A Successful "Guru Vandana"
Guru Vandana, A Respectful Salute to Teachers
The word Guru has many connotations; a spiritual guide, sports teacher, a person elevated in spirit and strength or one with a calm mind and clear thought. All of us seek inspiration, encouragement and guidance from a Guru. It therefore is important and necessary that due respect be offered to such a person. Who can aptly fit this description than a school teacher?
With this in mind, Keshav Shakha in Toronto, Canada, on 10th June 2010, Thursday, presented this unique concept by organizing “Guru Vandana”, literally meaning, Teachers’ Appreciation Day, at Woburn Jr. Public School here at Toronto .
Over 400 junior school students participated in a hour long program, perhaps first one as such in Canada, offering respect and appreciating about 40 teachers at Woburn. It was a thrilling experience to watch truly humble students acknowledge their teachers’ contribution to schooling and thanking them for their positively guidance.
The program started with brief introduction about the program, followed by the traditional lighting of the lamp, “Deep Prajwalan”, by the school Principal Ms. Maxine Wray and by our Chief guest Dr. Bikram Lamba. This was followed by the reading of inspirational statements, or “Amrut Vachan” by our yuva swayamsevaks, one of them being “There is no such thing as an ordinary teacher; (S)he can create the best in the world” by Acharya Chanakya.
This was followed an wonderful english rendering of a delightful and very popular Hindi song “Hum Honge Kamayaab” by eight yuva sevikas. Again our yuva sevaks presented a well-practiced and a cheerful skit “Aruni of Panchala and Guru Dhoumya”. This meaningful but hilarious skit brought continuous laughter and applause from both teachers and students.
Cheerful Skit Teachers' Appreciation
Click to view Picture Gallery
In his speech, Dr. Bikram Lamba spoke briefly about the importance of “Guru Vandana”; a tradition in the Indian Hindu culture to offer respect and gratitude to the Guru (teacher). He cited stories from the Mahabharat to explain the value system where a student humbly accepts knowledge from the teacher, and in return, the teacher expects the student to work hard, perform their studies, and become better and stronger than the teacher oneself. He explained diligently how good concepts and values from every culture can be assimilated in our multicultural Canadian society.
Finally, swayamsevaks and sevikas presented a special greeting card created by them to all the teachers. The school principal concluded the program by thanking the participants and everyone present.
Wonderful Hindu Temples
Temples as they appear today became popular in the Kali Yuga. They act as a safe haven, a spiritual resort where people can feel themselves free from the challenges of everyday existence. A binding with God is an often felt experience within the temple. It is a place to mentally acknowledge mistakes, and make a promise to improve and conduct to the betterment of self, family and society.The temple architecture has several aspects, very detailed, each visible structure having a meaning as the journey continues towards the sanctum itself - the Garbha Gruha - a representation of inner self. The Garbha-Gruha is almost always surrounded by a circumambulatory path, around which the devote walks in a clockwise direction. In Hindu and Buddhist thought, this represents an encircling of the universe itself. This is where and when positive thoughts, mental strength and spiritual nourishment is respectfully gathered.
A beautiful experience is enhanced by beautiful structures. Hundreds and thousands of places of worship have been built in Bharat (India) and across the globe. Here is a glimpse of temples built outside Bharat mostly in the past half century - but some constructed several centuries ago in Indonesia, Thailand and cambodia.
Please visit the photo gallery for more pictures.
Surya Namaskar Yoga Marathon (Yajna) Counts
Surya Namaskar Yoga Marathon (Yajna) 2010 Counts
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) performed an offering ("yajna") of Sun Salutations from January 15th to 31st, 2010, known as Surya Namaskar, to create awareness among the people about Yoga and its advantages in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit. This will be the third Surya Namaskar Yajna (SNY) since it was first launched in 2007. This also coincided the ocassion of Makar Sankranta. The sun is the source of energy for all life on earth.We are happy to announce that a collective count of 31,300 posture cycles were performed by 272 participants. We had involvement from across Canada including provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Congratulations to all! Please make it a practice to perform everyday, a cycle of at least 13, at your own pace. Help spread the importance of this activity - our mantra: Yoga for Health, Health for Humanity.
Thanks to all of you for actively participating in the Surya Namaskar Yajna 2010. It has been a great success and we have received wonderful feedback about the event. Hope you continue to experience the energy and sharing the advantages of performing Yoga exercises.
Please visit the "Surya Namaskar" section for more information on the program.
Guru Poojan - Dakshina Program
Guru Pooja and Guru Dakshina
Devotional worship of the Guru - the preceptor, something more than a teacher - is one of the most touching and elevating features of the Hindu cultural tradition. A Guru could be in the form of a elevated human being, or a deity of choice. However, Dr. Hedgewar chose the Bhagwa Dhwaja (saffron flag) to be the guiding light of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh with much deliberation and poise. It represents an emblem of strength, courage, devotion and sacrifice in the service humanity. It has achieved great respect throughout history, witnessed great valour and events and attracts obeisance even today. The param pavitra Dhwaja thus brings to mind and heart several divine qualities befitting those of a Guru. A true offering of worship, or pooja, to the Dhawja is the dedication of strength, mind and heart for the welfare of our society. It truly signifies the worship of all the preceptors of all times, and is referred to as Guru Paurnima.
Please refer to the " Events" section for details on liocation and timings.
What exactly is then the offering, or Guru Dakshina ? To live by the lofty ideals placed before us by the ancient seers and sages of whom we are descendants—that would be the dakshina desired by the guru. However, on a more practical note, the spirit of Sangh is expanding across the globe and financial support is required to operate a list of growing cultural and heritage programs. The monetary offering to the guru, however small or large it may be, is the Guru Dakshina to the Bhagwa Dhwaja. These oblations are utilized to accommodate the expenses of activities that lead to individual progress and character building, strengthening of our society, and also, to promote Hindu culture and way of life. Please remember the dakshina is complementary to the lofty concept of Guru Paurnima. It is not compulsory, yet certainly essential for our growth and advancement.
May God and guru inspire you to contemplate this in all seriousness and sincerity.
Please read a review of this years activities here.
Diwali Food Drive 2009 - Report
Diwali Food Drive 2009 - Report
As part of our tradition, we always like to donate whatever we can during the festival days especially during Diwali which is not too far from today.
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (Canada) is held a food drive from 27-Sept-09 to the Thanksgiving long weekend. Shiva Ji Shakha organized Food donation program on the occasion of Deepawali to help needy families. The participants - teenagers and adults collected non-perishable food items from their homes, friends and work places. It took almost 3 weeks to organize this program.
Everybody got together at the Salvation Army, Brampton location to drop off the collected food and appreciate Salvation Army's food bank program. The Salvation Army thanked all the participants. It was a great learning experience for all the involved people.
Next year we hope to reach out further into the community to serve this noble cause.
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