Praṇāma

Fortnightly reading
and news of the centres

Dharma Is Your Real Friend

Seva Dharma Mission

Praṇāma30 December 2030–12 January 2031

Fasting

Upavāsa

Shukla EkadashiSaturday 4 January 2031
PurnimaWednesday 8 January 2031

No food is eaten from sunrise until the next sunrise. On a fast day, water is not taken.

Gatherings

This fortnight

Ananda Marga Summer Retreat 2027
Four days of spiritual inspiration, kiirtan and meditation in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Vegetarian meals, and a child-friendly retreat.

Meditation, kiirtan and Dharma Cakra
Sunday at 6:00 pm at 44 Marylyn Place, Cranbourne North.

Yoga class
Saturday 8:00–9:30 am and Monday 7:00–8:00 pm at Sankat Mochan Temple, 4 Margaret Street, Oakleigh South.

Food distribution
Sunday from 7:00 am at the Adra Community Centre car park, Woodridge.

Service

Narayana Seva is the mission's food sharing. Volunteers prepare meals and offer them to people who need them. Sunday food distribution in Brisbane is from 7:00 am at the Adra Community Centre car park, Woodridge. Relief work and the volunteer rota sit with the same service.

See the projects · Join the rota

This fortnight's article

Dharma Is Your Real Friend

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Friends change with the season. A crowd is warm when fortune is warm and thin when fortune thins. Dharma does not behave like that. It stays when the room empties, because it is not another person. It is the way of balance a life can keep.

To call dharma a friend is to say that right conduct accompanies you into the decision nobody else sees. The choice to speak accurately. The choice to stop when stopping protects someone weaker. The choice to begin again after a failure, without a show.

A friend of this kind will sometimes refuse you. That refusal is the kindness. Praise can walk away. A principle that will not bend to a mood is still there in the morning.

At the centres, dharma looks ordinary: arrive when you said you would, share what was cooked, leave the space ready for the next person, and learn the practice from a qualified Acharya rather than inventing one. Loyalty to that simple order is a friendship that does not depend on being liked.

Meditation

Sunday at 6:00 pm the Cranbourne North centre sits for meditation, kiirtan and Dharma Cakra, at 44 Marylyn Place. Learn personalised Meditation and Mantra from a qualified Acharya. The practice is given in person, and it is not printed in this letter.

See the class

Health & Yoga

Dyspepsia (Indigestion)

The talk headed Dyspepsia (Indigestion) in Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies is this fortnight's health and yoga note. Samanvit Cikitsa belongs with the same field of care. Beside it, Shabda Cayanika follows the words A to Ac. The treatment is not printed here. A qualified teacher explains what the body needs.

Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies, Samanvit Cikitsa, Shabda Cayanika

Grammar

Case and Case-Endings

This fortnight's grammar note is headed Case and Case-Endings, from Varna Vijinana. Varna Vicitra sits with the same study of letters, beside Varna Vijinana, Shabda Cayanika, and Sarkar's English Grammar. The lesson stays in the book. This letter only names the talk.

Varna Vijinana, Varna Vicitra, Shabda Cayanika, Sarkar's English Grammar

Health

Diabetes

A second health note this fortnight is the talk headed Diabetes. It comes from the same published field of yogic treatment and natural care. The steps are not printed in Praṇāma. Read the book with a teacher if you want to study it.

Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies, Samanvit Cikitsa, Shabda Cayanika

Story

Dream and Reality Became One

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Sarkar's Short Stories

10 · Activities

From the centres

People seated together in a class — Class

Gatherings and photographs are posted on the mission Facebook group and on Instagram. This letter links there.

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Praṇāma by email

Subscribe with your email. It is stored for Praṇāma, and the letter is sent automatically each fortnight. A fasting reminder comes two days before Ekadashi, Amavasya, and Purnima. You can leave from any letter.