vedanta sandesh - june 2011

Kvof!3122Year 16 Issue 12

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

In This Issue

1. Vedanta Section: Atma Bodha - Shloka-31

2. Letter Section: Thoughts & Knowledge

3. Devata Section: Trinity

4. Katha Section: Tenth Missing Boy

5. VM Programs: Mission / Ashram Progs

From Poojya Guruji

Vedanta SandeshSpreading Love & Light

Monthly eMagazine of theInternational Vedanta Mission

Sharing the message of Vedanta and Sanatan Dharma

June 2011

On the Net since 1995

Started by:

Poojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji

Editor:

Swamini Samatananda

Published from:

Vedanta Ashram

E/2948-50, Sudama Nagar

Indore-452 009, India

Web:

www.vmission.org.in

Email:

[email protected]

Hari om!

More important than the question of ‘How to be liberated’, is the appreciation of‘What is bondage?’. Most often various sincere spiritual seekers take theirbondage to be granted and jump on to the bandwagon of some sadhana. Suchsimpletons do experience a sense of lack & insufficiency and decide that theyneed to do something to go beyond this choking experience. The bondage istaken as real, at its face value, without any deeper deliberations, and thereaf-ter the focus is on its effacement & trancendence. They logically conclude thatif change is there, then there has to be a changeless one, if pain is there, thenthere has to be a realm of existence which is devoid of all pain & suffering.Their inferences are backed up by some thinkers & books too, and thus vali-dated by these so called authorities they sincerely take up this so called spiri-tual journey. But alas such a journey too appears to be as endless as theirseeking in the world outside. This is all a mind-game, and they continue to livein the limits & boundaries of their mind inspite of all the so called occasionaldivine experiences & progress. The ego continues to reign supreme.

Our spiritual endeavors can become an endless mind-game if our goalsare projections based the opposite of ‘what is’. Such goals are basically areaction to the present sufferings, because in the first place itself their presentbondage & sufferings are basically a product of ignorance, and thus not reallythere. So ignorance sustains bondage, and bondage projects a utopian goal,and then such people start their sadhanas. Most often these goals are already‘known’ and their achivements are basically recognition of something alreadyknown. Such people continue to live within the domain of thoughts & mind, andnot only the seeker but his achievements too continue. They can & do experi-ence various things, and thus the experiencer as such continues to exist, andso does their samsara. Vedanta thunders that bondage is basically ‘ignorance’of the truth, and thus we just need deep & clear knowledge of ‘how the seeker’has come about. No karma ever helps us attain Moksha, rather there has to bea deep realization of the limitation of karma, and the subsequent dropping ofall such efforts. There has to be value of knowledge of the Self. Rather thantaking any limitations to be real, we need to appreciate them first-hand, directly& deeply. There is no sadhan & sadhya here on the so called path of Self-Realization. It is just deep understanding of the thinker & his conditionings.When the unreal is seen as unreal, then it just drops, that alone is real nega-tion. When all the adhyaropa on Atma drops, then we are no more any karta orbhokta; and when the very Jiva is not there, there is no separate Brahman tobe attained. There is egoless, effortless silence; a state which is truely natural,yet was hirtherto unknown, something new, without any limits. That alone isthe uncreated, timeless one - nameless, limitless, unfragmented. That theUpanishad reveal as Brahman, and we all are that alone.

Love & om,

Swami Atmananda

Vedanta Section

Atma Bodha - Shloka 31

Avidyakam shariraadi drishyam:The manifestation of the individual is seen at

three levels of the body, the gross body, the subtle

body and the causal body which is ignorance and

the cause of the gross and subtle bodies. The gross

body and the subtle body comprising of all the sense

organs, the organs of action, the pranas and the

mind and intellect are enlivened by the light of con-

sciousness, without which they would only be dead

matter. All the experiences gained by the sense or-

gans, the mind and intellect and all the responses

given towards the world outside are empowered by

this source of existence and light. Consciousness

reflected through these channels of the BMI, bring

into existence, an experiencer of various sensations,

of happiness and sorrow, of ignorance and knowl-

edge. They are not only blessed with life and acti-

Vedanta Sandesh - June 2011

Atma is unlike any ‘seen’ thing

vated by consciousness but this consciousness

which reflects as the Self is like a king for whom all

the sense organs and the mind seem to be serving

to please the king through the various experiences

of the objective world. The Acharya goes on to ex-

plain over here that the individual manifestations

from the gross body to the causal body come into

the realm of that which can be ‘seen’ or ‘objectified’.

There are some fundamental truths of anything that

can be seen or can be objectified. Firstly it means

that anything that can be objectified must be

seperate from the subject to be objectified. Secondly

anything that can be objectified is always inert. It

implies its dependancy on another source of light

for its existence and enlightenment. Finally anything

that is objectified does not have any real existence.

It is like a dream world which as though appears to

In the previous sloka the Acharya unfolded that Jiva and Ishwara are basically one. The difference

perceived is only at the level of the manifestation. Basically Jiva and Ishwara are both the one Reality,

Brahman, which is of the nature of Satchitananda. The realisation of the Self as Brahman is a very tricky

path as the Self is not objectifiable. Yet it is the beauty of the scriptures that the right knowledge of the Self

is brought about. The previous sloka revealed that this knowledge of the Self or the unity between the jiva

and Ishwara can be realised by the process of negation prescribed in the Great Statements or the

Mahavakyas given by the scriptures. Now the following sloka reveals how one can go about this process

of negation by seeing the Self as seperate from all that is objectifiable.

Avidyakam shariraadi drishyam budbudavatksharam

Etadvilakshanam vidyataham brahmeti nirmalam

Avidyakam shariraadi: The body and its like upto to the causal body; drishyam: perceivable

objects; budbudavat: like bubbles; ksharam: perishable; Etad: Of these; vilakshanam:seperate;

vidyat: know; aham: I am; brahmeti: Brahman; nirmalam: Pure

.

The body, etc., up to the “Causal Body” which are perceivable or objectifiabe, are as perish-

able as bubbles. Realise through discrimination that I am the ‘Pure Brahman’ ever completely

separate from all these.

31

Page # 5

be there now but did not have any existence in the

past and will not be there in the future.

Hence our gross and subtle body and the jiva

born of ignorance all do not have any Real exist-

ence. There is a Truth which is beyond the exist-

ence of these manifestaions.

Budbudavatksharam:

The Acharya further goes on to establish the

illusionary existence of the objective world and the

three bodies. Acharya Shankara says that the gross,

subtle and causal bodies are not only constantly

changing but are ephimeral like bubbles formed in

water. The life of a bubble is extremely momentary.

We can see the gross body constantly changing

and modifying from birth onwards and finally lead-

ing to death. The subtle body i.e. the mind and in-

tellect with its emotions, mental attributes and con-

victions also keep on changing. What we are today

we may not be the same person tomorow. What I

am in this birth I may not be the same kind in my

next birth.

Moreover if one were to analyse the mani-

festation of these bodies in the waking, dream and

deep sleep states one comes to know of such an

impermanent and changing nature of these bodies.

The gross body which is subject to various experi-

ences in the waking state is displaced by the dream

state and the dream state is displaced by the deep

sleep state. The subtle body is also absent in the

deep sleep state and present only in waking and

dream state and hence is also impermanent. The

causal body which is but ignorance is also imper-

manent and illusory. When a person awakens into

the Reality of the Self and comes to see the Self as

a divine eternal entity, the causal body also ceases

to exist. Hence, these are but objects of experience;

while the witness to all these experiences, which

can never be the experienced object, is the Self

which is always distinct and eternal.

Etadvilakshanam vidyat:

The Acharya reveals know thy self-the Atman,

to be distinct from all these bodies which can be

‘seen’ as seperate from the self. As it has been dis-

cussed in the previous slokas that the scriptures

reveal the Atman by the process of negating all that

is the Anatman(the non-self). Here too we can see

the Atman as ‘vilakshan’ seperate from the non-self

by doing the discrimination between the Seer and the

Seen. The Seer is always seperate from the seen.

He is the witness to all that can be objectified. Let us

see how the Atman is the witness and beyond all the

bodies. First of all we identify with the gross body as

myself as the ‘I’ but the gross body can be objecti-

fied. I say this is my body, I can see my legs my hands,

I say my body is fat, thin tall & short. So I am the

witness of the gross body, hence I am not this physi-

cal body. I am also a witness to the various emotions

and desires of the mind. I can see my mind is happy

or sad, i can see the desires of the mind. I can objec-

tify my eyes, ears, my pranas. Likewise the intellect

too. I am a witness of all the knowledge and the igno-

rance of the intellect and so I am not the intellect ei-

ther. The gross body and the subtle body are born

due to ignorance which is the causal body, I am also

aware of my ignorance of the self and therefore I aim

to overcome this ignorance. Since ignorance can be

objectified and brought to an end it is also not my real

self. I am a witness to it. In this manner by discrimi-

nating between the seer and the seen we negate all

that is the non-self and what remains is the witness,

the Self which is beyond all the bodies which can be

objectified and which are constantly undergoing

change, decay and death. The Self the Seer is the

one spirit which does not undergo any modifications,

decay or death. It is ever present in all its glory. As

the Acharya further goes on to say that I am that Brah-

man which is pure and immaculate.

Ahambrahmeti nirmalam:

By the process of negation and knowing the

true nature of the Self one comes to realise that I am

the pure and immaculate Brahman, the one who is

untainted by birth and death, untouched by the vari-

ous physical, mental and intellectual modifications.

We may experience a lot of impurities and changes

in our physical bodies, in our mind and its attitudes,

our understanding of the world and the self may be

false but inspite of these things the fact is that the

Real Self is totally unaffected by these good or bad

qualities. Infact the biggest impurity i.e. the ignorance

of the self too does not contaminate the Atman. How-

ever much we are entangled in ignorance and its con-

sequent samsara there is a possibility for everyone

to awaken in to the divine state of the Self because it

is totally untouched. This is the message of the

Upanishads.


The Precious Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the moun-

tains found a very unique and precious stone in a small

river. The next day she met another traveller who was

hungry, and the wise woman opened her pack to share

her food. The hungry traveler saw the special stone in

the wise woman's bag, appreciated it, and asked the

wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so

without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good

luck. He knew the stone was worth enough to live

peacefully for the rest of his life. But a few days later

he came back, searching for the wise woman. When

he found her, he returned the stone and said,

I have been thinking. I know how valuable this

stone is, but I give it back to you in the hope that you

can give me something much more precious. If you

can, give me what you have within you that enabled

you to give me the stone.

Page # 7

Hari om A..,

Your mail is a good sample of your organized and scientific mind.

Well, for Mukti, we certainly need to appreciate Gita & Upanishads, but

technically speaking we don’t ‘feed’ the mind with new thoughts, it is

rather their ‘knowledge’ which matters, because of which finally all

thoughts drop, and we appreciate the essence of the very thinker.

Thoughts do have a role, but they are basically like a spoon to feed the

food, which is knowledge in this case, and the moment knowledge is

there, thoughts have served their purpose and thus are not needed

any more. Thoughts are deliberate efforts to bring about or retain the

awareness of something, while knowledge is an appreciated and

assimilated awareness which now doesn’t need any conscious effort

to retain. Like today you don’t need the thought that ‘I am Mr AB’,

because you already know that. So also when we first study Gita etc,

then thoughts are there, they help to bring knowledge, then it serves its

purpose and is not required thereafter.

Knowledge in the case of Self-Knowledge is basically one of negation.

These pointers help us to drop various superimpositions by realizing

the impermanence & ephemerality of all these adhyaropa's. When by

the deep knowledge of all these projections we drop all these

imaginations & thoughts, then that which is not a product of mind alone

remains - effortlessly. We may start with noble thoughts, but real

knowledge is that alone which helps us negate all thoughts That is

realized directly as our real Self. No words can ever describe it. That is

the truth, the timeless. It is only then that the gates of freedom as

though open up.

Lots of love & om

Swami Atmananda

Knowledge is all

about being aware

of the truth of what

is, while Yoga and

Bhakti aim to

change the mind for

the better, so

technically they fall

in the category of

karma, working to

change something.

For knowledge even

a sankalpa to

change anything is

an impediment,

because then our

priorities change

from knowing what

is to working for

what should be.

- Poojya Guruji

Thoughts & KnowledgeLetter of the

Month

When by the

deep knowledge of

all these projections

we drop all these

imaginations &

thoughts, then that

which is not a

product of mind

alone remains -

effortlessly. We may

start with noble

thoughts, but real

knowledge is that

alone which helps us

negate all thoughts.

- Poojya Guruji

Vedanta Sandesh - April 2009 Page # 10

Tri

nity

:

Bra

hm

a, V

ishnu

& M

ahesh


Brahma Vishnu & Mahesh are the three Deities in Hinduism known as the

Great Trinity. The ‘Trimurti’ is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions

of creation, maintainence and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma,

Vishnu & Mahesh. Actually the Trinity are essentially three different role names of

one God. Just as one man is a father for his son, a husband for his wife and a

boss at his office, so too as per the roles of creation, maintainence and destruc-

tion the One Ishwara is know with these three names.

If one were to look into these three aspects more deeply one comes to see

that all these three works creation, sustainance and destruction are all intercon-

nected. The apparent destruction is only a forerunner to all constructions. De-

struction of a seed will create a sappling, a sapling dies to give birth to a plant, a

plant dies to give birth to a tree and so on. Destruction and creation go hand in

hand and all the three aspects are basically the one and the same principle of

existence.

Brahma

Brahma, the creator, is the first god represented in the Hindu Holy Trinity.

The manifested world of plurality has emerged from the unmanifest Reality. To

indicate this Brahma, the creator, is described as being born from the navel (nabhi)

of Lord Vishnu(who represents the Eternal reality).

Depicted with four heads, four arms and bearded

faces Brahmaji’s hands hold a Kammandalu, a bow or

a rosary, sacrificial ladle and the Vedas. The four Vedas

are said to have merged from his head. He wears the

hide of a black antelope and his vehicle is the Swan.

The creator must necessarily possess the knowl-

edge to create. Without knowledge no creation is pos-

sible. Hence Brahma is said to be wedded to the god-

dess of knowledge, Saraswati.

The four casts of the Hindu dharma are also believed to have originated

from Him - the Brahmins from his head, the Kshatriyas from his arms, the Vaishyas

from his thighs, and the Shudras from his feet. All the living beings are said to

have evolved from him.

Brahmaji seated on the lotus indicates that he is ever rooted to the infinite

Reality. A lotus represents the Reality which is the foundation upon which his

personality exists.

Page # 9

VishnuVishnu, the pre- server of creation, is the sec-

ond God in the Hindu Holy Trinity. He preserves and main-tains the cosmic order.

Traditionally he is described as blue in colour ,clothed in yellow, wearing a crown and standing upon theLotus divine. He has four hands and he hold in them theconch (Shankha), the dis- cus (chakra), the Mace(gada),and the Lotus (Padma). Everyone of these represents a significant symbolism toindicate that Lord Vishnu is none other than the Divine imperishable essence inthe midst of all the perishable finite things.

It is Bhagwan Vishnu who manifests himself as an incarnation in the worldamong mankind at appropriate eras to rid life of its unrighteous elements and es-tablish righteousness. Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Vaman, Varah etc are the variousforms of incarnation Bhagwan Vishnu has taken for the welfare of mankind.

MaheshMahesh or Shiv is the third and final God in the Hindu Holy Trinity. He is the

God of destruction. New creation can only come about when the old is rung out. Inthis sense death by itself is a blessing. Seeing the different facets of creation anddestruction in life one gets inspired to look for that which is impersihable.

Lord Shiva is not only the destroyer of the objective world but he is also thedestroyer of ignorance. Shiva is depicted with a third eye, which is the eye ofwisdom. Lord Shiva revels in his state of knowledge. Not only does he revel but heis also the bestower of knowledge as the Adi Guru i.e. the first Guru in the creationas Lord Dakshinamurty. He carries the Gyan ganga in the locks of his hair and letsthis Ganges of knowledge flow down on the earth to bless and liberate all man-kind.

Lord Shiva is a role model for all spiritual seek-ers of liberation. Lord Shiva’s appearance, his at-tire etc compels us to re- think on our notions of thatwhich is valuable, beautiful and attractive. According toworldy understanding a person who is physically beauti-ful, well dressed, well man- nered, rich famous etc is asuccessful and good person. Lord Shiva’s formmakes us see this fact that more than often our convic-tions and understandings of life, of the self and of theworld are superficial and baseless. One needs to think more deeply about thatwhich is truly valuable and beautiful. Questiong of one’s wrong notions opens thedoors to the truth of everything and liberates one from constant suffering in theworld.

The destruction of ignorance is truly more sugnificant than physical destruc-tion of the world. Physical destruction will come about in its natural cycle, but it isthe destruction of evil and ignorance which becomes a true blessing.

In this manner the three gods represent the three fundamental powers ofnature which are manifest in the world viz. creation, destruction and maintenance.All three powers are manifest at all times. They are inseparable. Creation anddestruction are like two sides of a coin. And maintenance is an integral part of theprocesses of creation and destruction.


Giving is big-heartedness

A 10 year old boy went to an ice-cream shop and asked

the waiter how much a cone costs??

Waiter said: 50 cents

The boy started counting how much he had in his purse

and then he asked how much a small cup costs?

Waiter said: 40 cents

The boy asked for a small cup. He had it, paid bill and

left.

When the waiter came to pick the empty cup, he was

slightly touched as the boy had left 10 cents as tip for

him

Try giving something to everyone out of whatever little

you have.

Page # 13Vedanta Sandesh - April 2009

The Tenth Missing Boy

Page # 11

Once upon

a time ...

Stories bySages

Ten students studied together and one day all of them had gone to

attend a function in the neighbourhood village. They crossed the river by

foot when they went, but when they were returning there were flash floods

and with great difficulty they managed to reach the shore.

After relaxing on the riverbed for a few moments the leader of the

group decided to check if all of them had reached safely and no one was

washed away. He began to count, but while counting the others he left

himself out. “I see only nine; sure enough we have lost one. Who can it be?”

he said

“Did you count correctly?” asked another, and did the counting him-

self. But he too counted only nine. One after the other each of the ten counted

only nine, missing himself. “We are only nine” they all agreed, “but who is

the missing one?”, they asked themselves. Every effort they made to dis-

cover the ‘missing’ individual failed. “Whoever he be that is drowned” said

they sentimentally, “we have lost him”. So saying he burst into tears, and the

rest of the nine followed suit.

Seeing them weeping on the river bank, a wiseman who was passing

by, enquired for the cause. They related what had happened and said that

even after counting themselves several times they could find no more than

nine. On hearing the story, but seeing all the ten before him, the wise person

guessed what had happened. In order to make them know for themselves

that they were really ten, that all of them had come safe from the crossing,

he told them, “Let each of you count for himself but one after the other

serially, one, two, three and so on, while I shall give you each a blow so that

all of you may be sure of having been included in the count, and included

only once. The tenth ‘missing’ man will then be found.”

Hearing this they rejoiced at the prospect of finding their ‘lost’ com-

rade and accepted the method suggested by the wayfarer.

While the kind man gave a blow to each of the ten in turn, he that got

the blow counted himself aloud. “Ten” said the last man as he got the last

blow in his turn. Bewildered they looked at one another, “We are ten” they

said with one voice and thanked the wise man for having removed their

grief.

From where was the tenth man brought in? Was he ever lost? By

knowing that he had been there all the while, did they learn anything new?

The cause of their grief was not the real loss of any one of the ten, it was

their own ignorance, rather their mere supposition that one of them was lost

– though they could not find who he was – because they counted only nine.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Dehradun:

A Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji was organized

at Dehradun at the residence of Dr PL Bhatia from 7th to 11th May. The

subject matters of this five days Hindi language Gyana Yagna were Gita

Chapter 2, and Kathopanishad 1-2.

A study group is usually conducted at this place by Dr Bhatiaji himself,

based on the Gita Home Study material of Poojya Swami Dayanandaji, and

a dedicated & sincere group of senior citizens enthusiastically looks forward

to such personal expositions & interactions. Poojya Swaminiji is now visiting

this place from last 3-4 years and a nice rapport has been formed. This time

she was hosted by Mehra’s of ONGC, who are also active in various social

projects. Both the morning & evening sessions were very enlightening and at

times eye-openers too for most of the people.

May’11 VM / VA ProgramsV

edan

ta M

issi

on /

Ash

ram

Pro

gram

s


Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai:

A Gita Gyana Yagna was organized at BHA A/C Hall at Bandra,

Mumbai from 7th to 13th May by Poojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji. The

subject matter of the twin discourse series were: Gita Chapter 4, and

Kathopanishad 1-3.

The fourth chapter of Bhagwadgita starts with the glorification of the

Yoga revealed by Bhagwan Krishna in the earlier chapter. He says that not

only this Yoga is the secret of success of various Rajrishis earlier, but he

also gives his own example, and tells that whoever learnt the secret of his

karma & janma, and woke to the truth of life and lived a truly blessed life. In

this chapter Bhagwan explains the Yagna bhava further and motivates him

to apply this in every action. Kathopanishad 1-3 reveals life as a journey,

with the famous example of the chariot.

Sri Adi Sankaracharya Jayanti Celebrations, Indore:

This year the Adi Sankaracharya Jayanti was on 8th May. On Vaisakh

Shukla paksha panchami one of the brighest star of Knowledge was born in

Kerala - who later came to be known as Bhagwatpada Sankaracharya. He

was one of the finest proponent, writer and teacher of Advaita Vedaanta.

He is also referred to as Bhagwan Bhashyakar by students of Advaita

Vedanta. Vedanta Ashram has not only an idol of Bhagwan Bhashyakar

consecrated in their Study Hall, but an idol has also been installed on one of

entrance gates of Sudama Nagar E-Sector in his memory, which has been

aptly named after him. Sankaracharya Gate is now a landmark, as is the

Vedanta Ashram too. Every year on this day the Mahatmas & devotees of

Vedanta Ashram congregate and a procession visits the gate and offers

prayers there. At the Ashram also prayers were offered, there was chanting

of stotras, aarti and finally distribution of prasad.

Check out the detailed Photo Albums of the various functions on

VM News Blog at : http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/Page # 13

May’11 VM / VA ProgramsV

edan

ta M

issi

on /

Ash

ram

Pro

gram

s

Sankaracharya Jayanti, Mumbai:

This year on 8th May there were Jayanti’s of two great Mahatmas.

Bhagwan Sri Adi Sankara, and Brahmaleen Poojya Gurudev Sri Swami

Chinmayanandaji. Both of them are highly revered by Poojya Guruji, as

such during the Gita Gyana Yagna at Mumbai, a puja was organized at the

residence of one of old associate & devotee of Poojya Gurudev, Shashi &

Veer Madnani of Hongkong,

Poojya Guruji decided to conduct a Paduka Pooja of the original

Padukas of his revered teacher himself and the devoted Madnani couple

got the privelege of doing the pooja. An elaborate Shodashopachara puja

was done with Archana, chanting and bhajans. Various devotees attended

the puja program. Before the puja, Madnanis offered light refreshments to

all devotees. Poojya Guruji offered respects to both the teachers at the

Gyana Yagna also.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai:

Poojya Swamini Samatanandaji had to visit Mumbai in a hurry be-

cause of her sudden interview at US Consulate for Visa purposes. The VM

devotees at Mumbai planned to take advantage of her visit & presence there

and a Gita Gyana Yagna was organized at the Confrence Hall of Elite Build-

ers at Khar from 26th to 31st May, in which Poojya Swaminiji decided to

discuss the 20 Values as revealed by Bhagwan Krishna in the 13th Chapter

(Shlokas 7-11) of Gita. These values start with Amanitvam.

The discourse is conducted from 6.30 to 8.00 PM every evening in

the comfortable A/C Confrence Hall. The weekly Study Group of Vedanta

Mission is also organized here only. After the proposed interview on 31st

May, Poojya Swaminiji will return to Indore on 1st June.

Sunderkand Chanting, Indore:

On 22nd May, an Akhand Sunderkand Chanting program was orga-

nized at Vedanta Ashram from 4.00 PM onwards till the evening Aarti at the

Ashram Temple at 7.00 PM.

This group keeps offering their sewa of this Akhand Chanting at the

Ashram regularly. One of the group leaders, Sh Gulabchand Vyas is a dis-

ciple of Poojya Guruji. The beauty of this group is that they come fully pre-

pared for the program, with all the flowers, prasad & books. Everyone is

there right on time, and the chanting too is very focussed, unlike various

Sunderkand groups who include lot of film sings with orchestra, which all

becomes more of a distraction. The chanting by this group is good & inspir-

ing, and many devotees look forward to their program. They always carry a

statue of Hanumanji given to them by Poojya Guruji.


Quotes

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they

pass no criticisms.-George Eliot

If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face,

you should go home and examine your conscience.

-Woodrow Wilson

Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than

the child that lost a dog yesterday.

-Thornton Wilder

Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag

his tail.

-Kinky Friedman

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.

-Andy Rooney

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

-Bern Williams

There's a saying. If you want someone to love you forever, buy a

dog, feed it and keep it around.

-Dick Dale

What a dog I got, his favorite bone is in my arm.

-Rodney Dangerfield

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs

should relax and get used to the idea.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Forthcoming Programs

Page # 15

Sadhana Camp, Rishikesh:A Sadhana Camp will be organized at Arsha Vidya Peetha, Rishikesh from 6th to 11th

June 2011 by Poojya Guruji. The subject matters of the discourse series will be Isavasya

Upanishad and Chapter 12 of Bhagwad Gita.

Guru Poornima, Indore:Guru Poornima will be celebrated at Vedanta Ashram on the 15th of July. As earlier,

first there will be a pujan of Bhagwan Sri Sankaracharya and Poojya Gurudev by Poojya

Guruji. There after a Pada Pooja of Poojya Guruji will be done. Later there will be a Bhandara.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Wellingborough:A Gita Gyana Yagna will be organized at the Hindu Temple at Wellingborough from

23rd July by Poojya Swamini Samatanandaji. The subject matters of the English language

discourse series will be Gita Chapter 2 and Tattva Bodha.

Gita Talks, Reading Hindu Temple, UK:A three days talk series of Poojya Swamini Samatanandaji is being planned at Hindu

Temple at Reading from 2nd to 4th Aug.This is the first time when a three days talk series is

being planned there. The temple is still undergoing a major renovation.

Satsang, Laxminarayan Mandir, Bradford:Laxminarayan Mandir at Bradford is one of the temples in UK which is not only very

nicely made, but even the pujas are offered very nicely. They always make their premises

available for the satsang of VM Mahatmas. A satsang of Poojya Swamini Samatanandaji is

being organized there on 7th & 8th Aug.

Hari om !

Web Site of the International Vedanta Mission:http://www.vmission.org.in/

International Vedanta Mission News Blog:http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/

Checkout the new ‘Gita Section’

of VMission Web Site at:http://www.vmission.org.in/vedanta/shastras/gita/index.htm

This is a Net Publication of the

International Vedanta Mission

Om Tat Sat

vedanta sandesh - june 2011

Documents