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The Art of Living Foundation was introduced to Trinidad in 1992 with Basic and Advanced courses and Sahaj Samadhi Meditation. There were no local teachers at the time and all our teachers came from abroad.
The first Teacher Training Programme was conducted in Trinidad in 1993 and, at present there are three Basic Course Teachers – Aclima Daniel and Nirmala Gunness who became Teachers in 1993 and Saadia Ghany who started teaching in 1998. Advanced courses and Sahaj Samadhi Meditation are still taught by foreign Teachers as was the first and only D SN course held in 2004.
Monthly Basic Courses are conducted at private homes, temples and in public halls with participants coming from all strata of society and from various religions and ethnicities. Students, professionals and the unemployed have taken the courses with more women generally attending than men.
Seva Feeding programmes are conducted throughout the year and at least one fund-raiser is held annually. The latter take the form of pre-sold Take-away Box Lunches, Sit-down dinners and Garage Sales. Funds earned have been allocated to charitable cases for medical expenses while un-sold items from the Garage Sales were donated to orphanages and extra food to the Homeless and Senior Citizens’ Homes.
Introductory Talks have been delivered throughout the island of Trinidad to staff and students of the University of the West Indies; students at Secondary Schools; and to personnel in private Offices and Banks.
The Prison Programme was conducted for female prisoners from l996 to l999. An AOL Programme was first conducted at an Alcoholic Rehabilitation Centre in 1999 and monthly follow-up sessions continue.
Satsangs are held monthly and Kriya weekly while Guru Purnima is observed annually as is H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s birthday. These activities are arranged by the teachers and take place at their homes.
In 1998, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (at that time The Honourable Mr. Basdeo Panday) became a Member of the International Association for Human Values.
Sri Sri has came to Trinidad four times in the past 13 years and in his absence, people attend courses when he is present at the Canadian and International Ashrams. |