Over 10000 students join inaugural day of the second edition of ‘Rising with Kindness’ Youth Summit at the world’s largest meditation hall

Heartfulness is organising the three-day mega event with The Commonwealth, UNCCD, Govt. of Telangana, AICTE and ICAR

Hyderabad, 20 September 2024:Heartfulness in collaboration with The Commonwealth, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Govt. of Telangana, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) inaugurated ‘Rising with Kindness’, a three-day youth summit at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad on Friday. The annual summit which is aimed at inspiring the youth to inculcate kindness and compassion, is in the second edition this year and attracted over 10,000 students and youth from various streams of study from across the country. Hon’ble Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Labour and Employment Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya ji graced the event as the Chief Guest. Other dignitaries includedDr. Hamdan Al Shaer – Deputy Chairman of Zayed International Foundation for the Environment; Mr. Sushil Ram, Commonwealth Secretariat; Dr. R C Agrawal – Deputy Director General Education ICAR; Mr. Brijesh Dholakia, CEO Hari Krishna Exports; and World Champion Ms. P V Sindhu who was the Guest of Honour and joined the summit remotely. They were joined by Rev. Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness & President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission who also felicitated the honourable dignitaries and unveiled the banner of Rising with Kindness with them. Hon’ble Chief Guest Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya ji in the Divine presence of Rev. Daaji also planted a tree in the premises of Kanha Shanti Vanam. Four books viz, Sahaj Marg, The Heartfulness way, Designing Destiny and a Heartfulness diary were released in Korean language.

In his keynote address, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Labour and Employment Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya ji said, “Meditation gives us stability, sustains us, shows direction for life. To be successful you need only two things 1. Study the lives of the successful people only these people can inspire us to be successful, learn from a successful man and channel your energies towards this. 2. Commitment and dedication. For Viksit Bharat, it is the responsibility of the both the Govt. and the youth in alignment with each other’s expectations. For Make in India projects and to support Startups we have built an ecosystem for research and development and international exposure. The Govt. of India will support the young researchers, startups, and help with loans for young startups. We have made a single-window platform ‘My Bharat’ platform in the last seven months and register with resume and access over 33 lakh Indian companies and international registered companies. This year’s budget is 100% youth-centric budget. The Govt. of India through PLI is making India ‘atma-nirbhar’. We were inspired during Covid lockdowns to make the APIs within in India through incentives for API manufacture within India. Youth must be enthusiastic and motivated and put the knowledge achieved for the development of the country with positivity. Workaholism and social service must be our thought-process. For the vision of the next 25 years for the country’s development, we are also aiming at bringing India to top 5 in the world in sports arena. We have created an ecosystem under theKeerti project for schools to empower students at schools to take up sports with international exposure as well and international participation. We also welcome to hear from our youth on their ideas and thoughts as a responsible Govt. Our aim is to progress holistically. It is the dutifulness of Rev. Daaji that this youth seminar has been organised for the youth.”

World Champion Ms. P V Sindhu who joined virtually said, “Meditation has been transformative for me. Meditation has been essential in maintaining clarity and silence in intense moments. It has helped in building mental strength and resilience, for all of which I thank sincerely Daaji. I appreciate our Hon’ble Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya ji for campaigning and boosting our overall performance in sports.”

Rev. Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness & President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission said in his address, “Rising with Kindness are the three very important words. What would be our lives like had it not been for kindness starting from our mother and family who spoilt us with all their love and kindness. Imagine our role in the lives of others. We can only embellish and make this existence glorious and worth living only if we are kind to each other and kind to oneself. Start by not hurting oneself. The ultimate purpose of life is to be happy as told by Lord Krishna himself. Happiness and consciousness are always related. To be happy, one must be at peace and for that harmony is required which can only be arrived at by remaining contemplative. A contemplative mind comes from and a focussed mind comes only through meditation. Mediation helps our mind go beyond the mind itself to overcome the dimension from which thoughts or inspiration descends. Kindness, love, compassion, courage are byproducts of tapping into the heart. Let’s contemplate on world with kindness, and world without kindness. With Kindness we rise. Without kindness we shatter. Emerge as the healthiest human race full of love and kindness.”

A Fireside chat involved Ms. Pragya Mishra, Lead, Public Policy & Partnership, Open AI; Ms. Neeti Goel Founder Wht Now Initiative – a Youth Forum against Cyber Harassmentwith Dr. Nivedita Shreyans, Director Youth Program Heartfulness Institute.

An interaction with Youth Presidential Award Winners from different states of India took place in the Main Meditation Hall where the winners reflected upon their experiences and acts of kindness.

Breakout sessions for youth were also conducted on ‘Habits of Happiness (Contentment), ‘Youth Leadership with the Commonwealth’, ‘Youth Leadership with the Commonwealth’, ‘Surviving Through Difficult Times’ , ‘Voice Training for Powerful Presence’ ; ‘Listening to My Conscience’; ‘Self-Management: The Power of Small Steps’ ; ‘Overcoming Comparison & Embracing my Unique Self’; ‘Managing Emotions – Anger, Passion, Fear’.

The evening sessions included meditation with Rev. Daaji and Q&A session with him.

The inaugural day of Rising with Kindness closed with a spectacular concert by noted vocalist Ms. Shibani Kashyap.