Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre motivates community participation
Venkat Raman
Auckland, March 8, 2024
Leaders of the Maori, Pacifica, Fijian, Indian and other communities are working with the Auckland-based Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre to help people lead better lives and seek mutual peace and harmony.
The Centre’s Head and Minister-in-Charge Swami Tadananda has been the motivating force, which has been bringing together a cross-section of people to promote meditation as the first step in the long road to the achievement of self-realisation and societal improvement.
In a series of Video and Podcasts beginning with this report, Swami Tadananda speaks about his vision for the youth and society and his experience in dealing with them in Fiji, Australia and since last year in New Zealand. Going beyond religious compulsions, he reaches out to all of humanity and fosters inclusiveness.
He said that the aim is to teach meditation as a proven scientific technique to strengthen and purify the mind.
Harnessing the Mind
The human mind comprises mental, intellectual, emotional, moral and ethical aspects of being and by systematically harnessing the power of the inner Pure Consciousness, it will be possible to achieve the objective, he said.
“As the concentration of the mind and willpower develops, the mind becomes a better channel for the flow of the inner knowledge, bliss, power, beauty and strength. These powers potential in us are our divine birthright. An impure and untrained mind is like a high impedance to the expression of the inner powers. Deprived of the inner power, we become weak and suffer physically, mentally and emotionally,” Swami Tadananda said.
According to him, the human mind, purified and concentrated through meditation and various forms of Yogas can become a superconductor of the ‘spiritual current.’
“Then the infinite power of the spirit shines through in all its glory, transforming our thoughts, words and deeds. Nourished by the spiritual power the strengthened mind easily overcomes all challenges that the external world can throw at us. Once the primary cause of our ailments including anxiety, stress, and depression, we can seek appropriate relief and remedy,” Swami Tadananda said.
Swami Tadananda at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, Auckland (INL Photo)
The direction of education
Swami Tadananda believes that education should be the objective source of training the mind to sharpen it as an instrument to connect to our core Pure Consciousness, avail its powers overcome the challenges that we face in our internal and external lives.
He quoted Swami Vivekananda as saying, “The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education. Perfecting the instrument and getting complete mastery of the mind is the ideal of education. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas.”
Swami Tadananda said that meditation not only self-empowers people to live a better life but can also become a powerful tool for destroying the darkness of spiritual ignorance and bestowing the supreme gift of freedom and enlightenment.
The world as a gym
Swami Tadananda considers the world a ‘Great Gymnasium,’ to which we come to do exercises to make ourselves strong.
“The various challenges in life are the exercises which help in the manifestation of our inherent strength: physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, ethical and spiritual. We should not run away from them but face them boldly with the faith within us is the strength needed to succeed.”
He said that life in general is a constant struggle between forces of external nature and the internal being.
“We are products of the experiences of these struggles. Most societies develop a formal system of education to empower us with knowledge and skills to fight the battle of life better. Therefore, it makes sense that a good education should teach us both about the external world we live in as well as about the various dimensions of our inner nature. Unfortunately, such is not the case,” Swami Tadananda said.
Swami Tadananda bemoans that the modern education system is largely about the external world, or the macrocosm, with little attention to the microcosm.
“There is no effort to train and develop the mind – the internal instrument upon which depends our happiness and suffering, knowledge and ignorance and success and failure,” he said.
About the Ramakrishna Movement
Ramakrishna Mission forms the core of the Ramakrishna Movement, a not-for-profit spiritual organisation, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in West Bengal (Belur, near Howrah) on May 1, 1897. It aims at the harmony of religions, harmony of the East and the West, spiritual fulfilment, all-round development of human faculties, social equality and peace for all humanity, without any distinctions of creed, caste, race or nationality.
Ramakrishna Movement has about 180 branches or centres all over India and in many parts of the world. It follows the motto set by Swami Vivekananda: “For one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world.”
The Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre in Auckland is located at 27 Arawa Street, New Lynn, West Auckland. Phone: 021-2290369; Email: mail@vedanta.nz, www.vedanta.co.nz
