Aug 15-23, Shabad Surat Sangam Ashram: Week-long camps for children have been held at the ashram for more than a decade now. Children visit the ashram every year in the chilly winter-break of Christmas, stay in the playful and loving environment of the ashram, learn the various arts and crafts of life, and above all, enjoy their experience here so much that the parents have to coax their teary-eyed children back home.
During this past decade, Swami Suryendu Puri Ji had also been visiting schools and colleges, meeting not only children but also adolescents and the youth. In any case, the youth comprises a substantial portion of regular visitors to the ashram, and invariably happen to interact with Swamiji on their visits. Through Swamiji’s experiences with them, his abundant discussions and interactions, he realized that the youth, despite their energy and exuberance, is in a confused state. His heart went out to their sad state and wished if just their eyes could be made clear enough to see the fundamentals of life, and they be handed some efficient tools to power their journeys! And Lo! A Youth Camp, a first of its kind at the ashram, got organized during the August of 2015.
Agni Kriya sessions for the youth.
Surya Kriya at the youth camp.
In a very open, liberal, supportive, and playful environment the powerful trio of kriyas (Surya, Agni, Sanjivani) were shared and taught. There were no teachers, no students here; the participants just shared openly with each other. Special mention is due in this regard to friend Diamantis, who having had courses in Chiropractic (in Sweden) and currently taking a degree in Acupuncture (in China), shared a great deal with all participants. {In fact, the youth camp became a part medical camp in itself, as he and Lva (also currently, a student of Acupuncture at Shanghai) lovingly started serving the elderly villagers and ashramites of common ailments, like back pain. The news about the presence of these two Acupuncturists spread like wild fire, and soon the duo were treating visitors all day long and from far off places. As their stock of needles ran out, thousand fresh needles had to be ordered}
Another participant who had had courses in Acupressure and Marma Therapy shared his knowledge too. Furthermore, there were few who were well-versed with the arts of music and dancing (Bhangra? Ofcourse! But, Salsa too!), and soon melodies and beats were flying all around.
Fun and frolic too!
Despite the myriad of hues present in the camp, Swamiji kept the proportions just right to paint a holistic whole, for everyone to make the best of their time. Every day, he lectured on such eternal topics like “Who am I?”, “Pranayama”, “Death”, “Importance of a Living Guru”, “Inspiring Tales from Aspirants’ Journey to Satopanth”, “Importance of Shastras”, “Brahmacharya” etc. Besides, there were open discussions on such contemporary topics like “How to Live a Spiritual Life in Modern Society”, “Euthanasia”, “Donation of Organs”, “Abortion”, “Relationships”, “Proper Nutrition” etc. The participants also studied with Swamiji and Despoina Tsaousi (a long time devotee, and author of a soon to be released book on the resurrection of Jesus – inspired by Shri Maharaj Ji), the classic introductory text to Vedanta – the Tattvabodha of Shri Shankaracharya.
Discussion-sessions during the youth camp.
The camp left the participants refreshed, clear, and ready to live life with a new zeal. After this experience, it appears that the youth camp is here to stay!