25TH SUMEDHA SADHANA – A PARTICIPANT APPRECIATION

Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey of self-discovery and self-transformation – the course offered here -was very useful for me as it enabled me to understand my true self and thus to continue working on my psychosexual and psychospiritual integration.

The Mature Spirituality for today and the seventeen characteristics of it gave me the guidelines to live a meaningful, purposeful and a more fulfilling life.

Learning about Process Spirituality is a great help for me to recognize the Presence of God in everyday reality of my life.

Midlife Dynamics, Sexuality, Celibacy & Intimacy, and the Psychological Dynamics of the Spiritual Journey helped me to understand ‘me’ clearly at this stage of my life.

The topics: “Spirituality and the Evolving Cosmos,” “Stories: Ours, Jesus’, and the Universe’s” helped me to understand that the Universe is God’s Body and everything in the Universe is inter-connected, inter-dependent, and is evolving.

A careful study of the Gospel of Mark threw light on my understanding of Jesus.

Group Therapy helped me to see my shadow side and continue working on it to integrate it. The weekly recollections, writing of response papers and the intensive journal enabled me to integrate the week’s experiences.

Spiritual retreat and integration was the vital aspect of this programme. Retreat experience of “Wilderness and Paradise” strengthened me to surrender myself to God’s workings and to experience His Presence in my life. An eagerness is developed in me to know more about Jesus of Nazareth. The individual help I received here helped me to open myself up for healing.

For me Group Therapy experience was the most useful. I encountered my true self here. It was painful and frightening. Yet, I could look into myself and see the real me with the help of the therapist and the group.

The therapist’s timely interventions and guidance with understanding and personal care was great help for me to understand my self-destructive beliefs and to break them down and to reframe my experiences/events of the past, developing a new behavioural pattern, and to continue exploring myself.

It gave me a great desire to come to a new life pattern with new attitudes and thus to increase my life satisfaction and to bring about fulfilment in my ministry. My decision to engage in continuous self-exploration is the outcome.

I felt that I could have come here for a little longer programme of nine weeks. Within the given time, however, I have gained the maximum. I don’t think that something more could have made the programme more useful because the time was utilized in the most effective manner, arranging it meticulously aiming at the participants’ benefit.

I felt warmly welcomed to Sumedha Centre and without any difficulty I became part of it. I enjoyed the hospitality of Fr. Jose, Fr. George, Br. Binit and the supportive staff.

Accommodation, Food, Services and Facilities were excellent.

This is my overall view of the programme.

DG

SUMEDHANS PICNIC AT THE LAKES

It is customary for participants of the Sumedha Sadhana (Psychospritual Wholeness Journey) to go on a picnic to the Lakes (Bhimtal, Naukuciatal and Sat-tal) the day after completion of Group Therapy and before beginning the Spiritual Retreat.

Group therapy, facilitated by Jose Parappully and Maria Goretti K, concluded yesterday (25/6/14). Today we went for the picnic and had a great time together.

After a day of rest tomorrow, on 28th we begin the Spiritual Retreat, facilitated by Jose Parappully, that brings the Sumedha Sadhana to its conclusion.

APPRECIATION FOR THE 24th SUMEDHA SADHANA

The 60-day Sumedha Sadhana (September 25- November 23) was highly appreciated by the 15 participants (9 women and six men).

Some representative comments:

“It was the best course I ever attended, especially for my spiritual and religious life… Experience with God during the retreat was the most useful for me at the moment since I had come here with the feelings of unhappiness and meaninglessness of my religious life. One reason could be my disordered life of prayer. Therefore retreat was my renewal of love for God again.”

“It was a wonderful experience here. A well-integrated course. The experience of inward journey through the process of each module, drawing, responding, dancing, exercising, sharing and praying…. The retreat was the most useful. I have never had the experience of God’s love like this before.”

“It was a wonderful experience for me. … The methodology used is excellent. Everything was well presented, explained, discussed with such a lot of clarity…”

“My stay here for 60 days was a new life for me. With brokenness I came, with wholeness I am going back…. I found the midlife dynamics the most useful. Many things about the second half of life was made clear to me…”

“Received timely aid in midlife transition. Also resolved some very critical and sensitive personal problems”

“The climax was the retreat where I experienced the Lord’s presence. It was a rich experience for me.”

“The programme on the whole was excellent, very meaningful, useful, informative and enriching for my personal growth. The modules, the facilitators and the process couldn't be better. ‘Celibate integration at midlife and beyond’ was very informative and enriching for my personal life.Group therapy followed by the desert experience of the Retreat was what was most beneficial for me. It was a time of personal renewal, inner healing and blessing.

“The retreat was really an awesome experience for me.”

“Enjoyed my stay over here with beautiful panorama around.”

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A 6-week Sumedha Sadhana with 19 participants (13 women and 6 men) is currently running at the Centre. It concludes on July 2^nd.

A 9-week Sumedha Sadhana commences on July 4^th. A few seats are available.

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.

SUMEDHA OUTREACH AT BAREILLY

Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully, was invited to facilitate a workshop on “Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity” for the priests of the diocese of  Bareilly, UP,  on 11^th December.

Almost all the priests of the diocese and the bishop, a total of about 70, participated. Parappully introduced the workshop observing that reflection and research on failure of catholic priests in recent years in regard to living their celibate commitment faithfully had concluded that the Catholic church had done a very poor job in preparing its priests to live a life of chaste celibacy.

The Salesians of Don Bosco have tried to address this lacuna by publishing a two volume book “Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity: A Handbook for Religious and Priestly Formation” (which got sold out in 10 months!) of which Parappully is the primary editor. He would present a section of that book at the workshop.

Parappully focused on “Sexual Boundary Violations” and presented data on Dual Relationships, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Abuse - both Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Sexual Abuse and their implications.

At the end of the Workshop, Fr. Royal Anthony, who spoke on behalf of the participants said that the workshop had come at a very opportune time, had helped them to reflect on these very important issues and realize the need to address the issues in helpful ways. The workshop, he said, had been facilitated in an excellent way.

SUMEDHA OUTREACH AT DON BOSCO UNIVERSITY AND MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

Director of Sumedha Centre, Dr. Jose Parappully, was invited to conduct two workshops recently, one at Assam Don Bosco University and the other at Don Bosco Management Institute, both at Guwahati.

Both workshops were on “Personal Growth.”  The one at Don Bosco University (November 27-29) was for students of the Counselling programme and of Educational Management programme. It focused on “Growing Toward Emotional and Interpersonal Maturity.”

The one at the Don Bosco Management Institute (December 2-3) was for the second year MBA students. It focused on “Emotional and Interpersonal Management.”

Both workshops had the following topics with some variations: Self-Awareness, Emotional Maturity, Enhancing Interpersonal Relationships, Assertive Communication and Behaviour and Conflict Resolution.

A four-fold process of Input, Introspection, Interaction and Interiorization was followed to explore these topics and use the insights gained to grow in personal and interpersonal maturity.

Both groups found the workshop immensely useful for their present and future.

The following comments represent typical reaction from the participants:

“This workshop has helped me to think of aspects of my life that I never thought of before. I have learned to see myself in a new light and have started appreciating myself a lot more. I have developed a stronger self-image and a wider perspective on life in general. I really feel there was a lot of change in me and my outlook towards life”