Monday, June 26, 2017

UK Satsang Meeting - 17-21 March 2017

UK AGM - 20 March 2017 – Kairos Centre, Roehampton

Present: Sr Ishpriya, Sr. Gitti, Stefan Reynolds, Polly Kaiser, Val Field, Mary Kent, Elizabeth West (first part), Trevor Lewis, Trudy Lewis, Rani Prasad, Robert Vipan, Carol Smith

Unable to attend the AGM: Francoise Murphy

Communications Sr Ishpriya asked us to send enquiries about existing retreats to Sr Gitti and new retreats to Sr Ishpriya. She asked us not to send emails to both Sr Ishpriya and Sr Gitti at the same time.

We should keep Monica Courey informed of our email addresses (mcourey@earthlink.net).

Satsang Constitution

Satsang was registered as a non-profit making association registered in Austria with a members only website. Any questions should be addressed to Sr Ishpriya as Chair.

We have to abide by the rules set by the Austrian authorities. A board of trustees is needed that takes the decisions with a minimum of six members: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Vice Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Treasurer. The Satsang committee has 10 members.

Satsang Committee

The members are:

Chair: Sr Ishpriya Vice Chair: Sr Gitti Treasurer: Dieter Platzer Assistant Treasurer: Christine Hutter Secretary: Monica Courey Vice Secretary: Maria Isabella Monroy Interfaith: Patrick Couch Webmaster: Hubert Hesse

Sr Ishpriya said she wanted to appoint two new members from the UK:-

Justice: Robert (because of his involvement in social work) Communications (alongside Hubert): Trevor Lewis

Satsang Locations Sr Ishriya said Satsang is active in different countries – Mexico (Satsang members are based in different parts but meet in a mutually convenient place), US West Coast (north, middle and south), Germany (scattered in different places) and Austria (scattered in different places). Australia was dropped some years ago, partly because of the difficulty of going there every year. There is no Satsang in Ireland but Ishpriya knows people there. Ishpriya said that the American satsang was looking after older people who were isolated in the community

Triple Commitment

Sr Ishpriya reminded us about the relevance of the triple commitment and the importance of encouraging people to live with each other regardless of religion. She reminded us of the need for universal compassion for those of all religions and none.

She said that there are many other groups with the same goal – we live the commitment with those around us. However, Ishpriya said there was no question of merging with other similar organisations but she had a willingness to cooperate with them. She said there is an urgency to what we are struggling for.

Before 2004 the Borderless Planet was produced by NASA and showed that there were no natural boundaries on this planet. We make the borders – we have a fear of losing our comfort zone – there is a tendency to say this is mine and no-one is going to have it.

Sr Ishpriya said that Satsang was founded 35 years ago and is now more relevant than ever.

Die Quelle

The video for the 20th celebration of Die Quelle has been published on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZUWuIXHcUs

Sr Ishpriya explained that there are Seva days in February where local visitors look after painting and cleaning. One room gets more attention. The garden has helpers and people come regularly to help. For example, Silvia is a teacher who brings groups of students. The house accommodates a maximum of 12 people in house, with a maximum of 11 rooms The house is rooted in the area – 20 years ago it was a ruin but now it is a place that people like to visit – they are attracted by common values.

In die Quelle library there are works of art produced by Satsang members e.g. a sculpture made of seeds by Sascha, Stefan Reynolds’ book and Polly Kaiser’s book.

Polly asked if she could use one of Sr Ishpriya’s CDs for outreach. Sr Ishpriya agreed.

…………………….

After the above update, Sr Ishpriya asked the members of the group to sit together and discuss the following:

“Questions to go”: Do I really need the Satsang in my life? Does the Satsang need me? What is in place in terms of contact, outreach?

Decide where to hold the AGM How we work together How we meet other groups

Actions agreed:

1) Sype calls would be held on the 1st Saturday of the month.

2) Try to arrange a North-South face-to-face meeting in London (as Rani and Polly both have relatives in London).

3) Hold next year’s UK AGM during a visit to Die Quelle from Sat 21 April to 27 April 2018.

Polly agreed to be coordinator of arrival times. Sr Ishpriya requested that we should inform Sr Ishpriya no later than a month beforehand who was coming.

Sr Ishpriya advised all to fly to Vienna from where we would be collected.

PHOTOS

posted by Carol Smith @ 11:31 AM