Great Saints of this Era Swami Papa Ramdas. To be continued..

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NAMADWAAR AUSTRALIA GURUJI SRI MURALIDHARA SWAMIGAL MISSION AUSTRALIA 9, Ridgemont Close Cherrybrook NSW email: sydneysatsang@yahoo.com web: http://www.ozmadhuramurali.

insignificance and the transcendent grace of the Lord.

1 NAMADWAAR AUSTRALIA GURUJI SRI MURALIDHARA SWAMIGAL MISSION AUSTRALIA 9, Ridgemont Close Cherrybrook NSW web: 1 HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 5 Kanchi Mahaswami Total surrender to the Lord is a means of recognising our insignificance and the transcendent grace of the Lord. INSIDE THIS ISSUE Upcoming Events 2 Do you want to host Nama Sankirtan Nama Bhiksha Kendra Centers 2 3 Satsang News 4 A Story for children 5 To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the newsletter, pl click here sydneysatsang@yahoo.com M A Y Great Saints of this Era Swami Papa Ramdas Papa, known as Vittal Rao in his purvasrama days, was born in 1884 at Hosdrug, Kerala, to Sri Balakrishna Rao and Smt. Lalita Bai, a devout Saraswat couple. Papa lived the ordinary life of a householder until he was thirty-six. During that time he experienced many trials and tribulations from the worldly point of view, but in his case they caused him to enquire deeply into the true meaning of life. A wonderful transformation was wrought in him of which nobody had any inkling until he was suddenly fired with an intense wave of dispassion. He came to realise the futility of worldly pursuits, and the need for real, everlasting peace and happiness. Inspired by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Ram Tirtha, Papa became thoroughly convinced that God alone can give one eternal peace and happiness. The path of pure devotion and self-surrender shone forth for him with an irresistible appeal. All attachments to family, friends and business dropped away just as a fully ripened fruit falls from the tree. He was inwardly ready to give himself up wholly and unreservedly to God. At that critical time, his father, noticing his son's waning interest in secular pursuits and his waxing love for and devotion to God, initiated him into the Ram mantram and assured him that by repeating it unstintingly he would, in due time, find the true peace and happiness he was thirsting for. As the mantram took hold of him, Papa found his life filled with Ram. It was then that he renounced the samsaric life and went forth in quest of God as a mendicant sadhu. This first year of Papa's new life is described by him in his autobiography, In Quest of God. It was thus on one morning in December 1922 that Papa left hearth and home by train from Mangalore. He did not know where he was going, nor was he anxious about it. He only knew that he was obeying the divine command of his beloved Ram, and was therefore sure that He would guide him unerringly. The mantram "OM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM" was ever on his lips and in his heart. Besides chanting the divine Name, Papa's practice was to look upon everything in the world as forms of Ram--God--and to accept everything that happened as happening by the will of Ram alone. To be continued.. Taken from MY BELOVED PAPA, SWAMI RAMDAS by Swami Satchidananda

2 2 May 2007 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Nama Kirtan is an absolutely easy, simple path suited to the Age of Kali. The chanting of Divine Names is a free path. It has no binding of rules and regulations. Namasankirtan can be done by anybody, anytime and anywhere. It involves no cost. It is a path that requires no paraphernalia but leads one to the very Lotus Feet of the Lord. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR MARCH 2007 Saturday 5th May - Nama Sankirtan at Smt Sudha and Sri Rao s residence Time: 7-8:00pm Address: 7, Grandview Court, Bella Vista Phone: Sunday 6th May - Nama Sankirtan at Ektha Divas ( Harmony Day) organised by VHP, Sydney. Time: Address: 11am Castle Hill Showgrounds, Castle Hill Note: The Ektha Divas program starts at 11am. Nama Sankirtan will be performed any time between 11am-11;45am for 15mts. Sunday 20th May Nama Sankirtan at Sri Narasimhan and Smt Vaidehi s residence Time: 3-5pm Address: 128 Harvey Rd, Kings Park Phone: While mental repetition of the Divine Names leads to the good of the individual, chanting the Divine Names loudly purifies the singer, the listener and the very place where the chanting is done. Do you Want to Host NAMA SANKIRTAN Our Satsang conducts regular Nama Sankirtan at various locations around Sydney throughout the year. If you would like to host a Nama Sankirtan at your home, either to mark a special occasion or on some other convenient date, please contact our Satsang Co-ordinator Kavitha Bhaskaran on / /Or sydneysatsang@yahoo.com

3 CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU NAMA BHIKSHA KENDRA CENTERS AUSTRALIA The chanting of the Maha Mantra "HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE" is done

3 3 CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU NAMA BHIKSHA KENDRA CENTERS AUSTRALIA The chanting of the Maha Mantra "HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE" is done during fixed hours at the below listed locations. All are welcome to participate in the Nama Sankirtan. MELBOURNE Shankar Sridharan 69 Innisfail Drive Point Cook, Vic 3030 Ph: /Mob: Every Second Sunday of the month at 6pm. "The Divine Name is pregnant with a great power to transform the world. It can create light where there is darkness, love where there is hate, order where there is chaos, and happiness where there is misery.. Pappa Ramdas SYDNEY Name Address Contact No. Nama Sankirtan Timings Sri Bhaskaran No.79 Meurants lane, Glenwood Mon 7:30-8:00pm Sri Guruva Reddy No. 26 Salisbury Ave Gelnfield Wed 7:15-8:15pm Sri Narayanan No. 37 Windamere Av, Woodcroft Thur 8-9:00pm Sri Rajagopalan No. 4 Broadoak Pl, Castle Hill Sun 8-9:00am Sri Rajaram No. 5 Northcott Wy, Cherrybrook Fri 8-9:00pm Sri Ramanan No. 113 Adderton Rd, Telopea Sat 8-9:00am Click to view the World Wide Nama Kendras:

4 Satsang News Saturday 14th April About 70-80 people attended the Nama Sankirtan at Smt Viji and Sri Mohan s residence. Wattlegrove Satsang devotees led the bhajans.

4 4 Satsang News Saturday 14th April About people attended the Nama Sankirtan at Smt Viji and Sri Mohan s residence. Wattlegrove Satsang devotees led the bhajans. Smt Jayashree Ramankrishnan of our Satsang updated everyone on Satsang activities. Sri Swamiji s Chennai Mass Nama Sankirtan clipping was played at the end. Sunday 22nd April About people attended the Nama Sankirtan at Smt Sreedevi and Sri Nanda Kumar s residence. All of us chanted Vishnu Sahasra Namam. Sri Nandakumar s father Sri Narayanaswamy led the chanting of Om Sriram Jayaram Jaya Jaya Ram for 15mts followed by Nama Sankirtan and chanting of Sankata Mochana Hanuman Stotram and Managala Harathi. April 25, 26 & 27 Sri Swamiji has been giving a series of web casts (lectures online) for the benefit of devotees in various countries. In the webcast Swamiji narrated the story of Ajamila and how it is relevent to modern times in determining the path to lead us out of the cycle of samsara. Swamiji also explained the need for the sense of urgency required since our life span in Kali Yuga is infinitesimally short compared to former yugas. He made a very interesting point that the Nama Sankirtan is an appeal for Easwara's grace rather than a sadhana. While a sadhana may have to be treated on the merit of how well it was done, the "appeal for grace" ALWAYS gets rewarded due to the extraordinary compassion of God.

5 5 A Story for the Children FAITH AND PERSEVERANCE Long long ago,there lived a bird in a beautiful orchard. She soon found a mate and they both lived happily. She laid her eggs in her nest and nurtured them with all her love and care. But one day, while she was away an eagle picked her egg and flew away with it. The mother, determined as she was, tried to chase the eagle to retrieve her precious egg. After a while, the eagle dropped the egg in the ocean and flew away. The mother was helpless and she broke into tears. But she had tremendous faith in God. By God's grace, she thought she could empty the ocean by scooping out the water and get back her egg.the tides were strong and night was dark. But nothing could shake her faith and perseverance. She went on and on. Seeing her total faith, the Lord was pleased and gave her egg back. For Saints there is neither anything to be attained in this world nor anything to be known. Did you see how that bird, with her total faith and perseverance started to empty the mighty ocean for her egg? Similarily, we should also totally surrender ourselves to god and saints. Even if we find it very difficult initially, with staunch faith and untiring efforts we can certainly attain the state of total surrender. Moral of the Story: Anything done out of pure love will earn God s Grace

HOW TO GET THE GRACE OF GOD?

HOW TO GET THE GRACE OF GOD? NAMADWAAR AUSTRALIA GURUJI SRI MURALIDHARA SWAMIGAL MISSION AUSTRALIA 9, Ridgemont Close Cherrybrook NSW email: sydneysatsang@yahoo.com web: http://www.ozmadhuramurali.org HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA