The Study Centre, Valley School, Bangalore will be offering residential retreats every month starting in June 2010. The purpose of such retreats is to take a step back from ones active daily life of making a living, having a family, and all the other activities that one is engaged in. During the retreat one can be alone and also in company of other serious minded individuals who have deeper questions of life and are willing to delve into the nature of human consciousness without any preconditions or with the aim of reaching any specific goal. Taking a journey within oneself brings about a certain release from the various conclusions, ideas, and tensions that one often accumulates in daily life. After the retreat one returns to daily living with an alert mind that is able to meet afresh the challenges of life.

The following are the dates and themes of the Study Retreats during the year 2010-2011:

The retreats start on Thursday evening and end on Sunday evening, so that people who are working have to take only one day off. Transportation will be arranged for group pick-up from Jain Temple, 4th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore. The time of pick-up will be 6:30 PM on the first day of retreat. The time of departure will be 5:00 PM on the last day of the retreat from the campus.

The Study Retreat will be restricted to twelve participants. Each participant will have a single cottage on a non sharing basis. Please look at our Retreat Cottages under News & Events. Participants can extend their stay before or after the retreat with an additional suggested contribution per day. The transportation for all the programs is arranged for one pickup and drop to the city in a group. The time will be specified to the participants in the acknowledgement email before the event.

The suggested contribution for the study retreat to cover the cost of food, lodging, programs, study material, and transportation is Rs. 1900 per person. Please fill up the registration form and send it to the Study Centre, Bangalore.

**The Gathering for young is for participants in the age group 18-35. The suggested contribution for the retreat to cover the cost of food, lodging, programs, study material, and transportation is Rs. 2750 per person. The gathering for young will be restricted to twenty four participants with two people sharing a cottage.

**The Study Retreat in January, 2011 will be limited to twenty participants with two people sharing a cottage. The suggested contribution for the retreat to cover the cost of food, lodging, programs, study material, and transportation is Rs. 1500 per person.

**The Karnataka Gathering participants will be staying on a sharing basis in various rooms on the campus. The suggested contribution for the gathering to cover the cost of food, lodging, programs, study material, and transportation is Rs. 1500 per person.

Registration form for the Study Retreat

The Study Centre is open to individuals and groups for retreat. First Sunday Meetings  and Thursday meetings will be held on a regular basis. Please check under the Activities tab for more details.

Karnataka Gathering, April 8th – April 11th, 2010

Karnataka Gathering took place at the Valley School Campus, KFI, Bangalore from April 8th – April 11th, 201. The theme of the gathering was - The Wholeness of Life.

On the arrival date of the gathering, after dinner, the group met in the open Mahasagar assembly hall. This was a perfect setting to sit in quietness for half an hour without any outer activity. The nature sounds and dim lights of the night were a perfect setting.

The first day of the gathering started with an inauguration by lighting the lamp. This was followed with opening remarks and discourse by Prof. UR Ananthmurthy. The theme was – Can one be aware of that wholeness if the mind is fragmented. The participants asked many questions to take the dialogue further. After tea break, we had small group dialogues. There were six groups – five groups for Kannada speakers and one group for English speakers. During late afternoon we saw a video of Krishanji in Ojai 1983 where he talks about the fragmentation of human consciousness. In the evening we had a cultural program in which the participants of the gathering sang folk and classical songs in Kannada. This was a delightful event and the enthusiastic participation of everyone was much appreciated.

The second day of the gathering started with a panel dialogue. The three panelists were Dr. Gajanan Rao, Prof. Krishnanath, and Dr. Satish Inamdar. Dr. Gajanan Rao spoke on the theme – In negation the positive is born. Prof. Krishnanath spoke on – The Silence opens the door. Dr. Satish Inamdar spoke on the theme – Meditation in daily life. Then the panelists addressed the questions from the participants. This was followed with small group dialogues. During the late afternoon we saw Krishnaji’s video from Ojai 1982. In this video he talks about the wholeness of life. After dinner, we had a silence session which included watching the candle lights and listening to soothing music.

On the third day of the gathering, the speaker was Mr. S. Dewakar. He spoke on – How is one to know oneself in daily life. His animated talk was followed by spirited question and answer session. We had a concluding session coordinated by Mr. Neetu Singh and Dr. Satish Inamdar. This was followed with Krishnaji’s talk in San Diego, 1970 on Meditation.

We propose to have the next annual gathering also at the Valley School campus in Bangalore. The gathering will be in April, 2011. The dates will be announced at a later time.