49th SUMEDHA SADHANA CONCLUDES AT SUMEDHA CENTRE, JHARMARI

The 49^th Sumedha Sadhana – A Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey concluded at Sumedha Centre, Jharmari, Punjab on 4^th May. This 12-week programme had commenced on February 11^th.

Sumedha Sadhana is an inner journey in quest of greater healing and wellbeing.

Insights from faith and wisdom traditions, various psychological theories of development as well as experiential tools and techniques from Bioenergetics, NLP, Intensive Journal, Expressive Arts, Multi-Media, Qigong, Breathwork, Prayer and Meditation practices, and Sacred Scripture are used to explore and enhance one’s psychospiritual wellbeing.

There were 13 participants – 4 men and 9 women from 10 different religious congregations and one diocese in this edition of the Sumedha Sadhana.

The various modules were facilitated by Alex Clement, Edison Fernandes, Johny Padinjar, Jose Parappully, Philip Pinto and Thomas Kurianthanam.

Besides the academic programme there was time each weekend for integration of the week’s experiences, as well as for relaxation in group through picnics and visits to famous tourist locations.

There were two special events during the programme. One was the celebration of the Sumedha Foundation Day on 19^th March, the Feast of St. Joseph who is the Patron Saint of Sumedha Centre. Most Rev. Ignatius Mascarenhas, Bishop of Simla-Chandigarh Diocese was the main celebrant on the occasion.

We also had Br. Kurias Cyriac SDB, a great friend of Sumedha Centre and who had helped to renovate the building to make it suitable for conducting the Sumedha programmes, as chief guest on the occasion.

The second was the visit of the Extraordinary Visitor to the Salesian Province of New Delhi, Rev. Fr. Biju Michael, a member of the General Council of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Rome. He met the participants and interacted with them.

The participants were immensely happy with their entire Sumedha exprience. Five of them gave a perfect 10 out of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on Usefulness of the Programme. Four gave 9, three gave 8 and one gave 7.

Some typical comments;

“The programme helped me personally to open up myself. I was able to let go of many things, forgive many people who have hurt me, accept situations, and move on with my life. I feel I am healed of many things, especially emotional wounds. As I go back, I want to begin a new life, looking at things in new ways with the insights I received here. I am leaving this place with a light heart and full of happiness.”

 “I am fortunate to attend this programme. It has changed my perspective about my life and it gave me new life. It gave me opportunity to look back at where I am and challenged me to live a better life. I could work with my hurts and emotional imbalances and discover the root cause for it. This programme has changed me a lot.”

“When I entered Sumedha there was lot of questions in my mind, my heart was heavy, full of confusion, no clarity etc… But at the end now all my questions are answered. I feel light hearted, and have clarity into my life.”

“I am so delighted that I am enlightened and awakened, to be a better version of myself – to be fully human with a compassionate heart. I am grateful.”

“I came to Sumedha at a time when I was searching for greater understanding of myself. At the end of the programme, I feel my objective has been realized.”

“I was at breaking point when I arrived at Sumedha. This was where I needed to be at this time in my life. I experienced healing of body, soul and spirit.”

“Sumedha enabled me to accept my past and my present and learn to see God in the bits and pieces of my life’s journey.”

“This is the place where I was purified, renewed and felt that I needed to follow Jesus more passionately.”

Living together with fellow Sumedhans has been a very enriching experience of community life.”

“Welcome and hospitality was excellent. Felt very much at home.”

“Sumedha provided the best for our stay here.”

The 50^th edition of Sumedha Sadhana is from June 23 to September 14, 2024. Registration is open. A few seats are available for this programme. Please contact sumedhacentre@gmail.com.

Please go to our updated web-page for more information: https://sumedhacentre.org  

 

FIRST SUMEDHA SADHANA OF 2023

 The First Sumedha Sadhana – A Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey programme at Sumedha Centre, Jharmari, began on February 12^th. 

There are 17 participants from different parts of India and one from Indonesia. There are 8 women from seven different religious congregations (1 each from Apostolic Carmel, Holy Family, Presentation, Notre Dame, Ursuline, Ursuline Franciscan, and 2 Holy Cross of Chavonod), and 9 men from three different congregations (4 Jesuits, 3 Salesians of Don Bosco, and 3 Missionaries of St Francis Sales)

Sumedha Sadhana is a programme of inner journeying together with fellow seekers in quest of greater healing and wholeness, so that one can live one’s life in more fulfilling and satisfying ways and be more effective in one’s service to others. A variety of approaches and techniques are used to reach these objectives.

A major portion of the programme is devoted to the exploration of the psychological dynamics affecting our spiritual journey.

The programme began with a module on Self-Awareness in which participants were helped to look at all that was going on their lives at this current period of their life and discern what m might be telling them through all this.

The next module was on Cultivating Prayerfulness, in which participants were exposed to various forms of contemplative prayer and had opportunity to practice them. Both modules were facilitated by Jose Parappully PhD, the Director of the Sumedha Centre.

In Somatic Meditation, Jose Parappully used a combination of Qigong, Yoga, Music, Dance and the Word of God to help participants to loosen up all the knotted energies in their psychosomatic system and experience rejuvenation of psyche and soul.

The next module was “Unconscious Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey” in which Johny Dominic PhD helped participants explore the dynamics behind the helplessness that they often experience in not being able to do what they want and doing what they do not want.  Using concepts from Freudian, Jungian, NLP and Transactional Analysis theories he helped participants unleash the powers of the unconscious to facilitate healing and wholeness.

The next module was “Midlife Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey”. In this module Jose Parappully used insights from various psychological theories, tools and techniques from Expressive Arts and Journaling, as well as movies and music to help participants explore and integrate dynamics of midlife and engage in required transformational processes to enhance their wellbeing as they move into  the second half of their lives.

In Yoga & Cosmic Spirituality, Alba Rodrigues MA, BEd used ancient wisdom traditions and evolving spiritual insights and practices to offer participants tools, ancient and new (including Yoga and Dance and cosmic rituals), to awaken the deep wisdom lying dormant within the participants and reconnect with the capacities of their body, mind and spirit and experientially deepen and expand their spirituality in alignment with the evolving cosmos

.

The remaining modules are: "Breath, Spirit and Wellbeing" by KC Thomas Kurianthanam, Sexuality, Celibacy and Intimacy by Jose Parappully, “Challenges of Consecrated Life Today” by Philip Pinto, Group Therapy by Johny Dominic, Jose Parappully and Maria Goretti Kanakaratinam, and Spiritual Retreat by Jose Parappully.

The programme concludes on May, 02.

The next Sumedha Sadhana begins on July1. Registrations are open. Contact: sumedhacentre@gmail.com

Psyche & Soul 45: MIDLIFE JOURNEYING

 Podcast link:

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-45-Psyche--Soul--97-e10f9ip

 

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul.

This weekend I shall describe four kinds of journeys we undertake during the Midlife passage: Journey inward which includes a Journey into the past, and a journey outward which includes a journey into the future.

One of the most central dynamics of midlife is related to meaning and purpose. Even if our life had been very meaningful hitherto, as we approach midlife there can be an erosion in that meaningfulness causing a restlessness of soul.

A Time of Questioning

Midlife forces us to ask some radical questions about ourselves, the meaningfulness and direction of the life we lead. These questions are invitations to us to make better sense of our past and present and create new meaning and purpose for the future, so that we can live the second half of our lives more consciously, that is, the way our “soul,” meaning our deep authentic self, want us to live.

There are four kinds of questions we usually ask ourselves as midlife creeps upon us:

1. Who am I?

2. Whose am I?

3. What have I accomplished?

4. What do I feel about the way I have lived and now live?

The first question raises the issue of identity - the way I see myself; the second that of intimacy - my experience of love and close relationships; the third that of generativity - my fruitfulness in terms of contribution to society; and the last the issue of integrity – meaningfulness, contentment with my life as a whole.

                                                                        Midlife Journeying

The quest for meaning and direction, and the kind of questions we ask at midlife, lead to four kinds of midlife journeying.

Journey Inward

There is first of all a journey inward. This is a journey to be in touch with and accept ourselves in the context of the new awareness of self that midlife awakens in us.

By midlife we have experiences and insights that were not part of our lives or awareness earlier. As the poet Robert Frost wrote, “The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” For example, we begin to realise that we are not the kind of person we thought we were. We begin to experience new desires and needs that were not in our consciousness before, such as awakened or re-awakened sexuality and intimacy needs. We begin to recognize our limitations, frailties and vulnerabilities and that we have little control over many things in life. We accept and embrace ourselves with these new awareness and experiences.

Journey into the Past

This inward journey also includes a journey into the past in order to work through and reconcile with the unresolved issues—the “baggage” that we carry from earlier years. During midlife, traumas and conflicts that we had buried deep in the recesses of our psyche and soul begin to raise their heads seeking our attention. Our “Shadow” – all that we had rejected or repressed to conform to social expectations or to live up to an idealized self-image – breaks through our repression barrier and makes their presence felt. Journey into the past involves addressing these issues and working through these experiences and developing new perspectives on and attitudes toward our past.

Journeying into the past also involves paying attention to those aspects of our self that were undeveloped or underdeveloped and/or distorted by earlier choices and life situations. For example, we may have wanted to pursue an artistic or academic career, but our parents or our religious formators might have discouraged us, or certain situations prevented us from doing it. Or, we may have regrets about certain choices and decisions that affected our development and life goals negatively. Midlife invites us to revisit these issues and make peace with them.

Journey Outward

There is also a journey outward that invites us to relate to our environment differently and to be generative in new, more meaningful and satisfying ways. In the first half of life we might not have been able to follow our own dreams, for example. For a variety of reasons, we might have had to compromise on them and do what others wanted us to do. But by midlife, we may have grown tired of following other people’s dreams or directives and feel an inner urge to pursue our own, in the way we want. Rebellion against the restraints of the earlier years is quite common at this period of life. This discontent can lead some of us to make drastic changes in our lives. Many choose new careers and break commitments which might have been very meaningful earlier.

Part of this journey outward is addressing the issue of power and care differently than in the past. These issues are handled very differently by men and women in the first half of life. Men tend to focus more on gaining power and exercising authority and control. Women tend to focus on exercising care and developing and nurturing relationships. At midlife both men and women experience a shift in these orientations and priorities. This results in a desire to live our lives differently from the way we have done so far. As Psychologist Daniel Levinson observed, we "cannot go on as before, but need time to choose a new path or modify an old one."

Journey Into the future

The insights gained by the journey into the past and the new orientations and priorities resulting from the outward journey lead to  a journey into the future - planning how we want to live out the rest of our life, how we want to reorient it in terms of goals and dreams we create for ourselves at midlife. This consideration of how we want to live out the rest of our life is one of the crucial tasks of midlife.

The result of these four kinds of journeying – inward, into the past, outward, into the future - is a reworking of the narrow identity by which we had defined ourselves in the first half of life and creating a new self-identity and a new way of living and relating. These journeys bring about new priorities and new dreams, further transforming us into the kind of persons we are destined to be.

Introspection and Prayer

  Which of the four kinds of journeying mentioned have you been experiencing in recent years? How are you impacted by them?

·         Which of these journeys do you need to engage in a little more at this time in your life? Why?

Journeying is an important future of the content of Sacred Narratives. The Bible, for example, describes many famous journeys. We have the journey of Abraham from Haran to the Negeb (Genesis, 12, 1-9); journey  of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land (Exodus 13, 17-14, 21); journey of the holy family from Bethlehem to Egypt (Mathew 2, 13-23; the journey of the disillusioned disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 42-13-35) and so on.

 You could read one of these stories (if you are not Christian, you can focus on journey stories from your own Sacred Narratives) and stay with what is evoked in you by them, and talk to God who accompanies you on your journeys about what is evoked, as well as about your own journeys, especially the journey ahead you are planning.

 May your weekend journeying be happy and safe. Be blessed.

Thank you for listening.

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

Jose Parappully SDB, PhD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com 

 

 

30th SUMEDHA SADHANA

The 30^th Sumedha Sadhana – A Psychospritual Wholeness Journey – commenced on October 2 with 20 participants – the highest number ever. The previous highest number was 19. Of these 14 are women and 6 are men (four priests and two religious brothers, including a Salesian brother).

The foundational module, facilitated by Jose Parappully, the Director of the Centre was “Psychological Dynamics on the Spiritual Journey.” This module used insights from psychology, especially developmental theories, to help participants to examine their understanding of and way of living their spiritual journey.

Gerard Alvarez, a Christian Brother and Trainer, currently residing at St. Joseph’s College, Nainital, used stories of Jesus (especially as narrated in the Gospel of Mark) and the emerging Universe Story to help participants to look at their own stories.

This week the participants explore “Feminist and Women’s Spirituality” This module is facilitated by Presentation Sister Shalini, Professor at Vidyajyoti College of Theology, New Delhi.

Recreation common, birthday celebrations and picnics are also part of the Sumedha journey along with the serious work of self-exploration and self-transformation.

Remaining Modules: Core Spirituality by Jose Mathew Kuttianimatathil PhD; Unconscious Dynamics & Psycho-Spiritual Maturity by Johny Dominic PhD; Group Therapy by Johny Dominic PhD, Jose Parappully PhD and MC Abraham PhD; and Spiritual Retreat by Jose Parappully PhD.

This 9-week programme concludes on December 3. 

27th SUMEDHA SADHANA - An Introduction

Sumedha Sadhana is a programme of inner journeying together with fellow seekers in quest of greater healing and wholeness, so that we can live our lives in more fulfilling and satisfying ways and be more effective in our service to others. A variety of approaches and techniques are used to reach these objectives.

We begin from where we are, looking at what is happening in our lives at this juncture on our psycho-spiritual journey. We try to discern what God might be telling us through all that is happening in our lives. Jose Parappully helps us explore these current realities, as also our spirituality in the context of changing paradigms.

A major portion of the programme is devoted to the exploration of the psychological dynamics affecting our spiritual journey. We look at our early childhood developmental experiences, and more especially our midlife dynamics of identity (who we are), intimacy (the role of affectivity and sexuality in our lives) generativity (how we work and nurture future generations), and integrity (how we make sense of the whole of our life). Jose Parappully uses insights from various psychological theories, as well as tools and techniques from Psychosynthesis and Expressive Arts to help us explore these issues.

Working from a Jungian perspective Ajoy Fernandes helps us explore especially our identity and understand our personality type and its implications for our spiritual journey, and helps us move toward greater personal integration by exploring and owning our persona, shadow and animus/anima.

Sexuality has a profound impact on personality development as well as our spiritual journey. Often our sexuality has been wounded by wrong attitudes and negative life experiences. Joe Mannath helps us explore and understand human sexuality and affectivity and their healthy integration within our celibate lifestyle. Jose Parappully explores the prevalence and effects of Sexual Abuse and suggests healing remedies.

Jose Kuttianimattathil helps us experience Core Transformation by exploring and examining our least liked behaviours, feelings and responses to move toward the wellspring within us (Core State) which radiates peace, love and harmony.

In “Feminist& Women’s Spiritualities” Shalini Mulackal explores the meaning and scope of feminist spiritualities and looks at certain salient characteristics of spirituality from women’s perspective. She helps us look critically at some of the popular images of traditional Christian spirituality, the process of masculinisation of women’s spirituality, and religion’s subjugation of women.

We are provided opportunity for healing and transformation through group therapy. In the atmosphere of freedom, caring and trust that the group provides, we are helped to face our brokenness and our fears, our defences and our unhelpful patterns of living and relating, and to move toward greater healing and wholeness by adopting and practising healthier attitudes and behaviours. Jose Parappully and Maria Goretti K.  facilitate this process.

We conclude our Sumedha Sadhana with a spiritual retreat in which we are able to bring together and integrate all our experiences up to then in prayer and reflection around the Word of God. Jose Parappully facilitates this process.

Sumedha Sadhana provides theoretical input as well as opportunities for us to reflect on our experiences and to share them with one another and for personal and common prayer. It is hoped that through this four-fold dynamics of Input, Introspection, Interaction, and Intercession we gain a deeper feel for the psychological dynamics operating on our spiritual journey and integrate these to develop a healthier self so that we can experience greater serenity, wholeness and fruitfulness as we continue our journey into the Mystery that we know and experience as our Triune God.

There are 14 participants coming from four different countries.