Sri Sri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam, Dakshinamanaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri

Clarification on the Proposed “Adi Sankara Chair” at Columbia University

June 23, 2024

The following paper clarifies the facts relating to a recent video circulating on YouTube. This is about SVBF’s plans to establish the “Adi Shankara Chair in Columbia University” in the year 2014/15. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Columbia University and SVBF was initiated but the MOU was never signed.

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The Self (Atma) is never born nor does It ever die; neither does It cease to exist after having once existed nor does the Self come into existence, like the body, having not existed before. Unborn, eternal, It undergoes no change whatsoever and is primeval; It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. Bhagavan Sri Krishna on Significance of God
A person who hears about the condemnation of another incurs sin. What need be said about the sin incurred by a man who actually engages in nit picking? Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada on Prabodha Sudhakara
If you pray with faith and devotion, the Lord will certainly listen to your earnest prayers. Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal on Significance of God
Our nation and its culture have a hoary past and we should all be proud of it. Mere aping of the West is not beneficial for us. For example, care of aged parents is something that has come down to us traditionally and we must never neglect this duty by imbibing concepts of some free societies, wherein concern for one’s own parents is at low ebb. Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal on Significance of God
It is a great blunder not to make proper use of the body and mind that has been given to us by God. Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal on Significance of God's Names