miércoles, 25 de febrero de 2015

Prem Rawat; You, You, You

ARCO reúne a artistas y exguerrilleros colombianos en una exposición por la paz





La paz es el eje central de una exposición inaugurada en el contexto de la Feria de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid (ARCO) que une el trabajo de doce artistas con la aportación de 130 exguerrilleros. Frente al otro, dibujos en el posconflicto, es el título de esa muestra que se expone en la Casa de América de Madrid hasta el 31 de marzo.

Durante tres días, cada artista trabajó en una sede cultural del Banco de la República en doce puntos del país: Cartagena, Valledupar, Montería, Cúcuta, Medellín, Quibdó, Pereira, Bogotá, Villavicencio, Cali, Ibagué y Florencia. En este proyecto exguerrilleros reinsertados y artistas gráficos se sentaron unos ante otros "con la disposición de escuchar y sin más expectativa de motivar los lazos", según explicó en la presentación la subgerente cultural Banco de la República Ángela Pérez Mejía.

A través de retratos, acuarelas, cartas, cómics o collages se puede conocer la visión de quienes vivieron el conflicto en primera persona y ahora luchan por recuperar la normalidad y vivir en paz. En la muestra se recogen también mensajes de niños que dan sus propias definiciones de paz, como la de Karen, de nueve años, que dice: "Paz es cuando un niño pelea con otro y al otro día se dan la mano" o la de Faiber Andrés, de la misma edad, que define la paz así: "Es lo más fantástico del mundo. Arregla todo".

"Nos interesaba traer artistas gráficos y jóvenes que hayan mostrado interés por la relación con lo social, lo político, en definitiva con la situación del país", declaró Ángela Pérez Mejía .La responsable afirmó dijo que "cada artista habla de este proceso como una experiencia que los transforma". Una de las artistas participantes, Angélica María Zorrilla, contó que "no llegaba con una idea preconcebida de estos seres humanos (los reinsertados) y me interesaba conocerlos como tal, de ahí el ejercicio que planteé. Cada uno venía de un grupo diferente, entre ellos había ciertos roces y fue un momento de reconciliación".

El trabajo de Angélica María consistió en hacer escribir a todos los participantes de su grupo una carta de liberación que nunca antes hubieran escrito. Una apuesta "quijotesca", en palabras del embajador de Colombia en España, Fernando Carrillo Flórez, que defendió la cultura como "un motor de inclusión social". El embajador dijo que estos días "son de emoción por ver cómo se establece el vínculo entre la cultura y la construcción de la paz". La presencia cultural colombiana en Madrid se intensifica esta semana con la llegada de la trigésimo cuarta edición de ARCO, que se celebrará del 25 de febrero al 1 de marzo.
Además, el jueves 26 de febrero, se llevará a cabo un conversatorio en torno a la exposición 'Frente al otro: dibujos en el postconflicto', en el que participarán Ángela María Pérez, subgerente cultural del Banco de la República de Colombia; Jesús Abad Colorado, fotógrafo; y un funcionario de la Agencia Colombiana para la Reintegración. La actividad tendrá lugar en la sala Jorge Luis Borges

lunes, 23 de febrero de 2015

The Mamma Mia of All Courses


The Mamma Mia of All Courses
This article is also available in: ItalianSpanish
Peace Education Programs have been running in the Johannesburg Correctional Facility since August 2013. They are being held in the Female Correctional Facility, Medium B for short-term sentences, and Medium C maximum security for long-term sentences. So far, 430 inmates have completed the courses.
“The effect on inmates has been extraordinary to witness,” says Anne Wolfson, Manager of the Peace Education Program (PEP) in South Africa. “In the women’s prison, one young lady came to the first session of the course, drained of all color and with no emotion on her face. She looked like someone who had given up on life. At the end of the first section of the DVD—the first time she had ever heard Prem Rawat speak—color came back to her face, her cheeks became rosy, her eyes sparkling. After the tenth session, she told me that she only has one wish in her life now: that one day she would have the chance to see Prem Rawat and say thank you to him. The program gave her a backbone.”
“Another lady had had a good husband and a comfortable life,” says Rama Vallabh, who coordinates the PEP at Johannesburg Correctional. “But she ended up in prison after going down a wrong track. While in prison, her husband developed a tumor and passed away. She was unable to care for him in his last days or to attend his funeral. Some time elapsed, and then she enrolled in the PEP course. She expressed so strongly how this course had helped her come to terms with all that had happened in her life.”
Valee Prema is the facilitator at Medium B. She has now run four courses in an environment that is less than perfect. Her class of inmates has to share a room with another class going on at the same time. “But it hasn’t been a problem,” Valee relates. “The concentration has to be so strong that the inmates really respond to the message.”
Valee particularly remembers a course she helped with last year. She explained that on the third session, the inmates arrived for the PEP class only to find that the neighboring class had claimed all the benches to sit on. The situation became tense when it was clear that the PEP attendees wanted to take back the benches, even if it meant a fistfight.
Then one participant, Daniel, stood up and addressed his classmates. “We are not going to argue with them,” he said. “We are doing this course, and we need to put into practice what we are learning. Prem Rawat told us to stay in harmony and understand what we do. So let’s all go to our cells and get our buckets. We are going to sit on them.” And that’s what they did.
“Each one of them was so happy, sitting on his bucket,” said Vallee. “It brought tears to my eyes.” Since completing his course, Daniel has been acting as a helper with other PEP courses in the prison.
Speaking at the conclusion of his course, Daniel had this to say:
“Allow me to express my utmost gratitude to Mr. Prem Rawat. The Peace Education Program is the Mamma Mia of all courses. What we have learnt will remain inside our hearts like words on an epitaph.” Then, alluding to the facilitators, he continued, “Guys, you are eloquent, classy, and you gave an unwavering commitment to this program and to ourselves. You were aware that our liberty has been removed from us but not our humanity. You removed all our salts—all criminal-related thoughts such as murder, rape, robbery, and many more—and replaced them with sugar, wonderful sweet-tasting stuff such as hope, joy, harmony, peace, dignity, self-awareness, fulfillment, and contentment.”

viernes, 20 de febrero de 2015

The Peace Education Program: “A remarkable degree of success”


The Peace Education Program: “A remarkable degree of success”
This article is also available in: FrenchItalianSpanish
Since the introduction of the Peace Education Program (PEP) to prisons and jails in 2007—and its extension to many other audiences five years later—many thousands of people have had the chance to explore the possibility of personal peace in their lives. With requests for the program coming in from all over the world, there’s little doubt that the 10-session curriculum is popular. The only question that remains is: does PEP really work?
In 2012 TPRF decided to find out definitively. Dr. Jamshid Damooei, President of Damooei Global Research, was commissioned to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The results, after a two-year study, are now in.
“One anticipated outcome of the Peace Education Program is that it would become a formidable force for positive change in our immediate environment and ultimately the world,” says Dr. Damooei, who is also Chairman of the Department of Economics, Finance, and Accounting at California Lutheran University. To find out whether that was so, Dr. Damooei analyzed over 350 surveys from PEP participants around the world who, after completing the program, were asked how they felt before and after their participation in PEP.
“We asked the participants to assign a numerical value to 10 statements that correspond to the themes in the PEP curriculum,” says Dr. Damooei. Respondents were asked how much they agreed, on a scale of 1-5, with the following statements before they took the program and how much they agreed after taking the program:
Q 1 Chart_p15




  1. I am aware that feeling peace in my life is a possibility for me.
  2. I understand that the ability to appreciate and enjoy is one of my inner resources.
  3. I am aware that I have inner strength and I can draw on this strength to help me in my life.
  4. I understand that by knowing my inner strengths and resources I can be more self-aware and live my life more consciously.
  5. I am aware that clarity is one of my inner resources and being in touch with that clarity will help me in my life.
  6. I understand the difference between believing and knowing something from my own experience
  7. I recognize there is an innate dignity in being alive, regardless of my circumstances.
  8. I recognize that I have the freedom and power to make choices, and these daily choices affect my wellbeing.
  9. I understand that hope is one of my inner resources that I can draw on to help me through challenging times in my life.
  10. I recognize that I can feel contentment regardless of what is happening in my life.
Pages from •Evaluation of Peace Education Program p16


The Results:
According to Dr. Damooei, there was “a tremendous improvement with regard to believing that feeling peace is a possibility. Only 42% stated that they believed that feeling peace was possible before the program. After the program nearly 100% believed it was possible, and 74% felt strongly that peace could be a possibility in their lives.”
Of the respondents who completed PEP, 98% agreed or strongly agreed that the ability to appreciate and enjoy is one of their inner resources. And 95% agreed or strongly agreed that PEP made them aware that being in touch with clarity would help them in their lives.
In every category, in fact, the overwhelming majority of respondents who finished PEP agreed with the statements above after the program. Most thought they did not agree beforehand. “This shows a remarkable degree of success,” says Dr. Damooei, “in delivering a message of peace and having a positive impact on the participants.”
If you would like a copy of the entire evaluation study, you may request one at: pep@tprf.org.

miércoles, 11 de febrero de 2015

Prem Rawat presents UK Parliament with Peace Pledg

The Pledge to Peace, or Bruxelles Declaration, was presented at the Houses of Parliament in London on the 22nd of June 2014.

As Ambassador of the Pledge to Peace, Prem Rawat attended a ceremony hosted by Baroness Scotland, representing the House of Lords, and The Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MP, representing the House of Commons, where the Pledge to Peace was presented in the historic Gladstone Room.
التعهد للسلام، او بيان بروكسل، قدّم في مجالس البرلمان في لندن بتاريخ الثاني والعشرين من شهر حزيران 2014
كسفير تعهد للسلام حضر بريم راوات المراسم حيث كان ضيفاً من قبل بارونس سكوتلاند ممثلة مجلس النبلاء و ار تي هون هازل بليرز ب م ممثل مجلس العموم حيث ان تعهد السلام حصل في غرفة غلاد ستون التاريخية.

Ambassador For Peace

Prem Rawat has been invited to speak at lecture halls at Harvard & Oxford universities, city councils from UK, Brazil, Italy to Taiwan , and many more . He says: “personal peace is very possible because it has nothing to do with struggles on the outside. It is time to rethink what it means to be alive. It is time to think about the gift we have been given. All the citizens of this earth need hope. Future generations need hope. Peace has become a hollow word that people say but don’t mean because nobody knows how to go about it. The clue lies in knowing yourself, knowing who you are. Where ever you go you carry the well of peace with you. You have to know how to turn within, there is a beautiful possibility".

"This is my message"

Prem Rawat
برم روات يدعى دائماً ليخاطب في قاعات جامعة هارفرد وأكسفورد والبرلمانات العالمية بدءًا من إنجلترا و البرازيل إلى إيطاليا وتايوان وغيرهما من البلدان. وقد لقب بسفيرالسلام من قبل عدة حكومات عالمية . ومن أقواله:" السلام الذاتي ممكن جداً أن يحصل لأن ليس له علاقة في العراك الخارجي." إنه الوقت الأن لنعيد التفكير في ما معنى اننا أحياء ، ولنفكر أيضاً بالهدية التي اعطيت لنا الا وهي الحياة . وأن كل سكان الأرض والأجيال القادمة بحاجة إلى الأمل. لقد أصبح السلام مجرد كلمة لا معنا لها، يرددها الناس دون الوصول إلى معناها الحقيقي ، ومفتاح هذا اللغز هو أن تعرف ذاتك، تعرف من أنت، لأنك أينما ذهبت فانت تحمل معك نبع السلام لأنه موجود في داخلك ، وعليك أن تعرف كيف تعود إلى داخلك ، فيوجد إمكانية جميلة جداً .

"هذه هي رسالتي"

برم رواث

"I believe that peace will be humanity's greatest achievement." Prem Rawat is a respected international speaker. Presenting the importance of peace has been his life's work. Travelling extensively, he is regularly invited to speak in television interviews, at meetings and public events all over the world. He receives no income from his work and gifts his time.
Prem has been granted the honorary title “Ambassador for Peace” by a number of governmental and academic institutions because of his ability to inspire audiences from all walks of life.
In the first half of this year he spoke at over 60 events and meetings in India, Nepal, Malaysia, Taiwan, The USA and Europe with audiences totalling over 1 million people.
" إني على يقين بأن السلام سيكون الانجاز الانساني الاعظم." يعتبر بريم راوات المتكلم العالمي الذي يبرز اهمية السلام الذي كان وما زال شغله الشاغل مدى حياته. يجوب بريم راوات العالم يتلقى دعوات منتظمة على المحطات التلفزيونية ، لقاءات واجتماعات عامة حول العالم. لا يتقاضى بريم راوات اي مردود مادي من هذا العمل، وهو يقدم وقته مجاناً . نال بريم راوات الملقب شرفيا "سفير السلام" من قبل عدد كبير من السلطات الحكومية والمؤسسات الاكاديمية تقديرا لمقديرته على الهام الناس من كافة شعوب العالم في النصف الاول من هذه السنة تكلم بريم راوات في ستين احتفال ولقاء في الهند ونبال وماليزيا وتايوان والولايات المتحدة واوروبا ما مجموعه مليون شخص من الحضور. 

martes, 10 de febrero de 2015

What Real Peace Feels Like


What Real Peace Feels Like
Bangalore is a thriving metropolis renowned for its high-tech industries—India’s “Silicon Valley.” It is also home to several state-of-the-art medical establishments. One of the most progressive, Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences and Research Centre, has just incorporated the Peace Education Program (PEP) into its  curriculum. The 10-week workshop features videos based on excerpts from Prem Rawat’s international speaking events that cover themes such as Inner Strength, Choice, and Contentment.
The Principal of Vydehi, Professor L. E. Madhumathi, screened the entire video series in advance. “Though there are many who have been talking about peace for many years,” she said, “PEP is not just talk, not a theory, not a written manual, but a very practical way to attain inner peace. Our faculty members and nursing students will definitely benefit from this program.”
Vydehi Institute, set on a 65-acre oasis of greenery, is unique in its advancement of the science of healing. A college of integrative medicine that promotes “love and compassion for the underprivileged and ailing,” Vydehi educates highly skilled nurses who treat patients worldwide. Making PEP available to its students and staff demonstrates the Institute’s forward-looking approach to wellbeing. So far, 120 staff and students and staff have completed the workshop.
From day one, everybody was enthusiastic. Some of the participants even helped facilitate the early PEP sessions. By week four, all were involved. Faculty and students attended consistently, despite their demanding academic schedules.
Each workshop provided time for reflection. “I am awake from a deep sleep,” said one attendee. “My search for peace and joy has ended with the Peace Education Program. It’s the first time I got to know that true happiness lies within me.”
“PEP explains the real meaning of peace—not what people think about peace,” another said. “It makes me contemplate, ‘Who am I?’ I wish this program could reach every corner of the world, so that we can all have a clear understanding of the obvious.”
At the end of the final workshop, many participants said they hoped to learn more. Students described PEP as an innovative program with “self-awareness as the core—the most important aspect of our life.” Participants plan to stay in touch, a rewarding outcome for the Bangalore PEP team. The team looks forward to conducting many more workshops in the city, inspired by each heartfelt comment.
“This education program helps me to stay with inner peace,” said a nursing student. “It also develops self-confidence and a positive approach toward life. I would like to thank Mr. Prem Rawat for doing such a great thing—making people aware of what real peace actually feels like.”