KP-Chicago: Events & Programs (as of Jan. 16, 2007)
Objective: Participation & Fun.

CORE Programs:
UP COMING
Shivratri-function: 03/17, Saturday (Coordinators: Abishek Ganjoo, Sunil Vali, Jyoti & Satish Bhat)
COMPLETED
Navreh: 04/15 Saturday (Coordinators: Vijay Pandit, Promila & Soman Dhar, Ajay Koul) 105 of us participated; held at the Naperville Community Center.
Picnic: 07/22, Saturday (Coordinator: Naveen Dhar) 80 of us participated; held in the Blackwell Forest, Chicago. Info: http://www.dupageforest.com/preserves/blackwell.html
Pictures of some members:
www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=142025311/a=83132584_83132584/t_=83132584
Overnight Camp: 08/18-20, Friday-Saturday-Sunday (Coordinators: Sanjay Bhat, Nalin Dhar) 10 families participated; held in the Lena KOA camp grounds. Info: http://www.lenakoa.com/
Diwali: 10/28, Saturday (Coordinators: Sid Raina, Kartik Fotedar, Seema Bamzai) 120 of us participated; held in the Lombard Community Center.
Yaksha-amawasi: 12/23, Saturday (Coordinators: Sudesh Saraf, Nitin & Barkha Dhar) Cancelled.
Shivratri-hawan: 02/15, Thursday (Coordinator: Ajay Koul) 35 of us participated; held in the Greater Chicago Hindu Temple.

ENRICHMENT Programs:
COMPLETED
Ladies Get-Together: 07/16, Saturday.
(Coordinators: Raj Kachru, Pushpa Bhat, Anshu Raina, Pinky Raina) 18 ladies participated; held at Gaylord Restaurant and Busse Woods Park.
Meditation Get-Togethers:
(Coordinators: Bansi Pandit, Ajay Koul) 14 members participated; three sessions held, ninety minutes each, April thru July, at volunteer member family residences.
Pictures of some members: http://www2.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=83132584
Community Service: 12/16, Saturday
(Coordinator: Ajay Koul)
34 members participated; held at the 'Food Bank' in St. Charles in Greater Chicago. A total of 16,695 pounds of food & non-food items were processed by the team (491 pounds per participant). This community food distribution center caters to the needy families in the Northern Illinois, feeding about 227,000 every month, a third of which are children below 18 years of age. Info: http://www.northernilfoodbank.org
Pictures of some members: http://www2.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=83132584

Please feel free to advise any additional community events/programs you would like to initiate. Together, we can make a difference.

Ajay Koul
President, KP-Chicago (2006-07)
1.847.770.2939
akkoul@gmail.com

Moon Appears When the Water is Still

I came upon a beggar woman covered in dust and grime,
seated at the side of the road.
Someone had given her a plate of food
which had attracted a mangy and growling mad dog.
He too was hungry.
And without hesitation she shared
her only food with him.
He ate and then lay down at her feet.
Locked in their respective karmas,
there was still room for kindness.
And if I could speak her language
(I spoke unilingual affluence and she all the dialects of abject poverty),
I would beg her to tell me
how her heart can shine so brightly
beneath the dust of her life.

Source: Extract from the book by Ian McCrorie.

Vedanta, Buddhism, and Consciousness

Vedanta

• Literal translation (ved-anta => knowledge-end) : the end of knowledge, or the conclusion of knowledge.
• Its essence can be summed up in its five kleshas (causes) related to human existence and suffering.
  (1) Not knowing the true nature of reality. (2) Clinging to, or grasping, what is ephemeral, transitory, and therefore not real. In other words, running away from what is real. (3) Aversion to, revulsion to, fear of what is ephemeral, transitory, and therefore not real. (4) Identification with a false or contrived self, which is our ego. (5) Fear of death.
• All other causes can be related to one or the other of these five kleshas.

Upanishads: The only cause of suffering is the first one mentioned above, that is, not knowing the true nature of reality.

Buddhism: Buddhism is centered on the alleviation of human suffering. The causes of suffering, and the way out of suffering.

Buddhism/Vedanta:
Look back at your footsteps, and see yourself.
Every state of consciousness projects its own reality. And there are various states.

Consciousness (Projection of Reality)
1 Deep sleep (limited; can respond to the cry of fire, a mother can respond to the cry of her baby, etc.; spirit is in surveillance).
2 Dreams (more repertoire of experience, of karmic software; while dreaming all real, be it joy, pain, fear, etc; when we wake up we realize it was not real (note-1: insight of the dream occurs after the dream, not during the dream; note-2: after dream, we wake up to another dream, the waking state of consciousness)
3 Waking state of consciousness (In it, perception is equally transitory, ephemeral, etc. Feeling can be similar as in a dream, that is, joy, pain, fear, etc;)
4, 5, 6: I have not yet grasped these additional three states, and hence been unable to summarizie them. (Ajay)

Source: Discussion between Robert Thurman (Writer; Buddhist Scholar; Professor, Columbia University) and Prem Chopra (Writer; Hindu Scholar; Doctor)