Sri Sri Anandam Dhyana Mandapam - Inauguration

Sri Sri Anandham – Meditation Hall Inaugurated at Coimbatore.

Sri Sri Anandham Meditation Hall is located on the Coimbatore - Ooty State Highway about 10 Kms from the City. The spacious Meditation Hall is surrounded by greenery and at the backdrop is a beautiful hillock. With a lot of fresh air and natural ventilation, it is the most appropriate place for conducting our Art of Living Courses. With the blessings of Poojya Gurudev, Shri. Arun Madhavanji , a Founder Trustee of The Art of Living inaugurated the Meditation Hall on 23rd August, 2009. The simple ceremony was made richer with Shri. Arunji’s “Thean Amudham” Bhajans and the timeless knowledge. A large gathering of people from various parts of Coimbatore were fortunate to celebrate “Ganesh Chathurthi” amidst Vedic Chanting, Homam performed by our Vedic Pundits followed by Bhajans and wonderful knowledge.

Dr. G.Bakathavatsalam, Chairman of K.G. Group of Institutions, an eminent citizen of Coimbatore and Padma Awardee, honoured Shri. Arunji and the philanthropic couple and Trustees of the endowment viz. Dr.Sivakami and Shri.Subramaniam.

Here are few glimpses of knowledge conveyed by Shri.Arunji.

“In today’s “Dhina Malar” News paper Guruji has explained the concept of Ganesha as “Nirvikalpam” (attributeless) , “Niraakaram”(formless¬¬¬) and beyond birth and death. It is the same energy which is the reason for this universe, from which everything manifests and into which everything will dissolve. This complies 100% with what “Aadi Shankara” had preached and what Islam propagates. We have to proudly convey this to our next generation and should feel blessed for this birth. Our devotion has been deep and meaningful to Ganesh, the divine who is a combination of the Navagrahas (Nine Planets) and who possess the “Pasankusam” (an axe to cut off all attachments). We are here to inaugurate this Meditation Hall in the presence of that divine force. The Vedic chanting and Homam which took place here have sanctified the atmosphere. We congratulate the couple who, out of their gratitude to the Guru, have dedicated this Meditation Hall and it has been rightly named “Sri Sri Anandam”. All your collective good wishes will help the couple fulfil all their dreams that they have in their life.

Guruji’s message and blessings are that many auspicious events and spiritual programmes should take place here with a lot of charity (dhaanam). Of course a lot of Marriages (kannika dhaanam) are going to happen. When I came here this morning I was astonished by the sylvan and serene surroundings. This place is bound to create good vibes.

We all know that the elephant trunk has got two actions, “Kriya shakthi” and “Gnana shakthi”. It has a very powerful olfactory sense (smelling power) that helps distinguishing and also does work of the hand. It is thus so important to combine “Kriya shakthi” and “Gnana shakthi”. We have to work with the awareness that what we are doing is going to be beneficial to people and be satisfied. Thus a “Nishkama Karma yogi”, as Lord Krishna says in Bhagavath Gita, is one who gets satisfaction in the work he does even while he is on the process of doing it. To think what I am doing is giving me entire satisfaction and so I don’t really bother about the results.

There was an incident couple of days ago in Bangalore when a team of Doctors had been working (or rather struggling) on a patient for 11 hours. Even after the doctors had given up their hope they believed there was some force that was acting to save the life. This shows that God is omnipresent. Once you surrender to the omnipresent, you need no fear.

Knowledge often speaks of the temporary nature of life. The next breath is not in our hands; So Celebrate! Celebration in India starts at our birth and goes on till the end. But as people slackened and stopped celebrating every day, they started lacking in spirit. Hence the festivals came into picture. In India there are over 760 festivals annually while the days remain only 365!

Our ancestors deeply believed in the fact that whatever the 5 elements provide us with, would be taken back by them at some point of time. This is the reason why the Ganesha idol is made out of the clay of the earth which goes back to the earth. We have to celebrate this moment, in which all the 5 elements are intact in our body that we are able to feel, hear, see and sing. If you can’t celebrate this way then celebrate with meditation. It is also a form of celebration by which you are in communion with your soul. So “Gaanam and Dhyaanam”, being our two legs must not be let off. Take all the good things, stop dissecting all the bad and the evil, get off and walk ahead and you will find the red carpet paving the way.

Before concluding, Shri. Arunji narrated a beautiful anecdote, a real incident concerning Alexander Fleming and Winston Churchill to which the audience were deeply engrossed. The World is round and whatever help we do will come back to us. With a tinge of humour he said “Once my friend told me that all wonderful and knowledgeable people are in four corners of the World and I told him but the World is round!" He left the riddle for the audience to resolve.

M.Gopalakrishnan