INDICA is pleased to announce the 14th INDICA IKS MetaRetreat, titled “Creativity and Continuity: Reclaiming Sustainability as a Way of Being”, to be held from 03-05 Oct 2025 at the Vilvam Foundation, Tiruvannamalai. The MetaRetreat will be anchored by Shri. Mayank Ale, Director – Foundation for Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Fellow – Centre for Embodied Knowledge.
The IKS MetaRetreat will offer a reflective space to explore sustainability not merely as a technical goal but as a lived reality anchored in Dharma, expressed in daily life, material culture, and institutional frameworks. It seeks to reflect, recover, and reimagine sustainability from the Bharatiya civilisational matrix, offering transformative responses to modernity’s ecological, philosophical, and existential disruptions.
The Context
Sustainability in the Indian tradition is not a modern response to crisis but a foundational principle of existence, woven into philosophy, ecology, ethics, and aesthetics. Life is seen as an interconnected web governed by ṛta (cosmic order), upheld by dharma (sacred responsibility), and nurtured through yajña (reciprocal contribution). Unlike fragmented modern fixes, this worldview treats sustainability as ontological, ensuring wellbeing across time. The very meaning of Dharma is that which sustains everything.
The Bharatiya genius lay in translating lofty principles into practice: agriculture (kṛṣi), architecture (vāstu), governance (rājanīti), health (āyurveda), arts (kāla), and everyday practices of food, water, clothing, and intergenerational learning—all guided by loka-saṅgraha (holding the world together). Continuity and creativity coexisted, balancing stability and adaptability (sthiti and cara) within prakṛti’s (nature’s) dynamism.
In contrast, industrial modernity – driven by extraction, speed, and consumption—ruptured this balance, reducing sustainability to technical checklists, stripped of civilisational and ethical depth. The result is ecological degradation, cultural amnesia, and alienation.
This inquiry into a way of life and its civilizational design brings together thought leaders, ecologists, philosophers, entrepreneurs, and seekers to rediscover sustainability as lived dharma. Through shared reflection and grounded dialogue, it aims to seed a Sustainable Modernity rooted in creativity and continuity, purpose and harmony, restraint and flourishing.
Let Bharat not just join the sustainability conversation – let it reshape it.
The MetaRetreat
This MetaRetreat aims to lay the groundwork for Bharat’s leadership in this space through frameworks, narratives, institutions, and practices that arise from within yet address global challenges. Bharat need not imitate the West in sustainable development; it can lead with prajñā (wisdom), not just data – through living models of Sahaja Jeevana (natural living) and Dharma–Yukta progress.
It invites thinkers, practitioners, artists, scholars, and seekers to reimagine sustainability not merely as solutions but as a rediscovery of our civilizational DNA – nurturing a culture that sustains itself by sustaining all.
ONE Seat in the MetaRetreat is reserved for the enthusiasts with interest and demonstrated work in the many areas of Sustainability. We request you to send your applications through the FORM HERE along with your CV. We shall get back to you at the earliest.
The Schedule of the MetaRetreat
|
Program Element
|
Date | Time |
| Arrival | 03-Oct-25 | 12 Noon |
| Lunch | 03-Oct-25 | 12 Noon to 2.00 PM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 1 |
03-Oct-25 | 2.00 PM to 4.30 PM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 2 |
03-Oct-25 | 5.00 PM o 6.30 PM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 3 |
03-Oct-25 | 7.00 PM to 8.30 PM |
| Dinner | 03-Oct-25 | 8.30 PM to 9-30 PM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 4 |
04-Oct-25 | 9.00 AM to 11.00 AM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 5 |
04-Oct-25 | 11.30 AM to 1.00 PM |
| MetaRetreat Discussion Session 6 |
04-Oct-25 | 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM |
| Naivedyam | 04-Oct-25 | 4.30 PM to 5.30 PM |
| Reflections | 04-Oct-25 | 5.30 PM to 6.30 PM |
| Ramanashrama Discussion | 04-Oct-25 | 6.30 PM to 8.00 PM |
| Visit to Arunachala Shiva Temple | 05-Oct-25 | 5.00 AM to 8.00 AM |
| Break fast | 05-Oct-25 | 8.00 AM to 9.00 AM |
| Photo Session | 05-Oct-25 | 9.00 AM to 9.30 AM |
| MetaRetreat Synthesis | 05-Oct-25 | 9.30 AM to 11.00 AM |
| MetaRetreat Action Plan | 05-Oct-25 | 11.30 AM to 1.00 PM |
| Lunch | 05-Oct-25 | 1.00 PM to 2.00 PM |
| Departure | 05-Oct-25 | 2.00 PM |
About Shri. Mayank Ale
Mayank Ale, Director at the Foundation for Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Fellow at the Center for Embodied Knowledge, is a cultural ecologist devoted to sustaining indigenous traditions. Raised in Hyderabad, his journey from urban life to villages nurtured a passion for agro-ecological learning spaces where children engage with farming and crafts. Shaped by Kala Ashram’s immersive ethos, he emphasizes hands-on learning and ecological creativity. His fieldwork—on Telangana’s chain-lake systems and with the Burman community of Madhya Pradesh—showcases water wisdom, crafts, and farming as living knowledge. He fosters respectful, collaborative bridges between indigenous practices and sustainable futures.
About INDICA IKS MetaRetreats
INDICA IKS Meta-Retreats are immersive, intellectual journeys spanning 2-3 days with the principle quartet of Acharya-Ambience-Attitude-Aesthetics. It seeks to explore the past-present-future of a subject through its foundational principles and specific forms. It is guided by the presence of Acharyas – experts in guiding exploration of specific themes in an atmosphere of Shraddha. With a cohort of 12-15 participants, these retreats foster an Upanishadic spirit of learning through immersive dialogue in a setting reminiscent of a Gurukula both in terms of aesthetics and ambience.
The MetaRetreats are anchored by one member from within the cohort.
INDICA IKS MetaRetreats: Program Summary Reports of previous MetaRetreats
Launch of IKS MetaRetreats (First Four MetaRetreats)
The 5th IKS MetaRetreat Report: Making Sense of Cultural Differences
The 6th IKS MetaRetreat Report: Deconstruction and Reconstruction beyond Colonial Discourse
The 7th IKS MetaRetreat Report: Shakti – The Power Of Indic Feminine
The 8th IKS MetaRetreat Report: Indian Classical Dance – Beyond Proscenium
The 9th IKS MetaRetreat Report: “Indian Knowledge Systems – Imagining The Future
The 10th IKS MetaRetreat Report: Sacred Ecology : Hindu Perspectives On Future Environmentalism
The 11th IKS MetaRetreat Report – Indian Knowledge Systems In Management
The 11th IKS MetaRetreat – IKS in Management – Summary Vision Paper
The 12th IKS MetaRetreat Report – Transformative Pedagogy Exploring Hindu Learning Traditions
INDICA Event Announcements on our Website of the previous MetaRetreats
The 1st IKS Meta-Retreat Event: Towards A Self Conscious Nation – Indica Events
The 2nd IKS Meta-Retreat Event: Hinduism: The Hope Of Philosophy – Indica Events
The 3rd IKS Meta-Retreat Event: Oral Storytelling Traditions – The Road Ahead – Indica Events
The 4th IKS Meta-Retreat Event: Tech For Dharma, Tech With Dharma – Indica Events
The 5th IKS Meta Retreat Event: Making Sense Of Cultural Differences
The 6th IKS Meta Retreat Event: Deconstruction & Reconstruction: Beyond Colonial Discourse
The 7th IKS MetaRetreat Event: INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE – BEYOND PROSCENIUM
The 8th IKS Meta Retreat Event: Shakti – The Power Of Indic Feminine
The 9th IKS Meta Retreat Event: Indian Knowledge Systems – Imagining The Future
The 10th IKS MetaRetreat Event: Sacred Ecology – Hindu Perspectives On Future Environmentalism
The 11th IKS MetaRetreat Event: Indian Knowledge Systems In Management
The 12th IKS MetaRetreat: Transformative Pedagogy – Exploring Hindu Learning Traditions
The 13th IKS MetaRetreat: Safeguarding The Sacred Context Of Carnatic Classical Music
