th May 2009, about a hundred and fifty of us met to celebrate Buddha Purnima commemorating the Buddha’s Birth, Nirvana and Mahaparinirvana, as we do every year.
We gathered at the Bodhi sapling (child of the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya) which we planted four years ago on this day, sat for a while, and watered the tree. We walked mindfully on the beautiful grounds of Sanskriti Kendra, sat in meditation in the amphi theatre and listened to a Dharma talk by Dh. Shantum Seth on Mindfulness and building inner resilience through the education system. Others including Sheela Reddy, Ajeer Vidya and Poonam Sahi shared too. There was a beautiful candle light walk to the banyan tree and chanting and we watched the full moon rise. We all shared a lovely dinner together and felt the tranquility of a harmonious sangha practicing together in peace.
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.
