Fiji Fundraiser: Unity in Diversity Festival

Sunday 20 March 2016

The event was a success and show cased artists, dancers, musicians from various ethnic backgrounds who used their artistic skills to bring awareness and support relief efforts in the Fiji Islands, which has undergone severe damage to infrastructure and lives during the recent cyclone Winston.

For those of you that missed out, you are welcome to give your support here.

Thank you all for your generosity in helping to rebuild Fiji.

CCANZ Self Awareness Retreat in Taupo New Zealand

29 May - 1 June 2015

This was an exciting time for CCANZ as our founder Srinivas Arka was conducting the first ever retreat in the South Pacific at the beautiful venue: Huka Falls Resort at Lake Taupo.

It was a three-hour drive from Auckland where most of us lived. We carpooled and therefore became better acquainted with new people travelling with us.

Programmes covered during this ”learning” retreat were: The importance of Self-awareness, looking inwards rather than outwards, giving time for oneself, being very patient with oneself, reducing the impact of Mind by connecting Mind and Heart and developing empathy through Arka Dhyana Intuitive Meditation; to be effective in communication by preparing the other person; feeling first then persevering; evaluating one's results; practising Arka Dhyana prior to interviews, phone calls and so on; experiencing different levels of communication through the physical, mental, conscious, subconscious, emotions, heart, deeper heart and intuition; and developing leadership qualities.

An Arka Dhyana session was conducted where three NZ teachers spoke about the breath, sound and touch in this meditation technique. We then all participated in a short Arka Dhyana session. Later that day we all visited the beautiful nearby Huka Falls and breathed in the wonderful, fresh, country air.

In the final session Arka advised that the name Centre for Conscious Awareness had to reflect the true purpose of what we were doing, and demonstrated it with meaningful hand gestures. This was shown step-by-step – With the word “Centre” both hands are placed on the heart centre, palms down and fingers touching; the next word ”For” hands were placed in front looking at the open palms; “Conscious”—hands outstretched in a swimming direction, and to the sides of the body with 'cupped' palms; “Awareness” hands up to the sky; at the same time repeating each word individually. This was to be performed slowly and carefully with good concentration.

In conclusion, we were asked to individually reflect to the group about our experience of the retreat. Everyone spoke very positively and with much enthusiasm. The retreat concluded on Monday 1 June at 10 am, when we returned to our homes refreshed and revived after experiencing much learning, new friendships, and happy enlightening experiences.

Write-up by: Carys Grant.

Lecture at Abacus Institute of Business Management Christchurch

Friday 12 June 2015  11am

Lecture by Srinivas Arka on ‘Becoming Self-Aware to create and live positively; staying focused, determined and motivated; managing a balance between ambition and practicality.'

Attended by many enthusiastic students of Abacus Business Management Institute

Highlights of Arka’s lecture: ‘Motivation which is important, is for the mind and not long lasting, whereas inspiration is for the heart and lasts longer. We are not merely beings with a thinking mind, but we have been brought to earth for a specific reason. Since experience was so important in our lives we should take time for deep, silent thinking to find out who we truly are by questioning — “what is mind, body, intuition and emotion(?)” Do your own research on yourself. Work out how you learn—is it through What you have heard? What you have touched? What you have seen? Or the environment? Helpful tips: Meditate to find the best way first: record doubts before you go to sleep: create excitement in your studies-even by changing the colour of your writings: be determined; breathe deeply to connect your mind and heart.’

One of the questions from the audience - “How can people see that their troubles are inside and not outside?” Arka’s answer was: “It takes courage to see that you are involved rather than blaming others. Challenge yourself from another perspective for Self-realization. It is constructive to blame yourself. You cannot change people. They have their own personalities. Always cross check, and experiment. Never assume. Verify and get to the facts.”

Light refreshments were served before conclusion of the event at 12.30 p.m.
Books authored by Srinivas Arka and signed by him were obtained by students/staff, as they experienced lasting memories of an informative, memorable and inspiring talk.

Quote from “Petals of the Heart” by Srinivas Arka: “You are more than you think. You are more than you believe. You come to know this fact only when you experience it.”

Lecture at Hagley Community College Christchurch

Friday 12 June 2015  1pm

Lecture by Srinivas Arka on ‘Learning and development of higher order thinking skills’.

On a very mild Christchurch day, Srinivas Arka was introduced to the International students at Hagley Community College by Sarah Denny, the tutor. The emphasis of the talk was on the importance of the learning process which included the key competencies that relates to thinking skills, communication, understanding language and text, managing self, participating and contributing.

The students put forward numerous interesting questions including the meaning of Arka’s name, his main ideas in his books, how it can benefit the community, and the origin and practice of ‘Yoga’.

Srinivas Arka provided meaningful answers to all the questions and elaborated in considerable depth where necessary. His explained that the ideas in his books were simply through intuitive inspiration, motivation, self belief and listening to the inner voice. He elaborated in depth the meaning of ‘Yoga’, that it is an inner spiritual journey, and the method of achieving ‘Oneness’ in silence with Arka Dhyana Intuitive Meditation. The gentle touch of the thumb and first finger forming a circle brings oneness and inner peace – yoga.

Everyone in the audience was really receptive to his talk and engaged in positive interactive conversation at the conclusion of the event.

Lecture at Talk by Srinivas Arka on 'Visible and Invisible Nature'.

Sunday 7 June 2015  3pm

Organised by: Jaagriti Family Support Group in association with CCANZ

On Sunday 7th June, commencing at 3pm, Srinivas Arka addressed a gathering at the BSCT hall, 13 May Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland.

After being welcomed by the organizers he proceeded with a short meditation. Everyone present felt very relaxed and eager to listen to the talk on ‘Visible and Invisible Nature’.

At first, Arka asked the audience if they had any questions they wanted him to answer. There was a variety of questions, including, ‘Why are we in the world? How much can you trust intuition? And what can I do with my life now that I am elderly?’ He said that he would do his best to answer these, but that questions should be pondered over, so that we could invoke higher nature to answer.
To answer these questions then, he proceeded to describe many facts about our existence on earth—that ‘We must be grateful, as the ancients had—to Mother, Father, teachers, guests and the sun and planets. The ancients knew why they were here –they looked inside themselves for answers, but we tend to look outside and take from it. When our thinking and doing match, then we would progress. We have to find our own meaning in life, as everyone interprets life differently. Mind is only on the surface. When we explore deeply we become closer to our heart centre, our inner consciousness. This is our intuition, the Mother of all senses.” He quoted from his book “Petals of the Heart” “Words are like containers in the museum of languages.” “Intuition awakens when Intelligence is exhausted.”

The universe is continuously welcoming us to explore, but our senses are so limited. We can experience in silence the deeper emotional self with meditational approach. Experience then is for us, explanation is for others, but the mind doubts. When you give to others you are really giving to yourself because you actually benefit. But we limit ourselves by always being too busy. How many times do we regret? It is rare to find a perfect day.

“Perfection is a beautiful mirage. You chase constantly but you never get it.” If you go back to the past/future you become sad. Joy is in the middle, like a sandwich. If you can embrace the moment, you can experience joy.

To elaborate on his important messages, and realizing that visible nature is outside us, whereas invisible nature is inside us, we get our true answers when we explore our inner consciousness through philosophical inquiry and meditational experience.
Everyone left feeling very inspired, happy and at peace with themselves and the world, after listening to and absorbing such an enlightening talk and obtaining answers to questions in great depth.

Beach Cleanup at Rangitoto Island

Saturday 6 June 2015

Saturday 6th June proved to be a beautiful sunny day for the CCANZ trip to Rangitoto Island, which is situated in the Hauraki Gulf Auckland. Twenty-five adults and children eagerly boarded the ferry for the twenty-five minutes trip, to do our part in a beach cleanup there—many of us proudly wearing our newly printed CCANZ T-shirts. Ryley Webster, who was present with us, is a founding member of Sustainable Coastlines organisation. He was the speaker at one of our recent Positive Living series events and we were keen to help him in his work. The mission for Sustainable Coastlines is to inspire, educate and enable people to look after the places they love. Part of this is “Love your coastline.” As a charitable organisation they are therefore passionate about keeping the coast and ocean free from plastic, and inorganic rubbish. Ryley was therefore very happy to accompany us on this trip and guide us.

Upon arrival he spoke and showed us the type of non-biodegradable rubbish we were likely to find; how to place any sharp pieces of glass or metal in a plastic bottle he provided; gloves to use, and large white woven rubbish bags. We then all followed part of the coastline stopping whenever necessary picking up rubbish. Amongst the rubbish collected were many lollypop sticks, coloured plastic string, thin plastic ring bottle tops (the ones which sea birds manage to get around their necks and strangle themselves) and tiny polystyrene beads. Much of the rubbish was swept in by the currents into corners in the rocks on the coast, but with a bit of prodding we also located more glass, partly degraded plastic bags, large pieces of polystyrene and other debris. In just one hour we had accumulated 4-5 large bags full. The children particularly enjoyed this “treasure hunt” for rubbish, calling out. “Look what I’ve found.” These bags of rubbish were taken back to Auckland where they are sorted into categories and placed in the appropriate rubbish containers.

As the weather was so idyllic some of the group decided to remain on the island, to take the journey to the summit, whilst others explored the ecology, or took their own tour of the historic batches (holiday homes), which are well maintained by the Historic Conservation Island trust.

All those who attended enjoyed this small, but worthwhile activity in helping the environment, whilst also having fun on a beautiful sunny winter’s day.

CCANZ - Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust event - Auckland

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Srinivas Arka was invited to give a talk at the Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust in Auckland.
The large hall was filled to its total capacity with mostly elderly people interested in listening to the talk on Conscious Health.

The programme started with a warm welcome and a brief introduction to Srinivas Arka, who then commenced with a few moments of Dhyana and shared his experiences of his consistent pursuit of knowledge over many years right from a very early age.

In his talk Arka said that ‘We spend so much of our time in conquering the outside world, but we hardly spend time conquering our own mind. We have to direct and train our mind to look at the positive. There is always something to learn any time and there is no age limit. He emphasized that if we focus on our work and project our mind in it, then we will not feel the effect of aging. Wherever the mind is applied, it enhances growth of that particular aspect. Feeling young and energetic is very important. The feeling grows powerfully developing what is called Intuitive Awareness from the inside within oneself. We have to apply our mind in the right direction, without having any expectation. Stress due to thinking excessively has a great impact on aging. If we talk continuously about the past, it can bring sadness; so not dwelling too much in the past is good, allowing thinking about the present, accepting everything and moving forward with freshness. We have to keep the body with the present, being respectful of the past. If we are with the breath or Prana, then we can be with the present and progress positively. We need to be focusing on work, doing Dhyana and enhancing feeling consciousness and intuitive awareness.’

The members in the audience had questions such as ‘How to control the mind?’ and ‘How to forget old (past) thoughts?’. Srinivas Arka replied, in his inimitable gentle yet confident manner with a touch of humour, that ‘Mind is like a river and we must allow the mind to flow gracefully, only then can we harness the mind. And trying to forget one’s past thoughts would only be an artificial attempt. If the thought is bothering us, then we may write it down, pay attention to it, accept and understand it, say thank you and move forward. If we don’t pay attention we get tension. We have to make sure to be positive and stay positive, working effectively as best as possible.

Everyone was highly appreciative of Srinivas Arka and benefited from his immensely inspirational talk.

CCANZ - Positive Living Series Event - Auckland

Sunday 24 May 2015

It was a splendid location, the boat club by the bay, very apt for the theme of talks presented at the Positive Living Series event on the evening of Sunday the 24th of May 2015. Although the rains added to the water around, it did not deter the enthusiasm of a good number of people who came in anticipation of listening to expert presenters on the theme of journeying and connecting the outer - environmental realm with the inner – intuitive realm of awareness. 

The wonderful music filled the hall with the lilting rhythm from the percussion ‘tabla’ and the enchanting melodies from the ‘harmonium’, brought out beautifully by two young instrumentalists in harmony with the rhythmic melodic sounds of the intermittent rains from the environment.

Ryley Webster of Sustainable Coastlines, presented meaningfully the challenges of his practical work that he has passionately been doing for many years now in trying to keep the coast and ocean free from plastics and rubbish including other inorganic waste materials. He highlighted that a lot of marine life are being destroyed due to plastics. He outlined his work of cleaning up the beaches, involving many people mainly youngsters, making it fun and exciting at the same time. The aim is to bring together and connect people in this challenging work, by providing training in event management and educational awareness through an open source idea called ‘Love your Coast’.

A brief intermission followed with light refreshments being served to everyone. The next guest speaker, Denise Roche, a member of the Waiheke Local Board and the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, spoke about her campaign for reducing plastics, in order to be eventually free of this hazardous waste that destroys the ocean and all marine life. The work involved raising awareness with consumer product retailers and manufacturers for taking action and responsibility in reducing the use of plastics. She highlighted that her mission is to connect people who support the ‘Plastic Bag Free’ movement.

CCA founder, Srinivas Arka, highly appreciated the efforts of Ryley Webster and Denise Roche in their challenging work of making the environment free of plastics. He commended their passion and collective team work in their drive to keep the environment clean. He emphasised that we are all universal cosmic individuals interconnected deeply with one another and our environment; an idea which arises from a powerful thought internally manifests through passion externally; we are extensions of our inner environment. Arka highlighted that the common sense of caring for the environment has become so scarce that one has to be reminded of it as the special sense which has to be awakened and enhanced through deep contemplation known as meditation or Dhyana; through this the intuitive awareness increases, which helps in enhancing our communication with Nature, bringing harmony with one another and the environment. He reiterated that we do our best to contribute to Mother Nature, and that only a few who are inspired and who know the mystical side of our connection with Nature, not just the physical, would transform the rain of thoughts into crystals of action; and when we are more focused sincerely in action, results are bound to be positive; the future is here, in the present, not tomorrow, but in what we do today; and eventually good actions will always bring good results.

The guest speakers and musicians were presented with certificates of appreciation by the Founder. At the conclusion of the enlightening evening, the audience left with a feeling of increased responsibility and care towards the environment.

CCANZ - Open Audience - Auckland

Saturday 23 May 2015

A number of people including those familiar as well as new families had assembled at the venue to meet with Srinivas Arka. It was a memorable evening for everyone present as they had an opportunity to speak with him and share their experiences.

CCANZ - Positive Living Series Event - Auckland

Sunday 17 May 2015

The splendid Sunday evening was graced by the presence of two eminent speakers, the celebrated author & philosopher Srinivas Arka and the well-known Dr Michael Godfrey at the Positive Living Series event of CCANZ.

It was with great anticipation and keen interest that many people were present in the audience to listen to the talks on 'The Development of Consciousness' by Srinivas Arka and 'Matter Doesn't matter' by Dr Michael Godfrey.

The event started with a warm welcome, a brief introduction to CCANZ and its activities, and the upcoming events, presented respectively by trustees Trish Tapara, Abhy Maharaj and chief executive officer Sanjay Kumarasingham.

The first speaker was Dr Micheal Godfrey who emphasised that the onus is on the individual to start an inward journey and find out the greater purpose and meaning of life; that the purpose of life is to love everyone and to show compassion which is one of the expressions of love. He concluded his interesting talk with the meaningful words 'we will all be Divine'.

Melodious instrumental music was presented by two young talented musicians Kavinesh and Prashanth. The music gradually developed pace and rhythm becoming more lively and cheerful, delighting the audience. The music continued through the intermission during which light refreshments were served to all present.

Everyone assembled again in silence for the talk by founder Srinivas Arka on the development of consciousness for deeper insight into becoming inspired. He highlighted on the various aspects of the mind and its qualities and how one can try to find out the unique nature of one's own mind; he elaborated on how the inner consciousness has abundant resources, which cannot be recognised by the mind, but with our feeling consciousness, which is a heart-based, emotion-based, feeling-based profound experience. He reiterated that by becoming closer to our mind, we also become closer to our heart; as we advance and experience this, we can find unity between mind and heart consciousness. This is possible only by meditation or Dhyana, through which we can internalise and experience our inner consciousness. He concluded the inspiring talk with the profound words 'Mind is just the tail-end of the infinite consciousness in the sky of our spirit.'

There were interesting question-answer sessions after the respective talks. Then followed the presentation of token of appreciation to the guest speaker and musicians by Srinivas Arka on behalf of CCANZ. The evening concluded with an expression of gratitude to everyone present.

CCANZ - Open Audience - Auckland

Saturday 16 May 2015

Many people had assembled to meet and greet Srinivas Arka, who had just arrived in New Zealand to be present for a series of talks, seminars, retreat and symposium, after his busy schedule of events over the past few months in Australia. 

It was a delightful evening for everyone as each of the families got their much-awaited opportunity to talk to Srinivas Arka and spend some cherished moments with him. 

CCANZ - Positive Living Series Event

Sunday 7 December 2014

It was a bright, warm, sunny summer evening, the perfect day for the Positive Living Series Event of CCANZ. The highlight of the programme was music and how it could be used effectively for making the world a better place.

The evening started with a brief introduction of the CCA and its objectives by one of the trustees. The guest-speakers at the event were two well-known musicians, Annabel Harrison, a registered Suzuki Violinist and teacher, and Tom Pierard, a celebrated Cellist and teacher. 

There was a lively performance of musical pieces by Annabel and her young students, who played in harmony and synchronised with each other very well. Annabel talked about her training and experiences in music. She gave an overview of the Suzuki Method, explaining that it is not merely a method for teaching music; rather the aim is to develop a well-balanced, sensitive, self-confident individual with fine feelings. She emphasized that music could make one a finer person and vice versa. She concluded her interesting talk with another lively recital along with her competent students.

It was then the turn of the Cellist and performer-teacher Tom Pierard, who gave a brief introduction on his learning and experiences. He played a few enchanting musical pieces to show how music could convey different types of feelings. He spoke highly of the great master composers Bach, Vivaldi and played some of their pieces beautifully well. He highlighted that having a good environment and inspiration for learning music from a very early age helps greatly in making one a good musician and be able to present from the heart.

There was one essential message conveyed by both musicians - that music is to be encouraged in everyone, it is the language of the heart, and by performing wonderful music from the heart one can become a better person, which in turn would help in making the world a better place.

There was one essential message conveyed by both musicians - that music is the language of the heart, and by performing wonderful music from the heart one can become a better person, which in turn would help in making the world a better place.

It was a delightful evening filled with such soulful music that it seemed to have brought everyone closer to their hearts as they listened and talked about it.

CCANZ Event: Positive Living and Learning Series

Sunday 18 May 2014

The evening started off with a warm welcome to the audience gathered at the Positive Living and Learning event. The first guest speaker Mr Bhavesh Bhuthadia is a young creative design entrepreneur and facilitator who designs innovative products making use of reusable materials that we find normally every day. He spoke about his creative ideas and showcased his work through his neat presentation. He also facilitates others to come forward with their own ideas and likes collaborating with them.

An interlude of beautiful soulful music was presented by New Zealand Cellist Mr Tom Pierard. He rendered a good selection of classical and modern musical pieces, which was enjoyed by the audience, along with the refreshments that were provided.

The music was followed by a talk by the next guest speaker Raewyn Luchich from Trade Aid. She shared her experiences and involvement with Trade Aid, a non-profit organisation and a member of the World Fair Trade Organisation. She spoke about their purpose which is to improve producers' lives through trading relationships and to raise the level of knowledge of trade justice, to actively encourage better environmental practices and the application of responsible methods of production.

The talks were interactive wherein the audience participated in a question-answer session with the speakers. Everyone enjoyed the evening which gracefully concluded with an expression of thanks to the guest speakers, music artiste and the audience. 

Tree Planting at Motuihe Island, Auckland

On Saturday 11th August, a few members of CCANZ and their friends once again participated in the "Living Legends" tree planting programme on Motuihe Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

To get there we again boarded the free ferry. We were part of the tree planting project last year which planted over 3,500 native trees. This was the second and final year - organized be Project Crimson, an organisation dedicated to restoring the declining Pohutukawa tree to the New Zealand foreshore. The summer flower of the Pohutukawa is crimson in colour. Carys Grant, one of our members is part of this project, and suggested that we participate in this worthwhile service event. Once the ancients worshipped trees and nature, but today modern society is too busy to acknowledge their importance. Trees conserve water, make our air breathable, absorb air pollution, support our slopes and form the hub of enormous underground micro-environments that strengthen soil and foster insect life. We were therefore very happy to play a small role. 

Community Work in Fiji

Members and volunteers of CCA engaged in Fiji offering help and service to those affected by the flood on 30th March 2012. The team was headed by Ashish from Lautoka.