Determination of HJS bears fruit!

Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha in progress at Pandharpur, Maharashtra

Drastic measures will be taken to improvise NCERT textbooks!

Panjim (Goa) - For over two months now, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) had been peacefully protesting with the Government of Goa and the Education department to withdraw its textbook on 'History and Political Science' based on a curriculum designed by NCERT and review its curriculum.

The determination of HJS in pursuing the matter finally bore fruit when the Director of Education, Mrs. Celsa Pinto gave an assurance to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) that not only the 'History and Political science' textbook prescribed in the schools of Goa for 10th standard will be improvised, but drastic measures will be taken to improvise the other textbooks.

Earlier, the Government of Goa had taken a decision to make relevant changes in the language and grammar of the 'History and Political Science' textbook. But it failed to specify any policy with regard to the content of its textbooks. HJS had brought this to the notice of Mrs. Celsa Pinto. In the meanwhile, a concise report on the education policy has been prepared by proficient members of a committee and submitted to the Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Digambar Kamat. The committee members have suggested that immediate action be taken to formulate a new education policy.

Principal and students of Sri Bhagwati Vidyalaya protest against the said textbook!
The 10th standard students and the Principal of Sri Bhagwati Vidyalaya, Pednem have demanded that the 'History and Political Science' textbook be banned. They have written to the local MLA and the Director of Education. (Congratulations to students and Principal of this school for their unequivocal stand. Principals of other schools should learn from this! - Editor)
(Ref: 'Dainik Sanatan Prabhat')

Editor of Sanatan Prabhat gets 'Bhave Award'

Mr. Pruthviraj P Hazare

Yet another feather in the cap of the 'Sanatan Prabhat' Editor

Mumbai -
The Pu. Bha. Bhave Smruti Samiti declares awards to brilliant, service-oriented and selfless persons for their commendable work in the fields of literature, culture and social work every year. The Samiti has informed us that the 'Bhave Patrakarita Puraskar' (Bhave Journalism Award) for this year has been awarded to Mr. Pruthviraj P Hazare, the Editor of 'Sanatan Prabhat' group of Periodicals. The award will be given to Mr. Hazare by Samiti's President and renowned Industrialist Mr. Jayantrao Salgaonkar on Independence Day this year, in a public meeting which will be held in Dombivali, Maharashtra. The Award consists of a plaque of honour and cash.
(Ref: 'Dainik Sanatan Prabhat')

Sanatan in Hong Kong!

Ms. Anu Pursram

Spreading the Message of Sanatan Worldwide

Guru helps a seeker take Sanatan's teachings to a new country
Here is an account of how the Guru Principle orchestrated events so as to enable Ms. Anu Pursram of Mumbai to take the teachings of Sanatan to the people of Hong Kong. On a short visit she presented a total of 16 talks on H.H. Dr. Athavale's Spiritual teachings.

In preparation for the visit to Hong Kong
Prior to leaving for Hong Kong, I had visited Ramnathi, Goa for H.H. Dr. Athavale's blessings for the trip. His grace was all that mattered. On returning to Mumbai, I sent out emails to the people I knew there, to see if they would be interested in Sanatan's lectures. Among them was Ms. Ruby T Ong, who owns a spiritual centre called 'Reflections' in Hong Kong. I gave her a list of the lectures we could provide for her clientele and she promptly replied she would be interested in holding 2 Sanatan lectures. I expressed gratitude to H.H. Dr. Athavale for the immediate response.
Mrs. S Nihalani, who I was in touch with, had briefly visited Mumbai a few months prior and had started her sadhana. The day after I arrived at Hong Kong I spent the day at her residence and expressed my anxiety at not having a laptop, as Ruby could not provide a projector for our lecture-presentation. Shobha's daughter Heena immediately offered to bring her laptop and assist me in the seva.

People network and open avenues
Mr. Balani, another contact in Hong Kong, introduced me to Mr. Hardasani, one of the committee members of the Hindu Temple, 'Happy Valley', Hong Kong. Mr. Hardasani said I could speak the next morning, for 20 minutes at the Temple where more than 150 people would be present. It was the eve of Gudipadwa. I decided to speak on Hindu temples and trustees and their role in the spread of Dharmashikshan (religious education). I had taken just a few of my old notes from Mumbai - and one of them was the 'Science of Temples'! Also I got to speak on the science of Spirituality and our campaigns, including the protest against MF Husain's paintings etc. The talk lasted for nearly an hour! Amongst the ladies in the audience - Mrs. S Mahtani helped arrange more lectures.

Involving Family Members
Through another lady in the audience, Mrs. Jadhav I was connected to Mr. Sachin who directed me to the ex-President of the Tamil Association, Mr. Narayanmoorthy. He was amazed with the range of our activities. Mrs. Jadhav meanwhile started chanting herself and even shared the jap of Lord Datta with her in-laws and their domestic help in Pune and her family in Kopergaon. She comes from a family of lawyers and immediately gave the contacts of her family members in Kopergaon, Aurangabad and Delhi so that they could be contacted and benefit from the teachings.

Key people attend with potential to spread the Sanatan teachings
At Sanatan's 2nd lecture on 'Spiritual Healing' only 4 ladies were present, including Ruby, Mrs. Jadhav, Karen Shing, who owned this venue called 'Healing Web' & Ms. Surtani. It was H.H. Dr. Athavale's grace to have Ruby & Karen attend the lecture as being owners of the spiritual centers they invite many types of healers and practitioners from abroad to guide and heal their clients. The lecture was an eye-opener to them and made them realise the importance of using spiritual remedies to sustain their spiritual growth.

Much needed support pours in When Mrs. Surtani realised my difficulty in not having a laptop or projector for the PowerPoint presentation, she immediately offered to bring hers and help in the seva. Karen did not charge any fees for use of the venue for this lecture! Sanatan's 3rd lecture had attendees including Chinese, Bharatiyas and Westerners. Karen Shing who owned the venue was requested by Ruby to buy a bigger TV as the laptop proved too small in the previous lectures. Her Chinese friend was able to connect his laptop to the TV plug for the PowerPoint presentation, which was so vital for this lecture.

Being interviewed for a Chinese Magazine
At this lecture, Ms. Karen Tam, a marketing manager for one of the biggest malls in Asia, showed her appreciation. She later shared how she immediately went on to the SSRF website and loved it, and in turn forwarded it to her friends. She then connected me to her friend, Winifred Lai who writes a column in the 'Ming Pao Weekly', a Chinese magazine which is distributed through mainland China. Winifred has a number of her own regular readers. Winifred then interviewed me over dinner and published an article in Chinese.

Need for extending stay in Hong Kong
I had to keep extending my stay week after week for a month due to the great response as more avenues opened up.

Forming closeness with other spiritual Organisations
Mrs. Mirchandani invited me to speak to her satsang group who are followers of Pujya Asarambapuji. Mr. Daswani (a businessman in Hong Kong who has a lot of intellectual knowledge of some of our scriptures) who was previously associated with Chinmaya Mission and gives talks on Spirituality put me in touch with the representative of 'Art of Living' in Hong Kong, Mr. Chugani. He was told of our activities; he took SSRFs 'Live an aware life' CD. I presented him our booklet on Gurukrupayog-sadhana and 'Sadhana CD'.

Pujya Sri Sri Ravishankar was to visit Hong Kong in a few days and Mr. Chugani invited me for His discourse. I was able to present Swamiji with the English Sanatan Prabhat and tell Him about the NCERT & Love Guru campaigns. He said, 'I am with you'.
Mr. Gul, President of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in Hong Kong invited me to speak at their weekly meeting on 30th April. I shared with the members the spiritual practice to be done in this Kaliyug, our activites and campaigns. When I showed the MF Husain paintings to the group, some of them were quite shocked, as they had not seen these before.

Mr. Gul invited me for a programme they had organised where Dr K Subrahmaniyam spoke on Bharat's influence on global culture. (He is an ex-Principal of NDA, Khadakvasala, Pune.) I gave him a copy of English Sanatan Prabhat and briefly told him about our activities and campaigns. Then, Mrs. Mahtani again invited me to speak at another Satya Sai Bhajan programme where the attendees are mainly Chinese and Nepali. They wished to know about the SSRF website. Here, the devotees were so happy with the lecture that they felt that Baba had made me stay back in Hong Kong for them.

One of the devotees, Kanta didi, wished me to speak on 5th May at another Satya Sai centre in the suburbs which she looks after, mostly attended by Chinese-Nepali devotees. Here there were about 50-60 devotees and the talk was in Hindi.
Mrs. Seema Mahtani took me to meet Sri Sri Ravishankar at a lady's residence. Again there, I was able to share about our 'Love Guru' protest campaign with Him in front of all His devotees. Prior to meeting, His assistant told me that after I had given Him the English Sanatan Prabhat at the discourse the previous day, throughout the car journey home, He was reading the paper intently and was very happy. Swamiji asked some details about the campaign and gave His blessings, saying in Hindi, “Dharma ke liye kaam karo, accha hai.”

Mrs. Mahtani then invited some of her friends to her residence. During this informal Sanatan talk, I mentioned to the group the need to start a regular satsang; Mrs. Uttamchandani immediately offered her residence, and we decided to hold the first satsang on the coming Friday. At Mrs. Mahtani's residence was another friend of hers, a Korean lady, Ms. Yulita Yoo who was enthusiastically taking down notes during the talk. Yulita having her own website in Korean, wishes to translate some of the SSRF articles into Korean. Mrs. Mahtani invited me after that to speak at her residence where more than 27 men, women, children were present. The talk automatically flowed through examples suiting the children. The importance of chanting was stressed upon.

Learnings and observations
Through all the talks at Satya Sai centres, Asarambapuji's group etc., I emphasised the importance of sadhana, asking them if they were following their Guru's adnya (guidance), how important it is to be a good seeker to be a good disciple and that there are many pathways to God. Concentrating on the science of Spirituality made them open-minded to what was being said. Many were surprised that I did not ask for any monetary contribution. A few of the ladies, on their own volition gave some donations for the activity of SSRF in Hong Kong.

Excerpts of an email from Ms. Yulita Yoo
“I am very cautious with taking new teachings or learning especially from India, since I have been exposed to various spiritual groups/teachings from India all these years; I even had some doubt to begin with when Anu started to talk about Sanatan. However, I soon realised that some of things she talked about made perfect sense to me. And I got lots of answers from what I learnt from the sessions, as well as from SSRF website, to those questions and strange experiences I have had all these years. I came to understand the importance of chanting 'Sri Gurudev Datta'. I feel it can save many of my ancestors as well as my descendants. If that is the case, I would do it for the rest of my life. I feel so much gratitude for opening a new door for me!”
(Compiled by: Ms. Sharon Sequeira, Sanatan's Ramnathi Ashram, Ponda, Goa)

Karnataka Government orders putting up of Sanatan's Boards in Temples!

Bangaluru (Karnataka) -
The Endowment Board of Karnataka has instructed District Collectors and executive officers of all Government temples in the State to put up flex-boards prepared by Sanatan Sanstha on the 'Science of Spirituality underlying Religious rituals'. (The Governments of other States should learn from this initiative! - Editor)

Sanatan Sanstha had sought permission in December 2007 to install these boards in temples taken over by the Government. A report presented by scholars in this regard and their advice was carefully studied by the Karnataka administration and subsequently the order was issued. The Commissioner of the 'Endowment Board' has also asked the District Collectors and executive officers of these temples to submit an 'Action Taken Report' on the order (Order No. Karnataka Government No. A.D.M. 11 other C.R. 403/0708). As soon as the order was issued, Sri Malam-adeshwarswami Temple from Kollegal immediately placed an order for Sanatan's flex-boards. (Let us all thank God for this! - Editor)
(Ref: 'Dainik Sanatan Prabhat')

MAKING EVERY ACTION COUNT!

Paintings of MF Husain removed from Art Gallery!
Pune (Maharashtra) -
Some paintings of the controversial Hindu-hater painter MF Husain were put up in an Exhibition at 'Ishanya Art Gallery' here. On learning of this, activists of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) and other pro-Hindu Organisations called upon the organisers. The activists of HJS explained their misgivings about the painter and the subject of his paintings in a peaceful, democratic way. On realising the gravity of the issue, the organisers removed the paintings made by Husain on their own and also submitted an apology letter to HJS. (Congratulations to the alert Hindus for the bold action against Husain, who has a nauseating pre-occupation with drawing nude and obscene paintings of Hindu Deities and Bharatmata! Let us also thank God for this success! - Editor)

Hindus drive to stop denigration of Deities!
Nanded (Maharashtra) -
Two days after a Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha was organised here on 9th May 2008 by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a review meeting of devout Hindus was held, where it was decided to launch a drive to stop harm to Dharma caused by tiles depicting various Hindu Deities, installed in the corners of staircases of various hospitals. (The tiles have been installed so as to stop people from spitting there.) It was a small victory for the dedicated Hindus when 7 hospitals in Nanded readily removed such tiles. (Hindus should express gratitude to God for this small success! - Editor)
(Ref: 'Dainik Sanatan Prabhat')