Janmotsav Celebrations- January 5^th 2018

Yogoda Satsanga Dhyana Kendra, Bengaluru celebrated our beloved Gurudeva- Paramahansa Yogananda Ji’s 125^th birthday on 5^th, January 2018. A day before the celebrations, meditation session from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm was conducted.  The session was led by Smt Sujatha Ji.   

Janmotshav day: 9.45 am to 10 am: Palanquin procession- Prabhat Pheri

Janmotsav day began with Prabhat Pheri, devotees submerged in devotion took turns to carry the divine Palanquin. Everybody- Young to old got a chance to be a part of this blessed event.  For a moment the busy roads were infused with soulful chants and peace, stopping the humdrum of the daily life.

After this, the devotees tiptoed in with the palanquin to the Mandir hall to find the hall beautifully decorated with flowers. The decorations of the entire mandir gave life to the festivity. Next was Aarthi by our esteemed - Sri Hariputran Ji.

10 am to 12.15 pm: Main Program

Reading: The Guru’s Promise

The main session started at 10:00 am. Around 200 devotees attended this session. The Mandir was occupied in its fullest capacity. After the prayer, the leader read from the extracts of a letter written by Gurudeva to Anandamatha. The devotees sat with utmost attention, listening to the reading. "After the reading devotees sang: “Think ye in thy heart".

Around 11.00 am, an audio recording of Gurudeva from the CD –"The Great Light of God" was played. This was recorded at SRF headquarters December 24^th, 1951, few months before Gurudeva’s Mahasamadhi on 2^nd March 1952. Gurudeva had spoken these words from his room and speakers carried these words to all in the SRF center.

The devotees were mesmerized listening to Gurudeva’s voice. He narrated an incident about him being mortally wounded as a ship commander and simultaneously present in his meditation room in Kolkata. He recounted about his utter confusion about this duality and the solacing truth by the divine light for the same. To the devotees listening, it felt like he stood next to each one of us and spoke.

At 12.00 pm, Chant – Gurusharanam was sung with utmost devotion.

12.15 pm to 2.30 pm- Lunch

2.30 pm to 4.30 pm- Cosmic Chants.

This session filled devotees with a wave of devotion as they sang many soulful Cosmic chants invoking our Gurudeva. These chants were sung:

1. Jayaguru Paramahansa Yogananda
2. Karunamayi Gurudeva
3. Amara Guru Yogananda
4. Jo Guru Kripakare
5. Bhav se Pukaro
6. Om Guru Om
7. Anaghad maati me hu
8. Oh, master mine, oh friend divine
9. Ae mere guru Yogananda
10. Krishna Kanaihha
11. Ajnanthaya Nithya Shuddhaya

The mandir echoed these soulful chants.

4.00 pm – Tea Break

4.30 pm to 7.00 pm – Evening main program

Reading: Guru-Disciple relationship

The evening session began with aarthi and Cosmic chants:

1. Om Namo Bhagavathe Yoganandaya
2. Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
3. I will sing thy name
4. Ae mere Guru darshan do
5. God’s Boatman
6. Gurudev Ram, Gurudev Sham

After the chants, the leader read from the excerpts from Daya Matha and Mrinalini Matha’s teaching on The Guru-Disciple relationship. The devotees immersed in this sentence: “The Guru is an awakened God” bringing out the essence and an understanding of what a Guru is. The talk stressed on qualities like Loyalty, Obedience, Humility to name a few. These qualities are essential in a disciple to build and maintain a relationship with the Guru. 

Around 6.00 pm, an audio recording of Gurudeva was played from the CD- “The Voice of Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda”. This time, Gurudeva stressed on the fact that the life is nothing but a motion picture of the Lord. He urged us to look to the beam of God, to look within. After which, the devotees effortlessly slipped into meditation. The celebrations concluded with praying for others, healing prayer and closing prayer, followed by prasad distribution.

The session ended with radiating faces of devotees, bubbling with the love for our beloved Gurudeva, and a determination to tread his path with utmost dedication.