Pearls of Wisdom

Om Sharavanabhava 

Below is a compilation of quotes by our beloved Swami: 

'Internalise my words to eliminate chaos from your life.' 

'Convert your actions into offerings' 

'Work requires strength. Strength requires self-confidence! This is the weapon to negotiate the forest of worldly existence!' 

'Failure is easy but success is hard! Strive for victory!' 

'Strive hard to achieve self-realisation! We have taken birth only to accomplish that goal!' 

'Only with peace is there beauty.' 

'Live in the present. Avoid pondering on the future or the past.' 

'Nothing is impossible if we are grounded in wisdom.' 

'The love you display to other human beings is equal to your love to God.' 

'Tests are essential in life. Any sorrow is a test.' 

'Wisdom is an avenue to cleanse all.' 

'Our words must bring only love; solace and comfort; they must not cause injury to anyone.' 

  

'Human birth is meant to erase past mistakes and take the first step to salvation!'

'The potency of prayer is increased and heightened when it is performed collectively!'

'We should develop hunger for devotion and wisdom.' 

'Our happiness is our wealth.' 

'Dharma must be embedded in every action in our lives.' 

Satguru Sri Sharavanababa 

Mother's Day

What is Mother’s Day?

Mother’s Day is a day which we show appreciation to our mothers for all the good they do for us. It is a day in which today’s generation cherish their mothers with lots of flowers, chocolates, and gifts. However currently, Mother’s Day is actually becoming increasingly commercialised, a profitable day for business owners with companies generating income through the sales of Mother’s Day gifts, and novelty items as well as cards. Sometimes we can forget about the true essence of Mother’s Day believing it is sufficient to solely give our mothers a material gift. 

The true purpose of celebrating Mother’s Day is to give that one day of rest for our mothers as a thank you for doing everything for us, their children and to show our appreciation, which we can forget to show on a day to day basis. 

Ultimately Mother’s Day should be about us, as children, embracing our mothers with our love and not fully focused on material items. Instead the greatest gift for a mother would be her child’s presence and undivided attention. 

As Swami states “Respecting others is true devotion”, and respecting our mothers is one of the highest forms of devotion which is something we should remember every day, with our mothers being one of the four fundamental pillars of our lives. 

This Mother’s Day we had the beautiful opportunity to be in Swami’s presence in the UK and were able to receive Swami's motherly blessings. Many devotees perceive Swami as their mother with Swami constantly showering upon us all unconditional love, supporting us in times of need and guiding us through this world of Maya (illusion). 

A few of the many qualities of a mother 

January Meeting

As it was the beginning of the year, the January meeting consisted of a student led presentation by some members of the youth on the topic of the New Year and New Year resolutions.

In the first hour we had a presentation in which we were quizzed about how different cultures across the world celebrate New Year’s Day, expanding our knowledge about different cultural practises. Then as a group we also discussed our perception on New Year resolutions and whether the goals we choose are achievable hence a source of motivation or do we often set goals which are unrealistic or overly ambitious within a set time frame and the consequences this can have on our mindset. 

Planning a New Year's resolution 

We also played a game of articulate, where we were all split into small groups and were given a spiritual term which we had to explain to our teammates so that they can try and guess what the word was, without saying the given word. This game livened up the session with all members of the youth becoming actively involved in the game. 

The following 2 hours consisted of analysing spiritual quotes in groups, followed by role plays in groups based around the topic of ‘Sympathy and Empathy’, and we explored how they are both completely different concepts. Sympathy is when you feel sorry for someone’s misfortune whereas empathy is when you can understand someone’s sorrow and share their emotional experience, creating a connection. It was an insightful activity highlighting the important differences between these two words which are often used interchangeably. 

Christmas Presents for the Elderly

In our monthly meeting on Saturday 9th of December 2017, we spent the session gift wrapping Christmas presents we bought for the elderly residents at Elsley Court. In the lead up to the meeting, we worked as a team to buy a range of Christmas presents which included gorgeously scented candles and beautifully packaged lotions and soaps as well as many other types of gifts. During the meeting itself, we wrapped these presents and wrote Christmas cards for each and every resident, hoping to bring a smile to the elderly during the festive season. We were delighted to see that the residents were pleased with their gifts and many residents were in disbelief to be receiving Christmas presents.      

A wide range of Christmas presents for the elderly ready to be wrapped 

Youth members with the gift wrapped presents 

Elsley Court residents showing their appreciation for their Christmas presents

Additionally, during the meeting we celebrated the OSBM Youth Wing’s 5th birthday with cake and food and enjoyed festive games. 

Youth members cutting a cake in celebration of the youth wing's 5th birthday