HPI
NEW DELHI, April 14, 2012 (By Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent): A confederation of Indian gurus gathered for the second Guru Sangamam, held in New Delhi’s tastefully decorated auditorium of Thyagraj Sports Complex on Thursday April 12th, 2012. It was a great spectacle to watch hundreds of small earthen diyas lighted near the main stage. The program began with the chanting of vedic mantras and bhajans.
Guru Sangamam was formed last year with a view to “nurture, promote and celebrate the wealth of indigenous spirituality in the country. Its chief objective was to evolve ‘a non religious, apolitical platform’ that represented the variety and exuberance of all Indian spiritual movements devoted to the ‘liberation of the individual’, affirming diversity as a strength rather than a limitation. In a single year , the event has expanded from a meeting of 17 spiritual figures to include over a hundred voices of support from like minded gurus spanning a spectrum of traditions, from Hindu to Jain, Sikh to Buddhist.”
The event brought together several leaders of eminence , such as Sadhguru Vasudev (who was the event’s mastermind), Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji head of the Suttur Math, Karnataka, Swami Chidananda Saraswati [Muni Ji] of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, Dr. Lokesh Muniji of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, Jathedar Gyani Gurbachan Singh of Akal Takht, the Gyalwang Drukpaji of the Drukpa Order, Ladakh, among others.
The august gathering of spiritual masters besides resolving to come up with an upgraded web portal [see it here, to be upgraded shortly] also passed four other resolutions which included striving to make India a spiritual capital and gateway of the world, setting up chairs for teaching Indian spirituality both at the prestigious universities in India and abroad, making efforts of better dialogue and interconnection among the Indian spiritual masters and also promote the occasion of Guru Poornima as a celebration of national significance.
Speaking at the ‘Sangamam’ Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji said, ” The Individual greed which has reached an all time high has left mother nature with depleted resources and uninhabitable conditions. This crisis has enveloped the world faster than expected. We all fondly hope that this second conference would revive and strengthen our social, cultural and spiritual identity, bypassing parochialism. He went on to say, “The spiritual potential of India has to be fully recognized and acknowledged internally and then in the world. The leaders of spiritual traditions have an onerous responsibility as the torch-bearers of these indigenous movements that have evolved in this land for thousands of years.
Addressing the gathering, Swami Chidananda Saraswati [Muni Ji] of Parmarth Niketan and general secretary of ‘Guru Sangamam’ said, “We have always believed in the famous Sanskrit words ‘Ekam sat, vipra bahuda vadanti’ which meant the truth is one but the sages and wise men call it and perceive it by various names. Therefore our mat [paths] can be different but our man [heart] has to be one. The beauty of Indian spirituality is that it makes a person so evolved that even though one goes through so many ups and downs in life, one never loses his or her inner strength and composure. It is through our traditions of sadhana [penance] and samarpan [surrender] that we can show the correct path to the world in today’s times.”
He added,” Today our youth is getting shiksha [education] but they are not getting diksha [initiation], they are aiming to become bhavya [big and prosperous] but are not striving to become divya [divine].” According to Muni Ji, though the youth of today was getting connected to internet at the same time there was a need to connect to his inner net, that is his own self for evolution and self realization.
Hinduism Today was perhaps the only media organization which was invited to participate and cover the event which began at 11 am and went upto 4 pm. Many eminent gurus expressed their views in a few minutes time that had been allocated to each speaker due to limitations of time. To ensure that the spiritual masters did not exceed their allotted time, the moderator of the conference came up with a unique technique which worked very successfully as well as gracefully. As soon as a speaker exceeded his time limit, the moderator would just say ‘aum’ and this was a signal to end the speech and the speaker immediately responded by saying ‘aum’ and ending his remarks.
The event featured the release of five new books on Indian spirituality and culture in the august presence of the assembled gurus.
At a press conference held after the event, the media persons was informed about the deliberations of the “Guru Sangamam” by some of the top office bearers of the organization. This correspondent pointedly raised a question as to why the organizers had not chosen to use ‘Hinduism” or sanatan dharma and why they were shy of using these words and terms during their deliberations and in their literature. Responding to this Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at first said that they did not consider Hinduism as a ism. He also said that ‘sanatan dharma’ meant a universal set of rules or laws and therefore it was also not an appropriate term to use. When this correspondent persisted and asked again that when all the resources and philosophy they were using came from what was commonly perceived as ‘Hinduism’ why should they be shy of using this term, the organizers who by this time were already at the fag end of the press meet, wound up the press conference saying that they would take up this question for answering sometime in the future.
An announcement was made that the next Guru Sangamam will be held on April 4th, 2013 to “renew the dialogue and to continue the tradition of congregating in a spirit of accord and celebration, free of sectarian consideration or factionalism.” The time and venue for the next event would be conveyed sometime later.