Sister Jenna
DEDICATION
Sister Jenna is the founder and director of the Meditation Museum, a non-profit organization which has been active in Silver Spring, Maryland since 1997. It features interactive displays of various faith traditions and offers tailored training sessions providing tools for personal development. The Museum hosts a variety of conversations, workshops, special presenters and meditation sessions on a weekly basis which are attended by approximately 200 people per month. All course offerings are free to the public.
The workshops address challenges and concerns of residents of the community and offer suggestions to assist people in facing and resolving obstacles. Those who attend the Meditation Museum’s workshops and events reflect the diversity of the community with representatives of various races, ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious and spiritual traditions and ages ranging from teenagers to senior citizens. Additionally, it attracts residents from the local community as well as visitors to the Nation’s Capital from around the world.
In June, 2012, after acts of violence at the Gurudwar Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and the Aurora, Colorado shootings, Sister Jenna, noted that the country is in need of reflection, silence, meaning, and personal power, more than ever before. She then launched a nationwide initiative entitled “America Meditating” which aims to build a country that is a more peaceful and safe place and encourages people to set aside time each day to pause for inner self-reflection. As she often says, “A more peaceful individual equals a more peaceful world.” Events were held in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Bel Air, Maryland, and Hawaii.
Over the years, the Meditation Museum has been active in working with various non-profit organizations, interfaith communities, local and federal government, and scientific areas. For the past 16 years in the area, 14 citywide initiatives were launched and subsequently became global. The Museum has brought much attention to the importance of becoming a more value-based community with local and global trust and cooperation amongst all. Sister Jenna and the Meditation Museum are extraordinary and inspiring examples within our community.
A few years ago, a young man came to sell videos at the museum and although the Museum does not generally accept solicitations, they did on this occasion. After a month, the young man approached Sister Jenna, and shared that he was living out of his car. Sister Jenna arranged for him to stay in a lovely million dollar vacant home in Mclean, Virginia, for two years rent-free and worked closely with him to regain his self-confidence and make him marketable in the workforce. He eventually gained employment and moved to his own apartment. He is now independent, standing on his own feet and continues his studies at the Museum. The story here is that Sister Jenna has a tremendous heart. Over the past 14 years, proclamations have been issued from local and national government officials to recognize the Sister Jenna and the Meditation Museum for the commitment to serve humanity and work for positive change.
Submitted by Antonia
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COMMENTS
Sister Jenna has the gift of inspiring others thru her excellent ability to communicate in a loving, humours, manner...Her style appeals to many and here in Hollywood when we announce she is coming to town and will speak--the gathering of participants overflows. She is a blessing in so many lives.
Listening to Sr Jenna is charging up our mind' battery and becoming more aware of ourselves internally ! Purity and positivity experienced!
You can look outside and search for something out there, read books, get on the internet and never really change your direction. Sister Jenna is a special soul who knows true change has to come from the inside. She is as real as it gets and serves society worldwide. It is an honor to be touched by her presence.
Walk up the stairs to the Meditation Musuem, at each and ever step you will see spiritual principles and a clear explanation of what that principle looks like in everyday application. As, a former teacher , I can appreciate the absolute need for a student to have a strong character to be able to achieve and live a full life. These principles are empowering as they require only our participation. Sister Jenna talks about world peace and how to promote it. She says - "Be peaceful yourself" and thus become a positive influence to others. It has been said by many that the greatest achievement any of us can obtain is to "be our true self" . Take that idea , and connect it to being in touch with our Creator and you have a mighty person, someone who could actually achieve world peace, someone like Sister Jenna. She is unshakable in her believe in these principles, so she attracks like minded people. She is a peaceful soul and you can actually "feel it" when she walks into a room.
I have known Sister Jenna over the past ten years. Sister Jenna has proven herself to be an extraordinary and inspiring example within our community due to her mission to help others find their inner power, self-esteem, and wisdom to lead the community and world from within, On many occasions, I asked Sister Jenna to participate in numerous conferences and workshops that promote positive awareness, change, and solutions, while I worked as the Strategic Planner for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon and also as the Workforce Policy Advisor to the Commandant at the Coast Guard in Washington, DC. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded Sister Jenna numerous commendation awards for her outstanding contributions and support of the Coast Guard’s military and civilian workforce. She created an inspiring Stress Management Meditation CD that benefited the entire workforce. Sister Jenna was inducted as an honorary member of ‘Team Coast Guard” in June 2103. Her spiritual leadership in a city like Washington, D.C. has yielded meaningful relationships for personal, local, and global change. Sister Jenna is a dynamic communicator and has special ability to establish and maintain excellent working relationships with all echelons of personnel in cross-cultural and diverse environments. She relates well with all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization. She has the unique talent to influence and empower others, and she builds constructive relationships with members of the community as evidenced by her unique ability to organize hundreds of volunteers to assist with the planning and execution of major events. Sister Jenna’s personal center of influence attracts a global network of accomplished leaders and innovators across diverse corporate multi-cultural environments. Sister Jenna is a committed to excellence in improving the lives of all humanity. Sister Jenna is the recipient of President Obama's National Community Service Award. I know of no one more inspiring and life-changing than Sister Jenna.