vk nardep newsletter june 2013

7/28/2019 Vk Nardep Newsletter June 2013

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Echoes of Eco

Unity of Existence: Real EducationIn this issue:

Unity of Existence: Reducation

Rameshwaram Project

The Happenings-II

The Happenings-II

From our Publications

Visions of Wisdom: Dharma

The gods have given,

the sun has given,the earth has given,

the three Sarasvats, of onemind, have given

Antsas poison-destroying (remedy

That water, O ants, which thegods poured for you into the dland, with this (water), sent forby the gods, do ye destroy thi

poison!

Thou art the daughter of theAsuras, thou art the sister of thDevas. Sprung from heaven an

earth, thou didst render thepoison devoid of strength.

-Atharva Veda

Hymn to the Ants

June, 2013 Vivekananda Kendra- nardep Newsletter Vol:5 No:4

Service to humanity is the highest form of worship Swami Vivekananda

The theory of evolution, which is thefoundation of almost all the Indianschools of thought, has now madeits way into the physical science of

Europe. It has been held by thereligions of all other countries exceptIndia that the universe in its entiretyis composed of parts distinctlyseparate from each other. God,nature, maneach stands by itself,isolated from one another; likewise,beasts, birds, insects, trees, theearth, stones, metals, etc., are alldistinct from one another; Godcreated them separate from thebeginning.

Knowledge is to find unity in themidst of diversityto establish unityamong things which appear to us tobe different from one another. Thatparticular relation by which manfinds this sameness is called Law.This is what is known as NaturalLaw.

I have said before that oureducation, intelligence, and thoughtare all spiritual, all find expression inreligion.

In the West, their manifestation is inthe externalin the physical andsocial planes.

Thinkers in ancient India graduallycame to understand that that idea ofseparateness was erroneous, thatthere was a connection among allthose distinct objectsthere was aunity which pervaded the wholeuniversetrees, shrubs, animals,men, Devas, even God Himself; theAdvaitin reaching the climax in thisline of thought declared all to be butthe manifestations of the One. Inreality, the metaphysical and thephysical universe are one, and the

name of this One is Brahman; andthe perception of separateness isan errorthey called it My,Avidy or nescience. This is the endof knowledge. If this matter is notcomprehended at the present dayby anyone how is one to beregarded as an educated scholar(Pandit)?

[An excerpt from SwamiVivekanandas lecture Progress

of Civilization]


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All living beings have experience of pleasure and pain, and we are among them. What makeshuman beings different is that we have a powerful intelligence and a much greater ability toachieve happiness and avoid suffering. Real happiness and friendship come not from money oreven knowledge, but from warm-heartedness. Once we recognise this we will be more inclined tocultivate it. His Holiness Dalai Lama

Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, June 2013 Vol. 5 No: 4

To know more about Rameshwaram Teertham Project: Contact Secrerary, VK-nardep at [email protected]


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Echoes of Eco - Newsletter Vivekananda Kendra narde June 2013 Vol. 5 No: 4

Today physicists are simply proving that what we call an object - an atom, a molecule, aparticle is only an approximation, a metaphor. At the subatomic level, it dissolves into a

series of interconnections, like chords of music. It's beautiful."~ Sonia Hoffman

To know more about Rameshwaram Teertham Project: Contact Secrerary, VK-nardep at [email protected]

Nakula and Sahadeva Teerthams : Renovation work

Jata Teerthams : Renovation work


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Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, June 2013 Vol. 5 No: 4

All members of an ecological community are interconnected in a vast and intricate network ofrelationship, the web of life. Interdependence, the mutual interdependence of all life process onone another is the nature of all ecological relationship. - Fritjof Capra

Water Management

This month

Networking: This

month

Tested water from 14 wells inKanyakumari Dist. programmeof Central Ground Water Board,Chennai.

Study Tour of farmers toGramodaya Park,Vivekanandapuram was organizedby Tamilnadu Forest TrainingCollege, Vaigai Dam on 22

ndand

50 Farmers learnedsustainable agriculturaltechnologies, herbal medicines,rain water harvesting andConstruction technologies.

Networking: This

month

Five Study Tours of farmers wasorganized by District WatershedDevelopment Agency, Dindigul toGramodaya Park, Vivekanandapuramon 7

th, 14

th20

th24

thand 27

th.Totally 600

farmers learned sustainable agriculturaltechnologies, herbal medicines, rainwater harvesting and Constructiontechnologies.

Community Exposure Visit:Age is no bar to learnsustainable technologies.Here the farming communitylearns about greentechnologies and getexposure to technology as

well as concepts insustainable development.

Community Exposure Visit: AtGramodaya park which houses

multimedia panels on differentaspects of sustainabledevelopment farmers glimpse atthe possibility of a greenerfuture.

Community Exposure Visit: Livemodels of green technologyprovide the farmers a hand-on-feel and inspire them to try andexperiment with them at their

own local environments.

Community Exposure Visit:Lectures at open ground andin greener environment. Theambience of the surroundingsadds to the spirit of thesubject learnt. It is anexperience at different levels

in a collective harmony.

Shri.G.Vasudeo read a paper onHolistic Model for Sustainable DairyFarming in India at the NationalSeminar on Animal Nutrition andFodder Security World Milk Day,organized by Directorate of DairyDevelopment, Jharkhand which washeld on 1

stand 2

ndof this month at

Ranchi, Jharkhand.


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Ture and

Space is all pervasive and infinite. Clouds appear all on a sudden in it; but their presence doesnot cause division in space. It is possible for clouds to change in magnitude. But Akasa orspace remains ever itself. Akin to Akasa, Awarenss is the substratum of the manifesteduniverse, which appears and disappears. No addition or subtraction can be effected in

Awareness. It is the eternal Witness. Swami Chitbavanada

From our

Publications

CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE

Sustainable Development is not only about innovating new technologies. But it is aabout reducing consumption. Reducing consumption essentially means changethe lifestyle. How can change in the lifestyle happen without change in the bavalues one holds in his or her life? Karen Christensen environmentalist-autspeaks of the need to dismantle the conumerist society that has been built by

West and which is now spreading all over the earth onto other societies and culturea viral way. Our publication Akshaya Vikas presents this view of Christensen poignantly adds that the simple way of life which needs a basic change in the valof consumerist and commercialized society also means going back to the bavalues of all spiritual teachings whose common essence has always been simple wof living. The following is an excerpt from Akshaya Vikas which speaks abchanging the lifestyle of individuals as an important step in sustainable developme

Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep

, June 2013 Vol. 5 No: 4


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The Himalayan sages taught me firstthe gospel of nature. Then I startedlistening to the music coming fromthe blooming flowers, from the songsof the birds and even from the

smallest blade of grass and thorn ofthe bush. In everything lives theevidence of the beautiful. If one doesnot learn to listen to the music ofnature and appreciate her beauty,then that which impels man to seeklove at its fountain may be lost in theremotest antiquity. Do you needpsychological analysis to discover innature the source of so muchhappiness, of so many songs,dreams and beauties? This gospel ofnature speaks its parables from theglacial streams, the valleys ladenwith lilies, the forests covered withflowers and the light of stars. Thisgospel reveals that emphaticknowledge through which one learnstruth and beholds the good in all itsmajesty and glory.When one learnsto hear the music of nature andappreciate her beauty, then his soulmoves in harmony with its entireenvironment. His every movementand every sound will surely then findits due place in human society. Themind of man should be trained to love

nature before he looks through thecorridor of his life. Then a revelationcomes peeping through with thedawn. The pain and miseries of lifedisappear with the darkness and themist when the sun rises.

We can imagine that if there is aroot similarity between inanimate world and the conscioworld, it must be the all-pervadenergy, or the heat in matter. Afa considerable time science hdiscovered that when we look matter, however, inert it may sesuperficially and devoid of sparthere is a kind of illuminatprocess that goes on unobtrusivwithin it. This illuminating sparkits subtle form manifests itselflife; moreover, it manifests itsfurther in yet a subtler form consciousness and mind. As find there is nothing but this greluminous spark in the beginningcreation, we have to own that t

consciousness is its manifestatioBy raising layers of coverings oby one from the inanimate to animate, it is constantly aimingunfold this greater consciousnein man by gradually removing allshrouded veils. This evolvfreedom of consciousness perhaps the ultimate destiny creation. The earth, water alight, fruits and flowers, to h(India), were not merely physiphenomena to be turned to u

and then left aside, wenecessary to her in the attainmeof her ideal of perfection, as evnote is necessary to tcompleteness of the symphony.

Dharma of Technology Dharma of Ecology Dharma of Nature

Swami Ramawami RamaSwami Ramawami RamaMystic Yogi

So, if we agree that possibilities existin India which dont exist anywhereelse, then perhaps it is for Indianscientists and technologists to thinkabout the dharma of technology. Thatyou can do by practicing andunderstanding dharma yourself, butalso thinking deeply about what thetechnology of dharma should be. Thetechnology of dharma, if nothing else,should be to uplift the most wretchedsections of society, to make the fruitsof affluence and wealth available tomany people, and to do this as non-violently as possible, with the leastdamage to peoples eco-systems

The first step is to bridge the gulf, endthe dualism. That can only be donewhen some technologists will go andactually live in the villages. In a certainvision of what India should be, everyvillage will have one or twotechnologists. Every village will havean advanced communication centre,one or two good doctors--and youdont need very high technology forthis. Every village will be able toshape its own destiny and future, andhave the right kind of technology, andpeople will spend time trying to figureout what that village needs as opposedto what a Tata or Birla needs in the

city. This, to say the least, will be theDharma of Technology.And with moreand more serious thought on this vitalissue, perhaps a new kind of science,a new way, at any rate, of doingscience may be born in this land.

RabindranRabindranRabindranRabindranTagTagTagTag

P

----MakarandMakarandMakarandMakarandParParParParanjapeanjapeanjapeanjape

Author

Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude toward those whoare at its mercy: animals. And in this respect, human kind has suffered a fundamental

debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.Sri Aurobindo

Vivekananda Kendra nardep, Kanyakumari-629702 Phone:91-4652-246296www.vknardep.org

vk nardep newsletter june 2013

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