The Kingston community is invited to help celebrate the opening of the Hudson Valley Park of Study & Reflection on Saturday, May 6th from 12 noon to 4 pm: 1170 Route 213, Saint Remy/Esopus, 12401.
The event is free and open to the public, please RSVP at www.hudsonvalleypark.org
There will be an opening ceremony at noon, followed by various presentations, tours, and ceremonies throughout the afternoon.
The Hudson Valley Park of Study & Reflection (HVP) is a new, volunteer-run space dedicated to personal, spiritual and social transformation. We promote the study of nonviolence, reconciliation over revenge, and the development of tools that help people to overcome suffering and connect to the sacred within themselves.
HVP is one of more than 60 autonomous Parks around the world that have been created in response to the growing personal, social and political crises of this era. In times such as these, it is easy for people to lose faith in themselves, in institutions, and in humanity. The work carried out at HVP and other Parks aims to reinforce a belief in humankind’s potential, open up images of the future, and engage people in the project of building a more human and nonviolent world.
The Parks are projects for the future to which we aspire; in them the focus is not on “What has happened and who is to blame?” but “Where are we going and how do we get there?”
HVP is available for individual reflection and meditation, for group study (workshops, seminars), for panels and presentations, and for social events and celebrations.
“The Park is not intended as a place for people to isolate themselves from the world,” according to Emiko Nagano, one of the volunteer organizers, “but rather as a place to become inspired and to recover faith in themselves, in other people, and in the possibility of change Many of those who come to HVP are engaged in projects of personal, social and spiritual change in their own communities.
HVP was founded upon the following values:
- The human being as the highest value—above money, the State, religion, and social systems.
- Liberty of thought.
- Equal rights and equal opportunities for all human beings.
- Celebration of diversity in customs, cultures, and beliefs
- Opposition to all discrimination and violence
HVP was started by volunteer members of the Humanist Movement and The Communities of Silo’s Message, the social and spiritual currents inspired by the works of Silo (1938-2010), an Argentine writer, spiritual guide, and proponent of Universalist Humanism. Both groups share a methodology of active nonviolence and a proposal for personal change as a function of social transformation.
HVP is an educational institute operated under the auspices of Pangea East, a 501(c)3 nonprofit established in New York State. The work of maintaining and developing HVP is carried out by volunteers. HVP is funded solely through contributions from individuals who support its purpose.
