SATVATOVE INSTITUTE COMMUNITY NEWS

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July 7th 2007 - Volume 3, Issue 9

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SATVATOVE - A NONPROFIT ORGANISATION

When I took the Satvatove courses I had little to no idea about the Institute, the size of it, the structure, who was part of it, what it looked like. And even now that I’m helping with the newsletter and involved in various ways, I still was not really clear on how it all works. In speaking with others connected with Satvatove I realized that it’s about the same for them. So I decided to do an interview with David and Marie, to learn more about Satvatove Institute. Please read excerpts from our conversation that took place on May 21st, 2007.

Annette: Could you give a brief history of Satvatove?

David: I sort of had the idea of spiritually-based transformational seminars back in 1983, which is also the time when I started reading Bhagavad-Gita. I began mentally developing and writing notes about the format for the seminars in 1991, 1992. In the mid-90s I taught a few short workshops, and in 1999 I conducted the first Foundational Courses, in England and North Florida.

I really thought of the name Satvatove in 2001. I had written a book and I wanted to give a name to the publishing agency under which it would be printed, so I came up with “Satvatove”. It’s a combination of words from the ancient Hebrew and Sanskrit languages, meaning goodness, enlightenment. Marie took the Foundational Course in 2000 and she started organizing courses early in 2001. In 2002 we started to do the seminars under the Satvatove name.

It was later in 2002 that we conducted the first Advanced Course, in Belgium. There was a lot of word-of-mouth excitement all over the world, and people from several countries arranged for the Satvatove programs in their locality. From graduates of the Advanced Seminar I regularly heard interest, excitement, demand, for more, and in 2004 we did the first Life Mastery Program (LMP), which was based in Heidelberg. To date, as a rough estimate there have been about 60 Foundational Courses, 30 Advanced Seminars, and 19 LMPs. From the first Foundational Courses, seven or eight years ago, participants would approach me wanting to learn to teach the seminars. From my perspective and experience the essence of effective facilitating is expertise in being able to coach, to know when to directly support, when to challenge. So, in 2004 we designed and started the coach training program, which is a prerequisite for facilitator training.

Starting in 2002 Marie worked to officially set up Satvatove as an Institute, and in 2003 the nonprofit incorporation came through. It’s not like we have buildings and things, but “Institute” conveys the vision- it’s a concept, a mission, an essence. It’s an educational institution. The structure is there, latent, and it’s been unfolding for the last 20 years.

Annette: Why did you choose to establish Satvatove Institute as a nonprofit organization?

David: In a sense it’s a technical thing. There are many different ways to incorporate an organization. The main categories are for-profit and not-for-profit. Any nonprofit organization might have people working there and getting a salary, but the prime purpose of the organization is not to accumulate wealth, but to provide some sort of service. Our purpose with Satvatove is educational. It’s a dynamic form of education, not a standard classroom education. It’s a spiritually-based, experiential education. So the nonprofit aligns more with our values. Essentially, we’re a service organization- communication, self-empowerment, to improve people’s lives. In doing that, Satvatove might accumulate wealth, and that’s great, so we can serve more people. That’s my understanding. We’re providing a service to people, to society, to communities.

Marie: Our identification is to serve the world, to make it a better place, to help people have a better life, so for us it was natural to have a nonprofit organization.

Annette: You mentioned that Satvatove might accumulate wealth. Could you speak more about what you would do with that money?

David: We’d have greater possibilities to do what we’re doing now. What that would look like concretely, that kind of depends. Workshops, seminars, LMP, Coach and Facilitator Training, we’re doing it, and if we received grants we could do it in a broader scope, so that many more people can get value from what Satvatove offers. People might give a donation and target it, or it’s a general donation. If it’s targeted, we use it for what it’s targeted for. A general donation, we make a determination of how to use it. Currently Satvatove is part of a federally-funded grant application, here in the United States, that serves people who have just come out of prison. Through this grant former convicts could choose Satvatove as a service organization, and they would take the seminars, do coaching with us. In this way they’ll develop life skills and attitudes to reduce chances that they’ll return to prison. A targeted donation could, for example, be for a training institute, a place with suitable facilities specifically to enrich and intensify the efforts to train coaches and facilitators, so that three to five years from now there are dozens of trained coaches and many facilitators. In this way there are hundreds of trainings per year and tens of thousands people going through the courses. Satvatove has received grants for young adults who were abused when they were children, to help them go through the trainings and get the life-changing value available. If someone gives a general donation, which simply goes to support the Satvatove mission, because it’s something they have conviction, belief in, so they give a donation. It doesn’t have to be targeted.

Annette: So you and Marie are employed by Satvatove, and that’s a fixed salary. It’s not affected by how much income or donations the Institute is receiving.

Marie: Yes, our salary is not even affected by how many coaching sessions or seminars we do…When there is direct donation, that’s for people who want to participate in Satvatove in that way, as a financial contributor. And anyone who takes the courses is also contributing to the Satvatove purpose and expansion, as of course are seminar organizers, in a vitally important way.

Annette: You spoke about the Satvatove mission and Satvatove Institute. There seems to be a distinction between the two. Could you speak more about that?

David: Well, the mission, we have different statements on the website, like distinguishing reality from illusion for the welfare of all, or creating breakthroughs in personal and professional life through empowered communication and personal transformation. The mission is spiritual, spiritually-based, involving courageous introspection, excellence in communication and purposeful action through seminars, workshops and coaching. Who’s involved? That can be answered in different ways. Technically, legally, Satvatove, Marie and I we get some salary, we’re employees. There’s a Board of Directors, at present not real active. With regards to the mission, my perspective is that practically anyone who has contact with Satvatove is involved. Technically, legally, those who organize courses are not “Satvatove Institute”. Satvatove doesn’t organize courses. Spiritually, though, energetically, those who dedicate themselves to organizing Satvatove seminars, and making this experience available for people, are an integral part of the Satvatove mission. I consider them intimately involved with the purpose of Satvatove. If someone takes the Foundational Course, they’re part of the Satvatove mission. If someone reads the newsletter and appreciates it, they’re involved with the Satvatove community.

Annette: What are your plans and ideas for the future?

Marie: Our plan is for all the world to take Satvatove courses and coaching, that’s the plan! (laughs). How we are going to go about that, we’re open to different directions. If we work with prisoners, corporations, with hospitals, with teenagers, with government, in one sense we are very open about our plans.

David: Our plan and vision is increasing numbers of people participating in the Satvatove programs. My conviction is that practically everyone can derive substantial benefit from the Satvatove courses and coaching. We’re open-ended about how it happens, with regard to the particular sectors of the population. We’re excited about offering our services, coaching, workshops and seminars, in high schools, corporations, prisons, personal growth communities. Wherever we direct our efforts we know that the people will benefit and the environment will be transformed. There are numerous ways in which this vision can continue to emerge, including the Satvatove university concept. Our vision is clear, and how it manifests is an exciting, often unpredictable, adventure.

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Personal Coaching

To register for a personal coaching package with Satvatove Institute, visit http://www.satvatove.org/registration.php?reg=coaching.

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OPEN FORUM

This is a new section in the Satvatove Newsletter. It's a place where we'd like

to publish your responses, questions and inspirations derived from articles

published in previous newsletters. I'm looking forward to your contribution.

Please send your letter to Annette@Satvatove.org.

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July 7th 2007 - Volume 3, Issue 9

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