Bahrain is a small island in the Arabian Gulf. Bahrain Satsangh is a non-profit Hindu organization formed 19 years ago to embrace spirituality as a way of life. Bahrain Satsangh is now a mature International group with several satsanghs operating as far and wide as Singapore, Australia, India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Canada.
Our Satsangh spreads the message of the Lord contained in the Hindu scriptures such as Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, the Upanishads, Vivekacudamani, Panchadasi and Jivan Mukti Viveka, to name a few. In addition, we help perform Hindu pujas, marriages etc. Bahrain Satsangh also undertakes several forms of charities. The beneficiaries of the charity are Goshalas, Schools, Orphanages etc., operating across India. As a principle the corpus of the Charity is fully funded by the members of Satsangh and has so far operated without any external aid.
Our mission is to propagate the divine message of Bhagavad-Gita and to this end, in the last twelve months, we have already distributed Bhagavad-Gita books and other scriptures worth US$ 5,000. These are mainly published by the Gita Press, Gorakhpur and Ramakrishna Mission.
We are convinced beyond all doubt that weekly Satsanghs or weekly prayer meetings on a larger scale - for all Hindus are imperative to instill Scriptural knowledge on a lasting basis. Having 100,000 Satsanghs is one of our visions and we are determined and focused in pursuing this objective. We believe that team effort and association of like-minded organizations could help foster and instill a sense of belonging to this great religion, in the minds of the masses thereby passing on this great tradition to future generations. Reaffirmation of faith and conviction in our religion is the order of the day and we need to take cues from other religions in this respect.
In the light of the above, we are embarking upon an ambitious project of creating awareness of Gita and other Hindu scriptures amongst the masses. We feel that it is the will of the lord that we came across information about your activities. We are pleasantly surprised to see that many of our key aims appear to coincide with those of yours such as making the Gita available in various places such as Hotel rooms, Hospitals etc. Currently, we have targeted placing the books in 300,000 rooms in over 1,000 hotels in India in a phased manner.
To enable the recipients to appreciate such profound scriptural texts, in future, we also intend to re-design some of these books in a manner that would make them appealing and user friendly even to a casual reader.
Hari OM!
The above post is taken from an email from Bahrain Satsangh from 2000.
...Read more!
Suggestions for Children
Namaskaram,
I am writing to thank you for the enlightening page on Satyanarayan Katha.
I was raised a Catholic but married into Hindu family and have been trying to learn to teach my children! sometimes I am overwhelmed. I have heard this Katha many times but it has never been presented as clearly. I cannot express my gratitute to you fully for your presentation. I recently had a Mundan pooja for my son and just started to understand Satyanarayan Katha.
If you have any suggestions of sites where I can read and learn of other Kathas please email me I will be very grateful, this life seems so short for the amount of love and praise we can give God! I am very interested in learning stories about God so I can tell my children rather than fairy tales!
Many thanks, Jai Shree Ram..
Here is the reply from Guruji:
Salutations to you and to your husband; Love to your children.
I am glad you enjoyed Sri Satyanarayana Katha.
I am unaware right now which Katha's are on internet. However, if you are looking for hard copies following info might help
How old are your children ? For those between 3 to 10 , suggest Amar Chitra Katha pictorials; these are like comics or classics in pictures. They say 78 million copies sold so far. First published some 25 years ago. Edited by Anantha Pai and published by India Book House. You may find them in US; You can also directly order from India Book House Limited, Fleet bldg, Mathuradas Vasanji Rd Marol Naka, Andheri East Mumbai - 400059
For children between 8 to 14 recommend Kamala Subramanium's three books - The Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatham and Mahabharatham. The great authoress has a racy style; the stories are short, the sentences are simple. Average lenght of a story is one page or less. They make excellent bedtime stories. Back in India often these three books have been presented as wedding gift, for they give a healing touch to all marriages when in trouble - which is all the time anyway. Besides silently educating us grownups, gently reminding us of our final destination they make us go slow on our present warpaths and clash of egos. These books are published by Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan. These books do not have pictures.
The Ramakrishna Mission publishes a number of pictorial books for children; There are excellent books for children published by Swami Narayana Movement. All these books are fair priced. An Amara Chitra Katha pictorial titled 'Abhimanyu' has 34 color pages, a total of150 pictures is sold for Rs20 (60c)
I know of a family whose three children grew up on these; the son Achuth is in Stanford now and the daughter Sulochana is in final year Medicine. Both opine that these stories gave a good, broad base of culture All three children are vegetarians and do take tea or coffee; they do daily their prayers and chant sahasranamas and ashtotharas.
Please feel free to ask assistance, and give your comments.
SAB ...Read more!
I am writing to thank you for the enlightening page on Satyanarayan Katha.
I was raised a Catholic but married into Hindu family and have been trying to learn to teach my children! sometimes I am overwhelmed. I have heard this Katha many times but it has never been presented as clearly. I cannot express my gratitute to you fully for your presentation. I recently had a Mundan pooja for my son and just started to understand Satyanarayan Katha.
If you have any suggestions of sites where I can read and learn of other Kathas please email me I will be very grateful, this life seems so short for the amount of love and praise we can give God! I am very interested in learning stories about God so I can tell my children rather than fairy tales!
Many thanks, Jai Shree Ram..
Here is the reply from Guruji:
Salutations to you and to your husband; Love to your children.
I am glad you enjoyed Sri Satyanarayana Katha.
I am unaware right now which Katha's are on internet. However, if you are looking for hard copies following info might help
How old are your children ? For those between 3 to 10 , suggest Amar Chitra Katha pictorials; these are like comics or classics in pictures. They say 78 million copies sold so far. First published some 25 years ago. Edited by Anantha Pai and published by India Book House. You may find them in US; You can also directly order from India Book House Limited, Fleet bldg, Mathuradas Vasanji Rd Marol Naka, Andheri East Mumbai - 400059
For children between 8 to 14 recommend Kamala Subramanium's three books - The Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatham and Mahabharatham. The great authoress has a racy style; the stories are short, the sentences are simple. Average lenght of a story is one page or less. They make excellent bedtime stories. Back in India often these three books have been presented as wedding gift, for they give a healing touch to all marriages when in trouble - which is all the time anyway. Besides silently educating us grownups, gently reminding us of our final destination they make us go slow on our present warpaths and clash of egos. These books are published by Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan. These books do not have pictures.
The Ramakrishna Mission publishes a number of pictorial books for children; There are excellent books for children published by Swami Narayana Movement. All these books are fair priced. An Amara Chitra Katha pictorial titled 'Abhimanyu' has 34 color pages, a total of150 pictures is sold for Rs20 (60c)
I know of a family whose three children grew up on these; the son Achuth is in Stanford now and the daughter Sulochana is in final year Medicine. Both opine that these stories gave a good, broad base of culture All three children are vegetarians and do take tea or coffee; they do daily their prayers and chant sahasranamas and ashtotharas.
Please feel free to ask assistance, and give your comments.
SAB ...Read more!
How to attain Self Realization?
It is hard to attain self-realization. I do pray to God to help me choose the right guru and march forward fast and firmly to the goal of life: self-realization. Please help me. Thank you so much.
Loving prostration to Your feet.
With all-consuming desire for Eternal Bliss and with Vedantic love,
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and blessings
The real guru is sadguru who is your own self who has been propelling you towards this direction. I have gone through your appeal; there is nothing to worry; understand that all problems mentioned by you in your email are related to "body"; they are not "your" problem.
You are forever free, in bliss, and truly need no guru, although you can have one or more; the real guru is sadguru who is your own self who has been propelling you towards this direction. Outer guru is just a prop. it does not matter whom you select; the end result will be realization which has less to do with your outer guru, than your inner guru.
Keep just one thought in your mind that you are not this body, nor the student at MIT (except for functional and practical purposes - an assumed role of a MIT student) You are the soul which is indescribable, unimaginable, beyond the ken of intellect.
Understand that the outer world is a projection of your own self and it will vanish with you; there is no world(and its problems) besides your own projection.
Since the world is false, and the brahman(atman, or soul) is real; start focusing all the time on a simple question "who am I"; reject all that you are not; all that is related to your body; all desires, see them thru; the futility of achieving any desire; well, there is no need to suppress any of them; just watch them and disassociate from them, just like you disassociate from the food once it goes below the throat.
There is nothing for you to do; just keep all the time observing your thoughts and actions; there is no need to have any guilt nor any complex; just apathy. Lead a simple life, free of wants; be useful to all around you including creatures, plants and surroundings; hurt none.
There is no need to go anywhere special. You will anyway carry the same mind wherever you go. Cleanse the mind of all desires and mind will start getting cleansed up. When we say desires, we mean all selfish desires.
You have forever been free; all perturbations are in one sense only mock battles; you have never been bound, except in your false belief that you are.
There is book titled "Sadhana" by Swami Sivananda, available from Divine Life Society, which is the essence of all disciplines. It is worth going through that book.
Too much reading will fill the mind with undigested info; whatever we read,
need to put to practice; also pondering on what has been read is
necessary.
Satsangh means company of a great or good soul. When you do not have satsangh, you have the company of sri satya sai baba (Satya sayee speaks) and swami sivananda(thru his 300 books), thru their books; the books talk to you and solve almost all questions.
We have satsangh going on thrice a week for the past 18 yrs. by reading
Satsangh web page or by emailing your questions you may always keep in touch.
love and blessings!
...Read more!
Loving prostration to Your feet.
With all-consuming desire for Eternal Bliss and with Vedantic love,
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and blessings
The real guru is sadguru who is your own self who has been propelling you towards this direction. I have gone through your appeal; there is nothing to worry; understand that all problems mentioned by you in your email are related to "body"; they are not "your" problem.
You are forever free, in bliss, and truly need no guru, although you can have one or more; the real guru is sadguru who is your own self who has been propelling you towards this direction. Outer guru is just a prop. it does not matter whom you select; the end result will be realization which has less to do with your outer guru, than your inner guru.
Keep just one thought in your mind that you are not this body, nor the student at MIT (except for functional and practical purposes - an assumed role of a MIT student) You are the soul which is indescribable, unimaginable, beyond the ken of intellect.
Understand that the outer world is a projection of your own self and it will vanish with you; there is no world(and its problems) besides your own projection.
Since the world is false, and the brahman(atman, or soul) is real; start focusing all the time on a simple question "who am I"; reject all that you are not; all that is related to your body; all desires, see them thru; the futility of achieving any desire; well, there is no need to suppress any of them; just watch them and disassociate from them, just like you disassociate from the food once it goes below the throat.
There is nothing for you to do; just keep all the time observing your thoughts and actions; there is no need to have any guilt nor any complex; just apathy. Lead a simple life, free of wants; be useful to all around you including creatures, plants and surroundings; hurt none.
There is no need to go anywhere special. You will anyway carry the same mind wherever you go. Cleanse the mind of all desires and mind will start getting cleansed up. When we say desires, we mean all selfish desires.
You have forever been free; all perturbations are in one sense only mock battles; you have never been bound, except in your false belief that you are.
There is book titled "Sadhana" by Swami Sivananda, available from Divine Life Society, which is the essence of all disciplines. It is worth going through that book.
Too much reading will fill the mind with undigested info; whatever we read,
need to put to practice; also pondering on what has been read is
necessary.
Satsangh means company of a great or good soul. When you do not have satsangh, you have the company of sri satya sai baba (Satya sayee speaks) and swami sivananda(thru his 300 books), thru their books; the books talk to you and solve almost all questions.
We have satsangh going on thrice a week for the past 18 yrs. by reading
Satsangh web page or by emailing your questions you may always keep in touch.
love and blessings!
...Read more!
How to join Satsangh?
I am not in Bahrain. How can I be part of Satsangh?
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and Salutations to Atmaswaroop,
The physical distance is part of the dream in which we are living.Srimad Bhagavad Gita, or Srimad Bhagavatham, or Shri Vishnu Sahasranamam or Gayathri mantram speak one langualge. "Wake up from the sleep"
What gave you the idea that you are not in satsangh ? You are very much
there. The physical distance is part of the dream in which we are living.
Start chanting Sri Vishnu sahasranama daily. Its benefits are numerous
Gives you health, wealth, importnace, status, knowledge, presence of mind,
fortitude, a clean mind and heart, eventual peace and ultimate good. In
addition satanghis now chant Shiva sahasranama(targert 108 times for
1997), Rama sahasrananama (as we approach Ram Navami - target 108 times),
and then Aanjaneya sahasranama etc.
Daily reading of one chapter of Gita with meaning (average 6 to 15 minutes)
and one chapter of Srimad Bhagavatha will assure you of knowledge of the
Vedas.
Anyone who is remotely connected to Satsangh activities is not in 'collosal ignorance' they only have a thin veil by removing which knowledge shines forth.
Draw a chalk circle around the hen and it starts imagining that it is imprisoned and stays within the circle. Because we consider ourselves as body and not soul we are entangled in endless problems connected to body. One who has connected oneself with satsangh has now started to wake up from ignorance.
The game is to find out who you are, if you are not the body ? Not true, not true, not this not this, whatever you see, hear, touch eat, smell; As desires are witnessed and discovered their relation to body and done with, clarity comes.
Love and salutations
SAB
...Read more!
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and Salutations to Atmaswaroop,
The physical distance is part of the dream in which we are living.Srimad Bhagavad Gita, or Srimad Bhagavatham, or Shri Vishnu Sahasranamam or Gayathri mantram speak one langualge. "Wake up from the sleep"
What gave you the idea that you are not in satsangh ? You are very much
there. The physical distance is part of the dream in which we are living.
Start chanting Sri Vishnu sahasranama daily. Its benefits are numerous
Gives you health, wealth, importnace, status, knowledge, presence of mind,
fortitude, a clean mind and heart, eventual peace and ultimate good. In
addition satanghis now chant Shiva sahasranama(targert 108 times for
1997), Rama sahasrananama (as we approach Ram Navami - target 108 times),
and then Aanjaneya sahasranama etc.
Daily reading of one chapter of Gita with meaning (average 6 to 15 minutes)
and one chapter of Srimad Bhagavatha will assure you of knowledge of the
Vedas.
Anyone who is remotely connected to Satsangh activities is not in 'collosal ignorance' they only have a thin veil by removing which knowledge shines forth.
Draw a chalk circle around the hen and it starts imagining that it is imprisoned and stays within the circle. Because we consider ourselves as body and not soul we are entangled in endless problems connected to body. One who has connected oneself with satsangh has now started to wake up from ignorance.
The game is to find out who you are, if you are not the body ? Not true, not true, not this not this, whatever you see, hear, touch eat, smell; As desires are witnessed and discovered their relation to body and done with, clarity comes.
Love and salutations
SAB
...Read more!
What is Satsangh?
Satsangh is the company of a good person. 'Sat' stands for godliness, 'sang' for company.
I am in the Satsangh basically for myself, to correct myself.Company of the sants (saints, which word came from sant) ennobles, educates (in a higher sense) and 'purifies' us. Purifies means removes from our mind greed, lust, pride, jealousy, vanity and delusion. We generally see these defects in other people. But in Satsangh, I start seeing them in myself, because I am in the Satsangh basically for myself, to correct myself.
Were I totally happy with myself needing nothing, I would not have come to Satsangh. It is this need, a fear of uncertain future, a lacuna in life in spite of having everything, an inexplicable void despite being wealthy or powerful, that makes me come to Satsangh. When I am totally happy and contented and need nothing (because of right understanding of the world), then also I will come to Satsangh to share what I know with others.
In Satsangh the prevailing atmosphere is one of nobility, understanding, generosity and love. All noble qualities are to the fore, suppressing the baser instincts and feeling. All satsanghiis (people who attend satsanghs) seem to like each other and are ever willing to help each other.
When we first started the fire, most of the logs were wet and only one or two a bit dry; these kept the fire alive and exposed other wet logs to the heat of the fire. Slowly but surely, all logs started drying up and the fire started burning brightly. Any passer-by could come and get the warmth.
Why purification of mind is necessary? Same reason why we clean our reading glasses; with dust, oilstain and paint marks on my spectacles, I won't be able to read anything, and if I insist on reading through them, you would say that I was crazy; but that's what's the whole world's problem. We just won't wipe our specs clean and see clearly. So too, the mind full of desires (paint marks) and other enemies (stains and dust), is unable to know what is good for it. Tragically, it does not even know that its specs are full of dust & dirty.
In Satsangh, we read thes cripture of our choice (BhagavadGita, Upanishad, Bhaagavatam, Ramaayana etc.), read commentaries and either discuss or someone knowledgeable explains the meaning and its relevance in today's world. Invariably the practical day to day living guidance is given.
The duration is generally 90 minutes to 2 hr. First half hour of bhajans, chanting, and the last half hour for mahaprasad (eating what was offered to Lord). The central time is for discourse.
We families have been meeting 4 to 5 times a week since 16 years; This itself is a great miracle. How can one meet, talk, eat with same families week after week without getting tired of each other?
Something of an experience!
The above post is taken from an email from GuruJi, Sri S A Bhandarkar, from 1996.
...Read more!
I am in the Satsangh basically for myself, to correct myself.Company of the sants (saints, which word came from sant) ennobles, educates (in a higher sense) and 'purifies' us. Purifies means removes from our mind greed, lust, pride, jealousy, vanity and delusion. We generally see these defects in other people. But in Satsangh, I start seeing them in myself, because I am in the Satsangh basically for myself, to correct myself.
Were I totally happy with myself needing nothing, I would not have come to Satsangh. It is this need, a fear of uncertain future, a lacuna in life in spite of having everything, an inexplicable void despite being wealthy or powerful, that makes me come to Satsangh. When I am totally happy and contented and need nothing (because of right understanding of the world), then also I will come to Satsangh to share what I know with others.
In Satsangh the prevailing atmosphere is one of nobility, understanding, generosity and love. All noble qualities are to the fore, suppressing the baser instincts and feeling. All satsanghiis (people who attend satsanghs) seem to like each other and are ever willing to help each other.
When we first started the fire, most of the logs were wet and only one or two a bit dry; these kept the fire alive and exposed other wet logs to the heat of the fire. Slowly but surely, all logs started drying up and the fire started burning brightly. Any passer-by could come and get the warmth.
Why purification of mind is necessary? Same reason why we clean our reading glasses; with dust, oilstain and paint marks on my spectacles, I won't be able to read anything, and if I insist on reading through them, you would say that I was crazy; but that's what's the whole world's problem. We just won't wipe our specs clean and see clearly. So too, the mind full of desires (paint marks) and other enemies (stains and dust), is unable to know what is good for it. Tragically, it does not even know that its specs are full of dust & dirty.
In Satsangh, we read thes cripture of our choice (BhagavadGita, Upanishad, Bhaagavatam, Ramaayana etc.), read commentaries and either discuss or someone knowledgeable explains the meaning and its relevance in today's world. Invariably the practical day to day living guidance is given.
The duration is generally 90 minutes to 2 hr. First half hour of bhajans, chanting, and the last half hour for mahaprasad (eating what was offered to Lord). The central time is for discourse.
We families have been meeting 4 to 5 times a week since 16 years; This itself is a great miracle. How can one meet, talk, eat with same families week after week without getting tired of each other?
Something of an experience!
The above post is taken from an email from GuruJi, Sri S A Bhandarkar, from 1996.
...Read more!
Who is Guruji?
My humble prostration at your Holy feet,
All glories to all great saints,
Namaskar Guruji,
On behalf of millions of other people who read your satsangh, I would like to thank you for allowing us the honour of reading your satsanghs. I would appreciate it, if Guruji could, perhaps tell me a little bit about Himself, so that I know whose satsangh I have, actually, been reading. I believe that will help me to say with confidence on what authority I say something lest I quote your satsangh.
your eternal servitor
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and Salutations to Atmaswaroop,
The real Guruji is within, who is known as Sadguru, who guides all the time.Speaking in worldly terms and language, (which is not the truth although looks factual ) the Gita and Bhagavatha Satsangh started some 16 years ago, by some devotees ....
The truth of the matter is the satsangh has been there all the time like the subterranian water; the well was dug when the water was needed. It is not important who dug the well and where. Our attention to such so called 'factual' details will keep us in ignorance called 'vismrithi' (forgetfulness of our self and of true nature of things).
Gurujis is just a name to address someone respectfully (often even when we do not mean ). That someone is anyone and everyone who is drawing the water from the well and serving it to those who are thirsty. The someone need to be nameless. It is important to drink water. The mouth, the cup, the pot, the server are all instruments to complete the process of drinking. In their facelessness lies their true worth. The real Guruji is within, who is known as Sadguru, who guides all the time.
Four blind people touched an elephant. One said the elephant is a pillar. the second who touched its trunk said th elephant is not a pillar, but it is a very thick hanging rope. The third one who was near its stomach said it is a huge pot hanging from up. The fourth one said it is a thin rope with hairs, referring to its tail.
All four continue to fight in the name of religion, sect. The position we take(devotee, friend, jnani, etc, the language we use divide us. Nobler feelings like universal love, compassion can bridge these differences.
When you buy food from the hotel, it can become yours only after you eat and digest it. Similarly, all quotes remain as quotes till we digest these quotes and make them our own by betting our lives on them or else they remain with us as part of our vocabulary, but not as ourselves.
Please feel free to write
Love and salutations,
SAB
...Read more!
All glories to all great saints,
Namaskar Guruji,
On behalf of millions of other people who read your satsangh, I would like to thank you for allowing us the honour of reading your satsanghs. I would appreciate it, if Guruji could, perhaps tell me a little bit about Himself, so that I know whose satsangh I have, actually, been reading. I believe that will help me to say with confidence on what authority I say something lest I quote your satsangh.
your eternal servitor
Here is the reply to the above question from GuruJi.
Love and Salutations to Atmaswaroop,
The real Guruji is within, who is known as Sadguru, who guides all the time.Speaking in worldly terms and language, (which is not the truth although looks factual ) the Gita and Bhagavatha Satsangh started some 16 years ago, by some devotees ....
The truth of the matter is the satsangh has been there all the time like the subterranian water; the well was dug when the water was needed. It is not important who dug the well and where. Our attention to such so called 'factual' details will keep us in ignorance called 'vismrithi' (forgetfulness of our self and of true nature of things).
Gurujis is just a name to address someone respectfully (often even when we do not mean ). That someone is anyone and everyone who is drawing the water from the well and serving it to those who are thirsty. The someone need to be nameless. It is important to drink water. The mouth, the cup, the pot, the server are all instruments to complete the process of drinking. In their facelessness lies their true worth. The real Guruji is within, who is known as Sadguru, who guides all the time.
Four blind people touched an elephant. One said the elephant is a pillar. the second who touched its trunk said th elephant is not a pillar, but it is a very thick hanging rope. The third one who was near its stomach said it is a huge pot hanging from up. The fourth one said it is a thin rope with hairs, referring to its tail.
All four continue to fight in the name of religion, sect. The position we take(devotee, friend, jnani, etc, the language we use divide us. Nobler feelings like universal love, compassion can bridge these differences.
When you buy food from the hotel, it can become yours only after you eat and digest it. Similarly, all quotes remain as quotes till we digest these quotes and make them our own by betting our lives on them or else they remain with us as part of our vocabulary, but not as ourselves.
Please feel free to write
Love and salutations,
SAB
...Read more!
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