Newsletter 2011
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Chinmaya International Foundation VOL. 4 June 30, 2011 NNAdi Sankara Nilayam,ee Adiw wSankara Marg,s sVeliyanad,ll Ernakulamee Districttt - 682319,tt Keerala,e India.rr When a year passes by and the new one seems to have come too soon, it just means that CIF has not had a moment to breathe; and this is good news, because Gurudev's vision of a center of academic excellence is now frothing with projects and publications and researches and workshops and courses. All in all, it has been a rich busy year. The beauty is in the way Gurudev's vision statement Chinmaya International Foundation unfolds in every task. is a bridge between On another note, this is also the season of education: new East and West, past and present, science and spirituality, and pundit and public. courses, new collaborations, admissions, results, — Püjya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda performance all coming to a rolling boil. A lot of interesting work about, for and with students has been In This Issue seen. Top on the list is a much awaited and sought after 04 Academic Programmes recognition of CIF by IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) as Research Center for Sanskrit and 08 Anusaaraka Indology. And this after an expert committee examined 11 CIF Milestones and probed our track record, our scholar-guides, our facilities and infrastructure. 15 Spotlight On The IGNOU recognition has verily resulted in a 16 Vedic Maths paradigm shift. In short, CIF is now truly a global organization, for what this recognition will now mean is 19 Bridging East-West contd on pg 2 Chinmaya International Foundation Shodha Sansthan (CIFSS) Textual Study 21 Chinmaya International Foundation is affiliated to the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan as Shodha Sansthan (Centre for Excellence in 24 Youth and Children Focus Sanskrit Research). A department has thus been set up under the auspices of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan which focuses 26 Special Programmes exclusively on Sanskrit publications and research. 1 that anyone from anywhere in the world can capabilities of modern Opensource software! period of time and study a text. In the process ignorance. The text studied was just the do their PhD with CIF, sitting in any country. Just in a span of two months, Anusaarka has contemporary views are exchanged and new preamble to the commentary on Brahmasütra! The student needs to only register with CIF's enabled the realisation of two aspects of experiences are exchanged and new Imagine what it takes to arrive at Brahmasütra PhD programme, whereafter CIF will help him Gurudev's pet vision statement – science and experiences are shared on the text. Studying is itself! find a guide and he goes ahead with his spirituality and the coming together of different from teaching and drives home the May patience be ours as we ponder, research, research. Until now CIF was able to offer scholars and spiritualists. In an unprecedented need for teachers to revisit their texts. CIF was study and assimilate the wealth brought down doctoral studies only to students within the initiative, Anusaaraka after a small workshop recently host to the Kerala Äcäryas' Çästra the holy Himalayas by our very own Gurudev! Kerala State. for the ChinTech students, has decided to Sadas. Being a research institute, for CIF this This is a great move for CIF which will now invite them to the Anusaaraka Lab in was a bonus as the study was around a pure STOP PRESS: And even as we say this, have access to a vaster pool of scholars and Hyderabad, where the students of technology Vedanta text, Laghutattvasudhä! Gurudev's great emphasis on Kåñëa's Counsel guides that will only make our Research in will help with the development of an Then Fr. Massimo d' Orlando: Some things or the Bhagavad-gétä, has found new expression Indology even richer. intelligent assistant for English-Hindi repeat like the seasons… steadily, regularly, in the form of a home study course. For CIF this Another big event at CIF is the signing of a Anusaaraka. In a heartwarming reciprocal act, quietly… unobtrusively. They come play out is yet another high, as it awaits the formal MoU with School of Vedic Maths. With this, ChinTech will help upgrade Anusaaraka's and quietly exit. Fr. Massimo and his launch of the course at the hands of Püjya CIF will soon be offering Vedic Maths as an website. Satchidananda Mission team have been Swami Tejomayananda in Piercy, USA on online and postal course for the general public Seen differently, the educational institutes unerringly coming year after year to CIF to Vyäsa-pürëima day. in a year or so. Additionally plans are afoot to under the Chinmaya umbrella are study in the close proximity of Çré Çaìkara. But The course has been personally authored by incorporate Vedic Maths in the Chinmaya continuously being nurtured in spirit as well. it is apparent that similar tradition surrounds Püjya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda and Vidyalayas with the sole purpose of enabling Students of ChinTech, Kannur, the the study patterns of the Vedänta students of carries with it the personal care, attention, love students learn a new yet old Maths approach, engineering and technology institute of the Fr. Massimo; they choose the serenity and and training of a guru. More in our next issue, while also keeping alive our knowledge Mission camped at Adi Sankara Nilayam for a quiet assurance of Adi Sankara Nilayam and but suffice it to say, the language and tradition. management empowerment program, but revisit Vivekacüòämané. This year they spent simplicity used in structuring and writing the CIF's Anusaaraka has forged ahead with their curriculum included a focused discussion time in Self-inquiry! course makes it one of the best courses ever. presenting to a working committee of the DIT on 'What constitutes spiritual living'. That It is not a wonder that CIF's Adi Sankara We urge you to visit: (Department of Information Technology), smaller towns and cities are fast wizening up to Nilayam inspires deep study and research. It is www.chinfo.org/courses/bhagavadgita Ministry of Communications and Information the ills of a purely profit drive business vision, a property well chosen for CIF's research work, Technology, Government of India, its high is heartening. If ChinTech has shown the way having been home to Çré Çaìkara's Such is the richness that CIF spends its days caliber work in the area of natural language then it is clear that commercial success is going contemplative study and writing. Whether this and nights on, for such is the vision that Püjya processing with particular accent on Indian to be clocked in the smaller towns of India, is reflection on the depth of Çré Çaìkara's work Gurudev carved on the blessed ground of Languages. This will enable Anusaaraka avail increasingly which should then soon be the or the determination of our scholars and Melpazhur Mana, Çaìkara's birth home, and of government funding in the current financial greater contributor of GDP! And not just talk, guides, but the content of CIF workshops do now CIF's birth home. This property is no more year. This is a very rewarding moment for all ChinTech also had on its curriculum at CIF, boggle the mind. able to effectively (and efficiently) host the its collaborating partners too, as the funds will lessons in meditation, a means to quieten the The recent workshop – 'Indian Philosophy – A intensive study of the rich community of pave the way for more intensive research. mind and bring it to work in harmony with the Brief Analytical Study' showcased how scholars, researchers, teachers, students and Another rewarding moment of true intellect. elaborate and extensive research is and how Editorial Advisory Editorial Committee recognition for Anusaaraka was, being Education takes one to study and upgrading deep goes the effort of teachers to bring to light Committee KK Rajan (Publisher) featured on BBC's Digital Planet' in March this and refreshing knowledge. It is truly amazing the understanding, which could be just one Swami Advayananda Meera Seth (Editor) year. This brought into centerstage not just how our own çästras have all the rules and aspect of the whole knowledge group. The Dr. Vikraman Nair Dr. Dilip Kumar Rana Renjith VJ (Designer) Anusaaraka's great work with ancient methods, yet we harken westward for above workshop examined the six schools of languages using the via media of technology, management lessons. The Chinmaya Mission Indian philosophy and their differences, and Feedbacks/letters/queries can be sent to but brought Sanskrit into close-up, especially has the concept of Çästra Sadas, where the most importantly, went into the details about [email protected] its awe-inspiring logic to improve the Äcäryas of a region meet for a predetermined 'superimposition' (adhyäsa) as a cause of 2 3 that anyone from anywhere in the world can capabilities of modern Opensource software! period of time and study a text. In the process ignorance. The text studied was just the do their PhD with CIF, sitting in any country. Just in a span of two months, Anusaarka has contemporary views are exchanged and new preamble to the commentary on Brahmasütra! The student needs to only register with CIF's enabled the realisation of two aspects of experiences are exchanged and new Imagine what it takes to arrive at Brahmasütra PhD programme, whereafter CIF will help him Gurudev's pet vision statement – science and experiences are shared on the text. Studying is itself! find a guide and he goes ahead with his spirituality and the coming together of different from teaching and drives home the May patience be ours as we ponder, research, research.