Author: Krishnakanth Sistla

Dr. Kishore Pathial, Surekha Reddy & Rajeev Singh

We are very happy to welcome all of you to the 3^rdedition of Hari Patrika. With this edition, we are pleased to share with you our special moments throughout last year.

Chinmaya Mission Portland was started with a handful of students attending Bala Vihar (Sunday School) classes in 1996. From this humble beginning, we have grown exponentially with students in 15 classes from infants up to grade 12. We have multiple tracks for adult study groups as well as language classes. It is this spirit of volunteerism and the philosophy that we give more than we takethat has fostered the growth of Chinmaya Mission.  We are very pleased to let you know that we were recently able to acquire a much-needed addition, adjacent condo unit which shares the north & the east wall between our Shadras cafe and library.

As we raise our children, we want them to imbibe the noble aspects of our culture and values that we hold dear while being productive members in societies that they live in.

The purpose of Chinmaya Mission is to provide to individuals, from any background, the wisdom of Vedanta and the practical means for spiritual growth and happiness. The value that children, youth, young adults, adults, and seniors derive from our study are manifold:

• Priceless heritage which the children get connected to, and will always have access to, because of their background with Chinmaya Mission.
• Lasting friendships – formed with like-minded families and children.
• Invaluable knowledge which once learned, helps us lead successful, integrated lives.
• Compassion for all – through integrated, sustainable social help programs.
• Prosperity and peace are perceived as mutually exclusive, but Vedanta teaches us how to have both simultaneously.

We want to thank each and every one of you as we continue on this journey. Without your continued support, the progress thus far would not have been possible. We look forward to all of your continued support to help fulfill Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji’s vision of growing our center into one bustling with activities, serving all of those who are pursuing their spiritual growth, learning and practicing the principles of Vedanta.

As many of you know, we are a fully volunteer organization and it is only through the combined efforts of us all, along with a broadly shared vision of our long-term future have we been able to accomplish all this. We know that we can count on all of you for your continued support through the years to come.

You can help us in this endeavor by coming forward to support our activities enabling us to bring many more such programs to Portland. We appreciate your help in our effort to empower us all to live with our core values, bringing maximum happiness to the maximum people for the maximum amount of time in maximum ways.

Krishna Sistla

This year, I have the privilege to be one of the editors for Hari Patrika, our annual magazine. In the process, I ended up reading all the submissions. I got to view and edit the art work submitted. I also had the chance to see and edit pictures from various events and acharya visits.  In summary I got a chance to view the entire year through a kaleidoscope. This left me with an overwhelming emotion of being part of an ocean of love.

In the prologue, you will see the love of our board members. Through their tireless efforts, no doubt inspired by Gurudev and Guruji, they brought Chinmaya Haridwar to the excellent position we are in.

In the Bala Patrika, you will see the love of our students for Ganesha, Lord Krishna and nature as a whole. Their art work demonstrates a deeper understanding of love.

In teachers reflections,  you will see the joy teachers feel as they teach and interact with the students. For balavihar teachers, their students are simply family.  Rameshji ended his message to graduates with a simple “I love you”. I cant think of many commencement speeches that end with the statement “I love you”.

Our graduating class makes us proud. We see their achievements as ours.  Alumni writings show that they felt loved. On a day when one of our alumni drops by, we feel a sense of joy.

Adult reflections show their deep understanding of vedanta, love for the Mission and their willingness to selflessly offer themselves to the greater cause of the Haridwar family.

So isn’t it clear?. This patrika is filled with what fills our Haridwar, Universal Love. Lord Krishna stands in the center of Haridwar, with a beautiful smile on his lips. His divine melody fills all our actions in Haridwar with love. An ocean of love  sorrounds and binds this community.  Love is offered freely with no expectations in return, just the way the Lord does.

Thanks to Pujya Gurudev’s vision, we have this gift of Haridwar. This center is truly our portal to Hari, our path to joining with Universal Love. It is a wellspring of hope, joy and love. May Lord Krishna and Gurudev forever bless this endevor of Universal Love.

Hope you will enjoy Hari Patrika as much as I did!