Applied Vedant Retreat

-
Stillness
Calmness
Profound Gratitude
Wholeness
Tranquility

This was the state of my mind, when the two days spiritual Retreat on Applied Vedanta concluded in Frankfurt yesterday (19th April) evening. 

The two day Retreat planned by Sampada and her husband along with help of their friends and well-wishers was top notch. We were blessed to have speakers like Shri. Pramod Dada and Sau. Mukta Tai Walvekar, the disciples of Doctor Kaka (from Murgud) and Shri. Kenan, teacher and practitioner from the Iyengar School of Yoga. 

The philosophy of Adwait Vedanta has been since a long time extremely high level and complicated to understand for a common man. Various literature is available in various Indian languages on this philosophy. The most famous and known is the Bhagwad Geeta. There are various interpretations and commentaries of Bhagwad Geeta and a majority of those do not come down to the level of a common man to help them understand the concepts like "Brahman", "Consciousness", "Samsara", "Bhaktiyog", "Dnyanyog", "Karmyog" etc. Doctor Kaka has given a lot of lectures in the earlier days about these very concepts and now his lectures have been translated into many Indian languages. The most profound book of his that I came across was the interpretation of Bhagwad Geeta in a simple language that I could understand. Thanks to Sampada for introducing me to the vast literature on various topics and particularly the interpretation of Bhagwad Geeta caught my attention and I think I have found my way to tread on this Dnyanmarg. 

The same concepts from Doctor Kala's teachings were woven into the Retreat's lecture series and having being exposed to these concepts earlier, the retreat helped to gain a deep understanding of the concepts and their application in day to day life. 

Pramod Dada's style of imparting that deep knowledge was fun, replete with humour, sarcasm and jokes, making a very profound point, yet sounding very much like the common people. 

Mukta Tai's style on the other hand was more introspective, to the point, concise, precise, keeping us interested till the last word.

The session on the famous Shloka from Adhyay 2 
Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana appealed to me a lot.

Also the session on the Shloka from chapter 15 
asaṅga-śhastreṇa dṛiḍhena chhittvā stayed with me for a long time.

The Sadhak Chintan, where the Sadhaks did a self-study,  interpreted and presented one Shloka from the Bhagwad Geeta was a revelation.

A chart paper was kept where we could write the words or phrases that appealed to us during the different sessions. That was a wonderful idea and by the end of two days, the chart paper was full.

You are not the body, you are much more.
Detached Engagement 
Attachment = Slavery
आसक्ती
सेवाभाव
Caught in the web

were some of the words and phrases that could best explain what I understood from the lectures. 

All the sessions were short and very refreshing. We started with Ram naam japa on both the days. Breaks were planned keeping the short attention span in mind. The lunch was simple, filling the heart and the soul. During the breaks, we had the chance to interact with each other and of course with the esteemed speakers. We sat together like a big extended family, participating in a collective effort of discovering the age old philosophy.
 
We were at different levels in our spiritual journey, but that didn't really matter. The motive to get together for the Retreat was far more superior than anything else. The two days flew away fast and it was time to say goodbye. Doctor Kaka blessed us all by sending us good wishes for this journey and our eyes became moist of hearing his voice. 

This retreat definitely boosted my morale, reiterated my resolve to inquire and seek more knowledge. It helped me introspect and gave me a new perspective to tread on this path and it's just the beginning.

I wish that many such retreats happen in the coming years and we all do our little bit in taking this invaluable knowledge to more and more people.

My gratitude and love to everyone who made this Retreat happen!

Ram Krushna Hari!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

नादातुनी या नाद निर्मितो

-
नादातुनी या नाद निर्मितो  - 2 ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। नाद निर्मितो मंगलधाम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। परब्रह्मात आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। चैतन्यात आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। सत्संगाचा सुगंध राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। आनंदाचा आनंद राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। त्रिभुवनतारक आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। सुखकारक हा आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। श्रद्धा जेथे तेथे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। शांती जेथे तेथे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। सबुरी ठायी आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। चैतन्याचे सुंदर धाम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। पुरुषोत्तम परमेश राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। भक्ति भाव तेथे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। सगुण सुंदर आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। निर्गुणी सुंदर आहे राम ।। श्रीराम जय राम जय जय राम ।। ला...
Read more

Ganesh Utsav in Karlsruhe

-
Image
Usually the months of August and September are devoted to the festivities involving Lord Ganesha in most parts of India. Ganesha, Ganpati, Bappa, Vighnaharta, he has many names. He is the god of beginnings, wisdom and luck and worshipped as the remover of obstacles. Although he has many attributes, he is easily identified by his elephant head and four arms. And there is a lot of symbolism involved. His elephant head denotes wisdom and intellect, his large ears for listening more and small mouth to talk less, his large stomach for peacefully digesting all the good and bad in life, his trunk symbolising high efficiency and adaptability, the mouse is a symbol of desires, if not kept under control can create havoc in life.  He is one of the most revered gods amongst the Hindus and his blessings are always sought for undertaking any new endeavour. Mumbai is considered to be the hub of Ganpati festivities and the celebration go on upto 10 days in a public place and at individual homes fo...
Read more

Mahashivratra - A divine evening

-
Image
The spiritual group that was established three years ago online is now well known in Germany and slowly getting attention in Europe. Due to the background of establishing and running the group, someone had approached me to check if Adhyatmavari group could host a lecture of Mr. Atul Dixit who is a disciple of Swami Madhavanand (Nath Sampraday) who was visiting Germany for a conference. I had offered to do an online session because we mainly meet online and there are not many group members in Karlsruhe to form a sizeable group to meet offline. So that lecture happened in Frankfurt where Marathi Katta arranged a session on a Sunday evening. I was not able to go but my dear friends Mr. Mahesh and Smita Parkhi had attended the session and they had loved it. I had missed the session unaware of what I had really missed until I heard Shri Dixit in person at my place on the occasion of Shivaratri at my place in Karlsruhe along with 15 other people.  It was a great experience to hear such a...
Read more