Madhwa For Youth

Prelude

The modern society today offers a number of opportunities for growth to the youth. Growth in all spheres of life - educational, economical and philosophical is possible in greater measure today than ever before.

Present day youth are seeing educational and economic growth by utilizing the opportunities presented by a growing economy in India.

However despite a higher level of education, financial affluence and outward exposure, they continue to face problems of stress, depression, lack of motivation and enthusiasm in their pursuits and often poor health as well. In order to alleviate themselves from these, they have tried suggestions from parents, friends, self-help books etc. But most often the problems seem to continue.

Qualities of a successful professional

Recent studies on success in today's world point to the following qualities as essential:

  • Understanding of technology and business issues

  • A sharp analytical mind - questioning the present and a clear vision of the future

  • Ability to hold on to himself in the turbulence around and walk confidently towards the vision that he has set for himself and his team

  • A well-rounded personality

Inputs on how to develop a well-rounded personality - leadership qualities, humane approach to people around him etc. have come from various sources - institutions, communities and teachers. A great such source are our scriptures.

Challenges facing the Youth in pursuing scriptures

However youth today face several challenges in benefiting from our scriptures:

  • A large part of the formal teachings of our scriptures is in Sanskrit which is not understood by most people

  • The affiliation of the youth to religious activities has been reduced to a set of rituals with most not understanding the true meaning and purpose of these rituals

  • The challenges of modern day society put huge pressure on time, hence reducing drastically the time that is available for spiritual pursuits

  • Youth have many questions in the mind and are not getting convincing answers

  • Conflicting messages from different advisors

  • Impractical suggestions and over-emphasis on rituals

At the same time youth have shown deep-rooted commitment towards religion. Visits to temples, performance of daily rituals, attending discourses conducted by eminent scholars, despite the challenges are on the rise

However the hungry minds of the youth want more to chew! There are several questions that run in our minds like:

  • When there are so many schools of thought, which one of them is the right one?

  • Why is there so much emphasis on rituals? Does this not alienate people?

  • Our philosophy says so many things that one needs to do. What are the most essential things that I must know about?

  • What are the things that I need to do during the day?

Madhwacharya for the Youth Workshops

The Madhwacharya for the Youth Workshops is an attempt to reach out to the Youth by trying to overcoming some the barriers mentioned above. It is conducted by Dr. Vyasanakere Prabhanjancharya, Founder Director of Sri Vyasa Madhwa Samshodhana Pratishthana, eminent scholar and speaker and the recipient of the President's Award for his contributions to Sanskrit.

Started in November 2005 the workshops are conducted once a month on a Sunday afternoon for about three hours at the Vijaya Bharati High School, Girinagar,Bangalore.

Innovations in the Workshop

Following are some of the innovations in the workshop:

  1. The design of the workshop is done keeping the youth as the primary audience. The selection of the topic, the manner of presentation, the timings of the workshop etc. are all done to catch the pulse of the youth successfully. The entire design is based on the feedback received from participants

  2. The emphasis of the workshops is on the benefit from reading the scriptures. The utility in today's life is emphasized repeatedly rather than repeatedly delivering the scholarly interpretations

  3. There are three parts of the workshop:

  • Shravanam - a 90-minute discourse by Dr. Vyasanakere Prabhanjanachrya on the topic chosen

  • Jignansa - a 30-minute interactive session with the speaker where the participants can ask any questions on this and related topics in a free manner however controversial the question may be

  • Manthanam - a 30-minute session which involves group discussions and quiz programmes

  • What are the things that I need to do during the day?

  1. The forum also presents an opportunity for the participants to interact with the youth like themselves and share their experiences. Often knowing that others face similar problems and sharing the same can be source of comfort

  2. The entire discourse is recorded and all the audio recordings so far can be downloaded from the website www.vyasamadhwa.org/upanyasa/Workshop/ free of charge

  3. Books written by eminent seers and scholars of the past edited elegantly and in simple language by Dr. Prabhanjanacharya are available at the venue at a nominal cost

  4. A database of over 1000 participants - present and prospective participants is maintained and an invitation sent to all of them through email. Apart from this posters are displayed at over 60 locations to inform participants about the coming workshop

  5. There are no charges for the workshop

Benefits to the Participants

The workshops have covered more than 1000 participants so far and the numbers are growing rapidly. Typical feedback from the participants shows that they have realized the following benefits:

  • Correct awareness of our scriptures

  • Ability to link the learning to daily life

  • Convincing answers to controversial questions

  • Removal of negative thoughts from the mind

  • Calming of the mind and relief from stress

  • Improved concentration levels at work and studies

  • Better relationships with people

  • Overall improvement in the quality of life

Eminent seers such as Sri Sri Visvesha Tirtha Swamiji of Udupi Pejawara Mutt and Sri Sri Vidyesha Tirtha Swamiji of Bhandarekeri Mutt and scholars such as Prof. K T Pandurangi of Dwaitha Vedanta Foundation and Poornapragna Vidyapeetha have blessed the design and execution of the workshop with their presence and appreciated the efforts.

Contacts

  • Dr. Vyasanakere Prabhanjanacharya- +(91) 80 26602802

  • Dr. Sunder M P - sunder_mp2000@yahoo.com

  • M N Pavamaan- madhvacharya4youth@gmail.com and +(91) 99453 12563

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