Ashram Audit & Management, Infrastructure & Materials

Report from the Working Groups – SRCM North America

December 2009

Ashram Audit & Management, Infrastructure & Materials……………Page 02

Ashram Utilization and Abhyasi Training Program……………………Page 02

Audio, Video, and Website…………………………………………………Page 03

Children and Teen Activities……………………………………………….Page 04

Communication with Abhyasis and Nonprofit Counseling…………..Page 05

Community Outreach………………………………………………………..Page 05

Fund Raising………………………………………………………………….Page 07

Meditation Center Development…………………………………………..Page 08

Prefect Training …………………………………………………………...…Page 09

Publication Promotions…………………………………………………….Page 09

Seminars & Gatherings……………………………………………………..Page 10

United Nations Activities……………………………………………………Page 11

Young Adult Abhyasi Activities…………………………………………...Page 12

01 Ashram Audit & Management, Infrastructure & Materials

Chair: Sarjoo Patel ([email protected])

October update 2009:

The primary goal of the activity conducted this month was to grasp the understanding of the work and surrounding influences. An audit was conducted at the Molena Ashram. In the process conversations were held with those who had historical knowledge of the issues.

A schedule of audits at other sites is being developed.

A structure of persons involved and an overall strategy to prepare for the work is being discussed.

November update 2009

A three center tour was conducted in early December to Chicago, Cleveland, and Dayton. Each facility was reviewed in detail. A list of improvements and renovations is being prepared.

Another center tour is planned for early January to Cranbury and Sunderland.

Ashram Utilization and Abhyasi Training Program

Chair: Christine Jones ([email protected])

Primary activity thus far has been to establish a structure and network for the Abhyasi Training Program (ATP). This work involves:

 Creating and adapting a series of presentations for use by centers throughout North America.  Creating a volunteer network of trainers and presenters.

Thus far the ATP has been presented as a pilot program in a few centers in North America.

02 Audio, Video, and Website

Chair: Harshal Jawale ([email protected])

October update 2009

Here's a brief report on the activities so far:

 Met with the chairs of other teams in the inaugural kickoff meeting in Molena.  Offered to provide media support to the different teams in any manner that will help them achieve their goals.  Helped to published Rev. Master's message on the website in the same week. Working with the Sahaj Marg Youth to publish media to highlight the happenings at the Molena seminar. This media will shortly get published on the website as part of the Featured Gathering page.  Br. Tom Hansen has agreed to be part of the team. Br. Srini Bandaru has been assisting with media work during the Molena seminar. We plan to expand the team.  One of the first goals of the team is to gather media about the Mission's ashrams and meditation centers worldwide. This was done for North America for the Molena seminar. The plan is to involve Sahaj Marg youth worldwide.

Some highlights:

1. There were nearly 1,400 new visitors to the Media Gallery at sahajmarg.org since the Molena seminar. 2. The most popular section of the gallery was the Photo Gallery 3. The second most popular section was the Video Gallery 4. A lot of people were able to view Rev. Master's video message given during the Molena seminar. 5. The following search words were used to come to the Media Gallery: srcm photos, chariji photo, srcm master photos, and webcast from tiruppur - july 2009

03 Children and Teen Activities

Chair: Tracie Pape ([email protected])

October and November update 2009

The committee was formed in April of 2009 and included:

Meg Hartley (Portland, Oregon) Ranjani Iyer (Austin, Texas) Tracie Pape (Evanston, Illinois) Leslie Romano (rural Virginia)

A Yahoo Group was established to communicate and share files. Conference calls were held every two/three weeks to discuss the activities of the committee. A brief description of our education and work with the Mission was documented and the work was divided into the following categories:

1.) Gathering and Seminars Coordinator (Meg Hartley) 2.) Young Children’s Activities (Ranjani Iyer) 3.) Pre-teen and Teen activities (Tracie Pape) 4.) Family Life Activities (Leslie Romano)

The first task we accomplished was to establish a Mission statement. It is:

"Our mission is to develop and implement creative, dynamic and engaging programs, activities, materials and infrastructure for children and youth that instill His Light and joy, reveal their Self, and prepare children and youth for a lifetime of abhyas."

The next task was to ask all centers in North America what activities were being conducted for children and what centers felt was needed in this area.

The overall plan for the gathering was to include parents in the activities by writing an invitation letter and having a parent meeting, keeping the young children’s activities simple and giving the pre-teens and teenagers their own space and self-directed activities. The Children and Youth activities were well- received and we have received feedback for improvements we could make in the future.

The new members of our team to serve as cohorts are:

Vera Lef (Gatherings and Seminars) Jyoti Sadhwani (Young Children) Shelly Gould-Burgess (Pre-teen and Teenagers) Viji Balasubramian (Family Life)

04 The committee had a conference call on November 22, 2009. The additional committee members were confirmed. A date was finalized for the Family Seminar. It will be held from June 23-27 in Molena. The committee will write a one page summary of our activities and include a save the date to let everyone know about our seminar.

Communication with Abhyasis and Nonprofit Counseling

Chair: Janmarie Connor ([email protected])

October Update 2009

Improve Communication channels with abhyasis

Echoes of North America Newsletter – primary channel Team includes Barbara Jeanne Levin, Brian Jones and me & extended team includes RC’s, Administrators, Ashram, Center and Retreat Center Managers etc..

New additions to the newsletter include The Children’s Corner in order to engage with parents and with children. The upcoming December issue will include a new, regular spot for Publications. Purpose is to assist the N. American Mission in clearing out old inventory and to announce new publications. Purpose is also to encourage reading Mission literature (audio/video) as a way to enhance individual practice.

Abhyasi Communication: Primary tool – Echoes of North America.

Additionally, communication seems to be on the rise overall, within, among and across the various teams and working groups. In this consolidated report one can see a good example of this.

Community Outreach

Chair: Chris Mills ([email protected])

October update 2009

Community Outreach working Group: - Chris Mills, Los Angeles Center, [email protected] - Srikanth Katakam, Charlotte Center, [email protected] - William Biddle, St Louis Center, [email protected]

05 - Chris Sessions, Portland Center, [email protected] - Ajay Bhagat, Sacramento Center, [email protected] - Tracie Pape, Evanston Center, [email protected] - Kim Hanson, [email protected] - Jennifer Freeman, Atlanta center, [email protected] (TBD) - Sandra Ferrera, New Jersey center, [email protected] - Shankar Sindhuvalli, Memphis center, [email protected] - Anish Mehra, Jacksonville center, [email protected] - Bill Waycott, San Luis Obispo, [email protected] Note: new members can be added to this group.

We had a kick off conference call on Sunday 10/18 to brainstorm ideas and the purpose of committee. We discussed having a "portal" (group site) to communicate, post, and share ideas amongst the team. - The first phase of the committee is "discovery", where we will share ideas of what centers have done for outreach. - We discussed prayer as a component of outreach. Sister Kim Hansen is spear- heading this component of the outreach committee.

The North American Outreach Committee formed during the Molena seminar in September, and we started meeting bi-weekly via Sunday evening conference calls shortly after the seminar.

After our first few meetings we defined our objectives for the outreach committee, which include:  Re-invigorating local center growth through outreach on a local, grassroots level.  Creating a library of guidelines, best-practices and suggestions for outreach, including open houses, presentations, flyers & brochures, one on one communication, community media, etc.  Creating an ongoing conversation and dialogue among abhyasis to keep outreach top of mind and to stimulate new ideas and thoughts regarding outreach.

We have defined the topics for our conference calls for the next several months to include:  Open Houses – Finding the right venue, marketing, conducting open houses, presentations, starting abhyasis  United Nations – collaborating with United Nations committee on outreach  Communication Materials – flyers, brochures, take-ones, etc.  One-on-one Communications (how to talk about meditation)  Technology and Outreach  New abhyasi orientation and support

06  Presenting Sahaj Marg to the public  Exit Interviews – Why do abhyasis leave? How can this help in bringing in new abhyasis?  Outreach and Prayer  Non-traditional outreach – Meditation café and other ideas  Large, Medium, Small Center Outreach Support.

Fund Raising

Chairs: Naren Kini and Bill Waycott ([email protected] and [email protected])

October update 2009

There was a conference call on September 22, 2009. Regional reps were contacted prior to the call. Most of the team participated. The current team members are in the list below:

Northeast, USA: Chuck Masi,Stamford, CT [email protected] Vijay Rambhatla, Boston, MA [email protected] New York/New Jersey, USA: Uday Kumar, Jersey City, NJ [email protected] Nidhi Addanki, Jersey City, NJ [email protected] Maryland/Virginia/D.C., USA: Aashima Kapoor, Washington, DC [email protected] Deepak Narang, Washington, DC [email protected] Southeast, USA: Khepi Allen, Mobile, AL [email protected] Meenu Tiwari, Raleigh, NC [email protected] Midwest, USA: Viji Raghavendra, Chicago, IL [email protected] Swapnil Adulkar, Chicago, IL [email protected] Patrick Valente, Columbus, OH [email protected] Texas and South Central, USA: Venkat Jayaraman, Houston, TX [email protected] Bijju Krishnamurthy, Houston, TX [email protected] Rohit Parmar, Dallas, TX [email protected] Raksha Parmar,Dallas, TX [email protected] Rocky Mts. & Southwest, USA: Aravind Vasanth, Boulder, CO [email protected] Arati Machineni, Phoenix, AZ [email protected] Madhukar Madhineni, Phoenix, AZ [email protected] Southern California, USA: Subbarao Yallapragada, San Diego, CA [email protected] Bill Waycott, San Luis Obispo, CA [email protected] Northern California, USA: Shobha Reddy, San Jose, CA [email protected] Naren Kini, San Ramon, CA [email protected] Northwest, USA: Chris Sessions, Portland, OR [email protected] Eastern Canada: Rajinder Mangat, Toronoto, Ontario [email protected] Yan Lapointe, Montréal, Quebéc [email protected] Western Canada: Tom Whitlam, Nanaimo, B.C. [email protected]

07 Apurva Pithwa, Calgary, Alberta [email protected]

During November and early December there has been a lot of intercommunication between the team members. The “tool kit” has been completed and distributed to each team member. There was a conference call on Dec. 14 and another one is scheduled for Dec. 21.

Meditation Center Development

Chair: Raga Ragavendran ([email protected])

Center Status Los Angeles, CA In progress Indianapolis, IN No change Weatogue, CT No change Chicago, IL No change Cleveland, OH No change Montréal, QC In progress Vancouver, BC No change Nelson, BC No change

Los Angeles center: Abhyasis are still working with the property owner to clear some of the hurdles before they could start using the center for meditation. They should know by mid-December. For the past couple of weeks the abhyasis have been working with the architect to get the plans finalized for the changes to the front entrance so that it separates the first floor from the second floor.

Indianapolis center: Due to abhyasi relocation to different centers, the original effort to look for a center has slowed down now, but there is continued interest to look for a permanently leased center.

Montréal center: We had a conference call yesterday with the abhyasis of Montréal. Brother Yan Lapointe is leading the effort. They are in the process of looking for a center now. Currently there are about 10 regular abhyasis in Montréal center, but they have regional gatherings when abhyasis attend from adjacent centers, like Sherbrooke and Vermont. During those gatherings, the maximum participation has been as high as 50 abhyasis. Thus, at this time, it may be better to look for a place which can accommodate in around 30 abhyasis.

Prefect Training

08 Chair: Veronica Carter ([email protected])

October update 2009

I have interviewed each of the Regional Coordinators (Kim Hansen, John Barlow, Diana Waycott, Raga Ragavendran, Balaji Narayanan) and that task was completed at the end of October. Presently, I am transcribing those interviews, will study them for themes, dilemmas, wants, and needs related to prefect training and any other thing that stands out. I will organize a report of the same for presentation.

It is premature to involve anyone else, although I have been looking and have found a couple of people who may be good resources and who are presently not involved in any aspect of education or training in the Mission. I have had only general discussions about people's interest and willingness to work without offering any specific information.

Publication Promotions

Chair: Shyamala Muralidharan ([email protected])

October update 2009

The names of abhyasis with whom I work or will work: Br. Kasinathan Muralidharan Br. Madhu Rao Kondragunta Sr. Teresa Valentine Sr. Diana Waycott Sr. Jeanne Nanitelamio (Have not contacted her yet) Sr. Uma Venelakanti

Topics:  e-books – Many abhyasis have expressed interest in getting e-books, rather than paper books. This would cut down on printing costs, and shipping costs.  Shipping books that have are selling very slowly to SRCM-India  Publishing book reviews of Mission books in SRCM-US Newsletters  Requesting India to produce lower cost books and low cost audio/video materials.  Sister Diana came up with a very good idea about donating slow-selling or old inventory of books to English speaking centers in Africa, Eastern Europe and South American countries.

Activities commenced:

09 Communicated with sister Uma Venelakanti from Manapakkam ashram to take the books with large inventories to sell in India.

1. Donating books to English speaking centers: I checked with sister Jeanne Nanitelamio about sending books to SRCM centers in Africa. She looked at the list of books and responded that she is in-charge of French speaking centers and then forwarded my e-mail brother Kamlesh Patel. Kamlesh responded suggesting that I send him the complete list and quantity for each book to be shipped.

2. Book Review: sister Teresa Valentine is very interested in writing book reviews and she said she would start with the book, Heart to Heart, Vol. 3. She knows the deadline is February 15th, 2010 and will be submitting the review by then.

3. e-books: Checked with sister Diana Waycott about starting e-books for the Constant Remembrance issues. She said that this is a complicated topic and therefore needs to be addressed by the publication team in India. Seminars & Gatherings

Chair: Atulkumar Patel ([email protected])

October update 2009

 We have proposed a region-wide 2010 plan for each of the Regional Coordinators during October. Region 1, 3 and 5 have accepted their plans and are on their way to confirming gathering dates and points of contact for each seminar. We are awaiting the response from Regions 2 and 4.  We have sent request to the Molena, Beavercreek and Sunderland ashram maintenance committees (AMCs) to work with us and share their calendar of events to avoid any conflicts. We have received a response from the Sunderland AMC thus far. We are awaiting the responses from Molena and Beavercreek.  We have submitted a request to Web Team (brother Harshal Jawale) to include a document collaboration and visual map of seminars for each location. (two members of Seminar Team will work with them on this project).

010 November update 2009

Tasks completed:

1. The first round of planning is completed for all of the five regions. In summary, thirty-six gatherings/seminars have been scheduled, twelve are pending and one has already been completed. The remainder of the year’s gatherings and seminars are expected will be planned through ongoing collaborations with the local prefect, etc. Please refer to attached spreadsheet and map located below for gathering details:

Press “control” and then click on this link to connect to the website => SRCM Seminars and Gathering Map

PS: Click on the “pin” in the map to get more details about gatherings.

2. The team is now self-sufficient and has been trained for processing seminar registration via an on-line link. Many thanks to brother Dilip Mehra for helping us out on that function. Please send your request to plan a seminar to [email protected]

United Nations Activities

Chair: Amy Mody ([email protected])

October update 2009

The names of abhyasis working: Region 1: sister Petra Schweitzer Region 2: sister Keerthi Mummaneni (perhaps sister Sharon Porter, as well) Region 3: sister Shelly Gould Burgess Region 4: brother Rishi Chavan and sister Marshneil Chavan Region 5: sister Janet Yates

Right now we are preparing for Universal Children's Day on November 20th. An e-mail announcement recently went out with FAQs about the Mission's association with the United Nations.

Supporting documents for the Children's Day events (a Power Point presentation, flyers, and a program) are in the editing stage and will be sent out soon as well. The plan is that the Regional Coordinators will provide us with one prefect or abhyasi contact per center. We will follow up with that contact, preferably by phone, to check in and see if any further support is needed.

011 Children's day is the last UN day we will be commemorating in 2009.

The days we have chosen for 2010 are: 21 March - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 15 May - International Day of Families 12 August - International Youth Day 21 September - International Day of Peace 16 November - International Day for Tolerance 10 December - Human Rights Day

Young Adult Abhyasi Activities

Chair: Betsy Barlow ([email protected])

October Update 2009

I have been meeting via conference calls with brothers James Joseph, Brian Jones, and John Carter and sister Veronica Carter to determine the need and how best we might meet that need via a youth seminar. This is still a work in progress, but at this point, we have agreed to create a youth seminar, to be held at Molena ashram in early April, for between 20 to 35 attendees, aged 18 to 35, for three days.

Our working title for the seminar, at the moment is: Living Sahaj Marg - enhancing ownership of the Master, Method and Mission in a simple and practical way.