Report Kluang Retreat

11 January 2016
Spiritual Retreat at Kluang
Kluang is a town in Malaysia where Sri Ramakrishna
Panimandram has been silently rendering its services to the
community of largely Tamil speaking people.
Sri Ramakrishna
Panimandram, Kluang
hosted the Retreat on
Monday, 11 January 2016.
This centre was originally
started by one late
Govindasamy who was
inspired by the teachings
of Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Tanmayanandaji
while he was in Kuala
Lumpur had been giving
spiritual direction to the
group of devotees here.
Many Swamis have visited
this place. This ashram will
host the Malaysia
Ramakrishna Manadu
(Devotees’ Convention)
by the end of this year.
A Spiritual Retreat (Anmeega antaryogam) was
held by Sri Ramakrishna Panimandram in Kluang
town of Malaysia on Monday, 11 January 2016. It
was an inspiring occasion where three Swamis
from the Ramakrishna Mission attended.
Swami Vimokshananda, President of the
Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore and Swami
Samachittananda, Vice-President of the
Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore were invited by
Swami Supriyananda, President of the
Ramakrishna Mission, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
for the Spiritual Retreat.
The occasion was also utilised by the devotees of
Kluang Sri Ramakrishna Panimandram to
welcome Swami Vimokshananda, President of
the Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore on his very
first visit. They also gave farewell to Swami
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11 January 2016
Samachittananda, Vice-President of the
Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore who has been
since transferred to Argentina.
The altar where the pictures of Sri Ramakrishna,
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami
Vivekananda were kept was tastefully decorated
with plenty of flowers. The lamp was lit as a mark
of the start of the Retreat.
The a ssembled
devotees joined the
chor us singing of
bhajans led by Swami
S a m a c h i t t a n a n d a
while accompanying
tabla was played by
Swami Supriyananda.
All bhajans were in
Tamil and each
devotee was supplied
with the text of the
bhajan earlier. The
cumulative effect of
singing together the names of Gods and
Goddesses created a vibrant atmosphere. It was
noted that a good number of children also
participated, singing the bhajans by clapping their
palms enthusiastically.
Swami Supriyananda welcomed the gathering and
introduced Swami Vimokshananda as the new
President of Singapore Ramakrishna Mission. He
told the audience that the new Swami would
make visits to Kluang as it is nearer to Singapore
and also would speak to the people in Tamil so
that everyone can understand.
Swami Vimokshananda delivered his reply address
in simple Tamil. He thanked everyone for their
participation in the Spiritual Retreat. He
explained lucidly what the term ‘Kadavul’ is
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11 January 2016
meant by. He quoted one incident from the life of
Sri Ramakrishna how ‘Kadavul’ is present
e ver ywhere and in
everything. He also
narrated one incident
from the life of Swami
Sivananda, a Direct
Disciple of Sri
Ramakrishna how God
is beyond everything
too. Then he asked the
devotees that mere
ostentatious devotion
will not take you
further; rather one
should practice
devotion with full
heart and love towards God. The story told by
Swami Vivekananda at the famous Rameshwaram
temple in Tamil Nadu about the two gardeners
and how Lord Shiva loved the one most who did
‘seva’ to the garden’s plants and trees and not the
other who merely praised Lord Shiva but never
worked was also
explained by him.
He also brought out a
beautiful stor y of
mental worship by
Bhima and the tons of
flowers that were
offered during his
mental worship while
the external worship of
Arjuna brought only a
few flowers at the feet
of Bha gwan Sri
Krishna. Thus, he
inspired every devotee
there to put forth full heart and soul in
worshipping the God.
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11 January 2016
Sri Kumar, the Secretary of the Ramakrishna
Mission, Malaysia took the opportunity to inform
the public there about
the ensuing Maha
Kumbhabhishekam of
Sri Muniswarar
Amman alayam in
Jalan Cheras, Malaysia
on the 20th January
2016 and invited
everyone to attend.
He informed that the
two Swamis –
Vimoksha-nanda and
Supriyananda – will be
the Guest of Honour
at the holy occasion.
Thiru Maniam, a retired Headmaster of a High
School in Kluang and a devotee of Sri
Ramakrishna gave a vote of thanks in a
humorous way to the delight of audience. Thiru
Gandhi, the Treasurer of Sri Ramakrishna
Panimandram honoured the monastic guests
with baskets of fruits
and flowers. The
Chairman and other
officials were present.
All the 150 devotees
and the three monks
were given prasad in
the form of
sumptuous supper.
The Retreat ended
with an arati to the
altar. Everyone had
the fervent feeling
and earnest wish that
the splendid Retreat
be repeated in the nearest future!
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