Namaskar.
I am from Suva Sector, and have been a margii since 1973. I was fortunate to see Baba many times over the decade of the 1980’s, right up to His passing in 1990. I have been involved in Ananda Marga in many ways over the years, including the establishment of a Master Unit (Ananda Rainjana) with my first wife, Bhavanii.
Nowadays I teach Gestalt therapy around the world, and especially in China. If you are interested in my work you can see my webpage ~ www.gti.today, or my blog ~ www.stevevinaygestalt.blogspot.com.
I am seeking input into the development of a new framework for Ananda Marga Acarya training. The role I play is as a suporter and facilitator, helping this process evolve towards concrete outcomes.
My motivation is several fold. Better trained acaryas will help assist the backbone of a more balanced, dynamic and effective organisation. Being more equipped to deal with their role will increase their service capacity, the quality of their work and personal lives, and the experience of the margiis. Knowledge of essential aspects of professional work will increase the standard of output, and strengthen acaryas in their role performance. More developed understanding of self and communication will lead to better relations, and therefore a less unproductively conflictual culture in AM. Acaryas make common errors which appear to have to do with lack of awareness and knowledge. Education is one of the best ways to remedy this. AM needs to be able to operate successfully in the 21st century, and to do so Acaryas need to be equipped with the skills needed to stay up to date with contemporary values and demands.
The current TC model is somewhat based on a kind of historical Indian gurukul model which involved spiritual study with a teacher, and a great deal of memorisation of scripture. This obviously has some merit, but also has limitations in terms of delivering a contemporary high quality eduational process. The culture of TC’s is loosely based on a spontaneous evolution over the last 50 years; I suggest it is time to formalise this and codify it into a system that responds adequately to time, place and person.
Quality management involves feedback cycles – what is an organisation trying to achieve, and is it getting there? These processes of feedback and correction have yet to be well organised in AM in an effective way. By restructuring acarya training, some of the feedback and accumulated experience of what does and doesn't work can be incorporated into the education of acaryas, so they do not have to constantly reinvent the wheel. That is after all, the function of education.
.
I am happy to chat with anyone about how this could happen. I don't have a particular position or direct power in Ananda Marga (or any sub or splinter groups)' my role is to provoke discussion, introduce ideas, and be part of the change I want to see. If you want to contact me about this, email: vinay@sat.org.au