“I wish the youth don’t forget to take to meditation” – Says Olympian PV Sindhu

• Over 12,000 youth showcase their kindness projects and share kindness stories
• The joint initiative between Heartfulness, UNESCO MGIEP and AICTE had many eminent personalities and thought leaders to come forward to share their thoughts on the youth conference

 
Hyderabad, 14 August 2022: The International Rising With Kindness Youth Summit came to its concluding session today with its theme revolving around ‘Kindness to Nature’. The three-day summit brought students from several countries including Nigeria, Chad, Afghanistan and UAE at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad, as many more participants joined in virtually.
The Concluding day of the International Rising With Kindness Youth Summit saw renowned Environmental Activist Vandana Shiva along with Rajendra Singh - Waterman of India leading a plantation drive with Dr. Ramakanth and Mr. Sarvanan from Heartfulness. This was followed by a Plenary session that they joined with Shri Kamlesh Patel (Pujya ‘Daaji’) – Guide of Heartfulness  and Smt. Kiran Sethi.
Pujya Daaji led a meditation session with golden nuggets of wisdom that would help the youth in multiple ways. He urged the students to think about their future generations and pass down the wisdom to them. He added, “The fact that we are joined by an ocean of youth here today, some joining us virtually, goes to show a willingness on the part of the youth who want to make kindness a part of their lives. Kindness is an inherent quality in each of us. If you listen closely to your conscience, you will invariably become kind. Conscience can never go wrong. It always guides us to the right path. Always think of your future generations. You may not live fully to counsel your grandchildren through their teens, but you can set a pathway for them. You can still be compassionate about your grandchildren when you think of them. Be kind to them. Pass on the acts of kindness as a fundamental value to evolve not only mentally and emotionally but also spiritually. Keep simplicity of thoughts, make your lives simple and tune in with Divinity through simple prayers for Guidance. God is our only true goal. Once your desires are minimized and God becomes the centre of your lives, once you are tune with Him, you can gradually surpass the state of bliss as well. I am very happy to see the turnout through this International Rising With Kindness Youth Summit and appreciate the kind words and sharing of knowledge by our esteemed dignitaries. I also thank the volunteers for making this event a success and I pray and hope that our youth will carry the message forward.”
 
Shri Pullela Gopichand - Chief National Coach, Indian Team said, “We are very fortunate that Kanha Shanti Vanam is in Hyderabad. This place makes me swell with pride for its usefulness is immense. Whether you are in sports or any other field, excellence is what you must always strive for. Heartfulness teaches you that in how they transformed this place which was as barren as it can get. Just see the transformation which it can be. The work of Daaji and Heartfulness is showing action outside, but has a perfect stillness within. I admire the works of Daaji and his teachings. Youth are given into instant gratification, but good results take time. I urge you to stay on the path to see the change. Keep the faith for a long-lasting transformation to happen. The longer you hold back the temptation to enjoy life, the better your life will become. Youth should be about learning, about gaining knowledge. With time you will see what a masterpiece Daaji has created.”
Ace badminton player Ms. P V Sindu who joined virtually said, “I have been practicing mediation for a long time and always felt a relief as I connected very well within through meditation. Meditation helps stress go off. I wish the youth don’t forget to take to meditation.”
It was her first public appearance after winning the gold medal at Commonwealth Games 2022 and opting out of world championships for next few weeks due to stress fracture. She also promised to be back at Kanha Shanti Vanam to take sittings from Daaji
The talk on Kindness towards Nature was delivered by Waterman of India, Mr. Rajinder Singh who spoke about the beauty of Kanha Shanti Vanam and its water conservation projects. The panel on Kindness Towards Nature consisted of Dr. Ananya S. Rao – Consultant UNESCO MGIEP, Mr. Anil S.G – CEO, Samunnati, Mr. Sangeeth – Director, Forests by Heartfulness, Mr. Punit Lalbhai – Executive Director, Arvind.
The youth also got to elect one of the workshops on Heartful Communication led by Ms. Liz Kingsnorth, Heartful Campus led by Dr. Nivedita Shreyans and Mr. Ramesh Krishnana and MGIEP SEEK led by Dr. Shobita Rao Shane. Before the Grande Finale, the youth also took the Youth Kindness Pledge as part of the closing ceremony.
The programme comprised Experiential-Cerebral-Heartful modes that included workshops by UNESCO MGIEP on Self-directed Emotional Learning for Empathy and Kindness (SEEK) as well as Social and Emotional Learning for Youth Waging Peace, Plantation, Yoga Meditation, Heartful Communication, Green & Blue Innovation Breakouts, Youth Project Showcase, Keynote talks, Musical Interludes and Kindness Concert by Double Grammy Winner – Mr. Rickey Kej and troupe.
The ‘Rising with Kindness’ conference was intended to help spread practices for self, society, and environment. The other take-aways that the youth had from the conference was better awareness on Indian culture and heritage through Yoga, Meditation and interfaith dialogues. It also enlightened the participants to work be part of the sustainable development network with other youth leaders and have more opportunities with Heartfulness and UNESCO MGIEP. The event had three focus-verticals: 1) Self: drawing inspiration for personal wellness 2) Society: opportunity to network with other like-minded youth; enabling empathetic leadership, communication, and social entrepreneurship 3) Nature: helping promote kindness towards nature through circular economy, zero waste, eco brick and climate activism.
All youth delegates were offered certificates of participation issued by the Heartfulness Institute and given an opportunity to be a part of UNESCO MGIEP’s Kindness Matters Campaign which was launched in 2018 with an aim to mobilize young people and organizations to carry out transformative acts of kindness to tackle the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and create a positive culture of kindness. So far 1.36 million acts of kindness have been reported by young people around the world.
The three-day event is aimed at youth aged between 18-35 to showcase their Kindness Projects, share Kindness Stories and create a ‘Kindness Statement’ in their effort to help others foster compassion. Students from 55 countries including Nigeria, Chad, Afghanistan and UAE participated in the three-day summit. The summit is supported by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi; sponsored by Reliance Industries Ltd., and Jio Digital Life; Co-sponsored by Zscaler and Adidez Institute Worldwide.
About Heartfulness: Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness, and wisdom to one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm, and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step towards a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Ongoing training in Heartfulness practices continues at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries.
About UNESCO MGIEP: UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education and Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) focuses on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world by developing programmes and products that promote social and emotional learning, innovate digital pedagogies and empower the youth. UNESCO MGIEP’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions draw on the science of learning and aim to build intellectual and emotional intelligence among learners through innovative pedagogies. For further details, visit https://mgiep.unesco.org/