AN APPEAL

For twenty-five years now, Bhagavan has been dedicating all his efforts to the spreading of spiritual love to all that would hearThe Vedanta philosophy and the Hare Krishna mantra, which Bhagavan received not from his guru, but from divine revelation, honesty and sincerity are to be the vehicles for carrying out his cherished plan. The life of IVS began in a Guwahati railway colony in 1989 with Bhagavan and a small group of raw young boys. By the grace of Bhagavan’s profound spiritual realisations and enthusiasm, a group of deeply realised sages and highly devoted workers has arisen not just in India, but also abroad, and the society now has ashrams in Guwahati and Varanasi. Bhagavan himself now lives in Kolkata.

The world is now racked by all kinds of injustices and sufferings which man is inflicting onto his fellow man, and hence the world is teetering on the brink of disaster. Politics has not found any lasting answer, and charities, alas, too, cannot. What is required is a spiritual solution, for that is the only solution permanent for a soul and lasting for nations. The history of India, and indeed of the whole world, shows us that whenever society degrades into materialism, the one who steps forth to lead us out of the darkness is always a saint. A spiritual solution always strikes at the root cause of a problem – that is selfishness. A journalist once asked Bhagavan what the most dangerous threat to the world is today. Bhagavan replied that it is not cancer, it is not AIDS, it is not nuclear bombs, rather it is a lack of love. Oh, if we could only comprehend what it really means to love, to feel another’s pain, to have an utterly selfless heart! If but a few strong souls could realise this, the world would be transformed. Bhagavan is one who, in my mind, is without doubt an incarnation of Love itself, capable of delivering the world unto a new and better age, based on wisdom and love alone. This I have realised time and again over so many years. Bhagavan has made the sages. The workers are prepared. The spiritual power is ready to burst forth.

Though we are very well-prepared in a spiritual sense, this has necessarily meant that, to keep the spirituality pure, our society has had to desist from involving itself in material dealings. For this reason, we must rely solely on the pure in heart among those householder devotees and well-wishers that are capable of supporting our works. If our story, if our ideal touches a chord in your heart, we would be delighted if you would join us, but if this is not possible, you would indeed still be doing a great service if you could offer us some financial or any other assistance, not for us, nay, not for our sakes, but for the sake of the downtrodden, the struggling multitude and the spiritually bereft in all strata of society at home and abroad. Our first priority now is to procure an ashram for Bhagavan in Kolkata. His home is in a village called Birati not far from Kolkata, but at present He is living in a rented house in Kolkata itself to make Himself more accessible to His Kolkata devotees. The majority of the devotees come from poor families that are unable to offer any substantial assistance, and as there are always new devotees coming, there is no longer space in the house to accommodate all. Also, there is insufficient space to accommodate devotees that visit from other parts of India and foreign countries, so the access they have to Bhagavan is limited, and therefore so is their immersion in the spiritual environment, thus constricting the quality of what we have to offer. Thereafter, we hope to go from strength to strength.

Cheques/drafts may be sent in favour of the INTERNATIONAL VEDANTA SOCIETY.
Donations are exempt from Income-tax under section 80 G of IT ACT ,1961.

Hoping, too, that you will be with us,

Yours faithfully,

In the service of the Lord

Swami Probuddhananda
General Secretary
International Vedanta Society