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Israel is the ancestral cradle of many contradictory elements. It is a melting pot in which different religions, customs and traditions exist together on a tiny piece of land. It is a meeting point for modern life and ancient traditions and spiritual knowledge. Harmony in Diversity is our goal. And the Art of Living foundation in Israel is taking a major part in it.
It all started in 1994. With 8 people and Michael Fischman, a senior Art of Living teacher from the States. In 1995, Yaron Etzion took the Art of Living course in Denmark. It took 4 years and a meeting with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Israel had Yaron as the first Local Art of Living teacher.
Teaching AOL Part One courses in Israel is an experience as powerful for the participants as it is for the teachers. Courses have been taught under terrorist missile bombardments along the Israeli side of the Separation Fence as well as in Arab villages in the Galilee and elsewhere in the country. Teachers also came from abroad to teach in villages in Palestine. The four teachers, Yaron, Dafna, Gil and Dana drive the length and breadth of our tiny country with the spirit of true Seva angels, not only to teach, but also to do the weekly follow up meetings.
The AOL Israel motto is “Breathe for Peace”.
When AOL teacher Dafna Paz went to teach a course in Sderot, a small town near the Separation Fence bordering Gaza, family and friends ask her if she is not afraid of missile bombardments which may happen unexpectedly at any time of night and day. She answers with a smile and a shake of her head. She is confident that with the grace of Sri Sri, in every situation all happens for the best.
On the day of one planned AOL Part One course, a heavy rain was falling and missiles were being fired from across the border. As Dafna arrived at Sderot, where the course was to take place, only four out of the fifteen people registered for the course turned up. She called each missing participant, to see why they were not coming. The rain and fear of missile attacks kept some people at home. Dafna, who drove two hours from her home in Tel Aviv to Sderot, there and back, in the night, rain or shine, with or without missiles, convinced a few more of the participants to come in any case. The course started with 8 people and a great deal of trepidation.
The second day of the course started to the accompaniment of ambulance sirens and a missile attack. It turned out that one rocket had landed near the homes of two course participants who were hesitating whether to come or not, until one of the women said “Well, the missile has fallen already so we might as well go to the course, but lets leave early and we'll only stay an hour”. Suddenly, during the Sudarshan Kriya, the room and windows of the venue shook violently as two missiles exploded nearby. The participants continued breathing in rhythm to the calm and soothing voice of Sri Sri. After another violent "boom “, one woman asked, without opening her eyes, “Was that a missile?” to which Dafna answered in a reassuring voice, “Yes, keep breathing”, which she did. At the relaxation it was so peaceful inside the room. Nobody moved- the two women who planned to leave early stayed for the whole session.
At the end of the course, all the participants testified to the beneficial effects of the Sudarshan Kriya, which helped them to stay calm even in an extreme situation. The course points are received as knowledge that creates a shift in perspective, contributing to a better capacity to cope in situations of intense stress, as well as reducing the stress itself.
The dream and vision is that one day Israelis and Palestinians will meet in weekly Satsangs and, together, "Breathe for Peace".
Inner peace needs to be achieved in order to bridge the gap between the religious and secular populations in Israel. The magic and blessing of AOL courses is that people meet in a unique way, journeying together from the head to the heart.
Recently, a very special course took place in Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel. The participants, 18 men and women of all ages, were a mixture of ultra-orthodox religious and secular Jews – a rare combination to be found doing anything together, particularly in the same room.
Before the course started, a young orthodox man was concerned about being in a venue that would not fit religious requirements. He requested that men and women be separated to separate sides of the room. His request was accepted by everyone present and all the ultra-orthodox participants felt more at ease.
The experience during the Kriya was particularly powerful. The young orthodox man said that it was the first time in his life that he really felt the connection with God and he was filled with amazement and gratitude. The orthodox participants felt the Kriya took them to a place deep inside of themselves and for them too the connection to God was strongly felt. They said it was a strong purification process.
A vibrant AOL leadership of college students, who are also green activists, has sprouted in Israel and is becoming a positive force to be reckoned with. At their request, Dafna Paz, one of four AOL teachers in Israel, was invited by the Dean of Sapir College, the most innovative higher education college in the south of Israel, to present Art of Living.
Dafna met with the Dean of Sapir College in his office, and as she started to talk about the AOL foundation, he said to her that he wanted to experience what she was saying, "here and now", in his office. Not taken aback by this sudden demand, Dafna, who is also Dr. Dafna Paz, and who comes from the world of graduate studies, told the story with a gleeful smile: “Here we were, sitting across from each other, separated by his formal desk, his secretary at her table next to the open door. ourI showed him a round of Bastrika and he did the next round with me. By the end of the full cycle, he was happy and asked for more! I guided him into a Pancha Kosha meditation. After half an hour, the Dean, who is known to have the welfare of his students at heart, was asking me about the cost of courses and how to get started!”
Since November 2005, when the higher education year opened, Sapir College has started offering AOL Part One Courses to its students on a monthly basis. The college is endorsing the full cost of the courses, follow up sessions, as well as advertising and travel cost for the AOL teachers.
As part of the continuing process of AOL Israel’s motto “Breathe for Peace”, Art Excel courses are being given in Arab villages in Israel.
In August 2005, Dafna Paz, also an Art Excel teacher, was invited to give a course in the Israeli Arab village of Ar'ara, in the centre of Israel. The organizer, an Israeli Arab peace and educational activist, Wagih Sidawi, was in charge of translating from Hebrew to Arabic for the group of 12 kids, ages 9 to 13, who came to participate. He was not always available for translations and Dafna found herself, more often than not, communicating without words. But with lots of laughter they all understood each other very well and the course went smoothly. The participants were all from families embedded in traditional Arab culture, and not as much known to western culture as their Israeli Jewish counterparts. This holds especially for the girls and women who felt a direct influence of the course in their daily life. An older girl testified that the course points helped her to communicate better with her family, and to accept life with a smile. By the end of the course, Dafna could see that the children were more open, more confident and more at ease. More courses are planned in the Israeli Arab sector, as the knowledge is a confirmed tool for peace.
Over the past couple of years, five "Prison Smart" courses were conducted in Israel. The participants, Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, were men in the drug de-intoxication and rehabilitation programs. Attendance was constant during the whole course and the changes felt by the prisoners were dramatic. They were willing to learn, wanting to grow and become better people. The peace on their faces after the Kriya gave them a look of childlike innocence. The most touching feedback was that they started with nervousness, tension, doubts and suspicion and ended with a glimpse of their true nature: angelic, good at heart, accepting. Even the cigarette consumption dropped drastically. They all ended the course feeling inner peace and joy, and asking the teachers to come back soon.
Like all the countries in the world, Israel responded to the call for humanitarian help after the tragedy of the Tsunami.
In March 2005, Art of Living Israel contributed to the Tsunami Relief Effort by organizing a concert of Indian classical music. It was performed at the beautifully decorated AOL center, in Tel Aviv. The evening started with the film “Love Moves the World”, with Hebrew commentary. The three musicians donated their acclaimed show “Journey to Nirvana” with joy and generosity. The melodious sounds of the sandoor, tabla and Indian violin opened everyone’s hearts, inducing states of spontaneous meditation and dancing. The atmosphere was vibrant and full of grace. Seeing and feeling the joy emanating from the AOL organizers, people who had not yet done AOL courses wanted to know about the Center and its activities. The money raised was sent to Sri Lanka to add to the fundraising effort to build schools in villages that had been destroyed by the tsunami.
AOL Israel participated in a countrywide effort to clean the Kinneret, also known as the sea of Galilee, on the waters of which Jesus is said to have walked. The goal was to have enough people come together to ‘hug the Kinneret’ and clean it from shore to shore. It was an opportunity to do an open-air Satsang with schoolchildren who came to join in. They were shown yoga postures and taught a couple of bhajans and all had a tremendous time. By the end of the day, the Kinneret had been hugged and cleansed. From anywhere around the lake, one could see a human chain of people raising linked arms in praise of a hard day’s work well done.
The AOL youth group in the south of the country, close to the Separation Fence, organized a day of Satsang at the Zikim beach. They went first to check the location and saw that the beach was covered with enormous amounts of garbage. The Seva Warriors decided to do a day of Seva, clean the beach, and finish with a Satsang. They arrived wearing AOL t-shirts and carrying huge garbage bags and started to clean up the beach. Bathers and other people on the beach asked them how much they were paid to do this ‘dirty’ work and were astounded to hear that they were all joyful volunteers. Many of them were so enthused by this answer that they asked to join in. They were quickly handed garbage bags and cheered along. Some people even took the garbage in their cars to be dropped at the municipal dumping ground. All joined in the yoga and Satsang that ended this perfect day. The beauty of this event is the impact that AOL Seva can have on the general public, encouraging them to participate in a humanitarian and ecological service.
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The milestone in AOL Israel events was Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s first visit to the country, in November 2003. The five-day visit worked like magic with the usual impromptu twists and turns. As a handful of devotees were waiting to welcome Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the lobby of the Tel Aviv Hilton, he was taken straight from the airport to see the sunrise in the country’s spiritual heart, the holy capital city of Jerusalem, cradle of the three monotheist religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
There was a public talk at the Tel Aviv University. The hall was packed and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar charmed everyone with his simplicity, sense of humor, and enlightened knowledge. He guided the crowd into a meditation and gave Darshan until every last person had received his blessing. |
During his stay in Jerusalem, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar stayed at the historical King David Hotel where he met with religious leaders of the Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Druze communities. He also met with parents who had lost children in  terrorist attacks and heard their heart wrenching stories with tender compassion. He held official meetings with the president of Israel, Moshe Katsav, and Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Perez.
There was also time for sightseeing as Jerusalem is the center of the holiest places of worship for Jews, Moslems and Christians. Sri Sri walked in the footsteps of Christ in Via Dolorosa, visited the Dome of the Rock, which bears the footprint of the prophet Mohammed, and was amongst the orthodox Jews praying at the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Second Temple. As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was standing in the sacred plaza, religious children pointed at him whispering in Hebrew “Here is the Messiah!”. It is noteworthy to say that these three holy sites are within a kilometer of each other so the energy level is always pretty high!!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with Shimon Perez |