Sadanand Ji's Testimony for Youth Alliance

Contributor: YA Team

Our world intersected with Sadanand Ji's in 2013 when two of our members, Vibhuti and Ajay went for an annual gathering on education called Samvaad. In the time that followed, more of us went to Samvaad and now it has become an annual healing space for us. And Sadanand Ji, a close friend and a mentor. 

Sadanand Ji is an embodiment of listening with curiosity and being present. Around him, we experience freedom to explore our own selves and ideas, there is no colonisation of thoughts. To a lot of us, going to him intensifies our search for meaning or more precisely like he says, search for our स्वधर्म: (swadharma). 

Sadanand Ji is also called Ward Maillard and he is a senior teacher in Mount Madonna School, California. He also co-runs Sri Ram Ashram in Haridwar. For some of us, going to the ashram has become an experience of going Home. 

Reading a testimony from Sadanand Ji on Youth Alliance deepens our own faith in the work we do and lives we live, sharing the testimony here:

"In the current school to job world, it is refreshing to find a group that nourishes the higher aspirations in the hearts of our young people. The programs of Youth Alliance fan the embers that are part of every human heart to be of service to our communities. Youth Alliance participants learn to understand themselves at a deeper level and consequently become more effective in their efforts to serve society. It provides experiences that humanize, and that inspire young women and men to seek a more just and environmentally sound world. I believe their programs should have a place in every college curriculum in India. Perhaps this would help reclaim, for the modern world, the spirit, wisdom, and compassion that has always been part of the national heritage."