Namaskar dear Proutists!
We wish to share with you many good news from a 3-day PROUT Seminar in Haiti. It was an incredible utilization of everyone’s carnival time!
From February 23 to 25th, 27 participants fully attended the seminar and introductory training on PROUT, whereas 10 more people came to the last day for a public presentation on PROUT and a debate on “Which is the best socio-economic system — capitalism, communism, PROUT or what?”
PROUTist Spirituality
Namaskar dear Proutists!
We wish to share with you many good news from a 3-day PROUT Seminar in Haiti. It was an incredible utilization of everyone’s carnival time!
From February 23 to 25th, 27 participants fully attended the seminar and introductory training on PROUT, whereas 10 more people came to the last day for a public presentation on PROUT and a debate on “Which is the best socio-economic system — capitalism, communism, PROUT or what?”
PROUTist Spirituality
The seminar was intensive since early morning including individual and collective time for spiritual practices throughout the day. The spiritual base of PROUT was very much emphasized. 4 brothers got spiritual initiation and 3 had their meditation lessons reviewed and upgraded. A full-day seminar on Biopsychology and Yogic Practices has also taken place after the PROUT seminar to train Yoga instructors and pracarakas.
1st day, Introduction to PROUT Fundaments and Public Speaking
In the first morning we had 2 classes on PROUT: Introduction to PROUT and Neo-Humanism and The 5 Fundamental Principles of PROUT. Following these we had a workshop on the theme of Sentiments and Unity, with games and group interactions to realize the binding and liberating qualities of sentiments such as geo-, socio-, human, anti-exploitation, universal and devotional. The participants were then divided into 3 groups and prepared for a TV interview to introduce PROUT. We shared techniques on public speaking to improve our presentation of PROUT through broadcasting media.
2nd day, The Comprehensive view of PROUT
On the second day we touched upon the vision of PROUT for different sectors of society, such as Education, Culture, Economy, Politics, Arts, Sciences and Media. The presentation on the Proutist view of those themes catalyzed an interesting discussion on local cultural identity, samaj, social pranah dharma, true cooperativism, etc. The participants expressed their immense thirst to develop practical PROUT solutions and to present those views to the public and thus realize many Proutist projects in Haiti. We then distributed a questionary to all participants to assess the main problems of Haiti in their view and the priorities for the propagation and application of PROUT. We then discussed which are the main qualities and obstacles in the creation of an ideal and full-fledged leader, the sadvipra. The last activity of the day was to define the activities we need to work on, take individual responsibilities, describe tasks, select the committee members for each working section and finalize the action plan to develop those programs systematically starting from now.
Ground Work, Action Plan and Haitian PROUT Convention on September, 2009
We outlined 30 programs together (see attached file) as our initial agenda for the coming months, culminating with a PROUT Convention in Haiti on 18th to 20th of September. We will not only commemorate the 50 years of PROUT amongst us but also invite Proutists from the whole world to come to Haiti, visit various progressive social initiatives and meet together to inspire each other, develop strategies and reinforce projects which demonstrate the practicality of PROUT.
3rd day, Dramatic Test, Collective Research and Dancing
In the last day of the seminar we had an exciting theatrical debate between three groups with three speakers each: the “status quo”, “the Proutists” and “the people”. Through a role-playing experiment we engaged everyone in a discussion to find out the weaknesses and strengths of all socio-economic systems available. The people had the role to judge which system is the best and the audience would put questions and comments through their representatives. We had the participants exchange seats and roles amongst them to experience the different psychologies personified in each group. Public visitors previously invited came to hear about PROUT for the first time and joined the debate. The general conclusion of the people was that PROUT was definitely the best system to be encouraged, but yet with one weakness: “Where is it established? We can’t see where are the practical models!” In the next phase we went though a brainstorming session on the main social problems of Haiti and the solutions we can work on through a PROUTistic platform. It helped us trace the initial scratch for us to develop and present a comprehensive PROUTistic program for Haiti. When we were closing the seminar with kiirtana and meditation, a few participants spontaneously stood up to dance and sing and all followed to create a strong positive vibration which permeated the whole atmosphere.
The blissful social art of Nandaniika
Lastly but not least, the seminar evenings were decorated by the Nandaniika cultural performances. Nandaniika is the cultural and artistic branch within PROUTist Universal which touches the hearts of all through themes such as anti-exploitation, social consciousness and universal ideology. We had yogic asanas choreography, political jokes, music composed on the spot and freestyle collective performances based on the themes discussed throughout the seminar.
Utilization and Coordinated Cooperation
I must emphasize that this seminar would not be possible if there was not such an urge amongst the Proutists in Haiti to participate. It was all organized in less than a week with a total budget of less than US$ 100! With a few resources and everyone’s cooperation and coordination we could receive almost 30 people for 3 days, including guests and children from the streets who found their way in during our meal time. Some participants brought vegetables, fruits and other local products from their own gardens as an exchange for their inscriptions and we had delicious vegetarian meals a la Haitian cuisine.
The people needs more!
As you can see in the file attached, one of our current programs is to organize many more seminars like this throughout Haiti. As the team of Proutists in Haiti builds cohesion, we wish to connect with Proutists in the whole world to create a synergic movement to fill up the ideological vacuum permeating society today. Your support in all different forms for these seminars to take place despite and because of the economic crisis will be greatly appreciated. As you can see, cooperatively managing a few bucks we can create many smiling faces, hopeful hearts and benevolent minds to unveil the leadership which we need so urgently.
You will be able to follow up on the ongoing developments of PROUT in Haiti through the new blog: www.proutayiti.wordpress.com.
We would like to thank our venue hosts in Haiti for their support and wish all a blissful PROUT Jubilee.
