Hari
OM
Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and
parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.
The
following is a 'cut and paste' from a site called "Life Positive";
you are encouraged to complete the reading of this article and an associated
side article HERE. Images have been added by YAM (as has a small amount of editing).
It was in Bangalore during the summer of 1984 that Brahmacharini
Vividisha** first heard Swami Chinmayananda at a public discourse. Totally
mesmerized by the guru ‘who looked like lightning and spoke like thunder,’ it
was to have a lasting effect on her. A star-struck teenager, she wrote to him
and was thrilled to receive his reply. Upon his urging she did a course in
Vedanta conducted under him. Immediately thereafter she took diksha, becoming a
renunciate, her life now pledged to her order and its mission of spreading the
ancient message of Vedanta to the world.
Vividisha looks back at the transformation. ‘I was an ordinary
teenager with a passion for writing and looking to a career in journalism.
Spirituality and Vedanta didn’t really figure anywhere, though as a sensitive
girl, appalled at the ways of the world, I used to find comfort in prayer. But
when I first heard Gurudev explaining the concept of the unchanging Self,
something hit home. He became my hero and I was totally immersed in his
worship. It was some years before I enrolled for the Vedanta course, but
immediately on completing it I realized where my calling lay and took the vows
of renunciation.’
Vividisha is not alone. Scores of young impressionable boys and
girls, their acquaintance with Vedanta as disparate as chalk from cheese,
experienced a complete turn in their lives after a chance meeting with Swami
Chinmayananda, or ‘Gurudev’ as he is reverentially referred to by his disciples
today. Mesmerised by the magnetism of his towering personality and compelling
oratory, they responded to his call for a revival of the Vedantic ethos.
Inspired by his vision for a better world, they pitched in to
swell the ranks of the movement he started, so that it assumed the proportions
of a mighty river that the Chinmaya Mission is today.
Vedanta
The Chinmaya Mission was started in 1953 at the instance of a
handful of disciples, to give expression to Swami Chinmayananda’s vision and
philosophy.
Its purpose, as stated in his own words, ‘To provide to
individuals from any background the wisdom of Vedanta and the practical means
for spiritual growth and happiness, enabling them to become positive
contributors to society.’ Twelve years after his mahasamadhi, the Mission,
under its current head Swami Tejomayananda, continues to live up to this lofty
aim.
Pleasantly rotund with gentle twinkling eyes, Swami
Tejomayananda, ‘Guruji’ to disciples, would seem to carry his burden lightly.
But his patience and bubbly humor belie the fact that on the affable Swami’s
shoulders rests the staggering responsibility of managing the spiritual and
administrative duties of a mammoth organisation that straddles the globe, its
243 centres reaching out to people from diverse countries with its credo of
universal brotherhood through Vedanta.
Speaking to him in his sparsely furnished kuti at the Chinmaya
Mission centre in Powai, Mumbai, we ask him what is so special about Vedanta?
‘Vedanta,’ Swami Tejomayananda explains, ‘is a spiritual science. Spirituality
is not an activity, but a vision that pervades any activity. This vision then
is the recognition of the fact of your oneness with the entire creation. With
it, values such as love for others, non-violence and compassion automatically
follow.’ He gives the analogy of one’s body. ‘It is composed of many parts, but
you have equal concern for all. Similarly, once you realize the Oneness in the
universe, all else are just expressions of it.’
Swami Tejomayananda pronounces the teachings of Vedanta, or
Upanishads as the scriptures are also called, as ‘life transforming’ and open
to anybody interested in knowing their truths, irrespective of their religious
affiliation. ‘Awakening to the truths hidden in them, one becomes a better
human and in turn positively impacts society,’ he explains, adding, ‘Gurudev
often told us, ‘You have not to change the world, but to change yourself.
Improvement of the world will happen only through individual transformation’.’
Vedanta is also the foundation of various religious practices
and rituals of the Hindu dharma, he adds. They explain the reason or rationale
behind these rituals that are now forgotten and therefore they need to be
brought to people’s awareness.
Sowing the Seeds
Strolling through the sprawling leafy campus of the Chinmaya
Mission in Powai is like stepping back in time. No cowdung huts and thatched
roofs here, but one is reminded of the forest hermitages of the ancient sages
as, far from the snarl of vehicular traffic outside, an air of tranquillity and
piety pervades within. The reverential hush inside Gurudev’s kuti as the relics
bring the memory of the Master to life, the soothing sonority of Sanskrit
shlokas chanted in unison, and the proximity of nature help one withdraw within
and dwell on the mystery that is life.
Towering over the Mission grounds, built on a hillock, is the
architecturally striking Jagdeeshwara Temple; its massive arch built to
resemble a Buddhist stupa with an inscription from the Koran on it make for a
refreshing assertion of the unity of faiths.
In the evenings it is the scene of the electrically charged
satsangs held by Swami Tejomayananda or another of the acharyas, as crickets
chirp outside and the city lights of Powai glimmer in the distance below.
One notices young boys and girls, their full white outfits
distinct from the yellow and ochre worn by the renunciate swamis and acharyas,
going about their routines. These are the future torchbearers of the movement,
undergoing training at the gurukul that represents the very heart of the
Chinmaya Mission. They are participating in the Vedanta Course, also known as
the Brahmacharya Course, the 13th batch of its kind held since the
establishment of this centre.
Swami Tejomayananda explains, ‘The Vedanta course involves two
years of intensive training and is aimed at candidates between 18 to 30 years,
holding a college degree and relatively unencumbered by family responsibility.
They are selected on merit without reservations of sex, caste, creed or
religion, from applications from around the world.’
Mohan Hejamadi, chief executive of the TARA Cultural Trust
invested with the running of the Sandeepany Sadhanalayas, explains that not
only are the youth thoroughly grounded in the fundamentals of the scriptures,
but that special emphasis is laid on giving them the opportunity to live in
accordance with them. ‘It is quintessentially an ashram life with little time
for TV or catching up with the news,’ he clarifies.
Parul Sheth is a past student of the course who today conducts
her own classes in Vedanta. Meeting Gurudev at a young age, she saw in him
‘everything she was aspiring for’ and somewhere down the line opted to do the
course. She describes it as a turning point for her. ‘My parents followed no
conventional religion so I was totally ignorant about the ritual of worship,
though I was always seeking answers to fundamental questions about life. On
doing the course all my preconceived notions about spirituality just got washed
away. The training in scriptures, texts and chanting is just a framework to
help us understand ourselves. A lot of things happen during the course that
lead to insights. Of course, the experiences are subjective as all of us have
different vasanas, tendencies, but it does open one’s eyes to hard reality. I
consider the Vedanta Course as amongst the greatest blessings of my life,’ she
says.
Hejamadi explains that for people whose circumstances do not
permit them to enrol for the full-time course there, Chinmaya Mission also
holds regular scripture classes, residential camps and study groups to help
them study the scriptures. The message of Vedanta is also spread through
various publications, books and through electronic media such as audio and
video tapes and DVDs.
Says Mahadevan Menon, an active volunteer who is on the
executive committee that conducts the study groups, ‘The uniqueness of Chinmaya
Mission lies in its study groups; through them the Mission itself comes to you.
Anybody with just a couple of hours to spare every week can get the benefit of
the scriptures.’
Swami Purushottamananda is one of the earliest disciples of
Swami Chinmayananda and is regional head of the Mission for Gujarat, Goa and
Maharashtra. We ask him about the relevance of Vedas and Upanishads today.
‘Vedanta,’ he responds, ‘contains eternal truths that are meant for the entire
humanity. Their knowledge is neither emotional nor intellectual, but represents
the actual reality that is. It teaches us that preoccupation with the past and
the future makes for an agitated present. And as our actions are the greatest
expression of our thoughts, it is not surprising that the world we live in is
as turbulent as it is.’
The increasing popularity of spiritual pursuit amongst youth,
explains the Acharya, is a result of their discontentment. ‘Certainly, the
youth today have adequate means for the easy satisfaction of all their wants
and ambitions. But in spite of all apparent comforts and accomplishments, it is
evident that they feel the lack of spiritual contentment and they come here
seeking answers.’
Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati, formerly Acharya Ram Mohan, is
a Vedanta teacher from the lineage of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, an alumnus of
the Mission. He says, ‘The Chinmaya Mission actually brought the scriptures to
the marketplace. Educated Indians were, for the first time, exposed to a part
of their spiritual heritage that was earlier exclusive to some of the
traditional ashrams.’ The structured teaching here also conforms to the
traditional way in which the Vedas were taught, he clarifies.
**Vividisha-ji was granted sanyaasa by Guru-ji,
Sw. Tejomayananda in 2013 and is now Swamini Aradhananda. She runs the
publication section for Bala Vihar at Sandeepany.
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