Swami Aparajitanandaji's Lecture on "Mantra for Success - Yagna Spirit"

Swamiji’s lecture on Mantra for Success was based on Chapter: 3; Verse: 10 from Bhagawad Gita, emphasizing more on Yagna Spirit.

Bhagawad Gita - Chapter 3; Verse: 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛiṣhṭvā purovācha prajāpatiḥ  
anena prasaviṣhyadhvam eṣha vo ’stviṣhṭa-kāma-dhuk

The Prajapati (the Creator), having in the beginning (of creation) created mankind together with sacrifices, said, "By this shall you prosper; let this be the milch cow of your desires - kamadhuk" (the mythological cow which yields all desired objects).

Yagna Spirit is the attitude with you must perform action in this world.

Now that we are going to be here for 7 days for Balavihar Summer Camp, you all will be performing actions as a team member with this attitude, Yagna Spirit.

Yagna Spirit focuses of 3 points

1. Pouring out our god given talent and abilities at its best.
2. Keeping the bigger picture in mind for the welfare of all.
3. In a spirit of selfless sacrifice

Examples: 

• Body Parts: Body has so many parts – eyes, ears, limbs, head etc., which performs its duty with Yagna spiritt. 
1. Eyes are to see, ears are to hear providing its best abilities.
2. Now, all these parts are working with a big picture in mind i.e. to keep body health & fit.
3. In danger, a person can survive without hand but not head, hence hands act quickly to sacrifice itself to protect head with an attitude - I don't mind being non-existent for the body to exist.

• Cricket: In a team of 11 players, each one is blessed with special talent like batting, bowling, wicket keeper, running etc.
1. Responsibility of each team member it to bring the best of their talents for the victory of their team.
2. All the team members work in complete harmony with big picture – Team’s Victory in mind.
3. If there is a possibility of run out while a tail-ender batsman & a talented batsman is on pitch. Here the tail-ender batsman would sacrifice himself to help the talented batsman to continue to play his best for the team.
   In this case the tail-ender batsman’s personal record will go down; average score will go down, but he scarifies all this by having bigger picture – the team's victory in mind.
   This process of sacrifice of the mind will not be recorded anywhere but if the tail-ender batsman do this act, there is a great possibility that his team will win.
• Balloon Story:
  Around 50 people were seated for a management meeting. Everyone was given a balloon, asked to blow it up, write their name on it and put their balloons in a room. Now all the balloons were jumbled up.
  Later they were asked to go quickly, pick-up their balloon and come back. Everyone rushed and in the process people toppled over the other but no body could get their balloons even after 10 minutes struggle or there were one / two exceptions who got their balloon. All were asked to sit down.
  Now everyone was asked to go and pick one balloon, check the name written on it & hand-over to the person. All of them went and within a minute everyone got their own balloons.
  So the Yagna Spirit here means – I am not trying to find balloon. Whatever balloon I get, giving to the concerned person meaning self-less action.

In a nut shell, Yagna spirit means, ‘Pour out your best for the welfare of the team at the sametime, if there will be a need, sacrifice yourself for the welfare of the team’.
Wherever there is selfishness, things go for toss and wherever there is sacrifice, success & prosperity prevails.

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The way Swamiji explained Yagna Spirit with couple of stories was wonderful and definitely have sown seed of selflessness in the children to pave way to success.

Interaction with Swamiji

Swamiji ended the talk with much involved conversation with children along with little quiz. Happy to see our children walking to the dais fearlessly to unveil their views.

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Summer Camp 2018 - Day 4 - Summary

Children and celebrations are inseparable; Celebrating Gurudev’s Jayanthi in the Divine presence of  Pujya Swami Brahmanandaji, head of Chinmaya Mission, Karnataka & one of the senior most disciples of Pujya Swami Chinmayandaji, along with Swami Ramatmanandaji is a dream come true for the Children at Balavihar camp to start day 4!

Pujya Swami Brahmanandaji leading the way!

Witnessing Paduka Pooja

Children continued to learn - Narayana Sooktam from camp Acharya.

Shruthi & Vidya Didi who have been familiarising the children with abdomen breathing for 3 days, now introduced  “Kapalbhati” and “Anulom vilom” Pranayama.
“Kapalbhati” is the forceful exhalation from the stomach where the inhalation happens passively.
The warmth of the body can be well balanced to regulate heat and cold within by continuously breathing-in through one nostril & breathing-out through the other. This is called “Anulom vilom” Pranayama.
At every session / event in the camp, discipline has been inculcated effortlessly for the children.

Workshop: Empty flute in Krishna's hands

Workshop of the day was on 'Be an Empty flute in Krishna’s hands' by Shalini Didi.
She reflected the inner feelings of an empty flute’s transformation to produce melodious music in the hands of Lord Krishna.
Children were provided with one flute per team & a music note to play on the flute. They also used paper balls to block holes of the flute, whie experimenting with the kind of music produced when certain random holes get blocked.
Why Krishna can make melodious music in a flute while others cannot?
   The lesson is that one who is focused & involved like Krishna can produce spell bound music while the disoriented and wavering minds cannot. Hence, Live in the present always, says the Lord! Also, one whose mind is free from likes and dislikes, which are like clogs in the holes of the flute, is able to play divine melodious music on the flue, just like Krishna with His ever-pure mind!!
    Shalini Didi also emphasized that to enjoy life, The Krishna Way!, one should start living the Krishna Way, 'always with an infectious smile on face', 'be with an open mind' & 'win over likes & dislikes - with relevant examples.
Based on the inputs given, children were asked to prepare a chart with three things: “Open Mind”, “Likes & Dislikes” and “Learnings”. They depicted their understanding with colour and creativity at its best.
  Can democracy be taught at this age too? Yes, children were the judges for their workshop deliverables.

Gurudev Jayanti Celebration:
Special talk from Shri.Arunachalam, who was a balavihar child himself and a  Chinmaya Yuva Kendra member (CHYK) addressed the children on the “Life of Pujya Gurudev” by comparing the key take aways from the movies 'Life of Pi' and 'Sachin'. He also encouraged the children to talk about Gurudev from their learnings through the movie ‘On a Quest’.
Shri. Arunachalam added that Gurudev had a vision on how the nation needs to be built from the grassroots level.

He emphasized that the study does not stop with Balavihar and life should move on with more learnings from ‘CHYK’ and ‘Study group’. The key point here is that if one loses the continuity, then one will lose the path to the destination and hence, after Balavihar, one must continue with Yuva Kendra.

To take care of mind & intellect, we need knowledge, to gain knowledge we have Gurudev, guiding all os us through the Acharyas and Sevaks. Hence go with an open mind to listen & learn the scriptural knowledge taught by Gurudev in the most simplified form & further explained by Acharyas and sevaks.

Swami Ramatmanandaji took the children to the world of the Lord through his bhajan - Narada Prahlada, which had josh filled with devotion!!!

We witnessed paduka pooja for this special occasion of Gurudev Jayanti by chanting Shri Chinmaya Ashtottarashata Namavali.

Swamiji's Lecture: "Who decides the destiny?"

Swami Aparajitanandaji's lecture was on the 'Laws of the Universe' with examples that kindled the children
in the spiritual direction! The laws are

1. As your thoughts, so will be the state of your mind
2. Purer the mind, greater the control over your mind
3. As your thoughts, so will be your personality
4. As your thoughts, so will be the world perceived by you
5. As your thoughts, so will be the world formed around you
6. As you sow, so shall you reap

The session was interactive and the youngsters participated very well.

Refer Swamiji's lecture on "Who decides your destiny?" for more details.

The heavens opened today!
Yes, Varuna Bhagawan showered his blessings to cool Mother Earth in this hot summer.

What else does one need when you have home made mango jellies all the way from Bangalore (made with love by Mrs. Arunachalam) and crispy Kadalai Pori while witnessing the summer rain surprise!

An hour of free playtime in wet lawn with drizzling still-on was thrilling.

All were back to Lord Omkareshwara for 6:30pm Aarati and chanting time started with ‘Dasavatara Stotram’, learning ‘Balamukundashtakam’ and  ‘Deenabandhu Ashtakam’, followed by Bhajans - ‘Shankara Bhola Bhala’, ‘Om namo nama Om’  and ‘Ananta roopa ananta nama’.

Birthday of people born during holidays routinely gets overlooked amid the holiday chaos, friends are out of town, greetings are belated and children born during the months of April and May in India are no exception. They never get to celebrate in Schools / Colleges!
So was for Sahitha, until now. But her 12th birthday on Gurudev Jayanti coincidently in Balavihar Summer Camp at Chokkahalli would be a memorable one for her entire lifetime where all the children and volunteers whole heartedly sang Janma dinam idam in Omkareshwara Temple. A blessed birthday indeed!

Sahitha's Birthday @ Chokkahalli Camp

7:00 to 8:00pm was again practice time for the valedictory day.

Aroma of authentic Vangi Bath surrounded Annapoorneshwari Hall and filled all the little tummies along with Rasam and Curd Rice.

On seeing the inquisitiveness of children, our camp acharya opened up an interactive session for kids daily from 9:00pm to 10:00pm to answer their spiritual queries!!

Yet another day passed by with hearts content....

Photo Gallery:

Children & Volunteers with Swamiji

Volunteers

Summer Camp 2018 - Day 3 - Summary

Glimpsing the glory of Ganesha when the first light of Surya Deva falls is truly mesmerizing and that’s how our third day started! 

Children were enriched with Vedic chanting - “Narayana - Sooktam”  by Swamiji and energized with Pranayama and Yogasana.
Shruthi Didi very well related how the learnings from Stargazing on the, "12-constellations" corresponding to zodiac signs, are well balanced by doing 12 sets of Surya Namaskara.

 
         
Taking risk is always icing on the cake for children, hence an adventure had been planned by  members of Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK). The quest was to find more about Lord Krishna through Kanha Trail. It was way beyond the usual treasure hunt where the children had to search, scourge and scout the entire ashram to get the clues. Well, the children had to find & channelize the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in them.
Wonderful outdoor activity for the children, with running all around the ashram following the signs & lensing for the clues.

The theme for Kanha Trail encompassed the life of Krishna from birth to death with 10 clues. The teams (Govinda, Gopala, Achutha, Mukunda, Keshava, Madhava, Murari) set out for the trail, which is a blend of tradition, spirituality, science & sport exposing the detectives in them.

 
               Kanha Trail

The CHYKs did not just end with Kanha trail but also continued in search of Nalabag in our children with “cooking without flame” activity  under the  Big Banyan tree. With limited ingredients (Cucumber, Tomatto, Onion, Lemon, Salt & Chilli powder, bread, mini pooris), we could relish 7 different dishes (one from each team).
So, mom will get a helping hand from the loved one once they are back 🤔.

 

Refer CHYK Programme for more details.

Swamiji's Lecture:

The lecture by Swami Aparajitanandaji was about three topics 

1. Protecting the mind
   Swamiji spoke on the 5 sense objects - Shabda, Sparsha, Roopa, Rasa and Gandha through which we gain knowledge from the external world. He explained the 3 levels of protection along with real life examples. This explanation is based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter: 3 Verse: 42.

• Never expose yourself to anything that would pollute your mind.
• Even when you are exposed to bad situation, show disinterest.
• If you are affected by bad thoughts, listen to your intellect over the mind to win over the bad thoughts.

       2. The ladder of fall
           Swamiji detailed the steps for the ladder of fall; as always with child- centric examples 

• Vishaya Dhyanam - Thinking of sense objects
• Sanga - desire
• Kama - intense craving
• Krodha - Anger
• Sammoha - delusion
• Smriti Vibhrama -  loss of memory
• Buddhi Nasha- Inability to think
• Sarva Nasha(Pranaasha) - Total destruction 

       3. Recovering from the fall
           Swamiji spoke on 5 point technique to overcome the fall

• Observe thoughts
• Detect the negative
• Eliminate the negative
• Substitute with positive
• Strengthen the mind with repeated substitution

 Refer Swamiji's lecture on "Winning the evil mind" for more details.

Children had masala bonda with badam milk and were jumping in joy for an hour of play time.

All were back to Omkareshwara temple for 6:30pm Aarati and chanting time started with ‘Guru Stotram’, learning ‘Gurupaduka Stotram’ followed by Bhajans - ‘Raat Shyam’, ‘Ananta Roopa ananta nama’ and ‘Shankara Bhola Bhala’.

The 7 teams huddled together at 7:10pm with their mentor-sevika to plan for the skit around the allotted Krishna story.

Over & above the lecture & Vedic chanting by Swamiji, children enjoy break-time and post-meal Q & A session on life, existence and God with him.

Children had dinner and retired for the day!

Summer Camp 2018 - Day 2 - Summary

Waking up to the chirping birds in close proximity to nature while sun rays penetrate through the windows is a heavenly experience for the city folks and our children are fortunate to have this experience in Balavihar camp!

Boiling water for bath

Matrons are all set to wakeup the children, get ready for morning sessions. 

When solar water heater or instilled boiler are not producing enough hot-water, water is heated as in the picture, using broken wood from the fallen tree or husk, shell & dried leaves from coconut tree, which are readily available all over the ashram.

All children assembled in Omkareshwara Temple on time at 7:00am for morning session.

Swamiji spoke about the Pancha Praanas that govern the body, how these pancha praanas  works on the food consumed, gets converted into energy, purified & the waster is evacuated from the human system.

The technique adopted to regulate pancha pranas is called Pranayama. Yogis get eternal life with longevity is via disciplined practice of Pranayama. Now the children started anticipating upcoming yoga session. 

Vedic Chanting & Yoga:

Swamiji set the stage for Vedic Chanting by explaining difference between Shloka & Mantra; i.e. Revealed Knowledge by Rishi's when they are in deep meditation is called Mantra whereas composed ones like Bhagavad Gita are called Shloka. Hence Vedic Mantra is defined as revealed knowledge uttered by Rishi's in their deep meditation which is ultimately the message from the Lord.

With all the positive vibrations from Vedic Chanting - Narayana Sooktam children enjoyed the rhythmic, fast paced, Custom made yoga taught by Shruthi and Vidya Didi. No doubt that by end of the camp, both body and mind will be completely synchronized.

Vedic Chanting

We all went to Annapoorneshwari Hall for relishing South Indian staple food - Idly and gathered back for chanting session.

Children have learnt full Gurustotram & Dasavatara Stotram by now and started Gurupadhuka Stotram through Sevikas.

Special Lecture: Importance of Temples

The lecture of the day was from Sandhya Didi on “Importance of Temples”, where she walked through the evolution of human from Animal Man -> Man Man -> God Man; 
She touched upon the following very eloquently with visuals

• God came into existence out of fear and wonderment
• Temples were built when mankind felt that we need to be specially together
• Idol is the concentration of all the super natural power & positive energy in one particular form
• Essentials parts of a temple
• Similarity between structure of a temple & Human body
• Types of Idols in Temple & Idol posture
• Pooja has to be done in temple everyday to activate 5 senses 

Thanks to Sandhya Didi for making the children's initial steps to the Spiritual journey more stronger.

Refer Importance of Temples for more details.

Workshop: Board Games to cross obstacles

Rashmi Didi set a base for the camp theme "Enjoy Life, The Krishna Way!" with the divine start of story around Krishna Avatar, talking birth of Krishna & migration from Mathura to Gokula overcoming the obstacles on the way.

Children were asked to prepare a board game per team on how the divinity can help overcome obstacles; relating to the hardships that Vasudeva underwent while taking infant Krishna from Mathura to Gokula & how the almighty's blessings evaded all of it. The workshop was a great team work & a platform for kids to exhibit their creativity with a spiritual touch, delivering unique board game per tam. We always empower children at Balavihar & the opportunity to assess the board games across the teams by the children was no surprise.

At Ashram, our lunch & dinner starts only after chanting Bhagawad Gita Chapter 15 & so was Day - 2's lunch.

Swamiji's Lecture:

Swamiji addressed the children on Mastering the mind, elaborating with real life examples on how to train and discipline your mind to be your best friend to guide you in righteous path. Our children are for sure liberated from being slaves of their mind and instilled with good habits after the revered lecture from Swamiji.

Refer Swamiji's Lecture - Mastering the mind for more details.

All took a break for crispy Avalakki & Badam Milk.

Dahi Handi:

Outdoor games for Day-2 was organized by Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK) team who understands that children cannot "Enjoy Life, The Krishna Way!", without having the fun & frolic of steeling & relishing yummy butter, hence the game  “Dahi Handi” in the lawn in front of Chinmaya Ganapati!

CHYK Team with Acharya

The entire camp children were divided into 8 groups, . Each group had wise planning & practise to form a pyramid to help the little krishna to break 'Dhahi Dandi'
Wow! all the teams made their best effort to break the pot & succeeded as well.

Dahi Handi

Dahi Handi

Gopas & Gopis are back for evening Arathi, learning & chanting Gurupaduka Stotram and Bhajans - Anantha Roopa & Raat Shyam from sevikas.

Children were awaiting for 9:00pm to learn & visualize the stars & constellations from Shri. Prashanth V Kumar.
Yes, that's Stargazing and our children had the golden opportunity to learn and visualise the stars and constellations through Prashant Anna's passionate learnings.
He explained constellation as a group of stars that make an imaginary shape in the night sky. They are usually named after mythological characters, people, animals and objects. Further he made all effort to explain Saptarishi mandala which helps us to find north pole when you want to locate yourself or find directions without equipments like Compass. Opposite to Saptarishi mandala is the biggest constellation called Southern cross or Pegasus. Likewise he went on locating all the 12 zodiac constellations viz. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces.

Stargazing - Shri. Prashanth

Ganapati under Focus Light

We have ensured that wide varieties of foods are served including fruits, juice, salads, badam milk and complan at different times.

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Camp Song - May 2018

Come enjoy life the Krishna way (2)

Keep smiling is his message

Live in the the present is what he says (repeat both lines)

Come enjoy life the Krishna way(2)

Murli manohara Krishna Krishna jaya (2)

Tumne hamein Geeta diya

Geeta ne jeena sikhaya (repeat both lines) 

Murli manohara Krishna Krishna (2)

Make us an empty flute in your hands O Krishna

Fill us up with divinity and humanity O Krishna 

U brought Gurudev into our lives

Gurudev brought you into our thoughts

U brought Gurudev into our lives

Gurudev brought you into our hearts

Come enjoy life the Krishna way (2)

Keep smiling is his message

Live in the the present is what he says 

Come enjoy life the Krishna way(2)

Murli manohara Krishna Krishna jaya (2)

Tumne hamein Geeta diya

Geeta ne jeena sikhaya  

Murli manohara Krishna Krishna (2)

Come enjoy life the Krishna way (2)

Murli manohara Krishna Krishna (2)

the Krishna way (3)

                              - Composed by sevika - Rajalakshmi Srikanth