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BY A STAFF WRITER
CHICAGO (IL) — The Vishwa Jagriti Mission of North America (VJMNA) organized a four-day spiritual and divine retreat at Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont, Celebration Campus in Naperville and on the Cruise in Lake Michigan.
World-renowned saint His Holiness Sudhanshuji Maharaj and his elder daughter Dr. Archika Sudhanshu, a soulful meditation maestro, graced the blissful event in Chicago during July 24-27.
On July 24, devotees enjoyed the melodious bhajans sung by Anju Lal, Raju Bankapur and Pratibha Jairath. Founder-member of VJMNA, Praveen Verma, introduced Sudhanshuji Maharaj who gave a two-hour discourse on ‘prayer’ which was informative, detail-oriented and left the audience awestruck as it included most popular Vedic prayers and their meanings.
On July 25, Anil Dhutia, Gaurang Shukla and Jagdish Yadav sang the tuneful and devotional bhajans. Devotees came from different parts of the country and from India to pay respect and to listen to the wisdom pearls of His Holiness.
The topic was ‘Karma and Bhagya (destiny)’ which was explained in such a way that each and every one in the audience was totally captivated.
The hallowed preacher elaborated on how much actions contribute to any situation as also the role of destiny and how grace plays a significant role in one’s life. His Holiness satisfied the inquisitive audience by answering some of their questions. The session included a short meditation by Dr.Archika Sudhanshu in her sweet and adoring voice.
A Meditation Empowerment Workshop was held on July 26 and 27 at Vivekananda Spiritual Center in Lemont by Dr.Archika Sudhanshu. Her way of imparting the knowledge of meditation was outstanding. She used a power-point presentation to drive home her point and this made an impact in everyone’s heart.
Relations between mind, body and spirit was made very clear. Different types of Pranayam were demonstrated and the seven energy sources (chakras) were explained along with their benefits and activation method.
On July 26, the divine retreat moved to Celebration Campus in Naperville where Devi Pariwar, (Ravi Parekh, Sunita Sehgal, Goldy and Happy) wowed the audience with devotional bhajans. His Holiness delivered an amazing sermon on the Number One issue of the modern world–stress-free life.
Simple yet effective methods on how to live a stress-free life and how to manage stress were explained. He enlightened the inquisitive audience on achieving cures from this modern menaces’ curse in straightforward terms.
There was never a dull moment as the team of the organizers Sudhir Kumar, Praveen Verma Hari Gupta and Krishna Bansal and the dedicated devotees had planned the event magnificently with befitting decorations.
The last and most popular event was on on July 27–four-hour Lunch Cruise on Lake Michigan. About 130 special devotees got the blessed opportunity to be with His Holiness and also witness the natural beauty of Lake Michigan in the stunning backdrop of Chicago skyscrapers.
Sudhir Trikha, Sunita Sehgal and Sharda Verma who came all the way from India sang truly devotional and melodious bhajans. Puran Vyas, who is well known in Chiagoland area, was on tabla.
Young kids participated in chanting Guru Vandana with meaning. His Holiness drew everyone’s attention with his inspirational discourse and also answered a few questions. His Holiness was joined by Respected Guru Ma and His elder daughter Dr. Archika Sudhanshu.
THe VJMNA is actively involved in promoting religious and humanitarian activities for the elderly, physically handicapped, orphans and poor/under privileged.
Some of the main activities include: meditation camps and temples for prayers, spiritual revival get-togethers (Satsangs/Sermons); providing high-quality medical Facilities to the poor; Vriddhashrams (Old-age homes) for senior citizens; Balashram (Children’s Home); tribal development projects; Gurukul Updeshak Mahavidyalaya (preaching School); gaushala (cowshed); disaster management.
Shri Sudhanshu Ji (born May 2, 1955 ) is a preacher from India and the founder of Vishwa Jagriti Mission(VJM). He has over 10 million devotees around the world with more than 2.5 million as disciples. His Holiness is endowed with spiritual wisdom and blessed with divine powers.
Sudhanshuji was born in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh in India. He was the eldest son in the Kamboj Gotra family and was named Yashpal. Yash means glory and Pal means savior. Yashpal was educated at a Gurukul where he studied the Vedas, Upanishads, Sanskrit Grammar and Astrology.
Dr. Archika Sudhanshu, is a master of ‘Powerful Silence Meditation’. President of India, Dr. Pranab Mukherjee had presented ‘The Dinkar Sahitya Samman to Dr. Archikaji on November 24, 2012.
Dr. Archika Sudhanshu is the founder of Doctor Archika Foundation, under which various projects for the empowerment of young women take place. ‘Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.”, she says.
Chicago-based VJMNA is a national outfit of the parent body in India and it has also been rendering huge service in the spread of education of Indian culture through humanitarian activities like cooking and feeding the homeless at the shelter, adopting families during Christmas and providing meals during Thanksgiving holidays.
Vishwa Jagriti Mission of North America(VJMNA) is a young and tender branch of the Gigantic Tree of the Vishwa Jagriti Mission. VJMNA has been moving forward spreading the love and light along with the golden principles of His Holiness Sudhanshuji Maharaj.
It has become engaged in several missionary activities for the citizens of the community in Chicago area. In pursuit of spirituality, the VJMNA family meets on second Sunday of the month for collective prayers.