Tough Mudder

A group of older youth wing members have decided to participate in Tough Mudder on the 25^th of September to raise money for both Swami’s charity and Great Ormond Street Hospital’s charity. Tough Mudder is a 12 mile mud obstacle course. This obstacle course will test our determination and our mental and physical strength with a range of activities. There will be more than 14 obstacles including swimming through a stretch ice, running through electric wires and climbing up a 15 foot pipeline.

Arctic Enema Obstacle

Rain Man Obstacle

This will involve a huge amount of physical training in the lead up to the event.  As well as a physical challenge, this will be a mental challenge and Swami has always stated to us all that with mental strength and self-belief we can accomplish anything that we want to. We aim to complete the course with this mentality.

Electroshock Therapy Obstacle

Mud Mile Obstacle

We will update the blog once we have completed the event.

Everest Obstacle

Birth Canal Obstacle

Blockness Monster Obstacle

Being vegetarian!

This is the journey of one of our youth member's becoming a vegetarian.

At the beginning of January 2016, I made a sudden decision to challenge myself to be a vegetarian. Being a meat-eater I knew I would find this challenge exceedingly difficult. However, being aware of the benefits to be a vegetarian encouraged my thought and was the basis of my sudden change in diet.

Week 1

This was definitely by far the hardest week, I was struggling with my choices of dishes at home and at school as there was limited availability of vegetarian dishes. Also, I found it tedious as I was extremely cautious about what I was consuming, but somehow I managed to remain vegetarian.

Week 2

This week was much better as being vegetarian turned out to be like my normal routine. This week I recognised some changes about me. First of all, it helped me with my revision, as my concentration span had increased and for the first time I actually stood by my revision timetable for that week, which was great!

Week 3

By this week eating vegetarian dishes were like second nature, but I still had to be very cautious on what I was eating. I noticed further changes about myself, but I wasn’t the only one, the people around me had identified changes about me too. Firstly, I recognised my urge for fitness had increased and my mind was more alert. I was a calmer and a more collected person and composed myself better than I ever did.

Overall, it was a challenging but rewarding experience. It was surprised by how much my diet influenced my mindset and how soon I become accustomed to being a vegetarian. I would definitely recommend being a vegetarian for a few days a week, even if it difficult to be a complete vegetarian. 

A quote from Swami

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita (“Gita”) is a Hindu scripture encompassing powerful spiritual messages. The concept of dharma, bhakti and the yogic ideals of moksha are reiterated throughout the Gita.

Whilst Prince Arjuna’s duty asa warrior was to fight the righteous war between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Lord Krishna is his charioteer and spiritual guidehelping him to fulfil his dharma. He supported Prince Arjunaby providing him with divine knowledge on the battlefield. 

Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna

One significant principle Lord Krishna expressed to Prince Arjuna was, “No one should abandon their duties because he sees defects in them. Every action, every activity, is surrounded by defects as a fire is surrounded by smoke.” As humans, we often aim for perfection and expect life to be one easy ride. When we face challenges or obstacles, we struggle to think of the different ways we can overcome them. We fail to realise that every act may have positive and negative outcomes or the outcome may not even be clear during the early stages. For example, a doctor may fear to treat a patient if, during the process the patient may experience severe pain or if there is a low success rate. If doctors neglect their duty to provide medical care, doctors will not be pursuing their own dharma. Each and every individual has a different purpose and duty to fulfil. There may be doubts and challenging situations to face on the way. However, it is imperative to embrace your duties and accept that every act and result is likely to have consequences, which we must be able to handle with a positive outlook in order to move forward.

Lord Krishna also told Prince Arjuna, “All work fetters, as all fire gives smoke. Only selfless duty saves. Surrender all deeds to me. All problems will be solved by my grace. Pride will lead only to your moral ruin.” The part of this quote which caught my eye the most was ‘only selfless duty saves’. As a Youth Wing, we have tried to demonstrate selfless duty in many different ways i.e. volunteering in the community. As humans we should seek to help others without expecting something in return. Small examples of this in day to day life include giving up your seat for others or donating clothes to charity. Furthermore, we should not allow pride to ‘ruin us’. Although pride may be considered as a positive emotion which helps individuals work harder to achieve greater success, it can turn into something abhorrent. Therefore we should keep our self-esteems limited.

The Bhagavad Gita book

Coping with stress

With the exam season in full flow, it can be easy to get sucked into revision, hard work and trying to achieve your goals. However, this can lead to us feeling stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted. 

In the run up to exams, it’s important to stay calm and take some time out to do things that you enjoy. For example, you could join a club in order to interact with other people, do some exercise and there are even colouring books for adults that help with relaxation. It’s also important that you get a good amount of sleep each night and eat clean so that you are well-rested and energised for efficient revision! 

High levels of stress can cause illness, tiredness as well as affecting your mental well-being. This can therefore affect you performance at work, university, college or school which could affect your future greatly. For instance, if you have upcoming exams but became severely ill due to stress, your ability to do the exams will fall and cause you to get lower grades than expected. This can therefore affect your future and so it is better to reduce your stress in the first place. Also, being stressed can cause you to become less social , as you will always be thinking about  what you are stressed about, which can affect your relationships with friends and family. For example, you may rather spend time doing work than spending time with friends, which could cause your relationships with people to suffer. 

Overall, rather than causing further problems by being stressed it is better to solve the problem before it becomes worse by following some of the solutions stated above.

Taking some time out will not only help you relax and perform better in your exams, but will also help you reflect and gain some perspective on your experience with exams. We are all extremely lucky to have an education and, therefore, we should make the most of this opportunity and enjoy it! 

Colouring book

Healthy lifestyle

Parents

Without our parents, none of us would be here today. Many young people of today’s generation take their parents for granted, for example they often find them embarrassing and controlling. However, they don’t realise how much their parents do for them.

When you fall over as a child, who helps you up stand on your feet again? At this moment, the parent rushes over to help their child, and cares for them affectionately. The child in return shows unconditional love for their parent. However, imagine the same situation with a teenager with their friends, they wouldn’t want their parents fussing over them as they struggle, as they would see this as an embarrassment.

Swami can be seen as a mother figure, a father figure or in any form you want to see him as. He shows unconditional love to everyone whoever they are and cares for them as a parent does for their child. Swami has stated in his speeches the importance of our parents. “Take into consideration the amount of suffering our parents have been through for you to be where you are currently. Therefore you must make them feel proud of your life”. Our parents do so much for us and we don’t even realise how their unconditional love is so significant.

This picture shows the love Swami has for his devotees who he sees as his children

Before you turn your parents away from you, think about what they did and do for you to be who you are. Imagine if your parents weren’t by your side to pick you up from your downfalls, to keep you strong through your struggles and be there when it really matters.

New Year Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions, what are they? Why do people set them? Why do people commit to them? These are all questions that are important when you want to set a New Year’s resolution for yourself or help suggest a resolution for your friends. Picture yourself on January 1^st after making your New Year’s resolution thinking that you’ll start tomorrow or in “a few days”; do you really think that you’ll start in “a few days”? NO! Of course not. That is why you must ask yourself these questions so that you know why you have an aim and to remind yourself of the purpose you have given your resolution (thus finding out if you even want to set yourself a resolution).

When looking at what a resolution is I think we should acknowledge that New Year’s resolutions originated from Romans who made promises to the Roman God Janus (which is where the name of the month January is derived from. With the evolution of these resolutions in Roman times came New Year’s resolutions that knights in the medieval era made out of honour and now, what they are currently known for: making promises to oneself for the New Year.

People’s New Year’s resolutions vary from big to small changes in their life. The importance of setting a New Year’s resolution varies in every individual as some take it as a fresh start to the New Year however some may not think of it as an important factor. Some people argue against this, as they believe that if you want to set a goal you shouldn’t need to wait until New Year’s Day and should just form a part of your daily routine. Professor Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire stated that only one in 10 of us will reach our goals. This shows that New Year’s resolutions are not taken very seriously in comparison to setting a realistic goal on a normal day.

On the other hand, many would agree that setting new year’s resolution is beneficial as in reality majority of the population don’t set goals in the fear of failure. Therefore, a new year’s resolution is considered as a fun alternative which wouldn’t be seen as a failure if broken.

We wish everyone who are still persevering with their new year’s resolution the best of luck to reach success!

2016 Resolutions

New Year in Sreekrishnapuram

Earlier this year in January, Darshainee and I (two youth wing members) were fortunate enough to spend our New Year with Swami in Swami’s ashram in Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad. Every year, my family go to India for Christmas and spend a few days with Swami. This year we were able to spend our first new year with Swami. It was both of our first new year away from home. Both of us found it to be a magical experience as well asbeing an opportunity to learn many important messages and lessons from Swami and participate in the several New Year programmes.

My family arrived at Palakkad on the 27^th December 2015, and Darshainee and her family arrived the day before .Shortly before we arrived, Swami had gone to Chennai to aid those who had suffered in the Chennai flood, where more than 300 people had been killed and the city was a state of devastation.

On our first day, we spent the day strolling around the ashram and relaxing with Swami’s dog, Appu. It was exciting to see the preparations taking place for the New Year Celebrations. The next day, we woke up early to go to Naga (snake) temple to attend the Naga Pooja, where Swami enlightened us on the importance of praying to Naga Devas (snake Gods) on a Saturday. During the pooja we were also joined by some little kittens who had also come to watch the Pooja. We were given manjal (turmeric powder) and coconut water as prasadam at the end of the pooja.

Shortly after, we moved to the Saraswathi Mandapam, where Swami gave his beautiful discourse and awaited darshan. Later in the evening, Swami took us to Mayiladumkunndrum, which is a temple that Swami is building in Calicut. It will be the next Palani, one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan. The view from the top of Ashram was astounding and we had lots of fun. Except from the fact, we ended up getting bitten by ants.

Below is Swami’s New Year message:

''We have a strong internal connection with every atom in this universe. The universe, the womb in which we are all placed, which leads us from old to the new (constant change). Due to this we can never say that we are alone in this universe. We are enriched with all the energy that is present in the bodies of our father and mother, from whom we obtained this body. When we turn inwards and perform worship to the divinity within, the inner light manifests. Then we truly realize everything, see everything.

Realizing what has to be realized, and worshipping with sincerity that which has to be realized, our life favours our resolve. When our life is in tune with our resolve, we get to realize that we have the Almighty's grace. It is not that His grace is absent, it cannot be created, it is only to be received/absorbed. We must not be dispassionate towards anything; our thoughts must be illumined such that we are able to see the divine effulgence within everything that exists. With cleansed words and actions, we must transcend from the old to the new.

We always say, 'forget the past!', and we find this very difficult. But we must erase what is to be forgotten and highlight that which has to be remembered. Isn't this process an inseparable part of our life? We must forget the detrimental memories and cherish the truly blissful ones. Reject that which is detrimental and receive that which is beneficial (for life to proceed). Isn't this the reason why this New year has come in search of us? The basis of our life; peace of mind, physical well-being, victory in all walks of life, world peace, love and brotherhood, are all the same. May all be blessed with true knowledge and goodness. Welcome to all children across the globe, to this New Year.

The New Year Celebrations continued until 4am, but everyone was still wide awake. To end the evening celebrations, we were given deepams (lanterns) to mark the New Year.  We hope next year we get blessed with the same experiences and spend another New Year with Swami. 

 

 

 

New Year celebrations underway

 

 

Youth Wing's 3rd Birthday

Om Sharavanabhava

Saturday 12^th December marked the last youth wing meeting of the year and the youth wing’s third birthday. In this session, we were joined by our Youth Co-ordinators Ghaya and Tom with their baby boy, who came back after maternity and paternity leave. They commended the strength of the youth wing and how independent we have become. They thanked our current Youth Co-ordinator Dhaarica for her continued hard work in running the youth wing. This was followed up by spiritual pass the parcel to reward our members and to welcome the newcomers to our youth wing. Each layer would consist of a spiritual question, which once answered correctly, would reveal a reward. We then did spiritual charades, allowing us to bond with the new youth members. After all the fun and games, we reflected on what the youth wing has achieved over the last year, looking at what we did well and what we can do differently next year.  We hope this 2016 is full of seva in the local community as well as the international community and as architects of our own destiny we hope to pursue our dharma. 

Two youth members playing spiritual charades

Youth members and youth coordinators enjoying themselves 

A game of spiritual pass-the-parcel

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.