International Day of Peace Isha Fest Celebration Hosted in India
International Day of Peace and a Celebration of North America spotlight annual gathering of 100,000 at Isha Yoga Center.
(PRWEB) September 4, 2004 -- Isha Foundation announced today that its annual
Isha Fest celebration on September 19 will unite the world in brotherhood by
bringing together people from around the globe to commemorate the International
Day of Peace. The annual festival held at the Isha Yoga Center outside
Coimbatore regularly draws over 100,000 people.
The event will showcase
the West in its 2004 theme, “A Celebration of North America.” Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev, founder of Isha Foundation says, “Isha Fest this year is an opportunity
for human faces and hearts, not politics, to represent North America to the
world. The events of the last two years have undoubtedly placed North America in
the global spotlight, yet a nation can only be truly known through the hearts of
its people.”
Through performances, music, and the arts, participants
will experience the beauty, cultures and people of North America. One of
America’s famous writers, Mark Twain, who traveled to India in the 1800’s said,
“The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession, what there is
of it.” In order to expand universal brotherhood, performers from the USA and
Canada will participate in the festival to express and share their humanity and
love with the people of India. Food, games, exhibitions and other activities
depicting the North American culture will serve as a bridge for understanding
the uniqueness of humanity within a bond of unity and friendship.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev first visited North America in 1997, when he
brought Isha Yoga to Nashville, Tennessee. Today Isha Foundation USA is a
non-profit public service organization that offers regular Isha Yoga programs in
Detroit, New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. The foundation
has introduced the fundamental elements of inner peace and harmony from coast to
coast with public talks and special programs offered from New York to
California, and in Canada. Despite the diversity of cultures from east to west,
Sadhguru says that the essential human challenges are common for all people.
Sadhguru notes, “One basic thing I see in every human being, no matter which
part of the world I go to, is that they want to be happy.” He adds that
happiness and peace are not the great attainments of life, but the basic
fundamental birthright of humanity.
A literal melting pot of cultures,
Isha Foundation offers its annual Isha Fest as an endeavor to bring into focus
the essential spiritual heritage beyond cultural differences that links people
in brotherhood around the world. Isha volunteer organizers of various
ethnicities say that the experience and expression of brotherhood is the surest
way to advance peace between countries and cultures.
One hallmark of
Isha Fest has been to celebrate a different culture each year to illustrate the
unique tapestry of humanity. Volunteers assert that given the opportunity to
experience people beyond race, color, language and politics helps to unite Isha
Fest guests in peace. The annual event champions The International Day of Peace,
which is devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both
within and among all nations and peoples.
Special peace meditations and
discourses by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev will be interspersed through the stage
performances to raise awareness of the need for individual transformation and
unity as the basis for true peace in the world. “Melodies of Peace” – a grand
music concert by the much-celebrated vocalist Vani Jayaram, honoring the
International Day of Peace observed throughout the world, culminates the daylong
festivities.
Sadhguru, a delegate to the Millennium World Peace Summit
at the United Nations, joins other world peace leaders to help relieve
suffering, foster harmony, and promote the dignity of all life. Sadhguru’s
public talks, like the January 19 gathering of 120,000 people in Chennai,India,
encourage peaceful possibilities through individual transformation.
In
more recent international peace efforts, Sadhguru was a featured speaker at the
December 2003 conference of The Alliance of the New Humanity, an international
gathering of humanitarians who are working toward solutions to the dehumanizing
trends that prevail in the world. Sadhguru proclaims, “Peace is not the ultimate
attainment of life, but the very foundation of life, the birthright of all human
beings.” His speaking engagements and programs around the world serve as a
platform to introduce people to essential changes in thought and action that
impact consciousness on both sides of the globe. Sadhguru makes clear the most
basic understanding that responsibility for world conditions resides with each
of us, and that there are no boundaries in the essential nature of our
existence. Isha Fest helps participants see beyond the outer forms and
differences to the inter-connectedness of all life.
Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev is a realized master, yogi and one of the most profound mystics of
modern times. His action for peace is anchored in his establishment of
Dhyanalinga Meditation Shrine and Multi-Religious Temple, an eternal energy
center of tremendous proportions that radiates the seeds of enlightenment and
liberation for all mankind. Dhyanalinga will serve as the focal site of the
peace meditation vigil on September 19. Housed inside a multi-religious temple
complex adjacent to the Isha Yoga Center in the Velliangiri Foothills near
Coimbatore, India, the structure is the highest possible manifestation of
primordial, formless, divine energy. Anyone who comes into the sphere of
Dhyanalinga receives the spiritual seed of enlightenment, liberation and
self-realization. Activities for peace at this sacred multi-religious shrine
offer a rare and potent opportunity for global good will.
Isha Fest is
an annual festival held at the Isha Yoga Center featuring a host of cultural
programs throughout the day, and is a tribute to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s
enlightenment. It is hoped that endeavors such as these will introduce a new
dimension of participation from individuals in an effort to create a better
tomorrow for all mankind.
For additional information on the event,
contact the administrative office at 15, Govindasamy Naidu Layout, Singanallur,
Coimbatore – 641005 INDIA. Telephone 319655, Telefax: 319654, and Email: e-mail
protected from spam bots. In the USA, call 615-665-3812.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/9/prweb154877.htm