Vishva Niketan International Peace & Meditation Centre

27/09/2025

Sarvodaya Discourse – ‘සර්වෝදය සංකථනය’

2nd Intergenerational and Interdisciplinary Conversation

Human Wants vs Human Needs

A thought-provoking conversation on “Human Wants vs Human Needs” was held with Prof. Asanga Tilakaratne, Emeritus Professor of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Colombo, and Mr. Dhananath Fernando, Founder and CEO of the Advocata Institute. The session was moderated by Prof. Praneeth Abeygunawardena, former Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and Trustee of the A.T. Ariyaratne Charitable Trust.

This was the second intergenerational and interdisciplinary dialogue conducted as part of the initiative to develop a learning module based on Sarvodaya Philosophy. The session saw active participation from District Managers (Ratnapura, Kegalle, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Mullaitivu), Social Programme Coordinators (Galle, Puttalam), and the Field Operations and Executive Director’s Team.

The discussion centered around the challenge of balancing unlimited human wants with limited resources. While market mechanisms can impose some limits through pricing, true balance, the speakers noted, is achieved through self-discipline and wise decision-making.

The role of Sarvodaya in educating communities to prioritize essential needs over unchecked desires was particularly emphasized. The conversation further highlighted the importance of spiritual and moral values in helping individuals recognize the negative consequences of poor choices, and in empowering them to make decisions that are beneficial both to themselves and to their communities.

24/09/2025

Rediscovering the Feeling of Things through the Sense Doors

When we are exposed to stressful or traumatic experiences, the natural tendency of the mind is to disconnect from the body in an attempt to avoid the discomfort and distress held within it. Clinical findings in neuroscience now show that when the mind dissociates in this way, the brain regions responsible for receiving and processing sensory input often referred to as the "sense doors" can begin to shut down or become less active.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions help counter this disconnect by guiding individuals to become more attuned to the present moment and to the sensations experienced through the senses. By bringing mindful awareness to the body, Mindfulness-Based Interventions encourage a reawakening of the sensory pathways and help restore a connection between mind and body.

Rediscovering the Feeling of Things through the Sense Doors was a mindfulness-based intervention designed by Vishva Niketan to help teenage girls of Sarvodaya Suwasetha Ma Sevana reopen their hearts and minds to the information received through their senses. Through gentle, moment-to-moment awareness practices, participants were supported in reconnecting with their embodied experiences, fostering emotional resilience, healing, and deeper self-understanding.

The teenage girls began their journey of befriending the scattered mind through a simple yet profound exercise: mindfully eating a candy. This practice invited them to slow down, pay attention, and reconnect with the present moment one sense at a time.

With their awareness awakened, they stepped into the Peace Garden of Vishva Niketan, a sanctuary of biodiversity and calm. There, they explored the richness of the natural world while remaining fully present to pleasant and unpleasant sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, thoughts, feelings, and emotions reclaiming their innate capacity to feel and experience life through the sense doors.

To give deeper meaning to this sensory exploration, they engaged in a creative and reflective exercise: making a colourful "Sense Mobile." Each element of the mobile represented a different sense or inner experience. It was a joy to witness their creations vibrant, personal, and full of life hanging gently in the Peace Garden, a testament to their growing mindfulness and inner connection.

This exciting day ended with an entertaining movie session.

21/09/2025

🌍✨ World Peace Day Kids Program – "Peace Begins With Me" ✨🌍

On World Peace Day, we gathered with hearts full of hope and hands ready to create, as children came together for a beautiful and meaningful celebration centered around the theme: “Peace Begins With Me.”

🕊 Our afternoon began with lighting the Peace Altar and a gentle introduction to the day’s theme. Through moments of quiet reflection and creative expression, the children explored what a peaceful world could look, feel, and sound like — envisioning harmony, kindness, and shared joy.

📖 A powerful storytelling session, "Gaza’s Story – The Tale of Two Neighbors", helped the children understand peace through empathy, cooperation, and the importance of sharing.

🎨 The little ones then got their hands in clay, building their very own Peace Monuments — tangible symbols of the peace they wish to see in the world.

🧘‍♀ Through guided contemplation and Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta), the children were invited to reflect on how they can become peace — in their thoughts, words, and actions.

🌊💚 We concluded with a thoughtful session on Peace and the Environment, with a special focus on Ocean Protection. The children learned how caring for our oceans — by reducing plastic, protecting marine life, and keeping our waters clean — is a vital part of building a peaceful and sustainable world for all.

This special gathering reminded us all that peace isn’t just an idea — it’s something we can live and practice every day, no matter how small we are.

🕯💛 Because peace truly begins with each one of us. This special program was lovingly facilitated by Ms. Vincika de Saram, Mr. Jagath Gunawardane, Mr. Niven Ganegama, and Dr. Charika Marasinghe — each bringing their unique wisdom and compassion to guide the children through a transformative journey of peace.

18/09/2025

18/09/2025

18/09/2025

The very first 3S Mini Spiritual Retreat for Kids in the year 2020 took place on 4th January at Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre. The children, briefed about Australia suffering from bush fires reflected on the planet in pain as we step into the third decade of the millennium. Radiating loving kindness towards human, animal and the plant world, they prayed for Australia. Then, the children walked through the years of the new decade ahead of them, rethinking of the kind of world that they would dream to live in. Using their creativity with clay, they presented their concept for a new era of loving kindness where human, animal and the plant world live in harmony. This unique, calming activity gave them a positive resolution for the new year, making them think of larger responsibility towards the world they live in. It was followed by the Yoga exercises, which helped them forge a positive mind-body connection, and it was a wonderful evening of tranquillity. Sharing with you a few moments captured in the programme.

18/09/2025

Add a Little Love into the Hearts of People we Love!

On this month of February, dedicated for love, Vishva Niketan’s kids engaged in a reflection on how much their loved ones mean to them. They learned the importance of valuing the presence of our loved ones and expressing the love we have in our hearts. Lighting the special altar of Vishva Niketan, the kiddos made a wish of love for the world facing the crisis of Corona Virus. As the virus is raising its head in different parts of the world, and the global population is increasingly concerned, children were reminded that it is so important for us human beings to spread and share love and show our loved ones how much they mean to us! Reflecting on the most loving and special individual in their lives, each child made a special card for that person as a gesture of love and gratitude. Engaging in metta – loving kindness meditation, children learnt the power of love and kindness in our hearts. The end of the programme was marked with the mindful yoga session which inspired children to foster a healthy mind-body connection and self-love. The children left Vishva Niketan carrying the joy of the card they created which would be posted to reach their special person as a surprise.

17/09/2025

✨ Peace Begins with Me… and with every child.
Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre warmly invites children to a beautiful journey of self-discovery, calm, connection through mindfulness and loving kindness — where peace becomes a way of being. 🕊️

💫 This is a charitable offering by Vishva Niketan, dedicated to nurturing the next generation with values of peace, empathy, and mindfulness. There is no fee — only the intention to grow together in harmony.

👧🧒 Why should your child join?

Because in a world full of noise, inner peace is the superpower they truly need.

Through creative activities, storytelling, games, and reflection, children will learn how to bring peace to themselves — and to the world around them.

🌸 Give your child the gift of peace.
This is more than a program — it’s a foundation for life.

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🌿✨ සන්සුන්භාවය මගෙන් ඇරඹේ.… එය අපේ දරුවන් සමඟද ඇරඹේ..
විශ්ව නිකේතන් ජාත්‍යන්තර සාම මධ්‍යස්ථානය ඔබේ දරුවාට ආතතියෙන් මිදී, ආදරයෙන් සහ කරුණාවෙන් යුත් ජීවිතයකට මඟ දක්වන අනූතන මඟපෙන්වීමකට ආරාධනා කරයි. 🕊️

💫 මෙය විශ්ව නිකේතන්හි පුජනීය පරිත්‍යාගයක් වන අතර, කිසිඳු ගාස්තුවක් අය නොකෙරේ.

සාමය, මනුෂ්‍යත්වය සහ අවබෝධය වැනි වටිනා ගුණයන් දරුවන්ගේ සිත් තුළ වපුරන්න මෙය අපගේ සත්කාරශීලී උත්සාහයකි.

👧🧒 ඔබේ දරුවාට මේ වැඩසටහනෙන් කුමක් ලැබේද?

අද ලෝකයේ ශබ්දය හා ව්‍යාකූලතාව අතරතුර, අභ්‍යන්තර සාමය වඩාත් වැදගත් බලයක් වේ.

සන්සුන්භාවය, ආදරය, සහකාරිත්වය සහ ස්වයං අවබෝධය වර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා කතා කියවීම්, ක්‍රීඩා, සිතුවිලි හුවමාරු සහ තවත් බොහෝ ආකර්ෂණීය ක්‍රියාකාරකම් මෙහි ඇතුළත් වේ.

🌸 ඔබේ දරුවාට සාමයයි කියන ත්‍යාගය ලබාදෙන්න.

මෙය සරල වැඩසටහනක් නොව, ජීවිතයට මූලික වූ අගයන් වර්ධනය කිරීමේ පදනමකි.

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🌿✨ அமைதி என்மேல் தொடங்குகிறது… அது நம் குழந்தைகளுடன் தொடர்கிறது.

Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre அமைதியும், அக்கறையும், மனஅழுத்தமின்றி வாழும் திறனையும் வளர்க்கும் ஒரு அழகான பயணத்திற்கு உங்கள் குழந்தையை அன்புடன் அழைக்கிறது. 🕊️

💫 இது விஷ்வ நிகேதன் வழங்கும் இலவச சாரிதாபூர்வ நிகழ்ச்சியாகும்.
அமைதி, கருணை மற்றும் தன்னறிவு போன்ற வாழ்க்கைமுறை மதிப்புகளை குழந்தைகளிடம் விதைப்பதே எங்களது நோக்கம்.

👧🧒 இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியில் உங்கள் குழந்தைக்கு என்ன கிடைக்கும்?

இன்றைய வேகமான மற்றும் சத்தமுள்ள உலகத்தில், உள்ளார்ந்த அமைதி என்பது உண்மையான சக்தியாகும்.

கதைகள், விளையாட்டுகள், சிந்தனைகள் மற்றும் படைப்பாற்றல் செயல்களுடன், குழந்தைகள் அமைதியை உணர்ந்து, அதை பிறருடன் பகிர்வதை கற்றுக்கொள்வார்கள்.

🌸 உங்கள் குழந்தைக்கு அமைதி என்ற பரிசை வழங்குங்கள்.

இது ஒரு நிகழ்ச்சி மட்டும் அல்ல — வாழ்க்கையின் அடித்தளமாக அமையும் ஒரு அனுபவம்.

16/09/2025

It was an honour to welcome His Excellency Dr. Purna Bahadur Nepali, the Nepalese Ambassador and Madam Sanju Nepali to Vishva Niketan. His Excellency had learned about Sarvodaya 25 years ago and he was delighted to visit Vishva Niketan and the Sarvodaya Campus for the first time.

13/09/2025

A group of 4th year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, General Sir John Kotalawala Defence University visited Vishva Niketan. The visit was organised by the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning (SIHL) with the objective of helping the medical students to understand the issues faced by the community, to appraise services available for the community and to participate in health promotion activities with the community. During their brief stay at Vishva Niketan they were exposed to two exercises of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) programme.

11/09/2025

Feeling of Things Mindfully through Sense Doors…..

This collaborative artwork was created by 15 teenage girls of Sarvodaya Suwasetha Ma Sevana as a culmination of a full-day mini workshop retreat organised by Vishva Niketan.