Vedanta Sandesh - Aug 2012

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission Year 19

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Issue 2

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission Aug 2012 : Year 19 / Issue 2 Editor: Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

Published by International Vedanta Mission http://www.vmission.org.in vmission@gmail.com

In This Issue

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Message of P. Guruji Atma Bodha Letter Gita Reflections Jivanmukta Story Section VM News VM Activities Album VM Programs

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5 6-7 9 10-11 13 15 16 17 18-19 21

from Poojya Guruji

Holistic Living Holistic Living is living fully, whether it is with reference to using our faculties, our potential, our opportunities and most importantly our identity. It is the way to true freedom and lasting fulfillment. A person with insight into this amazing art of living is indeed a blessed person. Not only that person is blessed but whatever the field of his/her activity is, that too becomes blessed by the presence of such a person, and the whole society and the world at large too, at large, gets blessed by such people and their Karma's. Holistic Living is the essence of Karma Yoga. Bhagwad Gita through its teachings of Karma Yoga teaches us this amazing art of karma & living. While such a person does get blessed by all the more freedom & fulfillment, but interestingly neither of these is their real motivation. Freedom & Fulfillment come naturally and effortlessly to such people. His goal is something subjective. The success and failure with respect to worldly results thus never deters them from their challenges & work. Whenever the motivations are worldly, then these worldly factors will definitely influence our minds - positively or negatively. Whoever gets influenced and buffeted by any worly situations whatsoever, then such people are susceptible to be broken and influenced. Equanimity in 'all' situations is the secret of success & fulfillment. Such people live like a lotus flower in the water, remaining in water yet remaining untouched too, and at the same time blooming to incomparable beauty.

The Art of Holistic Living is basically based on the Law of Karma, which very clearly states that our actions alone are responsible for all the subsequent results we get in life. There is no other factor, as such we need to focus just on making our actions beautiful & inspired. At times we do see some people getting results which they neither worked for nor deserve too, yet Law of Karma uncompromisingly sticks to its principles and explains that such situations are due to their past actions, but they alone did something to get what they are getting now. Believing in Law of Karma implies making everyone the masters of their future, makers of their own destiny. The first aspect of Holistic Living is about making all our actions fully integrated. The word Holistic implies whole, whole lot of our faculties. Every action involves the role of our body, senses, mind and intellect, in fact it calls for pouring out our whole being for it. When this is the nature of our application, then alone it is truly called as our karma. This is something to be taught to everyone. There is deligent training involved for all this. It is an amazing experience to live any moment of our life fully - meaning a given moment, not only with our body & sense organs, but also our mind & intellect, completely. Living with the proverbial heart & soul. That is called as integrated or holistic living. That moment becomes a living, dynamic & vibrant moment. Such moments alone are our memorable moments. So we definitely need a healthy body, vibrant senses, and above all an inspired & dedicated mind, and of course an intelligent & educated intellect. When any person with such faculties dedicates his/her self in any work, then not only the end is beautiful, but the whole journey too is very enjoyable. Thats complete living.

For Holistic Living it is basically the complete availability of our mind & intellect which matters most. This is possible only when there is proper & valid self-knowledge. A person with a superficial identity cannot afford to keep aside all the anxieties of future or even regrets & achievements of past. Very rarely they live in present, and even when they do, they live with attachments & aversions. Proper Self-Knowledge helps us to live fully in our present moments, without any anxieties, attachments or fears. It is this subjetive goal which inspires such people to live every moment fully & holistically.

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Swamini Samatananda

Individuality is Illusory In the previous sloka the Acharya clarified an implied question whether the awakening in the Real Self takes place as soon as knowledge is brought about or after having gained complete knowlege? It was thus explained how the Supreme manifests itself as soon as ignorance is swept away by knowledge.

In the following sloka it is revealed that although the Atman ever exists as the very Self, yet it appears nonexistent due to ignorance. When the ignorance is destroyed it is as though attained. It also implies the discrimination between the means and the goal. The Atman being ever-existent only needs to be reveiled by bringing about its awareness in its true essence. It is not to be attained as an object by performing any actions or other sadhanas.

45 Sthanau purushavadbhrantya krita brahmani jeevata Jeevasya taatvike rupe tasmin drishte nivartate Sthanau:in the pillar or post; purushavad: like man; bhrantya: by illusion; krita: superimposed; brahmani: in brahman; jeevata: the state of jiva; jeevasya tatvike rupe: when the real nature of jiva; tasmin: in that; drsihte: seen; nivartate: disappears.

The State of Jivahood is superimposed on Brahman on account of illusion, as the form of man is superimposed on that of the post, but disappears when the real form of Jiva is seen in it. (Brahman)

Sthanau purushavadbhrantya In the quest for truth Vedanta reveals that it is ignorance and misapprehension that brings about the existence of the Jiva, who is an imaginary entity. Whenever there is ignorance the mind can never co-exist and accept the state of total ignorance. Hence, ignorance is always followed by misapprehension, an imagination that reaches some conclusion or the other about something, and ironically one pays a heavy price for his or her own imaginary conclusions. This principle is explained here with an example wherein the Acharya says that just as sometimes in the thick darkness a post is mistaken for the form of a man. When the post is mistaken for a man, the story doesn’t end there, we start anticipating that is it just a human figure who is a thief or is it a ghost. We suddenly remember

a neighbour saying that a man was murdered here and since then his soul has not rested in peace and his ghost has been haunting the place for revenge.

And all sorts of fears and anxiety start dancing the tandav in our mind. We start planning various protective means for something that does not exist. A world of fear and its management comes into existence, which has no real basis and existence. It is just a play of our mind.

Krita brahmani jeevata: Similarly in our life too in utter ignorance and misapprehension a human being superimposes the Jiva on the essentail nature of the Self; i.e. Brahman.

The existence of a Jiva is a state of mind. Merely the

Vedanta Sandesh

form of a human being does not imply the existence of a Jiva. Jiva is an imaginary existence of the ‘I’ borne out of the wrong identification with the body, mind and intellect.

This identification is not only a false notion of the ‘I’ but it reflects a self centric ego with a sense of lack within. A sense of lack that brings about a sense of doership and enjoyership opening the doors to samsara which is continuous seeking. All the pains and insecurity are the consequene of this sense of lack within and continuous seeking. Nothing in the world, no objects, no people, no relationship, no experience can give us that permanent bliss that a jiva is seeking. In fact the funny thing about the jiva and the world is that the Jiva is imaginary and all the means that a Jiva adopts for fulfillment, too are imaginary and have no real existence. Hence this trip just goes on and on. The only way to break this cycle of seeking is by seeing the imaginary nature of one’s manifested form, by seeing the imaginary nature of the world and its experiences and also seeing the truth of the Self as the substratum of all this illusionary existence. This is further explained in the next part of the sloka.

2) The projecting power(Vikshep shakti): This is the creative power that projects the entire world of names and forms. It cannot do so without the veiling power. As in the example the ignorance of the post should precede the projection of the human form or the ghost.

In the process of gaining knowledge these two obstacles are handled. The tendency to project something is negated by taking a step forward and gaining the authentic knowledge. Instead of imagining a ghost or a human form, it is more wise to go and gain first hand knowledge and unveil the ignorance of the post.

Likewise the understanding of the self as the body, mind and intellect is a projection of the mind based on the igorance of the Real nature of the Self. The scriptures quiten the mind of its tendency to imagine things, they inspire one to question the very imagined understanding of the Self and by a systematic study the scriptures reveal the real self.

Jeevasya taatvike rupe: On seeing the truth of this Jiva the existence of this imaginary Self is negated. The existence of the Jiva is like the imaginary existence of the snake on the rope. The snake has no existence but yet it appears to be. From the standpoint of Truth there is no world, yet we experience it. This is the power of Maya, which shows that which doe not have any real existence. Infact if one was to trace the substratum, the truth of the Self one should understand the role of Maya, the one who bring about the illusionary existence of the world. Maya has two powers: 1) The veiling power (avaran shakti): This is of the nature of ignorance which veils the truth. Just like I am not awrae of the reality of the post I project the form of a man on it. In life as a whole I am ignorant about the true nature of the Self and therefore the consequent misapprehension of the Self which is the other power of Maya the projecting power.

Tasmin drishte nivartate: The reality of the human form is nothing but the post, on seeing this truth the imagined human form on the post is as though dropped. This is unfolded when one contemplates on that which is illusionary, by discriminating between the real and ureal. In the process of discrimination one not only discovers that which is illusionary but is able to see the fact that there is a substratum which is the Reality and that alone supports even our imaginations and it is this reality of the Self which exists ireespective of the exstence of any manifested forms or not. One needs to realise that all our identities we have about ourself and the world are relative whereas there is another realm of the Self which is ever existent, pure and blissful. Discovering this all the illusions are dropped.

Tsj!Lsjtiob!Kbonbtiubnj!Hsffujoht!up!Bmm Gitacharya Bhagwan Sri Krishna manifested on Ashtami day some 5150 years back in the Krishna Paksh of the month of Savan. He re-established the Dharma by his amazing knowledge of Gita by which we can easily discern ‘What is Dharma’?

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Story of an Ant One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather across my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour. At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way.

I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God’s smallest creatures. It served to reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents of this planet, also shares human failings. After some time the ant finally reached its destination – a flower bed at the end of the terrace and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down that small hole? Of course it couldn’t. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.

The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end the feather was nothing more than a burden.

Isn’t life like that! We worry about our family, we worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens – the things we pick up along life’s path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to find that at the destination they are useless and we can’t take them with us.

Vedanta Sandesh

Handling Petty Talks

Letter of the Month

‘Our

minds

are like a mandir, and they need to be kept accordingly pure & beautiful. In such a heart alone we can invoke & consecrate God. .

- Poojya Guruji

Hari om !

Thanks for your kind mail and all the information. Now that you have told me just forget about all the loose talk and let your mind be empty now. Our minds are like a mandir, and they need to be kept accordingly - pure & beautiful. In such a heart alone we can invoke & consecrate God. Dont let your mind be corrupted by any petty talks of anyone. What others say & think is their discretion, and not the truth, it just reveals their conditionings & perceptions. When it comes to truth, we always go at the feet of our Guru’s and learn with an open mind. Daivi qualities & noble thoughts alone help us to keep our minds good & pure. So dare to keep aside all other thoughts and revel in that which will help you to live an enlightened and fulfilled life.

Learn from Arjuna and dare to part ways with even close relatives if they are on wrong path, it is better to live alone than to be a party to all the petty rubbish that just keeps the terrible dream of samsar going. To wake up you need all the strength at your command to firmly reject all products of ignorance.

You alone are the master of your life, and have to live it as per your swadharma and as per the directions of shastras & your Guru, and not by prescriptions of those who are themself ignorant & deluded. Let the world call you anything, we should not even bother to react, what to talk of respond. This alone is the secret of the quality of Samattvam. If the preference of others is to see the vikaras of mind alone then let it be their freedom, you aim for something more fundamental and see the intrinsic divinity, the timeless transcendental truth as our and also the truth of all. If seeing, talking & thinking of petty things was of any help whatsoever, then we would have prescribed this to others too, but the truth is that all the petty & loose talk is like a merry go round, you are on an endless trip, wasting your time, energy, and thus the life. So just learn to ignore all such people, however close they maybe.

I remember once someone asked my Gurudev about who he is, and the reply was that 'My dear, if you really want to know about me, then please study Upanishads.

They reveal my truth, which is incidently your truth too'. Our pains are not because why someone thinks and says stupid things, but that we continue to expect great things from people who dont even know how to behave in a cultured way. Lets leave all that to God and to those people themself. They prefer to learn the hard way. All such people will definitely suffer much more than what they are going through right now, then alone they ‘may’ realize the baselessness & futility of their ways & means.

Pain & grief is definitely a great teacher, but indeed a very hard & harsh one, now what can we do if someone prefers such teachers alone :). If you are their wellwisher then just pray that they quickly learn good things at the earliest with minimum possible pain.

Lots of love & om, Guruji

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by

The uniqueness of the ‘Birth’ and ‘Karma’ of Avatara Purusha

Swamini Samatananda

Janma Karma cha me Divyam The incarnation of God or taking an Avatar is a unique feature of Sanatan Dharma. Incarnation of God on earth is not the birth of the Supreme being like an ordinary mortal. But it is the manifestation of the Lord himself at the level of an earthly being with all his glory of knowledge and power, by invoking his own Maya Shakti.

Incarnations of God appear for special reasons under special circumstances.

Whenever unrighteousness overpowers righteousness and creates chaos in society, whenever individual and selfcentric attitude takes over and crushes under its feet the welfare of living beings in totality, shaking up the very foundations of a dharmic order, God takes an incarnation to re-establish righteousness, restore peace and bring about the holistic welfare of mankind. Sri Krishna is an avatara of Lord Vishnu who came to re-establish the dwindling order of Dharma.

In the Gita Sri Krishna says “Janma karma cha me divyam-My Birth and Actions both are divine, Oh Arjuna, and the one who understands the secrets of my divine birth and action, such a person on leaving this body is freed from the cycle of birth and death.”

The Divinity of Sri Krishna’s Birth: Although all beings are basically the Supreme Brahman but due to ignorance of their true self they are born and die of the sense of limitation and are also compelled to live a life of a limited being constantly seeking from the outside world. When a person is born with the bondage of ignorance, he is not called an avatar or an incarnation, but an incarnation of God has some unique features which excude freedom of will, blissful and compassionate expression of the universal divinity. When the Lord takes on an embodiment, his birth is not a result of ignorance and seeking. As a matter of truth the Lord is unborn and changeless in nature. But being a Master over matter, and keeping his Maya perfectly under his control, he comes into the world as per his own free will. All the time he is here he is aware of his divine nature i.e. he lives as a self contented person ,complete within himself and by himself, reflecting naturaly the attributes of a Man of Steady wisdom. Unlike ordinary mortals Bhagavan is not bound by samskars or conditionings of the mind. He may do something if he so wishes to do it, he may not do something if he does not wish to do so or he may do otherwise. His actions are an expression of his perfect freedom excuding his nature of pure bliss and contentment. He manifests with all the knowledge of the true self.

This alone is the meaning of being incarnated.

Knowing this secret of the Lord’s birth is being able to see the fact that basically one’s true nature is beyond birth and death. It is when we are not able to see and appreciate this fact of life that we identify ourselves with the physical body and come to see our selves as taking birth and dying. As long as we identify our Self with the body, mind and intellect we will go through and suffer birth, growth, changes, decay and death, not only in one birth but it will become a never ending trip for us until we

VedantaSandesh Sandesh- Mar - April 2009 Vedanta 2012

Vedanta Sandesh

come to see the Truth that Real Self is not the body and the mind, but it is that which is beyond the limitations of time and space. This rveals a very liberating fact that taking up a form is not a bondage by itself. Bondage is not being able to see the facts of the names and forms and conidering them as the only reality. Infact when one has the right knowledge of the Self, of the manifested form of the objective world, its creator etc, taking form becomes a blessing. So many saints and ardent devotees of God like to revel in the human form so that they can revel in devotion or live for the welfare of mankind. When Lord Sri Ram felt it was the time to wrap up his mortal existence and leave the human form, then everyone went with him but Hanumanji expressed his desire to stay back on the earth until this creation existed so that he could revel in the devotion to Lord Rama. Hanumanji was not just a devotee but he was a person of knowledge who was aware of the reality of life and the Self. In this manner not only does he revel in devotion but he is the ultimate role model of devotion and selfless service to God. Such is the beauty of knowing the secret of the incarnation of God.

O Arjuna, and the one who understands the secrets of my divine birth and action, such a person on leaving this body is freed from the cycle of birth and death.

- Sri Krishna in Gita Chap 4

The Diviity of Sri Krishna’s Actions: Similarly knowing the secret of Sri Krishna’s actions is being able to discover freedom in Action or discover the non-doer within. As Sri Krishna says that I am the creator of the four Varnas and yet know me as the one who is not the doer of anything.

Lord Krishna was great in knowledge, great in emotion, great in action, all at once.

The scriptures have not recorded any life more full, more intense, more sublime and grander than the life of Sri Krishna. Krishna has played various roles during His stay in the world. He was Arjuna’s charioteer. He was an excellent statesman. The music of His flute thrilled the hearts of the Gopis and everyone else. He was a cowherd in Brindavan and Gokul.

He killed many demons.

He revealed His Comic Form to His mother, Yasoda. He performed the Rasa Lila, the secret of which can only be understood by devotees like Narada, Gauranga, Radha and the Gopis. He taught the supreme Truth of Yoga, Bhakti and Vedanta to Arjuna and Uddhava. Infact in and through the entire life of Sri Krishna the unique message we get is that living in this world and being embodied by itself is not an obstacle in awakening in total fulfillment and neither is it an obstacle in living in total fulfillment. One learns the message of how being in this very world one can transcend the limitations of time and space. Infact this is the main message of the incarnation of the Lord. The Incarnation of Ishwara comes to reveal the divine nature of man and makes him rise above the sense of a limited individual being, who lives a life of ignorance and misunderstanding.

In Sanatan Dharma the feature of incarnation reveals a highly significant principle of of liberation here and now. By his own manifestation in an ordinary form the Lord sets the perfect example that even if a person is born in an ordinary mortal form yet he can live a life that reflects the ultimate state of fulfillment and bliss. Life expresses itself with bountiful joy to serve and live for others instead of living like an an unfulfilled, limited individual who continuously strives to fill his empty cup by the endless seeking of external pleasures.

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Quotes It is not that people stop smiling when they grow old, but the fact is that people look old when they stop smiling.

Flowers blosson even when there is no one to admire their beauty, let’s continue our good work even if nobody recognizes it.

The truth about a human tongue- It takes three years to learn how to use it, but it takes a life time to learn when and where to use it!

Don’t get upset with people or situations, they are powerless without your reactions.

Work for a ‘Cause’ and not for applause. Live life to express and not to impress, don’t strive to make your presence noticed but make your absence felt.

Extending one hand to help somebody has more value than joing two hands for prayer.

A seed makes no noise while growing, but a tree makes a huge noise while falling. Destruction shouts but creation is always quite.

Some people enjoy the best that life has to offer, not because good things come their way, but because they find good in evertything that comes their way.

Vedanta Sandesh

Wandering in Himalayas Vision of a Jivanmukta

Devotees of Truth have a holy resort in Rishikesh. Here on the beautiful banks of the sacred Ganga, sorrounded by the grand solitude of the Himalayan forests, are found people in various ashramas of life, and holy men passing their days in the persuit of Truth.

Starting from the famous Hardwar and threading one’s way through the dense Himalayan jungles for 14 miles in a northerly direction, one reaches Rishikesh, a charming spot. O all sides it is sorrounded by the rich greenery of tropical forests. To the east and north are mountains of imposing appearance, such as Mt. Manikutam. Close by meanders the broad, blue sparkling Ganga.

2 Excerpts from the

Travel Memoirs of Param Poojya Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

Every feature of the landscape here tends to invest the place with Divine beauty. According to the local tradition, the place derives its name from the fact that an ancient Rishi, Raibhya by name, made himself master of his senses (Rishikesh) here. The place is also called Kubj-amraka, “ Land of the Bent Mango Tree.” That name was given to it according to another tradition which says that Lord Vishnu made himself visible to Rishi Raibhya on the branch of a mango tree whicih bent under the Divine weight.

Whatever the origin of these names, it is certain that this place has been a favourite resort of great sages from time immemorial. Here are still the hermitages of Rajarshis like Shree Ramchandra, Laxmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.

Besides the ancient Rishis it appears that in the middle ages holy men like Sri Shankara and Shree Ramanuja spent much of their time in this region in study and meditation.

It is no wonder that such a sacred place should remain to this day the resort of saintly men who have severed all connections on God. Until a few years ago, what with the inaccessibility of the region and the lack of food supplies, only a few hermits, living on fruits and roots and bent upon finding God, took up their permanent abode here. Due to the exertions of devotees (bhaktas) devoted to serving holy men, most of the hardships disappeared and the region became accessible as well as habitable. Still more recently the the rising tempo of life has effected revolutions even in these mountain tracts.

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Holistic Living is to live Completely In every field of experience there is always a very wide spectrum of possibilities waiting for you to be explored and experienced. The choice of field is yours, but be aware of the inherent pottential, depths and possibilities in that field. Never be under this notion that you know everything about your field. Very humbly widen the spectrum of your knowledge and experiences comtinuously. Inspite of all the wisdom and knowledge in the world the researchers go into further potential and possibilities of everything. Whether it is the artists, industry, economists or house wives, sky is the limit for someone looking forward to being a true master of his field or her field.

It is one world, and everything is interconnected. No field can be isolated, and thus in order to really know one thing fully you need to also go into the whole life as such. having known lots and lots about the ‘objects’ around please see that this is one half the possible knowledge. The other half of any field of any experience is the ‘subject’, so do not ignore that too. Always inspire to live a complete life.

Vedanta Sandesh

King Durgam and Vedas Story Section

Durgam, the king of the demons once asked his minister, "why is it that the gods are always able to win over us? They must have secret powers."

on p u e Onc me ... a ti

He replied, "The gods have the knowledge of Vedas which gives them great powers."

Durgam decided to get the Vedas and performed a long Tapasya. When Brahma appeared, he requested him to make him the protector of the Vedas. But instead of protecting them, he took and hid them in patal-lok (netherworld).

The yajnas performed with the help of the Vedas used to help the gods and sages became old and weak. On earth, drought and famine occurred because no yajnas were performed to cause rain.

There was death and destruction everywhere. Terrified, the gods went to Vishnu for help. He asked them to worship Jagatmata Ma Bhagwati gave them a leaf, it rained on earth and prosperity was restored.

Then Ma Bhagwati formed ten goddesses - Kali, Tara, Chinnamastaka, Shrividya, Bhubaneswari, Bhairavi, Bagula, Dhrumra, Tripura, and Matangi from her body. With these goddesses she attacked Durgam and defeated him. The Vedas were restored to the gods and sages.

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Wfeboub!Njttjpo ' Wfeboub!Btisbn Ofxt

Vedanta Sandesh

Hvsv!Qppsojnb!bu!Wfeboub!Btisbn; Guru Poornima was celebrated at Vedanta Ashram with great enthusiasm, fervor and devotion on the 3rd of July. The day started with the puja of Bhagwan Sri Sankaracharya and then of all the teachers of our Guru Parampara, whose altar was nicely made & decorated. Thereafter Sh Dinesh Soni, of Jodhpur represented everyone to do the Paad-Puja of Poojya Guruji. Poojya Guruji later gave a short discourse to all the devotees that all our Gurus basically give us a unique adhaytma vidya which helps us get over our abhiman, one should go to a guru only for this divine knowledge. Later there was a Bhandara for all, and the flow of devotees continued till late night.

Wfeboub!Btisbn!Ofxt; Poojya Guruji contiues to give daily discourses on the Mundakopanishad. We elaborately discussed the Guru-Parampara, the personality and the question of Shaunaka, and now the answer of the Guru - Rishi Angira has been started.

The Kathopanishad classes by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji for the senior citizen group concluded this month. All the students conducted a Rudrabhisheka at the Ashram Mandir to express their gratitude to God for all the great knowledge. Poojya Swamini Poornanandaji guided everyone to conduct the puja. After this the study of Panchadashi has been started.

On 15th July, Sunday, there was a chanting session of Sunderkand at the Ashram,

by Sh Gulab Chand Vyasa and his Ramayana party. They started at 4.00 PM and continued till 10.00 PM with a Bhajan session too.

The monsoons are in full swing now, and the lakes are almost full now.

Ipmjtujd!Mjwjoh!Qsphsbn!bu!Binfebcbe; A special three days session of Holistic Living by Poojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji was organized by Samutkarsh Academy at Ahmedabad from 27th to 29th July. Initially the program was was registered delagates, but due to the swelling rush was opened to all. In three days Poojya Guruji had nice hours of discourses etc. Two sessions of 90 mins per day with a short tea break in between.

The Chairman of the Academy Sh Surendra Patel, MP, welcomed Poojya Guruji with garland and Sh Haresh Patel the Secretary of the Academy welcomed all. Sh Subrata Bannerjee HOD, Holistic Living Dept, introduced Poojya Guruji to the audience. Poojya Guruji devoted four sessions to the detailed exposition of the Four Purusharthas, which represented all the possible goals of human beings, and devoted one session for Holistic Living Meditation, and the lasst one was of feedback and question-answers. Everyone enjoyed the program thoroughly and many more programs are already in the offing. Poojya Guruji returend to Ashram on 30th morning.

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Hvsv!Qppsojnb!Dfmfcsbujpot

Tvoefslboe!Diboujoh

Svesbcijtiflb

Vedanta Sandesh

Check out the detailed Photo Albums of the various functions on VM News Blog at : http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/

July 2012

Ipmjtujd!Mjwjoh!Ubmlt-!Binfebcbe

Kibolj’t!pg!Hbohftixbs!Nbibefw!po!Tbwbo!Tpnwbs’t

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20 Years of Vedanta Mission Vedanta Mission started in Mumbai in 1992 with a grand Gita Gyana Yagna at Patwardhan Park. The organizer wwas an old devotee of Poojya Guruji Sh Mangaram Wadhwani, who has since expired. Thereafter there were series of GGY at Arya Vidya Mandir, and it was at that time the foundation of Vedanta Mission was laid.

Its been a long journey since and many Gita Gyana Yagnas, Sadhana Camps, Seminars, Workshops, Study Groups, Cultural Programs etc have been organized since then. Two Charitable Trusts were formed. Ancient Indian Cultural Trust and then the Indian Cultural Foundation. A core group of devotees have been managing the activities with great devotion & enthusiasm.

VM Mumbai has decided to ceelebrate the occaion with all enthusiasm it deserves. In Dec 2012 special celebrations are being organized, which include: 1. Organizing a grand cultural event ‘Sufiyana’ at Maniksabha Gruh 2. Organizing a grand Gita Gyana Yagna at Vivekananda Auditorium at Ramkrishna Mission Ashram Complex.

3. Releasing of a Souvenir Special fund drives are being organized, special brochures are being published and effforts are being made to involve as many people as possible. For more information pl contact: Mr Mohan Lala c/o Elite Builders, 12th Road Khar (W), Mumbai Email: indcul.foundation@gmail.com / Mb: 9820027141

Vedanta Sandesh

Forthcoming Sri Krishna Janmashtami, Indore: Sri Krishna Janmashtami will be celebrated at Vedanta Ashram on 10th Aug. The celebrations will start in the morning with the Chanting of Bhagwad Gita by all the Ashramites and devotees. Later in the evening from 9.00 PM till midnight will be the main program.

Vedanta Camp, Indore: A week-long Vedanta Camp is being organized at Vedanta Ashram, Indore from 11th to 17th Aug, just after Sri Krishna Janmashtami on 10th Aug. The subject matter of the discourse series will be Sri Ram Gita of Adhyatma Ramayana.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow: A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji will be conducted at Hari om Mandir, Lucknow from 7th to 13th Oct 2012. The evening discourse will conclude on 13th evening, and the morning one on 14th.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow: A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji will be conducted at Hanuman Setu Mandir, Lucknow from 17th to 23rd Nov 2012.

‘Sufiyana’ Cultural Program, Mumbai: On 9th Dec a big Cultural Event will be orgnaized at Manik Sabhagruh Hall, Bandra by the Indian Cultural Foundation, Mumbai, the parent Trust of Vedanta Mission, Mumbai. Folk singers like Mir Mukhtair Ali and Parvathy Baul etc have already given their consent to participate.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai: A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji will be conducted at Ramkrishna Mission Hall, Khar, Mumbai from 10th to 16th Dec 2012. This will be just after the Sufiyana Program at Maniksabha Gruh on the 9th.

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Om Tat Sat