About Ahimsa Trust
The Trust represents the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and his community in India. Through the powerful practice of Mindfulness, it aims to create peace and harmony within oneself, one’s family, and society. It does this through alliances and programmes in Sanghas (communities of practice), and institutions in education, culture, environment, peace keeping, responsible tourism, and sustainable livelihoods.
We at Ahimsa Trust believe firmly that the eternal messages of peace and non violence are more relevant today than ever before, considering the ecological catastrophe we are facing, and the increase of different forms of violence in personal and public life.Our explicit goal is to bring peace using both inner and macro/community-based initiatives.
SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERING
In 1995, one of our Trustees won a prize of Rs 100,000 from a Japanese foundation, as the Best Volunteer for the Year. This prize money was used to set up Ahimsa Trust in May 1996 and was its very first donation.
Thus Ahimsa was formed – and from the beginning the spirit of volunteering defined us. Ahimsa’s core objectives are volunteer driven, providing a platform to link like minded people who want to make a difference. Ahimsa has a number of volunteer teachers and facilitators who help to promote the goals of the Trust.
This whole website has been put together by a team of volunteers from all across the world. We are thankful for their time, hard work and dedication in putting together the website and completing it in time to commemorate Ahimsa Trust’s 25th Anniversary ! Our special thanks to Renate, Wit, Shameem, Amudha, Hemant, Jatin who helped us kickstart this project and to Raj, Prashant, Deepak, Deepshikha and Sandeep who guided us through its completion.
Ahimsa Initiatives
Dharmacharya Shantum
Dharmacharya Shantum
Shantum is an ordained Dharmacharya (Dharma Teacher) in the Buddhist Mindfulness lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and teaches in India and across the world. He is a co founder of Ahimsa Trust and has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh for the last 35 years. He has been leading pilgrimages ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha’ and other multi-faith, educational, cultural, spiritual and transformative journeys across diverse regions of India and Asia since 1988.
He is actively involved in educational, social and ecological programmes including work on cultivating mindfulness in society, with educators, the Central Reserve Police Force and the corporate sector amongst others. Dharmacharya Shantum is the primary teacher of different sanghas in India teaching the different practices of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition.
More on Dharmacharya Shantum and his teachings
Volunteers & Facilitators
Anita Anand is a development and communications professional and artist. She started her Mindfulness practice after participating in a retreat with Thay in Delhi in 2008 and is involved in the activities of Ahimsa Trust and the NCR Sanghas. The practice has brought a sea change to her life.
Raka Sinha Bal is a development and communications professional and artist. She started her Mindfulness practice after participating in a retreat with Thay in Delhi in 2008 and is involved in the activities of Ahimsa Trust and the NCR Sanghas. The practice has brought a sea change to her life.
Ananya Goswami began her practice with Thay’s book ‘Living Buddha, Living Christ’ in 2007. Associated with Ahimsa Trust since 2014, her practice has been nurtured with the Sangha and is at the core of her life, as a quiet, unobtrusive guide that helps her manoeuvre the meandering ways of life.
Aarti Chandra is an AIMA certified trainer having conducted life skills workshops in schools and working as a freelance copy editor. Presently taking care of her aged parents. She has been practicing since 2012, is a member of the Noida sangha, and hopes to grow in her practice and as an individual.
Anika Batra Chhokar was in business analysis and project management in the corporate sector for 13 years. Chancing on a book by Thich Nhat Hanh, she found an immediate connection. Being an active part of the Noida sangha since 2014, and with her practice, she is constantly rediscovering herself.
Vivek Arjun Dutta manages a financial consultancy based in Delhi and Mumbai. A long-time interest in comparative religion and philosophy led him to Thay’s teachings 20 years ago. An active member of the Gurgaon Sangha since 2010, he is a regular practitioner and feels the benefits of practicing mindfulness in many aspects of his life and being.
Shubham Jain is a builder, coach, and spiritual seeker. He is an avid reader, minimalist, and is guided by nature. He came into Mindfulness practice two years ago and is a proud member of the Ahimsa Trust family.
Amrita (Amu) Lalljee is an educator working in schools, using drama and music with learners of all ages. In the corporate sector, her work had focused on creating a collaborative, communicative and healthy work environment. Her Mindfulness practice gives her strength, support, equanimity, love and enables her to see herself more authentically.
Shikha Mehrotra started her Mindfulness practice after attending a retreat in Dehradun in 2017. The simple practice of observing her breath brings her to the present moment and she realises the power of here and now. She practices at home and with the Dehradun Sangha.
The late Rita Mitra is much missed by the Ahimsa community. She retired from the Audit and Accounts Service in 2018. She had been a practitioner since 2003 and passed away in September 2020 to cancer. RIta was the leading facilitator of the Noida sangha and was very active in the activities of Ahimsa Trust, especially in bringing mindfulness to education. She always said that she benefited from the teachings of Thay and experienced changes in her life as a result of the practice.
Annie Jacob Oberoi is a teacher at the Shri Ram School. She wanders along with her students, seeking knowledge and accepting the impermanence of being. Floating with the currents of the river of Mindfulness, she pauses to reflect upon her learnings: did she make a difference to those who needed her?
Sheela Reddy: A journalist and author. She has been enriched by the practice of mindfulness ever since she first learnt about it fifteen years ago
Poonam Sahi has been a practitioner of Mindfulness for about 20 years. She enjoys the simplicity, gentleness, and compassionate nature of the practice. Being mindful helps her to deeply appreciate the small pleasures in life, get better understanding of herself and be a better version of herself.
Sonal Sena is trained as a social worker. She has taught human rights and is presently exploring and learning Creative Movement Therapy. She found her way to Mindfulness in 2014.
Gitanjali Seth: is a Founding Trustee of Ahimsa Trust and a ‘full time’ volunteer for the Trust with coordination responsibilities. She is a ‘retired’ lawyer and was introduced to the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition of practice in 1995. She is a regular visitor to Plum Village, her family’s second home. She co leads and facilitates sanghas as well.
Mala Tandan: A certified trainer by AIMA, she has conducted Life Skills & Behavioural Skills workshops at leading educational institutions for senior students and teachers. As a volunteer with Ahimsa Trust she assists at retreats in Mindfulness for educators, while integrating schools under the WakeUp Schools global movement.
Indira Unninayar is an activist-lawyer, mediator, and peacemaker, representing the unrepresented. Her practice has helped her to be more compassionate and transform her approach from raging against injustice to trying more peaceful methods. A long-term practitioner of yoga and mindfulness, she has lately been focusing on mindful consumption and the body-mind connection.
Ajeer Vidya served in the Indian Administrative Service for thirty-three years. After voluntary retirement, he has been engaged in studying Buddhist philosophy and facilitating workshops and meditation sessions. He is active in the work of Ahimsa Trust and the Gurgaon Sangha.
Chandana Dey, Manish Galrani, Pragati Sahni, Malashree, Ira Chauhan, Shalini Law, Meenakshi Negi, Lovleena Modi, Rakhee, Ranjani Shankar, Mamta, Shubra, Vikram Joshi, Ananya Zutshi, Preeti Sharma, Saiyam Khosla, Charu Aindley Das, Bina Aranha, Kamlendra, Rajesh Sharma and many others are also very much part of the volunteer team of facilitators and practitioners.
Ahimsa Volunteers & Facilitators
Anita Anand is a development and communications professional and artist. She started her Mindfulness practice after participating in a retreat with Thay in Delhi in 2008 and is involved in the activities of Ahimsa Trust and the NCR Sanghas. The practice has brought a sea change to her life.
Raka Sinha Bal is a development and communications professional and artist. She started her Mindfulness practice after participating in a retreat with Thay in Delhi in 2008 and is involved in the activities of Ahimsa Trust and the NCR Sanghas. The practice has brought a sea change to her life.
Ananya Goswami began her practice with Thay’s book ‘Living Buddha, Living Christ’ in 2007. Associated with Ahimsa Trust since 2014, her practice has been nurtured with the Sangha and is at the core of her life, as a quiet, unobtrusive guide that helps her manoeuvre the meandering ways of life.
Aarti Chandra is an AIMA certified trainer having conducted life skills workshops in schools and working as a freelance copy editor. Presently taking care of her aged parents. She has been practicing since 2012, is a member of the Noida sangha, and hopes to grow in her practice and as an individual.
Anika Batra Chhokar was in business analysis and project management in the corporate sector for 13 years. Chancing on a book by Thich Nhat Hanh, she found an immediate connection. Being an active part of the Noida sangha for seven years and with her practice, she is constantly rediscovering herself.
Vivek Arjun Dutta manages a financial consultancy based in Delhi and Mumbai. A long-time interest in comparative religion and philosophy led him to Thay’s teachings 20 years ago. An active member of the Gurgaon Sangha since 2010, he is a regular practitioner and feels the benefits of practicing mindfulness in many aspects of his life and being.
Shubham Jain is a builder, coach, and spiritual seeker. He is an avid reader, minimalist, and is guided by nature. He came into Mindfulness practice two years ago and is a proud member of the Ahimsa Trust family.
Amrita (Amu) Lalljee is an educator working in schools, using drama and music with learners of all ages. In the corporate sector, her work had focused on creating a collaborative, communicative and healthy work environment. Her Mindfulness practice gives her strength, support, equanimity, love and enables her to see herself more authentically.
Shikha Mehrotra started her Mindfulness practice after attending a retreat in Dehradun in 2017. The simple practice of observing her breath brings her to the present moment and she realises the power of here and now. She practices at home and with the Dehradun Sangha.
The late Rita Mitra is much missed by the Ahimsa community. She retired from the Audit and Accounts Service in 2018. She had been a practitioner since 2003 and passed away in September 2020 to cancer. RIta was the leading facilitator of the Noida sangha and was very active in the activities of Ahimsa Trust, especially in bringing mindfulness to education. She always said that she benefited from the teachings of Thay and experienced changes in her life as a result of the practice.
Annie Jacob Oberoi is a teacher at the Shri Ram School. She wanders along with her students, seeking knowledge and accepting the impermanence of being. Floating with the currents of the river of Mindfulness, she pauses to reflect upon her learnings: did she make a difference to those who needed her?
Sheela Reddy: A journalist and author. She has been enriched by the practice of mindfulness ever since she first learnt about it fifteen years ago
Poonam Sahi has been a practitioner of Mindfulness for about 20 years. She enjoys the simplicity, gentleness, and compassionate nature of the practice. Being mindful helps her to deeply appreciate the small pleasures in life, get better understanding of herself and be a better version of herself.
Sonal Sena is trained as a social worker. She has taught human rights and is presently exploring and learning Creative Movement Therapy. She found her way to Mindfulness in 2014.
Gitanjali Seth: is a Founding Trustee of Ahimsa Trust and a ‘full time’ volunteer for the Trust with coordination responsibilities. She is a ‘retired’ lawyer and was introduced to the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition of practice in 1995. She is a regular visitor to Plum Village, her family’s second home. She co leads and facilitates sanghas as well.
Mala Tandan: A certified trainer by AIMA, she has conducted Life Skills & Behavioural Skills workshops at leading educational institutions for senior students and teachers. As a volunteer with Ahimsa Trust she assists at retreats in Mindfulness for educators, while integrating schools under the WakeUp Schools global movement.
Indira Unninayar is an activist-lawyer, mediator, and peacemaker, representing the unrepresented. Her practice has helped her to be more compassionate and transform her approach from raging against injustice to trying more peaceful methods. A long-term practitioner of yoga and mindfulness, she has lately been focusing on mindful consumption and the body-mind connection.
Ajeer Vidya served in the Indian Administrative Service for thirty-three years. After voluntary retirement, he has been engaged in studying Buddhist philosophy and facilitating workshops and meditation sessions. He is active in the work of Ahimsa Trust and the Gurgaon Sangha.
Chandana Dey, Manish Galrani, Pragati Sahni, Malashree, Ira Chauhan, Shalini Law, Meenakshi Negi, Lovleena Modi, Rakhee, Ranjani Shankar, Mamta, Shubra, Vikram Joshi, Ananya Zutshi, Preeti Sharma, Saiyam Khosla, Charu Aindley Das, Bina Aranha, Kamlendra, Rajesh Sharma and many others are also very much part of the volunteer team of facilitators and practitioners.
Dharmacharya Shantum
Shantum is an ordained Dharmacharya (Dharma Teacher) in the Buddhist Mindfulness lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and teaches in India and across the world. He is a co founder of Ahimsa Trust and has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh for the last 35 years. He has been leading pilgrimages ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha’ and other multi-faith, educational, cultural, spiritual and transformative journeys across diverse regions of India and Asia since 1988.
He is actively involved in educational, social and ecological programmes including work on cultivating mindfulness in society, with educators, the Central Reserve Police Force and the corporate sector amongst others. Dharmacharya Shantum is the primary teacher of different sanghas in India teaching the different practices of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition.
More on Dharmacharya Shantum and his teachings
Supporters and Collaborating Institutions
Ahimsa Trust has been supported by multilateral and bilateral development aid agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Volunteers (UNV), Australian Aid, Irish Aid and various agencies of the Government of India and the Government of Delhi. Companies like Seth Consultants Pvt Ltd, HeroFin Corporation and MAX India and private foundations like Thapar Public Charitable Trust, Bani Jagtianai Trust and Spice Foundation.
We feel privileged to be able to draw on the support of our Trustees and Advisors from diverse fields such as international development, local habitat and village regeneration, education, law, tourism, heritage and craft development, and meditation and mindfulness practices.
Our donors and patrons include Thich Nhat Hanh, Plum VIllage, Ashok and Suverna Desai, Gitanjali and Shantum Seth, Anuradha and Tarun Bakshi, Suvritta Khatri and Prabhu Mahapatra, Annie and Paul Mahon, Gautam and Stephanie Thapar, Prem Nath Seth, Aman Nath, Krishno Dey, Malavika Rajkotia, Gary HIll, Michael Trim, Christopher Ohrstrom, Carolyn Klamp and many others.
Collaborating Institutions:
- Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
- Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti
- Nehru Memorial Museum & Library
- Government of NCT of Delhi
- Uttarakhand Department of Environment and Forests
- Uttarakhand Department of Education
- Uttarakhand Police
- Times Foundation
- WASS-Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
- The Doon School, Dehradun
- India International Centre
- Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)
- Full Circle Publishers
- Nagaloka Institute, Nagpur
- Sports and Cultural Club, Sector 15A Noida
- The Aspen Institute
- The Mahabodhi Society of India
- Nava Nalanda Mahavihara
- The Tibetan Institute of Higher Studies
- Tibet House
- Alliance Francaise
- Sanskriti Foundation
- Vasant Valley School, Delhi
- Sanskriti School, Delhi
- The Shri Ram School
- Pathways School, Gurgaon
- Shiv Nadar School, Noida
- Step by Step School, Noida
- Genesis School, Noida
- Welham Boys School, Dehrardun
- Kasiga School, Dehradun
- Teach for India