Doing seva with wisdom.

27th September 2015

                         

                           
It was a pleasant Sunday morning when exuberant leaders engaged in community service turned up at a City auditorium, to listen to, among others, our capsule on Leadership in Not- for -Profit, Charitable Institutions.

It was opportune to share with them wisdom from Dharma Shastras, especially aspects like When, What, How and Whom to Give. Whilst rendering personal charity or service, essential to keep out barter; making no conditions and giving out of one’s own bounty.

Uttisthata Jagrata

Gokulashtami surprise - 2015

 Sometimes the best moments in life are the spontaneous ones. The ones that just happen in the middle of the day when you're least expecting it!

The setting was rural. As we were driving towards the venue of Janmashtami satsang, we got a call from the hosts to halt at a spot some distance away. When we did, we spotted an assembly of devotees - men, women and children from the village headed by their temple Priest. After brief traditional honours, the assembly commenced a surprise march towards the venue singing folk style, graceful kolattam (dandiya) included. In a resonant voice,  the lead singer could introduce our profile in his artfully chosen lyrics! 

By the time a three- hour session of nectarine Krishna bhajans ended, the venue transformed into a veritable Gokul aayarpadi itself!

We availed the occasion to present saplings and to ask the locals to take a pledge to plant trees in large numbers.

Dedicated service in uplifting human spirit

Life of plants revolves around worship of light. They awaken with the aspiration to experience the descending rays of the morning sun. White Jasmine – mallige, for its quality of purity, the five petals of Champaka for the five noble qualities: Sincerity, Faith, Aspiration, Devotion and Surrender.  Contemporary research has established that the presence of flowers elevate human minds and uplift the human spirit.

When Lord Krishna came to Mathura to vanquish Kamsa, he saw a poor florist carrying garlands for the King.  Krishna asked him for one. The startled florist gladly gave a beautiful garland saying “How blessed am I to see your divine form which is elusive even to sages and great men. What more grace do I need”?

Centuries later, this story left a deep impression on the mind of Vishnu Chitta, father of Sri Andal. He realised that preparing and offering flower garlands to the Lord daily was indeed a noble service in the path of bhakti and mukti. He bought a small piece of land, converted it into a garden with a variety of flowers and tulsi. His daughter she too developed a love for flower garlands.

Said to be an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, Sri Andal occupies a unique place in the pantheon of 12 Alwars, the outstanding poet-mystics of Southern India. Images from our Divya satsang at Sri Andal Jayanthi- August 2015.

To have a larger view of the image please click on the image.

Memories from Venice of the East:

31 July 2015

Being a City of Lakes,Udaipur has rightly earned the stripes in being hailed as the Venice of the East. Who can forget Kipling’s celebrated Bagheera of Oodeypore in The Jungle Book and the Indian sequences shot here for the Bond film Octopussy!

One cannot step into this place without being touched by its rich history as the capital of Mewar Kingdom. To-date the residents here rejoice and revere the name of their brave heart Rana Pratap Singh who underwent immense hardship to preserve the name of his family and his Motherland from facing defeat – a life so bright that the other name for freedom could have been Maharana Pratap.

Guru Purnima 2015 was dedicated to the Environment with a successful Tree Planting drive in the District. Seva Angels took the pledge to sustain and nourish the plants well beyond the Day.

It was a delight to be part of these celebrations and to lead a vibrant satsang held in the evening.

When comes such another?

“President with a difference” said Sri Sri in his tribute to Dr.Kalam.

Was reminiscing the moments with him at the grand finale of AOL Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 2006.   An extraordinary turnout of people from across the world was electrified by Dr.Kalam’s address.

Knowing his passion for Tirukkural, my thanksgiving address contained reference to a popular couplet “Vellathanaythu Malar neetam Mandartham Ullathanayatu Uyarvu” - The height of the water in a pond determines the height to which a lily would grow; likewise it is the height of one’s thoughts that determines the heights to which one can aspire for!

It was time for the President to leave. As he was stepping out across the magnificent stage secured on both flanks, he suddenly stopped to greet and ask: “Those lines were apt and touched my heart. Which college did you go to?”  I replied “Ji interestingly I am an alumnus of St.Josephs, Tiruchy,  a decade and a half behind you!”  He   beamed his trademark smile and parted with an invite to meet him sometime at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Several posts posthumously confirm that he never failed to strike such endearing chords of love and humility with people.

When comes such another?

Guru Purnima Utsav at Udaipur and Thaen Amudham Satsang at Srivilliputtur

Chaitanya Bharathi

16-19 July 2015

Bountiful rains when sessions were indoors, soothing sunshine during breaks, thought- provoking sessions of Yoga Vasistha, sacred chants and deep meditative moments marked the 4-day retreat helping the large assembly of meditators to truly experience blissful moments of chaitanya.

Beatitude at Belandur:

11th July 2015

The assembly was mystically absorbed with the proceedings of the entire evening. Excellent team work by teachers and seva angels that could be seen in the smooth passage of the special re-connect. Stunning display of rangoli art by by Pragya, Manisha, Manju, Shweta, Manjula, Sumati,Trupti and Namita greeted all guests. It is called Kolam in southern parts and represents beauty, creativity, geometry and grandeur. It is indeed a spiritual rendition from one’s heart and a time tested path to acquire patience, endurance, imagination, determination, creativity, concentration and confidence.

Ten kms away from Belandur, the Whitefield team is all set to host The Art of Silence retreat 16 – 19 July.

A soiree with a difference:

4th July 2015

When the talented vocalist at the chamber music announced his next musical offering would be the Mysore Anthem, the invited audience was up on their feet in tribute. The celebrated anthem has very interesting origin. There was a time when the princely State of Mysore was taken under British rule on pretext of maladministration. But after much deliberation, the state was restored to HH Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar by the "Rendition of 1881". To commemorate the occasion, HH asked Basavappa Shastry, the court poet of Mysore durbar, to compose the state anthem.

International Yoga Day Talk series:

20th June: A very receptive audience of sadhaks gathered at Chaitanya Bharathi, Bangalore the night before IYD, to get glimpses of the Supreme Yoga. The special theme will be part of the forthcoming AMP at the same venue 16 -19 July, 2015.

22nd June: Thanks to a live Smartphone Webcast, like us, thousands across the Eastern Hemisphere woke up this morning  to listen to the Master perform Desk top yoga and later got entertained to a cultural extravaganza at NewYork’s Lincoln Centre on the theme of Yoga. Bappi Lahiri’s robust musical rendition on "Peace and Harmony" along with a renowned American Soul singer was a master stroke.

International Yoga Day Talk series:

 Time Out with the  Indian Air force

Air Force needs the air element of Panch Maha bhutas to keep their flying machines in action against external enemies; Yoga uses the same air element as breath in kriya to heal the body and keep the internal enemies under check! 

This brief introduction broke the ice and triggered the curiosity of the audience to hear more!