[GHHF] Bala Samskar Kendras – Students learned about Sant Jnaneshwar, his life, his philosophy, miracles, and writings.

28 Nov 2022 1085 Views

Mark Twain (1835-1910)
"There is only one India! It is the only country that has a monopoly of grand and imposing specialties. When another country has a remarkable thing, it cannot have it all to itself—some other country has a duplicate. But India—that is different. Its marvels are its own; the patents cannot be infringed; imitations are not possible. And think of the size of them, the majesty of them, the weird and outlandish character of most of them!"
Global Hindu Heritage is very happy to inform that we started about 150 Bala Samskar Kendras in five States in India – Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - to teach about the richness of Hinduism, Hindu festivals, Hindu ethos, Hindu History, and culture and traditions. Sri Rajesh is a very active member in the community championing the Hindu Values not only to the children but also actively involved in making the Hindus proud of their culture.
Our Children are taught about the richness of our culture by teaching about various scriptures and the timeless wisdom found in them.  Our students will learn how Hindus conceive the abstract concept of God, their features, physical features and the divine qualities. We talk about the characteristics of Lord Rama, the attributes and his behavior and the qualities that we can emulate. Many of our Gods are incarnated at different times and we try to explain about different Avataras and the purpose of incarnating at a particular time.
Who is Jnaneswhar ? 
Jnaneshwar was born in the small town of Apegaon near Paithan, on the banks of the river Godavari, in Maharashtra, India on the 15th August 1275 at 12am. He took Sanjeevan Samadhi on the 25th November 1296 at 2.30pm. Though he lived for only 21 years he had an impact on millions and millions of people. He wrote many masterpieces that even now people have great difficulty in understanding.
At the age of 16 he wrote the Jnaneshwari, a commentary of the Bhagavad Gita, in Marathi. This was very special and important because up until this time all spiritual texts were written in Sanskrit and therefore only the Brahmin caste could read them. He brought this knowledge to the common person. A year later he wrote the Amritanubhav, which explains his own experience of self realization and is a very difficult text to understand. He also wrote Changadeva Paasasthi which is a letter to the famous yogi Changadeva speaking on the absolute truth, individual jiva and nature of the world. He wrote many songs known as abhangs such as the hariphata. Abhangs are devotional songs in Marathi meaning “that which contains the indestructible essence.”
When Jnaneshwar was about ten years old his parents died and they had to look after themselves. They travelled to Nasik to get certificates that they were Brahmin so they could take up work and learn in this area. Outside Nasik, in the holy town of Trimbakeshwar, Nivritti found his guru, Gahininath, a follower of the Nath tradition. His guru was Gorakshanath, whose guru was Matsyendranath and whose guru was Adinath/Shankara/Shiva. Nivritti, who became Nivrittinath, became the guru of Jnaneshwar.
Jnaneshwar, though he came from the Nath tradition, he taught the Bhagvad Gita and the focus was on bhakti yoga. He supported his teachings with jnana and karma yoga in everyday life. His teachings transformed the society. His whole life was dedicated to the upliftment of society and he had complete devotion to God/Higher energy. He re-established the Varkari movement which is a path combining vedic doctrines with jnana and bhakti. The Varkari movement is very strong in Maharashtra and is the framework for life in all its aspects. Its main practice is about remembering Hari/God at all times and living a simple, generous and virtuous life, helping others and looking after society, living a yogic life. His teachings invoked great devotion in common people. In the tradition there are particular days where people walk huge distances with bare feet, chanting the name of God without thinking of food or money. Followers walk hundreds of kilometres to the holy place of Pandhapur, to worship Lord Vitthal, a form of Hari. He strongly advocated jnana yukta bhakti, devotion guided by knowledge, and believed that one cannot be liberated unless one attains the true and divine knowledge of Brahman.
Miracles
Many miracles came to be associated with Dnyaneshwar's life,[53] one of which was the revival of his disciple Sachchidanand's corpse.  During Dnyaneshwar's visit to Paithan, to obtain a certificate of purification, he was confronted with a man who violently lashed at an old buffalo. When Dnyaneshwar expressed concern for the animal he was ridiculed by Brahmins for being more concerned about a beast than the teachings of the Vedas. Dnyaneshwar retorted that the Vedas themselves held all life to be sacred and a manifestation of the brahman.[b] The outraged priests pointed out that his logic implied that beasts should be able to learn the Vedas as well. An undeterred Dnyaneshwar then placed his hand on the buffalo's forehead and it started reciting a Vedic song.  According to Fred Dallmayr, the story signifies that "divine is not a property of the learned elite; rather, it is a spread out gift, a largesse, over all creation".
Dnyaneshwar was challenged by Changdev, an accomplished yogi who rode on a tiger with his magical powers, to replicate this feat. Dnyaneshwar humbled Changdev by riding on a moving wall. Dnyaneshwar's advice to Changdev was given in 65 verses called the Changdev Pasasthi.  Changdev became a disciple of Dnyaneshwar's sister Muktabai.
His Philosophy
"The absolute does not prove or disprove itself with the help of any norms or methods of knowledge... The lamp light up at midday neither dispels darkness not spreads light."
"It is the pure knowledge itself that is not enlightened by any other knowledge or darkened by ignorance. But can the pure consciousness be conscious of itself? Can the eye–ball perceive itself? Can the sky enter into itself? Can the fire burn itself... Therefore, that which is pure consciousness itself, without the quality of being conscious is not conscious of itself.
Dnyaneshwar's moral philosophy comes out in his exposition of the 13th of Bhagavad Gita, in his commentary on the book Dnyaneshwari.  He considers humility; non–injury in action, thought and words; forbearance in the face of adversity; dispassion towards sensory pleasures; purity of heart and mind; love of solitude and devotion towards one's Guru and God as virtues; and their corresponding moral opposites as vices.
The doctrine of Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita is resurrected in Dnyaneshwari and its utility as a means of achieving actionlessness through action and in establishing a harmony between the two is examined. In the fourth chapter, the ideal karma yogi's actions are compared to the apparent movement of the Sun, which while appearing to rise and set is actually stationary;[f] similarly, a karma yogi, though appears to act, doesn't really act. Performance of one's duties, acting without egoism, renunciation of the fruits of one's actions and offering one's actions to God are four ways which, according to Dnyaneshwar, result in actionlessness and Self–realization. Dnyaneshwar's metaphysical conclusion that the world is a manifestation of the divine, and not an illusion, also creates an ethical framework which rejects renunciation and recommends performing one's duties and actions in the spirit of worship. 
WE NEED YOUR HELP
Ghar Waapasi is going on unimpeded. We appreciate it if you can help in hiring more people who can go to these villages to do Ghar Waapasi. We have employed 20 Pracharaks working at the ground level. More people we hire, more villages can cover to welcome them back and also create Chaitanya (Awareness) among the students and villagers.
1) Sponsor one Bala Samskar Kendra for $1000.00
2) Sponsor one Pracharak: In order to expand our base and hire one Pracharak, it would cost approximately $3000.00 per year. We have five anonymous donors who sponsored Assistants.
DONATIONS
PayPal Method: To donate visit our website: savetemples.org. Click on the Donate button, then press the Purpose category, and select the Ghar Waapasi Donation category.
By Zelle: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com
By Check: Or you can send a check payable to GHHF, . It is tax-deductible.
RUPEES, if you would like to contribute to rupees, please either call or send an email. We will call you back to give you the required information
For more information, call Prakasarao Velagapudi at ; Email: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com

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