By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 17 Nov: On the concluding day of the ‘Valley of Words Arts & Literary Festival, held at Hotal Madhuban, here, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati from Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh, shared her experience of coming to India 23 years ago from California after graduating from Stanford University and being in the midst of her PhD studies. She shared her beautiful story of being touched by Mother Ganga and Indian culture so deeply that she decided to stay back and live in sadhana and seva.
She has lived at Parmarth Niketan since 1996, engaged in seva, spiritual learning, and now spiritual teaching under Swami Chidanand Saraswati.
In an interview moderated by journalist Ashali Varma, Sadhvi shared her thoughts on the greatness and depth of Indian culture and also about the tragedy of so many Indians wanting to leave India to go to America.
The Sadhvi arrived in Dehradun directly from Nairobi, Kenya, where she spent the last week at the United Nations’ UNFPA International Conference on Population and Development, attended by 9500 people from 170 countries, in which she spoke on panels with leaders of the governments of Africa as well as with renowned faith leaders and leaders of international faith based organisations on topics of rights for women and girls.
Sadhvi’s philosophy – a blend of east and west, the scientific and the spiritual — is a crucially needed bridge between the two cultures.
In her talk, today, as in the evening satsangs she gives daily at Parmarth Niketan, she offered deep and profound insights on a wide-range of topics, from religion and spirituality to coping strategies for the myriad issues that affect us in the hectic and fast-paced world of the 21st Century.
The session was also in honour of the recent publication of the Sadhvi’s new book, titled ‘Come Home to Yourself’, published by Penguin publishers and available on Amazon.in and Flipkart.
