„Wahre Bildung vermittelt nicht nur Wissen, sondern fördert den Menschen in seinem ganzen Wesen.“ (Bhante Sanghasena)
Im Rahmen einer Deutschlandreise besuchen Ven. Sanghasena und Bantha Nagasena am 22. und 23. Mai 2017 Zittau und die Oberlausitz. Gemeinsam haben wir die Yoga Highschool in Leh/ Ladakh im Norden Indiens aufgebaut. Das Yogazentrum im Herzen des Himalaya betreut jährlich von Juni bis September mehr als 3000 Schüler, Studenten und Teilnehmer bei den Yoga- Ausbildungen, Retreats und Kursen. Bhante Sanghasena ist der Gründer und Leiter des Mahabodhi-International Meditation-Centre (www.mahabodhi-ladakh.org) in Ladakh im indischen Himalaya. Bhante Sanghasena wird Dhammavorträge halten, Meditationen anleiten und auch das von ihm gegründete Mahabodhi-Projekt in Ladakh vorstellen. Venerable Sanghasena setzt sich weltweit seit vielen Jahren für die interreligiösen Verständigung ein und ist Kandidat für den Friedensnobelpreis 2018.
Der Dhammaabend am 22. Mai um 18:00 Uhr in unserem Gaiatree Yoga & Meditations Zentrum Birkenhof versprich ein interessanter und nachhaltiger Abend zu werden. Wir bitten um Anmeldung auf.

… Eventually, I met Ananta, Twinkle, and their son Evan in Raipur, some 5 h from Vishwaneedam. However, I had too many questions to ask during the little time we had. But I was anyway very happy and satisfied when I heard the latest news. Anantaʻs dream of a place "Where the Universe is an Abode" (meaning of Vishwaneedam) gets gradually closer to fulfilment. By now, 15people live together in the community. This newsletter tells stories from India today but that many people do not want to hear because they are so true and sometimes so sad.

Rahin, Shushanta and Sindhu are the new children in Vishwaneedam. They do not only attend Gaiatreeschool but have been living with us for almost two months now. With Ramprasad, who has been here ever since the beginning, we host fours orphans now, three boys and one girl. Twinkle and Ananta have been struggling to give a new home to orphans since the project started. In Orissa, the number of homeless children and orphans keeps increasing. The main reason for this is the living situation of the families. Parents often work away from home, for example in coal mines or manufacture bricks. Working conditions are bad. Back home, many of them fall sick and diefrom the consequences of their illnesses. The children are taken care of in their village communities or by relatives but they are pushed in a corner of society. The State does little to improve the situation.
Foto: Diwa with Rahin and Shushanta

The past month was a special one full of events and surprises. After having to be patient for a long time we could finally inaugurate our solar pump. Light and water open up a range of new possibilities. You will read something about it in this newsletter. For example, we will start a cooperative project for the production of Agarbattis – incense sticks. Work against poverty. In this year, we also plan the construction of two more solar pumps in the neighbouring villages.
In our Gaiatreeschool, we have found strong support in Cindy, our new intern. In a GERMANY week the children had a chance to learn about life in this far country. More and more WWOOFers from all over the world make their way to Vishwaneedam and help with the farm work. Mahadev is grateful for every support he can get.
Since beginning of November, the community has grown and welcomed two new members: Rinu and Angale, who live in Ananta’s and Twinkle’s room for the moment and will move to the guest house later. Enjoy reading this newsletter!

Those who travel to India will more than likely experience a puja or another religious festivity. During festival times, public life is reduced to a minimum; shops and offices remain closed. August is the month of festivals. In India, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians and other religious communities coexist mostly peacefully. Every religious community has its own festivities and holydays that are not rarely celebrated by everyone. Eighty percent of all Indians are Hindus. Celebrating has got a vital meaning in India since it is for many Indians the only possibility to create some variation in their normally somewhat repetitive everyday life. This applies especially to the rural population. Besides the countless Hindu Gods, there are often local or village Gods that are worshipped by the respective communities during special pujas (religious celebrations). We as a school often have to bargain with our pupils’ parents about free days. It happens that children stay away from school for several day since they have to participate in celebrations or do pilgrimages with their families. Tolerance for every religion and deity is indispensable and we have to find our own ways to deal with it. Our annual schedule takes into account the main festivities. Furthermore, we attempt to integrate them in project works and the organization of daily life in the school. For example, we celebrated Rakshya Bandhan, the famous Raki celebration, Nuakhai (which resembles somewhat Thanksgiving) and the Ganesh Puja honouring the elephant God in August and September with the children. Today’s newsletter tells you more about it.

Last year was a very eventful year for the school as well as for Vishwaneedam Community. We have started the construction for the school’s water tank and one more room has been added to the existing building and above all we got seven sincere parents for the new year academic year. Mike and Anke stayed almost 2 months to train our teachers and train Ananta in management of school. Vishwaneedam is a registered member of WWOOFERs. Eugen has started to plan and sponsored the two family houses in Vishwaneedam. We got Sabine from Germany for three months who helped out in lots of documentation and project work. We also got our first volunteer Franziska for our organic farm. However, there were also sad news, e.g. that Sheshedev’s family had to leave the Vishwaneedam Community as community life is not for all.
Now we look ahead. We have a core of reliable and motivated employees consisting of Babloo, Sadananta, and Rita, our trainee. Our focus in the past year was on a rhythmic schedule of the schoolday which is appropriate for children. We put a lot of emphasis on the compliance with basic rules. Consequently, we want to focus on completing the variety of methods that are used to assure a varied and coherent daily schedule. This means that the teachers have to plan every beforehand. For this, we have developed an annual plan for the contents that shall be taught (see homepage). We anticipate the arrival of Cindy, a studied teacher from Potsdam, Germany.