Meaningful Meet at Maritzburg

A Report by Avthar Sewrathan

Many countries have their own National Youth Days. In South Africa, National Youth Day is celebrated on 16 June every year. Each country has its own reasons to celebrate it. India has its National Youth Day on 12 January which is the birthday of our illustrious leader Swami Vivekananda. Here in South Africa we, the Ramakrishna devotees, celebrate South African Youth Day on 16 June and in January, we, at HQ, have an half-day Retreat program for the youth in commemoration of Swami Vivekananada’s birth day. In continuation of the 147th birth anniversary celebrations of Swamiji, Pietermaritzburg Sub-centre had arranged a meanigful Youth meet. I am glad to present a Report, penned – nay! composed in a Word Processor as the modern youth are wont to – by Avthar Sewrathan who is a youth member of the Sub-Centre there. Images courtesy: ‘Rishie’

The day had finally arrived!  We, the youth members were just awaiting the commemoration of the 147th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at the Pietermaritzburg Sub-Centre, held on 5 February 2010.

mesmerizing shrine of Maritzburg...

This is one of the most important functions on our Religious calendar as the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and the ideals for which he lived and worked continue to be a great source of inspiration for the Youth. He will be ever remembered as one of the main architects of the modern world for he brought about a new understanding of Vedanta and bridged the gap between east and west. Accordingly, the youth were eagerly gathered in the shrine and great anticipation was in the air as this function was exclusively planned, co-ordinated and managed by the Youth of the Sub-Centre.

Akshar garlanding Vimokshanandaji

The programme commenced promptly at 19:00 hrs and the devotees were warmly greeted by sister Karistha Singh who was the Programme Director for the evening. After the initial proceedings, brother Akshar Sewrathan extended a cordial welcome to His Holiness Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj by garlanding him. Earlier at the entrance two sisters placed the holy tilak on his forehead in the traditional style.

Sonal presenting her paper...

The first speaker for the evening was sister Sonal Sewrathan, who addressed the congregation on the topic “You are the Creator of Your Own Destiny”. Sister Sonal related the parable of a Pencil Maker, highlighting the fact that we are all created by the Maker who is God, to follow our own destiny by either beautifully designing it OR misshaping it with our thoughts, words and deeds.

She also recounted the famous parable by Sri Ramakrishna on the wish fulfilling Kalpataru tree as of immense significance.  ’Your mind is like the wish-fulfilling tree – whatever you think, sooner or later it is fulfilled irrespective of good or bad results.’  Finally, she challenged us to become the creators of our own destiny by following this simple inner golden rule :

Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny.

Yashvir presenting his paper...

The second speaker was brother Yashvir Rugbeer, who presented a paper entitled “The Importance of Youth in Society”. He reminded the youth of their role in society. Quoting Sri Swami Vivekananda extensively he emphasised that the sole responsibility of the youth of today rested on the present so that they can suitably mould the future, as it depended only on the efforts of their hands. He added that their values, determination and character ultimately decide the preservation of our world.

Brother Yashvir pointed out also the fact that youth are completely entangled in the superficial world and do not realise the gravity of their actions, primarily due to their ignorance. He highlighted that the essence of true success is what ‘you make of yourself’.  ’It is the conduct of life that you develop, it is the character that you cultivate and it is the type of person that you become.’  He advised the youth to equip themselves with the necessary skills in order to ensure a bright future as success was not measured in terms of what one obtained but in terms of what one could become, how one lived and what actions one performed.

The youth were then treated to a soul stirring rendition of “Ham Honge Kamayab” bhajan led by sister Revathi.

Shivaar presenting his paper

The third speaker for the evening was brother Shivaar Partab, who delivered a paper on “Character and Human Excellence”. He narrated the story of the sculptor who indicated that beautiful figures were not created by him as he merely removed the extra pieces off the stone with his tools, relating this to Human character.  ’Good qualities lie dormant in each one of us and it is our duty to give expression to them and let the evil ones take to their heels. We have to be examples of good values in order to achieve human excellence.’ Brother Shivaar reiterated the three important things, expressed by Swami Vivekananda, to make everyone great, every nation great, namely :

Conviction of the power of goodness;
Absence of jealousy and suspicion; and
Helping those who are trying to be and to do good.

Karishtha inviting Vimokshanandaji to present his Address...

Finally, sister Karistha invited Sri Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj to address the youth. Swamiji is the embodiment of love, compassion and humility and the youth of the Centre were extremely blessed to be in his holy company. Everyone waited with bated breath in order to imbibe the sacred message that Swamiji Maharaj was about to deliver. However, true to form, Swamiji surprised us and introduced an impromptu “Question and Answer” session.

conducting Q & A session...

Swamiji encouraged the youth to “be bold” and put forward questions on the papers that were delivered that evening. Discussions centred around the many temptations that the youth are currently faced with, the social evils of electronic media, disciplining of the youth and overcoming injustices faced by the youth.

Swamiji astutely handled all the questions posed by the congregation, offering sound advice based on the teaching of the holy scriptures and also as taught by the lives of the three Divinities, in terms of implementation in our daily lives.

Sadly due to time constraints, the question and answer session had to come to an end. After the performance of arati and concluding Vedic prayers, it was my proud turn to proceed to pass the vote of thanks. Three of our youth members, sisters Kajal, Shriyanthi and Kamiksha presented a gift basket to Swamiji as a token of our appreciation.

Happy youth group members...

This was truly an inspiring evening. This was echoed by one of the devotees, who described the evening as “one of the best functions so far”. The youth offered their pranams to Revered Maharaj, and thereafter partook of prasad, in the form of supper.

Thus concluded an evening of spiritual enlightenment. Everyone present can safely say that they were stimulated and entertained by the thought provoking programme. It provided the youth an opportunity to showcase their knowledge, talents and ideas and it was this that made the event a fitting tribute to the teachings of great Swami Vivekananda.

Hari Om Tat Sat!

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Maha Shivaratri

jagatah pitarau vande paarvati parameshwarau - I bow down to Paarvati and Parameshwar the parents of the Universe

Maata mey Paarvati Devi, Pitaa Devo Maheswaraha |
Baandhava Shiva Bhaktaascha Svadesho Bhuvanatrayam ||

Paarvati devi is my Mother, father is Maheshwara – Shiva.
Relatives are the devotees of Shiva and my own country is all the three worlds.

-Sri Adisankaracharya

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Dear Readers
Many thanks for the wonderful words of best wishes! And they have come just a day before and are coming during Mahashivaratri.
May He, the Bholaanaath with the divine mother Bhavaani, residing in every one’s heart, guide us at every step is my earnest prayer to Him.
Shiva means mangal. Auspiciousness. May that quality, by His infinite grace, abide in all of us in abundance!
With love and prayers
Swami Vimokshananda

courtesy: Dr S Adhinarayanan, India

‘Chatworthy’ Youth Meet

A Report by Sohana Chunder

Many countries have their own National Youth Days. In South Africa, National Youth Day is celebrated on 16 June every year. Each country has its own reasons to celebrate it. India has its National Youth Day on 12 January which is the birthday of our illustrious leader Swami Vivekananda. Here in South Africa we, the Ramakrishna devotees, celebrate South African Youth Day on 16 June and in January, we, at HQ, have an half-day Retreat program for the youth in commemoration of Swami Vivekananada’s birth day. In continuation of the 147th birth anniversary celebrations of Swamiji, Chatsworth Sub-centre had arranged a Youth Forum meet. I am glad to present a Report, penned – nay! composed in a Word Processor as the modern youth are wont to – by Sohana Chunder who is a youth member of the Sub-Centre there. Images courtesy: ‘Jerry’

On the 31st January 2010, the Chatsworth Sub-Centre of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa hosted the Vivekananda Youth Forum.  Swami Vivekananda has been extolled by many as a rishi, a social reformer, an educationalist and a saviour. Of special significance is the influence he had on the youth of both India and the rest of the world. This Youth Forum is based on the values that Swamiji advocated for the youth.

The panelists with the President in the Youth Forum

The Forum, on that memorable day, consisted of four participants who represented four different organizations.  Each participant was required to read an extract from the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and then share their own thoughts based on the extract.

Kalayvani from Vivekananda Mission speaking on Education

The first participant was sister Kalayvani Govender of the Vivekananda Mission who chose the topic “Education”. After reading out the valuable quote of Swamiji on ‘Education’, Kalayvani proceeded to explain the tenets of civilization. She emphasized the need to adopt Swamiji’s ideas as without which the civilization may reach disastrous results. She brought out topical reference of Haiti calamity and how the organisations doing relief work were vying with each other in popularity game instead of rendering service to the suffering in all humility.

Alvna of the Sri Vishnu Temple Society, speaking on The Ends and the Means

The next one was sister Alvna Santilall of  the Sri Vishnu Temple Society. She spoke on “The Ends and the Means”. While explaining how ‘ends’ must be tallying with the ‘means’, she deplored that often the means were given more importance and anything could justify the ends. She gave out four methods to fortify the concept of ends having proper means: 1- Avoid evil company, 2- Attach to right conduct, 3- Practice Will Control and 4- Cultivate virtues. She concluded that life is a school calling sacrifice with reliance on God.

Merisha of the RKC-SA - Chatsworth Sub-Centre speaking on Strength

The last participant sister Merisha Roopnarain of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa – Chatsworth Sub-Centre spoke on “Strength”. She analysed the character of strength as opposed to ‘weakness’. She aptly quoted Swamiji about the cause of weakness being not sticking to Truth. In order to increase ‘strength’ she advocated four methods: 1- Making good habits a regular feature, 2- Spending Time in constructive ways instead of gossiping etc., 3-Not fearing obstacles but look at them as challenges and 4- Never brooding over weakness. Sister N. Singh from the Sri Maha Ganapathi Mandhir was the next panelist, scheduled to speak on “Character” but, unfortunately due to untimely death in her family, she was unable to attend the Forum.

Swami Vimokshananda conducting Q & A session

Once all the participants delivered their presentations, it was the turn of Revered Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj. He shared his thoughts and feelings on the three presentations and engaged in a period of questions and answers with the audience. As usual the Q & A session was not taking off due to the apparent shyness of the participating youngsters. He made the youth understand that their inability to raise questions was not actually due to shyness but due to weakness. He further told them that how Swamiji had thundered to the youth to ‘Be Bold!’ and lo! once one question was fielded, the youth started pouring in with questions. There was of course, interesting discussions on several themes especially that are concerned with their career and shaping their future life.

Manjusha Madam explaining what is meant by Character

Before beginning the Q & A session proper, Vimokshanandaji requested Mandusha Maharaj of the audience to come to the front and speak on the 4th topic ‘Character’. Madam Mandusha eloquently explained the salient feature of what was thought of as Character. She clearly spelt out the two means viz., keeping to Truth and surrender to God as the most important elements in developing Character. Thereafter Swami Vimokshanandaji made presentation of gifts to the panelists. The audience appreciated with loud applause madam Mandusha‘s kind gesture of sending the gift packet to the absentee panelist also who was in mourning.

a section of audience in the Youth Forum Meet

I feel blessed to have been given an opportunity to be the Director of Ceremonies on the Youth Forum occasion. It was no doubt challenging especially during question-answer session. But there is no end to learning. After uncle KK Pillay concluded the Forum with Vedic prayers, everyone partook of a scrumptious lunch and then departed. The Forum was a memorable one and the youth left the Forum having learnt valuable lessons of Life.

For more photos of the occasion please see the slideshow below:

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