SAFIER, the Integral Education initiative of Sri Aurobindo Society, has been collaborating with Bejon Desai Foundation (BDF), Nashik since 2015. To further strengthen this collaborative work, a 5-day Integral Capacity Building Retreat was held from January 28 to February 1, 2025. The first two days took place at Grape County Resort, Nashik, followed by sessions and school visits at Bejon Desai Foundation.
Facilitated by Shivakumar and Priti from SAFIER, the retreat engaged eight people, directors and facilitators from Bejon Desai Foundation in immersive sessions on Integral Education (IE).
School Visits (Jan 30–31)
Shivakumar and Priti visited schools associated with Bejon Desai Foundation:
- Silver Bells English Medium School: 23 teachers shared their experiences from the year-long IE intervention done by the BDF team and clarified their queries on IE.
- Anubhuti Alumni Interaction: 45 Participants from five batches of the ‘Anubhuti – teach by being it!’ course engaged in a two-hour insightful sharing by Shivakumar and Priti.
- Aseema Foundation School, Igatpuri: Primary and Secondary level teachers involved in IE programs being conducted by BDF team, interacted deeply with the facilitators on topics based on Integral Education.
- Shining Star Academy, Nashik - This school is aspiring to implement Integral Education practices. 80 teachers who have undergone a year-long school intervention program in Integral Education carried out by BDF participated in a session where they deepened their understanding of IE. The facilitators also paid a visit to the school’s Science Exhibition.
Day 1: Setting the Vision
The retreat opened with Dr. Bhardwaj, CEO of BDF, presenting the Foundation’s work over the past three years. Shivakumar and Priti offered feedback on the Anubhuti course and future directions.
Priti led a session on mantra chanting, explaining its psychic significance. Shivakumar emphasized the transformative aim of IE, quoting from on of the founders of IE:
“We are not here to do (only a little better) what the others do.
We are here to do what the others it cannot do because they do not have the idea that it can be done.
We are here to open the way of the Future to children who belong to the Future.
Anything else is not worth the trouble and not worthy of Sri Aurobindo’s help.”
- The Mother
He highlighted the double shift IE demands—from syllabus-centered to child-centered, and from child-centered to soul-centered education. The session concluded with reflections on the goal of IE and experiences from Namakkal School, Tamil Nadu.
Day 2: Refining the Being
The day began with a meditative Om chanting session led by Priti, followed by practices for IE facilitators to deepen their individual and collective journeys. To further this, approaches and practices to master different parts of the being was taken up.
Mastering the Physical Being
Shivakumar introduced a four-point lifestyle program to cultivate physical awareness and efficiency. Experiential games reinforced these habits.
Refining the Vital Being
Participants translated Sri Aurobindo’s poem “One Day” into Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati, deepening emotional resonance. Later, a nature-inspired art activity helped participants express inner stillness through drawing.
A guiding quote by one of the founders of IE framed the day’s theme:
Poetry raises the emotions and gives each its separate delight. Art stills the emotions and teaches them the delight of a restrained and limited satisfaction …. Music deepens the emotions and harmonises them with each other. Between them music, art and poetry are a perfect education for the soul; they make and keep its movements purified, self-controlled, deep and harmonious.
- Sri Aurobindo
Evening Surya Namaskars were facilitated by Priti for both the days along with informal post-dinner sharing which added rhythm and reflection.
Day 3: Training the Mental Being
Shivakumar emphasized the need to train key mental faculties necessary for mental development within the Integral Education framework:
- Observation
- Memory (via comparison and differentiation)
- Judgement and Logic
- Imagination
- Mental Silence leading to Intuition
He also explained that the mental faculties should first be exercised on things, afterwards on words and ideas.
In order to further a deepening into the development of the mind, Shivakumar introduced the thesis–antithesis–synthesis model of argumentation, where opposing ideas evolve into a higher, integrated understanding. To illustrate this, Priti divided participants into two groups and assigned a topic, enabling them to experientially grasp how the mind can expand and engage with deeper perspectives.
Shiva Kumar and Priti concluded the Retreat at Grape County with a beautiful thought that our job is to create inspired teachers with a psychic touch.
Day 4: Integrating IE into Practice
The final day focused on lesson planning and Project-Based Learning, anchored in the three principles of True Teaching. The final discussions were then centred on relooking at IE goals:
- Individual Goal: Harmonizing outer life with inner genius
- Collective Goal: Mastery through Love, Knowledge, Power, and Beauty
A quote from one of the founders of IE illuminated this aspiration:
When we reach this degree of perfection which is our goal, we shall perceive that the truth we seek is made up of four major aspects: Love, Knowledge, Power and Beauty. These four attributes of the Truth will express themselves spontaneously in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love, the mind will be the vehicle of 
infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible power and strength and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and harmony.
- The Mother
Facilitators reflected on key questions needed for self-alignment as an IE facilitator:
- Is my inner environment in harmony with my ideal?
- Are my daily practices aligned with my highest aspiration?
- Am I consciously integrating my Physical, Vital, and Mental beings with the Psychic?
The Integral Capacity Building Retreat finally concluded with a silent offering of gratitude to the founders of IE, the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
