Advaita Center - Instruction and training of the various thematic workgroups. (All courses are taught in Dutch. This material is translated to give the English language visitor a full overview of the activities of the Advaita Center.)
A few notes by Douwe Tiemersma, August 6, 2008
1. Background
After the core activities of the Advaita Centrum under the heading ‘Advaita Spiritual Path’, the ‘Advaita Study Center’ was quickly there as the promoter of the Advaita Program of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Within the Study Center there are various Project groups. The Project groups Psychotherapy and Management are focused on acquiring a better grasp of a certain social sector and of the difficulties people experience when they allow their non-dualistic insight to express itself.
The Project Youth has a directly practical orientation. It should contribute to relaxation and insight with youth. A practical focus also slowly develops in the Project groups Psychotherapy and Management and just like with the Youth Project, there are ideas to develop training for people who are active in this area as well as for those who would like to offer it. These developments, which should continue in an open manner, require a few points of attention.
2. The organization – the relationship to the Advaita Center
It is about ‘training’ for voor specific groups in the social field (A) and for ‘Instruction’ for those who will give the training (B). We have used the term training for the instruction, but a training is a complete study with much more content.
The Youth Project group organizes courses regularly (A) and has an instruction for youth trainers (B) afterwards, set up and given by Pia, in contact with Douwe. Those who have done this instruction connected with this Center, are in a Federation which falls under the Advaita Center. They receive further instruction and information from the Center but remain working independently.
There will now also be a training developed in the Project Management and in the Project Psychotherapy/HHS. It's obvious that the organization will be set up similar to that of the Youth Project. If there is a reason to deviate it will be discussed. Niels and Paul, as coördinators of the projects, are also coördinatosr of the instruction and training.
Douwe Tiemersma gives guidance to the Advaita Centrum and with that also the projects and instructions. The secretary of the Openness Foundation does the administration of the applications etc.; the treasurer cares for the financial aspects.
The instructions have priority (B). The trainings (A) with ‘Youth’ are controlled by Pia. With the other projects it remains to be seen how they will be organized. The teachers receive a reasonable compensation.
3. The focus groups and end results
Over this the Project Groups will slowly receive more clarity. Focus groups are in the social fields (A), trainers (B); then there are still the instructors of the trainers (C).
Every training and instruction must formulate the goal that corresponds to its own area and which has a specification to the overall theme of practical Non-duality. The aim should be achieved by following a course.
4. The content of the instruction and training
The quality of the training depends to a large extent upon the qualilty of the one who gives the instruction. It's especially about a living insight into non-duality. The instructor should also have realized this sort of insight to a high degree. Especially the people who give lessons in instruction (the instructors, C) should already have been involved for a long time with the Advaita Centrum and have followed the advaita-teaching of Douwe Tiemersma. This applies as much to the satsangs as to the courses such as ‘Non-duality’.
The Project Groups should have developed all the content from the corresponding part of the instruction - and training courses, beginning from the above and from their practical familiarity with their area. This content should correspond directly with the practice and should be immediately reveal that the aim can be achieved.
With the instruction (B), and especially for those who give the lessons (instructors, C) Douwe Tiemersma will give a work shop course in ‘Non-duality in practice’. This course then is not specific, but rather intended for the instructions in the different Project groups.
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