Krishna Sistla
Pujya Guruji gave the name Haridwar to Portland chapter of Chinmaya Mission. Haridwar means a “Portal to Hari”, literally a gateway to the divine and the infinite. The wise use their words sparsely, but when they do, they come with great import and potency. The name Haridwar summarizes all that needs to be said about this mission. Nothing more needs to be said.
We live in a time of some uncertainty about what this nation stands for. Does America stand for liberty, equality and universal recognition of inalienable rights of all? Or does it stand for identity, class and race separation? The same questions can be extended to what we as humanity stand for. Do we stand for arrogant and heedless consumption of the natural resources at the expense of all? Or do we stand as caretakers of this delicate blue Island with all its inhabitants, human and non-human?.
The view from Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruji is very clear. They urge us to see the whole world as one family. They worked tirelessly for the welfare of all. Their vision was not constrained to one race or one gender or one geography. It was about bringing peace to the whole planet.
This Haridwar is a family of families. As a co-editor of Hari Patrika, I get the opportunity to go back and view the whole year as a collage. In this collage, I see one family made from many families. We are a living proof of the positive vision laid out by our dear Gurudev. If we can be one family, so can the whole world. When our individual egos melt in the collective, the portal to Hari opens. His divine love fills our hearts with joy. We experience this every Sunday in Haridwar. Let us strive to make the whole world experience the same joy.
Hari Om
Krishna Sistla