2018
1 2 3 4 5 6 GIWA s WASH in Sikkhism and WASH in Buddhism books are presented by Pujya Swamiji to HH the Dalai Lama and Chief Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh. 31 anuary J ngage yourself in Karma (good, selfless work), under the shade of Dharma (righteousness), with an awareness of Brahma (God). E New Years Day (US) Paush Purnima Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh (Sikh) Ganesh Sankat Chaturthi Epiphany (Christian)
9 10 11 12 13 8 which sweeps out our heart, making it clean and divine for God. 7 Prayer is the broom anuary J
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (US) 15 Mauni Amavas 16 17 18 19 20 be your prayer and your meditation. 14 Let your selfless service J anuary Makar Sankranti
21 22 23 Rath Saptami 24 Bhishma Ashtami 25 Republic Day (India) 26 27 anuary Hon ble Governor of Uttarakhand, Dr. KK Paul inaugurates a hand-washing station with Pujya Swamij during the We Are the Solution Summit at Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh). J iving is living, living is learning, learning is knowing, knowing is growing, growing is giving, and giving is living. That is the cycle of life. G Vasant Panchami
e must not only pray for peace, but we must work for peace, every minute and every moment of our lives. W Pujya Swamiji and Sadhviji lead a pledge for Yoga and global health on International Yoga Day at the United Nations with Dr. Nata Menabde, Executive Director of World Health Organization, Shri Syed Akbaruddin, Ambassador of India to the UN, and other eminent dignitaries. 30 31 1 2 3 Magi Purnima 29 Tu B Shevat (Jewish) 28 anuary ebruary FJ
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 F W e must learn to give, give and give like the Sun, and like Mother Ganga with no hesitation, no expectation, no vacation and no discrimination. Pujya Swamiji with Hon ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington DC ebruary Parinirvana-Nirvana Day (Buddhist)
11 12 Mahashivratri 13 St. Valentine s Day (US) Ash (Christian) 14 Nirvana Day (Alternative Day) (Buddhist) 15 16 17 F F lowers blossom under the warm rays of the sun, and the of our lives will blossom only under the warm rays of our love. Pujya Sant Morari Bapuji receives sacred Rudraksha sapling from Pujya Swamiji in Vrindavan. ebruary
Yoga is not what you do; it is who you ARE. HH the Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang, the 37th throne holder of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage, and HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji pledge to plant trees and protect rivers. 19 20 21 22 23 24 President s Day (US) 18 ebruary F
GIWA s Interfaith Leaders, led by Pujya Swamiji, give the legendary Amitabh Bachchan a sacred plant for his commitment to making India clean and green. C ome to nature, be with nature, and discover your true nature. F M 28 1 2 3 Holi Hola Mohalla (Sikh) 27 Holi Dahan 26 Purim (Jewish) 25 ebruary arch
To truly understand each other we must stand under each other, with humility. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 arch International interfaith leaders gather to inaugurate the Global Peace Project Conference on world peace and water at the International Peace Palace in the Hague, Netherlands. M
Pujya Swamiji and President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind converse on the importance of Swachh Bharat. 15 16 17 St. Patrick s Day (Christian) 14 13 hen you become a tool, engaged in selfless action, then the Divine becomes your team. 12 W 11 Daylight Savings Time (US) Gudi Padwa arch M
21 22 23 24 GIWA s Interfaith Leaders lead a pledge towards SDG 6 at the first ever, star-studded Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai, India. 20 Spring Equinox 19 faith of acceptance which says we may worship our own but we must respect all. 18 arch M Interfaith is when we enter into the common
25 26 27 28 Mahavir Jayanti 29 Passover Begins (Jewish) Good (Christian) 30 31 Swaminarayan Jayanti Ram Navmi Palm (Christian) arch expectations are heavy baggage, which slow you down and thwart your progress. Let them go. M Travel light on your journey in life. Your desires and Hanuman Jayanti
5 6 7 Pujya Karshnipeethadeshwar MM Swami Gurusharanandji Maharaj and Pujya Swamiji share a loving and warm embrace. 4 Passover Ends (Jewish) 3 2 ive in Peace, not in pieces. If you are in peace, you will exude peace, manifest peace, and spread peace. If you re in pieces, you will manifest pieces and spread pieces. 1 L Easter (Christian) pril A
12 13 14 Actress Deepika Padukone visits for divine Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan with her family and is blessed by Pujya Swamiji. 11 Vaisakhi 10 is prayer. When He talks to you it is meditation. 9 When you talk to God it Yom Hashoah (Jewish) 8 pril A
Saints of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sansthan pledge with Pujya Swamiji on the banks of Mother Ganga to protect our sacred rivers and work for improved WASH for all. D on t worry if you cannot see the Divine. The Divine can always see you. 16 17 18 19 20 21 Akshay Tritiya 15 pril A
he waters of Mother Ganga are always pavitra (pure) but we must pledge and work to keep them also swatcha (clean). 24 25 26 27 28 23 Hon ble Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is honoured by Pujya Swamiji during his visit to Parmarth Niketan for his ceaseless service to the nation. T 22 pril A
G ive, give, and give, with every breath. BHEL s Public Bio-digester toilet complex inaugurated with the partnership of FICCI and the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA) at a ceremony with GIWA s Women for WASHSanitation Ambassadors. ay MA 1 2 3 4 5 Birthday of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikh) 30 Buddha Purnima Theravadin New Year (Buddhist) 29 pril
8 9 10 11 12 Ascension Day (Christian) 7 6 ay M ife is about the journey, not the destination. Live in Heaven now. Don t wait for it to come later. Live in Moksha now. Don t wait for death. L
16 17 18 19 Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi visits Parmarth with his children and seeks Pujya Swamiji s blessings. 15 Shavuot (Jewish) 14 Ramadan Begins (Muslim) 13 ay M f you can experience love, you will manifest love. I
23 24 25 26 Yoga Guru Pujya Baba Ramdevji and Pujya Swamiji warmly greet each other with love and joy. 22 Ganga Dussehra 21 xpectation is the Mother of Frustration. Acceptance is the Mother of Peace and Joy. Never expect. Always accept. Buddha Day (Buddhist) 20 E Pentecost (Christian) ay M
We have a United Nations, but the time has now come for a United Creation. Pujya Swamiji and Sadhviji lead a pledge of Global Green Yoga, yoga for all and yoga for the planet, during International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations, New York. JM une 28 29 30 31 1 2 Memorial Day (US) 27 ay
4 5 6 7 8 9 Flowers of love and blessings are showered upon Pujya Swamiji by revered and respected faith leaders during His 65th Birthday Celebrations. 3 Birthday of H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati une J ast tense, present tense, future tense-we are always tense! Through spirituality life becomes tension-free. There is no tension about the past, present, and future. P
Pujya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswatiji takes part in Divine Ganga Aarti with Pujya Swamiji. 12 13 14 15 16 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikh) 11 Eid-Ul-Fitr (Muslim) 10 Lailat al Qadr (Muslim) une J f we want to be torchbearers of peace, we must first become rivers of love, dousing all flames of discord in the waters of our own compassion and serenity. I
P ut the reins of your life in God s hands. Let him be your charioteer. Let Him be your chauffeur. Let Him drive your life! Hon ble CM of Assam Shri Sarbananda Sonowai is honoured with a sacred plant by Pujya Swamiji and GIWA s faith leaders at a historic Sanitation Conference in Assam. 18 19 20 21 22 23 Summer Solstice 17 une J
There can be a PLAN A & PLAN B but there is no PLANET B. We must protect the one we have. Yoga Gurus, participants and presenters from 101 nations pledge for Yoga off the mat and into the world at the International Yoga Festival 2017 at Parmarth Niketan. 25 26 27 28 29 30 St. Peter & Paul s Day (Christian) 24 une J
oga is not a union of our hands to our feet or our head to our knees. It is a union of the self to the Divine. Special water blessing ceremony performed with India s Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, Seane Corne, Sharon Gannon, Bharat Mitra, Jai Uttal and many other dignitaries at the International Yoga Day celebrations led by Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawatiji at the United Nations Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 Independence Day (US) 1 uly J
10 11 12 13 14 9 et us realize that everything is just as it is supposed to be. We are in the lap of the Mother. How can anything go wrong? L 8 uly J
17 18 19 20 21 Tisha B Av (Jewish) 16 15 o to God. Whatever name, whatever form you worship is no problem. Just go to Him. He accepts all names and all forms. If God can be worshipped only in one way then He is not God! uly G J
T he I is the cause of all our problems. It is a wall, a barrier between us and others. Learn to bend the I, make it a bridge. Pujya Swamiji joins Hon ble Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat and other experts to light the lamp of their commitment to protect Uttarakhand and the sacred Himalayas. 23 24 25 26 27 28 Guru Purnima 22 uly J
31 1 2 3 4 30 It is not enough just to BE divine, one must also DO divine. 29 Do Divine! Be Divine! uly ugust AJ
6 7 8 9 10 11 5 he GPS in our cars stands for Global Positioning System, but our lives also have a GPS: God s Perfect System. That quiet, still, divine voice within us is our lifelong GPS. If we follow our Divine GPS, we will never get lost or go astray. ugust T A
Actress, Artist and Politician Smt. Hema Malini receives a special Ganga Award at Parmarth Niketan for her commitment to protecting the River Ganga and Yamuna. We must learn to be noiseless amidst the noise. A 13 14 15 16 17 18 Independence Day (India) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian) Onam 12 ugust
20 21 22 23 24 25 Eid-Ul-Adha 19 ugust A on t only light the oil lamp in your temple, but light the lamp in your own hearts. D
ugust eptember I t is no problem if your children want to wear jeans, but make sure they don t forget their genes. 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 Raksha Bandhan Pujya Junapeethadishwar Acharya MM Avdheshanand Giriji, Pujya Swami Parmatmanand Saraswatiji, Pujya Madhavpriyadas Swamiji and other saints of the Acharya Sabha appreciate Pujya Swamiji s green vision during Samvad II:Global Initiative on Conflict Avoidance and Environmental Consciousness. SA
2 Labor Day (US) 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawatiji share a loving and meaningful meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome. Krishna Janmashtami eptember S ne of the keys to a spiritual path is to annihilate the ego, to become humble, to surrender oneself to God. O Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian)
F Vice President of India M Shri Venkaiah Naidu (then Union Minister of Urban Development), Hon ble Union Minister of AYUSH Shri Shripad Naik, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdevji and Pujya Swamiji light the inaugural lamp at a large Yoga Festival in Delhi, ahead of IYD 2017. S eptember acebook is great, but you must also make time to Face your Book. Facing your own book is what is needed most. 11 12 13 14 15 Ganesh Chaturthi 10 9/11 Observances (US) Al-Hijra (Muslim) 9 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
B e happy, be peaceful. Embrace all, include all, exclude none. Pujya Swamiji inspires an interfaith pledge for a clean and green India during HH the Dalai Lama s Kalachakra Initiation in Bodh Gaya. 19 20 21 22 Autumn Equinox 18 Ashura (Muslim) 17 Yom Kippur (Jewish) 16 eptember S
P rayer is calling back home. It brings us into divine connection. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has a warm meeting with Pujya Swamiji at Parmarth and is honoured by Jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh of Patna Saheb Gurudwara. S eptember 24 25 26 27 28 29 Shradha Prarambh 23 Sukkot (Jewish)
1 2 3 4 5 6 Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, President of All India Imam Organisation, pledges with Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawatiji during a month-long Green Shri Ram Katha, dedicated to raising awareness on environmental protection, at Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh). 30 eptember ctober OS sign entering customs read, Follow the rules and enjoy your stay. This is true in life also. The rules are the laws of karma, the laws of righteousness. If we follow these rules our lives will be peaceful, prosperous, happy and healthy. A Mahatma Gandhi s Birthday
11 12 13 His Excellency Haris Silajdzic, Former President and Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina and his wife Selma Muhedinovic-Silajdzic, are lovingly welcomed home to Parmarth. 10 9 ow to recharge your batteries? Plug yourself back into the Source. Get connected again to God. The moment we reconnect, the charge is there! 8 H Navratri Begins 7 ctober O
14 15 16 Durgashtami 17 Navratri Ends 18 Dussera 19 20 ctober Yogis share the importance of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) on Global Handwashing Day. O od is not a vending machine where you put in the money, push the button and our choice of snack comes out. God gives us what we need, not always what we desire. G
22 23 24 25 26 27 Sharad Purnima 21 ctober O If we set the divine example, others will follow.
31 1 2 3 Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Government of India shares a special moment with Pujya Swamiji during his visit to Parmarth. 30 Halloween (US) 29 28 ust stay focused. Don t react. Just be a witness and you will see the magic of it. Karak ctober Chaturthi (Karva ovember Chauth) J NO All Saints Day (Christian) All Souls Day (Christian)
Election Day (US) 6 Diwali (Sikh) 7 8 9 10 Maulana Mahmood Madani, Secretary General of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, and Pujya Swamiji lead an interfaith pledge during their visit to Myanmar. 5 Dhanteras the want and you will have peace. Peace is not something to search for. It is I (our egos) and want (our desires) that make peace elusive. 4 I want peace, everyone says. Simply remove the I and remove Daylight Savings Time Ends (US) ovember N Bhaiduj
T here is no problem with being wealthy or having expensive things. The key is how you use them. ovember Veteran s Day 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 (US) The village of Virpur in Rishikesh launched as Ganga Gram by Hon ble Rural Development Minister, Government of India Shri Narendra Singh Tomar with Pujya Swamiji s divine vision and leadership. N
Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (Sikh) Women for WASH pledge with Sanitation Ambassadors from Bihar as they inaugurate their 10 day training at GIWA s World Toilet College. 21 22 23 24 Kartik Purnima Birthday of Guru Nanak (Sikh) 20 Thanksgiving (US) 19 Milad un Nabi Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (Muslim) (Sunni) 18 ovember N lways cultivate an attitude of gratitude. A
27 28 29 30 1 Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Rameshbhai Ozaji admiring ice crystals in Alaska 26 Shri Bhairav Ashtami 25 ovember ecember DN o not wait for miracles. You ARE the miracle! Never forget the miracle of yourself! D
4 5 6 7 8 Bhaisahib Mohinder Singh, Chair of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (UK) enjoys a warm and loving meeting with Pujya Swamiji. 3 Bodhi Day (Buddhist) Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christian) 2 Hanukkah (Jewish) ecember D he shop advertisement says, Buy one and get one free. God says, Buy me and be free. T
M editation is the best medication for all agitations. 10 11 12 13 14 15 9 ecember Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawatiji present several documents and plans to Hon ble Drinking Water & Sanitation Minister, Government of India, Sadhvi Umashri Bharti on how to protect our sacred rivers. D
21 22 20 orgive, forget, and move forward. This is the only way. It is not enough to forgive and forget. One must also move on. 19 F 18 Winter Solstice 17 Gita Jayanti 16 ecember D
23 Christmas Eve (Christian) 24 Christmas Day (Christian) 25 26 27 28 29 D A ccept whatever comes as Prasad from God. Whatever He gives us a hut or a castle, is His divine gift. Pujya Swamiji honours Hon ble Chief Minister Mahant Yogi Adityananthji for being a green leader at launch of Namami Gange Yatra in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh ecember
3 4 5 Pujya Swamiji shares an inspiring moment with Executive Director of World Health Organization, Dr. Nata Menabde and Bollywood Actor Anupam Kher at the United Nations 2 1 f you never want disappointment in your life, then never miss your daily appointment with God. 31 I 30 ecember anuary 2019 JD New Year s Day (US) Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh (Sikh)
T he best way to honor God in our lives is through serving humanity. anuary 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epiphany (Christian) Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, and Pujya Swamiji discuss GIWA s 3H: Health, Hygiene and Harmony programme. J
17 18 19 16 on t worry so much about giving your children cars. Worry about giving them Sanskaras! 15 D 14 Makar Sankranti 13 anuary J