Upaaya - a centre for contemplative practice, study and research

Mandate

Encouraging a contemplative and reflective disposition, and being mindful of ethical and moral thought and behaviour is at the core of tasks, endeavours and relationships.

Vision:

To be part of an integral universal meme with an inclusiveness that appreciates the goodness in all. It strives to create and sustain a forum of outreach, focusing on both formal and informal meditative, mindfulness retreat and contemplative lifestyle, structured neuro cognitive processes and academic curriculum up to the post-graduate level. Also to collaborate closely with the scientific community to further enable and to facilitate study, research and practice for the purpose of making ancient contemplative traditions practices available easily.

Scaffolding Upaaya:

Focus and mindfulness along with a contemplative and reflective mind lie at the root of sustainable and robust practices. Upaaya’s philosophy is driven by examining cognitive tools and contemplative mindfulness processes.

The essential process requires the acceptance of duties and responsibilities (dharma), cognitive and behavioural consonance in fulfilling these duties and responsibilities in an ethical manner. This also includes healing, renewal and rejuvenation of our minds and bodies.

Ethical and moral conduct however is the central scaffolding of this Research Centre. Mindfulness, Focus, Contemplation, Reflection and Relaxation are important supports.

Research Agenda:

Upaaya has an interactive research agenda. Students are provided support in their research in areas such as academically based spiritual explorations based on both ancient Indian philosophies as well as their alignments with western psychological models.

Upaaya also provides frameworks and tools to students in their personal and scholastic research in areas of Wellness, Healing, and Self Leadership.

One of the primary purpose is to see communicated, supported and enacted, a path to realization of the highest potential of our students consciousness. The secondary purpose is to share the benefits that arise out of this path with our students and society, including collaboration with scientific inquiry.

Vision and Mission To achieve the above, Upaaya – Centre for Contemplative Practice and Research – offers a selection of programs in the practice, study and research of contemplation and meditation relevant to and easily practiced in contemporary and contextualized spaces. These programs have been offered in:

1. General Studies

2. Holistic Education

3. Customized students research projects

CURRENT PROJECT LEAD:
Dr Dipankar Khanna

Students present their project prototypes to Metro engineers to understand the feasibility and process of taking their projects forward. Picture Credits: Srishti Institute, Ajith Samuel

Papers / Conference Presentations / Workshops under aegis of Upaaya:

1. Crafting Authentic Creativity published, NID-NIMHANS International Conference on Creativity and Cognition in Art and Design in.

2. “Vajranrithyam – Dance as a Movement of Meditation in Space and Time”, IIAS,

3. Shimla, National seminar of Indian Music and Dance: The Absence of Critical Analysis and Attention. (2017)

4. The Inner Path Festival of Buddhist Film, Art and Philosophy 2017

5. Quantum Mechanics and Emptiness in Buddhism [Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok].2018 – Observer

6. The Phenomenon of Consciousness. [Monfort College, Bangalore] 2018

7. “Vajranrithyam – As a Meditative Movement” – World Vajrayana summit,Thimpu. (2018)

8. “Vajranŕtyam: a Phenomenological Look at the Cham or Lama Dance as a Meditative Experiencre” Journal of Dharma Studies. Springer (2019).

9. Artha, A Cultural Fest – Demystifying the Tantra – A Buddhist Perspective 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS1JHr1GsEc

10. Storytelling as an imperative to build morals, ethics, character, and a capacity for kindness in Children. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/jxdpa/

11. A sustainable Philosophy for Teaching Morals and Ethics to Build Character, Pro-Social Skills and Well Being in Children. Journal of Indian Council for Philosophical Research, Springer Nature (2023).

Fabric Installation with natural dyes depicting the layers of a lake at Rajajinagar Station. Picture Credits: Srishti Institute

Participatory Mapping that gathers data on women safety and last mile connectivity at Vijaynagar Station. Picture Credits: Srishti Institute

Commuters engage with alternate worlds created by the Toybrid group at Rajajinagar Metro Station. Picture Credits: Srishti Institute

Other Programs conducted by us under Upaaya and The Garden of Samadhi Mind Centre in the past:

1. A three-day retreat by Glen Svensson “Cultivating Emotional Balance”.

2. A three-day workshop by Dr. Alan Wallace “The Power of the Focussed Mind: Application of India’s Legacy of Samadhi in the Modern World”. 3. Upaaya@Srishti co-hosted the 6th “Integrating Scientific Approaches to Explore the Mind” along with NIMHANS and The Garden of Samadhi Mind Centre.

4. On invitation from The Garden of Samadhi Mind Centre and Srishti, His Holiness The Dalai Lama address the Symposium. Mr Richard Gere introduced The Garden of Samadhi Mind Centre.

5. Dr. Eve Ekman conducted “Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) workshop the Srishti’s wellness team and other psychologists including Nimhans at Christ University. This workshop was also conducted in Delhi at IHC.

6. We have hosted at Srishti campus talks by Venerable Ani Thubten Chodron on “Dealing with Situations When Things Fall Apart.

7. There is a robust on-going Meditation Program based on Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s Joy of Living Level I that is offered as a NAC to students and faculty.

Community Paint Day at Cubbon Park Metro Station – painting water stories of Bangalore using mud paints created from recharge wells dug in Cubbon Park. Picture Credits: Srishti Institute, Ajith Samuel

Further Opportunities

Collaborations:

Art in Transit has built collaborations with many partners locally and internationally. Some of our longstanding partnerships have been with the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and San Jose Tech Museum and with the Bangalore San Francisco Sister City Project. Our current local partners are BIOME, Native Place, One Shanthi Road, Kaavya Sanje, Hasirudala and more.

Courses and Workshops

Art in transit collaborate with members of the city and Srishti faculty to continually facilitate courses and workshops at the Metro Stations. One of the critical philosophies of the project is to move Bangalore to be a learning city. We work intentionally on a Public Pedagogy model and partner and encourage a host of learning experiences at the Metro Stations.

This year students of the Living Library and Laboratories Course have been working at Lalbagh Metro Station developing ecologically guided projects at the station. Students of the Stories as Explanation and Picturing Processes & Phenomena work at the Cubbon Park Metro Station to develop a mud mural telling water stories of Bangalore. Art in Transit has also collaborated with Native Place to facilitate the Memory Maps workshop series, open to a larger public.

Apprentice opportunities for Post Graduate Diploma Students

Art in Transit uses art, design and technology to stimulate dialogue between people and the urban spaces that they inhabit. As a place-based project, some of the themes that have been explored are around migration, ecology, women’s safety, technology and the city. Faculty and students have studied, researched and executed temporary and permanent public art and design projects at Metro Stations across the city. The project has facilitated public art festivals, multi-age & multi-lingual creative workshops (open to public participation) and a variety of other events, collaborations and interventions which are open and accessible for all to participate at Metro stations in Bangalore. The project has also developed knowledge – tools and methods for place-based design research. Students, faculty and artists have worked in partnership with Metro staff and engineers to execute projects at the stations that take into consideration, aesthetics, local information, and identity, safety, and commuter flow. Art in Transit is also a partner with the Metro Neighborhood Initiative that strives to build a sense of belonging between stations and their neighbourhoods. Given all these opportunities for learning from and in the public sphere, Art in Transit invites applications for an apprentice program with us. As an apprentice you will be supported to develop site specific, place-based research and projects at one of the many stations that Art in Transit works at.