Jeevan Vidya Workshop at Sambhaavnaa Institute, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh [Oct 1-9]: Registration Open

18 Sep 2021

Categories: Courses & Workshops

Do You Ever Wonder

What is my purpose? What is Happiness? What are relationships? Can relationships be harmonious? What are values? What is love? What causes conflicts and misunderstandings? Is making money my only aim in life? What is Equality, Justice, Education? What is happening to our natural resources? What is my role? Is society needed? Why are there so many laws, rules, regulations? Can we survive without each other? Why is there exploitation in society? What am I? What is this world? What is life? What are these planets, stars, galaxies? Are we alone in the universe? What is the universe? …..

The human quest is to seek a happy, secure, harmonious and sustainable way of life. Happiness at the level of the individual, security at the level of family, harmony at the level of society and sustainability at the planetary level. What do you aspire for?

At present, this quest has generally been reduced to acquiring wealth and influence over others. However, the fact remains that no matter how much wealth or influence one acquires, fulfilment continues to eludes us as individuals. What is your quest?

Presently, the pursuit of wealth & power is causing deterioration of self (mental health, physical health), relationships (unfulfilled expectations) resulting in a society that is constantly fighting/ exploiting within itself. In the mainstream we have accepted this exploitation as inevitable; harmony is not even a consideration anymore. What do you think, is this a problem?

The impact of this destructive way of living is all around and it affects one and all, but none of us wants this destruction. Despite none of us desiring this destructivity in our living, we are all, unfortunately, knowingly or unknowingly, participating in it. And at the same time hoping for harmony and sustainability. What do you think, do we need to do considerably better as a society?

Is this what we want? Is there any alternative to this? Can we humans live in harmony with each other? Can we nurture our relationships, families, communities and our society? Is there a possibility for a sustainable lifestyle? Many of us are asking these questions; some are even attempting to answer them and some are attempting to present solutions to such related issues at various levels.

If such questions/issues concern you or interest you, then this Jeevan Vidya Introductory Course is for you.

Note: Living inspired by Jeevan Vidya is a family-based, society-based, happy, robust, responsible, interactive and harmonious living.

To register, click here

Challenges Possibilities

Individual Boredom, confusion, loneliness, disillusionment, depression, aggression… meaningfulness, clarity, rootedness, purposefulness, self-confidence, calmness Family/Relationships Unfulfilled expectations, interference, betrayal, injustice, dominance, abuse, discord, money problems Fulfilment of responsibilities, mutual support, trust, justice, inspiration, nurturing, cordiality, prosperity Society Fear, hate, exploitation, inequality, unemployment, poverty, struggle, war Security, respect, complementarity, equality, self-employment, development, cooperation, peace Planet Pollution, climate change, global warming, air, water food scarcity crisis Clean air-water-food, climate reliability, Global balanced cycles of minerals, plants, animals, temperature, precipitation, wind, for the blooming of the planet with humans.

What is Jeevan Vidya

Jeevan Vidya (JV) is a proposal for understanding coexistence and living in accordance with coexistence as defined in philosophy called Madhyasth Darshan.
Introductory JV course introduces one to the basic concepts of JV regarding Self, Relationships, Society, Nature and the principle of coexistence governing all of these. With these basic concepts, one is able to understand the structure, purpose, responsibilities, expectation, fulfilment of various aspects of life.
JV proposes that each person is capable of understanding based living and in absence of proper understanding they live according to their assumptions.
According to JV, understanding is that which takes one towards harmony in self and at the same time harmony with others.
If harmony is absent then it is just an ‘assumption’ not understanding, which needs to be examined. In fact, education is the journey from assumptions towards understanding.
Those of us who have engaged with JV have slowly developed a ‘worldview’ that helps in living a more harmonious life.

What is Jeevan Vidya Introductory Course

It is usually a 7-9 day residential course.
The facilitator puts forth proposals for the participants to examine.
Clarifications on the proposals introduced during sessions are welcome and addressed.
This course is free of Do’s & Don’ts therefore there is no preaching.
This course is not associated with any religion, sect or commune.
Normally, the classroom sessions last for over 5 hours, so the participants need to be
mentally prepared for that.
Besides the above-mentioned formal interaction time, participants are free for informal interactions.
There are no mandatory rules in this course. Participants are suggested to maintain civility, cooperativeness and politeness with each other, so as to nurture a learning and contemplating environment within the participant group.

About the Facilitator

Ashok Kumar Gopala aged 50 years was born and brought up in Delhi and presently lives with his wife (Sheila) and two daughters in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. In past, he has also lived in Noida and Dehradun. During his professionally active days (1994-2007) he worked as an IT professional. From 2008 to the present he is engaged as an Organic Farmer as well as a Facilitator for Jeevan Vidya workshops. His school & University education was done from The Army Public School New Delhi, IIT Delhi & Kakatiya University, Warangal.

During his days in IIT Delhi (1988-92), Ashok discovered that he was not inspired by the options offered by the mainstream (modern, urbanised) way of life. Fortunately for him soon he came across Jeevan Vidya (JV) in 1993 through his professor, Dr. Yash Pal Satya. After an initial examination of Jeevan Vidya, he started believing that this was the path he wanted to explore further.

Under the guidance of Shri A. Nagraj (original propounder of Jeevan Vidya), the process of understanding JV was then undertaken together by the husband-wife team of Ashok & Sheila. This has been a journey of 24 years and has brought many changes in their personal, family and social life. In this process, they have at various points in their lives, made several choices based on their understanding of JV and moved towards a more harmonious & sustainable way of life. The choices made have been in the domain of relationships, parenting, occupation and health.

The family is now based in Raipur, Chattisgarh, while engaged in the educational programs of JV. They have two small farms in Roorkee, Uttarakhand & Bemetara, Chhatisgarh where organic agriculture is practised through natural farming techniques. These farms provide their family and friends with pure, organic food. As a part of their sustenance, they also produce some healthcare products at their home.

Language: English

Venue: Sambhaavnaa Institute, Village : Kandbadi, Post – Kamlehad, Tehsil-Palampur, Kangra -176061

Dates: 1st to 9th October 2021

To register, click here

Participant Contribution

Simple accommodation will be provided at the venue from 5 pm onwards from 30th September till 5 pm, 9th October, 2021
Breakfast, lunch & dinner comprising of simple nutritious vegetarian food. Tea will be provided twice a day.
Rs. 7500/- per person will be charged for accommodation and food; participants are requested to remit the amount at the time of registration.
No Fee/Payment or donation is expected or accepted by the facilitator for any
Jeevan Vidya activity (lectures, meetings, workshops etc), these are shared for mutual joy.