Date : 21 Jun 2019

Vedanta Retreat, a 3 day residential camp by Swami Prakarshananda was held at Chinmaya Vibhooti from 21-23 June 2019.The camp was to introduce new comers, mainly from Pune and nearby areas to Chinmaya Mission and Vedanta. With attendance of over 80 people, almost all new comers, the weekend camp was a resounding success.

Each day began with a short meditation session which prepared the mind for receiving the knowledge. The text for the camp was Tattva Bodh. After explaining that Tattva means one and one alone and Bodh means -to know, Swamiji began by asking a fundamental question, what is goal of human life? Taking off from here Swamiji guided the listeners, first by explaining the four fold qualifications needed by a spiritual seeker then Swamiji went deep into the text and gave the campers a clear picture and introduction to Vedanta. Jiva, Jagat, Eshwara, Maya, Atma the three kinds of Karma and other relevant topics were all touched upon. Swamiji concluded by enlightening the participants on result of this Self-Knowledge which is summarized in the quotes of shrutis and smritis. The knower of the self, having crossed samsara, attains supreme bliss here itself and the shrutis confirm that he goes beyond all sorrow

Though the camp was short time was given for visits to Swanbhooti Vatika, Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan and a screening of “On a Quest” The arti at Maruti and Pranav Ganesh Mandir saw full attendance. Said one of the participant “Swamijis bhajans in between the sessions reverberated in our hearts and in the ashram.”

All the participants had high praise for the Ashram and the way it is managed. They showed a lot of enthusiasm and a desire to be remain connected with the Chinmaya Mission activities and requested Swamiji to hold more such camps.