Omega Institute for Holistic Studies

{{Short description|Non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, NY, US, founded in 1977}} {{Advert|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox organization |name = Omega Institute for Holistic Studies |logo = File:Omega Institute logo.png |logo_alt = Omega Institute logo |logo_size = 100px |image_alt = Omega Institute, Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY |image = Omega Institute, Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, New York.jpg |caption = Omega Institute, Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY |map =  |map_size =  |map_alt =  |map_caption =  |abbreviation = |formation = 1977 |extinction =  |type =  |status =  |purpose =  |headquarters = Rhinebeck, New York |location = United States |coordinates = {{coord|41.8856|N|73.8205|W|display=inline,title|region:US-NY}} |region_served = |num_members = |language =  |leader_title =  |leader_name =  |main_organ =  |parent_organization =  |affiliations =  |num_staff = |num_volunteers = |budget = |website = {{URL|https://www.eomega.org/}} |remarks = }}

thumb|Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) at Rhinebeck, New York. [[File:Ram Dass Library, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.jpg|thumb|Ram Dass Library, at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.]] thumb|Sanctuary (meditation hall) at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York. [[File:Pema chodron 2007.jpg|thumb|Pema Chodron at the Omega Institute, May 2007.]]

'''Omega Institute for Holistic Studies''' is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecumenical spirituality, today it offers classes to over 25,000 people a year, at the {{convert|190|acre|km2|adj=on}} campus.<ref name=pe/><ref>{{cite news |author=Healy |first=Mark |date=October 18, 2002 |title=HAVENS; The 'Bhajan Belt': Serenity in the Catskills |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/travel/havens-the-bhajan-belt-serenity-in-the-catskills.html?pagewanted=all |work=New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Omega Institute |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOwDAAAAMBAJ&q=Omega+Institute&pg=PA59 |date=Mar 1987 |publisher=Yoga Journal }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ricci |first=Jeanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTDJnHfrpOwC&q=Omega+Institute&pg=PA30 |title=Yoga Escapes: A Yoga Journal Guide to the Best Places to Relax, Reflect, and Renew |publisher=Celestial Arts |year=2003 |isbn=1-58761-187-2 |page=30}}</ref>

The institute's stated mission is to "provide hope and healing for individuals and society through innovative educational experiences that awaken the best in the human spirit". Omega’s workshops, conferences, and retreats aim to create dialogues on the integration of modern medicine and natural healing; connect science, spirituality, and creativity; and build the groundwork for new traditions and lifestyles.<ref>{{cite news |title=SEARCHING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL AT AN ADULT HEALING CAMP |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/21/nyregion/searching-for-the-holy-grail-at-an-adult-healing-camp.html |work=New York Times |date=August 21, 1989 | first=Ari L. | last=Goldman | access-date=May 20, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Combine vacation bliss with spiritual growth|author=Arthur Frommer|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/06/TRGG4I3IMK1.DTL |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503070852/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/06/TRGG4I3IMK1.DTL |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 3, 2006 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 6, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Find your bliss |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/03624768.asp |publisher=The Boston Phoenix |date=February 27 – March 4, 2004 |access-date=February 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227131437/http://bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/03624768.asp |archive-date=December 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History== In 1977, co-founders Stephan Rechtschaffen, author of ''Timeshifting,'' and Elizabeth Lesser, author of ''The Seeker’s Guide'' and ''New York Times'' best-selling ''Broken Open'', were inspired to create the Omega Institute by scholar and Eastern meditation teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.<ref>Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, ''Timeshifting: Creating More Time to Enjoy Your Life'' (New York: Main Street Books, 1997)</ref><ref name="seeker">Elizabeth Lesser. ''The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure'' (New York: Villard, 1999).</ref><ref>{{Cite news |year=2005 |title=Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/bestpaperadvice.html/ |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>Elizabeth Lesser. ''Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow'' (New York: Villard, 2005).</ref> The name “Omega” came from the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a 20th-century French philosopher and Jesuit priest who used the term “Omega Point” to describe the peak of unity and integration toward which all life is evolving. First established while Lesser and Rechtschaffen were staying at New Lebanon Shaker Village / The Abode of the Message, the center found a new home in 1980, moving to land that once housed the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute's Camp Boiberick, in the Hudson River Valley.<ref name="pe">{{Cite news |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=2007-02-28 |title=The Fringe, Now Embraced by Main Street |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/nyregion/28towns.html |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Omega Institute began its programming with several workshops and now holds more than 300 workshops in Rhinebeck, New York City, Costa Rica, and California.<ref name="rising">Andrea Birnbaum. “Omega Rising,” ''Hudson Valley Chronogram'' (September 2007), 34–36.</ref>

==Rhinebeck campus==

In 1982, Omega expanded from rented facilities in New York and Vermont to its current location on the former grounds of Camp Boiberik, a Yiddish camp, in Rhinebeck, New York.<ref>BBC Radio. "...Jane Little also visits the oldest new-age institute in the US," ''Americana'' (Episode 11, August 9, 2009).</ref> There are more than 100 buildings on the {{convert|250|acre|km2|adj=on}} campus, including a dining hall, café, and bookstore. Its buildings also include the Ram Dass Library, named for author Ram Dass who "has been a trusted guide to Omega". In honor of Dass' life’s work, the organization commissioned the library, which is designed in an eight-petal lotus blossom shape to represent Ram Dass’ service to public health, advancing social justice, and supporting spiritual development throughout the world.<ref name="seeker"/><ref name="rising" />

The campus also includes the {{visible anchor|Omega Center for Sustainable Living}} (OCSL), which is an education center powered by a 48.5 kW solar electric system and has a water reclamation facility.<ref>{{cite news |title=Omega seeks 'living building' status|url=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/07/17/Omega-seeks-living-building-status/UPI-66661247849291/tab-listen/ |publisher=United Press International |date=July 17, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Omega Institute Turns On America's First Zero-Impact "Living Building" |url=http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/alteris-4286/news/article/2009/08/omega-institute-turns-on-americas-first-zero-impact-living-building |date=August 24, 2009 |publisher=Renewable Energy World }}</ref>

The OCSL was one of the first two buildings in the world to be certified as "living" by the International Living Building Institute. The Omega Center for Sustainable Living is a wastewater filtration facility that is designed to use treated water for garden irrigation and in a greywater recovery system. Omega will use the system and the building as a teaching tool in their educational program designed around the ecological impact of their campus.

==Programs and faculty==

Omega’s educational programs include workshops, professional training, retreats, and conferences. Workshops are organized into six categories: body, mind, and spirit; health and healing; creative expression; relationships and family; leadership and work; and sustainable living.

New York City events have included speakers such as Al Gore, Christopher Reeve, and Eckhart Tolle. Annually, Omega hosts a yoga service conference, and the Omega Women’s Leadership Center offers a conference that includes speakers such as Eve Ensler, Isabel Allende, and Sally Field.<ref>Philip Weiss. “[https://observer.com/taxonomy/term/44347/feed/ Ram Dass Revival: Frail but Vibrant, He Gets a Library],” ''The New York Observer'' (October 6, 2002).</ref><ref>Stephanie Elizondo Griest. ''100 Places Every Woman Should Go'' (Palo Alto: Solas House, 2007), 149.</ref> Omega offers scholarships to a variety of workshops, training, conferences, and retreats.

Other Omega speakers and teachers have included Adyashanti, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Pema Chödrön, Jeanne Fleming, Jane Goodall, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Allen Ginsberg, Gloria Steinem, Pete Seeger, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Philip Glass, Betty Williams, Lon Milo DuQuette, and many others.

==Staff==

Omega has a core staff of 85 and a seasonal staff of more than 250.<ref>Lynn Behrendt. "Omega, All Grown Up", ''About Town'' (Fall 2007), 1,16.</ref> The core staff plan and develop the curriculum, marketing, and production for the season’s programs, and its seasonal staff manage and staff campus departments. Inspired by Ram Dass, Omega created a curriculum for Omega’s staff that includes classes designed to encourage self-development, mindfulness, and community service.<ref name="rising"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.eomega.org/}}

{{Subject bar |auto=1 |d=y |portal1=Education |portal2=New York (state) |portal3=United States |portal4=Biography}} {{Authority control|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omega Institute For Holistic Studies}} Category:1977 establishments in New York (state) Category:Buildings and structures in Dutchess County, New York Category:Companies based in Dutchess County, New York Category:Organizations established in 1977 Category:Rhinebeck, New York Category:Spiritual retreats Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)