What you'll learn
- Inspiration to become an effective change-maker and adopt nonviolence as a way of living
- Develop a deeper understanding of wide range of violence, especially in America
- Deepen understanding of the India's ancient message of Ahimsa (nonviolence)
- Develop capacity to promote peace, compassion and nonviolence
- Develop self care and self-compassion using the power of meditation
Requirements
- This course doesn’t need any pre requisite. We invite you to participate with an open heart & mind.
Description
Multiple vectors including COVID-19, systemic racism, and climate change are forcing all of us to open our hearts and our minds to fundamental realities. Stress and anxiety are reaching unprecedented levels and threatening the mental health and wellbeing of the human infrastructure. This is a defining moment that requires us all to be grounded and at the same time, being able to empathize and energize others through our presence and actions.
We are all forced to re-examine our purpose, values, and impact that we want to make in these turbulent times. By building our own capacity to transform ourselves, we can bring the change that we seek in our organization and communities.
This course is designed by Mandar Apte, former Shell Gamechanger and currently, Executive Director for Cities4Peace, a non-profit initiative to promote peace and nonviolence.
The course utilizes the power of an unscripted documentary film as a teaching aid to develop our capacity for becoming stronger advocates of compassion and nonviolence. During this film, we follow the journey of six victims of violence from across America who embarked on a transformational journey to India, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had also visited India to study nonviolence. The common denominator that binds them in this story is their unique exposure to violence and their desire to heal the wounds of trauma and reinvigorate the conversation about nonviolence in America.
The group included: a single mother whose son was brutally murdered in a tragic school shooting (Sandy Hook, Connecticut) and her best friend, a former gang member (Los Angeles, California), an educator (Newark, New Jersey), a social entrepreneur and a music scholar (both activists for the Movement for Black Lives Matter from Oakland, California).
The film showcases how the immersion in the culture of India empowered them with tools, wisdom, and inspiration to find healing, solace, and rejuvenate their commitment to becoming stronger ambassadors of nonviolence in their communities and neighborhoods.
At the end of the documentary, Mandar explains the theory of nonviolence (Ahimsa) and how the practice of meditation can help to transform ourselves and be the change in our communities & organizations. He guides us through a meditation that will help participants develop a personal daily habit to develop self-care & self-compassion.
The course also exposes participants to the teachings of one of India’s great gurus - global humanitarian leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has helped bring peace to many regions of conflict including Iraq, Colombia, through his powerful Sudarshan Kriya (SKY) breathing and meditation techniques, taught worldwide in the SKY breath and meditation workshops by the International Association for Human Values & the Art of Living Foundation.
Who this course is for:
- This course is for anyone who wants to become a stronger champion of peace, compassion and nonviolence in their city, community and organization.
Instructor
- 4.8 Instructor Rating
- 123 Reviews
- 336 Students
- 1 Course
Mandar is a former Shell GameChanger who used to manage Shell's investment portfolio on social innovations that create shared value - both social impact and business value. During his time at Shell, Mandar won the League of Intrapreneurs award for delivering an innovation learning program to over 2000 colleagues, based on meditation practices.
After working at Shell for 17 years, Mandar became a Visiting Scholar at George Mason and started an innovation lab on the Business for Peace that provides innovation consulting to brands to find novel ways to make peace profitable.
Currently, he manages a nonprofit peace consultancy 'Cities4Peace' that actively promotes peace in cities across the world.
In 2017, Mandar produced/directed a documentary film 'From India With Love' to reinvigorate the message of nonviolence in the world.
Mandar is also on the Board of the Charter for Compassion and has been a meditation teacher for nearly two decades volunteering his time for the Art of Living Foundation.
Mandar believes that meditation practice helps to heal the wounds of trauma and improve our mental health & wellbeing. He believes that leaders who are more self-aware and compassionate can drive social change more effectively in cities, communities, and organizations.