Gandhi 3.0 Retreat: January 17-21, 2024

Our world today faces unprecedented challenges, rooted in multiple forms of disconnection. By losing connection to nature, we have created an ecological divide; by diluting connection with each other, we have manifested a social divide; and by ignoring connection with ourselves, we have deepened our spiritual divide. As these chasms widen at an alarming rate, many are rising up to forge bridges that reconnect us. In place of one centralized movement, we are seeing an era of distributed and decentralized Gandhis -- like all of you. :) We call it Gandhi 3.0.

This January, global love warriors are convening at the Gandhi Ashram in India, signifying 76 years of Gandhi's passing and aiming to rebirth his profound life's principles in a modern context. Established leaders, community organizers and change-makers from around the world will come together around a simple idea -- if diverse minds can hold space with a focus on inner transformation, something may shift in the matrix of our inter-connection and create a field for radically innovative solutions for today's challenges. We invite you to this co-creative field of sacred emergence.

In the times of Gandhi, social action organized in one-to-many formation. One Gandhi and many of us. His successor, Vinoba Bhave, came along and built a stronger network by walking across India and cultivating one-to-one connections. Along the way, he also pointed to what was emerging: "What rises up like a fountain, will return in the form of many distributed drops." That's exactly what we're seeing now. We call it Gandhi 3.0 (more in-depth), where Gandhi stands for the age-old principle of leading with inner transformation and 3.0 represents the many-to-many networks that are popularized by the modern-day Internet. In a sense, it's a bridge from the Internet to the Inner-Net.

The retreat is entirely rooted in collective emergence. A mumuration of sorts. If we can release the known and unknown, we might touch the unknowable. Or the hem of the Infinite. In other words, for 5 days, we drop our roles, open our minds and hearts, and build a field of deep bonds. That amplifies trust in an uncommon way and creates magic.

Additionally:

  • It probes into uncommon questions. How can gentleness shake the world? What does many-to-many "laddership" look like? Can we incorporate multiple forms of wealth into our designs?
  • It cultivates a vortex of "noble" friendships among unlikely people.
  • It's hosted on Gandhian soil. When Dalai Lama visited, he canceled all his meetings and meditated there for 4 hours. More: Standing Up
  • It's run entirely by volunteers who are moved by love.
  • Local immersions! Prior to the retreat, optional interactions with local community leave a big mark. (See also 2023 immersion video.)

Since the late 1990s, change-makers in the ServiceSpace community have hosted thousands of circles and retreats. Few years ago, we pondered a global retreat around the many-to-many vision of Gandhi 3.0; it was so compelling that we had to do it again. The retreats were deeply moving -- powerful beyond description, really. To preserve intimacy, we would limit participants in each retreat, but it seemed like an archetype that was serving a global need. Each time is so unique, and yet so universal. Given the ripples from last time and the many people who are keen to join, we decided to host again this year!

Some of the most influential luminaries in the world have attended, alongside invisible love warriors doing everday acts with great sincerity. Yet, the real magic is what happens in-between those connections! Here's a short description from our last pre-pandemic recent gathering:
President Obama’s general counsel who had drafted constitutions of entire countries is doing dishes with an anarchist that walked to the border of US-Mexico to plant a one Earth Flag. An investor trying to create a trillion-dollar impact fund is riveted by a conversation with two permaculturists from Vietnam who flatly state, “We live on 2 dollars a day, and we don’t want the third dollar.” A mother homeschooling her daughter is cracking jokes with a man who has an engineering school named after him at UC Berkeley. A fellow with a private jet is moved to tears hearing about the story of a young man at a call center who refused an unethical bonus. A former interrogator for the CIA bows down to a gentleman who was born at the Gandhi Ashram. Founder of one of the biggest social networks in the world takes a selfie with a nun from the Philippines.

More: A celebrity speaker placing a gift of socks on his altar. Former head of McKinsey India, on Wizards of Inner Transformation -- and a businessman's first tears in 35 years. An artist from Philippines “1 year after G3” -- and another one on Operationalizing Love. Austrian politician on Finding Yourself. Grassroot changemaker's earthquake and doodles. Co-founder of Pinterest on his moment of awe at the Gandhi Ashram.

Participants just have to land at the Ahmedabad airport, and volunteers will take care of everything else after that. For the whole time you're with us, you would be our beloved guest and the organizers will gladly manage all your lodging, food, transport and local logistics.

The whole experience is a gift, quite literally covered by unsolicited offerings of gratitude from past alumni.

This retreat is at a beautiful and serene campus on the outskirts of Ahmedabad (Gujarat, India). It was a space built by a legendary social entrepreneur, Ishwar Patel, and reputed to evoke the sacred in a multitude of ways. The week will also feature various events at the Gandhi Ashram, and other immersions with the local culture.


Gandhi 3.0 Retreat Details

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Contact Us

This retreat is by invite only -- and this year's gathering is over capacity. If you have been invited by one of the hosts and have a question, do reach out anytime.