RAMAKRISHNA MATH Belur Math, Howrah 711 202 TWENTY-SIXTH MONKS' CONFERENCE

RAMAKRISHNA MATH, Belur Math, Howrah 711 202 TWENTY-SIXTH MONKS' CONFERENCE

RAMAKRISHNA MATH

Belur Math, Howrah 711 202 TWENTY-SIXTH MONKS' CONFERENCE

1, 2 & 3 November 2018 ADDRESS OF WELCOME AND REPORT BY THE GENERAL SECRETARY

Revered elders and dear brothers,

At the very outset, I humbly bow down before sangharupi Sri Ramakrishna. My respectful pranams to Revered President Maharaj and all the elders and loving namaskars to my other brother monks present here.

In the blessed names of Sri Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother, and Swamiji Maharaj, and on behalf of Belur Math, I extend a hearty welcome to you all to this conference of the monks of our great order. The very sight of this august assembly of monks not only fills us with joy but is also spiritually inspiring. Every monks' conference is a happy reunion of monastic brothers of our order. One of the pillars of this sangha is the solidarity among our brothers, and the monks' conference contributes immensely to foster it. Also, the conference provides an opportunity for a profitable exchange of views on many topics concerning our monastic life and the onward march of our Movement.

Now and then we hear a cry from both senior and younger monks that spirituality is on the wane in our order, and that spiritual earnestness and fervor are slowly disappearing. Well, this is an old complaint, perhaps as old as our organization itself! Even when the great disciples of Sri Thakur were living in Belur Math, the same concert was expressed by some. We may look at this from different angles. First, we may rest assured that even now we have amidst us highly evolved souls. Swamiji, in his infallible words, foretold: "There will always be Brahmajnanis in Belur Math.' So there are great souls in our order even now, maybe their percentage is less and they choose to remain hidden from the public gaze. Secondly, we may also say that the old days will never come again. The days of intense sadhana and austerity in Baranagar Math or in the early years of Belur Math that we read about - those days will not repeat. Such repetition is against nature. Whatever is going to come, that will be new only. In his talk, Sannyasa - Its Ideal and Practice, Swamiji has commanded, "You must not merely learn what the Rishis taught. Those Rishis are gone, and their opinions are also gone with them. You must be Rishis yourselves." Why should this not be possible for us? Through the grace of Sri Ramakrishna and our own self-efforts, it is certainly possible for us to become Rishis. Thirdly, all that we are seeing in our order is only the beginning. More and the best is yet to come. Swamiji has prophesied that this organization will last for fifteen hundred years. So, if we say that we are going down even before completing only one hundred and fifty years, it only shows our lack of faith in the words of Swamiji. This organization, as Revered President Maharaj has put it recently, "...is sustained by the boundless love, knowledge, and power of Sri Sri Thakur, Sri Sri Ma, and Sri Swamiji." So, let us have strong faith in the power of Sri Ramakrishna which has brought us all together and is guiding us. May that faith goads us to put forward our best efforts in sadhana to achieve the summum bonum of our lives.

As part of this welcome address, we may recall a few important events that took place since the last conference held in 2015.

Revered Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, the 15th President of the order, attained Mahasamadhi. Subsequently, Revered Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj took charge as the next President: Revered Swamis Gautamanandaji, Shivamayanandaji, and Suhitanandaji were appointed Vice-Presidents. Swami Suvirananda succeeded Swami Suhitanandaji as the General Secretary, and Swamis Abhiramananda and Tattwavidananda were appointed Assistant General Secretaries.

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