25th SUMEDHA SADHANA

The 25th edition of Sumedha Sadhana: A Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey commenced on May 22 at Jeolikote. This 6-week long programme will conclude on July 2.

There are 19 participants - 13 religious women and 6 priests. Ten religious congregations and 2 dioceses are represented.

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 the quintessential 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.

In Storied Word: Ours, Jesus’ and the Universe’s Gerard Alvarez offers a Spirituality of the Word for our times with symbols and rituals that breathe new life. He helps us integrate our spirituality and our sexuality through the power of the Word. This involves: Journeying through the Jesus Story, The Universe Story, Our Own Story, in an effort to quest for the Living God; seeing Mission as Healing and ourselves as healers on this journey.

Drawing from ancient wisdom traditions and evolving spiritual practices, Alba Rodrigues offers us tools, ancient and new, to awaken the deep wisdom lying dormant within us and reconnect with the capacities of our body, mind and spirit and experientially deepen and expand our spirituality in alignment with the evolving cosmos.

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. K. Maria Goretti and Jose Parappully facilitate this process.

We conclude our Sumedha Sadhana with a short spiritual retreat in which we are able to bring together and integrate all our experiences 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. 

A longer (9 week) Sumedha Sadhana is offered from July 4 to September 4 and again from September 29 to November 30. Registrations are open.

WINTER BREAK - And Getaways.

Sumedha Centre does not usually hold programs from early December to mid-March, as the place is rather cold.

During this period the Director the Centre is usually engaged in Outreach Programmes, responding to the invitations he receives from various institutes.

In January he did two programmes outside the country, one in Myanmar and the other in Thailand. The Myanmar programme was for priests and religious of the Yangon diocese. The Thailand programme was for the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Bangkok. Reports on these two programmes will be found in later posts at this blog.

Something very satisfying were the opportunities that came to the Director as he was elected a Delegate of the New Delhi Salesian province to the General Chapter of the Congregation held in Rome from February 22^nd to April 12. 

As part of the Chapter programme, he was able to visit Turin where the Salesian Congregation had its beginnings, Becchi the birthplace of Don Bosco, the cities of Naples and Florence and a pilgrimage to Assisi.

Most importantly he was able to meet Pope Francis during the private audience granted to the members of the General Chapter.

On his way back he was also able to visit the USA and pick up some further psychotherapeutic skills as well as meet his professors and friends.

There will be later posts that will give more detailed accounts of these experiences.

Now it is time to get ready for the next Sumedha Sadhana that begins on May 22. We are glad to report that we have a house-full this time and the registration is closed.

We have two other Sumedha Sadhana programmes this year, beginning July and September, both for nine weeks. Registrations are open for both.