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(Highlights: click on link to go directly to that
section) |
July 1-3--
Tsunami
Affected Areas
TSUNAMI RELIEF
Pujya Swamiji
traveled back down to the tsunami affected areas where
we have been working since December 30, 2004 (see
www.projecthope-tsunami.com for details). We
are in the midst of construction of an orphanage which
will house nearly 450 orphans (over 350 of whom are
girls). It will also include a school, vocational
training, a computer center and much more.
Further, we have
adopted a center for 200 widowed, poor and abandoned
ladies. We are building them dining facilities, kitchen
facilities, vocational training facilities and more as
well as renovating the existing structure.
We are constructing
the orphanage on the same ground as the ladies center so
that the children will have 200 ladies to be their
mothers, aunts and older sisters, and the ladies will
have 450 children to fill their lives with love, meaning
and responsibility. It will truly be a village of Hope!
The orphan children
are currently living in temporary facilities erected by
the government.
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Pujya Swamiji feeds them with His
own hands!
DISTRIBUTION AT THE LADIES CENTER
We also had a
distribution of sweets, clothing, supplies and other
necessities to the ladies in the
Ladies service
center.
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Clockwise from top: The ladies receive
their supplies, they gather together on the
front steps, they sit in their hall with 2
rishikumars in the midst! |
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CONSTRUCTION OF THE
ORPHANAGE
Construction is progressing very well
on the orphanage buildings. We expect by November or
December it should be completed.
NEW VILLAGE
Project Hope has agreed to
reconstruct the village of Pannithittu, about 15 km
south of Pondicherry town, in the Pondicherry Union
Territory. The village was completely devastated
in the tsunami and the villagers are impoverished. Thus,
the government requested us to take on this village as
well and Project Hope agreed. There will be 100 homes,
plus a school, community center, vocational training
center and more.
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The land on which we will
reconstruct the village of Pannithittu |
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A few walls of some buildings still stand (see photo
below left), but the majority of the village was just
washed away.
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The land on which we will
reconstruct the village of Pannithittu |
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While in Pondicherry, the divine rishikumars also got
the opportunity to swim in the ocean and enjoy the salty
waves.
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July 12--
Rishikesh
Janeo Sanskar of
Rishikumars
Parmarth Gurukul
accepted 91 new Rishikumars into the Gurukul. The
children, all of whom come from poor, disadvantaged
situations (some of whom are orphans, some who have one
parent, some who have both but the parents cannot
properly care for the children) received their janeo
sanskar here on the 12 July. The sacred thread ceremony
is an important ritual in the life of a Hindu boy (see
www.parmarth.com/sanskaras.htm for details of the
meaning of this ceremony), and one which prepares him to
study the scriptures.
The ceremony was
performed and all the rishikumars received the sacred
mantra from Pujya Swamiji and a mala for japa, as well
as a special asana for sitting for their meditation and
sandhya.
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Rishikumars after sacred
thread ceremony sit on the banks of Gang with
Pujya Swamiji |
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Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Mahamandaleshwar
Swami
Asanganandji distribute malas and
asanas to the new rishikumars
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In the evening, after the Ganga Aarti, the
rishikumars all (new and old) received new clothes, new
school books and big sweet ladoos, by the hands of the
Shahra family from Indore and Mumbai.
July
--
Rishikesh
Veerpur distribution
In addition to the
150 rishikumars living on the premises of Parmarth
Niketan in Rishikesh, we also have more than 60
rishikumars (classes 9, 10, 11) living on our land in
Veerpur, at the Parmarth Veerpur Gurukul.
We went there as well
for a distribution of clothing, books and sweets.
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Pujya Swamiji and the Shahra family
distribute books and prasad to the
rishikumars at Veerpur
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We also had a special tree plantation ceremony.
July 13
--
Rishikesh
Pujya Morari Bapu
visits Veerpur
On July 13, the world
famous Kathakar (one who recites the stories/epics of
Hinduism), Pujya Sant Shri Morari Bapu came to Rishikesh
and he came to visit the Gurukul in Veerpur.
By his hand we
distributed new school books to the children.
July
14-15
--
Tsunami
Affected Areas
Just prior to His
departure for USA, Canada and Europe, Pujya Swamiji
traveled down to South India again, to the site of our
tsunami relief work, to finalize the approval for
reconstruction of village Pannithittu in the Pondicherry
Union Territory. The village will include 100 houses, as
well as a school, community center, vocational training
center and other amenities.
The work began
immediately and is already well underway. By early Sept
(at the time of this writing) the construction work
looks as below:
July
16-17
--
Sacramento,
USA
Pujya Swamiji's first
stop in USA was Sacramento, California where Pujya Shri
Rameshbhai Oza was giving Katha for the Gujarati Samaj
of Sacramento. Pujya Swamiji addressed the katha on the
final days of the 16th and 17th.
July
21-24
--
Louisville,
Kentucky, USA
GURU PURNIMA
Pujya Swamiji spent
Guru Purnima in Louisville, Kentucky where a beautiful
program was arranged at the home of Dr. Rajan and Smt.
Jayshree Amin. The program began with a sacred puja at
the temple in their home, was followed by the pravachan
(discourse) program, and then concluded with a divine
Yagna and Aarti on the lake on their property.
They had made all the
arrangements for an Aarti like the Ganga Aarti at
Parmarth, and we sang the Ganga Aarti song. It took just
the divine sound of Pujya Swamiji's voice to transport
everyone from the hills of Kentucky to the banks of
Mother Ganga.
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On the lake for divine Aarti ceremony...
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Pujya Swamiji greatly
appreciated their commitment and dedication and He said
that He hopes more and more people will bring the divine
flow of Mother Ganga into their homes and into their
lives.
Pujya Swamiji's asana
for the discourse was set up just in front of the
beautifully setting sun. He spoke on the importance of
yagna and its meaning in our lives.
These two programs
were so beautiful because they combined both the divine
words and inspiration of Pujya Swamiji with the yagna
and aarti ritual as well. Thus, people were not
only moved and touched by Pujya Swamiji's presence and
words, but they also had the opportunity to take part in
a transformative, sacred ritual.
Pujya Swamiji also
traveled to Lexington, Martin and Owensboro, Kentucky to
give the divine touch to smaller communities who rarely
have the benefit of a Saint's presence.
July 25
--
Dallas,
Texas, USA
Pujya Swamiji
traveled to Dallas, Texas where He and Pujya Bhaishri
gave discourse to the huge Gujarati community. He stayed
with the family of Manjuben and Rameshbhai Patel of
N'dola, Zambia, who had come in for the occasion.
July
26-29
--
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA
Pujya Swamiji
returned to Pittsburgh, the home of His initial sojourn
in USA in the early 1980s, and the land where He
inspired and built the first Hindu Jain temple in
America. He spent the time there meeting with devotees
and gave a beautiful pravachan at the temple on the 29th
evening.
July
30-31
--
Chicago,
USA
Pujya Swamiji was
invited to Chicago for the Manav Seva Mandir's Patotsav celebration. Pujya Swamiji arrived on Saturday
the 30th and performed the final purnahuti of the sacred
yagna on Saturday evening, followed by His pravachan and
then a beautiful showing of the Parmarth Ganga Aarti!
The audience of thousands were immediately transported
to the holy banks of Mother Ganga, as tears rolled down
people's eyes to behold Her divine flowing waters.
On Saturday night,
the youth had put together a special cultural show of
songs and dances, which Pujya Swamiji stayed to watch -
at their ardent request!
Sunday morning, He
and Sadhvi Bhagwati led the youth program for the young
and the young-at-heart! It was a great time in which the
youth could all open up and ask whatever questions were
in their minds and hearts.
The day of Sunday was
filled with activity and Pujya Bhaishri graced the
occasion as well with his presence. Sunday evening,
Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Bhaishri both gave divine and
uplifting discourses.
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Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Bhaishri inspired
and touched the audience with their divine
words of inspiration and with their darshan. |
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August
1-2
--
Winnipeg,
Canada
Pujya Swamiji spent 2
days in Winnipeg, Canada. He addressed the congregation
of the Hindu Temple and also spoke at several private
gatherings of devotees - of both Indian and also Western
communities.
Further, Pujya
Swamiji performed the official prana pratishta ceremony
of the Swami Narayan deity at the temple. The temple
prana pratishtha ceremony had been held in June, and
they had been hoping Pujya Swamiji could be there.
However, unfortunately, Pujya Swamiji was unable to
attend. Yet, the Swami Narayan deity's official
installation had not been performed so Pujya Swami
Madhavpriya Dasji requested that Pujya Swamiji perform
this on His trip to Winnipeg, and Pujya Swamiji agreed.
When Pujya Swamiji was called to perform
the purnahuti of the sacred yagna, He called all of the
children together and had them all, jointly, offer the
coconut to the fire. He always tries to involve the
youth as much as possible in all activities.
August
3-4
--
Toronto,
Canada
Pujya Swamiji
traveled to Toronto and Kitchener/Waterloo after
Winnipeg.
He had a satsang at
the home of Kiranbhai and Romaben Patel in Waterloo on
the evening of the 3rd, a satsang at the home of Savitri
Gossai in Toronto on the morning of the 4th.
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Pujya
Swamiji also held a special youth
session (for the young and the young at heart) on the evening of the 4th in Toronto. The youth
program was organised by Elesh and Vrinda Parujanwala.
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Further, on the
morning of the 5th prior to His departure, He graced the
last day of the youth camp at the Vishnu Mandir. He only
had a little time before He had to go to the airport,
but even in a short meeting, He gave wonderful messages
to the very young children. They asked so many excellent
questions and He gave them answers that were just
perfect for their age.
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Pujya Swamiji is garlanded by the youth
leader, the children sit and listen to Him,
Pujya Swamiji speaks
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August
6-12
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New Jersey,
USA
Following the
gathering of scholars in India in June for the final
review of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism, we had a
gathering of Western scholars in USA. Eighteen scholars
came from USA, Canada and Australia to review articles
and offer changes. Further, a timeline was established
for the completion of the work, and an executive
editorial team was appointed. Other crucial
decisions were made about the next stages of the work.
The conference was
generously sponsored by Shri Chandubhai Patel and Shri
Jyotindrabhai Patel of New Jersey.
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The scholars worked continuously from
morning to evening every day for a week.
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Further, we had a full team of 8
volunteers working to do the data entry of all editorial
changes and to keep track of the entries. Sujal Patel of
New Jersey has -- with great devotion and seva bhaav --
taken over the computer database of EH and has brought
it up to a very systematic, professional, user-friendly
format. All information is now at our fingertips which
will make the final stage of this monumental work one
that is easier, smoother and more flawless than in the
past.
The conference was
blessed by the presence of Pujya Satguru
Bodhinatha Veylanswami, the head of Hinduism
today and successor to Pujya Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami. He expressed his
appreciation for the project and offered his help and
assistance wherever necessary in its completion
Further, during the
conference, Dr. Rao was awarded a special award by Dr.
MK Sridhar, on behalf of the Indological Society for his
lifelong contribution to Hinduism.
August 13
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New Jersey
DHARMA SUMMIT
Organized by Pujya
Swami Dayanandji and Arsha Vidya Gurukulum a Dharma
Summit was held at Rutger's University from the 13-15
August. Pujya Swamiji spoke in the opening session on
the 13th. In addition to Pujya Swami Dayanandji, other
respected spiritual leaders who attended included Pujya
Satguru Bodhinatha
Veylanswami,
Pujya Dr. Pranav Pandya and Pujya Shri Chitrabhanuji.
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Clockwise from top: Pujya Swamiji sits
with Pujya Swami Dayanandji and the
delegates; Pujya Swamiji delivers his
lecture; Pujya Swamiji sits with Pujya Swami
Dayanandji and Pujya Dr. Pranav Pandyaji
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August 14
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Lisbon,
Portugal
Pujya Swamiji's first
stop in Europe was Lisbon, Portugal. While there
He agreed to give a special question-answer session to
the youth who all fondly remember last year's youth
camp! As soon as they found out that Pujya Swamiji was
in Lisbon they ardently requested Him to have a
question-answer session/satsang. Of course, He agreed.
So, out at the beach home of Kantibhai and Vibhutiben
Jamnadas, He had a special time with the youth of
Lisbon. He also gave His blessings to Jitesh and Dimple
who got married the following week. They had served
together in seva during Pujya Swamiji's youth camp in
2004, and realized that they soul mates. They sought His
blessings to get engaged shortly after the camp.
August 16-18
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Tenerife,
Spain
Pujya Swamiji visited
the island of Tenerife and gave a beautiful discourse to
the community, as well as had several satsang sessions,
including a very divine one at the home of Shri Suresh
Kewalramani. He answered numerous questions on karma,
life after death, reincarnation and the relationship
between destiny and free-will.
August 21
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Leicester,
UK
The Hindu Youth UK,
chaired by Preeti Raichura, organized a beautiful
program at the Kapital Building in Leicester (click
here for more details). It was an excellent,
inspiring and educational evening which had the theme of
"How to bring Hinduism into your daily life."
Pujya Swamiji spoke
on various crucial aspects of Hinduism, including the
importance of unity within communities. He also stressed
how important it is for the temples and adults to
support and assist the youth in their programs -- both
financially and organizationally. "It is wonderful
to see their enthusiasm and their dedication, but they
need your help also. They are full time students and
they rely on the temples, on the temple committees and
the adults to help them bring their programs to
fruition."
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When
he talked about bringing Hinduism into our
Daily Life, He gave a beautiful, detailed
talk on the yamas and niyamas - how
these are the 10 commandments of Hinduism.
He gave details of each and how to implement
these in our lives.
Following
this there was a very enthusiastic
question-answer session by the children.
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August 22
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Manchester,
UK
Pujya Swamiji
traveled to Manchester the following day and gave a
soul-stirring talk at Gita Bhavan mandir organized by
Tarlaben and Rajnibhai Somaiya.
August 23-24
--
Edinburgh,
Scotland,
UK
Each August,
Edinburgh, Scotland hosts hundreds of thousands of
people who come for the world famous Festival Season of
Edinburgh. There are dozens of different, simultaneous
festivals (including art, music, theatre, books, etc.).
This has been going on for over 50 years! For the last
few years, a Festival of Spirituality has been
added to the Edinburgh Festivals. Organized by Neill
Walker, this Festival of Spirituality aims to bring
spiritual awareness to the flocks of tourists, seekers
and visitors. Pujya Swamiji was invited as a main
speaker for the Festival of Spirituality. (see
http://www.stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk/Festival.shtml)
On the evening of the
23 August, Pujya Swamiji gave a beautiful talk on
Spirituality at the St. John's church, an ornate,
ancient and traditional church with expansive
stained-glass windows and a towering steeple. It
was a beautiful symbol of inter-faith love and harmony
for a Hindu saint to be speaking from the pulpit of a
church to an audience sitting in the pews.
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St. John's Church where Pujya
Swamiji's lecture took place |
The program began
with a showing of the divine Ganga Aarti, broadcast onto
a large screen in the church. It is probably the first
time in history that Aarti has been performed in a
church!!
Following the
lecture, He opened the floor for questions-answers and
the questions showed a deep sense of searching, quest
and introspection on the part of the western audience.
On the morning of
August 24, Pujya Swamiji addressed 250 students (in two
batches) at the Holy Rood High School in Edinburgh.
Addressing the groups of Scottish students (most of whom
had never seen a Hindu Saint) He immediately won them
over with His love, His humor and His straightforward
answers to their questions. They asked beautiful
questions, ranging from His views on the war in Iraq to
what they could do to make the world a better place.
Pujya Swamiji was very impressed by the thoughtfulness
of such young students.
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Students listen attentively |
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Pujya Swamiji immediately won the hearts
of the headmaster and principal of the
school, to whom He gave copies of Drops of
Nectar upon departure |
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August 26
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London, UK
Janmashtami
Pujya Swamiji gave a
brief and beautiful darshan program at the home of
Geetaben and Anilbhai Solanki in London. It was brief
because He was called to the Hare Krishna Mandir in
Watford for their enormous and divine Janmashtami
program later in the evening. However, even in a short
time, He filled the atmosphere at the Solanki's home
with divine vibrations and gave everyone drops of divine
nectar -- in the form of inspiration, insight and
answers, as well as His beautiful darshan.
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From the
Solanki's home, He went to the Hare Krishna mandir
where He sat in the main temple room (in front of
the deities) and led everyone in divine kirtan,
singing "Me to kab se teri sharan mein hun" and "Govinda
bolo bolo."
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It was a once-in-a-lifetime
experience to sit in the temple, under the divine darshan of Bhagwan Krishna, on the holy day of
Janmasthami, listening to Pujya Swamiji lead kirtan.
August 27
--
Leicester,
UK
Pujya Swamiji's last
day in UK was spent in Leicester at the Hanumat Yagna
organized by Pujya Swami Satyamitranand Giriji. It was a
beautiful program, filled with hundreds of individual
yagna kunds. Pujya Swamiji gave a beautiful talk on how
to make our lives yagna.
Pujya Swamiji
returned to India on the 28th August.
FILM ON PUJYA
SWAMIJI & HIS TEACHINGS:
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On April 17,
2004 at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood, USA a
film on the life and teachings of Pujya Swamiji
premiered to a sold out audience.
The film, titled, "A Day in the Light" is
produced and directed by Christopher Miglino.
The film has already
been shown to delighted and inspired audiences at the
Sedona Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival in
Los Angeles and several other film festivals in USA
and Europe.
See
www.adayinthelight.com
to order your own copy of the beautiful film.
Or, you can go directly to
www.amazon.com and order it from there
For more information,
email Christopher directly at
chris@yogamates.com
Click on the links
below for previews: |
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Bathing
in Ganga at Parmarth |
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Itinerary
for Pujya Swamiji
for September -
November 2005 |
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September |
October |
November |
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1-5 |
Rishikesh |
8-14 |
Rishikesh |
1 |
Rishikesh |
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6-7 |
Delhi |
14 |
Porbandar |
2-8 |
Delhi |
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8 |
Jaipur |
15-18 |
Bombay |
9 |
London |
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9 |
Delhi |
19-31 |
Rishikesh |
11-13 |
Miami, Florida |
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10-27 |
Rishikesh |
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14-29 |
USA yatra |
Email contact for program information:
parmarth@aol.com
*Note: Pujya Swamiji's schedule is always
subject to change at the last minute. Please be sure to
call or email prior to coming to Rishikesh, just to
confirm that He is there. |
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Contact
Information:
Phone: (0135) 2440088, 2434301 Fax: (0135))
2440066
From abroad, dial: + (91-135) instead of (0135)
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