The First Sumedha Sadhana at New Location of Jharmari , Punjab, Concludes

 

The first Sumedha Sadhana to be held at the new location of Sumedha Centre at Jharmari, Punjab concluded on May 31st. It began on March 17. 

At the final evaluation, participants expressed great satisfaction with the programme and said they found the programme immensely useful for their psychospiritual journey. There were 18 participants – 12 women religious and six priests.

 

Of the16 participants who filled in an evaluation form, five gave a rating of 10, and seven of 9 on a 10-point scale of usefulness, 1 indicating “Very Little Useful”, and 10 “Immensely useful.” All said their goals for the programme had been achieved.

 

Some comments:

“The programme offers a sort of complete BODY, MIND send SPIRIT wholeness journey.” D

“I have been completely healed of fear, sadness and anxiety.” A.

“I came here with brokenness wanting to be repaired. My goal has been met to a great extent.” M.

“Sumedha Sadhana has been for me a profound journey of self-awareness and God consciousness.” R.

“Sumedha Sadhana was a perfect launching pad – into the past and into the future. To reconcile with unresolved issues of the past, and plan the journey ahead.” D.

“This programme helped me to come out of my emotional bondages. Also it energized my body and enhanced my spiritual life.” J.

“I was in the right place, at the right time. I experienced healing in my life by learning to forgive in a more practical way.” S.

“It was an encounter of God, myself, and my vulnerabilities.” J.

“The entire programme of Sumedha, all facilitators, topics, community of Sumedha, participants were a unique experience for me. Welcome, hospitality were highly remarkable.” L.

“Welcome was gracious. Hospitality was wonderful. Accommodation I enjoyed having my own space. Food was excellent. Campus had enough space to walk, pray and experience silence and solitude.” V.

 

Sumedha Sadhana is designed as an inner journey in quest of greater healing and wholeness. Participants begin from where they are, looking at what is happening on their psychospiritual journey. They then move on to explore the psychological dynamics that affect their wellbeing, get in touch with their emotional and spiritual blocks and brokenness and seek healing so that they live and minister in more joyful, satisfying and fruitful ways.

 

The programme had several modules. The opening module was on Self-Awareness facilitated by Jose Parappully who also facilitated modules on Somatics; Spirituality; Prayerfulness; Midlife Dynamics; Sexuality, Celibacy and Intimacy; and Trauma and Healing. Johny Dominic facilitated the module on Unconscious Dynamics. 

The module on Yoga and Cosmic Spirituality was facilitated by Alba Rodrigues. KC Thomas Kurianthanam facilitated “Breath, Spirit and Wellbeing.” Philip Pinto explored with the participants the “Challenges of Consecrate Life today.” Johny Dominic and Jose Parappully facilitated nine days of intense Group Therapy. The programme concluded with an eight-day Spiritual Retreat, facilitated by Jose Parappully.

 

The intense psychos-spiritual work was accompanied by moments of relaxation and recreation culminating in a group picnic to Chandigarh, during which the participants were able to spend some time with Bishop Ignatius Mascarenhas of Simla-Chandigarh diocese wherein Sumedha Centre is located and enjoy the hospitality of the Don Bosco Navjeevan community. 

Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday being free the participants were also able to organize trips to other tourist spots such as Simla and Amritsar.

 

The next Sumedha Sadhana is from June 12 to August 27,2022.

 

Inauguration of Sumedha Centre at Jharmari, Punjab

March 19, 2022  was a another Red Letter day in the annals of Sumedha Centre. 

The renovated hostel building at Don Bosco Jharmari is the new home of Sumedha Centre. 

The building was blessed and inaugurated today by Rev. Fr. Davis Maniparamben, the Salesian Provincial of New Delhi, in the presence of Fr. Ambrose, the Procurator of the Simla-Chandigarh diocese, a good number of Salesians and the participants 43rd Sumedha Sadhana (17 March-May 31, 2022).

The blessing ceremony began at the entrance lobby, where a statue of St. Joseph, patron saint of Sumedha was placed. This statue was blessed and carried by Fr. Jose Parappully, Director of the Centre,  into the Chapel while Fr. Provincial, Fr. Ambrose and Fr. Thomas Anjilikuzhyil, Assistant Administrator at Sumedha,  went around the building blessing it. All moved then into the new chapel.

Fr. Parappully welcomed all and gave an introduction in which he thanked all those involved in renovating the hostel building and getting it ready for the inauguration, He especially mentioned the Don Bosco Jharmari community who have been very cooperative and generous. 

Br. Cyriac Kurias, of Don Bosco Technical institute, New Delhi,  who volunteered to plan and execute the renovation works, and provide for the various facilities and utilities and who had made several trips from Delhi to Jharmari to supervise the works was thanked in a special way. Sumedha Centre is deeply appreciative of his generosity and practical compassion.

The participants of the Sumedha programme who worked hard to get the place ready from the time they arrived., the workers especially Mr Joseph, the DBTI  electrician and plumber, and Mr Abir, the electrician of the New Delhi Salesian Provincial House whom the Provincial Economer Fr. Biju Abraham had made available, both of who had been here for several weeks working day and night, were also thanked..

Then the Holy Eucharist  began, presided over by the Provincial. The homily on St, Joseph was preached  by Fr. Ambrose. At the end of the Mass, Fr. Joseph Kezakkekkara, the first Salesian Provincial of New Delhi and who had encouraged the setting up of the Bosco Psychological Services and later the Sumedha Centre, expressed his appreciation for the services that Sumedha Centre is offering.

Mass was followed by a festive lunch. It was partly catered by Mr. Johnson of New Delhi, arranged by Br. Cyriac Kurias, and partly by local caterers arranged by Fr. Bhushan Barla, the Principal Don Bosco Jharmari,.and Fr. Yesudas Karakkattu,  the Administrator of Sumedha Centre.

Bishop Ignatius  of Simla-Chandigarh presided at the Holy Eucharist at 11.00 am the next morning. Fr. Davis Maniparamben, the Salesian  Provincial of New Delhi, welcomed the Bishop and thanked him for allowing the Sumedha Centre to operate from the diocese. Bishop Ignatius expressed his happiness that Sumedha Centre is now in his diocese and welcomed the Centre and its staff and programme pariticipants to the diocese. He gave a very instructive and moving homily on how the Sumedha Centre can be of great help to priests and religious. Bishop stayed for lunch and left afterwards.

The same evening the fist Sumedha Sadhana at the renovated hostel building commenced with an introduction from Fr. Parappully. There are 18 participants (6 men of whom 2 are Salesians, one from the Panchim province and the other from the Dimapur province; three are three diocesan priests and one religious priest) and 12 religious women from 10 different congregations.

The paintings in the new Chapel of the Emmaus  journey (Luke 24, 13 ff) were done by Br. Mathew John of Don Bosco Technical Institute, New Delhi. Sumedha Centre is deeply appreciative of his work.

Psyche & Soul 58: SIGNING OFF

 Psyche & Soul 58

SIGNING OFF

Jose Parappully SDB, PhD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com

Podcast Link:

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-58-Psyche--Soul--123-e15hk6o

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand (sumedhacentre@gmail.com) signing off with the final edition of Psyche & Soul.

……..

Dear Listeners,

This is the final podcast in the series Psyche and Soul. For the 57 weeks, I have been able to present regularly some psychospiritual reflections on these podcasts. In these reflections I used insights from psychology, sacred scripture as well as the socio-political realities of our everyday life to help us enhance our emotional wellbeing and our spiritual life – our psyche and our soul.

Thank you very much for your encouragement and appreciation which kept me going, week after week for more than a year. A special word of thanks to PT Joseph, the www.donboscoindia.com  web master, and CM Paul of Radio Salesian for facilitating the uploading of the podcast, and to Yesudas Karakkattu for composing and performing the Psyche & Soul theme song and background music.

All the 57 podcasts will be available on www.donboscoindia.com webpage, and www.anchor.fm/boscom  for you to access whenever you want. May these podcasts enhance your psychospiritual journey, take you deeper and deeper into your psyche and soul.

In this final podcast, No 58, I list the weekly podcasts under 8 themes.

Theme 1: Psychospiritual Wellbeing (5 podcasts)

1.      1.Foundations of Health and Happiness.

2.      2. Childhood Foundation of Healthy Relationships:  Trust

3.      3. Childhood Foundations of Healthy Relationships 2: Secure Attachments

4.      4. Threats To Healthy Adult Relationships: Insecure Attachments In Childhood

5.      5. Need Empathic And Admirable People Around Us

Theme 2. There were four podcasts Related to the Corona Pandemic (4 podcasts)

Covid:  A Time of Massive Disruption (19)

6.      6. Self-Care During Covid

7.      7. Coping with Stress and Anxiety During Covid – Physical, Mental and Spiritual Strategies

      Transformation through Community & Compassion (20)

Theme 3: Emotional Wellbeing (11 podcasts)

8.      8. Need Fulfilment and Emotional Maturation

9.       9. Living with Meaning and Purpose

1010 .  Self-Knowledge

1111. .  Self-acceptance

1212..  Balancing Autonomy and Dependence

1313.  Emotions, Health and Happiness

1414.  Living Gratefully

1515.  Generosity

1616.  Hope And Optimism

1717. Resilience: Thriving Despite Adversity

1818.  Stress: Prevention and Relief

Theme 4: Spirituality (6 podcasts)

2121.  Psychology, Spirituality and Religion

2222.  A Splintered, Distorted Spirituality

2323.  Holistic Spirituality: Wholeness, Not Flawlessness

2424.  Spirituality of Simplicity – “Downward Mobility”

2525.  Spirituality of Embodiment

2626.  Moving into the New Year with Hope!

Theme 6: Mental Health (12 podcasts)

2727.  Mental Health and Wellbeing

2828.  Enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing Through Grateful Living

2929.  Enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing Through Meaningful Living

3030.  Enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing: Some Simple Practices

3131.  Enhancing Mental Health: 7 More Simple Practices

3232.  The Burden of Mental Illness

3333.  Major Depression

3434.  Schizophrenia - 1

3535.  Schizophrenia – 2: Symptoms and Dynamics

36.36  Schizophrenia – 3: Roots And Remedies. 

3737. Anxiety Disorder 

3838. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Theme 7: Personality Disorders (5 podcasts)

3939.  Personality Disorders: What They Are.

4040.  Narcissistic Personality Disorder. 

4141. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.  

4142. Borderline Personality Disorder., 

4343.  Paranoid Personality Disorder

Theme 8: Midlife Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey (14 podcasts)

4444.  Awakening to Midlife

4545.  Midlife Journeying

4646.  Emotional Awareness of Mortality

4747.  Time for Reassessment

4848.  Reassessment of “Dreams. 

4949. De-Illusioning 

5050.  Redeeming the “Shadow”

5151.  (Re-) Emergence of Sexuality and Intimacy Needs

5252.  Sexuality and Intimacy Needs: Women’s Experience

5353.  Balancing the Masculine and the Feminine

5454.  Moving Toward Integrity 

5555.Atonement (At-One-Men)t. 

5656. Aging Gracefully 

5757.  Spirituality for the Post-Midlife Years

 

I conclude with some significant quotes from the podcasts, something I would like to leave as a legacy from these podcasts.

“Acceptance of oneself is …the acid test of one’s whole outlook on life.” Carl Jung

“If you have a WHY to live for, you can live any HOW.” Nietzsche

 “If the only prayer you ever say in your life is ‘Thank you’, that is enough” Meister Eckhart

 “There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

 “Split the wood, and I am there. Turn over the stone, and there you will find me.” Jesus, in the Gospel of Thomas, #77)

 

Thank you once again, for listening, for your support and appreciation. May your life be healthy and happy!

Theme Song “Listen to the Spirit.” Lyric by Jose Parappully SDB.  Sung by Yesudas Karakkatttu SDB

The Spirit is in us, around us!

Speaking to us…

Through all that happens to us

And around us.

Inviting and exhorting us

To health and wholeness.

Come let us listen to the Sprit

Let’s grow in our psyche and soul.

Background music: Composed and performed by Yesudas Karakkattu, SDB

Jose Parappully SDB, PhD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com

Psyche & Soul 20: TRANSFORMATION THROUGH COMMUNITY & COMPASSION

 Psyche & Soul 20

TRANSFORMATION THROUGH COMMUNITY & COMPASSION 

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PhD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com

Podcast link:

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-20-PSYCHE--SOUL-47-emfkd8

 

The podcast last week (No. 19) referred to the massive disruption of life that covid-19 has ushered in. However, in the depth of this disruption that is quite overwhelming, lies the opportunity to create a more beautiful and humane world.

SEEDS OF TRANSFORMATION

As we are used to hearing, in every crisis there is an opportunity. The world as we knew is dead and a new world is struggling to be born. We are witnesses and participants in these birth pangs.

The pandemic has forced us to ask some fundamental existential questions, disquieting questions about the deeper realities of life which, earlier, would have been smothered under the relentless pace of our driven way of life. This questioning is paving the way toward transformation of life and priorities.

As Otto Scharmer, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) writes in his blog: “As systems collapse, people rise. People rise to the occasion in an absolutely remarkable manner. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of volunteers have shown up in their own countries and communities to help their neighbors …. The resilience of the human spirit, the activation of immense profound love and altruistic action, and the deep connections humans feel to each other in such a moment of crisis are moving and awe-inspiring.”

A TIME FOR COMMUNITY AND COMPASSION

Social scientists such as Otto Scharmer, Bob Hanson, Peter Block, Margaret Wheatley and others are reaching a consensus that the way forward from the Covid -19 disruption is through community and compassion. Today, we do not know what the future is going to be, even in the next few months. The challenge is to stay together as a strong community to face what is coming. We are challenged to create the kind of space in which we can feel together and shape together the world that is struggling to emerge.

At a time when life is disrupted and social connections fragmented the greatest need is to build community. At a time when distress is commonplace and so many are wrestling with pain and fear, the need is to reach out in compassion. At a time when loneliness is at a peak, the need is to connect with one another. It is time to reach out in empathy, to be motivated by collective wellbeing, to move from “ego systems to eco systems” to use Otto Scharmer’s favourite phrase. Covid-19 has reminded us of our interconnectedness and interdependence. We survive or sink together. As Pope Francis says in Fratelli Tutti, what we need is the realization that every member of our human race is brother or sister to every other member, no matter how distant or unfamiliar.

Bricks in the Building of Community

·        Sharing Our Vulnerability

We build communities when we share our vulnerabilities. The deeper we share from the inside of us honestly, revealing our pain, fears and anxieties, our uncertainties and insecurities, the deeper the others feel the need to share theirs. When we share our hardships and are sensitive to the hardships others face, experience one another’s pain, we create a bond. We learn to listen deeply to each other. Mary Oliver expresses this dynamic poetically in Wild Geese: “Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.” This sharing and listening result in a mutual opening and expansion of the intelligence of the heart leading to widening of the circle of compassion. Community happens.

·        Transcending Categorization and Exclusion

Community building calls for trans-categorization thinking. Especially at times of crisis the temptation is to see people through categories – us and them (of all sorts). Categorization leads to judgment, contempt and exclusion. Instead of categorization what is needed is curiosity about others. We need to suspend old habits of judgment, have an eagerness to learn about others, see them with fresh eyes.  We need to listen deeply and non-judgmentally. Curiosity and non-judgmental, deep listening will lead us to discover others are no different from ourselves and hence to inclusion and empathy. It helps us break down and cross barriers that divide the world into “us and them” and create an inclusive society.

·         Transformation of Attention

Building community calls for a transformation of attention – from self to the other. We need to shift our gaze very consciously away from self to the other, to the world out there. We need to remove the blindfold of self-focus that prevent us from truly seeing the other as the other is and the situations in which the other is caught up, as they really are. It is this kind of conscious attention toward the other that awakens empathy.

·      From Competition to Collaboration

Community building calls for moving from competition to collaboration. The questions to ask are: What will make all of us flourish, not just me? What is the shared future we want to create together? Transformation happens when we come together and pursue a common purpose– the wellbeing of all. When we do that, we turn crisis into opportunity. This calls for courage to let go of self-interest and parochial thinking, to be empathic and generous, to build bridges and alliances across differences.

·       Caring for the Earth

Creating community calls for caring for our common home - the earth. As Pope Francis exhorts us in Laudato Si, we need to develop greater ecological sensitivity that heals the divide between us humans and the cosmos that we inhabit. Compassion needs to be extended to the earth that is bleeding through the uncaring and insensitive over-exploitation of resources. Currently we are consuming 1.5 times the earth’s capacity to renew itself, hastening its exhaustion.

Being a Peace Warrior

Finally, to build community we are called to be a peaceful, conciliatory presence in the midst of violent situations.  Accordingly to Margaret Wheatley this calls for cultivating virtuous dispositions and practices: compassion, courage, curiosity, kindness, understanding, empathy, vulnerability – and forgiveness. We are invited to access the deeper levels of our humanity where these abide and give them expression. For this we need to create moments of stillness, moments to connect to their source. We need to slow down and put a break on our driven life. We need to become more contemplative. Contemplation enables us to become more calm, peaceful and gentle.

And so, we are invited to journey on, chastened by the pandemic, courageously facing adversity and unpredictability, with changed perspectives and purposes, motivated to build communities of love through compassion, curiosity and courage.

Introspection

·         What is the call to transformation that we are individually and collectively sensing? How are we being challenged by this call?

·         Which of the suggested means of building community appeals to you or you feel you have to practise more? Why?

·         To which one practice will you commit yourself in order to create compassionate communities?

Prayer

In the Letter to the Colossians (Ch. 3, 12-14)St. Paul speaks of some the qualities that help us build communion in community, such as compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience and forgiveness. We could read this passage and stay with whatever is evoked in us and spend some time in prayer, asking God help to build communities of compassion.

 

Have a pleasant weekend. Be well. Be safe. Be blessed.

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

 

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PhD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com