Ramakrishna Mission Delhi

New Delhi, Delhi, 110055 India

Mission Statement

Sri Ramakrishna was a mystic of extraordinary spiritual dimensions. He was born in rural Bengal in the 19th century. Many of the young Bengal of that period were attracted to him. The chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna was Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), known as Narendra Nath Dutta in his pre-monastic days. During his college days he was possessed by the questions ‘Can God be seen? Has anyone seen God?’ and his quest led him to Sri Ramakrishna. After struggling for years, he finally accepted Sri Ramakrishna as his Guru and accepted the task of spreading his message. He embraced monasticism along with a few other young men who were also inspired and influenced by Sri Ramakrishna. After Sri Ramakrishna’s Mahasamadhi, Swami Vivekananda travelled throughout the length and breadth of India and came in contact with every segment of Indian society – rich and poor, educated and uneducated, strong and weak. This first-hand experience gave him an intimate knowledge and understanding of the spiritual moorings of the nation, the underlying ideals of India. In 1893, he went to USA, participated in the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago and became a celebrity overnight. He made a triumphant return to India in 1897 after preaching Vedanta extensively in America and Europe. Soon after, he established the Ramakrishna Mission with the twin ideals of “Atmano Mokshartham Jagaddhitayacha” i.e. for the freedom of the self and for the good of the world. The Ramakrishna Mission was started by Swami Vivekananda in May 1897 and was registered in 1909 under the Societies Act XXI of 1860 (Appendix VII). The Ramakrishna Math and Mission, excluding the Headquarters at Belur Math, has spread over different parts of the world which preach the following: ❖ Ideal: Freedom of the self and service of mankind. ❖ Aim: Practice and preaching of the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion as embodied in the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, along with ‘Harmony of Religions’. ❖ Motto: Renunciation and Service. ❖ Method: Work and Worship. ❖ Activities: Worship, training of monastic aspirants, religious preaching, general and technical education with an ethical and spiritual background, medical services, relief and rehabilitation work, rural upliftment and work among the poor and downtrodden people of all classes, and cultural works. The philosophy of the Ramakrishna Mission is Service of God in Man. Its work has been deeply appreciated both in India and other parts of the world for its catholicity. The Mission renders service to anyone in need irrespective of caste, creed and colour. Starting from a very small unit in the suburbs of Kolkata it has grown into a huge organisation with more than 200 branches, nearly 160 of which are located in India. The Mission runs several schools, colleges, libraries, students’ homes, Sevashramas (hospitals) with indoor facilities, clinics, dispensaries, rural and tribal development centres, homes for the invalid, etc. In addition, there are many centres run by lay devotees in many States in India under different names associated with Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda, especially in those areas where Ramakrishna Math or Mission do not have any official centre. Millions of students study in its educational institutions starting from primary school up to deemed university. Nearly 10 million poor patients receive treatment in its hospitals, dispensaries and medical units every year. The Ramakrishna Movement has contributed largely for the upliftment of the downtrodden. Its services, especially in the fields of education, health and relief work in times of distress are well-known. The Delhi centre of the Mission was started in 1927. It also conducts extensive service activities in the fields of education and medical work. In fact, this Mission centre was the first to start a service for Tuberculosis patients in Delhi in the early 1930s even before the British Government started such services.

About This Cause

The Ramakrishna Mission is an internationally renowned charitable and philanthropic organisation with more than 200 branches mostly in India and in several other countries. The Delhi centre of the Mission, which was started in the year 1927, conducts the following activities: - 1. A bookshop for the spread of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda literature 2. A charitable homeopathic clinic 3. A Free Coaching Centre for 120 poor children studying in classes V to IX 4. Two children welfare centres for about 300 children from poor and underprivileged background in two different locations. In both the above programmes children are provided academic support, snacks, educational aid, etc 5. A general library catering to the need of a large number of aspirants for civil services and professional courses. 6. A low cost computer centre 7. Free T.B. Clinic and Medical Centre which caters to more than 2,000 T.B. patients. 8. A massive value education programme titled “Awakened Citizen Programme” which is currently running in more than 5000 schools in different parts of the country. 9. Relief activities such as free distribution of food to poor people every day in the afternoon as well as distribution of blankets to about 400 poor people every year. 10. Scholarships to 100 poor students every year amounting to around Rs. 2,50,000/-. From the year 2008 we have been undertaking value education programmes in schools. We first started with a one hour multimedia programme called “Success Formula” which we conducted in more than 700 schools. The success of this programme, which impacted the students in a tremendous manner, led us to go for the next programme called “The Awakening”. It was a five module multimedia programme which we conducted in 50 schools with our own resource persons. This also proved to be a huge success. Finally, as part of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations we came up with a three year graded value education programme called “The Awakened Citizen Program” in the year 2013-14. The programme is meant for middle schools children for classes VI, VII and VIII or VII, VIII and IX as per the choice of the school concerned. It consists of 16 modules for each year and is run using the principle of DART (i.e. Discovery, Acceptance, Reflection and Transformation). It is a student centric highly interactive programme and emphasizes the infinite power and potential latent or inherent in every child. As a result of this programme the students have felt tremendous sense of self-belief or Atmashraddha. In this programme the teachers are trained to conduct the same in the schools. The teachers have also been impacted. Outline of the Awakened Citizen Program The Awakened Citizen Program is a three year graded value education for students of middle classes developed by Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi. The program consists of 48 modules in 3-year curriculum with 16 modules per year where each module is of 45 minutes duration. The program is completely secular without any religious overtones. The entire program is based on Swami Vivekananda’s definition of education that “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man”. This in effect means that each individual has infinite strength, infinite potential, and infinite possibilities. All these can be manifested as excellence in every walk of life. The aim of the program is to empower students in a real and tangible way and help them develop as enlightened citizens enabling them to stand on their own feet. Such students will not only do well for themselves but will also have the larger interest of the society at heart. Ramakrishna Mission has been working in the field of education for over 100 years with a special focus on value education. The Awakened Citizen Program was launched in 2014 and draws from the experience of previous value education programmes conducted by Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi. The teaching methodologies and curriculum framework have been carefully designed to enable a deep and enduring transformation in children. The Awakened Citizen Program is based on the message that each one of us, carries within, an infinite source of power, strength and goodness. This power and strength can be felt, every time we say "I CAN". This infinite power gets manifested as various possibilities. The more we consciously develop or manifest these possibilities, the more faith we develop in ourselves. The Awakened Citizen Program is designed to help discover and manifest the infinite power within each one of us. The Human Possibilities Framework has been formulated to help understand and explore the infinite possibilities within us. The possibilities are broadly classified into two categories: a) Universal Possibilities: These are open to each one of us irrespective of religion, caste, age, gender, education, family background. b) Unique Possibilities: These can be developed based on our talents, interests, environment and self-effort. The Unique Possibilities have been further classified into Knowledge Possibilities and Physical possibilities. Through various explorations, situation analyses, discussions and real life examples, the students discover the tremendous impact of manifesting these possibilities and the means to do so. The emphasis is on opening the minds of the students, giving them a framework for decision making, enabling the discovery and acceptance of values and bringing about an inner transformation. The program has received incredibly positive feedback from students, teachers and parents alike. Increased confidence, belief in their inner potential, improvement in academics, better rapport with teachers, treating people of lower social standing with respect and living harmoniously with others are some of the areas where a significant impact on the students has been observed. Impact of the Awakened Citizen Program A few glimpses of the impact created by the Awakened Citizen Programme are given below. Feedback from Teachers : Kolkata- KV Year 1: 23-24 April, 2018 • “The session was magnanimously informative, beneficial, interactive and interesting. It has helped me to identify myself and my capabilities. It was not imposed with decisions, in fact I was free to opine and felt different and unique and my choice was accepted.” – Sagarika Dasgupta , DPS Megacity, Kalikapur, Rajarhaat, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata Year 2: 25- 26 April , 2018 • “There are transformational changes in the students. The parents are happy with this initiative as it helps to develop the positive traits. The students have over the year gained self-confidence and have opened up.”- Bidisha De , DPS Megacity Year 3: 27-28 April, 2018 • “ACP helps us to be a good human being and also to identify our capabilities. It is really a beneficial program for all.” - Shilpa Behal, KV Burdwan Bhopal Govt. Year 1: 10-11 September 2018 • “All the modules are very special and value based and will help in blossoming values in the children.” - Nafeesa Begum Khan, Govt. MIS Girls’ School, Bhopal Year 2: 14-15 September, 2018 • “ACP has helped in the rise in the students’ self-confidence.”- Raghunandan Prasad Sahu , Chandrashekhar Azad Govt. School Year 3: 2- 3 July 2018 • “I can see gradual deepening of ideas in the children. Some students who are considered as slow learners in studies have started taking part in various activities of their interest to show their talent.” - Jyoti Soni, KV No 3, Danish Nagar, Bhopal Hyderabad Private Year 1: 16-17 April 2018 • “It has a holistic approach and is completely child/ student centric, very informative and humbling too. It enlightens the mind and makes us open to adventures.” - Subhana Khan , Open Minds- A Birla School , Kollur, Cyberabad Year 2: 13-14 June 2018 • “The students have developed self-confidence and helpful nature. The parents also have positive approach towards the program.” - P. Uma Raja Lakshmi, Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Bhimavaram Year 3: 11-12 October 2018, • “The children are able to develop the universal possibilities and put the ideas in practice in different situations – classroom, playground, at home etc.” – Deepa Shyam, Bhawan’s Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Sainikpuri Feedback from Students • “I liked the workshop and the way in which they explained all the things that are important to be an awakened citizen. It was really inspiring.” - Tanya • “It was an amazing workshop that motivated and inspired me. The modules were very interesting and specially the group activities that made me open minded and also gave me an opportunity to meet the students of different schools and know about their ideas. This workshop told us how to become an effective citizen. The wheel of success also made me understand that I can go beyond my goals and develop a dynamic character. All the discussions were full of real life examples”. – Kartikey • “I liked the workshop and the way in which they explained all the things which are important to be an awakened citizen. It was really inspiring. Also the way in which we were asked to share our experience related to particular topics to discuss it with students of different schools.” – Soumya Singhal We have just covered a small section of the student community, namely the middle school. The programme is being run in more than 5,500 schools all over the country in which more than 41,000 teachers have been trained and more than 10 lakh students impacted. But, a lot more needs to be done. We are designing programmes for the primary school children, for parents and also for professionals, corporate executives, etc. We have started the construction of a six-storeyed building which would cost Rs. 22.60 crores. This would be of enormous help in addressing a major gap in our educational system and would contribute significantly to the regeneration of our motherland. We humbly seek your support for this extremely important and much needed project. Through this institute we also hope to reach even the student community in other countries wherever possible.

Ramakrishna Mission Delhi
Ramakrishna Ashram Marg Paharganj
New Delhi, Delhi 110055
India
Phone 011-45626785, 41071817, 23587110
Twitter @rkmdel
Unique Identifier 5742918803750_9262