Thursday, August 03, 2006

Study Camp by Dr. M.V. Nadkarni

Study Camp by Dr. M.V. Nadkarni - August 2006
A Study Camp on Sri Aurobindo's "Essays on the Gita" by Dr. Mangesh Nadkarni will be held at the Society's Beach Office hall, Pondicherry, from 17th to 26th August 2006. There will be two sessions daily: 9:00 to 10:00 am and 10:30 to 11:45 am. All are welcome.
Recent Events
24th April 2006 - The Mother's Final Arrival at Pondicherry
The Mother
The Mother came to Pondicherry for the first time in March 1914. She returned to France in 1915 and then went to Japan in 1916. She returned to Pondicherry on 24th April 1920, never to leave again.
The 86th Anniversary of the Mother's final arrival in Pondicherry was celebrated on 24th April 2006. There was meditation around the Samadhi from 6:00 to 6:30 am and a visit to Sri Aurobindo's Room thereafter. The message card distributed on the occasion can be viewed by clicking here. 4th April 2006 - Sri Aurobindo's Arrival at Pondicherry
Sri Aurobindo came to Pondicherry on 4th April 1910 to pursue a spiritual goal - the goal of supramental transformation - never before successfully attempted by anyone. In a letter to a disciple he wrote: "Pondicherry is my place of retreat, my cave of tapasya, not of the ascetic kind, but of a brand of my own invention."
To mark the occasion, there was a collective meditation at 7:45 pm at the Ashram playground.

News from Branches and Centres
News from India
Gulbarga (Karnataka)
128th birth anniversary of the Mother was celebrated by the Gulbarga Branch at the Sri Aurobindo Dhyan Mandir on 21st February 2006. The function was inaugurated by Dr. M.S. Lathe by lighting the lamp. He spoke on the Mother's Work. Dr. M.S. Patil, Shri Pandit P.M. Galgali, Dr. H.M. Kulkarni and Shri K.S. Mathpati spoke on the occasion.
The Yogasana Training Camp
The Branch organised 30-day Yogasana Training Camp at its premises. Dr. Ramachandra Rao, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Gulbarga, inaugurated the Camp on 16th of April 2006. In his inaugural speech he spoke on the importance of Yoga in life. Shri Sripadrao Ghantoji, Chairman, Sri Aurobindo Society Branch Gulbarga, welcomed the delegates and the guests. Shri S. Basawaraj, retired SP, presided over the function. The Yogasana teacher gave a demonstration of various Asanas to the students of S.B. School.
Bangalore (Karnataka)
Sri Aurobindo Society, Bangalore Branch, will hold a residential Youth Camp on 7th, 8th and 9th July 2006 for boys and girls aged between 16 and 35 years. No fee will be charged. Persons interested may please contact Shri M.M. Bhattacharjee, Co-ordinator, at the following address with their bio-data, a passport size photograph and their contact phone number:
Shri M.M. Bhattacharjee - Co-ordinator (Youth Camps), Sri Aurobindo SocietySri Aurobindo Bhawan110, Gangadhara Chetty RoadBangalore-560 042Phone : 080-25559885/25298684
GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE SUPRAMENTALMANIFESTATION
Sri Aurobindo Complex Trust, J.P.Nagar I Phase Invitation
Sri Aurobindo Complex Trust, Bangalore, proposes to organise a SYMPOSIUM of two days on dates to be announced on the subject of "Sanatana Dharma and Sri Aurobindo's Vision of a Divine Life on Earth" as a part of the celebrations being organised by the State of Karnataka to be held between 28 Feb. 2006 and 29 Feb. 2008 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Supramental Manifestation upon Earth. This is an invitation to the students and scholars of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy and vision in all countries to contribute a paper in English for this seminar. : 1. The Paper should be between 16 to 20 pages of computer printout on A-4 size paper, with '12' as the font size. 2. The completed paper should be forwarded to the Managing Trustee of the above-mentioned Trust before 31st October 2006 along with the postal address, e-mail address if any, the telephone number and a brief bio-data of the writer. 3. The authors of the papers selected, on the basis of their merit, both of content and lucidity of expression, by an expert committee to be constituted by the above Trust will be invited, (the cost of the journey to be borne by Sri Aurobindo Complex Trust, Bangalore), to present their paper at the said Symposium to be held either at the Beach Office lecture hall of Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry or at Sri Aurobindo Complex, Bangalore. All these selected papers will be subsequently printed in the form of a special book/souvenir. 4. Out of the papers selected, the best and the second best papers will be given a token award of Rs.10,000/- and Rs.7,000/- respectively. 5. For any additional information, please feel free to contact the office of the above Trust.
Walgaon (Maharashtra)
The devotees, at the Function
The Centre celebrated the 24th April 2006, the Mother's final arrival day at Pondicherry, with a simple programme. The programme started with a collective meditation at 9:15 am with the Mother's voice and music. The following massage was written on the blackboard: "A sincere consecration of all you are and all you do is for the sadhana much more effective than meditation." The MotherShri Vinod B. Kulkarni, a devotee, gave a brief talk on the Mother's Work and its significance in our lives. A passage from the Mother's writing entitled "True Need and Desire" was read out by Shyam Joshi. Fourteen youths and many other devotees were present. The programme concluded with a devotional song taken from the collection of Shri Pujalal, followed by the distribution of prasad.
Vadodara (Gujarat)
During February 2006 Prof. Kittu Reddy gave a public lecture at the Town Hall of Vadodara city. It was organised by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The subject was "Preparing for the Future of India - An Action Plan". Large number of people attended.
On 24th February, Women's council of Vadodara Branch organised a lecture on "Spirituality and Sampradaaya" to celebrate the International Women's day. The speaker was Dr. Geetaben Shah. On 30th March Jyotiben Thanki conducted a one-day Seminar organised by the Women's Council. 101 delegates actively participated throughout the day. The main theme of the Seminar was "Women and Inner Power".
Eluru (Andhra Pradesh)
The Eluru Centre celebrated its 9th anniversary on 2nd April 2006. The function started with the Mother's music and was presided over by Shri Maddula Manikyala Rao, Vice Chairman of the Centre. Shri K.V. Rao of Vijayawada was the guest speaker and he spoke on the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and how it can be put into practice in our day-to-day life. A brief report of the Centre's activities was given by the Secretary. The message card of 29th February 2006 was distributed along with the 'Sri Auromaa', a 4-page monthly publication of the Centre.
Kovvur (Andhra Pradesh)
On 19th March 2006, the Kovvur Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society celebrated the 1st Anniversary of "Matrusankalpah", a Sanskrit monthly magazine published by it. Shri B. Venkatramaiah, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Committee, presided over the function. Dr. Sampadananda Mishra from Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, was the Chief Guest. The main topic of the function was the need for taking the Sanskrit language to villages of India. In the afternoon, the new library of the Centre was inaugurated by Shri B.Venkataramiah.
Noida (U.P.)
The Noida Branch of the Society organised a programme of Managing & Developing Yourself (including Stress Management) for the youth in the age group 10-25 yrs., on 16th April 2006. There were twenty participants. The faculty was Shri Hans Dholakia. The programme started with pranam in front of the photograph of the Mother and a two-minute silence. The two-hour session consisted of interactive talk on life's goals, challenges and how to meet/face them. Our attitude and perception and various aspects of life vis-à-vis looking for happiness, were discussed through stories and examples. The programme was lively throughout. References to Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's works and vision were constantly mentioned during the session. The feedback from the participants was good.
A Satsang by Noida Group of Art of Living was held at the Sri Aurobindo Bhawan from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. About 30 participants were present.
Allahabad (U.P.)
Allahabad Centre organised a seminar on 16th April 2006 on "Contribution of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on Human Evolution". Justice Sudhir Aggarwal inaugurated the Seminar. Dr. J.P. Singh and Dr. Suresh Tyagi were the main speakers. Dr. Murari Mohan Verma conducted the programme and Pradeep Kumar Singh proposed the vote of thanks.
Bankura (West Bengal)
Shri Kaivalya Smart conducted a Youth Camp at the Bankura Branch of the Society on 18th and 19th March 2006. 17 youths participated in the Camp which was the first of its kind organised by the Bankura Centre. It was felt that regular holding of such Camps will have immense impact on the youth.
Purnea (Bihar)
The Purnea Branch organised a Youth Camp from 18th to 20th February 2006. The Camp was conducted by Shri Ashish Kumar Varma.
On 21st February the Branch celebrated the Mother's 128th birthday, in which about 250 devotees participated.
Dehri-On-Sone (Bihar)
The Dehri-On-Sone Branch observed 21st February 2006, the 128th Birth Anniversary of the Mother. The day started with a collective meditation from 6 am - 6:30 am. At 2:30 pm the Mother's flag was hoisted, a bhajan was sung and Dr. S.P. Roy, Ex. Principal of Sinha College, Aurangabad, and Shri A.K. Mishra spoke on the life of the Mother.
A drama "Mahaan Rahasya" was staged under the direction of Shri Ramesh Chandra Gupta, a renowned drama director of the state.
Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu)
128th birth anniversary of the Mother was celebrated by the Cuddalore Centre of the Society on 26th February 2006. Shri K.J. Ramanarayanan was the Chief Guest. Shri C. Gopalakrishnan, a retd. Professor, also spoke. Shri Narayanasamy sang a few devotional songs on The Mother. About 125 persons participated in the function.
Hesal, Ranchi (Jharkhand)
The Hesal Branch has completed construction of the meditation hall. The hall is large enough to accommodate 150 to 200 persons. The opening of the hall took place on 4th April 2006, which is also Sri Aurobindo's arrival date at Pondicherry. The function was attended by many devotees and citizens of Ranchi.

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