At the Gandhi statue: corner of Kalakaua & Kapahulu, Kapiolani Park

This annual celebration honors this physically small man with a huge heart and spirit, who wrought enormous change in the world, always walking the path of peace and non-violence. Gandhi’s principles are well-aligned with those of Still & Moving Center.

Join celebration with three of Still & Moving’s peace-loving teachers and their students who are performing:

• Malia Helela with hula kahiko (ancient style hula)
• Justin Bolle with yoga and meditation
• Willow Chang with Bollywood.

Gandhi statue in Kapiolani Park, beachside of the zoo

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

FREE. Everyone is welcome. If possible, wear white as a symbol of peace.

Free parking at the Waikiki Shell and metered parking at the zoo.

The Gandhi International Institute for Peace cordially invites you to celebrate the 148th birthday of one of the world’s great leaders, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. As a pioneer of Satyagraha (true resistance) through vast, nonviolent civil disobedience, he became one of the most important political and spiritual leaders of his time. The event includes an interfaith plea for world peace, multicultural dances, and music by the Royal Hawaiian Band. Hawaii is the first state to proclaim October 2 as “Mahatma Gandhi Day.”

http://www.gandhianpeace.com/events.html

Our wonderful Kumu Mālia Helelā and her hula halau – Nā Hula Ola Aloha will perform a special hula at the Annual Gandhi Birthday Celebration on October 2 in Kapiolani Park.

This Hula Pahu (hula performed with drum) titled Ka’ala was written and choreographed by Kumu Mālia and is presented as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Mount Ka’ala is the highest peak on O’ahu and is a symbol of a solid and steadfast character. It’s calm and peaceful presence provides shelter to the island of Oahu.  Ka’ala is also used in Hawaiian poetry as an example of excellence, high ideals, and nobility. Mahatma Gandhi embodied the qualities of Mount Ka’ala – he was peaceful, yet solid as a mountain. His utmost determination and steadfast progression towards his visionary goals made him so charismatic that thousands of people followed him. The song also references the birds Kaiona – a Hawaiian goddess who had the power to send her birds to guide lost travelers back to the proper path.  Kumu Malia feels that the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi serves a similar role, with his actions and teachings guiding us to the path of steadfast nonviolence.

Our own dance teacher Miss Willow Chang and her Bollywood Hawaii troupe will be performing for the tenth time at this annual event!

Sign up now!

Donation: $7.

Co-Sponsored by

• Gandhi International Institute for Peace

We think of Gandhi as such an activist, leading his people in a non-violent revolution to free India from the British Empire, marching across great swaths of India with his walking stick and sandals. “Be the change you want to see,” is frequently quoted from Gandhi. He was a ‘do-er’.

We think of Gandhi as wise, spiritual, humble and self-sacrificing. But did he ever sit down long enough to meditate? And how do we define “meditation”, for that matter?

As we listen to Dr. Veena Howard’s deeply informed exploration of this topic, we get glimpses into our own life’s meditational practices.

Veena Howard

“In my personal life, meditation and the spirit of yoga, as exemplified by Gandhi, help me to navigate challenges with serenity.”

A dynamic presenter at national and international conferences, Veena Howard is committed to reviving indigenous spiritual and ethical approaches to connect personal transformation and social change.

Veena Howard, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno. She teaches and researches Asian religious traditions, Gandhi’s philosophy, animal ethics, interfaith interactions among Hindus and Muslims, and gender issues in Indian philosophy. She has authored Gandhi’s Ascetic Activism: Renunciation and Social Change (SUNY 2013), translated several books on a modern saint tradition of India, and has published articles in acclaimed journals. She is currently editing a book on religions of India and hopes to write the biography of one of America’s civil rights heroes.

Sunday, July 30 4:30-5:45 pm

Donation: $7

Sponsored by:

• Gandhi International Institute for Peace
• Hawaii Forgiveness Project

Many ask: “How did Gandhi Do It?” Drawing from Gandhi’s little-known yogic disciplines, Veena Howard will illustrate how he used them to transform his personal life and bring political change. Through his own yogic practices, he showed people to look within for their power. We’ll also learn how Gandhi’s personal practices of health, vegetarianism, and self-restraint enabled him in his public life to bring about ground-shaking social, economic, and political change in India.

In our contemporary western context, the practice of yoga has generally been associated with physical movements—exercises for health and physical and mental wellbeing. Meanwhile, in the India’s traditional context, the practice of yoga is also associated with deep stillness. This deep stillness not only leads to spiritual understanding within, but has the potential to be used to effect social change.
This presentation will be followed by questions, answers and discussions of participants’ personal experience on the topic.

“The karma yogi reaches the summit of spiritual liberation using the ladder of work. He does not kick off that ladder even thereafter. He just cannot do so. Doing work becomes his nature.”—Mahatma Gandhi

Veena Howard
“In my personal life, meditation and the spirit of yoga, as exemplified by Gandhi, help me to navigate challenges with serenity.”

A dynamic presenter at national and international conferences, Veena Howard is committed to reviving indigenous spiritual and ethical approaches to connect personal transformation and social change.
Veena Howard, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno. She teaches and researches Asian religious traditions, Gandhi’s philosophy, animal ethics, interfaith interactions among Hindus and Muslims, and gender issues in Indian philosophy. She has authored Gandhi’s Ascetic Activism: Renunciation and Social Change (SUNY 2013), translated several books on a modern saint tradition of India, and has published articles in acclaimed journals. She is currently editing a book on religions of India and hopes to write the biography of one of America’s civil rights heroes.