On the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, July 27^th, 2018, Devi Culture Study group started the study of Guru Stotram. The Devi Satsanga was held on a Friday once a month from 7.30 PM to 9.00 PM EST via Zoom under the guidance of Shri Vivek Gupta. Thirteen study groups with approximately six Devis per group participated from USA and Canada.

Each session started with 30 minutes of discourse, followed by a 30 minutes session of Q&A with Vivekji. After which, the individual Devi group discussed the two questions assigned by Vivekji among themselves. Reflection Adventure of the Month (RAM) was assigned after each session to reflect and engage upon.

Devis learnt the inner meaning of the Guru Stotram which emphasized the importance of a Guru in one’s life. The first semester ended on Dec 14^th, 2018 with each center giving a presentation describing the philosophy and the implementation aspects of each shloka in the Guru Stotram.

The study group was a fun filled means for the Devis to relax, reflect and discuss ways to resolve their everyday challenges using the knowledge gained. The Devis developed a sense of community, that enabled them to fortify the practical application of what was taught, into their day to day life. The Devi Culture Study Group will continue the study of Jagadish Arati in 2019.

Snapchat, Instagram, Kik Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and so on. This list is endless – Apps that provide a means for communication and can also provide negative experiences. In the hopes of gaining popularity, watching inappropriate videos and seeking approval, our children are unknowingly encouraging the “Rise of the Social Cyber-Bully”. A workshop held in November by Chinmaya Mission Raleigh-Durham(CMRDU) with the objective to bring awareness to parents and teenagers of the pressing threats of social media and gaming apps.

Our guest Natalie Wood Riché, an outreach specialist from the North Carolina Department of Justice revealed the numerous apps that target children. Dating apps such as Yubo and Tinder are where Cyber Predators, not always adults, find their prey.  They aim to groom, control behaviors, and ultimately play with the minds of this young population. Amongst others that are harmful for teens are Vaulty and Hicalculator where kids can hide all their pictures and videos. Ms Natalie encouraged parents on how to monitor their kids by not allowing devices in the child’s room, take devices away from time to time to investigate usage and set boundaries such as time usage on their devices.  Free resources for parents to monitor were also shared including Circle with Disney, Outpact, App Circle and Kids Place.

The workshop continued with CMRDU’s Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYKs) – young adults who graduated from the Balvihar Program in Raleigh. They echoed Swami Chinmayananda’s words “Culture is taught and not caught”. Neel Mandavilli, Hiren Gihwala and Lavanya Rao expressed the significance of what being exposed to the spiritual culture in Balvihar meant for them. Facing fears, gaining confidence, not needing to gain approval and being content with one’s image were what they learned from this culture and was an instrumental part of their lives to deal with social issues such as bullying.

Our final speaker, Vivekji, Niagara Canada, highlighted that Cyber-Bullies are isolated individuals. We, the community, should understand that these individuals did not have good role models. He encouraged us to be that role model to others in the community and help them grow. Most discussion in the workshop was on the ways to maintain healthy habits with social media and gaming. These include these six sutras, or thread of words:

 1) Use social media in the moral am (3am – 9am) when our intellect is most productive.

2) Use social media in public, not alone or isolated.

3) Use social media as a pre-paid means. Keep track of how much time you spend with social media. Our usage will be much more disciplined.

4) Distract the mind with reading. Choose reading instead of socializing on media.

5) Distract the body with walking. Choose walking to relax your body.

6) Use text for planning, not for socializing.

A warm heartfelt thanks went out to our speakers for spending their time on imparting this invaluable knowledge.

Stay tuned for our next workshop soon.

Chinmaya Mission Raleigh, NC.

On the last Sunday of each of the past six months (July to December 2018), Chinmaya Setukaris from the corners of North America met virtually to discuss essays from the Mananam publication “Peace in a Restless World”. The discussions were led by Vivekji on the online video conferencing platform, Zoom.

A common challenge of adults in the Setukari age range of 25-45, is balancing their various responsibilities to family, career, society, etc. How does one cultivate and maintain peace in this restless world of responsibilities? This was the main theme explored by the roughly 50 Setukaris that attended the monthly online discussions. The online nature of the discussions allowed Setukaris from all over North America to participate, from Vancouver to New York and Los Angeles to Toronto.

Each discussion explored three of the eighteen essays from the Mananam book. After a 30 minute summary and analysis from Vivekji, the participants would be sent to virtual break-out rooms of 7-10 people each to discuss a key theme of that month’s reading. The satsanga would end with a 15 minute question-and-answer session with Vivekji and a RAM: reflection adventure of the month, a thought-provoking activity to be continued on one’s own over the following month.

Setukaris will continue these monthly Zoom discussions with Vivekji over the next six months (January to June 2019) based on the Mananam publication “Embracing Love”. These online discussions will be complemented with a Setukari retreat in Raleigh, North Carolina from February 15-17, 2019 where the topic will be “Led by Love, Lead by Love” based on the Vibhishana Geeta portion of Tulsi Ramayana

We celebrated Bhagavad Gita jayanthi and Swami. Tapovan Maharaj jayanthi on 8^th Dec 2018.
Former Assistant Registrar Mr. Munusamy from University of Madras inaugurated the programme with lighting the lamp. Around 200 devotees participated in the programme.

Prayer song sung by Balvihar students. All devotees chanted selected verses from 18^th chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

Brni. Bharati Chaitanya gave a talk about importance of Bhagavad Gita and Guru.

Our kids gave wonderful talk about Bhagavad Gita. Everyone enjoyed the talks of kids. Our Chyk students chanted 108 names of Bhagvad Gita and we concluded the programme  with Bhagavad Gita  Aarthi and Prasad.   Attached some photographs of the programme along with this mail.

Chinmaya Mission, Cleveland began with humble inception on January 18^th, 2014. From meagre curious families that gathered that day, it has steadily grown to a solid community of almost 60 committed families over the last five years. With Gurudev’s blessings and Vivekji’s guidance the Cleveland Chapter has had tremendous opportunities to attend Vedanta in Ramayana classes, Bala Vihar classes and be part of various study groups, regularly.

In the true spirit of Guru-Shishya parampara, their focus has been knowledge, service and spiritual evolution. Three study groups meet every Thursday and have had privilege to formally study great texts like Self Unfoldment, Moha Mudgara, Atma Bodha and Upadesa Sara. Many seekers from Cleveland have been part of Advanced Vedanta course, Bhagvad Gita course and currently studying Meditation and Life on Tuesdays. The Cleveland Chapter has steadily grown in organizing various programs too. Such programs have included week long Jnana Yagnas on Hanuman Chalisa and Patanjali Yoga sutras, Chalisathon and Children camps. The Chapter has successfully organized two Weekend Family retreats and a Marriage retreat. Other inspirational programs have included- Beyond Bullying workshop, Devi workshop, Seva events and Yuva events. Some of the members have been fortunate to be part of Silence retreats and Chinmaya Inspiration Yatras organized by Vivekji.

With Vivekji’s guidance, its first fundraiser was organized in November 2018 and was able to raise more than $50,000 due to generous contribution from community. The Chapter’s vision is to have its own Ashram in near future. Cleveland Chinmaya community is inspired, committed and dedicated to live with ageless Vedantic vision and it is poised to spread it’s wings further with blessings of Gurudev.