100th Anniversary Peace Pole dedicated at Gandhi Ashram in India
Leaders and peace makers from every continents gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad. A week long retreat was organized in January 2018 by Nipun Mehta of Service Space allowing attendants to share, reflect and commune in the spirit of love, compassion and non-violence living.
At the Gandhi Ashram, prayers are offered while sitting on the ground. When the Dalai Lama last visited, he asked his organizers to cancel all his plans and sat there in silence for 4 hours. Similarly, Masami-san told us, with very vivid confidence, “Gandhi’s essence is still alive here, but we must learn how to receive it and then share it.” Soon after, we inaugurated a Peace Pole at the Gandhi Ashram. Yet again, the pole was wrapped in a slow story that’s been brewing for several generations. In what felt like a remarkable marvel of serendipity, with so many monastics and spiritual leaders from so many spaces all gathered in one manifest circle, Masami-san led a collective prayer: May Peace Prevail on Earth.
The magnificent wooden Peace Pole was carved by the Ashram community and planted the central courtyard.