London Update: July 2019
ServiceSpace
--Trishna Shah
3 minute read
Jun 29, 2019

 



July 2019 - London Gatherings




We've had a river of inspiration flowing through London these past few weeks with Nimo in town with the Jai Jagat family followed by Nipun and Jin-Wei, who just wrapped up an incredibly inspiring 4-day visit! The One-Day Retreat was filled with inspiration as we collectively explored building bridges between hearts and we were delighted to welcome a surprise guest to the Awakin Circle in Harrow alongside Nipun and Jin-Wei -- Rajmohan Gandhi, one of Mahatma Gandhi's grandsons, who happened to be in London and joined the Awakin Circle on Monday evening, which was a blessing and honour. More on all of these gatherings here below!

Awakin Circles: Mill Hill, Shoreditch, Pimlico and Brighton

Each month, you're invited to join Awakin Circles at locations around London, where we meditate for the first hour, engage in a circle of sharing based on a reading, and conclude with a home-cooked vegetarian dinner together.

  • Wednesday, July 3rd at 7:00pm (Mill Hill, North London)
  • Friday, July 12th at 7:00pm (Shoreditch, Central London) ** New Location for this Circle **
  • Wednesday, July 17th at 7:00pm (Pimlico, Central London)
  • Wednesday, July 17th at 7:15pm (Brighton) RSVP link
To RSVP, visit Awakin London and use the drop-down box in the top right corner to select a date/location.

** Note: Harrow is on break in July and many locations will be on break in August, resuming from September :)


Nipun & Jin-Wei's Inspirational Visit: June 22-24

What a joy it was to welcome Nipun back to London this past week together with Jin-Wei, a young Buddhist monk from the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. Their few days in London were action-packed and filled with many gatherings including a retreat, circles with teenagers, a public talk and an Awakin Circle!

Building Bridges One-Day Retreat

Nipun and Jin-Wei's visit served as a catalyst for us to host another One-Day Retreat, where we collectively explored the theme Building Bridges in Times of Disconnection. Around 55 changemakers came together in Pimlico from places near and far including Paris, Vienna, Australia, India, Brighton, Hertfordshire, Chippenham and all over London, to plant seeds of goodness in our hearts and co-create a more kind, compassionate and generous world by being the change we wish to see. This was the first of several gatherings planned for Nipun and Jin-Wei's visit and seeded many beautiful ripples over the course of the day, which you can read all about at this blog post and see photos from the day too! One of the participants who came all the way from Paris, Oliver, shared reflections in a heart-felt letter to himself following the retreat.

Awakin Circle with Nipun and Rajmohan Gandhi

It was grace that brought together 75 changemakers on a beautiful summer evening in Harrow. We circled up in the garden to share collective silence and hear inspiring stories and insights from Nipun, the founder of ServiceSpace, and Rajmohan Gandhi, one of Mahatma Gandhi's grandsons. Rajmohanji and his wife Usha happened to be in London and he joined the circle as a surprise guest, having graciously accepted Nipun's invitation only one day earlier. Nipun opened with a beautiful phrase, which anchored much of his sharing that followed: "We are not what we do. We are who we become by what we do." The dialogue that unfolded between Nipun and Rajmohanji left everyone's hearts full as we heard incredible stories from Gandhi's life along with other Gandhians like Arun Dada and Ishwar Patel. You can learn more about the circle from this blog post and tune into the audio recording of the incredible dialogue that unfolded.


We look forward to keeping the ripples from these inspiring few weeks in motion as we come together for Awakin Circles in coming weeks.

With love and gratitude,

Trishna, Ani, Mita, Vicky, Shamash and Ewa :)












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Posted by Trishna Shah on Jun 29, 2019


1 Past Reflections