Isha Foundation a Business or Service ?
Many asked me this question in some form or the other, hence putting it as a post based on frequently asked questions and based on my understanding.
Business is something where two or more parties come together to perform a transaction in such a way they get equally benefited.
Service is something given by an authority/administration/charity that is paid for by taxpayers/individual donations/corporate donations/charity shops/charity owned businesses etc., and the role of a charity is to pitch in where the Govt administration does not have the expertise or competence or capability.
Isha's objective:
1. To establish tools as infrastructure that can be used to raise human consciousness. Some of these are The Dhyanalinga Temple, Lingabhairavi Temple, Adiyogi alayam, Theertha kund, Surya kund etc.
2. To provide tools as methods like the Shambavi kriya, Isha Kriya , Hata Yoga, Bhavaspandana, Samyama, Spiritual Yathras (Himalayas/Kashi) etc.
2a. To Particularly focus on Business Leaders to enhance their perception of life so they can be more sensible leaders, as corporate leaders are the going to be a major influence in policy making that would affect millions of lives on the globe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUXvA5--qTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHswXjoMS6c&list=PLzrPlq_txbZHEvMj5wyxHRV3rfmVvlEhO
3. To Enhance physical, mental, economic situations of people and environment in Villages of tamilnadu, so that they can start seeking the higher possibility. "Asking a starving man to sit in meditation is the most vulgar thing you can do". This is done via IshaOutreach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDMBYLPAGvM
http://www.ishaoutreach.org/
(In an ideal scenario this should be done by the Government administration because that's what they are getting elected for and that's why we pay taxes.)
4. To bring awareness to people about Indian history, traditions, spirituality and the science behind them and to revive and strengthen that knowledge base so that people can get benefited for generations to come.
Example: http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/science-of-temples/jyotirlingas-tools-for-ultimate-wellbeing/
Implementation:
The Objective of a real spiritual guru is to raise human consciousness by offering tools and support, If a human being is "seeking" for it.
For creating the tools (Objective 1,2 & 2a) from a spiritual perspective is being done by Sadhguru as he is the one who has the necessary capability and knowledge on how to deliver it effectively. But to implement them he needs resources and people. So if you need to manage resources and lot of people there is need for a structure and a system to be effective and to operate with checks and balances. Hence, Isha Foundation.
A Bit of History before we go ahead:
In early days (about 10-15 generations ago), Gurus didn't need to worry about resources as they were taken care by Kings, they financed and provided resources to build temples, they provided for the ashrams. Gurus had the Influence because the Kings understood the need for raising human consciousness as most of the kings were spiritual seekers , the entire culture, education system, medicine system was consciously crafted based on the insight and vision of the Gurus (Heard the term Raja Guru? The Enlightened were in every department). In today's scenario the govt administration can't do that so a NGO/Charity has to be formed and things has to be done the other way around.
Revenue (Resources):
Donations: Donations are divided into three parts donation towards objective 1 (to build infrastructure), donation towards objective 2 ( to facilitate logistics for programs that are offered free of cost to participants) donation towards objective 3 (Isha Outreach projects), And people can choose to where they can donate.
Program Fees: All the basic yoga programs that are not a part of objective 3 (Isha Outreach yoga classes in villages are free) comes with a cost, you need to pay for taking the classes this is mainly to make the participant commit themselves 100% for the duration of the program and to cover the expenses. Programs fee varies depending on the location and the people attending them. The fund collected minus the venue and administrative cost goes as donation towards objective 1,3 and 4 based on where the need is greater or towards Isha public events.
Fund Raisers: Occasionally special onetime programs are conducted by Sadhguru (e.g Leela, Vaibhav Shiva) which contributes towards objective 1,2 & 4 mostly.
Charity Shops: Profit from the Shops you find in Isha Yoga center goes towards maintenance and upkeep of the temple infrastructure, and Stalls put up in yoga programs goes towards venue and administrative costs and Objective 1,3 and 4 again based on where the need is greater.
Charity owned Business: Almost all of the Items sold in Isha shops are produced by Isha Business Private Limited, which is a business owned by charity and profits go to objective 3.
http://www.ishafoundation.org/Economics/stone-artefacts-metal-crafts-landscaping-services-isha-business.isa
Since Isha is a charity and all the companies and trusts under it are registered they need to maintain receipts and accounts. As far as i know they are very stringent on record keeping. So if anyone need to verify the account they can review their annual audit statement. I believe it should be available for public from the registrar of companies. Also, There are plenty of data available on-line ( i'm sure there will be plenty offline too) that you can search if you are keen on tracking the progress and results and if the funds collected were utilized well or not.
Example: http://www.ishaoutreach.org/docs/Isha-Outreach-Annual-Report-2011-2012.pdf
Hope this broaden's your perspective about how Isha operates.
Business is something where two or more parties come together to perform a transaction in such a way they get equally benefited.
Service is something given by an authority/administration/charity that is paid for by taxpayers/individual donations/corporate donations/charity shops/charity owned businesses etc., and the role of a charity is to pitch in where the Govt administration does not have the expertise or competence or capability.
Isha's objective:
1. To establish tools as infrastructure that can be used to raise human consciousness. Some of these are The Dhyanalinga Temple, Lingabhairavi Temple, Adiyogi alayam, Theertha kund, Surya kund etc.
2. To provide tools as methods like the Shambavi kriya, Isha Kriya , Hata Yoga, Bhavaspandana, Samyama, Spiritual Yathras (Himalayas/Kashi) etc.
2a. To Particularly focus on Business Leaders to enhance their perception of life so they can be more sensible leaders, as corporate leaders are the going to be a major influence in policy making that would affect millions of lives on the globe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUXvA5--qTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHswXjoMS6c&list=PLzrPlq_txbZHEvMj5wyxHRV3rfmVvlEhO
3. To Enhance physical, mental, economic situations of people and environment in Villages of tamilnadu, so that they can start seeking the higher possibility. "Asking a starving man to sit in meditation is the most vulgar thing you can do". This is done via IshaOutreach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDMBYLPAGvM
http://www.ishaoutreach.org/
(In an ideal scenario this should be done by the Government administration because that's what they are getting elected for and that's why we pay taxes.)
4. To bring awareness to people about Indian history, traditions, spirituality and the science behind them and to revive and strengthen that knowledge base so that people can get benefited for generations to come.
Example: http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/science-of-temples/jyotirlingas-tools-for-ultimate-wellbeing/
Implementation:
The Objective of a real spiritual guru is to raise human consciousness by offering tools and support, If a human being is "seeking" for it.
For creating the tools (Objective 1,2 & 2a) from a spiritual perspective is being done by Sadhguru as he is the one who has the necessary capability and knowledge on how to deliver it effectively. But to implement them he needs resources and people. So if you need to manage resources and lot of people there is need for a structure and a system to be effective and to operate with checks and balances. Hence, Isha Foundation.
A Bit of History before we go ahead:
In early days (about 10-15 generations ago), Gurus didn't need to worry about resources as they were taken care by Kings, they financed and provided resources to build temples, they provided for the ashrams. Gurus had the Influence because the Kings understood the need for raising human consciousness as most of the kings were spiritual seekers , the entire culture, education system, medicine system was consciously crafted based on the insight and vision of the Gurus (Heard the term Raja Guru? The Enlightened were in every department). In today's scenario the govt administration can't do that so a NGO/Charity has to be formed and things has to be done the other way around.
Revenue (Resources):
Donations: Donations are divided into three parts donation towards objective 1 (to build infrastructure), donation towards objective 2 ( to facilitate logistics for programs that are offered free of cost to participants) donation towards objective 3 (Isha Outreach projects), And people can choose to where they can donate.
Program Fees: All the basic yoga programs that are not a part of objective 3 (Isha Outreach yoga classes in villages are free) comes with a cost, you need to pay for taking the classes this is mainly to make the participant commit themselves 100% for the duration of the program and to cover the expenses. Programs fee varies depending on the location and the people attending them. The fund collected minus the venue and administrative cost goes as donation towards objective 1,3 and 4 based on where the need is greater or towards Isha public events.
Fund Raisers: Occasionally special onetime programs are conducted by Sadhguru (e.g Leela, Vaibhav Shiva) which contributes towards objective 1,2 & 4 mostly.
Charity Shops: Profit from the Shops you find in Isha Yoga center goes towards maintenance and upkeep of the temple infrastructure, and Stalls put up in yoga programs goes towards venue and administrative costs and Objective 1,3 and 4 again based on where the need is greater.
Charity owned Business: Almost all of the Items sold in Isha shops are produced by Isha Business Private Limited, which is a business owned by charity and profits go to objective 3.
http://www.ishafoundation.org/Economics/stone-artefacts-metal-crafts-landscaping-services-isha-business.isa
Since Isha is a charity and all the companies and trusts under it are registered they need to maintain receipts and accounts. As far as i know they are very stringent on record keeping. So if anyone need to verify the account they can review their annual audit statement. I believe it should be available for public from the registrar of companies. Also, There are plenty of data available on-line ( i'm sure there will be plenty offline too) that you can search if you are keen on tracking the progress and results and if the funds collected were utilized well or not.
Example: http://www.ishaoutreach.org/docs/Isha-Outreach-Annual-Report-2011-2012.pdf
Hope this broaden's your perspective about how Isha operates.
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