Moorcroft School Volunteer Day 2015

On the 28^th of November, we volunteered at Moorcroft School. We had a lovely day and we all enjoyed helping out as shown by the number of people who turned up to offer their help and by the contributions in food for the 69 children we helped serve food to (with a few of our members baking cupcakes and bringing in handmade sandwiches for the children).

The event started out with us bringing some plates, cups and various portions of food to the school and setting up an eating area with everything laid out nicely; this was appreciated by the staff at the school who were also aiding in the event.This occasion was designed to allow the children to have some Christmas fun out of home (with Christmas approaching) and this was achieved by Santa showing up - which the children were overjoyed about- and the festive Christmas music we chose to play in the background (along with the festive attire of some of our number). The various areas of the event we aided in were the raffle drawings, the catering and a nearby food stall for the adults which we think really brought everybody together.

Youth members interacting with the children

Parents and children enjoying the day

We were all very delighted to have been a part of this successful day and we hope to be able to help out next year!

Swami's Birthday Celebrations!

                                                           Om Sharavanabhava! 

During October two members of the youth wing were fortunate enough to attend Swami’s Birthday Celebrations and Navaratri Celebrations in Swami’s Ashram in Sreekrishnapuram, India.

The week leading up to Swami’s birthday celebrations was full of charitable activities conducted by Swami himself. Many programmes were held where basic necessities were distributed to those in need. The necessities included food bags containing rice and grains, clothes, all things we often take for granted.

Below you can see Swami visiting underprivileged families where more often than not at least one family member was incredibly ill. In every house Swami visited, the care and concern he showed each person was admirable. 

Food bags ready to be distributed 

Swami visiting the ill

On Swami’s official birthday, the 11^th of October, the Ashram was full of people. Over 10 000 devotees attended the event including devotees from countries across the globe such as UK, Swiss, Canada and Germany. The programme lasted the whole day with speeches from representatives of Swami’s centres in various countries updating everyone on charitable activities, an auspicious pada pooja was also conducted for Swami and Swami gave an inspiring satsang and ensured every single person present received his Dharshan. 

Pads pooja being conducted for Swami. 

On the 12^th of October Navaratri programmes began in Sreekrishnapuram. Navaratri is a time where the Divine Mother is worshipped in her various forms: Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati. Everyday poojas were conducted in the morning and evening worshipping the Divine Mother also known as Shakthi, strength and praying for world peace.

Our experience 

We were incredibly lucky to have spent 13 days with Swami in Sreekrishnapuram. The entire time we were there, we felt like we were in another world. We forgot about work, school; there was nothing on our mind. There was always a serene, positive and relaxed atmosphere that we have not been able to experience anywhere else. Also spending time with Swami was enjoyable as always. Every single person in the Ashram was so welcoming and loving, we felt as if we were part of a big family.

All in all it was such was a beautiful spiritual experience, and hopefully we can visit again soon!

The view from the accommodation

The Murugan temple and Shiridi Baba temple

November Meeting 2015

Our November meeting was brightened by the arrival of many new members, expanding the diversity of our Youth Wing more so than ever before, as Swami’s vision reaches out to young members so they can also infuse society with positive contributions.

Today’s focus was debating on spiritual topics, where the Youth Wing was split into 4 groups and within the groups, the members separated for and against the notion. The topic that instigated the most discussion was the idea of Karma, and whether it exists or not.

Karma means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Essentially, many people see karma as what goes around comes around, if you “do good” to someone, that positive quality will be reciprocated back in the future.

While some members did believe in the concept of Karma, others did not. We debated that many people use the excuse of karma to take revenge on individuals, rather than letting nature take its course. Moreover they questioned why many people are suffering in third world countries, even though they did not commit any bad deeds.

The aim of the debate was to get the members involved and to voice their opinions, which would help new members interact and take part in out group discussions, so they can be more confident and make friends with the other members. 

September Meeting 2015

We had our first meeting of the academic year last week and, with the month of September being a time of new beginnings; we were delighted by the number of new members. We had new members ranging from the ages of eleven to sixteen, making our strong Youth Wing even more diverse, and allowing more of the youth to join our journey.

 

The meeting started with a brief introduction of our aims and what we have done as a Youth Wing to contribute to society.  This allowed us to reflect on what we have accomplished so far and prompted us to get started on discussing new ideas for future fundraising events.

 

Each OSBM meeting usually revolves around one main topic and this month we focused on self-reflection. We talked about what we perceive to be the ‘ideal’ person, both externally and internally. Having all had similar ideas, it was clear that an ‘ideal’ person is expected to some key qualities in today’s society such as compassion, positivity and honesty.

 

We were then set the task of finding our core qualities. Each of us picked an ‘allergy’, a characteristic seen in other people that we find hard to withstand. The opposite of the ‘allergy’ was our ‘core quality’ which we used to identify our ‘pitfall’, the extreme version of our core quality. The positive opposite of our ‘pitfall’ was then found to be the ‘challenge’ that arose from our core quality. Therefore, we were able to see ourselves in a different light by stopping to think about the core quality that makes a valuable part of our unique personalities. Discovering our pitfalls and challenges also gave us some perspective on our approaches to certain situations that make us uncomfortable and ways in which we can improve our attitudes. The most valuable lesson was learnt when we considered the four categories as a whole and realised that, by finding a balance, we would be able to make the most out of our core quality for both ourselves and others.

 

 

 

 

This meeting was a great success and, with the joining of new members and a profound self-reflection activity, also proved to be a positive start after our summer break. As the Youth Wing continues to grow, we are eager to continue taking initiative and committing ourselves to make more positive contributions to society.

Sports Day 2015

Om Sharavanabhava!

 

On the 8^th August, it was a great pleasure and blessing that the OSBM Youth Wing were able to spend a whole day with Swami and other devotees in a fun-filled sports day. The sports day consisted of many activities, some of which were even led by Swami himself, for all ages of both genders. For example, some of the activities included ‘Lemon and Spoon’ races, cricket, rounders, netball and football.

 

We began the day by singing the National Anthem as Swami hoisted the British Flag. Encouraging speeches were then given by Swami himself, along with important members in the community like the Mayor, reminding us to that the most important thing about Sports Day was to ‘have fun’.

 

Children and parents were all very keen and excited to take part in the activities that had been planned for them. With the rest of the devotees, the OSBM Youth Wing also participated in the sports day. Girls won a few games of netball and even played with the older women in their netball games. It was a great feeling to see everyone getting involved including the adults. The boys had also taken part in football games, representing the OSBM Youth Wing. This portrayed how important inclusion is.

 

Whilst taking part in the sports, a few members of the Youth Wing also kindly helped sell food at the canteen and some were even selling sweets to help raise money.

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, which was the aim of the day! It was an exciting experience for me and it is definitely an occasion for us all to look forward to every year!

 

 

Click on picture to view Sports Day video

Sponsored Walk for the Blind

On the 19^th of July, more than 350 people including OSBM youth members gathered at Hainult Forest Country Park for Om Sharavanabhava Seva Trust’s first sponsored walk.

 

The money raised from this sponsored walk was used to help the blind in Sri Lanka. A portion of the funds raised also went to Woodland Trust, a charity in the UK, keen to protect nature.

 

 

Charity walk for Om Sharavanabhava Seva Trust

 

 

Despite the early start, everyone was eager to begin the 5 mile walk especially with Swami being there to take the lead. We began the walk enthusiastically and our energy amplified throughout as we all chanted mantras, danced and even ran parts of the walk.

 

As we walked through the scenic setting, we were greeted by sevadals at six pit stops, who were there ready to quench our thirst. The number six was chosen especially to symbolise the six abodes of Lord Murugan.

 

Walking with Swami was a truly divine experience, the positive vibration and energy was unmatchable. We were all unaware of the time and before we knew it we had completed the 5 mile walk.

 

The sponsored walk was undoubtedly a success. It was truly a day filled with enlightenment in the presence of Swami and we all felt privileged to be able to help towards such worthwhile causes. We now look forward to the next sponsored event which we hope will be as successful as this one.

 

 

Sponsored Walk

Guru and Disciple

With Guru Poornima just around the corner, it felt right to write about the relationship between The Guru and The Disciple.

 

Guru Poornima, like All Saints Day of the Catholic Church, is a day in which all Gurus are celebrated.  Poornima is when the moon is at its highest realisation; it is the full moon day. The ‘Gu’ in Guru refers to the darkness, which assumes the form of ignorance, and the ‘Ru’ is a representative of radiance in the form of spiritual knowledge, which dispels this darkness that fills our life in the form of ignorance. The Guru is likened to the moon, whose light shines on us through the utmost darkness.  Hence, on the day of a full moon in July we celebrate and honour our Guru.

 

The Guru-disciple relationship is one that has been present throughout all ages of the world and is vital to its functioning.  Through fables, art and music; traditions and cultures have been passed down generations from guru to disciple. So it can be said the relationship between a Guru and Disciple is a part of all institutions and organisations.

 

This relationship and tradition is not one that is modern, rather it is said to be ancient and present throughout all of time.  It has led to some even saying that Gurus were present before the advent of man and such a statement is irrefutable since they were said to be in the form of nature guiding the seasons and the circle of life – animals and plants alike. Even the ancient Greek, Egyptian and Atlantis civilisations were based on the Guru-disciple relationship.  The Guru-disciple relationship is one that was and is universal.

 

 

Ego

The theme “Ego” was presented by several youth members during a spiritual presentation at our monthly youth meeting. The ego is an identity of our own construction, an identity which can be false.  If we take all the beliefs of who we are – beliefs about our personality, talents, and abilities – we have the structure of our ego. 
 

 

 

 

The ego is normally viewed as a negative quality because it often suppresses all the positive qualities in us. Negative results of the ego can be witnessed all around us everyday. A relatable scenario to most is showing our superiority complex in our family, often resulting in unnecessary disputes and quarrels amongst family members. Another place where the ego comes to being is in a working environment. When one person is praised by his or her manager and he or she may feel superior to their colleagues and begins treating them differently, often with less respect. An egoist person sees everything under a magnifying glass and often finds faults within others before introspection. The ego can make us fight and argue for the sake of being right rather than focusing on the truth.

 

 

 

However, a youth member explained to us that there is a positive ego and shared how he uses it to help him in his life. This is what he said “The ego can also aid us, if we know how to use it. The ego gives you self –confidence. Self-confidence is a requisite in life, without it you will never have the determination to improve yourself or be able to experience life to its fullest by taking that leap of faith."

 

 

To conclude our presentation, we discussed and asked other youth members what effects the ego has in their lives and we were more than happy to listen and share our own experiences.

 

From this session, we learnt there is both a positive and negative ego. We just need to learn how to notice and limit our negative ego and nurture our positive ego allowing us to boost our self-motivation.

 

Swami’s visit to the Youth Wing April 2015!

Om Sharavanabhava!

‘Be strong! Be strict! Be straight!’

The OSBM Youth Wing was blessed enough to welcome Swami to our monthly meeting, on the 11^th of April 2015. This is was a highly anticipated meeting with this being Swami’s second visit to the Youth Wing.

Before Swami’s arrival, the Youth Wing was fortunate enough to invite Sai Geetha Amma to the monthly meeting. Sai Geetha Amma is an active member of the Sai organisation and has been for 40 years. She came from India especially to aid Swami’s mission in the UK and was eager to address the Youth Wing. Sai Geetha Amma firstly began her speech congratulating the youth on all our achievements and endeavours throughout these past few years. She then shared with us her invaluable experiences with the Sathya Sai Organisation and the various charitable activities she undertook and led as well as her own recent experiences with Swami. Her speech was truly insightful and inspiring for us all to listen to. We all definitely learnt volumes from her motivational speech.

Sai Geetha Amma addressing the Youth Wing

Soon after Sai Geetha Amma’s speech, Swami visited the Youth Wing and the experience started with a divine satsang from Swami. Swami began his satsang delving into the idea of a Guru, and emphasised to us that a Guru is seva, service to the wider community, therefore a Guru has no form.

Swami continued his speech on the topic of seva. Firstly, he commended and appreciated all the seva that has been done and is being done by the OSBM Youth Wing. He also encouraged us to continue with our heartfelt seva,so it can reach many others within our society. Swami reminded us all that we must be role models to others among our society; when someone associates with us they must acknowledge we are a member of an establishment of dharma. Being the youths of today, we must thrive to attract only good attention to ourselves therefore endeavour to perfect our behaviour, this was a strong message conveyed by Swami.

In the satsang, Swami highlighted three qualities, which he advised us to embed into our lives: be strong (to have a strong mind through positive thoughts and to be active), be strict (to be disciplined and to have integrity) and be straight (to always be honest).  These divine pearls of wisdom from Swami deeply touched us all.

After Swami’s beautiful satsang, we all had the opportunity to see receive dharshan individually, where Swami blessed us and presented us with flowers and chocolates.

It was clear to us all from this visit, Swami was immensely proud and pleased with the Youth Wing’s achievements and seva activities. Swami’s visit not only motivated us to continue with our charitable activities but to also nurture and develop the Youth Wing.

Swami with the youths - April 2015

Below are some thoughts of youth members on the experience of seeing Swami for the first time.

‘I was initially keen to be in Swami’s presence and hear what he had to present to us. His wise and encouraging words gave us all a little something to think about, it really opened our eyes. I felt like everything that was spoken about touched each of us, individually to perfect our own lives. On the whole, it was a purely treasurable experience for all of us at the Youth Wing and I’m grateful for this experience.’

“Swamis composed tone, inspiring words and vibrant smile made me realise he’s there to guide us on our path to enlightenment, on our spiritual journey. His smile radiates a form of hope and I felt as though he is truly the epitome of love.  I hope to progress on my spiritual journey and hope to be shown the way by Swami himself. I shall never forget his words of wisdom and his vibrance and unconditional love for all. With his blessing, I hope the Youth Wing’s projects will only grow and hope his words will guide us to be better beings. “

Om Sharavanabhava!

The Blog Team

OSBM Blog Team

Aims of the blog

The OSBM blog was created in July 2014 by a blog team consisting of a group of 10 youth members. The blog team meet monthly and work on uploading articles and videos in order to raise awareness of the OSBM youth wing. The blog updates include information on how the youth wing is progressing and provides more information about the charity activities we have organised, as well as sharing spiritual ideas explored by the youth members over the last two years.

About the blog team

As part of the blog team, we have the technical team, who work on uploading articles written by members of the youth as well as working on the aesthetics and the design of the blog it self. Members of the blog group and the youth wing volunteer to write articles for the blog regularly. These are based on the monthly youth wing meetings or presentations given by the youth wing members as well as the charitable endeavours we take part in. We also have a blog editor and a sub-editor, who check and edit the articles once they have been written.  In addition to this, the blog team has created business cards for the youth wing in order to encourage other youth members to increase recognition of the youth wing. 

OSBM Business Card

Contact us:

If you are aged between 16 and 25, would like to join the youth wing and have a taste of what the meetings are like, please contact us at:

osbmyouth@gmail.com

Swami's Satsang

Om Sharavanabhava!

Swami visited the UK once again in February 2015. During his long awaited visit, Swami conducted numerous regional and community programmes over the past month with hundreds of devotees flooding in to receive his blessings. At every community and regional visit, Swami imparted his pearls of wisdom through his satsangs. His satsangs are not only pregnant with teachings and divine messages for the audience, as a whole, but there is always a specific message directed towards each and every individual in the gathering.

Swami at a regional programme in Wembley

Below is an extract from Swami’s satsang at a regional programme in Tolworth.

'A Guru gives us self-confidence that is why we go to a Guru. Yesterday a gentleman came to seek Swami’s blessings. At dharshan, this gentleman shared with Swami his sorrows and the fact that he feared he would die soon, as the gentleman was living in a situation where this was highly probable.   Swami affirmed to this gentleman, that he will in fact live for many more years. Since Swami gave him that confidence, that gentleman now has the will power and belief that he will live.

A Guru instils faith in us. Without faith, there is no life. As a result our faith must be resilient, and our faith must cultivate.

Thirdly, a Guru leads us to karma bodham. A Guru directs our karmas, often in disguise so that we fulfil our dharma.'

The message in Swami’s speech were incredibly potent, and everyone was deeply moved after hearing Swami’s soul stirring words. 

Swami at a programme in London

Team Cocoa's Spiritual Presentation - Love

At our last meeting, in February, Team Cocoa delivered a spiritual presentation based on the theme of love. This was an interesting presentation to prepare for team cocoa, as “Love” is a relatable topic for everyone. Love is a very complex feeling and everyone expresses it in different ways and forms. Everyone underestimates the effect of love on the world but without love the world would have perished a long time ago. We looked at 4 different forms of love; love through charity, affection, love within friends and the unconditional love which Swami conveys.

One of the greatest displays of love, in our youth wing's eyes is Swami. Swami acknowledges no barriers of any kind including nationality, caste, community, gender, ethnicity, race, wealth, or religion. Swami’s message is powerful but simple – unconditional love of which he is a living embodiment. Swami’s actions are selfless; his life is dedicated to spreading the message of love, positive energy, and compassion among humanity. He emphasises that love should be at the centre of our existence – Swami has once said, “the world is love, love is our life.” 

Swami shows his love to all his devotees by treating everyone equally. He is omnipresent and ensures this love is evident to his devotees wherever he is. He has visited people not always as himself but in a different form for example as a cat and showed that love can be found anywhere as long as you show it yourself. Swami’s love cannot be found anywhere else and he always has a way to make you smile. In his satsangs, Swami has highlighted the importance of our parents - the unconditional love they show to us is what we must show back to them. Selfless service is something swami encourages all his devotees to engage with. This is one way we can show our love to the rest of the community. 

January 2015 Meeting

This month’s meeting took place on Saturday 24^th January and it was a little different to our usual meetings. Recently, it was Tom Loveday’s birthday (youth wing coordinator) and as a result all the youth came together to do a surprise birthday for him. It was quite important for us to do this as Tom has done a lot for us as the youth and therefore the small celebration of his birthday was a means to say thank you.

Balloons were blown, the room was decorated and the lights were switched off. Everyone was waiting in great anticipation for Tom’s arrival. As he came in through the double doors, the youth shouted “SURPRISE!”

The big moment!

The youth brought a huge variety of food such as samosas, crisps, rolls etc. A delicious cake was also brought in by a youth member to celebrate the day. We hope Tom liked the surprise!

In our January meeting a group of youth members presented their spiritual presentation on “Ego”. This was a very interesting presentation delivered by the group as it is an aspect in life which is relatable to everyone. We also did icebreakers which consisted of everyone sharing their thoughts on the idea of ego and telling each other of situations where their ego took advantage. A lot was learnt from their presentation about the ways to control your ego and how to prevent your ego from hindering your success.

Sponsored Walk from Wembley Stadium to the London Eye

 

On the 22^nd December, 7 of our OSBM Youth Wing members undertook an exciting adventure from Wembley Stadium to the London Eye, all on foot! Our aim was to raise money for the charity. Through the sponsorships we received, we will be able support the underprivileged in South Asia. We did this by asking our friends and family to sponsor us for the event. As a result, we raised a staggering total of £604.

 

Our journey begins!

It was an exercise in resilience and teamwork to walk 10 miles in festive outfits but we were able to overcome the challenge.

The money we raised for this walk was specifically for the 108 orphaned children in Swami's care in India who lead a less privileged life than us. Our motivation was to fundraise enough to help them continue their education which is their way out of the trap that is poverty.

We began our adventure in front of Wembley Stadium and headed towards our ultimate goal, the London Eye. To keep our spirits high, the group sang songs, danced and tried to make people smile during what seemed like a busy festive period.

 

After 5 hours of walking, we finally reached the London Eye. Even though we did walk for a long time, it was our group’s resilience, motivation from fellow members and the upbeat atmosphere that allowed us to overcome this challenge and become successful. All in all, we enjoyed this great day and hope to do more fundraising projects in the future

Success!

Christmas Tea Party at Moorcroft Special School!

On 19^th December 2014, the youth members returned to Moorcroft Special School in order to merrily organise a Christmas themed tea party for all 65 school children. Youth members worked together in the morning to prepare an array of freshly made sandwiches and had prepared Christmas themed gift bags, in a previous youth meeting, for the children. We were once again very grateful to be generously provided with a variety of nut free cakes from Karen Woods, at the Just Love Food Company, which the children thoroughly enjoyed!

 

 

 

Nut free Cakes

The Christmas themed party commenced with enthusiasm from both youth members and the children at Moorcroft. Both the children and youth members really delved into the Christmas spirit as Christmas songs echoed through the room and various party games were played - such as pass the parcel, followed by various energetic rounds of musical statues, where a youth member dressed as Santa judged the children and rewarded the winners with various prizes. At the end of the tea party, Santa Claus, and another youth member who dressed up as an Elf, surprised the children with the party bags, which were stashed with goodies for the children to enjoy, and was a memento of the day.

 

 Our own elf and Santa

Christmas

 

 

The children were ecstatic to receive these party bags, as youth members had packed four different kinds, and to see Santa. This was very rewarding for us youth members to witness - as giving to others is what truly made us happy, more than any material gift we could have received, and it enabled us to really think about the true spirit of Christmas. We are very grateful to Moorcroft Special School for providing us with this wonderful opportunity to serve in our community and give us the chance to touch the lives of others, in any small way that we can as a youth wing.

The Crew