On the auspicious occasion of International Day of Peace, Lumbini-Kapilvastu Global Campaign, Belgium (LKGCB) organized various activities including a meeting with Leuven city councilor for Global Policy with a campaign – “Adopt an SDG”, an online peace workshop and participating in a spiritual art performance in collaboration with Butterfly circles organization, according to a press release issued by the LKGCB.
LKGCB is a Leuven based peace organization that uses the Buddha’s message of non-violence, world peace and social harmony as a lever for building a resilient society, social work, and sustainable development. LKGCB actively supports partnerships at various local, national, and international levels and contributes to the achievement of the SDG 16 (Peace) and SDG 17 (Partnerships) goals. The ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) were approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2015. Leuven is committed to integrating the sustainable development goals into local policy.
Dr Rajendra Bari, president of LKGCB, arranged a meeting with Leuven city councilor for Global Policy, Lies Corneillie to kick-off LKGCB’s campaign – “city councilors adopt an SDG” on World Peace Day and Sustainable Municipality Week.
“On the occasion of Sustainable Municipality Week and on International Day of Peace, we want to bring the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals to the attention of policymakers with the local campaign “Adopt an SDG”. We are very pleased to be able to start our campaign with councilor for Global Policy, Lies Corneillie.” said Rajendra Bari, president of LKGCB, read the press release.
“We will discuss the application with the college and formulate an official response. We are pleased that the SDGs are taken heartly in associations, the population, and organizations such as LKGCB. This year, the City of Leuven nominated 5 climate heroes who contribute to the local realization of the SDGs. The SDGs are part of our policy and are being implemented in various domains.” said councilor for Global Policy, Lies Corneillie.”
The online workshop was organized by creating an online zoom event in advance on Facebook and inviting several speakers located in Belgium, Switzerland, Chile, Vietnam, and Nepal. The list of speakers includes – Ms Florence Demarey (Belgium), Ms Iris Pattyn (Belgium), Mr Giri Raj Timilsina (Vietnam), Mr Saroj Aryal (Chile), Ms Lara Rosi Widmer (Switzerland), Mr Raman Maharjan (Nepal) and Dr Ayasha Upreti (Nepal)
Dr Rajendra Bari facilitated the entire workshop which lasted for two hours. Mr Damodar Prasad Acharya, Europe Advisor of Lumbini-Kapilvastu Day Global Movement provided the welcome speech and emphasized the need to promote not only inner peace but also world peace. Mr Acharya would like to extend his messages to world leaders to respect the demand and aspirations of people and refrain from activities that has negative impact on global peace and harmony.
All the speakers talked about the importance of peace and their experience in helping others to achieve peace including meditation, yoga, spirituality and overall balance in the body, mind, and soul. Ms Florence Demarey prepared an interesting and inspiring video presentation about her experience in dealing with stressful situations during the covid pandemic and what can be done to achieve a balance in life. Ms Demarey is helping others to cope with several kinds of stress through her relaxation therapy practice. Ms Iris Pattyn also gave an interesting video presentation on spirituality and awareness. Ms Pattyn is the initiator of Butterfly Circles, an organization specialized in spiritual awareness, said the LKGCB in the press release.
“Mr Giri Raj Timilsina gave an excellent presentation and talked about his experience with meditation, yoga and wellness. Mr Timilsina has a long experience and excellent skills in teaching meditation, yoga and wellness at luxury hotels including four seasons and Naman retreat. Mr Saroj Aryal is Lumbini World Peace Ambassador and is actively promoting Buddha’s message of peace through various means including Meditation, Healing and Yoga”.
The LKGCB said in the press release, “Dr Ayasha Upreti gave an interesting talk on importance of inner peace by maintaining the overall balance in body, mind, and soul. Dr Upreti advises several youths and others to use proper diet, fitness, yoga, meditation as well as spirituality to maintain inner peace. Dr Upreti is a Dentist, Vegan Ambassador, Social Worker, Speaker and Advisor of LKGCB. Mr Raman Maharjan video presentation of calming flute music was very interesting. Mr Maharjan is the founder and owner of Music House Kirtipur. He is a music teacher and musician who plays flute as a freelancer. Ms Lara Rosi Widmer gave an interesting presentation about her connection with Buddha’s teachings and Nepal. Ms Widmer is involved in promoting peace via meditation, healing as well as connecting & bringing people together. Currently, she is planning to establish a meditation center at her home, creating a community -called Lara’s community of Hearts and writing a book about her experience”.
The workshop was also an opportunity for networking and connecting with each other for organizing future events. At the end of the workshop, Dr Bari, thanked all speakers and participants for their participation and advised to arrange such events in the future to promote world peace and harmony.
Finally, on the occasion of International Day of Peace, Dr Rajendra Bari, president of LKGCB and Mahendra Bhattarai, secretary of LKGCB, participated in the spiritual art performance in Brugge City Center in collaboration of Butterfly Circles organization. Butterfly Circles is involved in promoting overall peace and wellbeing. LKGCB is continuously engaged in promoting active partnerships with other organizations and promoting Buddha’s message of non-violence and world peace.
Source : TRN,
