Peace Village opens for 2023 season with a big bang
French Canadian Retreat – An exceptional weekend at Peace Village in the Catskill Mountains, USA.
New York ( USA ): A French Retreat took place in the Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center during the Easter weekend organized by the Raja Yoga Centers of Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. About 40 participants from Montreal and Quebec City, as well as near Joliette and Trois-Rivières, gathered together. The theme, “Celebrating Inner Joy”, was beautifully taken up by Dr Kala Iyengar, Director of Peace Village, and BK Eric Le Reste, National Coordinator of the Brahma Kumaris Centers in Canada.
The participants enjoyed a harmonious blend of master classes, reflective moments and experiential workshops, allowing for a fuller integration of all the concepts that were presented.
The first morning, BK Eric and BK Jonathan joyfully led everyone in an Easter Egg Hunt, during which everyone discovered – not just chocolate! –but the sweetness of their inner beauty, thanks to the lovely blessings and messages that were hidden inside the eggs.
This was followed by four 30-minute yoga workshops offering a variety of experiences such as a letter from God, an introspective walk around the pond, a moment to exchange drishti, and a session introducing the importance of mansa seva for souls and nature. Those participants who had only completed the Meditation Course, each morning received spiritual teachings and meditative experiences in the company of BK Eric and BK Jonathan. These sessions explored 3 main roles of the inner journey: the Yogi, the Angel and the Raj.
A class conducted by Dr. Kala as well as an interview by BK Eric led everyone to subtly fine tune their inner world, in order to experience constant inner joy; a joy sustained by inner attainments and a firm spiritual practice. Dr Kala underlined how introspection is the key in cultivating inner joy as it enables the soul to discover the beautiful qualities of its pure and original state and to get power from the Supreme Soul. Only then is the soul able to regain its true nature of joy, and celebrate the beauty in every moment of daily life.
During the two days, many participants took part in an interactive and silent-meditative walks in the forest. Both walks were guided by BK Paul and BK Elizabeth from Peace Village, and punctuated with inspiring comments leading to an experience of harmony between the soul and its natural environment.
The retreat culminated with a very joyful celebration that was secretly organized by the Peace Village residents, to honour BK Eric’s recent retirement. Cake cutting, singing and dancing beautifully allowed everyone to move from inner to outer joy, in a communion of love and cheerfulness. This was then followed by a cultural program which was presented in the form of a TV show, where everyone had the chance to express their talents through song, poetry, skits and dance – all with a good dose of joy and humor! The retreat left in the hearts of everyone a deep sense of fullness and lightness, as well as a determined will to cultivate joy in their own lives, starting within the self.
