Several Ghanaian Hindus gathered to celebrate the initiation of Swami Shankarananda and Swamini Geetananda into Hindu Monkhood.
The program was held at the Indian Social Cultural Center in Osu, Accra on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
It was attended by Hindus from all backgrounds and many attended by some members of the African Hindu Monastery, Ghana which is the most important indigenous Ghanaian Hindu organization.
The holy initiation of Swami Shankarananda and Swamini Geetananda into the Holy Order of Sannyasin took place in India on Mahashivaratri day which falls on February 18, 2023, which is also a very important day in the Hindu calendar.
Two new Swamis have risen in the spiritual journey, have dutifully offered devotions to various masters and Gurus.
Some members of the Hindu community in Ghana who were present at the event expressed their great joy at witnessing the two initiates into Monkhood.
“I am very happy to come here today to be part of this great program because it is the first time, we are celebrating the initiation of two Swami Ghana, a young man and also the first woman and that makes me very happy” student and main member of the African Hindu Monastery, branch Accra, Om Ebo Crentsil, expressed his opinion.
Another participant in the event who performed the Hindu ritual that welcomed the Swamis, Mr. Kofi Dadzie added: “We are blessed to see this happen because it has been expected. The path to enlightenment is the ultimate goal for every Hindu, so that people of such a famous caliber to undergo training and finally to be initiated as a Swamis is extraordinary”.
An Indian businessman living in Ghana Satish also answered, “Our swamis are full of knowledge, and they are for the world, so anyone regardless of religion can come to them and ask for advice to be guided in their daily life and journey to God.”
“As women we are very happy that for the first time, we have a female monk. Finally, God is the nurturing Mother who feeds all creation and God has come to us again in the form of the glorious Swamini Geetananda” Dr. Ambe Obbeng, Pediatric Surgeon at the Hospital Ridge in Accra.
Victoria Lakshmi Hamah, former Deputy Minister of Communications to the late John Dramani Mahama, could not be saddened by the excitement of the event, saying: “Finally there is hope for Dharma in Ghana and Africa”. He added that the right life is the best recipe for all problems in Africa and that if Africans understand the concept of Oneness it will liberate Africa”
Now known as Swami Shankarananda, the birth name of Ignatius Bright Sewornu and later became Brahmachari Viveka when he was initiated as a Brahmachari (which is the main step into the life of a monk) by His Holiness Swami Satyanand Saraswati of eternal transition.
Swami Shankarananda was born into a Christian family and worshiped in the Evangelical Methodist Church of Christ, but he later explored Buddhism and eventually found Hinduism entirely before he was 14 years old.
In 2009, Swami Shankarananda joined the African Hindu Monastery, Ghana, and then traveled to India, where he studied at the most prestigious Chinmaya Mission Vedanta program under the divine tutelage of Swami Tejomayananda from 2020 to 2022.
Similarly, Swamini Geetananda, also born Mabel Dadzie, was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana before discovering Hinduism.
Introduced to Hinduism by his brother, he joined the African Hindu Monastery, Ghana in 1983, and in 1985 enrolled in a discipleship course organized at the Monastery under the divine guidance of Swami Ghananand Saraswati who became the first Black African Hindu. monk.
He worshiped with the African Hindu Monastery for many years and was initiated as a Brahmacharini in 2018 by His Holiness Swami Satyananda Saraswati, and was given the name of the monastery Brahmacharini Adimata.
He also later embarked on a journey to India to seek further spiritual enlightenment and was accepted to study at the most prestigious Chinmaya Mission Vedanta program under the tutelage of God Swami Advayananda from 2021 to 2022.
Although both of them would go to India for further studies at different times, they would meet Swami Govinda Deva Giri Maharaj, who initiated them into the Holy Order of Sannyasins of the Adi Shankaracharya lineage on the day of Mahashivaratri, which falls on February 18. 2023.
After an auspicious ceremony, the monastic names of Swami Shankarananda and Swamini Geetananda were bestowed as Brahmachari Viveka and Brahmacharini Adimata.
Not long after his initiation into the Holy Order of Sannyasin (Monkhood), Swami Shankarananda and Swamini Geetananda returned to Ghana, committed to imparting and spreading the teachings of Sanatana Dharma in Ghana and the entire African continent.
It should be noted that this Divine Achievement achieved by Swami Shankarananda and Swamini Geetananda places them both in the history of Ghana and Africa as the youngest Black Africans and the first Black African women to be initiated into the Holy Order of Sannyasin (Hindu Monkhood). respectively.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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