‘Goodness and Happiness’ Retreat at Peace Village, New York

A weekend retreat on ‘Goodness and Happiness’ was held at Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center in New York, USA. The Global Initiative 7 Billion Acts of Goodness was presented as a Blueprint for Building a World of Happiness, and each act of goodness being a building block.

Dr. Kala Iyengar, Director of  Peace Village greeted the participants and shared how the courage of one person can start a chain reaction of Goodness and Happiness. She referred to Brahma Baba, the founder of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, how he took a step of courage to change his vision of a better world (heaven on earth), into this worldwide movement spanning more than 140 countries. BK Sister Kala mentioned that the biggest act of goodness is to recognize the self as a spiritual being, and tapping into the innate qualities of goodness and happiness in the self.

BK Ed Wondolowski, Finance Director of Peace Village, and Director of 7 Billion Acts of Goodness Inc., gave a workshop on ‘Goodness Towards the Self’. His focus was to start an act of goodness towards the self.  Being nice and kind to the self, and recognizing the inner potential within the self, will awaken our inner eight powers such as tolerance, discernment, decision making, cooperation, etc. Integrating these inner powers in every action we perform will turn an ordinary action into an act of goodness and will expand our horizon. Each act of goodness will bring inner joy in the self and we will create an environment of goodness and happiness.

BK Ram Prakash, a professional civil engineer, and International Director of 7 Billion Acts of Goodness Inc. shared the concept of Building a World of Happiness through Small Acts of Goodness. He shared his thoughts on turning our imagination of a world of happiness into a practical reality. His emphasis was on understanding and applying the Science of Spirituality and turning destructive phenomenon of physical energy into constructive force of spiritual energy as below:

• Explosion of Goodness and  Happiness – By starting a chain reaction of goodness and happiness
• Volcanic Eruption of Goodness and Happiness – through building an inner force of goodness and happiness
• Tsunami of Goodness and Happiness – By starting and spreading waves of Goodness and Happiness

The retreat design team included: BK Saurabh, BK Sonia, BK Kiran, BK Anita, BK Anupama, and BK Ram Prakash.

The retreat was attended by engineers, doctors, dentists, psychiatrics, pharmacists and social workers. The discussions, workshops, skits, and activities were based on:

• Awakening our DNA of Goodness and Happiness
• Chain reaction of Goodness and Happiness
• Goodness towards the self
• Stories and experiences of Goodness and Happiness
• Sustaining Goodness and Happiness
• Taking a challenge of Building a World of Happiness (Heaven on Earth)