Introducing new people to Chinmaya Mission by touching the hearts of many was accomplished by a spiritual tour conducted by Swami Chidatmananda all over USA in the months of August & September of 2013. With this tour Gurudev's vision and mission was spread to more and more people across North America. The tour was unique in many aspects and has never been undertaken in such proportions. One of the unique aspects was that it was wholly sponsored and organized by American Telugu Association's spiritual wing. ATA is a social and cultural organization whose leaders saw that there is a tremendous need for spirituality in these times in USA. They felt Chinmaya Mission and Swami Chidatmandanda ji were the right connection to further their goal and create an impact on Telugu community by addressing their spiritual needs. This idea not only proved to be highly successful but also generated huge interest in the community towards teachings of Gurudev and also gave a lead to other organizations to look up to and connect with our Mission for their spiritual aspirations.
Another unique aspect of the tour was it being a complete road trip of 12250 miles (20,000 kms) which was covered in 46 days connecting 30 places. This was a journey akin to spiritual yatras taken up by the sanyasins of India in olden days with a modern touch to it. It was accomplished by driving everyday few hours to one place and then conducting a satsang and then moving on to another place. The whole of East coast, few places in the south and major portion of West coast were covered ONLY by road in this tour. Swami Chidatmananda ji said, it must be sheer grace of Pujya Gurudev and blessings of Pujya Guruji to achieve such a feat of divine service in such a short time.
The tour also included a White House event in Washington DC. In this event, Swami Chidatmananda ji was part of a panel, "Vision for youth" discussing future of Indian American Youth's positive contribution to the society and world at large. Swamiji spoke on Seva which received a thundering applause from one and all. Young Americans were also inspired who came and said that the need of the hour is the spiritual vision and guidance from Spiritual guides like Chidatmananda ji.
The impact that the whole tour has created is beyond words. Stress Management, Divine Power, Meditation sessions were the topics of tour. People felt relieved & peaceful through stress management sessions, divinized and divinely empowered with Divine Power sessions and felt that meditation techniques are extremely helpful and highly important to their daily lives in order to handle variety of pressures. The joy and the radiant smiles beaming through their faces were mere expressions of thankfulness and gratitude for the spiritual experience they underwent. They wanted such events more and more in the future as they have tasted something which they have never done before in their lives. The words may not be testimonials to what they have experienced, but here are some of the statements they said after the sessions:
I want to THANK YOU for blessing us by your visit and educating us by sharing your Godly knowledge. I have heard from others about your speaking and teaching abilities but I have to tell you, we were ALL impressed by your incredible knowledge and simplistic approach to bring the light of divinity to us, especially by relating the whole thing to current worldly things including today's futuristic technology. From my 9 year old son, to Young 13 year old teenager -my daughter to our elderly grandparents present at the temple -all alike enjoyed your discourse. I for sure felt and noticed everyone forgot everything during your satsang and achieved the state of mind one should have while immersing themselves in his powerful yet loving thoughts of almighty Lord Narayana! My sincere request to you Swamiji is to bless us again with your presence and satsang during your next visit to United States. Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you soon.
-Lakshman Koka, Riverside, California
Swamiji, I heard Thrill beyond stillness, all full nothingness, Advaita vedantam in telugu, Maya panchakam in telugu. They gave me an entirely different dimension from our traditional view point of GOD usually taught to us - that "God will punish and that he is so up in the sky".. Thank you Swamiji for making it so simple and understandable to people like me.
-Mamata, Chicago, Illinois
It was a blessing for all Silicon Andhra families that you visited our place and enlightened us with your great spiritual discourse. Silicon Andhra families are so blessed and felt very happy to have you in our place. They are all requesting us multiple times to provide Video recording and other details of your future visits.
-Vijaya Saradhi, Sanjose, California
It was our pleasure to have you in Tampa town. Felt blessed after meeting you. I would like to invite you for big festival early next year in Florida area. Thank you once again for visiting us and blessing the Tampa telugu friends and families.
-Chandu, Tampa, Florida
We really enjoyed your visit to the temple and are blessed to share your knowledge. You chose the divine topic that was very appropriate for the occasion. We look forward to your future visits to the temple. We posted some pictures of your visit on our temple website.
-VJ Chukkapalli, Denver, Colorado
The places covered during the tour are:
1. Lanham, Marlyand
2. Chantilly, Virginia
3. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
4. Richmond, Virginia
5. Norfolk, Virginia
6. Raleigh, North Carolina
7. Greenville, North Carolina
8. Charlotte, North Carolina
9. Boone, North Carolina
10. Greenville, South Carolina
11. Columbia, South Carolina
12. Augusta, Georgia
13. Jacksonville, Florida
14. Orlando, Florida
15. Tampa, Florida
16. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
17. Houston, Texas
18. Morganville, New Jersey
19. Harleysville, Pennsylvania
20. Midland, Texas
21. Albuquerque, New Mexico
22. Phoenix, Arizona
23. San Jose, California
24. Redlands, California
25. Riverside, California
26. San Diego, California
27. Los Angeles, California
28. Reno, Nevada
29. Salt Lake City, Utah
30. Denver, Colorado
In addition to the above places, there was an event in Washington DC.