Anand Ashram Foundation, affiliated with the United Nations, to mark the first-ever World Meditation Day with meditation sessions across multiple centres worldwide.
Bogor, West Java, Indonesia – December 21, 2024 – The Anand Ashram Foundation, founded by spiritual humanist Anand Krishna, observe the first World Meditation Day on December 21, 2024, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution A/RES/79/137. The Foundation hosts weekend holistic healing retreat, meditation sessions and celebrations in conjunction with the World Meditation Day, at its various centres, including Anand Ashram in Ubud – Bali, Mother Centre in Sunter – Jakarta, One Earth Yoga & Meditation Retreat Centre in Ciawi – West Java, Anand Krishna Centre in Kuta – Bali, Anand Krishna Centre in Singaraja – Bali, One Earth School Kuta – Bali, Anand Krishna Centre Joglosemar in Jogjakarta, and Anand Krishna One Earth Yoga Meditation & Healing Centre, Czech Republic.
This marks a historic event as Anand Ashram Foundation becomes the first Indonesian meditation community to celebrate World Meditation Day in Indonesia, attended by hundreds of people of all faiths and walks of life joined the program offline and thousands joined it online. The theme of the day is closely aligned with the Foundation’s mission: Inner Peace, Communal Love, and Global Harmony.
Anand Krishna, a pioneer in meditation and yoga in Indonesia, shared his message for the day: “Meditation is not about sitting for long hours in a certain posture for your personal salvation. It is also about getting dirty and, if need be, forsaking heaven for hell, as long as there is even a single lowliest creature that you can serve.”
Anand Krishna founded the Anand Ashram Foundation in 1991 after recovering from leukaemia following a life-changing encounter with a monk in the foothills of the Himalayas. Since the 1980s, Anand Krishna has been a leading advocate for meditation and yoga in Indonesia, challenging the misconceptions surrounding meditation, which was often viewed as a form of supernatural practice or asceticism. Through more than 200 of his books, thousands of news articles, YouTube videos and public speeches both on and offline which include most of the major universities in Indonesia, Singapore and even United States, he has straightened out this issue.
The Anand Ashram Foundation’s vision is encapsulated in the phrase: “One Earth, One Sky, One Humankind”, emphasizing unity, peace, and collective human potential. The Foundation’s mission aligns with the core theme of World Meditation Day 2024—Inner Peace and Global Harmony—and continues to inspire individuals and communities around the world to embrace meditation as a transformative practice for personal and global well-being.
First of all, allow me to thank all of you – the distinguished speakers, participants and organizers of this symposium in commemoration of Anand Ashram’s 32nd Foundation Day. Gratitude, and God bless you all.
From the human point of view, this has been a long journey… from the existential point of view, however, 32 human years are negligible, so minute that they can be easily lost in infinity.
But this is not about the length of the journey. This is about the depth of the journey. Have we been on this journey fulfilling our worldly, family and social duties alone, or contributing for some larger cause?
I am reminded of J. Krishnamurti who once said that even animals take care of their families. Some of them have their societies too. We humans are destined to do something more. Have we fulfilled our destiny?
Anand Ashram provides those working for larger cause with opportunity to fulfil their destiny. We all have families and social responsibilities, let us fulfil them, but let us not stop at that. Let us do something more!
All the service activities undertaken by Anand Ashram have been commendable, and I must once again thank all of you for that. In the years to come, we have greater challenges, more complex social issues, especially related to mental and emotional health. God forbid, but I foresee a generation of less humane members of society, unless we fix such issues before they sprout and cause irreparable damage to the social fabric.
You may have heard of the expression FOMO, which is often taken very lightly. It is the Fear of Missing Out. We keep buying things, upgrading our gadgets etcetera because we do not want to miss out on something.
Unfortunately, even those who take FOMO seriously have no inkling of what causes it. FOMO is caused by False or Pseudo Identity, that most of us presently are already suffering from. We consider things we have, gadgets we acquire, the likes we get on our posts in the social media, the money we have in the bank and etcetera and etcetera as our identity. Without them, we feel worthless. There can be, my Friends, no greater insult to the Existence than such a feeling of worthlessness just because you do not have something that others may have.
Once again, very unfortunately however, most of us are already believing in such False or Pseudo Identity. As such we feel very insecure and left out, if we do not follow the trends fabricated by a bunch of rakshasas for their own profit.
Mind you, this is not just another conspiracy theory. Rakshasas have been there since time immemorial. They come in different forms. They may not have fangs as depicted in comic books. They could be well-dressed and seen as respectable members of society.
Who are the rakshasas? The word rakshasa comes from raksha or protection. They are supposed to be the protectors, to protect society and nations from evil. Doing so, unfortunately, some of them are carried away by their ego. Instead of protecting society, they turn to enslaving societies and nations. Beware of them!
Make yourself less and less dependent upon such rakshasas. Grow your own food. Barter your produce with others whose produce you may need. Do not, I repeat, do not get carried away by the glittery world of matter. You can hoard as much wealth as you can and in any currency, in any form – when you are hungry, you need food. You cannot eat the euros, dollars, silver and gold that you have been collecting. It is sheer stupidity to even think that with money you can buy anything. Learn from the mistakes made by the leaders of those countries which are now suffering on account of food scarcity.
Anand Ashram must become fully self-reliant, and in a position to provide for those who may not have means, the needy, the underprivileged. Do not waste water, do not waste energy in any form.
And, above all, reach out to those suffering from various mental issues affecting their health and wellbeing. Yoga must be lived, meditation must be translated as an active engagement with society, albeit in a detached at the same time loving manner. For, love and compassion can never ever grow as long as you have attachment, as long as you expect some kind of reciprocation. The time has come when all of us must rise above passion and work compassionately.
We were blessed with a foresight of things to come several months before the pandemic was officially known and declared. Such foresight, such vision is given for some reason and comes with a responsibility on our part to fulfill. Time to serve!
First Ever English Edition of Bhagavad Gita Written by an Indonesian and Published in Indonesia
Foreword by Dr. Muhammad A.S. Hikam, MA, APU – Former Minister of State for Research & Technology, Republic of Indonesia
✅ New Global Perspective and Gita’s Relevance Today
✅ Fresh Understanding of Atma, Jivatma, Karma, Dharma & other Key Terms/Principles
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“Bhagavad Gita is, in the foreign language (Dutch), referred to as ‘Evangelie van De Daad’ (The Gospel of Righteous Deeds) – Gita is, indeed, a song of deeds, a song of applicable practices, a song for all ages.”
~ Ir. Soekarno (1901 – 1970),First President of the Indonesian Republic
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