News & Notes - April 2008

 

      Programme in Delhi: Poojya Swamiji along with Nutan Swamiji and Maa arrived in Delhi on 03 March from Jamshedpur. Poojya Swamiji, after recovering from the week-long acute enteritis in Jamshedpur, developed a low grade fever, which relapsed on the way to Delhi. Finally, it has been diagnosed as caused by a urinary infection. He is presently under a 3-week antibiotic medication. Maa underwent Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Laparoscopic removal of Gall bladder) on 07 March and is recovering well. The minimal access micro-surgery was done at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, under the care of Dr PK Chowbey.

Guru-arcanaa at CIRD, Vasundhara, was arranged on March 15, afternoon. About 120 devotees participated in the function. Smt Nisha Govindani from USA performed the paadapooja on behalf of all the devotees. Poojya Swamiji, in his address, exhorted the devotees to expand their mind beyond their own familial concerns. Along with the welfare of the family members, they must think, feel and act for the welfare of others too, he said.

Poojya Swamiji has been invited for the Keynote address to the Northern Region Ethics Counsellors and Business Leaders of the Tata Group on March 25 at Taj Palace, New Delhi. The Ethics programme of the Tata Group focuses on the values and principles that have governed their Group for over a century. Along with the fast economic growth, India is facing new challenges in values. In this context, Poojya Swamiji will speak on “Spiritual Dimensions in Business Ethics”. The scheduled programme will be attended by the top executives of the Tata Group.

Early morning classes on Vivekachoodaamani will be held from 25 to 29 March at CIRD. Poojya Swamiji, Maa and Nutan Swamiji will return to the Ashram on 30 March.

      Foundation for Restoration of National Values: On 23 March ’08, Poojya Swamiji addressed a joint meeting of the Members of the Advisory Board and Organizing Committee of the Movement to “Restore the National Values”. The meeting took place at the India International Centre, New Delhi, and the news was covered by the leading National dailies. Besides Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji, Ma Gurupriyaji, Ramesh, Sanjay, Rima and Lakshminarayanan, those present were: Advisory Board member: Sri E Sreedharan (MD - DMRC) Organising Committee: Chairperson – Smt Savita Wakhlu (MD Jagriti Communications); Members – Sri Anand Krishnan (COO – Dubai International Capital LLC), Sri Bharat Wakhlu (Resident Director, Tata Services Ltd.), Sri Ramesh Ramakrishnan (CMD Transworld), Sri Ashok Arora (Supreme Court Advocate), Sri Debashish Majumdar (CMD- IREDA), Sow. Simran Singh (Management Consultant), Sri Prem Arora (MD, Asian Road Reconstruction Agency) and Sri Ashwani Kumar (Director - Sales Engineering, UT Star.com).

Special invitees: Dr Nalini Kaul, Sri Anuj Dayal, Smt Radha Krishnan and Smt Geetha Ramakrishnan. The other Advisory Board members Sri Ratan Tata (Chairman Tata Group), Sri MN Venkatachaliah (Former Chief Justice of India) and Sri N Vittal (Former Central Vigilance Commissioner) communicated their good wishes expressing inability to attend the meeting. Patrons Sri Sunil Kant Munjal and Sri PNC Menon also communicated their support and participation.

The meeting discussed various issues and arrived at the following conclusions:

1. A new ‘society’, separate from CIRD, should be registered immediately. It would be named the “Foundation for Restoration of National Values”.

2. The motto suggested by Poojya Swamiji was: “Satyaan-naasti paro dharmaH” (There is no dharma greater than the Truth).

3. Considering the dimension and nature of the movement, it was felt that we have to avail of the services of a Public Relations organization.

4. A 2-day National Summit would be held in the capital in the second week of November 2008.

5. The initial expenditure leading to the Summit was estimated at Rs 50 lakhs. In his inaugural address, Swamiji pointed out: “To love the country is not just to love a geographical subcontinent. It is instead to foster a deep fondness and allegiance to its Cultural Values and Heritage. …No country, Government, or institution will be able to function with integrity, unless it takes up the Value Inculcation Pursuit with timely concern and attention. …

“We have to persuade the leaders in various branches of National life, and through them the people, to restore the Nation’s time-tested values so that all concerned will become strong, committed and persuasive in their personal, professional and social conduct.”

Sub-committees were formed to address the different aspects of the movement. It was decided that the Organizing Committee would meet every month.

      Society for Inner Resources Development (SIRD), Malaysia. Poojya Swamiji’s devotees were happy to learn that their application to the Government of Malaysia for the registration of their society was finally approved by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on 24 January 2008. It was a moment that the devotees, for more than a year, had been waiting for.

The application was first made on 10 October 2006. There was a protracted period of negotiations pertaining to the constitution of the society as the ROS had proposed quite a few amendments. Significant among them was the requirement for the original proposed word ‘Centre’ to be changed to ‘Society’. The devotees consulted Poojya Swamiji, and with his consent agreed with the requirement. Some of the aims and objectives of SIRD are:

      To organise and promote activities for the development of spiritual, moral and social values as described in the teachings of Poojya Swamiji. The focus will be to identify and harness the inner resources, namely those of the mind, intelligence and heart, and to employ them for the growth and cohesion of the society.

      To organise discussions, talks, meetings, programs and prayers for the purpose of promoting personality development and character building, particularly amongst the youth, to become good members of the society and progressive citizens of Malaysia.

      To carry out charitable activities with prior written approval from the relevant authorities.

      To cooperate with, participate and assist in the activities of other spiritual organisations with similar objectives as those of the Society.

      To publish papers and periodicals to propagate the objects and ideas of the Society subject to prior approval being obtained from the relevant authorities. With the formal granting of registration by ROS, SIRD Malaysia will be conducting its first Annual General Meeting on 30 March 2008.

      CIRD (NA): The 5th board meeting of the Centre for Inner Resources Development (North America) was held at West Chester, Pennsylvania on 17 Feb, 2008. Nearly 15 active members of the organization attended the meeting from the different states. The purpose of the board meeting was to develop plans to disseminate Poojya Swamiji’s teachings and ideals in North America and actively pursue collective saadhanaa. The members also reviewed progress on a number of ongoing outreach activities including the newsletter, Aatma-shakti, and the website. A special aspect of the meeting was that many devotees travelled considerable distances to attend. Some came by flight while a few others drove more than 200 miles to be present at the meeting.

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