Manthan, Manthan Camps, Manthan Centers

Manthan Centers

Our Manthan Centers, are also called Kutumbakam (originating from the phrase “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” , to denote a place where we all connect as a Kutumb, or family.

The Manthan centers cover many facets of a better world –local and sustainable production and living, wellbeing, traditional knowledge systems, ecology.

Currently, there are two Manthan Centers, which have the full range of our programs:

  • Manthan Gurukul in Aranyaani Forests, Sohagpur, MP
  • Sahjivan in Solan, Himachal Pradesh

The details of above centers can be seen on their links.

Apart from these, the following centers are there for Manthan meetings, Karm path, and Local production work , and are growing for full fledged programs:
– Dapoli , Konkan
– Kanpur, UP
– Chandigarh, Punjab
– Pauri, Uttarakhand

Centers have capacity to house 40 persons, and conduct meetings or camps, and for volunteers stay. And with mud and local resource made structures, we can easily increase the capacity.

The centers have the following programs or objectives:

1. Sustainable Production Activities from Local Flora
a. Making products from exotic flora
b. Herbal growing
c. Vaidya or traditional wellness
d. Forest growing
e. Eco friendly structures and their courses

2. Manthan Programs:
a. Manthans
b. Bharat camps, Enlighten camps
c. Gurukul Living : Simple gurukul living in forests with involvement in productive activities/ seasonal projects
d. Works affiliated to Karma path programs

Aranyaani Forests Manthan Gurukul

Manthan Gurukul is located in Aranyaani Forests, in Central India, near Bhopal.

Aranyaani Forests, based on most pristine Vedic philosophy as follows:

अरण्यान्यरण्यान्यसौ या परेव नश्यसि |
कथाग्रामं न पर्छसि न तवा भीरिव विन्दती.अ.अ.अन ||

वर्षारवाय वदते यदुपावति चिच्चिकः |
आघाटिभिरिवधावयन्नरण्यानिर्महीयते ||

उत गाव इवादन्त्युत वेश्मेव दर्श्यते |
उतो अरण्यानिःसायं शकटीरिव सर्जति ||

गामङगैष आ हवयति दार्वङगैषो अपावधीत |
वसन्नरण्यान्यां सायमक्रुक्षदिति मन्यते ||

न वा अरण्यानिर्हन्त्यन्यश्चेन नाभिगछति |
सवादोःफलस्य जग्ध्वाय यथाकामं नि पद्यते ||

आञ्जनगन्धिं सुरभिं बह्वन्नामक्र्षीवलाम |
पराहम्म्र्गाणां मातरमरण्यानिमशंसिषम ||

Meaning:
1. GODDESS of wild and forest who seemest to vanish from the sight. How is it that thou seekest not the village? Art thou not afraid?

2 What time the grasshopper replies and swells the shrill cicala’s voice, Seeming to sound with tinkling bells, the Lady of the Wood exults.

3 And, yonder, cattle seem to graze, what seems a dwelling-place appears: Or else at eve the Lady of the Forest seems to free the wains.

4 Here one is calling to his cow, another there hath felled a tree:
At eve the dweller in the wood fancies that somebody hath screamed.

5 The Goddess never slays, unless some murderous enemy approach. Man eats of savoury fruit and then takes, even as he wills, his rest.

6 Now have I praised the Forest Queen, sweet-scented, redolent of balm, The Mother of all sylvan things, who tills not but hath stores of food.

To that the pursuit in Aranyaani forests have remained true. The  shakti that has blessed the effort and transformed the place is only to be felt.

This has been the place of a fantastic journey of Sandeep- natural , karmic and spiritual. There are many books and articles, covering Aranyaani and Sandeep.

Manthan here has been a major guiding light and path to consciousness experience for a lot of folks.

We conduct Manthan Camps here in Aranyaani Forest from October to April. And monsoon Camps in August.

Sahjivan in Solan, Himachal Pradesh
(Manthan Center or Kutumbakam)

Nestled in Shivalik Ranges in lower Himalayan zone, Sahjivan is a beautiful, completely naturally made, Kutmbakam center. 

Gopal ji’s devotion to nature and reliance on consciousness, is seen at work in this place.  

Philosophy: Nature has abundance of resources for everyone’s need. Sustainability of civilizations and cultures depends on an economy supported by a thriving ecology. Everything on earth is an extension of the five elements of which the earth is composed of. By contaminating the Earth, humans are contaminating their own lives.

We conduct Manthan camps here in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, from May to July. Apart from this , the affiliated activities and stays go on all year. 

Manthan, Manthan Centers, Manthan Groups

Manthan Family (Kutumb)

Over years, through deep discussions in Manthans and actions, we have come together as a large Kutumb, and extended family that grows in understanding, and is here to nurture our journeys.


We have folks with deep energies following their paths who are there to lead and guide, our kutumb of young and old, from all walks of life, beyond any segregation of any kind.

The pictures over years, speak more than any words can do.

We have organized ourselves for the purpose of coordination of different Manthan programs, in different groups as follows:

GROUPS TYPE ‘A’ : Executive Groups

1. Planning Discussion Group
– Purpose: For discussion of steps, ideas between actively and centrally working folks
– For Those who are actively working on a task/ project/center associated with Manthan ; key member from all other groups

2. Core Operating Group
– Purpose: – For team interaction – those coordinating Manthans, Online Topical discussions, different groups, financial planning, website management, etc (this Group type may have more group branches as we progress e.g. Website work, Online Meeting Coordination, Media , etc). And more.

GROUPS TYPE ‘B’: Functional groups
1. Local Sustainable Production and Appropriate technology groups
2. Cow Rehabilitation team
3. Wellness and Traditional Healthcare team
…and more

GROUPS TYPE ‘C’: Regional Interaction groups
1. Pune
2. Kanpur, UP
3. Uttaranchal
4. Bhopal
5. Himachal
6. Dapoli (Konkan)
7. Wardha
8. Nagpur
..and more
—–

GROUPS TYPE ‘D’: Manthan Kutumbakam Center groups (for those working in/ for that center)
1. Aranyaani forests,  Sohagpur
2. Sahjivan Solan
3. Dapoli
4. Pauri
..and more

GROUP TYPE E : Manthan Updates General Info group(s),
Purpose : For “relevant” information sharing with everyone

GROUP TYPE F : Manthan Event groups (to be opened for Event and then closed with new participants allocated to above groups.

Manthan, Manthan Camps, Manthan Centers, Manthan Groups, Manthan Projects

Join Manthan Family (Kutumb)

Thanks for your interest in joining the Manthan Family (Kutumb).

If you are already familiar with a  person who is part of Manthan effort, please connect to her/him. You shall will be added to the group as mutually convenient.

Once you attend a Manthan camp, we will have deep conversations, and our family will naturally get extended. Thanks.

To attend a Manthan camp, please connect with Narendra or Priyanka by WhatsApp on the numbers below. 

  • Narendra – 7440756579
  • Priyanka – 8805717509

Please share your current location. Please also share ‘Your journey so far’ in a brief way so that we can get a better understanding of your background and areas of interest. Thanks.

Manthan, Manthan Camps

How to Attend a Manthan Camp?

Thanks for your interest in attending a Manthan Camp.

If you want to attend a Manthan camp, please connect with Narendra or Priyanka by WhatsApp on the numbers below. 

  • Narendra – 7440756579
  • Priyanka – 8805717509

Please share your current location. Please also share ‘Your journey so far’ in a brief way so that we can get a better understanding of your background and areas of interest. Thanks.

Manthan, Manthan Camps

Bharat – Discovering the Magic

The following three images have valuable information on Bharat.

Beyond the narratives of geography, history, modern economy, structures, events and rituals, and habits, lies the magic of Bharat, which also means India for many.

Bharat is a flowing stream of Consciousness, Nature, Culture, Civilization and Knowledge, intertwined in a manner that one cannot be understood without the other.

Countless small habits, rituals, beliefs have come into practice out of their deep meanings.

The practices like bathing in rivers on Kumbh, Bhikshavritti, revering rivers, cows, etc., have come from awakening that understood shiva-shakti.

In Bharat Camps, we elaborately discuss the Bharat and its meaning, with many facets in the figure here. To an uninitiated seeker, this is a view that has come from lifetime of journey of discovery, and which has wisdom passed on from the continuous stream of gurus and custodians through ages.

In Manthan Camps, we see Bharat through inner quest, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and consciousness at work.

Manthan Camps

Living with Consciousness

One’s greatest and only quest, whether pursued through karmic actions or meditations, is always for connecting to the consciousness. Despite all illusions of human constructs and logics of a physical world, we know it’s there, with all its beauty, benevolence and power.  

Most cherished moments in life are those when consciousness imprints its presence , when a most needed person at a time shows up without any thread connecting us, when guru appears even in a non human form when the quest is deep , when mind heals and then it heals the body, or when a wild strange animal suddenly understand your language , or when a plant responds to a word. 

The folks at Manthan Gurukul have had deep experiences and now see the Advait wisdom of connected consciousness. A conscious person glows with inner happiness, and approaches the illusionary and material world with the wisdom of its limits.

We do not practice or impart any eight steps or any rituals or styles of meditation. We know that consciousness is always there, and just needs a simple, flowing mind, and with gratitude, and one starts awakening to all the consciousness imprints around. 

Our sessions are about releasing the bottlenecks, cobwebs and freeing the mind, with deep conversations, laughter, and connecting. The subjects are just a medium to initiate one on this journey. 

Manthan, Manthan Camps, Manthan Centers, Manthan Groups, Manthan Projects

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Oneness)

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam means that “The Entire World is One Family”.

In other words, it means that the entire world itself is our family , is a profound and simple, on how to envisage life, society, world. 

On an illusionary and material plane, where we now a day’s only find dualistic and exploitative systems , ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ shows us what kind of markets, societies, practicing values we should have for a happy planet.

Once we start seeing the guidance on illusionary and material plane, the power starts influencing our minds. The ability to feel consciousness at work, see the cultural practices emerging from it, and finding solution to seemingly complex worldly problems becomes plain and easy. 

Our centers , also known as ‘Kutumbakam’ , are places where we build this family – with each other, with nature and with humanity. 

In Manthan camps or programs – the beauty is this family.  Then beyond all differences, minds’ conditioning, the churn starts. 

 

Manthan, Manthan Camps, Manthan Projects

The Quest with Manthans

” I felt a gap that needs understanding and coverage, else a lot of folks you have interviewed in India would spend many years or even a lifetime in search for India within. And probably we need it faster for a better world.

The view how consciousness, philosophy, nature, culture are interwoven by a web of expressions, and why humans go beyond logic or intuitions while guiding themselves, is easy to understand but the existing prejudices, especially the ingrained dualism and material bias hinders that view. To add to it, we have lost a lot of material shaktipeeths to illusions and destruction, but the non material ones stand.

Often over years, as one searches, intuitively that view is being built in parts, but that one step to a different plane, to understand it holistically is still the quest. I found that it is so near and simple, yet gets obfuscated by the complexity of thoughts, and different institutions being the custodian of the complexity.  That is the gap.” 

Please see the following posts to understand our Quest with Manthan Camps, in different parts of India, with people from wide range of backgrounds.

Following are a few photos from our recent Manthan Camps.

Learn more about Manthan Camps here: https://manthangurukul.org/manthan-camps/

Manthan, Manthan Camps, Manthan Projects

The Present World and Its Guiding Forces

As a lot of humans are realizing, we have gone too far in destroying nature, this planet , and societies. Even families have not been spared. And all this has been the direction of human mind.

Armed with industrial power, and ability to create more and more of illusionary world and artificial constructs, we at some point lost looking at consciousness and a connected universe as guide.

The mind–body duality, though neither possible nor natural, became a tool to direct human minds into getting occupied by illusions.

How various systems and structures have evolved to reach this point is often a subject in Manthan discussions. Understanding this is important for many folks as they are part of the existing systems and jobs, and are able to perceive that time for invoking deeper insights have come.

Late nights, sitting around wood fire, we have looked deeper into Socrates to modern day thinkers, and how a cumulative picture has evolved.

 

Manthan, Manthan Camps

Rewilding the Conscious Forest

Just like the beauty and diversity of nature, the conscious forest has expressions that amaze in their limitlessness. When a person starts awakening to it, one realizes that beyond constraints of time, physicality, these expressions are there within us and everywhere.

Over decades, in our paths, we have felt and some have practiced so many expressions from mind telepathy, to unhindered communication with animals, trees, to senses on galactic events like Maha Shiv ratri, healings, to experiences of many gurus.

It became obvious that when we lose Bharat (India) in our mind, we just don’t close the senses to the culture and physical aspects, but we also close the connect to consciousness. Many skills, connect to lands, rivers, mountains, had hidden expressions of this connect.

It is important now for humanity to wake up to this connect.

Just like a forest growing up brings a lot of other birds and plants, when we start connecting to consciousness, the entire forest of different colors and energies keeps showing up.

The world needs this re-wilding of consciousness forest. Manthan camps, the Yatras and Living in centers is a medium to this re-wilding.

Manthan Gurukul.org