PRESS RELEASE (25 Nov 2010)

Pike River mine tragedy

Namaste:

Over the past few days, entire New Zealand and the world have been following the events at the Pike River mine with increasing anxiety. Our thoughts were with the families and rescuers who were working round the clock in the hope of saving the precious 29 lives of the trapped miners during this period of distress.

It is a moment of great sorrow for each one of us to hear the confirmation of such a tragedy of national magnitude. The members of Hindu Council of New Zealand join the Nation in offering prayers to give strength to the family members of the miners.

In this moment of deep sadness for all of us in New Zealand, we try to find fortitude in the verse of Bhagwad Gita that reminds us of our true nature as the eternal Atman (soul) rather than our destructible material bodies:

acche'dyo' yam adhaahyo' yam akle'dhyo' sya eva cha |
nithyah sarva-gathah sthaanoor achalo' yam sanaathanah: ||

"Uncleaveable is he (soul); he is not burnt; nor be wetted and neither be dried;
Eternal, all-pervading, stable and immovable is he from everlasting time."

ends

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