Retreat: Leading with Love
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Duration: Dec 14 (9:30AM) - Dec 17 (3:00PM)
"Just as a scientist will work wonders out of various applications of the laws of nature, a man who applies the laws of love with scientific precision can work greater wonders. It is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than even forces of nature like electricity. The law of love is a far greater science than any modern science." --Gandhi
In our increasingly complex world, how do we lead with love? While we know a lot about optimizing our schools for IQ, businesses for profit, NGOs for impact, and media for eyeballs, could today's leaders and aspiring changemakers co-imagine a new playbook for designing for the heart's intelligence? How do we lead our systems, relationships and personal lives, to allow this "law of love" to flow and grow?
In face of the modern epidemic of disconnection and loneliness, how do we regenerate this ancient principle of heart intelligence in our personal lives? What would it take for schools to be an incubator for growing the heart? Instead of playing defense against vice, could our political systems play offense on virtue? If a business were motivated more deeply by intrinsic motivators, how would it alter its trajectory? Would "Artificial Intelligence" apps be different if they were designed by love-logic instead of market-logic? If various sectors of society worked in unison, could we collectively trigger an exponential regeneration of compassion, connection and coherence?
Vinoba-ji evoked the metaphor of "Panch-Shakti" -- a palm, where five fingers work together. What does it take for society's different sectors (education, business, nonprofit, government, community and media) to weave together, like a flock of starlings, and ignite a multiplier effect? If, as Einstein said, problems can't be solved at the level of consciousness that created them -- how do we step into a higher consciousness to effectively respond with compassion? What are the unexpected "black swan" patterns of positive deviance that we might not see alone, but that we can spot collectively?
Join us for this four-day experiential retreat, to explore these rich questions with a community of like-hearted people from across India, at the intersection of our head, hands and heart -- collective practices, inquiries and stories to co-create a field of heart’s intelligence, “a whole greater than the sum of our parts”. On Day 1, the “Me” theme will explore the edge between our inner voice and ego's voice; the second day's “We” theme traverses the spectrum of transactions to relationships to noble friendships; on Day 3, “Us” opens into design thinking that could creatively infuse "love logic" into systems entrenched in "market logic"; and on the last day, we hope to integrate and harvest our learnings, like a fountain rising as one before dispersing in different directions.
To learn more about our upcoming retreat, please see the below presentation:
If you'd like to join the retreat, please click on the 'Apply For Retreat' button below and complete the application below (in English or Hindi) and we'll get back to you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Moreover, in an increasingly volatile and complex world, we have many challenges and many solutions. Yet, we might benefit from zooming out and exploring patterns across different sectors. Could those patterns point us to an “elegant simplicity” on the other side of complexity? To live, lead and love fully and deeply in this context, and to catalyze a movement of the whole, we hope to dive into some nuanced design questions.
- Inspiring participants. Lots of great hearts are coming together!
- Uncommon questions. For quick-fix, binary, either-or answers, we already have Google; we aim to hold questions to lean into its nuances first.
- Noble Friendships. Our hope is to nurture a rich matrix of friendships among unlikely friends.
- Gandhi. Being on sacred Gandhian land in Ahmedabad, we hope to tap into vast reservoir of inspiration and practicing Gandhians. (More: Standing Up)
- Volunteer Run. It's run entirely by volunteers, so there's no solicitation, pitches, agendas. Just practice of love.
The retreat formally begins on 9:30AM on Dec 14th (Thursday), 2023. Please ensure you reach the retreat venue before that. If needed, outstation guests are welcome to arrive on the previous evening.
Retreat ends at Sunday, Dec 17th @ 3PM. Most participants will leave during the evening, but in case you need to stay back for the night, we will be happy to arrange that.
Please note that is mandatory to be present with us for the entire duration of the retreat. And during the retreat, you won’t have space to take other meetings or step out of the campus.
Through our time together, we will sit in circles to learn from each other’s experiments and challenges; hear and engage with some innovative speakers across sectors; engage in many group practices that nurture our collective inner transformation. Plenty of opportunities to engage the head, hands and of course the heart. Plus a few surprises!
Over last twelve years, thousands have joined from a wide-ranging backgrounds. Perhaps what brought them together was a simple organizing principle: We are not merely what we do, but who we become by what we do. If you resonate with the notion that inner change and outer change are intrixicably intertwined, and if you are moved to cultivate deep connections with kindred spirits, this retreat will likely speak to you! Beyond that, we'd recommend leaning in your heart's intuition -- more often than not, 'heart knows today what the mind will know tomorrow.' :)
To facilitate deeper connections, we limit the group size of our gatherings -- and give priority to project initiators who are anchoring local projects in their contexts.
If you have any questions, please contact us anytime. To co-create our sacred field of emergence, we welcome you join us!
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