In recognition of his work feeding slum children in Mumbai through the Midday Meal program, Radhanath Swami was invited as a featured speaker at the Bent on Learning annual Gala Event.
Bent On Learning is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the physical fitness, cognitive, social and emotional skills of New York inner-city children by providing regular instruction in yoga and meditation through the public schools.
Their 2010 gala fundraising event was held on Wednesday, April 28th at the Puck Building in Lower Manhattan. Hosted by Eddie Stern of Ashtanga Yoga New York, the event was attended by an influential audience with an interest in the healing potential of yoga.
The guests included musicians Madonna, Mike D of the Beastie Boys, Julian Lennon, music producer/activist Russell Simmons, actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Heather Graham and director/artist Julian Schnabel. You can find a transcription of Radhanath Swami’s talk below. Visit the Bent On Learning website for more information.
The transcript of Radhanath Swami’s address is below.
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakayacaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namahI was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual masteropened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer myrespectful obeisances unto him.
Thirty nine years ago I had the memorable experience of meeting Mother Theresa in Calcutta. At that time she shared with me a jewel of wisdom that I have never forgotten. She said the greatest problem within this world is hunger. Not hunger of the stomach, but hunger of the heart. All over the world, the rich and the poor alike are prone to suffer from loneliness, to starve for love. Because love is the ultimate thing that can satisfy the heart.
From the yoga tradition we learn that this love, in its purest divine form, is within the heart of every living being. To strive to be an instrument of compassion, which is an expression of this love for those in need, can access a power, a power far beyond our own limitations. I have seen how this compassion works in our community in Mumbai.
I have been living in India for forty years now. In our ashram in Mumbai we have been teaching value education courses in many schools, trying to inspire universal values by using teachings and analogies from all the great spiritual traditions, with the hope of inspiring better character and overcoming communalism and sectarianism. Seeing this, the minister of education approached us, imploring us to help with a very crucial problem.
There are millions of children in the slum schools of Mumbai and the impoverished villages of Maharastra that are practically starving. They are not able to concentrate sitting in classes in suffering conditions. So many, many chose to leave school to become beggars, often times under a mafia boss who treats them cruelly. Others are forced into child labor under hideous conditions. They asked us to feed them.
I addressed our congregation and our well wishers and soon we established our Midday Meal program. It started small but today, just a few years later, we are feeding nutritious and hygienic meals to two hundred and ten thousands students a day. [applause]
But that is only a small beginning, because there are millions more. This is just a small sample of what we could do if we came together to be instruments of compassion to help others. In the Vedas, the scriptures of India, there is a beautiful word: para dukha dukhi. A person of real high values is one who sees another’s suffering to be their own, and another’s happiness to be their own.
Right here, in New York City, our dear friend Eddie Stern has explained so nicely the problem we are all facing. Because the problem of children is everyone’s problem. Many are coming from stressful homes, put into schools that are overcrowded, under-staffed, and deprived of recreation. These children are stressed out, many are depressed.
Impelled by compassion, Bent On Learning have extended their hearts to go to these low-income schools and provide education on yoga. The gift of yoga is unique because it can inspire holistic health which uplifts the body, the mind and the spirit. And these teachers, because they are acting out of compassion, the gift of yoga is transmitted through their classes as we have all witnessed. In the process they are learning health, they are learning kindness, self-control. They are learning true values of character. They are learning how to find peace and happiness in a power that exists within themselves—an ability by which they can overcome the obstacles which will inevitably come in their lives. The future of the world is in our children. Bent On Learning is a compassionate mission to reach out and uplift the quality of the lives of other children.
It is a wonderful service that they are performing and from my heart of hearts tonight I want to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you for helping with this beautiful cause.
Thank you very much.