Gurukula Gathering USA

September 22-24, 2023
Neohumanist College of Asheville, USA

The Ananda Marga Gurukula (AMGK) Gathering, hosted by the Neohumanist College of Asheville and Prama Institute, successfully brought together 33 in-person participants and 40 online participants over the weekend of September 22 – 24.

On Friday evening the participants enjoyed a social mixer to become acquainted with one another, a central theme of the “Gathering.” The group was divided into two concentric circles, rotating at intervals to allow each participant to pair with others in the group to reflect on and share their own personal journeys. Afterwards, Dada Shambhushivananda opened the program with a talk on “What is Gurukula?”

On Saturday morning, Dr. Kathleen Kesson gave a talk entitled “What is Neohumanist Education?” This was followed by a quick world tour of Ananda Marga Gurukula’s educational network of schools and institutes, a sampling of the over 1000 Pre-K – high schools and several post graduate colleges and programs across the globe. Dada Shambhushivanda then introduced the structure of Gurukula, including the Mahasamiti, composed of the faculties of all the various academic departments. Researchers and potential faculty members, both present at the Gathering and online, shared a little about their research on Meditation, Prabháta Saḿgiita, Yoga Traditions, the Prama Wellness Program, and Microvita.

On Saturday afternoon, the group toured the Neohumanist College campus and other projects developed on the 150 acres they share in the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Asheville. The tour included the Neohumanist College of Asheville building, the Prama Institute and Wellness Center, the Prout Institute (PRI), the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation’s (WWD-F) Lotus House, the Mountain Breeze Preschool, and the Katuah Community (an Alternative Community on 25 acres).

Saturday evening presentations were made by directors of Neohumanist schools and centers of learning, and included Haiti’s Model School Network, the Progressive School of Long Island, the Llori Educational Project in Costa Rica. It also included a trailer of the documentary film under production, The Path of Awakening and Benevolence. This film features the Neohumanist themes of service to rescued animals at “Out to Pasture” in Oregon; reforestation and recycling of waste associated with many schools globally; children’s homes and schools for the underserved; post-traumatic interventions with war victims in Ukraine; and scenes of the dedicated spiritual activists seen in practicing their service and meditation.

• an introduction to the AMGK Board members and the work of the AMGK Global Liaison Office,
• GANE (Global Association of Neohumanist Educators),
• Gurukula Publications including Gurukula Network and the new Neohumanist Review journal,
• the NHE Teacher Preparation Program,
• the Neohumanist College of Asheville and global affiliates in Italy, Singapore, Taiwan, and India that make up a “University Without Walls”,
• the AM Association of Yoga Educators (AMAYE),
• and P. R. Sarkar Institute (PRSI) with its Library of Resources.

Other highlights of the weekend included an in-person meeting of the almost entire NHE Teacher Preparation Faculty and Staff. This group has been working together for over two years long distance over zoom, and this was their first time to meet face to face, consolidate plans and enjoy time with each other. Pictured here are some of the faculty along with a student from the 2023 cohort.

With the fortunate attendance and tremendous assistance of Alexander Kopetsky and Jyotirmaya Hull-Jurkovic from Europe, AMGK and NHCA administrators were able to pass a milestone in the journey to set up Salesforce as the data management system for the Gurukula Global Liaison Office and the Neohumanist College of Asheville. Ricky Peterson, Alexander and Jyotirmaya worked intensively for two days to make this dream a reality.

After the weekend program the Board of AMGK met to consolidate existing programs and make future plans. On-line conversations were had with Gurukula staff around the world, including:

• Rutger Tamminga from Taiwan and the programs at the Taichung AMGK Center;
• Dada Premayananda’s emerging programs offered by the Ananda Marga International Academy (AMIA) in Singapore;
• Christian Franceschini’s community yoga classes from the Yoga Academy in Italy;
• Radha Gusain’s report from the Gurukula Campus at Ananda Nagar, India,
• Michael Towsey and Marcus Bussey and their work in Australia,
• Karuna Deva’s report from Campo Divino in Argentina.

The Board agreed to support continued “gatherings” across all sectors and regions utilizing culturally appropriate meeting styles for growing the organization of AMGK globally to support our Neohumanist mission.

To access video highlights of the Gathering visit: https://nhcollege.gurukul.edu/gurukula-gathering/videos/