| Published on 25-08-2007 In General |
| Viewed 1714 times |
| Contributing to Middle East peace - through yoga |
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Written by
M.R. Narayan Swamy |
Thousands of miles away from their homes, some 150 Israeli, Iranian and Arab youths are together learning meditation and yoga techniques in India which they hope will contribute to peace in the troubled Middle East.
For the past 10 days, these young men and women from Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Morocco have been based in the campus of the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore.
They are mostly in the age group of 20 to 35. Most of them are Sunnis and Shias. There are also Wahabis and Jews, and a handful of Kurds too.
After some initial hesitation, all of them, the Arabs and Israelis in particular, have got drawn to one another and attend classes and do yoga together, with help coming from an Arab woman teacher from the UAE, said an Art of Living spokesman.
Clearly, the students - the 55-strong Iraqi contingent in particular - are enjoying what is being taught to them. There are also 36 Iranians and 22 Israelis.
"It feels like breathing out all the stresses of war and breathing in a new life," said Ahmed Hinoon, 32, from Baghdad. His remarks in Arabic were translated. "I feel really relaxed after doing the breathing exercises.
"This programme has changed my life. After so many years, I am able to control my mind. With endless killings and bombings, life in Iraq is very stressful. With no power and water supply, we have no hope. After coming here, we see a new ray of hope."
Added Ramia Sagvan, an Iraqi woman in her late 20s: "The situation in our country is so bad that people do not know how to smile. Here we see everybody smiling. We had no hope until now. We could only hope for some power to come and take us out of the situation."
The Art of Living Foundation enjoys millions of adherents, in India and abroad. It has been working in Iraq since 2003, and scores of Iraqis have undergone its training programmes.
The Iraqi government has sponsored the 55 youths, as a follow up to the visit to that country by Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in May. The Iraqis hail from Najaf, Baghdad, Basra, Karbala and Kurdistan.
During the month-long programme, which ends in the second week of September, the Arabs and Israelis will be taught yoga and breathing techniques. Some will become Art of Living instructors. The Iraqis will learn how to conduct trauma relief programmes.
All of them will also learn leadership skills such as public speaking.
Some of the Iraqis attending the course have suffered in the mindless conflict that has killed and maimed tens of thousands in their country and turned millions into refugees in the Arab world and beyond.
It is a new experience to the large group. Waking up at 5 in the morning, they do two hours of yoga and meditation, followed by breakfast, physical service like cooking and serving food, and then more classes until evening heralds community singing when the visitors belt out Arabic and Israeli songs.
"Their earlier inhibitions are almost gone," the spokesman said. "They are really into it now. And it is great to see them sitting together, eating together, dancing together.
"An Israeli journalist who turned up the other day remarked that he would have never imagined that Arabs and Israelis can mingle so freely with one another."
The food served to the group is vegetarian: rice, chapatis, lentils and cooked vegetables, with pastas thrown in occasionally. There were some hiccups over food in the beginning, but by now they seem to have accepted it.
The spokesman quoted one of the Iraqis, Ali Abdul Sumady, as saying: "People of Iraq need this badly. They are undergoing a lot of mental and emotional tensions. Everybody is harbouring revenge in their minds." |
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