Anniversary of Sripaadakshetra, J P Nagar
Sripaadakshetra, the South centre of Bengaluru was dedicated to society on 1st January, 2005 by Pujya Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda. The 16th anniversary of the centre was observed on 01/01/2021 with special puja, bhajans and Satsang by Pujya Swami Brahmananda. Pujya Swamiji stressed on the fact that having taken birth one cannot be afraid of death. Our ancient rishis understood this subtle truth and tried to transcend the fear of death which belongs to only the body. The body in reality is continuously undergoing death as it is born – Change is the changeless law – The understanding that ‘I’ residing in the ever changing body, mind and intellect uses the instruments to transact with the outer world but is really the eternal light enlivening the entire universe not belonging to the body is true knowledge. To such a person birth and death are just like shedding the old worn clothes and wearing new ones. He just witnesses the changes as just an attachment detachment programme. Samasara created due to ignorance can be removed only through Self knowledge.
The programme was attended by several members who braved the pandemic.
Satsang in Vijayanagar
Pujya Swami Brahmananda conducted a Satsang in Kannada at Chinmaya Mission, Vijayanagar centre on Sunday, 3rd January, 2021. The programme started with Vedic chanting, abhisheka, alankara and Aarati to the presiding deity, Lord Ganesha followed by bhajans and Pujya Swamiji’s Satsang.
Pujya Swamiji explained in detail the various religious practices propounded by our elders for a meaningful and practical living. Many of the injunctions advocated by our elders have deep significance and it is better for us to implicitly follow them even if we do not understand their meaning as they are time tested proving beneficial in the long run. The universe is God’s creation and only He can bring order to the seemingly chaos that we perceive. God’s creation is always pure and full of compassion. It is the human beings who in their selfish interests have caused imbalance in nature. Instead of leaving a healthy and strong world for our future generation we have totally caused disruption creating a very weak and violent society that our children will be difficult to even comprehend. It is high time we stop playing with nature and become role models for our youngsters adhering to the various religious injunctions.
The programme was well attended by local members an devotees.
National Youth Day Celebration
National Youth Day coinciding with 159th birthday of Swami Vivekananda was observed in all centres across the country by Chinmaya Mission on three days – 10th, 11th and 12th January, 2021 with a variety of programmes consisting of talks, discussions, debates, interviews and skits. In Karnataka talks were organised on thought provoking subjects in Kannada and English by our Acharyas – Pujya Swami Gahanananda, Pujya Swami Dattapadananda, Pujya Swami Aparajitananda, Pujya Swamini Sampannananda, Pujya Swamini Kashikananda, Pujya Br Damodar Chaitanya and Pujya Br Avinash. Members of Chinmaya Yuva Kendra, Bengaluru presented a panel discussion on a very relevant topic – Who is favourable to you. Earlier Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda gave the benediction while the Global Head, Pujya Swami Swaroopananda spoke on Gita, A Friend to Treasure.
The programme was streamed live on the Karnataka Youtube channel and was viewed by several youngsters and sadhaks who appreciated the choice of subjects and wonderful mind boggling concepts introduced by the Acharyas. The talks helped in motivating the youngsters to come out of the present situation and face the world with renewed courage and positive thinking. The Panel Discussion by the youngsters gave a deep insight into the problems of the present day youth and the possible solutions in overcoming them.
Online Jnana Yajna in January 2021
Pujya Swami Aparajitananda of Mangalore centre conducted online Jnana Yajna in English on Value of Values based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter – 13 from 24/01/2021 to 31/01/2021. Pujya Swamiji enumerated the twenty values appearing in verses 7 to 11 of chapter 13 stressing the importance that mere material and worldly education given in Universities will not be able to build a healthy strong society. The necessity of valuing the values understanding their importance assumes extreme significance today especially with the younger generation. Correct interpretation of values is very important as the path of karma is very subtle and difficult to understand. Pujya Swamiji took each value – Amanitva, Adambhitva, Ahimsa, etc., in great detail explaining their meaning, importance, application, modes of cultivating them along with exceptions supporting with examples, life of well known personalities and anecdotes from our epics. He stressed on the importance of accepting the significance of each value and sincerely trying to imbibe them in one’s daily living.
The Yajna was viewed by hundreds of sadhaks.
