Oct Nov 2016

Volume 5 Issue 4

VISHWA

BHANU

A Bi-monthly bulletin of Vivekananda Kendra Vedic Vision Foundation

In this Issue

Editorial

Durga Ashtami -Deepapooja

Vijayadashami

Mahila Sangamam - Chinmaya Mission

Sister Nivedita -150th Birth Anniversary

Inaugural Programme

Diwali Celebrations

Visitors at ANANDADHAM

Childrens Day

SWANTANAM

News from VK Thiruvananthapuram

DIDIS Programes

Regular Ativities

DIDIS ARTICLE

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Oct 2016 - Nov 2016

A Vote for Demonetisation

At one stroke the Hon. Prime Minister has started an unbelievable process of
cleaning up public life by simply withdrawing from circulation 500 and 1000
rupee notes. That has necessarily emptied and cleaned up many suitcases, cupboards, and lockers all over the country. The pollution and the stink arising out
of this black wealth had considerably reduced the growth and cohesiveness of
our nation. But what must keep us really worried is the need for cleaning up of
our minds, of old devalued notes of anger, hatred, jealousy, intolerance, fanaticism, so on and so forth which make not only our lives miserable but also keep
the nation from prospering and progressing.
Swami Vivekananda in his famous oft repeated quotation reminds us that
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal in life is to manifest this divinity by
controlling nature external and internal. Prime Minister can only initiate the
steps for external cleaning up, but what about the internal cleaning within each
individual that should accompany it to make the process a real nation building
Yajna. The drama that goes on in the Parliament shows how difficult is this process of internal demonetisation or cleaning up.
Swami Vivekanandas man making nation building ideas should never be
devalued. How reluctant we are to clean ourselves from within. For this we have
to keep an internal ATM (Adherence To Manliness). This is the need of the hour.
Let us use this opportunity to recalibrate our personal ATM. Our Rishis have prescribed the four yogas---Karma, Bhakti, Raja, Jnana yogas for keeping our personal ATMs in an ever ready condition. Karma yoga will teach us to earn wages
without attachment for the fruits of action. There will then be no black wealth to
store. Bhakti yoga teaches us to elevate the human emotion to a universal divine
level so that all personal attachments get eliminated and there are no benami

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transactions. Raja yoga helps to control body mind and intellect and integrate
them into one whole bringing honesty and integrity into all personal and impersonal dealings. Jnana yoga elevates the mind and unites it with the One Truth.
Such an internal demonetisation, coupled with the external, would indeed pave
the way to make India a great nation. Let us all vote for such a total demonetisation so that we can proudly call ourselves INDIANS.

Durga Asthami - Deepapooja

Navarathri is a nine-night festival celebrated all over India and abroad by the Hindus. A major attraction during this festival is Bomma Kolu in which the idols of Hindu deities along with several dolls made
out of clay and wood are arranged on a series of steps. It is basically the depiction of aspects and culture

associated with Hinduism. It is customary to observe it for all the nine days of Navratri. An aspect of celebration for women and children, the artistic abilities of the homemaker is portrayed through the arrangement of dolls. The dolls that are preserved in the attic are brought down for Bomma Kolu. Apart from
Navratri Bomma Kolu being a social event, it also conveys a
spiritual idea. It represents the essence of creation in the display of dolls. The world in itself is a creation of Mahamaya or
Devi, the creative aspect of the Supreme Truth. Marking the
advent of Navarathri from 2nd October, the Bomma kolu was
beautifully arranged at Anandadham by the teachers of Sishuvihar on the stage of Dakshina hall.
As usual, there was a bhajan session every evening on all

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the seven days. On the Durga Ashtami day a Deepa puja programme was kept for the children and
mothers who came for keeping their books at Mother Saraswatis feet. Mananeeya Lakshmi Didi guided the mothers and children who took part in the Deepa puja. Fifty children and their mothers participated in the one hour programme.

Vijayadashami
On the morning of Vijaya Dashami, 11th October, Dakshina hall was crowded with children of all
ages coming for their books which they had kept at the feet of Goddess Saraswati. Toddlers came with
their parents for their Vidyarambham form Ma. Didis hands. All who attended were served with prasadam.

Mahila Sangamam - Chinmaya Mission

On 18th October, for the first time there was a Mahila Sangamam at Anandadham. Swamini from
Thrissur centre of Chinmaya Mission, brought with her about fifty middle aged ladies to spend the day
in Satsanga with Didi. A talk by Didi, bhajans, seeing round the campus especially the mural exhibition
on Swamijis life, some light games, and question answer session formed part of the programme. Taking lunch and tea together with the inmates of Anandadham was a great joy for all. They left at 4p.m.

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Samarpanam
Sister Nivedita -150th Birth Anniversary Inaugural Programme
Inauguration of the yearlong 150th Birth Anniversary celebration of Sister Nivedita began with the inaugural programme at Paramekkavu auditorium, Thrissur on Friday, October 28th.
The Programme started sharp at 4p.m with a Bhajan session conducted by the Bhaktamahila Trust of Thrissur, which
was well attended.
At 5p.m the main programme started with Mangalacharan
by Sushree Sutapa followed by the welcome speech by Dr
Lakshmi Sankar,General Convenor of (the organizing committee) Samarpanam. She gave a brief introduction to the yearlong programmes and introduced the guests on the dais.
Mananeeya

Lakshmi

Didi,

Chairperson

of

Samar-

pan, spoke on Sister Nivedita's shraddha for her Guru and

how she absorbed the spirit of Bharat through her association with her Guru. The opening group song and a short speech on Sister Nivedita were the contributions
of the senior students of Harishree School, Thrissur. Deepa prajwalan was by the Chief Guest, Retd. Justice. Smt. K.K. Usha (Former Chief Justice, High Court of
Kerala). In her inaugural address, Justice Usha spoke on
the dedication and total surrender of Sister to her Guru.
The keynote address was given by Prof.Dr. Prameela Devi,
Member-Womens Commission on the need of assimilating the message of Nivedita ' in this era of utter confusion and anarchy specially among our

young women.

Apart from the main speakers, Revered Swami Mokshavratanandaji - President of Sri Ramakrishna Math
Thiruvananthapuram blessed the audience and Rev. Swami Sadbhavanandaji President Ramakrishna

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Math, Thrissur released a book on Sister Nivedita in Malayalam, translated by Smt. Vinila Vijay from the
English version of Smt. Sarala Bala Sarkar entitled "Nivedita As I Saw Her". Sri Terambil Ramakrishna (Ex
-MLA) and Smt. Padma Devy received the copies of the books.
The most interesting part of the programme was Rev. Swami Nadatmajanandaji's (Editor of Prabuddha Keralam) 'Vanichitrapuja' or sketching of Sister Nivedita in tune with a poem on Sister composed by Sri Dilip - a member of Vivekananda Darshanika Samajam sung by Master. Ananta Narayan
from Ramakrishna Mission High School. The vote of thanks was given by Smt Beena Govind, a member
of Samarpanam. The programme ended at 7p.m.with the chanting of
'Asatoma Satgamaya'.

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Diwali Celebration
On Sunday morning, Samskar Varga children celebrated
Diwali by paying homage to Veermata Nivedita. Little Dakshina
dressed as Sister Nivedita together with Mananeeya Lakshmi
Didi, lit the lamp in front of the photo of Sister. Some parents
of

the

Sandeepani

Sishuvihar and the inmates of Anandadham

were present as the audience to encourage them. A short speech
by Little Sister, chanting of Sukta of Sister and Swamiji, a group
song and Surya Namaskar formed part of their programme. Didi
spoke to them on the life and work of Sister Nivedita. At the end,
after pushparchana each of them received a booklet on Sister
Nivedita as prasad.

Visitors at Anandadham
Month of November saw many visitors at Anandadham. Vivekananda Kendra Sahitya Seva committee
member Man.Aparnadidi and Dakshina Prant Sangathak, Su. Radha
paid a three days visit from (6thNov. to 8thNov.) to Anandadham.
They were with the Sishuvihar kids telling them stories and teaching them rhymes. They also had an interaction with the batch of
yoga varga ladies.
VKVVF was fortunate enough to have Mananeeya Nivedita Didi,
(Vice President of Vivekananda Kendra) on the 17th and 18th of
November.

On the 17th morning, an hour-long talk on Sister

Nivedita and her idea of Education was delivered by her at Hindi

Prachar Kendra, Kodungallur for the benefit of B.Ed students. Fifty students attended. How Sister, transformed herself under the able guidance of Swami Vivekananda and how she applied her unique methods
of teaching for the all-round development of the girls of the school which she established in Kolkata,
were effectively conveyed by Man. Nivedita Didi. The key points highlighted by her were the essential
qualities of a budding teacher.
On the 18th morning, at Asmabi College, Mananeeya Nivedita Didi spoke to the first year B.A.and BSc
students. Dr.Ranjit and Dr Mrs. Soorya Ranjit both from the Hindi department of the college arranged the
talk. She told them about Sister Nivedita who was trained by Swami Vivekananda when she came to India
to serve Mother India. The qualities required to be an able student were - All knowledge is within us, the

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need is of self-confidence which Sister Nivedita stressed on.

She narrated how Sister prepared her girl students some of
who were child widows, to become faculty members of the
Vishwa Bharati International University of Rabindranath Tagore, at Shantiniketan. The second quality needed for a student is to know how to learn and for this, concentration is a
must, like that of Swami Vivekananda who was known for
his photographic memory. Concentration can be increased
by developing self-control. Along with concentration, detachment also must be practised. Another important method was -TCI (Topic-Concept-Information) technique. This was how Sister Nivedita taught her girls. She also mentioned that, a student should understand his or her oneness with nature since each of them was a spark of the Divine, hence one has to give
more than take. That is what Sister Nivedita made her students understand. She taught her girl students
everything including the pride for their family, society and country. The whole talk was delivered in simple
Hindi which the students listened with rapt attention. Lastly one of the girls came and delivered a beautiful vote of thanks.

Children's Day
14TH November was a great day for the Sishuvihar tiny tots
as they decided to observe this day as Swachha Bharat Day. All
the teachers, students and their mothers decided to clean the
park garden, Vrindavan at Anandadham. It being a working day,
fathers could not make it. After a short prayer and pledge led by
little Srihari, little Rishika dressed as Chacha Nehru inaugurated
the

cleaning

pro-

gramme. The teachers,

mothers and children
together cleaned the garden within an hours time. After a short
break, mothers and teachers were seated in the hall to listen to
the speech of Little Rishika. Their teachers too spoke to them
and lastly the programme concluded with the vote of thanks
given by little Ananthu of LKG. Classes resumed after this short
programme.

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SWANTANAM
On the eve of Mananeeya Eknathji's birthday, there was a gathering of senior
citizens at Anandadham to participate in the 'Santwanam' programme meant
for the retired teachers who were honoured by V.K.Vedic Vision on Gurupurnima
day, all the elderly well-wishers and karyakartas of Kendra. Taking the opportunity
of the presence of Mananeeya Nivedita Didi at Anandadham on the 18th evening,
the unique programme was arranged.
Man. Nivedita Didi's talk was on the four Ashrama system of our Indian culture and how it bound the people
of all ages together, how it helped to build up the inclusive nature of every
child as it grew up to be a man with dignity and total personality. She
stressed

on

the

duties

of

a Vanaprasthi for the society in which

he or she lived.
Inaugural talk was followed by a short
meditation session conducted by Sri
Sudhakarji, a video clipping on Sri Narayan Guru's 'Daiva Dashakam'. The programme ended with Kendra prarthana, with an assurance to all that 'Swantanam' would be
a monthly programme for all the Vanaprasthis who had responded to this programme. 25 people attended the programme.

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Oct 2016 - Nov 2016

News from VK Thiruvananthapuram

Vivekananda Kendra Thiruvananthapuram held a book release on 16th Oct 2016 Sunday as a part of
its activities here. Mananeeya Nivedita Didis book Yoga: The Way of Life based on the Vision of Oneness
was translated into Malayalam and the book is Yoga: Ekathma Darsanathil Adhishtithamaya Jeevitha Paddhathy. It would be our immense pleasure in informing you that this is the first book in the translation
project of VK Thiruvananthapuram. This was released by Sri.Col VPK Nair a distinguished officer of the Indian Army, who after his retirement has now devoted his life to the pursuit of Sadhana and paints pictures
inspired in his meditative vision. The first copy of the released book was received by Smt.Chithra Under
Secretary Gov. of Kerala Local Self Government. She was also the coordinator of International Yoga Day in
Kerala. Mananeeya Hanumanth Raoji from Kanyakumari and Swami Tattvaroopananda Saraswathi from
Janaka Janani Kripa Gurukulam Vattiyoorkavu were other guests. The function was presided over by
Prof.P.Balakrishnan Nair.
Patrons of Vivekananda Kendra, Chitra Nagar residents, Yoga Varga participants, and Samskara Varga
participants together made the event memorable and successful. About 150 people attended the event.

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DIDIS PROGRAMME
October
16th

Kasargod Chinmaya Mission - Veda Bhagavan installation

18th

Chinmaya Devi group- Satsanga here at Anandadham

19th

Nagayakshi Temple near Paravur Pratistha divas and Satsanga

20th

Keralaswaran Temple Satsangh

23rd

Sri Gurudeva Vandika Tantra peetha-Matru Sangamam Moothakunnam

29th

Matruchaya, Aluva Kutumba sangamam

30th

Thrissur Satsanga

November
4th

Devi temple, Thodupuzha Inauguration of DeviBhagavata Navahara

5th

Morning : Nehru School of Mgt at Thiruvillamala Seminar on Bhagavat Gita and Swami
Vivekananda
Evening : Kadangallur, Sri Sai School Matrupuja

20th

Konathukunnu Inauguration of Sanatana Dharma Lecture series

27th

Ramakrishna Ashram, Muvattupuzha Sister Nivedithas 150th Birthday Celebration

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Oct 2016 - Nov 2016

REGUL AR ACTIVITIES
Yoga Satra
10 ladies and 16 gents enrolled for monthly Yogasatra for the month of October and November.

Yoga Varga
20 ladies and 20 gents attended the regular Yogavarga for the last two months. Every Second Sunday gent
participants have decided to conduct classes in the Azhikode beach.

Samskar varga
Average of 15 children are regularly attending Samskarvarga held in Anandadham and P.Vemballur. A new
varga has been started in Edavilangu area from October, where an average of 25 children are attending
regularly on all Sundays. Samskarvarga at Aripallam also is being
conducted every Sundays, by the housewives and youth of that
area at ten different places with an average of 25 students
attending each varga.

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Ganapathi Homam and Sricakrapuja

Held in the early mornings of 16th October and 14th November during the Pournami or full moon days.
Sri Dilip performed in the former and Sri Vijayanji and Sri Sivan came for the latter. Chanting of Sri Lalitha
Sahasranama was done in the morning and Sri Vishnu Sahasra Namam archana was done in the evening,
by the inmates of Anandadham.

SKIE programme
SKIE classes for the VIII and IX class students were held on the second Saturdays, second Sundays and
third Sundays of October and November. An average of 18 children attended the classes. Resource
teachers were Sri Radhakrishnan and Kum. Manvi for Maths, Smt Vijaya Radhakrishnan and Kum. Radhika
for Chemistry, and Kum. Agaja and Sri Vasudevan Namboodiri for Biology, Sri Premjit for History, Sri Anup
for Physics and Brig.(retd) Radhakrishnan for English.
On the third Sundays of every month, a parents meet has been kept to discuss about the progress of their
children. From the month of November parents of Sishuvihar children too are attending the meeting. The
response of parents is good. For the second meeting Dr. Rema Devi a professional counselor was invited
to talk to the parents.

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UP MOTHERS, CONQUER INDIA With YOUR SPIRITUALITY!

Dr. M. Lakshmi Kumari

Up India! Conquer the world with your spirituality! was the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda.
But having failed in responding to that call during the last one hundred years, at least let us start with a
little of this home remedy, which would do immense good to our country. To prepare that remedy, no
factory is better equipped than our own homes, and the only hope of preparing it without adulteration
lies with the mothers who are concerned at the way their family is withering.
The arms of octopus of degeneration are closing in from all sides. The sanctity of our homes of
whatever remains of it is threatened. The rst victims would be our children, followed by our youthful
sons and daughters whom our cine culture, hand in hand with the imported tinsel glamour, would nd
an easy prey. Who can for long withstand the thrust of lust and luxury unless they are rooted in
something Stronger and more powerful and more Satisfying? If the mothers fail to preserve and nurture
this root, the family tree of ours, the best variety the world has ever seen women should rooted out in
no time. Women should rise to the occasion and preserve the values which fertilize and nourish these
roots. Time is not on our side. It is already late.
Our mothers should not just remain petty, pretty imprisoned housewives. They must understand
their national responsibility at this critical hour in our nations history. We can all play a part in solving
the problems of our country, the moment we realise that we are a part of the problem. By allowing free
entry to materialism through all the glitter and glamour, we are inviting darkness into our homes. Our
homes should become the lighthouses to eradicate this darkness and the transformation should begin
with us.
From time immemorial, the solution that we in India sought to the material problems, were
always in the light of our spiritual awareness. We have survived not on our material strength and wealth,
but on the indescribably subtle yet strong spiritual power that flowed through the sinews and veins of
our people. The century and this crisis need not be an exception to the rule in fact, if we make an
exception to the rule. In fact we make an exception, we also follow the example of the great nations
which were destroyed by the tyranny of time.
Unfortunately, no giant fountainhead spiritual power is available with us. There are more of
posers than real ones. Therefore, it is imperative that we dig as many little wells as possible, wherever
possible, so that trickles may flow through many outlets, and revitalize the parching life. Mothers are

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the best bet from where we may yet get some nectar. God bless them many are still the embodiment
of love, sacrifice and service, the external indicators of the deep seated spiritual veins.
Revival of spirituality need not necessarily mean making them religious fundamentalists,
something to which the whole nation is getting allergic. It simply means enhancing and enriching their
awareness of the totality of the whole, making them respond to situations whole heartedly, enjoined
with the spirit of our tradition, our culture, our heritage. If we could achieve that we may still aspire to
save our nation.
Ordinary, everyday people can and do become whole. They can and do live in ways that express
their highest and most cherished values values which also happen to those most prized universally
and collectively through human history. People who become whole are the ones who find completeness
by consciously integrating inner and out relatives.
It is wonderful if we can manage to merge the inner truths with the demands of everyday living.
Can it be achieved? Our women can provide the answer.
There are two ways of building up spirituality, which is not a commodity to be imported from
outside. It is something very much within us, waiting to be tapped and opened up. For this we must first
remove the obstacles that prevent its gurgling out and in the second phase preserve the trickle and
enrich it in every way so that it doesnt get lost in our mundane life activities. While the first requires
only a minor adjustment in our mental awareness, the second needs some effort in deliberately
divinizing our day to day life. Both are easy for women to do and they can do it effortlessly, while
harmoniously living in their homes, creating no disturbance at all. Nobody need even notice it as the
change in the attitude is at the mental level.
The first rule is to avoid wastage of time, material and energy in wasteful material pursuits. Time
is the only coin which we spend on ourselves for self-improvement, and for the benefit of our families.
From early morning 4 a.m. to night 10 p.m. we have 18 hours for this biggest national work to keep
our homes happy and tidy, physically and spiritually. Many women have learnt this great secret and are,
in their own way trying to add to the wealth of the society. They look after their homes and yet find time
to help others. They have small scale units in which they amply other less fortunate women. They run
various courses for the sake of children or adults, adult education classes, in addition to the numberless
varieties of jobs they are engaged in these days. All they have to do is to bring a sense of dedication
and purpose into this picture and do it in the way Swamiji has taught us. Atmano mokshartham Jagat
Hitaya ca. A mundane work takes up a spiritual hue thereafter and brings that invisible enrichment into
our homes.

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Women should not waste their energy on gossiping spreading rumors, nding fault with others,
competing for material wealth, false status, pride, etc., which will create jealousy and unhappiness all
around. These restraints would lead to much spiritual power, and without our knowledge the atmosphere
of our homes change and harmony and bliss ow in. Family members learn to bask in this indescribable
sunshine.
Women waste a lot of material these days. Consumerism has affected, above all, the women of
our country. Dress materials, edible items, fancy articles, frequent changes of interior decorations,
furniture there are many rich people whose fancies create holes in our social fabric. Homes look like
untidy markets. These women have no money to help a poor sister in distress, but have enough to pour
down the dram In wasteful show Each time we do it, our nation becomes poorer and those who
perpetrate such acts become also poorer at heart. The spiritual drain is unthinkable. Satan literally steps
in destroying the happiness and well-being of such families.
To stem this tide, we must develop ourselves and in our children a pride of things, thoughts and
traditions which are truly Indian. They should do it, not due to hatred towards the others, but love for the
things that are their own. We are lacking in nothing. Our art, music, dance, architecture, literature etc.,
have made their mark in the world, not for their transient beauty or usefulness, but for their wholesome
content which touches something deeper within, which elevate, ennoble and enrich human life. By
making our younger generation love our culture and traditions we would be making a gift of all these to
our children and thus add to the glory of our heritage and also ensure its perpetuation.
This is just a beginning the rst step in creating awareness, in keeping our motherland healthy
and alive. Cant the women of India do at least this much for Our Great Motherland?