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International Seminar on
"Emerging Trends in Religion",
Senate Hall, Punjabi University, Patiala,
from 8th February to 10th February 2011

Kumari Somashekhari in the University ground standing at the Board which indicates the topic of the Function.

On 21st January 2011 Sant Baba Jodh Singh Maharaj from Nirmal Ashram, Rishikesh, visited Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas along with two eminent Scholars from Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr. Jodh Singh (Ph.D. Banaras Hindu University, Sahitya Ratna), Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and Dr. Paramvir Singh, Reader, Dept. of Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, along with others.

They invited Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati, President Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, and Kumari Somashekhari, General Secretary, Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, to come to Punjab and take part in a three days International Seminar on "Emerging Trends in Religion", which was to take place from 8th February 2011 to 10th February 2011, in the prestigious Punjabi University, Patiala.

Dr. Jodh Singh and Dr. Paramvir Singh, who belonged to the Main-Organizers of this International Seminar, expressed their extreme joy to see the beautiful and divine environment of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, and to get the opportunity to meet Shri Swami Vishveshwaranandaji in person.

Since they wanted Swamiji to be the Main-Speaker in the concluding function of the Seminar, they requested him, to immediately send by courier or e-mail the Abstract of his paper on the subject "Emerging Trends in Religion" to the Punjabi University, Patiala, so that it could be published by the University before the start of the Seminar.

Swami Vishveshwarananda and Kumari Somashekhari with Mr. Manjeet Singh, Executive Officer of Nirmal Ashram, Rishikesh, in the University ground.	Kumari Somashekhari and Swami Vishveshwarananda at the entrance of the Senate Hall.
Swami Vishveshwarananda and Kumari Somashekhari with Readers and Professors in front of Guru Tegh Bahadur Hall.

On 8th February 2011 Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda, Kumari Somashekhari and Shri R.D. Gaur, Member of Omkarananda Educational Society, proceeded by car from Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas Headquarters, in Muni-ki-Reti, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, to Patiala, Punjab. In Ambala they were picked up by Shri Manjeet Singh, Executive Officer of Nirmal Ashram, Rishikesh, who guided them safely to Patiala.

All of them were given a wonderful welcome by their hosts in Patiala and looked after very well.

The International Seminar in the Punjabi University was going on in full swing, in the beautiful Senate Hall.

Abstracts of the Papers of all invited Scholars, including that of Swami Vishveshwarananda, had been nicely printed by the University in form of a booklet, which was now distributed to all participants of the Seminar.

For this event many Scholars, representing different Religions, had come from all parts of India and also other parts of the world, like Canada, U.S.A., Spain, etc. They read out their Papers or spoke freely, and then they could be asked different questions by the audience. The audience consisted of the participating Scholars from all over the world and also of Lecturers, Readers, Staff and Students of Punjabi University, Patiala.

Lively, but friendly and very open discussions were making this Seminar highly interesting.

In between different sessions, breakfast, lunch and dinner were served to all the participants in the campus of this grand and beautiful University.

Since Kumari Somashekhari had been requested to give her views on the concluding day of the Seminar, she noted down the essence of the speeches by the different Scholars, along with her own comment.

Kumari Somashekhari in a joyous mood, when the audience responds with great clapping for her addressing them and welcoming them in Punjabi.
Kumari Somashekhari in her speech compares the essence of different lectures held during the Function. On the right side: Prof. Dr. Jodh Singh.

No doubt, the most important day of this International Seminar was the Valedictory Session, on 10th February 2011, the concluding day.

Before this Session started, in the early morning, Kumari Somashekhari had lively interactions with some nice local Ladies, Professors, Readers, Proof-Readers and Staff of the University. Since Somashekhari was interested in learning some letters of the Punjabi Script, called "Gurmukhi", the kind Ladies of this Punjabi University taught her some letters and also a few sentences in the Punjabi language. They even presented to Somashekhari a beautiful book, published by the University, how to learn Punjabi.

At the beginning of the Valedictory Session again some scholarly Speakers from different Religions gave their views and initiated discussions with the audience.

Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu, Reader, Punjabi University, Patiala, gave a detailed report on the Seminar.

Then Kumari Somashekhari from Omkarananda Ashram was requested to present her views in front of the audience. Before doing that, Somashekhari addressed all with a few sentences in the Punjabi language and expressed her heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everybody.

Then she gave her views in form of a short summary about different speeches, delivered by Scholars in this International Seminar. In the end of her speech, Kumari Somashekhari emphasized the importance of God-Realized Saints for practical guidance on the spiritual path, like the great Mystic Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati, because only such personalities are really capable of helping suffering mankind.

After that, the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr. Jaspal Singh, delivered his Presidential Address to all.

The Vice-Chancellor, in spite of being extremely busy, expressed his wish to stay back for some time, in order to get the opportunity to listen to the Valedictory Address by H. H. Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati, President Omkarananda Ashram.

No doubt, Swami Vishveshwaranandaji's Address belonged to the Highlights of this 3 days International Seminar.

Swamiji talked for a long time, touching very vital and important points regarding the topic of this Seminar. Very often he got spontaneous applause from the scholarly audience.

From left: Prof. Dr. Md. Sirajul, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Jaspal Singh and Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati.

In his extensive speech Swami Vishveshwarananda mentioned first of all the increasing disinterest of people in religious topics or spiritually oriented life, which is an unfortunate emerging trend, also in India. He laid emphasis on the importance of a real pure and spiritual life, not attached to perishing things, in order to obtain lasting happiness and also the importance of the guidance from a real Guru. Swamiji cited some beautiful words of Guru Nanak about the Guru: "The Palace of the Lord God is so beautiful. Within it, there are gems, rubies, pearls and flawless diamonds. A fortress of gold surrounds this Source of Nectar. How can I climb up to the Fortress without a ladder? By meditating on the Lord, through the Guru, I am blessed and exalted. The Guru is the Ladder, the Guru is the Boat, and the Guru is the Raft to take me to the Lord's Name. The Guru is the Boat to carry me across the world-ocean; the Guru is the Sacred Shrine of Pilgrimage, the Guru is the Holy River. If it pleases Him, I bathe in the Pool of Truth, and become radiant and pure." (Guru Nanak)

Shri Swami Vishveshwaranandaji then mentioned a few very inspiring words of his Gurudev Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati: "Guru is the Light, the Remover of the darkness of ignorance, the ignorance, that veils the Truth, the real Nature of Man. Guru is Self-Realization in Action. The Light never says, it is Light. It just shines…" (Swami Omkarananda)

Swamiji mentioned also other Emerging Trends in Religion, among whom one is very obvious, the world-wide interest in Yoga. Swami Vishveshwarananda explained, that Yoga means "Union with God", but there are different kinds of Yoga-practises. He mentioned, that, if certain forms of Yoga, like Hatha Yoga, are purely practised for physical fitness alone, then the true aim of Yoga, the Union with God, may not be attained. Among the different forms of Yoga, Swami Vishveshwarananda specially emphasized on Karma Yoga, selfless divine work, which is very helpful for over-coming the egoistic tendencies of the human mind and therefore is one the most powerful means for God-Experience. "God with Ego is man, and man without ego is God", Swamiji said.

Further Swami Vishveshwarananda talked about the Greatness of the spiritual country India, which is a place, where many Saints, Sages, Mahatmas and Avataras have taken birth. He also glorified the Greatness of His Guru Shri Swami Omkarananda, who has taken a lot of pain on Himself in order to help spiritual Seekers.

Swami Vishveshwarananda also mentioned among many other points, that Tolerance and Freedom in Religion are most important. He said, that Religious Beliefs and Religious Practises are a matter of one's own heart and conviction, and therefore they should never be forced upon somebody, they should never be made a purely "military" issue! If Religious matters are practised only out of fear or under compulsion, they can never lead to true, lasting Happiness, to God-Experience.

Specially at this point of Swamiji's speech, the scholarly audience reacted with loud, spontaneous clapping and cheers, in appreciation of his thoughts.

Swami Vishveshwarananda delivering his lecture regarding "Emerging Trends in Religion".

After Swamijis speech, Dr. Jodh Singh and Dr. Paramvir Singh, the two Main-Organizers of this International Seminar, gave their Vote of Thanks to all participants.

Dr. Jodh Singh expressed his great joy about the highly successful International Seminar on "Emerging Trends in Religion". He informed, that 20 Papers of Scholars had been invited, and 16 Papers were read during the 3 days Seminar.

First of all Dr. Jodh Singh specially thanked Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati for his Valedictory Address, which he described as: "...very illuminating and soothing to the Heart and making the people understand the real meaning of Religion".

Dr. Jodh Singh observed, that Swami Vishveshwarananda had mentioned many things, which were taught also by Guru Nanak, for example, that material things will disappear and therefore cannot give long-lasting happiness. One should not be attached to perishing things, but only to the Divine, the Truth, the Infinite Consciousness, which will remain forever. One should focus on That!

Dr. Jodh Singh also appreciated, that Swami Vishveshwarananda had emphasized on the importance of a spiritually enlightened Guru, and that the guidance of such a Guru is required. Here also Dr. Jodh Singh found parallels to Guru Nanak, who said: "Let there be hundreds of moons and hundreds of suns! But if Guru is not there, it is all around darkness!"

According to Dr. Jodh Singh, Guru Nanak emphasized, that the real Guru is "Shabdabrahman" ("OMKAR"), which should be searched and found inside and all around.

Dr. Jodh Singh further mentioned in his Vote of Thanks, that he liked that Swami Vishveshwarananda spoke on the practise of different kinds of Yoga as one of the strongly Emerging Trends in Religion, nowadays. According to Dr. Jodh Singh Guru Nanak was essentially a "Raja Yogi".

Dr. Jodh Singh expressed his gratitude and thanks to all other Speakers on this wonderful event, as well as to all the Organizers, Professors, Staff and Students of Punjabi University, who had helped actively in making this extraordinary International Seminar a great success.

Swami Vishveshwarananda and Kumari Somashekhari with Guest Lecturers and Professors of the University in a relaxed mood.

In the end of this Vote of Thanks Dr. Jodh Singh once more specially thanked Swami Vishveshwaranandaji. He said: "Swami Vishveshwarananda's illuminating Valedictory Address has encouraged us to go deeper and continue in this direction with Blessings by people like Swami Vishveshwarananda."

Dr. Jodh Singh also expressed his gratitude to Kumari Somashekhari, who had joined Swamiji to attend this International Seminar.

The final Speaker of the concluding Function was Dr. Paramvir Singh.

In his formal Vote of Thanks he appreciated the efforts, done by Dr. Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor of this University, Dr. Jodh Singh and others for organizing such an important Seminar. He deeply thanked all Participants from India and other parts of the world, who had come to contribute their time and valuable thoughts for this event.

Dr. Paramvir Singh also expressed his special Thanks to Sant Baba Jodh Singh Maharaj, from Nirmal Ashram, Rishikesh, who was instrumental in bringing himself and Dr. Jodh Singh to Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, where they could meet Vishveshwaranandaji personally and invite him to the Punjabi University, Patiala. Dr. Paramvir Singh praised Swami Vishveshwarananda, President Omkarananda Ashram, for providing a lot of education and social services all over the Himalayas.

With Dr. Paramvir Singh's kind Vote of Thanks the 3 days International Seminar on "Emerging Trends in Religion" was concluded.

From left: Swami Jodh Singh, Swami Vishveshwarananda, Kumari Somashekhari and the host in front of their bungalow.

But the matter did not end here. Many Participants of this wonderful event, along with Professors and Staff of the Punjabi University, assembled for group-photos and exchanged addresses.

In the end, surrounded by Scholars, Professors and Staff of the University, Swami Vishveshwar-ananda, Kumari Somashekhari and Shri R. D. Gaur proceeded to the car for starting their long journey back to Omkarananda Ashram.

When Swami Vishveshwaranandaji again and again expressed his heartfelt Thanks to everybody, Dr. Jodh Singh joyously exclaimed: "Swamiji, the day was great because of YOU!"

Videos of the speeches of H.H. Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati and Kumari Somashekhari in the Punjabi University, along with the comments by Dr. Jodh Singh and others, can be seen on the Website of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas (www.omkarananda-ashram.org) under the subject "Videos".

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