Date: Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 Time: 6.20 am sharp Location: Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad Address: Come at the "Prarthna Bhoomi" inside the Ashram Phone: 9925154797 or 93271 01155, Cost: Free Tell us if you will be there .
In a world of extreme realities, one may question 'What is the way to peace?' Only to find out that 'Peace is the way.'
This Sunday we will Walk for Peace. After about an hour of walking in silence we will arrive at the door steps of an Everyday Hero of our city. We will interact with this person and share what it is to live fully and love deeply!
Everyday Hero? Our world is full of remarkable human beings that stretch our understanding of kindness, truth, beauty and excellence. They are sometimes living right amongst us, but our fast-paced life does not allow us to recognize them. This peace walk is also an effort to celebrate such people. This week we are going to meet Rajal Thakkar who exudes a deep compassion for street dogs. Over the years she has selflessly cared for several wounded and sick dogs in her neighborhood. She is a doctor by profession, with an interest in health and nutrition. She shares a strong connection with nature and also enjoys wild life photography.
What is a Peace Walk? "Walk in such a way that each step we make becomes a realization of peace; each step becomes a prayer for peace & harmony…walk together in silence with no banners and no pickets…not a petition addressed to anyone, nor a demonstration against anyone… walk to unite our hearts, to nurture our togetherness and to dissipate fear and separation…learn together that wrong perceptions of self and others are at the foundation of separation, fear, hate and violence, and that togetherness and collaboration is possible." - Thich Nhat Hanh
A Peace Walk is inspired by the practices of mindfulness and walking meditation. It is about cultivating silence in our heart so that we can listen deeply and feel the movement of change within and outside us. This walk is about humbling ourselves to be students of life so that we can view everyone and everything as generous teachers contributing to our growth.
Service and Peace Walk When we serve, we learn to give a part of ourselves to others. We learn to move beyond our unconscious conditioning so that we can become more available to people or nature. And in this process, we learn who we are and what our relationship is to all that we interact with. We begin to experience the space in-between that was never touched before.
Generally we meet at 6.20am at the Gandhi Ashram. We sit in silence (call it meditation) for 20 minutes. Thereafter, we explain the outline of the event.
We will walk the entire way in silence. The first half hour we will be picking up paper and plastic on our way, as a form of 'safai' (This is optional). At the end of the walk we will interact with an Everyday Hero, whose life inspires us.
Please note: We request you to wear comfortable footwear and bring an old bag to throw the trash you collect . The walk will end near Xavier's college this week. If you have any questions, feel free to email or phone us.
To learn more about Walking Meditation you can read the below articles: Mindful Walking: http://www.peaceiseverystepla.org/peaceiseverystep/mindfulwalking.html Peace is every Step: http://peaceiseverystep.net/sit&walk.htm
Date: Tuesday, December 15th, 2009