CHICAGO: Vishwa Jagriti Mission of North America (VJMNA) organized four days of spiritual and divine retreat at Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont, Celebration Campus in Naperville and on the Cruise in Lake Michigan with renowned Indian Saint and spiritual guru, Shri Sudhanshuji Maharaj and his elder daughter Dr Archika Sudhanshu.
The event attended by hundreds from across Chicagoland began July 24 and culminated with Amrit Varsha involving cruise on Michigan Lake on July 27.
On Thursday July, 24, the program was started with emcee Anju Lal at 7 pm. Devotees enjoyed the melodious Bhajans sung by Anju Lal, Raju Bankapur, Pratibha Jairath. Founder member of VJMNA, Praveen Verma introduced Sudhanshu Ji Maharaj. Two hours of discourse on “Prayer”, given by Maharaj Ji was informative, detail oriented and left the audience awestruck. Session also included most popular Vedic prayers and their meaning.
On Friday July 25, Anil Dhutia, Gaurang Shukla and Jagdish Yadav sang the tuneful bhajans and the devotional topic was “Karma and Bhagya (Destiny)” which was explained in such a way that each and every one in the audience was totally captivated. How much our actions contribute to any situation and what is the role of destiny and then Grace plays a significant role too in our lives. Session was embraced with short meditation by Dr Archika Sudhanshu.
Meditation Empowerment Workshop was held on Saturday July 26 and Sunday July 27 from 7-30 am to 10 am at Vivekananda Spiritual Center in Lemont by Dr Archika Sudhanshu. Power Point Presentation was very clearly explained and made an impact in everyone’s heart. Relation between mind, body and spirit was made very clear. Different Pranayams were demonstrated and our seven energy sources (chakras) were explained with their benefits and activation method.
Saturday July 26, the continuation of divine retreat moved to Celebration Campus in Naperville where Devi Pariwar lifted the audience spirit with devotional Bhajans. Sudhashu Ji touched upon very sensitive issue of the modern world “Stress free life.” Simple yet effective methods on how to live stress free life and how to manage stress were explained.
The culmination was the Lunch Cruise on Lake Michigan from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. 130 special devotees attended the event. Sudhir Trikha, Sunita Sehgal and Sharda Verma, who came all the way from India, sang devotional and melodious Bhajans with Puran Vyas on Tabla. Young kids participated in chanting Guru Vandana with meaning.
Maharaj Ji was joined by Guru Ma and daughter Dr Archika Sudhanshu. A sumptuous vegetarian lunch was served by Shree Restaurant each day.
Organizers Sudhir Kumar, Praveen Verma, Hari Gupta and Krishna Bansal, the dedicated devotees, had planned the event magnificently with befitting decoration.
VJM is actively involved in promoting religious and humanitarian activities for the elderly, physically handicapped, orphans and poor/underprivileged. Some of the main activities include: Meditation camps & temples for prayers:
spiritual revival get-togethers; providing high quality medical facilities to the poor; Vriddhashrams for senior citizens; Balashram, tribal development projects; Gurukul Updeshak Mahavidyalaya; Gaushala (Cowshed) and Disaster Management. The Chicago based VJMNA is a national outfit of the parent body in India.
Sudhir Kumar & Asian Media
