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

Vilayat Inayat Khan

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, was the eldest son of Sufi Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International. Pir Zia Inayat Khan is Pir Vilayat's son and successor as Pir of the Sufi Order International...

 and his ecumenical spirituality, today it offers classes to over 25,000 people a year, at the 190 acre (0.7689034 km²) campus.

Its 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.

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, say they were inspired to create the Omega Institute by scholar and Eastern meditation teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. The name “Omega” came from the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere...

, a 20th-century French philosopher and Jesuit priest who used the term “Omega Point

Omega point

Omega Point is a term coined by the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving....

” 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

Mount Lebanon Shaker Village

The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a historic site associated with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. Founded as a communal group in the 1780s, the Shakers located their central Ministry in New Lebanon, New York, USA, and built a village that eventually covered several thousand...

, then in 1980 it found a new home at a land which once housed the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute's Camp Boiberick, in the Hudson River Valley.

Omega Institute began its programming with several workshops, and now holds more than 300 workshops in Rhinebeck, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, and California.

Rhinebeck, New York 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. There are more than 100 buildings on the 195 acre (0.7891377 km²) campus, including a dining hall, café, and bookstore. Its buildings also include the Ram Dass

Ram Dass

Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...

 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 symbolize the unfolding of divine energy intended to represent Ram Dass’ service to public health, advancing social justice, and supporting spiritual development throughout the world.

The campus also includes the 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.
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 the treated water for garden irrigation and in a grey water 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 trainings, retreats, conferences, and a teen camp. Workshops are organized into six categories: body, mind, and spirit; health and healing; creativity and play; relationships and family; leadership and community; and sustainable living.

New York City events have included speakers such as Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

, Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...

, and
Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle is a German-born Canadian resident, best known as the author of the The Power of Now and A New Earth, which were written in English. In 2011, he was listed by the Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world...

. Annually, Omega hosts a yoga conference, and the Women’s Institute at Omega offers a conference that has included speakers such as Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler is an American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, best known for her play The Vagina Monologues.- Personal life :...

, Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...

, and Sally Field

Sally Field

Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...

. Omega offers scholarships to a variety of its workshops, trainings, conferences, and retreats.

Other Omega speakers and teachers have included Adyashanti

Adyashanti

Adyashanti , is an American spiritual teacher from the Bay Area who gives regular satsangs in the United States and also teaches abroad...

, Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...

, Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...

, Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön is a notable American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage which Trungpa founded....

, Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall

Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...

, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Ram Dass

Ram Dass

Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...

, Thich Nhat Hanh, Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

, Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...

, Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. is an American radio host, activist, and attorney specializing in environmental law. He is the third of eleven children born to Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and is the nephew of John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy...

, Philip Glass

Philip Glass

Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...

, Betty Williams

Betty Williams

Elizabeth or Betty Williams may refer to:* Betty Williams , the Nobel Peace Prize recipient from Northern Ireland* Betty Williams , a Welsh Labour Party politician and MP...

, Lon Milo DuQuette

Lon Milo Duquette

Lon Milo DuQuette, AKA Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford, is an American writer, lecturer, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism.-Early life:...

 and others.

Staff

Omega has a core staff of 85 and a seasonal staff of more than 250. 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 curriculm for Omega’s staff that includes classes designed to encourage self-development, mindfulness, and community service.

External links

• eOmega.org
• Elizabeth Lesser articles at Oprah.com