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

Christmas Tea Party Bags

The OSBM Youth Wing is interested in acts of selfless service as part of pursuing a dharma and in order to make an impact on those marginalised in society. In order for this to be achieved, we partake in many charitable events in our local community, as you can see from our previous articles. This time we are returning to Moorcroft Special School in Hillingdon in December - where we will be holding a Christmas Tea party with our very own Santa and Elf!

Youth members busy making gift bags

As a group we all decided that we wanted to give each child something for Christmas, so we came up with the idea of Christmas themed gift bags. These bags will help to bring with us the festivity of Christmas. We wanted to do this as it is quite an amazing feeling to be able to have the power to help other people. From previous experiences, being able to witness that gleeful expression on a child’s face as they see their gifts is quite remarkable.

In order for this project to be successful, the youth group has been split, randomly, into four groups. Each group has a specific theme related to Christmas. For example, Santa, Reindeer, Christmas trees and Snow/Snowmen.

Presents ready to be packed

A youth member carefully drawing out reindeer ears
to decorate gift bags with

This way there will be plethora of gifts; yet, all will be relatively similar to avoid anyone feeling left out. We purchased Christmas stationary and small toys etc in our groups and you can see the exciting outcomes below.

Our final products!

The Youth Wing's 2nd Birthday!



It is that time of the year again where we are constantly surrounded by festivities and everyone is in the Christmas spirit. At the OSBM youth wing we had another reason to celebrate at our December meeting with it also being our second birthday!

We started our monthly meeting with two great, informative student –led presentations; one being a  presentation covering a spiritual topic, in this case a presentation with the theme of materialism and the other focusing on a future charity project. Soon after we began our second birthday celebrations with an array of food, ranging from Sri Lankan delicacies to rich chocolate brownies and also decorated our meeting room with vibrant balloons.



Youth members acting out their spiritual word



After we had finished our luscious treats we began our party game; spiritual charades. Everyone was teamed up in pairs and chose a spiritual word that Ghaya Loveday, our youth co-ordinator had prepared beforehand. As each team attempted to act out their word everyone was eager to guess and contribute. Examples of spiritual words that we had were: ego, ignorance, Sadguru and bhakthi yogi, which as you can imagine were at times difficult to guess!

All in all, it was a fun, interactive, celebratory meeting full of fun and laughter whilst celebrating our 2nd birthday. We look forward to hosting  many more innovative and fulfilling charity events as well as developing our spiritual knowledge at our monthly meetings in the New Year. 

 

 

Raahul's First day at the Youth Wing

 “All true friendliness begins with fire and food and drink and the recognition of rain or frost. ...each human soul has in a sense to enact for itself the gigantic humility of the incarnation. Every man must descend into the flesh to meet mankind.” – G.K Chesterson 

Whether it’s your first day at school, work or even a day out with your friends, it is guaranteed that you will be meeting new people and facing new challenges. Perhaps that is intimidating for many, and this is natural. Despite being told many times that there was nothing to worry about, I was apprehensive about attending the OSBM Youth Meeting for the first time. There were many things on my mind in the lead up to the meeting. What would the members think of me? Will I do something that will cause them to think badly of me? These questions were duly answered throughout the duration of the Youth Wing meeting.

On the 11^th October 2014, I attended the meeting as a newcomer to the charity and its aims. I was anxious even before I stepped into the room, especially because the thought of meeting various new faces was daunting - as I expected to be alienated completely. I have met several of the youth members before, so I felt reassured as I knew that it will make it easier for me to interact with the whole group.

When I entered the room, there was a calm atmosphere. The green uniform was stunning and soft to the eye, laughter rang across the room as the members poured in. During the course of the meeting, there was an unusual sense of unity and harmony in the group. There were no squabbles and every opinion was valued. What struck me the most was the amount of participation from the students in the meeting. The meeting was mainly student led with responsibilities given to students to contribute and present to the group, allowing a stretch of freedom and an emphasis on student judgment.

The ages of the youth members differed but this didn’t change their value for each other. The youth members treated others not as friends, but as family. As a newcomer, I could sense that the OSBM Youth Wing were an inseparable unit, who constantly cared and respected one another. The OSBM Youth Wing capitalises on spirituality, and it was evident that this element was deeply rooted in each member, as their breathtaking knowledge was visible from the spiritual game we played in which we answered spiritual questions.

As it was Swami’s birthday, we blew up balloons and decorated the room with them, which was fun and also helped me co-operate with existing members. They were easy to talk to, and gladly aided me when I required help or was unsure about something. Food was brought in by several members and was distributed throughout the break session after two group presentations and tasted excellent.

Overall, the monthly meeting helped me understand not only the charity itself, but also the manner in which the members work, through co-operation and unity. All the members were friendly and I made new friends who helped me adapt to the atmosphere and therefore, it was definitely an enjoyable morning!

Swami's birthday cake

Appreciation and Gratitude

If you want to enlarge the image, please click on it.

Positive and Negative Mindsets

In our daily lives, we are bombarded with documentaries and adverts about human suffering in the Third world. Nevertheless, there is one story which doesn't cease to inspire me.

Catherine, 16, who is of the same age as me, has been a real inspiration towards my positive mindset in life. From a very young age, she has been forced to scavenge for plastic in rubbish dumps in order to help her dying mother. Should a child so young even be allowed to work in such treacherous conditions? This got me thinking and made me realise that although we were of the same age, she led a very different life to me. Despite the difficulties she endures every day, Catherine continues to work in her terrible conditions with a positive mindset. It was that day I realised little things which I took for granted mean a colossal amount to other people in Third world countries. Simultaneously, I also learnt that as a result of sheer obsession with materialistic possessions, many of us hold a negative mindset as we constantly want more and are unable to put a ceiling on our desires. In contrast, people who live in Third world countries come across as having more of a positive mind set  - as they consider every small thing they have as a privilege rather than something they feel entitled to. This is what sets us apart from them.

However, in my eyes, I see having a positive mindset as having more value in life. As in the West, whilst we might be rich in having many possessions, many of us are spiritually poor.