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Fri 04 Oct 2024
-
Sun 06 Oct 2024

2:00 PM - 1:00 PM (UTC+5.5)

IKS Meta Retreat : Indian Knowledge Systems – Imagining The Future

IKS MetaRetreat

Indian Knowledge Systems – Imagining the Future

(Knowledge Generation – Long Term and the Next 5 Years)

INDICA is pleased to organise the 9th IKS MetaRetreat – “Indian Knowledge Systems – Imagining the Future” – at Vilvam Foundation, Tiruvannamalai. The specific theme of the 2-days discussion would be “IKS Knowledge Generation” as needed in the contemporary times and future. The MetaRetreat will explore both the macro and the micro. 

  1. A Long term steady-state configuration of the Civilization
  2. A specific focus for the next 5 years

This MetaRetreat, led by Dr. Manohar Shinde and co-anchored by Prof. MS Chaitra, will offer a deeply reflective space for open discussions among a select group of esteemed luminaries, thought leaders, and subject matter experts on the many dimensions of IKS. The MetaRetreat seeks to envision a future where IKS is an integral part of all knowledge pursuits of our civilization drawing out knowledge generation required in the long term for a steady state configuration and a short term of 5 years to create door-openers and breakthroughs.  

Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) has witnessed a resurgence in the past decade, though its roots run deep. Many new strands developed during the colonial era when visionary minds began to reinterpret traditional Indian wisdom for contemporary times in response to the challenges posed by modernity, monotheism, and industrialization. Over the subsequent decades, these strands evolved into many streams across different regions, all drawn from the larger flow of Sanatana Dharma. However, the hope that IKS would become the backbone of modern India has, for many years, remained unfulfilled. It took over 70 years for the State to begin recognizing and nurturing IKS, and only recently have we seen its early stages of resurgence and mainstreaming. It is time IKS took its rightful place.

Towards this, the INDICA Meta Retreat is an invitation to reflect and envision the future in terms of IKS Knowledge Generation. The gathering will draw upon the collective wisdom of pioneering individuals who have championed and nurtured IKS programs and institutions long before their formal recognition. 

Our objectives for the MetaRetreat include:

  1. An Evolving Vision Paper – A blueprint outlining the future trajectory of IKS in terms of desired knowledge directions and milestones. 
  2. An Evolving Perspective Note – A collaborative summary of the perspectives shared during the retreat, offering semi-formed ideas for institutions and practitioners to develop and implement as they see fit. There will be space for cohort members to craft individual pieces that could get into the summary note.

INDICA MetaRetreats

We are pleased to share with you that INDICA has completed 8 IKS Meta Retreats so far. IKS MetaRetreats are immersive intellectual explorations spanning 2-3 days, led by an Acharya in the ambience of a Gurukula and conducted with an attitude of Shraddha. The Acharya is a leader or SME in the space, seeking to explore a specific topic, discipline, or domain along with a cohort. 9-12 participants who possess Shraddha and the right experience in the chosen theme form the cohort. This cohort then comes together with an Upanishadic attitude of learning through immersion at a location that echoes the ambience of a Gurukula. 

Pleased to share links to some of our previous MetaReteats.

 

Shivakumar GV

Director – IKS Changemakers

(Guru-Sadhaka Sachiva)

Speakers
speaker

Dr. Manohar Shinde

Dr. Manohar Shinde, M.D., Ph.D. Psychiatry, was on the teaching clinical faculty of UCLA & USA schools of Medicine and at the “Institute for contemporary psychoanalysis” (ICP). He has also served as a Medical director in many institutions and has retired from 29 years of private practice in Glendale, Los Angeles.

Dr. Shinde is a community leader with an extensive track record of philanthropy and service and has impacted thousands of people. He serves on the board of several non-profit organizations serving the Indian community in North America.

speaker

Sri M.S. Chaitra

Associate Professor of Practice

Mr. Chaitra’s work involves reconceptualizing Indian intellectual traditional traditions. Most of his research is an attempt to access and reconstruct the extraordinary understanding of the experiential world that the Indian intellectual traditions have offered to humanity. This endeavour involves comparing western and Indian cultures using the framework called Comparative Science of Cultures. He started his professional life as a biologist who specialized in molecular genetics, ecology and evolutionary biology. Before starting his work in social sciences, he worked with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun, the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. He is one of the founders of the initiative called Aarohi Research Foundation and he served as Senior Fellow at India Studies Unit at CESS, Bengaluru.