This report was one of the main defense evidence in the extradition trial ruled on by the Supreme Court in Stockholm on October 11th – 12th 2005. The final and irreversible decision of the High Court from Stockholm was to decline the extradition request submitted by the Romanian state against Gregorian Bivolaru.

Karl-Erik Nylund is a doctor in theology, a priest and maybe Sweden’s greatest expert with regard to sects. His most recent work is “Att leka med elden – sekternas värld” - “Playing with fire – world of sects” (2004). For more than 30 years, he has been helping people who are the victims of various sects, and also their families. His expert opinion is often asked for concerning these issues and he is often quoted by the media, being well known for his critical attitude towards dangerous sects. For this reason, Karl-Erik Nylund is entitled to assess whether or not the Movement for the Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) displays features resembling the dangerous sects. During his research work for writing this report and during the interviews, Nylund cooperated with sociology doctor Örjan Hultĺker, founder and head of SKOP-Research, Skandinavisk Opinion AB Institute.

1. MISA Yoga School

1.1. Introduction

A series of specialty materials, mentioned in the bibliography list, were studied for writing this report. Also there were three interviews with Gregorian Bivolaru during the police custody in Malmö, the interviews with Mihai Stoian and six MISA yoga practitioners. Three of them are from Romania. Moreover, we even contacted other Romanians living in exile who are not members of this yoga school.

1.2 Founding the yoga school

The Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute Association was founded by Gregorian Bivolaru in January 1990. The Association initially consisting in 22 founding members, started the yoga school that now comprises more than 37.000 practitioners in several countries among which Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The name of the yoga foundation is “Esoteric Orient Yoga” in Sweden and “Natha”, in the other two countries. Movements such as MISA often appear within environments featuring a spiritual vacuum where religious ideas not in accordance with the official religion are persecuted. Such facts regularly occur in the communist or former communist countries. Free thinking and movements consisting in a large number of members are not regarded with benevolence.

The Romanian orthodox church is not thrilled with this yogi movement whose ideas originate in the Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, in Jung’s ideas and so on. The movements based upon ideas belonging to several religious and philosophical paths are called syncretic. Most religions and religious movements are syncretic. The phenomenon is rather a rule than an exception. In a very simplified manner, as a social phenomenon, religion is a system of meaningful believes and legitimate roles. People who grow up within a religious community have certain explanatory patterns and ways of acting they use personally. They learn the dogmas and the rites granting identity to the human being.

1.2.1 Difficulties faced by the spiritual movements

The interactions of the society with the spiritual movements, such as MISA, permanently undergo difficult moments. Such instances that can have an effect on belief systems and role patterns may also emerge under various life circumstances people are confronted with, or even inside the individual’s personality structure. Sometimes even faith crises might appear. Such crises are natural in a pluralistic society. Spiritual movements resort to activities that aim at helping people confronted with such crises, in order to regain their faith.

1.2.2 MISA activities

Originating in India, Yoga is considered extraneous and dangerous in many Christian countries, especially in powerfully orthodox countries such as Romania for instance. Yoga represents a danger for the adept recruitment process permanently carried out by the Church as well as for the fact that the followers might by be attracted by this foreign “religion”, as the church sees Yoga. For this reason they feel compelled to fight against Yoga and often even present it as demonic.

Yoga has been practiced for more than 4000 years. It is an old self-discipline Hindu system of techniques meant to harmonize and unify the body, the mind and the soul through physical exercises, breath control and meditation. The word “yoga” comes from Sanskrit and it signifies “union”, “tuning in with”. Such union actually is the tuning in of the individual’s soul with the universe through spiritual techniques and a process of self-perfection.

There are various forms of yoga. One of the forms of yoga practiced at the MISA school is karma yoga. In our language, this form of yoga would be called: voluntary work. The purpose of a Hindu’s life is moksha – the spiritual liberation. Moksha means being free from the cycle of reincarnations. However moksha, spiritual liberation, is also attained by the one who becomes free from ignorance. There are several paths towards this ultimate purpose: Jnana (the way of knowledge), Bhakti (the way of devotion) and karma (the way of action). There is no such thing as a unique path and a sole savior; there are several opinions, leaders, guru and deities that contribute for helping those who ask for it, in order to walk the spiritual way.

Briefly, we can say that for those who practice yoga at MISA, one of the ways of pursuing self-realization is karma yoga. By all means, this is not about human trafficking; it is a voluntarily chosen path for attaining one’s spiritual purpose with the help of a spiritual guide. Within MISA, each practitioner is under the guidance of a teacher helping him on the spiritual way or tempering him down, if the case may be. The practitioners do not isolate themselves from their families or society.

1.2.3 Ashram

An ashram is a place for living a simple life an being able to practice meditation more. Even the yoga practice is a form of meditation. An ashram aims at facilitating a better health condition and a spiritual life for the practitioner. As a matter of fact, any home may be called an ashram. Within MISA, ashrams are a form of living in common, similar to student dormitories. Each dormitory follows certain rules for the life in common to work. The MISA ashrams abide by the following rules:

1. No meat, alcohol or coffee. No smoking. These rules are both for the inhabitants of the ashram, and for visitors.
2. It is recommended to practice yoga daily for two hours, besides the yoga classes.
3. All people take part at the household activities from the ashram, such as cleaning, house and garden maintenance, house shopping, for instance.
4. Everyone must attend the ashram house meetings (similar to the house meetings of the people living in the same building).
5. Everyone cleans the place on his own when he makes any mess.
6. Silence hours after 23.
7. Previous notification regarding overnight guests ashram, except for constant visitors.
8. Everyone is asked to let the others know when leave on a holiday or a vacation.

This life resembles the life in a student dormitory. There is a person in charge with the dormitory management. It is normal for a person who damages anything to replace that object. This is not a punishment but something natural in a community where one spoils something of the common use utilities. Each group has its own norms expressing the common moral values and each individual is expected to abide by them.

These activities: karma yoga, meditations and the practice of physical exercises help all individuals become fulfilled and complete human beings. The MISA yoga practitioners also believe in the possibility of curing themselves and this is called therapy. Yoga is not a mere spiritual, self-realization training – it is a body and mind therapy.

2. Leader’s part

MISA is a coherent group, namely a group whit a powerful “us” feeling inducing the sensations of belonging to the group. The opposite of such a group is the so-called extraneous group, such as it often happens with religious groups. Most people stay away from such extraneous groups because they are strong expressions of negativity. Communist and terrorist groups, the adepts of hedonist religious movements and the sexually perverted groups fall under this category. The information on the Internet (such as the Romanian journal websites for instance) clearly indicates that for Gregorian Bivolaru, certain politicians are part of such an extraneous group. He also mentions other groups in his declarations and writings. For this reason, it is obvious that because of his allegations, highly critical to certain Romanian politicians, Bivolaru made powerful enemies. People express their opinion against such “extraneous groups” through peaceful street demonstrations in Bucharest.

2.1. Gregorian Bivolaru’s guiding role

Various roles inside a group do not hold the same exact value. The founder of the group often rejoices a special kind of respect. This aspect is also valid in the case of religious groups.

One of the most important aspects in life is the spontaneous tendency to follow the conduct of the majority or of the group leader. This silently occurs inside all groups. The beginner, the newcomer or the one from a lower rank does not even notice the quickness of his attempt to adapt to the group norms. Powerful leaders can make the group members follow the group moral norms and values. The one with authority holds control over people though various means, such as rewards and punishments for instance (such as isolation, fines, etc.) During my study regarding MISA I noticed no such behavior or punishment.

The radical religious groups, such as the Guyana movement from the 70’s, the Heaven’s Gate movement from 90’s or David Koresh from Waco USA, are examples of groups that imposed a strict discipline to their members. The leader’s word represented the law for the others till death. The MISA Yoga School IS NOT such a group.

Also MISA cannot be called a rigid spiritual movement. Such a movement would not allow criticism. Within MISA, everyone is free to criticize the aspects related to its activity or even the teachers. Also, every person is free to leave the yoga school without fear of retaliation.

Retaliation is a feature of manipulative sects, namely: “such religious or any other kind of movements inside which crises concerning faith are actively repressed, denied or punished. A manipulative sect consciously aims at erasing self-identity and replacing it with a pseudo-identity guided by an ideologue or by an ideology.”

According to this description of the manipulative sects, it is clear that MISA is not a manipulative sect.

For a movement to be a manipulative sect, it also has to comply with three of the four A-s.

Aggression – punishment of the members criticizing the leader or the movement.

Aversion – criticism and persecution of the people outside the group such as parents for instance.

Alienation – closed circuit inside the sect, as a geographical or ideological group. The sect becomes the new family.

Absolute truth – only exists within the sect, and the leader/leaders are entitled to the absolute right of interpreting the truth.

During my conversations with the MISA practitioners and teachers, I found nothing of the first two A-s (Aggression and Aversion). With regard to the ashram life, only a part of the persons live there and the activities are not the closed circuit type. The courses are accessible to anyone from the outside. Anyone may attend the courses. Therefore we ARE NOT talking about alienation. Some of those who are more dedicated might have a minimum contact with the outside world, however leaders actively seek to oppose this form of alienation, by encouraging them to return to their work and family. Gregorian Bivolaru DOES NOT claim to be in undeniable possession of the absolute truth. Together with other people, he is a spiritual guide and is convinced he is a man with a mission in the society. On the other hand he displayed and still displays no political claims. If people will transform through the lacto-vegetarian diet and through meditation, this will occur gradually. Bivolaru’s power resides in his very humbleness. Therefore in the MISA case, we can find none of the criteria defining manipulative sects.

Bivolaru went on a retreat in order to meditate and write books. The school was taken over by a managing board and is formally and democratically managed by this board. Each yoga school from the other countries has one leader, regularly one of the senior MISA members and is registered as a non-profit foundation, with a democrat board of management. I could call Bivolaru an “honorific member”, who due to his modesty, rejoices at a lot of respect.

2.2 Charges against Gregorian Bivolaru

The interviews I conducted with Gregorian Bivolaru, one of them attended by only the two of us, made me seriously question the pedophilia charge brought against him. Within the movement, the relations among people are very close, even between teachers and students. However the girl involved was not Bivolaru’s student. Personally, I would be extremely surprised at the existence of a relationship between Gregorian Bivolaru and Madalina Dumitru.

The other charge brought against him while he was under arrest in Malmö, namely human trafficking, simply is a misunderstanding of what karma yoga means. See the text regarding karma yoga above. The issue at stake here is that of voluntary work, as a manner of self-perfection and attainment of the truth. Many of the people living in an ashram do not have the money to pay for their stay and through karma yoga they have the opportunity to attend the ashram activities. The MISA followers state that karma yoga is a form of meditation that elevates the one practicing it out of doubts and alienation and this can turn the world we live in into a better place.

2.3 Spiritual camps

Every year, in Romania, 10-12.000 people gather in order to attend the international yoga symposiums organized by MISA. Worldwide practitioners come here and practically fill up and entire holiday village. Among other things, they also practice heliotherapy. The participants at this symposium are accepted based on an ID card for which they have to send photos, sometimes in a bathing suit, to the MISA leader. This happens in order to “read” the aura of those who wish to attend and see whether there are any health disorders. According to MISA - everything is alive – people, animals, plants – and surrounded by an energetic field called an “aura”. The ability to see auras can be developed through training. The aura of the people at a high level of their spiritual evolution is white and can be seen from miles away. There are seven vibratory levels of the aura, associated to the seven chakra-s or centers of force. For a healthy human being, these energetic focal points are clear and distinct. In the case of a sick person, the aura is fuzzy and its colors dark.

During the selection of the camp participants at these international symposiums, among which there are many young persons, a large number of photos are received. Such photos were seized by the Romanian authorities and classified as pornographic pictures because they obviously do not at want to see the content of the photos (namely one person in a bathing suit) and their purpose.

3. What is MISA actually?

If MISA is not a manipulative and dangerous sect then what is it? I could say about MISA that it is a movement supporting a different way of life, alternative therapies, displaying strong Gnostic sincretism features. The basic ideas are reincarnation and self-transformation (the ability to transform one’s self). A cult is a movement often emerging in a psychic deprivation environment, when people gather around a leader. MISA is a yogi movement where the participants aim at self-perfecting and improving their state of health and harmony through a lacto-vegetarian diet and yoga techniques.

Following the interviews I conducted with several Romanians from the Diaspora, I have strong doubts with regard to the fact that Gregorian Bivolaru could be allowed a fair trial in his own country. As I could see by myself, the charges against him are obviously untruthful and this is why they are the very evidence of the persecutions he is subjected to. Also, I do not believe that Gregorian Bivolaru would stand any chance for survival in a Romanian prison.

Sources:

Interviews.
-Gregorian Bivolaru
-Mihai Stoian (head of the Natha yoga center)
-Three Danish yoga practitioners and three Romanian yoga practitioners visiting Denmark (I will not reveal their names out of safety reasons)
-Ulla M Sandbaek, former EU Parliament member

Specialty works:
Nylund , Karl-Erik Att leka med elden – om livets pĺ sektens villkor . Sellin 1998
Nylund, Karl-Erik Att leka med elden – sekternas värld . Sellin 2004
Hammer, Olav Pĺ spaning efter helheten New Age en ny folktro .Wahsltröm &Widstrand 1997
Holm, Nils. G Religionspsykologins grunder, Ĺbo Akademi 1993
Holm, Nils G. (Ed.) Encounter with India, Ĺbo Akademi 1990
Haglund, Gunilla Credo guiden Uppslagsbok för sökare, Sellin 1997
Harper´s Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience. Castle Books, Edison 1991
Mc Guire, Meredith B Religion. The Social Context IVth edition . Wadsworth Publ.House 1997
Mr. Gregorian Bivolaru’s writings

The Romanian judicial system scrutinized in the European Parliament. Member of European Parliament will bring it further to the European Commission

On Wednesday 11th of April The NGO Soteria International kept a conference in the European Parliament on the topic of abuses and irregularities of the Romanian judicial system in the Gregorian Bivolaru / MISA case. In the conference participated Members of European Parliament and media. This conference comes at the culmination of a work of several weeks of Soteria International in the European Parliament which has already generated letters signed by a big number of Members of European Parliament from all political blocks to the Romanian Prime-Minister and Minister of Justice, expressing their concern over reports of violations of correct judicial process in this case.

In the conference spoke representatives from Soteria International, Mihai Stoian representative of MISA, as well as special gust and key-note speaker Dr. Gabriel Andreescu – founder of APADOR-CH Human Rights NGO in Romania and  who is the author of a comprehensive study of the case.

Dr. Gabriel Andreescu: ''We cant have a Romanian normal system of justice, we cant have a normal Romanian democracy without solving the MISA case''

42 yogis risk imprisonment in an ongoing Romanian justice scandal.
The leader of the yoga movement, Mr. Bivolaru, has been protected by the Swedish authorities against the Romanian persecutions since 2005. 25-80 other yogis have had to leave their jobs, families and homes as a direct result of the abusive judicial and media campaign against the yoga movement MISA.
Despite strong international criticism from human rights organizations, politicians and experts, the case against the yogis is now in the Supreme Court of Romania where the verdict will be given on the 21st March.

42 yogis risk imprisonment in an ongoing Romanian justice scandal.
The leader of the yoga movement, Mr. Bivolaru, has been protected by the Swedish authorities against the Romanian persecutions since 2005. 25-80 other yogis have had to leave their jobs, families and homes as a direct result of the abusive judicial and media campaign against the yoga movement MISA.
Despite strong international criticism from human rights organizations, politicians and experts, the case against the yogis is now in the Supreme Court of Romania where the verdict will be given on the 21st March.

SPIRITUAL HUMAN RIGHTS 2012

"WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY IN MODERN SOCIETY?"

December 8th, 2012
Copenhagen, Denmark

Invitation for scientific researchers, activists and practitioners within the trans-disciplinary field of human rights and spirituality

For the fifth consecutive year Soteria International welcomes participants to a visionary conference on the emerging field of Spiritual Human Rights.

This year’s event presents key note presentations and Q&A sessions addressing the question “What is the Role of Spirituality in Modern Society”.

The event marks the continuous effort to develop a common platform for unfolding Spiritual Human Rights into modern society.

Following notifications sent to Soteria International by some Danish, German and Romanian citizens in which they report a series of flagrant violations of human rights, our organization for defending human rights, has begun a social investigation into their case.
The following citizens, Ulrik Lyshoj, Rainer Trubel, Mihai Ian Stoian, Adina Maria Stoian, Nicoleta Markus and Simona Colesniuc, are asking for help and counseling because of the fact that, in their cases, the right of presumption of innocence, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right of freedom of peaceful assembly and association were violated.
Our organization, which is defending human rights, started its own investigation. After some research into this case Soteria International has confirmed the following facts:

For the attention of:
The Prime Minister of Romania
Romanian Minister of Justice

We respectfully request your attention in an important judicial case that is currently awaiting the final decision in the Supreme Court of Romania.

It was brought to our attention by private persons and human rights organizations that there might be irregularities in the judicial procedures in the case no. 405/85/2005, regarding Gregorian Bivolaru.

After eight years of trials and two positive decisions in the courts in favor of Mr. G. Bivolaru, we hereby express our concern about information we have received about this case which indicates that unjust actions may be taking place around the case which is currently in the final stages in The Supreme Court of Romania, including instances of pressure being put upon the judges with the purpose of influencing the outcome of the case.

We thank you for your cooperation and at the same time we have the strong belief that justice will prevail.

Yours sincerely,
Jean Lambert
Green MEP for London

In attention of:
The prime minister of Romania
Romanian Minister of Justice

http://soteriainternational.org/images/stories/cases-misa-case%2325-bove-jose-spiritual-human-rights-soteria-international-ngo.jpg

We respectfully request your attention in an important judicial case that is currently awaiting the final decision in the Supreme Court of Romania.

It was brought to our attention by private persons and human rights organizations that there might be irregularities in the judicial procedures in the case no. 405/85/2005, regarding Gregorian Bivolaru.

After eight years of trials and two positive decisions in the courts in the favour of Mr. G. Bivolaru, we hereby express our concem about information we have received about this case which indicates that unjust actions may be taking place around the case which is currently in the final stages in The Supreme Court of Romania, including instances of pressure being put upon the judges with the purpose of influencing the outcome of the case.

We thank you for your cooperation and at the same tirne we have the strong belief that justice will prevail.

Your sincerely,
José BOVÉ

In attention of:
The prime minister of Romania
Romanian Minister of Justice

We respectfully request your attention in an important judicial case that is currently awaiting the final decision in the Supreme Court of Romania.

It was brought to our attention by private persons and human rights organizations that there might be irregularities in the judicial procedures in the case no. 405/85/2005, regarding Gregorian Bivolaru.

After eight years of trials and two positive decisions in the courts in the favour of Mr. G. Bivolaru, we hereby express our concern about information we have received about this case which indicates that unjust actions may be taking place around the case which is currently in the final stages in The Supreme Court of Romania, including instances of pressure being put upon the judges with the purpose of influencing the outcome of the case.

We tank you for your cooperation and at the same time we have the strong belief that justice will prevail.

Your sincerely,
Nirj DEVA, MEP, U.K. European Conservatives

In attention of:
The prime minister of Romania
Romanian Minister of Justice

We respectfully request your attention in an important judicial case that is currently awaiting the final decision in the Supreme Court of Romania.

It was brought to our attention by private persons and human rights organizations that there might be irregularities in the judicial procedures in the case no. 45/85/2005, regarding Gregorian Bivolaru.

After eight years of trials and two positive decisions in the courts in the favour of Mr. G. Bivolaru, we hereby express our concern about information we have received about this case which indicates that unjust actions may be taking place around the case which is currently in the final stages in The Supreme Court of Romania, including instances of pressure being put upon the judges with the purpose of influencing the outcome of the case.

We tank you for your cooperation and at the same time we have the strong belief that justice will prevail.

Your sincerely,
Marc TARABELLA, MEP, Belgium

COURT CASE 405/85/2005

Established as a not-profit association in January 1990, the association (Miscarea pentru Integrare Sprituala in Absolut – The Movement for Spiritual Integration in the Absolute) has a social – professional, philosophical, educational nature, aimed at raising the spiritual level of people by promoting the yoga theories and practices.

Short introduction

MISA's mentor, Gregorian Bivolaru, and other disciples, have been pursued, arrested and beaten by the former Securitate since the 1970s. Unfortunately, the pursuit of MISA's leader continued beyond 1989, when the investigations were pushed by the neo-communist regime that was implemented after the Romanian revolution.

The facts

The most important official action against MISA took place in March 2004, in an operation called “CHRIST” by the authorities.
On March 18, 2004, a few hundred officials (among them gendarmes, police officers, and prosecutors) entered by force into several private properties of different yoga practitioners which were organized like Indian ashrams (places where people live and follow a spiritual practice). During the action, several abuses were made:

Written by Emeric T Rüster

60 years of human rights. The global public celebrates, praises, admonishes and criticizes. We discuss and ennoble, complement and censure. But we ignore the gap which appears in the international law. Between the inviolable human dignity and the Freedom of Religion and Believe grows a vacuum in this area of law that effects million of people worldwide: namely the spirituality.
In Copenhagen 2007 a society was founded, that fights for implementing spiritual human rights in the international law: Soteria International. The big world religions are supported by law partially even privileged in national law. Also the believe of the individual is taken into consideration.

This is a translation from Hebrew of an article written by an Israeli group called MESHANIM. Their web-site is www.meshanim.com. This article is revealing important information about the link between the human-rights organizations and the very organizations which are creating the violations of human rights - the latter funding the first. The article is starting from the perspective of the local human-rights organizations in Israel, but uses this only as an example of the situation word-wide, gradually shifting the focus to the international level and to the key player in human-rights funding - the FORD FOUNDATION - which is also representing the main generators of human rights violations. The importance of this article is that it shows that the paradigm that we have today is not allowing an adequate response to the violations of human-rights, since the human-rights organizations deal mostly with relieving the suffering of the violated, and ignore all together the causes that generated the situation. As this article shows, the ignorance of the root causes for the violation of human-rights, is not by coincidence, but by design.

M.I.S.A. Association has been founded in Romania, as a non-profit association, in January 1990, shortly after the Romanian anti-communist “revolution”. It has a socio-professional, philosophical and educative character, aiming to increase the spiritual level of peoples by spreading the yoga knowledge and practices.

The spiritual mentor of Movement for Spiritual Integration in Absolute is the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru. Endowed with a truthfully encyclopaedic knowledge, having a rich practical experience and genuine pedagogical talent, Gregorian Bivolaru contrived to found what we today name M.I.S.A. Yoga School, the largest yoga school in Europe.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: SPIRITUAL HUMAN RIGHTS 2008

Conclusions

The SPIRITUAL HUMAN RIGHTS 2008 international conference, which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 8th and 9th of December 2008, concluded with a unanimous conviction that the human rights, as they are widely understood today, do not give an adequate protection to spiritual practitioners, and do not cover in a sufficient way the spiritual needs and aspects of the individual’s life and the society. All participants agreed upon the need for a new understanding of the subject of human rights, which will cover also the spiritual aspects of life, and which will be based upon the universally valid spiritual values. The participants of the conference called for the search after, and forming of, such a new vision upon human rights – human rights as seen from a spiritual perspective – the spiritual human rights.

The conference began with a discussion presenting different examples and situations of contemporary violation of the rights of spiritual practitioners. Among the different cases reported by the participants where: the case of the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (M.I.S.A.) in Romania; the case of the Raelian movement in France, Switzerland, Belgium and in Quebec; the abusive monitoring against spiritual movements in Paris; the brutal offence of religious sentiments in the name of so-called “art” in Russia; the legal steps taken against volunteer spiritual work in Germany; and other cases. This discussion was marked by a common agreement of the participants that these cases mark a wider phenomena, and that the existing laws and human rights fail to provide adequate protection for spiritual practitioners, and are not aligned with important spiritual notions.
In a later discussion was presented and discussed a new vision upon human rights: human rights in the light of a spiritual paradigm. In this discussion were discussed arguments concerning the existence of forms of violations of human rights which are not covered by the current understanding of human rights – violations which are done not with the body, but with the mind. Were also discussed the existence and importance of human rights which were not addressed in the field of human rights before -  rights such as the right to know the Truth and to search for it, the rights of future generations and also other rights as well. Where also discussed notions such as free will, freedom of conscience and freedom thought – as seen form this new paradigm. Many participants expressed their opinion that the current vision upon the subject is now insufficient, and that this new paradigm gives a much better understanding of the needs of humanity and of the ways to fulfill those human needs.
The first day of the conference closed with a workshop directed at creating a brain-storming for raising various suggestions for ways of preventing intolerance and infringements of the rights of spiritual practitioners.
The second day began with a discussion upon the results of the brain storming from the first day. Was expressed, by many of the participants, the need to define a set of universal principles, valid and common to all the various religions and authentic spiritual paths – a system of universal morality, or the inherent laws of the universe – as a basis for the development of a new understanding of the human existence, the society, and the universal human rights. During this discussion, the different suggestions mentioned in the first day where divided into 3 categories, in order to be worked upon in groups later on.
The following session served as a workshop in which the participants divided into 3 groups, each group discussed one of the 3 general categories of considerations mentioned the previous day. Each group developed the specific ideas, brought up more specific suggestions and raised certain relevant questions, regarding the subject of the group’s work.
The first group worked on the subject of culture and education. This group focused first on attempting to define certain notions about the fundamental values of humanity, common to all authentic traditions and cultures, which should be at the basis of the culture and education of the society. In the proposed list of fundamental values where, among other values, the following: courage, love, generosity and care for everybody, responsibility for ones own actions and for the community, conscience, promotion of art and beauty, truth, wisdom, the search for truth, perfection and happiness, common sense, creativity, transformation, the coexistence of diversity and unity. Secondly, the group discussed ideas for promoting culture and education which will be based upon the fundamental values. Among the different ideas mentioned were the promotion of these values in discussions with the educational system and the media; holding seminars, lectures, workshops and other events to explain these values; petitions and lobbying for think-tanks.
The second group worked on the subject of the role and responsibilities of the individual, the state, and the religious and spiritual organizations, in protecting the human rights of spiritual practitioners. The discussion was focused on reaching a theoretical and principal understanding of the roles of each of the components in this equation. Among the conclusions of this group discussion are the following – role of the individual: the responsibility to do the spiritual training, and the responsibility to choose the right thing; role of the spiritual and religious organizations: to assume an educational role in society, to promote absolute values; role of the state: the responsibility to provide the proper conditions for spiritual practice, to protect the society from destructive elements, yet, the state does not decide what is good and what is not good (because only those who have directly experienced something can determine it’s nature), the state should provide proper education to the whole society, and this will lead also to educated leaders and politicians which will lead the country in a wise manner (proper educations means education which includes in it also the spiritual values). There was also mentioned the need for inter-dialogue between the state and the spiritual and religious organizations.
The third group discussed possible activities at the social, political and scientific levels, meant to promote the rights of spiritual practitioners and the new understanding of the spiritual human rights. Among the suggestions of this group: to hold a spiritual human rights conference which will focus upon the scientific perspective of the spiritual human rights; to keep workshops which will describe, from a scientific point of view, relevant spiritual notions such as the soul, egrigor (the soul of a nation), free will, resonance, man being created in the image of God; to open research groups which will study different considerations and subjects related to the spiritual human rights, and which will gather scientific knowledge which already exists and restructure it under a new paradigm; lobbying at the political level for the respecting of the human rights of spiritual practitioners, through letters and appeals to members of Parliament; the group also discussed whether the spiritual human rights could be secured within any political structure, and examined possibilities of different structures that could achieve this, such as the idea of a spiritual ministry.
The conference concluded with a discussion in which was presented a Soteria International proposal for a Declaration Draft regarding the spiritual human rights, which was then discussed, commented and worked upon by the participants of the conference. The representative of the Russian Orthodox church presented a Declaration of Human Rights and Dignity which was formulated by the council of the Russian Orthodox church and adopted by the World Russian People’s council, and which presents a different view upon the subject of human rights and spirituality. At the conclusion of the conference, all the participants agreed that the declaration draft, originally suggested by Soteria International, is a positive initiative and that it should be published and serve as the base for further discussion on the subject of the spiritual human rights, and to contribute to the preparations for the next international conference: Spiritual Human Rights 2009. To these conclusions are added as appendix the above mentioned declaration draft by Soteria International (and developed by the participants of the conference), with the purpose of promoting a public discussion on the subject of the Spiritual Human Rights.

In conclusion, the participants of the conference called for further discussion on the subject of the spiritual human rights, and stressed the need to raise these questions to the awareness of widening circles of the society. The participants also called for further work aimed at developing a new spiritual paradigm upon the subject of human rights.

DEFINING THE EMERGING FIELD OF SPIRITUAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Take part of a historic event as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights by taking a visionary look ahead:

“How can spirituality and religious practice be secured freedom and support in contemporary society?“

With this question the Spiritual Human Rights 2008 conference explores how the freedom of thought, conscience and belief can be adapted to meet the needs of a modern landscape of religious diversity and increased interest in spiritual evolution.

A MEETING BET WEEN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS, RESEARCHERS & SPIRITUAL PRACTITIONERS
The conference is an exploratory event where human rights activists, social scientists and NGO s meet with representatives of spiritual communities to define the emerging field of spiritual human rights - embracing the issue from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective.
Contemporary practice and research in the field will be shared in a combination of open space workshops, presentations, panel discussions and networking activities. With a clarified state of affairs and a collective visionary work the Spiritual Human Rights 2008 aim to end in a common declaration directing further work within Human Rights, societal work, media and politics.

TOPICS FOR DEBATE

• The potential clashes between secular society, religious diversity and new interest in spiritual evolution today
• The impact of the politicization of religion on the freedom of spiritual practice
• Safeguarding the freedom of spiritual practice while still protecting society from the dangers of spiritual extremism and deviation
• Intolerance in media and anti-spiritual interest groups in relation to freedom of expression.
• The harmonious integration of spirituality in society, offering the immanent principles to balance inner ecology

PARTICIPATE ALREADY TO DAY
You are invited to give your contribution to Spiritual Human Rights 2008 already today by contributing to our forum discussions.Here you can leave your testimony, observations and suggestions to be considered for the further programming and the final declaration. You can also contribute to or start discussions related to Spiritual Human Rights.

The Spiritual Human Rights 2008 Conference is initiated and hosted by the NGO Soteria International

International Conference // Working Session

Spiritual Human Rights 2011

10th and 11th of December 2011

Copenhagen, Denmark

Working session for communicating the UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES of Spiritual Human Rights

Invitation for scientific researchers, activists and practitioners within the trans-disciplinary field of human rights and spirituality

For the fourth consecutive year Soteria International welcomes participants to a visionary conference on the emerging field of Spiritual Human Rights. This year’s event will be executed as a creative writing workshop with two days of focused effort on communicating the Universal Principles as a unique charter within the Spiritual Human Rights. The program also includes in-depth analysis on how to communicate spirituality in and through modern mass media and practical workshop for spiritual communities on how to relate to media in a constructive way.


ONE WORLD - ONE HUMANITY - ONE SET OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
The intention behind the Universal Principles is to discover and describe the fundamental and immanent ideas common to different cultural and spiritual traditions of the planet. The principles provide sui-generis guidelines for all citizens of the world. Embracing the common truths that unite people across nations and religions the universal principles constitutes a timeless foundation facilitating intercultural dialogue and sincere human transformation. The knowledge and practice of the Universal Principles contribute to the balance and harmony between the human rights of the individual and the needs of society - helping each person and humanity as a collective to address its challenges.


UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES WITH MANIFOLD AREAS OF APPLICATION
The immanent values and mechanisms of the Universal Principles can be observed and applied within a vast field of disciplines and arenas. Accordingly, during a series of conferences and working sessions across Europe in the period 2008-2011 their application has been tested in fields as diverse as peace-making, the natural ecology, mass media and the education system. Drawing upon the conclusions and observations from these sessions combined with new insights and latest research the SHR11 conference aims to raise the work to the next level by describing a complete and inspiring set of Universal Principles, with immanent practical value for the positive transformation of today’s society and its citizens. On this background we invite progressive thinkers and pioneering practitioners to participate in the formation of this unfolding field.


A DYNAMIC MEETING FORMAT
Addressing the scientific and spiritual complexity of formulating Universal Principles the SHR11 conference is designed as a creative writing workshop with a combination of collective writing sessions, round-table dialogues and presentations addressing the challenges of communicating Universal Principles to the general public as well as to the field of specialists within spiritual human rights. The event also includes networking activities as well as inspirational talks and energizers.

REGISTRATION & PRACTICAL INFO
For registering to the conference please send an email with a short personal resume to registration@soteriainternational.org

The conference language is English.
If you have further questions about the event please contact Mr. Arthur Lederer at telephone +45 3064 5548 or email arthur.lederer@soteriainternational.org

We look forward to welcoming you to the Spiritual Human Rights 2011 international conference!
Sincerely,
Soteria International

SPIRITUAL HUMAN RIGHTS 2010: CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Conference on Integral Education – guidelines for educational reforms in the 21st century – 8-9 of October 2010, Berlin

Conference summary and conclusions

On the 8th and 9th of October 2010 the international spiritual think tank SOTERIA INTERNATIONAL gathered in Berlin, Germany, for a series of round-table discussions, dedicated to the topic of Integral Education – guidelines for educational reforms in the 21st century.
The think-tank has decided to dedicate this special meeting to the subject of education, as a result of our work so far – mapping the principles at the basis of the current situation at the individual and global levels, the root causes of the problems, and outlining guiding principles for an alternative paradigm, based upon harmonious principles which will resolve these problems and lead to a reality in which such problems are not possible. This prior work pointed out on several instances that in order to change the situation from its roots, a situation which arises from the individual itself, we must start from the very first years in the forming process of the individual – its early education. Therefore, education proves to be a crucial modality for providing the individual with the guiding principles which will allow him/her to guide his/her life in such a way that he/she will enjoy fulfillment and harmony at all levels. From the individual, this process of harmonizing transformation will expand to include the society itself, bringing about the resolution of the main conflicts and problems which we face today, from their roots. Hence, we have concluded upon expanding our work to include also the field of education as an important component of the needed reform.
This conference is the first step that we make in this direction. The work in the field of education will continue in unison with our work at the level of the universal principles which are at the core of the new paradigm (about these you can read in the background document for the conference – peace for the 21st century) and our work in the other fields.
The conference on Integral Education served as an exploratory study of the field of education – an opportunity for the think-tank to examine this domain from various perspectives and points of view – to begin mapping out the principles which are at the core of the educational system, the problems and challenges of this educational system, the goals that it sets to itself, and raising areas and questions that we should investigate and develop further. This first view on the topic of education, meant for gaining a general acquaintance with this field, is used for outlining directions of work and ongoing study in the future for developing the new paradigm for educational applications. This work will continue over the following year, leading to a conference on October 2011 in Berlin which will dive deeper into this field, suggesting practical modalities and initiatives. Naturally, the work will continue after that.

The round-table sessions included members of the think-tank and external experts, included prepared presentations on various topics followed by open debate. The sessions were marked by a high level of discussion, aiming to deeply understand the situation with its multiple aspects and levels, and extract from it the essence – an elevated perspective upon the situation of education today, its challenges and opportunities.


In the following, we will offer a very short summary of some of the main points mentioned in the conference:

Education is the natural next step in the work of Soteria, allowing us to have the holistic approach of dealing with the source of the problems instead of their effects. By focusing on the harmonious and integrated values, the problems just drop away.
The word ‘Education’ is derived from the Latin ‘educare’ which means ‘to bring out’ – to realize and manifest the potential which already exist in the human being.

In most countries, pre-school education is not obligatory. This raises a question of what is the importance of education at the pre-school age and weather neglect of those years would have severe effects on the development of the child; what are the specific needs of the child at the pre-school age and what are the characteristic transformations in that stage of development; are these needs better met in kindergarten or at home; what is the role of parent involvement at that age, is the absence of parent involvement the source of a lack of morality that manifests later on, as was noticed in some cases; what are the reasons for the lacking involvement of the parents in those cases – is that itself a result of incorrect education?

An overview of the national laws of education, specifically the goals of education set forth by the legislators, and comparing them with the reality, shows that these stated goals are most often not put into practice. This is a result of the fact that the educational system is very big and some of its characteristics make it so that transformations in it take a long time to happen and cannot be determined from the out-side as a result of any formal decision. Education itself is done primarily through the personal example of the teachers and parents, so in order to achieve a transformation it is needed to transform the educators. It is a change which must come from within, from the level of the teacher, and which cannot be guided formally.

Were viewed experiments (namely of Sugata Mitra) that show that when children are given the opportunity, they can learn independently with great efficiency and motivation. Yet, was marked the need of education to include guidance, otherwise, the abilities that the children will develop might be used for disharmonious aims.
Was viewed the need to integrate as an educational goal the knowledge of the Supreme Self (Atman, as it is called in some traditions) – manifested as the consciousness in every human being, the ability to be simply aware and witness all our experiences, the underlining experience of being and our deep identity beyond the personality. Was decided to further work and research in this direction, to determine the importance of this goal in education, the outcome of its omission and the results of integrating it as a goal.
There are, these days, many different approaches to education and new alternatives, offering a multitude of ideas, modalities and research. Yet, there is a difficulty in integrating together the input from these various approaches. There is a need to define a ‘common map’ – a shared system of reference – which can be used for all these various approaches to be able to share their work and research together and benefit from it. The universal principles which we are exploring could offer a natural system of reference such as this.

There were reviewed the history of the evolution of the educational system and its ideals, as a way of analyzing its evolutionary processes. Up until less then two thousand years ago, education was primarily an issue of the spiritual systems and of philosophers. Then, it became a matter of the church and other religious institutions. In the last two centuries, education has become an independent system and has separated itself from any other influence. This new form of education became disciplinary – aiming for expertise in one single field. This is in contrast to the classical education that was including in it many different fields, all seen as one unitary whole.
It is worth noting that the most important scientific accomplishments (not in the field of practical applications but at the level of opening new understandings that make new systems and applications possible), however, are reached when having a cross-disciplinary view or better yet, when adopting a trans-disciplinary approach. The trans-disciplinary approach facilitates a development of a holistic view and understanding of the reality at multiple levels. This raises the importance of the principle of unity of knowledge as a constituent of a correct paradigm on education. This is suggesting the complementary roles of both disciplinary and trans-disciplinary studies.  Trans-disciplinary studies imply the following: transformative praxis, constructive problem-solving, real world engagement and rejecting of formality and formal structures. These elements are largely ignored in the current system of education. The trans-disciplinary approach also gives a practical answer to the need of elevating the consciousness – as it was noticed that when a system grows in its complexity it reaches a threshold beyond which it becomes self-organized and in the same time it continues its development on a higher level of reality – elevating our level of perspective and understanding with it. All these perspectives raise the need of investigating and developing modalities of integrating the trans-disciplinary attitude into the education system.
This age is characterized by a great speed in which the information and knowledge is developing. This means that there is too much information then what can be learn in school and the information becomes quickly obsolete – therefore, the goal of education in this age should not be the acquiring of knowledge, but learning how to learn independently and continuously.

Was reviewed a research upon the importance of language in fulfilling the potential of the learner. According to this research, an atmosphere of prayer the consciousness of the student doesn’t focus upon the linguistic structure, but upon the use of the language. The most efficient way to bring the learner’s potentiality into full play is eliminate the negative suggestions from the mind.

Were reviewed main elements about humanistic education. Was pointed out that many of the aspects of the humanistic education are positive, correct and fit with the perspectives developed so far in this think-tank. The main point of controversy between the humanistic education and the spiritually correct paradigm which is being developed in this think-tank, is that the humanistic education define the human development and fulfillment as the central value of all education, and thus they leave spirituality out of the equation. There was raised a question weather this omission will deny the efficiency in the long run from this system and will determine it to fail in achieve its goals. It was postulated that the universal principles, if adopted and applied in this system, would resolve this problem. In this manner, the universal principles could be a connecting element with the humanistic education, as they are not contradicting their view but rather fit well with it. In the same time, these principles are a connecting link between the mundane and the spiritual and will therefore give the humanistic education the spiritual link that will put them on an ascending path.

Were viewed the relations between science and spirituality. Was pointed out that esoterism combined with mysticism reach what science puts as its goals – an experiment which can be repeated, verified and predicted, while explaining the processes that take place within that experiment – thus, confirming the validity of those natural processes, principles, laws. Even the demand of science to have result that can be quantified and verified objectively is fulfilled, due to the fact that even though this inner experimentation is tainted by inner conditions that are different from person to person, there also exist universal principles that are valid to all people, therefore there will be distinct common elements in the results among all the participants of the experiment. Thus, the results can be passed through a kind of ‘grill test’ to check if the expected common elements will exist in the results of all participants. This perspective offers a bridge to unite spirituality and science within an integral view of education.
On the other hand, it was also noted that science, especially mathematics and quantum mechanics, offer, like religion, understandings that can affect and transform directly the life of people. However, in order for these understandings to indeed have a profound transformative effect on the life of people, those individuals need to have access to the super-mental perspective.
This latter perspective marked the importance of developing the super-mental view through education, and has raised the need to study what would be the effects of integrating this into education and to develop educational modalities for developing the super-mental view. This implies also to develop a scientific approach for describing and explaining the super-mental. It was also pointed out that developing the super-mental requires to also develop the person at the soul-level: developing the higher integration of the person at the level of core values, morality and identity. This is due to the fact that the super-mental and the soul are complementary aspects of the same level of the psychology of the human-being, and developing one without the other would lead to disharmonious results.

Was investigated the role of the teacher in education. Were marked some key points: the teacher should be humble and put the teachings first; should have a state of gratitude towards the teachings; the teacher educates through his own personal example as a model; Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say. The attitude of a teacher: love, know and be yourself, compassion through empathy, detachment, enthusiasm, aspiration, abnegation.  The authority of the teacher arises from having already the experience of what he/she is teaching, and then teaching the essence of it, so that the students have room to find their own way.
A Chinese proverb says:  ’’tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.’’
Were remarked certain elements from the spiritual principle of initiation which would be good to integrate into the role of the teacher in the educational system: the responsibility of giving further to the students what you have received from your teachers; talk from your heart and you will touch the heart of your listener; respect the hierarchy of teaching and contribute to its development – this will awaken the same attitude in your students; respect your teachers and what they taught you – and so will your students; to be a good teacher you have to also be a good student.

Were reviewed the opportunities which exist today for a new paradigm in education. According to data which was reviewed, it was appreciated that we are now on the verge of a flourishing of alternative educational systems, and world-wide there is spreading a recognition of the importance of the inner universe and emotional intelligence in education. These developments offer a great opportunity for the emergence of a new paradigm in education.
Were reviewed challenges which confront the emergence of a new paradigm in education: the multicultural agenda is used to cleanse public schools of spirituality and religion; removal of natural and fulfilling teacher-student interaction due to legal fears; lacking parent trust; reluctances in taking risks leading to limiting the freedom of the children to experiment and experience; the role of the media in discrediting the teachers;
centralization of planning and decision making; teachers, parents and children might be willing to try new approaches, but are often restricted in their choices, due to a higher degree of political control over educational content; institutionalization and beaurocratisation of the schooling system; closing of the small schools and creation of mega-schools.
Were analyzed actors in the educational system (from bottom to top): students, parents, teachers, school management, teacher education, local government and city councils, regional government, labor unions, teachers and students associations, national government, international organizations.
Were analyzed elements in the educational system (from bottom to top): personal experience, best practice, ideas, theories, schools of thought, paradigms, legislation, politics, campaigns (media), stories (press), traditions, history.
According to this analysis, was pointed out that we should focus the attention upon the lower levels of the hierarchy, as the basis from which transformation can arise: the students, parents and teachers. In the same way, to focus upon developing personal experience, best practices, ideas and teacher training.

Was reviewed with special attention the importance of emotional education. Most of the attention in education is given to developing the capacities of memory and logic, while the emotions are neglected almost entirely. This is very grave, considering the fact that the majority of our decisions are determined by our emotions and not by our logic. In addition, the emotions are the basis for the relationships that we will develop in life, our integration in society and the over-all feeling of satisfaction in life. This is showing the paramount importance of the emotional education – which goals should be to become aware of one’s emotions, to understand them, experience them fully, control them and integrate them harmoniously in life.
The emotional development defines in a great measure the richness of the content of the mind and lives of the children. The emotions also have an important influence upon the learning process – each new piece of information being categorized in the memory according to the emotions that are associated to it. The emotional preparation is creating the bridge between the teachings and the real life. The emotions of the teachers mark the background of the beginning of the emotional educational process.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a coherent system of emotional education. This is vital in order for achieving the goals of education, and will bring solutions to many of the problems that humanity is facing today.
The development of a system of emotional education has multiple implications, including: the need of the teachers themselves to become living examples of harmonious and conscious emotional lives, arising from inner transformation and practicing of the appropriate modalities; emotional education implies a process of education that involves emotions as a method – this means to create proper emotional environment and modalities for creating this environment; developing an immense courage for facing and dealing with the emotions; the products of emotional education will be much more immune to manipulation, will have an enhanced ability to chose freely and will therefore be free of all formal structures of power.
As a consequence of this discussion, was pointed out also the need to investigate the effects of the lack of emotional education – thus making clearer the need for the emotional education and making the consequences of the choice more clear.

As part of a debate, were raised suggestions for goals of education (these are not concluded upon but are meant to feed the creative discussion in an on-going work):

• Preparing the human-beings for having a harmonious and fulfilling life of meaning and creation.
• Providing the human-beings with the attitudes and tools for continuous transformation and self improvement which is self sustained.
• Helping the human-beings to develop a life which is pleneraly and consciously present into the physical body, using in a harmonious way all the potential of the body, enjoying its gifts and respecting its needs.
• Helping the human-beings to develop an awareness of the movement of the energy in the structure of the human being. Learning to harmonize and control this flow of the energy.
• Helping the human beings to develop a full and harmonious emotional life: an understanding, awareness and control of the emotions, an ability to express the emotions openly and pleneraly, an empathy and respect to the emotions of the other.
• Helping the human beings to develop a full and harmonious intellectual life: an ability to use and improve the intellect, to contemplate complex or abstract concepts, to use logic and discrimination, to auto-deduce and think independently and critically.
• Helping the human-beings to develop a full and harmonious life of values and ideals: to develop a clear morality which is manifested in the daily life, to manifest a live sensitivity and aspiration towards high ideals of compassion, harmony, the experimentation of the sublime and a vital curiosity in the mysteries of life and the universe.
• Awakening in human-beings a lively and heartfelt interest in the quest of self understanding and self revelation – the search for comprehending ones own profound identity and purpose in life. Provide tools and guidance in this quest.
• Providing human-beings with the tools and skills that they will need to deal successfully with the challenges in life and to use its opportunities to their maximum potential.
• To develop a harmonious sense of identity that is including in it many levels of connectedness: the connection with the family and the group; the connection with the elevated aspects of the nation rising also from the lessons of the history, the treasures of religion, language and culture specific to that nation; the connection with all humanity, rising also from the human history and the treasures of culture all over the world; the connection with all life and all existence, rising also from the profound harmony and mystery of nature.

Were reviewed the universal principles in the context of first ideas about the way in which these principles can be integrated and taught within an educational system:

1. The principle of cause and effect: Learning through personal experience and experimentation; including  feed-back interaction in the teaching modality; Learning a system of causal principles; Giving the opportunities to make choices, helping to become aware of out-comes and causalities; Developing an attitude of pro-active responsibility and awareness of ones own choices, present situations and their causal link.
2. The principle of resonance: To solve the issues out-side you must first solve the inner issues;You will harvest what you saw; If we want self-conscious, self-confident, super intelligent, unconditional loving and harmonious people full of virtues… we need to plant exactly these seeds, in ground that is fed, watered and fertilize with these energies from a gardener with these resonances; teaching the mechanisms of resonance.
3. The principle of unity: A teaching modality that includes also a trans-disciplinary approach; Developing all aspects of the personality so they will interact harmoniously with each other and will create a one unified personality; Develop an ability to love yourself, the others, mankind, ideals etc.; Develop an attitude of empathy, solidarity and good-will.
4. The principle of polarity: Have polarity in teaching - routine and spontaneity, frontal teaching and interactive, theoretical and practical, the continuous contact to a teacher and switching teachers, freedom of self expression and the safety of a full of heart atmosphere and a well-thought curriculum, self-discipline and crystallisation, explanation and silence, positive feed-back and correction; Encourage the children to develop their own opinions.
5. The principle of intention: Integrating the teachings of quantum mechanics and their application to daily life - how we determine the multiple possibilities to become a one reality; Helping the children to become aware of their intentions in their actions; Through the practice of the child – help him learn to see when the flow of actions are aligned with the intentions and thus give the action the desired results, increasing the efficiency – bringing us closer to effortless effort.
6. The principle of freedom: Freedom from our fears, desires, limitations and conditioning; developing courage; integrating emotional education; can only be taught by those ready and skilled trough own understanding and purification; Dissolving the patterns; Learning to control the processes of resonance and attention in one’s own being.
7. The principle of self sacrifice: Teaching, through direct experience and personal example, the value of effort; Giving opportunities and guidance in defining one’s own priorities and becoming aware of the sacrifices that one does for achieving the prioritized objectives; Through personal example, teaching to put the heart into the actions.
8. The principle of awareness: Integrate practices that ground us in the here and now; Integrate practices to become aware of our body, sensations, emotions, states; Teach the principle of cause and effect.
9. The principle of intelligent design: Integrate practices of letting go in a lucid, active and involved manner; learning to recognise complex connections and understand the harmony in macro-systems; Learning universal principles as manifeatations of the universal harmony.

At the closing debate, was kept a discussion about modalities for applying these ideas in practice, by the think-tank. Among others, were expressed these lines of action: sharing the ideas with other persons and groups working in the field of education; creating a system and curriculum and applying them ourselves with students in small scale experiments; creating modalities and a system of training teachers, which will then use the system and modalities to teach students, while they themselves continue with the ongoing process of training so they stay one step ahead of the students; commit these ideas and systems to scientific research and experiments, which will give them integrity and credibility.


In conclusion, we mention some of the main questions and points of interest that were pointed out in this conference for further research and development:

• what is the importance of education at the pre-school age and weather neglect of those years would have severe effects on the development of the child? What are the specific needs of the child at the pre-school age and what are the characteristic transformations in that stage of development? Are these needs better met in kindergarten or at home? What is the role of parent involvement at that age? What is the result of lack of such involvement and what are the reasons for it?
• What could be a common ground for communicating and collaboration between various schools of thought in education? Could the universal principles be used for this purpose, and if so, how?
• Investigate and develop practical modalities of integrating the trans-disciplinary attitude into the education system?
• What would be the effects of integrating education of the physical body? What are the effects of neglecting this education? What should be the goals of such education? Develop practical modalities for this purpose.
• What would be the effects of integrating the education into the energies of the person? What are the effects of neglecting this education? What should be the goals of such education? Develop practical modalities for this purpose.
• What would be the effects of integrating emotional education? What are the effects of neglecting emotional education? Develop practical modalities for integrating emotional education.
• What would be the effects of integrating the development of the super-mental into education? Develop educational modalities for developing the super-mental view. Develop a scientific approach for describing and explaining the super-mental.
• What is the importance of integrating the knowledge of the Supreme Self (Atman, as it is called in some traditions – manifested as the consciousness in every human being) as a goal in education, what is the outcome of its omission and what are the results of integrating it as a goal? Develop practical modalities for this purpose that can be well integrated into an educational system.
• What should be the goals for education?
• How can the universal principles be integrated into an educational paradigm and taught practically?
• Formulate, on the basis of these principles, a coherent and integral paradigm of education.
• Crystallize this paradigm into a practical system of education and develop it into practical modalities.
• Make an experiment of teaching, applying the new ideas and modalities. Register the results and analyze them.

The participants of the conference and the members of the think-tank expressed their commitment for continuing the work on these working questions, with the view of crystallizing and developing the ideas, gaining both a greater depth and complexity of understanding and applying the notions to real life applications through concrete systems and modalities of education. The intermediary goal that was set is to prepare until the conference that will be in Berlin in 2011, a coherent paradigm on education, and a practical system of education which is based upon it.

TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM ABOUT PEACE

One of the main problems that the world is facing these days are the wars and conflicts which are taking place all over our planet. This issue has been receiving much attention in the media and has been the subject of many conferences, discussions, diplomatic efforts and political movements, and yet, it is evident that the world is not getting any closer to the state of peace.

While the Second World War was raging, many believed that that horrendous war would be the last one – the war to end all wars. After the cessation of the war, the international community got together to set up the United Nations - an international body whose stated purpose was to work for the attainment of lasting peace all over the world. Yet, ever since that war ended and the establishment of the UN, the earth has known more wars then at all other times in known history all together. In this period, Conflict has extended all over the planet, manifesting itself in various manners. First it appeared the Cold War – a state of long standing conflict and tension between the western and the eastern blocks, which was causing periodically wars to break out in different parts of the world. When the eastern block collapsed, it appeared a new world conflict manifesting in a similar manner – a conflict between the western world and the Muslim world. At the same time, various conflicts around the world have started to come out, apparently not related to each other, between neighboring countries, different ethnic or religious groups from within a country and between different political factions and movements. The use of guerrilla warfare and terrorism has caused the appearance of a form of conflict, which can lasts for many years on end and which causes mainly civilian victims. Indeed, the notion of ‚‘terrorism‘‘ has brought the conflict to the heart of the western world – through the ideas of ‘'the terrorist threat‘‘ and ‚‘the war on terrorism‘‘.

It is clear that today the world is facing an over-all and generalized state of conflict. It is interesting to note that this aggravating state of conflict has been taking place despite many efforts to make peace. In fact, the last decades have seen more ‚‘peace making efforts‘‘ then ever before – diplomatic peace negotiations, summits, peace envoys, international mediators, UN resolutions and even military ‚‘peace keeping‘‘ forces. Yet, the global state of conflict is only getting worse. Upon a lucid examination we will find that, in fact, the great majority of these ‚‘peace making efforts‘‘ have achieved nothing but more conflict and at best have suppressed the conflict – making it migrate to a close-by area, mutating and manifesting in another way, or breaking out sooner or later with greater intensity.

The situation in the world today is raising our attention to humanity‘s urgent need to find a true solution to the intensifying state of conflict. This state of continuous and aggravated conflict has taken a terrible price off Humanity, which we simply cannot afford for much longer. This is the price of our lack of willingness to learn and to transform.