CMDFW First Saaket Parivar Satsang
Saaket Parivar of Chinmaya Mission DFW enjoyed their first satsang with our Resident Acharya, Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at the home of Sanjeev and Alka Khanna. The satsang gave all the parivar members an opportunity to enjoy bhajan and bhojan with Swamiji and other like minded members.
The intent of Saaket Parivar is to fulfill our pledge of “standing together as one family” by “giving more than what we take”, creating a family feeling amongst the members, while at the same time, raising funds for the monthly operating expenses of Saaket. The suggested donation is $100 per month, which works out to be a little more than $3 a day. “No more than the cost of a coffee at Starbucks”, as Swamiji put it. The mission of the Mission is to preserve and impart the timeless wisdom of our scriptures to one and all. Three dollars a day is not much to help sustain an institution which has touched and blessed the lives of countless adults and children alike around the world!
Swamiji gave an enlightening talk about the background, meaning and significance of the Gayatri Mantra. The Gayatri Mantra is one of the most ancient and well-known mantras. Before going into the specifics of the Gayatri Mantra, Swamiji told us that a mantra is a formula that protects the one who chants it. The Gayatri Mantra can be chanted at three different levels, but at all levels, the intent is the same: to sharpen our intellect and lead us to the supreme Truth. At the adhibhautik or physical level, the Gayatri Mantra invokes the Lord Sun. At the adhidaivik or divine level, it is an invocation of Gayatri Devi. At the adhyatmik or subjective level, it is an invocation of the supreme Self.
Swamiji also shed light on how the Lord functioning as Brahma, the creator uses His shakti of knowledge manifested as the Goddess Saraswati, as Vishnu, the preserver uses His resource shakti manifested as the Goddess Lakshmi and as Shiva, the destroyer uses His shakti to dissolve and transform manifested as the Goddess Kali. Swamiji went on to explain how our scriptures provide us with a complete package for sadhana: the formula or mantra, the method or tantra and the tools or yantra.
The discourse was followed by a delicious potluck lunch. As you can see, the first satsang was a memorable one.
Please contact Alka Khanna at alkakhanna@sbcglobal.net to become a supporting member of Saaket Parivar. As mentioned earlier, there is a $100 per month commitment. As a gift, each family is given a subscription to the Mananam series.
