INTRODUCTION
When was the last time you paused to observe what was going on within you and around you?
We wake up and check our phones every morning instead of collecting ourselves and delighting the onset of a new day.
Our relations increasingly lack connection as we seek validation from distracting social scenes streaming from our phones.
Authentic needs become displaced with externally validated wants.
And clarity of who we genuinely are blurs as we merge with the external chatter instead of centering within the internal calm.
Against the backdrop of the scintillating noise – how do we internally still so that we are truly AT ONE with ourselves?
It is only at stillness that we rise into awareness of ourselves.
It is with self-awareness that our clarity surfaces.
And it is with clarity that we become AT ONE with ourselves.
The internal grounding creates authentic external relationships as we relate from a place of authenticity. As we experience deeper relationships, the mindset shifts from “I” to “We.”
DEDICATION
In this era of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), only by firmly committing ourselves to global cooperation can we promote human sustainable development.
Created in China by an international fourth-generation family business owner, OCTAVE Institute is dedicated to such global cooperation by celebrating Chinese culture in a modern way as OCTAVE Institute integrates cultural concepts of East/ West and ancient/modern wisdom. Through modern Chinese culture, we help people reach clarity within themselves and to extend this self-harmony into external relationship with others around them.
In the 21st century, globalization, technology and sustainability challenges will continue to be the focus. Embedded in these challenges is a unique opportunity for humanity to create and evolve. For this, there must be collaboration at the global level and a new global world view, a world view about integration and moving towards Oneness.
OCTAVE Institute is the manifestation of Oneness. The philosophy of OCTAVE Institute is built upon the integration of Eastern wisdom and Western science. SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute, as the location of the AT ONE International Festival and the AT ONE International Conference is the distillation of decades of reflection on world harmony and an expression of a world view where evolution is supported and consciousness can shift to embrace wholeness and connectedness.
Venue
SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute is based in the immersive ex-urban retreat spread over 189,000 square meters of lakefront peninsula on Suzhou’s Yang Cheng Lake. SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute is only 15 minutes away from downtown Suzhou and a short 1-hour jaunt from cosmopolitan Shanghai. It is a place for mindful learning designed to enhance your connections with yourself, with others and with nature.
SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute is the distillation of decades of reflection by OCTAVE Institute’s Founder & CEO Chavalit Fred Tsao and is viewed by him as “an expression of a world-view where evolution is supported, and where consciousness can shift to embrace wholeness and connectedness.”
SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute is an integrated complex of wellness residences and learning facilities consciously created by master architect Calvin Tsao to be the embodiment of a vision of how such a community might work. One of the spaces within SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute - The Sanctuary - has won numerous architectural awards for its stunning design, elaborate interiors and exteriors, including UK Blueprint Awards, 2017 APIDA, and the A&D Trophy Awards.
Built with natural materials, OCTAVE Institute’s aesthetics and design choices for SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute re-think the whole idea of space utilization, reconsidering the balance between personal space and communal space, to create a greater sense of closeness, of community.
