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VOLUME 2

ISSUE 7

APRIL-MAY-2013

A Bi-monthly bulletin of Vivekananda Kendra Vedic Vision Foundation

The First quantum Leap The Einsteinan equaon E= mc2 proved to be a quantum leap for science pushing it towards spirituality, as it established the Oneness of the nite and the Innite and brought the Innite to the level of human comprehension. What must have been nature of the very rst quantum leap which brought man the nite to the lap of the Innite, which brought Divinity into the human soul and made it vibrate in tune with the Universal soul?. The history of Indian spirituality is the story of this quantum leap achieved by our rishis at the very down of civilizaon, when they discovered that the shortest distance between any two points in the universe ought to be a straight line and that is the line of Truth. The genius of the Indian Seers brought this Truth nearest to them through intensive search or dhyana and located it within the core of their being. Aham Brahmasmi thus became the surest and easiest way to locate Truth within and Tatwamasi became the best way to connect oneself with the all pervading Truth in the Universe. To achieve this awareness of the Oneness of the Truth within ones own self and in the cosmos, thousands of equaons have been formulated by our sages, each one of which is an indicator or a ladder to climb from the nite to the Innite. Vedas, Upanishads, Ithihasas and Puranas provide examples, clues and shortcuts to achieve this

ATMAVIKAS SHIBIRAM 1 ATMAVIKAS SHIBIRAM-2 REGULAR ACTIVITIES IN THE CAMPUS. KARYAKARTA SHIBIRAM VISITORS IN THE CAMPUS. DIDIS PROGRAMMES DURING APRIL AND MAY 2013

expansion leading to Oneness. This expansion must remain as the key word in all developments. Ignorant of this fundamental equaon we waste a lot of me in studies, carrier build ups, acquision of wealth, establishing relaonships through love, charity, sympathy and so on but never achieving the real inner development. The great Hindu tradion is based on the potenal power in the human mind to expand into global awareness, not in physical terms but spiritually, enfolding within it the ennobling values and virtues of love, sacrice and service. These are the fundamental values that should govern the development of human personality as also ones interacon with community and nature. The growth from a lower to a higher personality should be accompanied by a progressive manifestaon of the inherent Divinity. Here are three wonderful examples of this quantum leap from our tradion. Long long ago Sri Hanuman took a leap from the southern p of India to the far away Sri Lanka in search of the Brahmavidya, Sita. Prince Siddhartha took the leap from the comforts and luxury of his palace into the innitude of freedom from misery and gained Buddhahood. In recent history it was Swami Vivekananda who emulated such a giant leap carrying the message of Indian spirituality to the West, soaked in materialism. Cant we emulate one of them in this auspicious year of Vivekananda Sarda Sathi!

M. Lakshmi Kumari

VOLUME 2

ISSUE 7

APRIL-MAY-2013

From 1st April to 10th April, a non residential Atmavikas Camp( PDC) for students of classes VII to X, was conducted. 26 students from various schools of Kodungallur participated. Didi inaugurated the camp. Resource persons were Dr T.P.Sashikumar, Sri Harishankar Master, Sri Murali Master of Hindi Prachar Sabha and B.Ed. College, Smt Rema teacher Principal of B.Ed College-Poyya, Sri Vishwanath, Smt Ajitha, Sri M.N. Haridas, Sri Gireesh well-known painter Sri Sudhakarji, Mananiya Lakshmi Didi and Sutapa. The theme of the Shibir was Manifestation of Divinity. Living together, working together and growing together in a team was fun, that was what the children came to learn from the Shibir. Apart from several workshops there were creativity classes as well as congregational songs, skits based on moral values, yoga practice and Krida Yoga. Smt Jyothi Unniraman, a well-wisher of Kendra was the chief guest for the valedictory function held on the evening of 10th April. A parents meeting was kept before the function where Sri Harisankar Master talked to the parents as to how they should bring up their children. To install in the children Swamijis ideals of Tyaga and Seva, each child was presented with a small piggy bank where they could keep their pocket money throughout the year and finally on their birthday they could use the money for a deserving cause of charity.

VOLUME 2

ISSUE 7

APRIL-MAY-2013

We were lucky to have with us Mananiya Balakrishnanji on 21st April, for the concluding function of the second Atmavikas Camp for children of Class I to Class VI . The camp started on 15th April . 53 children participated. 18 students from class I to III formed one group and the rest from Class IV to VI formed the second group. Apart from lunch and snacks all other sessions were separately conducted for the two groups . More emphasis was laid on story telling rather than lectures. Workshop on Mathematics and puzzles were conducted and children enjoyed the same . Vedic prayer, Skits, Yoga and Games were a regular part of the seven days Shibir. On Ramnavami Day there was an interesting quiz competition for both the groups to test their knowledge on Ramayana. Resource persons of the camp were all our local workers . Ten volunteers from the previous camp guided the groups of the second camp, throughout ,for seven days. The prayer and song sessions for the primary group were also taught by the volunteers. Sri Rajan,a well known social worker was invited as the Chief Guest for the valedictory function on the last day, 21st April. A parents meeting was also conducted before the function.

VOLUME 2

ISSUE 7

APRIL-MAY-2013

VIVEKA GANAPATHI Ganapathy Homam and Sri Chakra puja was conducted by Sri Shivan of Karumatra Vijayan Group, in the campus ,in the early mornings of 25th April and 25th May, respectively. There was the usual Vishnu Sahasranaam archana by the inmates, in the evenings on Pournami days.

YOGA SATRA & SAMSKARA VARGA Yoga Satra for men and ladies were conducted in the months of April and May . Two ladies and ten gents got trained. Yoga classes for children were conducted on Saturdays .Six children attended. Regular yoga vargas for men and ladies are going on as usual. 6gents in the morning and 4 ladies in the afternoon ,three ladies and one gent in the evening , are attending. Pranayama class for four ladies was conducted in the month of May. Samskar vargas are being conducted at four places. Each Sunday in the campus, twice a month in two other places and once a month in Vinayakapuram. On 27th May, there was an interaction session of the teachers, trained in Kendra, working in different schools of Kodungallur, as Yoga teachers or regular teachers, with Smt Jyothi Unniraman, a counsellor and retired Management trainer. Topic was how the teachers could excel in their respective fields. SATSANGAM Sri Girishjis regular class on Sri Lalitha Sahasra naamam, was conducted on 25th of May. There was no class in the month of April. 2o people attended the class.

KATHAKALI PERFORMANCE A two day Kathakali dance recital was conducted on the campus stage. Both the programmes were conducted by the Kunjunni Thamburam Samartha Kalasadas. On the first day, Subhadra Dhananjayam was performed by Ammannur Khochu Chakyar of Irinjalakuda. On the 12th it was Narakasuravadham performed by the Thirannottam group of Dubai. The performance started at 3pm in the evening and ended at 11pm at night.

VOLUME 2

ISSUE 7

APRIL-MAY-2013

For the first time, a two day meeting of Karyakartas was held on the 18th and 19th May Sri Suresh Kumarji from Ernakulam and Sri Ashokan from Thiruvananthapuram, both Spiritual Retreat participants in Kanyakumari, Kum. Soorya also from Thiruvanthapuram, Smt Jyothi Unniraman and Kum. Radhika from Kodungallur , participated. Sessions included Study of Karma Yoga taken by Didi, and brainstorming session of methods of taking Swamiji s message to the children and youth of their own area of work.

Renowned scholar,Sri Gopal Iyengar and a group of Vaishnava devotees from Karnataka, visited Kodungallur on 4th May ,for a three day pilgrimage . They stayed at our campus -Anandadham . Apart from temple visits they spent the rest of their time in chanting of the Vedas in Tamil, Divya Prabandham. The whole campus was vibrating with their chants. They left on 7th May to conclude their chanting at the famous Thrikkakara Vamana temple, one

Sri Anil Batraji from New Delhi, a well-wisher of Kendra and a very close friend of Mananiya Eknathji , visited Anandadham on 29th April ,and was here for a night. During his stay he narrated many thrilling incidents about the bygone days recalling his association with Mananiya Eknathji.

Live for an ideal, and that one ideal alone. Let it be so great, so great, so strong, that there may be nothing else left in the mind; no place for anything else, no time for anything else

Swami Vivekananda

On 12th April, on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya, and Mothers Day, Didi was honoured with this years Sri Lakshmiprabha Award for her contribution towards society by Mangadatthamma Mahalakshmi Kshetra Samity, Puthuvaserry.

3rd April 9th April 12th April 23rd April 26th April 2nd May 4th May

Sri Gurudeva Samajam,Kodungallur-50th Anniversary Celebration. Inauguration of Annadanam Kodungallur. Childrens Camp Aluva N.S.S.Childrens Camp Kodungallur. Bhuvaneswari Temple Kottapuram.

Sri Rama Temple- Muvattupuzha. Sri Durga Kutumbayogam Kodungallur& Sri Narayana Dharma Sa - bhaMadavana. 9th to 11thMay Sri Ramakrishna Bhakta Sammelan Thiruvan -anthapuram. 15th May Suvarna Nallapats Trust Meeting Thrissur 26th May Hindu Maha Sammelan Thiruvananthapuram Didi has been invited by Centre Vedantique Geneva, Switzerland , to attend the 150th BDay Celebration of Swamiji to be held there from 28th August to 2nd September 2013.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA VEDIC VISION FOUNDATION


ANANDADHAM, SRINGAPURAM KODUNGALLUR,
PIN 680664. KERALA Ph. No : 0480-2803349, 2805780, 2812780

Swami Vivekanandas Wheel of Dharma


Dr. M. Lakshmi Kumari Director, Vedic Vision Foundation, Kodungallur MAKARASANKRANTI is the auspicious day when the all-illuminating Sun in utmost obedience to the Universal Law of celestial movements, true to his inherent rhythm and dharma, retraces his steps from the southern solstice and starts his journey northward. For Indians, it denotes the holy half of the year, a time for celebrations, a time for doing auspicious things and the time to die too. For India, that Holy Day in 1863, was marked by a special event. It saw the birth of her brilliant son Narendranath Datta whose eventful life was to open a new chapter in her history by once again setting ablaze her centuries old hopes and aspirations, it was to mark Indias re-emergence from a period of darkness to light. Presently, 150 years after, how do we recapture the glory of his life and inherit the Kingdom he has left behind? Today, what remains with us are the powerful vibrations of his thought currents and the vibrant, energising, inspiring, transforming words he spoke with the authority of a realised soul, resplendent with his enduring faith in the values and traditions of his countrys philosophy and culture and imbued with his burning passion for the redemption of his Motherland and his suffering brethren. Unfortunately, the fire in his words lies today covered with ashes of our ignorance, neglect and deliberate indifference. The only way to blow off those ashes and bring back the luster is to again relive the strength and power inherent in his words by making them part of our dharma, the law of being! For this, the dharmachakra pravartana which he envisaged should become once again operative in all of us and should also form the ideal of the Nation. What is the dharmachakra pravartana-the wheel of dharma that Swami Vivekananda wanted to set in motion? We Indians can wax eloquent on dharma which is explained in great depth in our scriptures where it remains safe beyond the comprehension of the common man, far removed from his day to day life, occasionally to be aired in religious conventions and national seminars. We also have the Chakra as an emblem adorning our National flag which we religiously hoist on our national days and which also flies aloft on our government buildings. As a matter of general knowledge, we know that the Chakra thereon was originally part of the great Asoka Chakra, beyond that we are not worried about its import or importance. So also we have pravartana of various kinds, activities for national reconstruction, social development and for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden, each set along its planned course, giving an apparent sense of movement and progress, but in truth never reaching anywhere! Why this stagnation, this frustration?

Onward progress is possible only when the wheels move in unison, in harmony, purposefully, co-ordinatedly. Just as the mighty celestial bodies in the cosmic space, by their movement mark Universal TIME, as the tiny wheels in the smallest of watches rotating in perfect co-ordination, obeying their law of movement denote the passage of time in our daily lives, so does a mans life evolve and progress when all his movements big and small are harmonised through the law of dharma. Dharma divorced from life or pravartana is only book knowledge, best left in libraries fit only for scholastic discussions. That is wisdom or knowledge of dharma, which, if not reflected in ones actions, is not worth its name. Vain indeed is such a knowledge. Similarly also a man of dynamic action, full of power, energy and strength, but without the backing of a proper philosophy of action, ignorant of his dharma, lives like a moth fluttering for a while and then gone forever, leaving nothing positive behind.

On the contrary, if action and knowledge be combined through the wheel of dharma, whose spokes are intellectual conviction, dedication to the ideal, integrity of character, honesty and selflessness in action, attitude of service and surrender then life acquires a special dharmic glow and each of its movements marks an onward thrust towards self enfoldment and fulfillment. This is the dharma-chakra-pravartana that Swamiji envisaged when he used the expressive term of Buddha to emphasise the meaning and purpose of human life. How to combine dharma with pravartana- adherence to Eternal Truth and everlasting values with day to day working systems therein lies mans genius and ingenuity. The first step is to convince oneself of the power and potency that lie behind the great life principle, the divinity within one and all. This awareness should energise ones life currents and inspire him to work out his ideals through the multifarious activities of his life. That was what Sanatana Dharma was, a unique way of life in consonance with the dharma, rhythm of life, in harmony with universal laws, before it got dubbed into an ism and a religion. Unfortunately, when that happened, dharma got delinked from pravartana and disappeared from our lives. Today, the dharma chakra is found fluttering in flags on rooftops only! Swamiji asks us to correct this grave mistake first in our own individual lives and then in National life. He proclaimed in no uncertain terms the universal relevance and eternal validity of the dharmic principles and gave his call to one and all, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, to acquire the strength and dynamism that such a life can offer so that the dharma chakra pravartana would again manifest itself in Nations life and guide her

towards her rightful destiny. From being just a religion satisfying a few, the eternal principles of Sanatana Dharma should again become a universal way of life. Adopting the Universal Principles as ones life principles would mean elevating and merging this small self into the Universal Self. Dharma and pravartana exist harmoniously synthesised in such a life knowledge and action become united. Conflicts disappear. Harmony and peace prevail. When the dharma-chakra-pravartana starts operating, the unique Indian national character would be re-established. When, with the knowledge of lifes true values, work gets transformed into worship, when renunciation and service become a way of life, man would discover his innate divinity and the Nation would regain her lost identity. This was the man-making, nation- building programme Swami Vivekananda inaugurated before he was snatched away at the young age of 39. The seeds he sowed are today sprouting up in thousands of hearts in different parts of the world. To inherit the great legacy that Swamiji has left behind, each one of us must make ourselves mini centres of dharma-chakra-pravartana. Millions of small wheels working in unison would soon create the momentum necessary to move the giant wheel of our Sanatana Dharma, to make this punyabhoomi also into a karmabhoomi, a tyagabhoomi and above all a DHARMABHOOMI where not only Indians but the whole world would discover their haven of Peace and Salvation.

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