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SINGA SPEAKS

A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER FROM THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION, SINGAPORE

ROAR 4 | SINGAPORE | SATURDAY | 16 APRIL 2016

SPIRITUAL RETREAT Swami Supriyananda joins

with 62 devotees from

various States of Malaysia

One of the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna to

householders is to seek solitude now and then so that the

mind can be focussed on the spiritual ideal. Ramakrishna

Mission has been conducting Retreats for the benefit of

devotees since long. In that sequel, the present Retreat took

place on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016. A Report.

It all began at 6 am when devotees started assembling in the Temple hall. The shrine was kept open for the darshan. When Swami Jitamanasanda rang the temple bell for mangalarati at 6.15 am, the temple was filled with aspirants eagerly basking in the radiance of the Master. Led by Swami Supriyananda, President of the Kuala Lumpur Ramakrisna Mission, the Ramakrishna Suprabhatam, a hymn glorying Sri Ramakrishna and beseeching His early morning darshan was sung in adoration. Narayanopanishat, Gita Chapter Nine, Sri Ramakrishna’s 108 divine names and bhajans on Thakur melted the minds of devotees into deep silence. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in Tamil called “Sri Ramakrishnarin Amudha Mozhigal” was read by Swami Jitamanasananda who did the puja also. The President, Swami Vimokshananda urged the devotees to be absorbed in the auspicious Ashram atmosphere and observe strict silence throughout the Retreat. He requested unless it was warranted, no one should indulge in talking.

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A Treat and Retreat for the Body and Mind…

The Spiritual Retreat had one item that kept the audience on their toes. Sri Uthayachanran, Senior Yoga Instructor from our regular Sunday Yoga class, in his light hearted style had the eager aspirants doing the Tadasan (Tree Pose), the half squatting chair pose and simple Pranayama (breathing exercise). The postures were demonstrated by Sri Rahul. These exercises, if done regularly, will strengthen the muscles and calm the mind, he explained. The Yoga instructors are from the Nikam Guru Yoga Kutir. They have been conduc-ting Yoga classes at our Ashram every Sunday morning for the past 18 years. Due to the popular demand, from this year, we have started a Friday evening class also. All classes are free-of-charge. So far, more than 40,000 people have benefitted from the Yoga c lasses . Training to aspirants irrespective of race, religion, gender and language is a unique feature.

PERIODIC NEWSLETTER SATURDAY, 16 APRIL 2016

Walking silent japa yagna It was a sight to behold the monks of Singapore and Malaysia centres leading the devotees in silent Japa Yagna walking from the temple down the garage road circumambulating the holy Bodhi tree and proceeding straight to the Sarada Hall.




The breakfast was served at the Sarada Hall. Thereafter, the Second session began with the Vedic chanting.

Readings from the Original Gospel Swami Pavitratmananda who has recently joined us as a working monk, read portions from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in Bengali. The selection of the passage was appropriate. In his welcome address earlier, Swami Vimokshananda explained that listening merely to the holy words uttered by Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna is a wonderful

opportunity for those who do not know that language.

Yoga Class Uthayachanran, Senior Yoga Instructor from our regular Sunday Yoga class in his light hearted style had the eager aspirants doing the Tadasan (Tree pose), the half squatting chair pose and simple pranayama (breathing exercise). These exercises if done regularly will strengthen the muscles and calm the mind, he explained. Elsewhere in this eNewsletter we have given details of this Yoga

exercises. He, of course, advised caution before doing the pranayama.

Practice of the Presence of Sri Ramakrishna After an interesting Yoga class, the first in the series of discourses, was opened by Swami Satyalokananda.

Touching the raw nerve and live wire of a spiritual aspirant’s core, he asked “How many have seen Sri Ramakrishna?” To a pin drop silent audience, he reassured, many sadhus and devotees have seen Sri Ramakrishna. And so can we. In his aptly titled talk, “The Practice of the Presence of Sri Ramakrishna”, he explained how as a brahmacari at Belur Math, he had first come into possession of a little book called “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence.

Brother Lawrence, though just a humble cook in the monastery, did every little work in the kitchen seeking the Lord’s guidance and soon could feel the presence of Christ with him always, in fact more so in the kitchen than when he was in the pulpit praying.

As a brahmachari, Swami Ranganathanandaji, the late President of the Sri Ramakrishna Order, also started as a cook and practised the presence of Sri Ramakrishna while cooking in the kitchen. Even right into his late life, Swami

Ranganathanandaji cooked his own meals and always insisted that when introducing him before his audience, the fact that he started out as a cook be highlighted to his audience. In his late life, when once, Swami Ranganathanandaji was hospitalized, he was seen cleaning the walls near his hospital bed. When asked why Maharaj, he said he was free and so was actively engaging himself in the service of the Lord. The Swami highlighted how the incidents from Sri Ramakrishna’s life can be a good source of meditation.

Musings of the Monks




The third Session, after a short tea-break, began with a Talk by Swami Supriyananda. He took up the topic “Concentration”, a subject close to one’s heart. For, is it not in the subtle grasp of concentration or the lack of it, that one achieves success or failure in any field, what to say of the role of concentration in the spiritual field?

Key to Concentration

As Swami Supriyananda, anecdotally explained that nobody sets a time,say “Today 4 pm to 5 pm I shall worry or tomorrow, I will complete all my worries before going to office!”. Worry happens automatically; nobody deliberately decides to sit and worry.

Concentration is either deliberate or automatic. When we sit to meditate, it is deliberate concentration. We should constantly practise the deliberate remembrance of Sri Ramakrishna till it becomes automatic. In his 30 minutes discourse, Swami Supriyananda beautifully explored the topic with very down to earth examples that kept the audience in rapt attention.

Obstacles in Spiritual Life Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana Mataji, a senior nun from Sri Sarada Math, Dakshineshwar, vividly explained the various obstacles that can arise in Spiritual Life and the ways to overcome them.

“We pray to God. Why God doesn’t do anything?” , many ask. Self effort and Divine Grace are both necessary. She explained that using an analogy of a man daily prayed to God for a lottery prize and yet did not win any. One day, in desperation, he cried, “O God! I have been praying to you for a lottery win, why don’t you help me.”

God replied, “you could have at least bought a lottery ticket!” If we pray sincerely to Sri Ramakrishna, He will shower His grace. Her speech was peppered with examples and jokes.

Mind and Mantra

The last Talk was delivered by Swami Vimokshananda who took up the topic ‘Mind and Mantra’. Japa and its subtle aspects was explored in depth and unfolded thread by thread by the Swami in a guru to sishya conversational style. The mother gives birth to the physical body but it is the guru who gives the spiritual birth to the disciple

through the Mantra Diksha. And he then becomes twice born. During the Diksha, the guru “diyate jnanam” transmits subtle knowledge and “kshiyate papam” removes the sins of the disciple.

Then, as the aspirant goes on repeating the mantra, the shakti of the mantra grows like a small seed into a big tree and raises the disciple’s level of spirituality where many facets of his untapped consciousness unfolds. Swami Vimokshananda also gave many practical day to day suggestions to

make mantra japam part of a spiritual aspirant’s way of life.

Pratik Bose helped fielding the questions from the audience which were answered by the Swami. The devotees had a feeling of fulfilment.



Spiritual Retreat saw three cultural performances by the youth of the Ramakrishna Mission. Session 2 began at 8 . 4 0 a m w i t h V e d i c Chanting by Master Kritikh and Master Vignesh, from our Saturday Children’s Classes . Their per fect d i c t i o n a n d s m o o t h r e n d i t i o n o f t h e Narayanopanisat l i fted the spirit of the atmosphere. A melodius flute recital of Sri

Thakur’s favourites songs often sung by Sri Thakur himself was rendered by Master Sagnik Mondal from Malaysia to loud applause. He was accompanied on the Tabla by his father Gautam Mondal. In Session 3, a bhajan rendering was done by Chandramohan, one of

our Supervisors of the Boys’ Home. His melodious songs in Tamil with Gautam in Tabla received lots of appreciation.


SUBJECT:

THE BHAGAVAD GITA FOR PRACTICAL LIFE

SPEAKER:

SWAMI VIMOKSHANANDA TIMINGS:

6 - 7 PM EVERY SUNDAY VENUE:

SARADA HALL

SUBJECT:

THE YOGA SUTRAS SPEAKER:

SWAMI SATYALOKANANDA TIMINGS:

5- 6 PM EVERY SUNDAY VENUE:

TEMPLE HALL LEVEL 1

SCRIPTURAL CLASSES – ALL ARE WELCOME

SUBJECT:

SRI RAMAKRISHNARIN AMUDHA MOZHIGAL

SPEAKER:

SWAMI JITAMANASANANDA TIMINGS:

4 - 4. 45 PM EVERY SATURDAY

VENUE:

TEMPLE HALL LEVEL 1

Divine Melody Rhapsody



Snippets... �The Retreat Day was a twice-blessed day as the birth tithi of

Swami Yogananda, a Direct Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna fell on that date while that Sunday was an Easter Sunday too.

�Swami Vimokshananda introduced Swami Pavitratmananda, the new Swami posted to the Singapore Ashram as a young, energetic Sanskrit scholar, who had served the largest hospital centre in Kolkata Seva Pratishthan and Varanasi Home of Service. He comes to Singapore with a good administrative experience. He was invited to chant the closing prayers for the Retreat.

�Upon the invitation of Swami Vimokshananda, President of Singapore Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Supriyananda, President of Malaysia Ramakrishna Mission made the pilgrimage to Singapore together with the KL devotees.

�As early as 3 am on Saturday 26 March, forty KL devotees had arrived at the KL Ashram. After chanting Vishnu Sahasranam and hymns to Sri Ramakrishna, they boarded the coach at 4.30 am and arrived in Singapore, in time for the noon Darshan of Sri Ramakrishna, spending nearly tiresome 8 hours outside. Swami Vimokshananda and Swami Jitamananasanda gave a hearty welcome to Swami Supriyananda and and the KL devotees.

�After having refreshing rest at a nearby hotel where their accommodation was arranged by one of our devotees, the Malaysian devotees assembled at the ashram again by 5 pm. Swami Vimokshananda had an hour long ‘get-to-know-you’ Satsang with them in Temple Hall level 1. The Swami appreciated the orderliness and discipline of the devotees as he noticed them while getting down from the bus and entering the temple, as also the orderly way they kept their footwear. They joined the evening arati and a few sang bhajans too.

�The session 1 of the Retreat ended with a hearty breakfast of piping hot Idlis, chutney, Savoury Pongal and mildly spiced Sambar. It was a sight to behold the aspirants observing absolute silence and mindfulness while enjoying their breakfast. After breakfast, registrants happily collected their goody bag of a spiritual book, water bottle, snacks, pen and a tissue pack. The kitchen officials saw to the quality of Tea break and lunch served to everyone.

�Swami Supriyananda thanked Swami Vimokshananda for his hospitality and said that if it were not for the persistent efforts of Swami Vimokshananda, this yatra would not have been possible. �In a warmly way, Swami Supriyananda welcomed Singapore devotees to the KL Ashram. He jested should you come for shopping in KL, please do not forget to shop at the KL Ashram where Sri Ramakrishna has only priceless treasures of bhakti and jnana on sale and for free! �Shubha Kota, the Master of Ceremonies introduced the Speakers and performances, beautifully entwining the thoughts of the Speakers �Aspirants, on the completion of the programme, made pranams to Swami Vimokshananda, Swami Supriyananda and all monks. They took the opportunity to introduce their family and friends to the Swamijis and just enjoyed the company of the holy sadhus. �A shiny pretty ‘Thank You’ gift box containing a cellophane covered laddu, a rich fruit cake and a pack of sugar coated sweet peanuts was lovingly received by aspirants, yet another sweet memory to take home.


How sweet is the sound of silence!How tender is its touch! How fragrant is its breathing! How lovely is its form! O be still yet awhile that my soul may see and feel, hear and touch its own in this realm of peace divine! –Swami Paramananda

Reflections of a Devotee.. Dew Drops were still on the petals of the hibiscus flowers in the Ashram campus. The fragrance of the white flowers adorning the path towards the temple, were still wafting in the air. It was as yet 5.30 am, aspirants eager to soak in the purified and rarified air of our Most Beloved Master came to seek his Darshan. It felt as though aspirants were going for Mangalarati at Belur Math. Amidst the tall Bel Trees and the Bodhi Tree, the Temple of Sri Ramakrishna in Singapore appeared more surreal than ever!

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