Omega Institute for Holistic Studies

Last updated
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
Formation1977
Headquarters Rhinebeck, New York
Location
Coordinates 41°53′08″N73°49′14″W / 41.8856°N 73.8205°W / 41.8856; -73.8205
Website www.eomega.org
Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) at Rhinebeck, New York. Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) at Rhinebeck, New York.jpg
Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) at Rhinebeck, New York.
Ram Dass Library, at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York. Ram Dass Library, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.jpg
Ram Dass Library, at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.
Sanctuary (meditation hall) at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York. Sanctuary at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.jpg
Sanctuary (meditation hall) at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.
Pema Chodron at the Omega Institute, May 2007. Pema chodron 2007.jpg
Pema Chodron at the Omega Institute, May 2007.

Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecumenical spirituality, today it offers classes to over 25,000 people a year, at the 190-acre (0.77 km2) campus. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The institute's stated mission is to "provide hope and healing for individuals and society through innovative educational experiences that awaken the best in the human spirit". Omega’s workshops, conferences, and retreats aim to create dialogues on the integration of modern medicine and natural healing; connect science, spirituality, and creativity; and build the groundwork for new traditions and lifestyles. [5] [6] [7]

History

In 1977, co-founders Stephan Rechtschaffen, author of Timeshifting, and Elizabeth Lesser, author of The Seeker’s Guide and New York Times best-selling Broken Open, were inspired to create the Omega Institute by scholar and Eastern meditation teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. [8] [9] [10] [11] The name “Omega” came from the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a 20th-century French philosopher and Jesuit priest who used the term “Omega Point” to describe the peak of unity and integration toward which all life is evolving. First established while Lesser and Rechtschaffen were staying at New Lebanon Shaker Village, the center found a new home in 1980, moving to land that once housed the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute's Camp Boiberick, in the Hudson River Valley. [1]

Omega Institute began its programming with several workshops and now holds more than 300 workshops in Rhinebeck, New York City, Costa Rica, and California. [12]

Rhinebeck campus

In 1982, Omega expanded from rented facilities in New York and Vermont to its current location on the former grounds of Camp Boiberik, a Yiddish camp, in Rhinebeck, New York. [13] There are more than 100 buildings on the 250-acre (1.0 km2) campus, including a dining hall, café, and bookstore. Its buildings also include the Ram Dass Library, named for author Ram Dass who "has been a trusted guide to Omega". In honor of Dass' life’s work, the organization commissioned the library, which is designed in an eight-petal lotus blossom shape to represent Ram Dass’ service to public health, advancing social justice, and supporting spiritual development throughout the world. [9] [12]

The campus also includes the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), which is an education center powered by a 48.5 kW solar electric system and has a water reclamation facility. [14] [15]

The OCSL was one of the first two buildings in the world to be certified as "living" by the International Living Building Institute. The Omega Center for Sustainable Living is a wastewater filtration facility that is designed to use treated water for garden irrigation and in a greywater recovery system. Omega will use the system and the building as a teaching tool in their educational program designed around the ecological impact of their campus.

Programs and faculty

Omega’s educational programs include workshops, professional training, retreats, and conferences. Workshops are organized into six categories: body, mind, and spirit; health and healing; creative expression; relationships and family; leadership and work; and sustainable living.

New York City events have included speakers such as Al Gore, Christopher Reeve, and Eckhart Tolle. Annually, Omega hosts a yoga service conference, and the Omega Women’s Leadership Center offers a conference that includes speakers such as Eve Ensler, Isabel Allende, and Sally Field. [16] [17] Omega offers scholarships to a variety of workshops, training, conferences, and retreats.

Other Omega speakers and teachers have included Adyashanti, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Pema Chödrön, Jeanne Fleming, Jane Goodall, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Allen Ginsberg, Gloria Steinem, Pete Seeger, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Philip Glass, Betty Williams, Lon Milo DuQuette, and many others.

Staff

Omega has a core staff of 85 and a seasonal staff of more than 250. [18] The core staff plan and develop the curriculum, marketing, and production for the season’s programs, and its seasonal staff manage and staff campus departments. Inspired by Ram Dass, Omega created a curriculum for Omega’s staff that includes classes designed to encourage self-development, mindfulness, and community service. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inayat Khan</span> Indian singer, poet and Sufi guide (1882–1927)

Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilayat Inayat Khan</span> Mystic of the Inayati Order (1916–2004)

Vilayat Inayat Khan was a teacher of meditation and of the traditions of the East Indian Chishti Sufi order of Sufism. His teaching derived from the tradition of his father, Inayat Khan, founder of The Sufi Order in the West, in a form tailored to the needs of Western seekers. One of his sisters was Noor Inayat Khan GC MBE. He taught in the tradition of Universal Sufism. His parents met at the New York City ashram of American yogi, Pierre Bernard, half-brother of his mother Pirani Ameena Begum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Lebanon, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

New Lebanon is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Albany. The population was 2,514 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Dass</span> American spiritual teacher (1931–2019)

Ram Dass, also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and writer. His best-selling 1971 book Be Here Now, which has been described by multiple reviewers as "seminal", helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West. He authored or co-authored twelve more books on spirituality over the next four decades, including Grist for the Mill (1977), How Can I Help? (1985), and Polishing the Mirror (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel L. Lewis</span> American mystic (1896–1971)

Samuel L. Lewis also known as Murshid Samuel Lewis and Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti was an American mystic and horticultural scientist who founded what became the Sufi Ruhaniat International, a branch of the Chishtia Sufi lineage. After a lifetime of spiritual study with teachers East and West, primarily Inayat Khan and Nyogen Senzaki, Lewis was recognized simultaneously as a Zen master and Sufi murshid by Eastern representatives of the two traditions. He also co-founded the Christian mystical order called the Holy Order of Mans. His early interest in international seed exchange and organic agriculture also established him as one of the pioneers of green spirituality. His most enduring legacy may be the creation of the Dances of Universal Peace, an early interspiritual practice that has spread around the world in the 50 years since his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theosophical Society in America</span> Nonprofit organization

The Theosophical Society in America (TSA) is a member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the teaching of Theosophy and affiliated with the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India. The name "Theosophical Society in America" was legally adopted by the American Theosophical Society in 1934. Previously, other organizations had used the same name during the years 1895–98 and 1898–1908.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baba Hari Dass</span> Indian yogi and writer (1923–2018)

Baba Hari Dass was an Indian yoga master, silent monk, temple builder, and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions of dharma and moksha. He was classically trained in the Ashtanga of Patanjali, as well as Kriya yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zia Inayat Khan</span> President of the Inayati Order

Zia Inayat-Khan is a scholar and teacher of Sufism in the lineage of his grandfather, Inayat Khan. He is president of the Inayati Order and founder of Suluk Academy, a school of contemplative study with branches in the United States and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy</span> Yoga teaching organisation

The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy is an international non-profit organization, which promotes yoga and holistic health through yoga retreats, residential programs, health products and services, media publications including Yoga International magazine, and humanitarian projects. The institute's main campus is located on (1.6 km2) in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania and is the site of most of its residential programming. Branch centers also operate in Cameroon, India, and Mexico. It formerly had centres in Great Britain and Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inayati Order</span> International organization dedicated to spreading the Sufi teachings of Inayat Khan

The Inayati Order (Inayatiyya), is an international organization dedicated to spreading the Sufi teachings of Inayat Khan, a musician and mystic who first introduced Sufism to the modern Western world in 1910. The Inayati Order operates internationally through a network of centers, and offers a number of programs and activities. It is led by Zia Inayat Khan, grandson of Inayat Khan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Bernard (yogi)</span> Yoga and tantra teacher (1875–1955)

Pierre Arnold Bernard — known as "The Great Oom", "The Omnipotent Oom" and "Oom the Magnificent" — was a pioneering American yogi, scholar, occultist, philosopher, mystic and businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabrielle Roth</span> American musician and dancer (1941–2012)

Gabrielle Roth was an American dancer and musician in the world music and trance dance genres, with a special interest in shamanism. She overcame depression and injury to create the 5Rhythms approach to movement in the late 1970s; there are now hundreds of 5Rhythms teachers worldwide who use her approach in their work. Her vision was to spread dance across the world, using the power of movement to heal body and spirit.

BNIM is an architecture and design firm founded in 1970 in Kansas City, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ameena Begum</span> Spouse of Sufi Master Inayat Khan (1892–1949)

Pirani Ameena Begum was the wife of Sufi Master Inayat Khan and the mother of their four children: World War II SOE agent Noor-un-Nisa (1914–1944), Vilayat (1916–2004), Hidayat (1917–2016) and Khair-un-Nisa (Claire) (1919–2011).

Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, often shortened to Ma Jaya, was a devotee of Hindu Guru Neem Karoli Baba. She founded Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida, in 1976. Jaya's interfaith teachings included a blend of philosophy from many different religions. She was involved in HIV/AIDS activism and hunger alleviation.

The Sufi Ruhaniat International (SRI) is a stream of Universal Sufism and draws inspiration from traditions of Sufism within and beyond historic Islam. SRI is an initiatic order within the lineage of Inayat Khan (Inayati-Chishtiyya). Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, a disciple of Inayat Khan, formally founded the order in 1970. There are centers throughout the United States, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nooruddeen Durkee</span> American Islamic scholar (1938-2020)

Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee was a Muslim scholar, thinker, author, translator, and the Khalifah (successor) for North America of the Shadhdhuli School for Tranquility of Being and the Illumination of Hearts, Green Mountain Branch. Nooruddeen Durkee became a Muslim in his early thirties in Al-Quds, Jerusalem. He was one of the co-founders of Lama Foundation and founder of Dar al-Islam Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalani Oceanside Retreat</span> Retreat center on Big Island, Hawaii, U.S.

Kalani Oceanside Retreat, also known as Kalani Honua or Kalani, is a non-profit retreat center located on the Big Island of Hawai'i. It was established in 1975 and focuses on holistic living, yoga, relaxation, and spiritual retreats.

Western Sufism, sometimes identified with Universal Sufism, Neo-Sufism, and Global Sufism, consists of a spectrum of Western European and North American manifestations and adaptations of Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Horsting</span> American sculptor, professor, author, community organizer and philanthropist

Ruth Horsting, also known as Ma Renu was an American sculptor, professor, author, community organizer, philanthropist, and a student of Ashtanga Yoga. She is known for her bronze and steel sculptures, and taught at the University of California, Davis from 1959 to 1971. Horsting was the first female sculptor hired in the entire University of California system.

References

  1. 1 2 Applebome, Peter (2007-02-28). "The Fringe, Now Embraced by Main Street". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  2. ↑ Healy, Mark (October 18, 2002). "HAVENS; The 'Bhajan Belt': Serenity in the Catskills". New York Times .
  3. ↑ Omega Institute. Yoga Journal. Mar 1987.
  4. ↑ Ricci, Jeanne (2003). Yoga Escapes: A Yoga Journal Guide to the Best Places to Relax, Reflect, and Renew. Celestial Arts. p. 30. ISBN   1-58761-187-2.
  5. ↑ Goldman, Ari L. (August 21, 1989). "SEARCHING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL AT AN ADULT HEALING CAMP". New York Times . Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  6. ↑ Arthur Frommer (April 6, 2006). "Combine vacation bliss with spiritual growth". San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ "Find your bliss". The Boston Phoenix. February 27 – March 4, 2004. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  8. ↑ Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, Timeshifting: Creating More Time to Enjoy Your Life (New York: Main Street Books, 1997)
  9. 1 2 Elizabeth Lesser. The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure (New York: Villard, 1999).
  10. ↑ "Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times". The New York Times. 2005. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  11. ↑ Elizabeth Lesser. Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow (New York: Villard, 2005).
  12. 1 2 3 Andrea Birnbaum. “Omega Rising,” Hudson Valley Chronogram (September 2007), 34–36.
  13. ↑ BBC Radio. "...Jane Little also visits the oldest new-age institute in the US," Americana (Episode 11, August 9, 2009).
  14. ↑ "Omega seeks 'living building' status". United Press International. July 17, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Omega Institute Turns On America's First Zero-Impact "Living Building"". Renewable Energy World. August 24, 2009.
  16. ↑ Philip Weiss. “Ram Dass Revival: Frail but Vibrant, He Gets a Library,” The New York Observer (October 6, 2002).
  17. ↑ Stephanie Elizondo Griest. 100 Places Every Woman Should Go (Palo Alto: Solas House, 2007), 149.
  18. ↑ Lynn Behrendt. "Omega, All Grown Up", About Town (Fall 2007), 1,16.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.