Summer Camp 2019 - Day 4 - Camp Report
Children were ready in the temple, after their morning milk, for the chanting of “Medha Sooktam”, under the guidance of Swamiji. A soul touching chanting was followed by a good yoga session, led by Shruti didi and it was seen that the flexibility of the children had increased, by now.
This was followed by a very yummy breakfast and then the children were seated in the temple for an active and melodious chanting session of “NamaRamayana” and “Sankatmochan Hanumanashtak”, under the new- gen volunteers, Rajeev bhaiya and Monisha didi.
Swami Ramatmanandaji took up the next session and spoke, in his inimitable style, about how the values like honesty, love, peace, etc., are eternal and lasting joy can be obtained only from these. Swamiji said that a solution to any problem can be found only if the mind is calm, undisturbed and steady. He told us how the problem/disturbance in the mind, is a thought and the name of the Lord is also a thought, with the only difference being that the former is a negative thought while the latter, a positive one. Erasing the negative thoughts with the positive ones is the method for overcoming our troubles. He also told the children, the importance of complete surrender, of every action, to the Lord, which can accentuate humility and thereby attract the grace of God. He ended the discourse with an amazing bhajan, sung in his powerful voice, which brought out an otherworldly vibration, from the children, filling the entire area, with divinity.
Next, was a craft workshop for the children, by Smt. Asha, to guide the children to create a mask of Hanuman. She helped the children make a cute mask of a monkey, depicting Hanuman. The children learnt to cooperate and help each other while this workshop was happening and it was very nice to see a set of 110 Hanuman masks, by the end of the session.
Lunch was, as usual, a delicious affair and after the children had their fill, they were given their free time, to rest and relax, and possibly ponder over the teachings and learnings of the camp, thus far.
The children assembled in the temple for the continuation of Swamiji’s discourse on Sundarakanda, mentioning how Ravana tried to persuade Mother Sita to become his queen using the 4 techniques of ‘saama’, which means the ‘peaceful means’, ‘daana’ which means the ‘means using generosity, trying to tempt the other person’, ‘bheda’, which means, ‘to create confusion in the other person in order to get them to acquiesce’ and ‘danda’, which means ‘to punish in order to make them scared to agree’. Swamiji told the children that when our intensity to seek the Lord is very intense, there is a high intensity from the Lord’s side, to be found by his devotees. Swamiji also told the children that Hanuman was renowned for his humility. He would never take credit for any of his achievements, he would only appropriate every single achievement of his, to the grace of the Lord. Swamiji’s authoritative and convincing method of conveying the important messages, which would hold them in good stead for their life, from our scriptures are very good, especially for the children living in today’s world.
The milk and snacks break at 5.00pm was followed by an enthusiastic session of outdoor games, under the supervision of Rajeev bhaiya, after which was the arati and bhajan session, led by Srijit bhaiya and team. As usual, it was a high-spirited set of children singing the bhajans, most of them with actions. It was followed by a wonderful story session, by Aishwarya didi and then the children were informed that they need to plan a presentation on the last day of the camp, based on their learnings from the camp. Each of the groups chose their method of presentation and had a preliminary discussion in their groups on the same!!
It now dawned on the children that we are almost coming to the end of the camp. Multiple of requests for extending the current camp and having longer camps next year came up from the children!!!!
Dinner followed, after which the children were left free till bedtime, during which many children were playing, while some others were doing the circumambulation of the Chinmaya Ganapati, singing bhajans and chanting the name of the Lord, under Srijit bhaiya’s guidance. A few other children sat for an informal satsang with Swamiji. Its an overall atmosphere of utmost peace and serenity, and it is with this calmness as our companion, that everyone turned in for the day.
This was followed by a very yummy breakfast and then the children were seated in the temple for an active and melodious chanting session of “NamaRamayana” and “Sankatmochan Hanumanashtak”, under the new- gen volunteers, Rajeev bhaiya and Monisha didi.
Swami Ramatmanandaji took up the next session and spoke, in his inimitable style, about how the values like honesty, love, peace, etc., are eternal and lasting joy can be obtained only from these. Swamiji said that a solution to any problem can be found only if the mind is calm, undisturbed and steady. He told us how the problem/disturbance in the mind, is a thought and the name of the Lord is also a thought, with the only difference being that the former is a negative thought while the latter, a positive one. Erasing the negative thoughts with the positive ones is the method for overcoming our troubles. He also told the children, the importance of complete surrender, of every action, to the Lord, which can accentuate humility and thereby attract the grace of God. He ended the discourse with an amazing bhajan, sung in his powerful voice, which brought out an otherworldly vibration, from the children, filling the entire area, with divinity.
Next, was a craft workshop for the children, by Smt. Asha, to guide the children to create a mask of Hanuman. She helped the children make a cute mask of a monkey, depicting Hanuman. The children learnt to cooperate and help each other while this workshop was happening and it was very nice to see a set of 110 Hanuman masks, by the end of the session.
Lunch was, as usual, a delicious affair and after the children had their fill, they were given their free time, to rest and relax, and possibly ponder over the teachings and learnings of the camp, thus far.
The children assembled in the temple for the continuation of Swamiji’s discourse on Sundarakanda, mentioning how Ravana tried to persuade Mother Sita to become his queen using the 4 techniques of ‘saama’, which means the ‘peaceful means’, ‘daana’ which means the ‘means using generosity, trying to tempt the other person’, ‘bheda’, which means, ‘to create confusion in the other person in order to get them to acquiesce’ and ‘danda’, which means ‘to punish in order to make them scared to agree’. Swamiji told the children that when our intensity to seek the Lord is very intense, there is a high intensity from the Lord’s side, to be found by his devotees. Swamiji also told the children that Hanuman was renowned for his humility. He would never take credit for any of his achievements, he would only appropriate every single achievement of his, to the grace of the Lord. Swamiji’s authoritative and convincing method of conveying the important messages, which would hold them in good stead for their life, from our scriptures are very good, especially for the children living in today’s world.
The milk and snacks break at 5.00pm was followed by an enthusiastic session of outdoor games, under the supervision of Rajeev bhaiya, after which was the arati and bhajan session, led by Srijit bhaiya and team. As usual, it was a high-spirited set of children singing the bhajans, most of them with actions. It was followed by a wonderful story session, by Aishwarya didi and then the children were informed that they need to plan a presentation on the last day of the camp, based on their learnings from the camp. Each of the groups chose their method of presentation and had a preliminary discussion in their groups on the same!!
It now dawned on the children that we are almost coming to the end of the camp. Multiple of requests for extending the current camp and having longer camps next year came up from the children!!!!
Dinner followed, after which the children were left free till bedtime, during which many children were playing, while some others were doing the circumambulation of the Chinmaya Ganapati, singing bhajans and chanting the name of the Lord, under Srijit bhaiya’s guidance. A few other children sat for an informal satsang with Swamiji. Its an overall atmosphere of utmost peace and serenity, and it is with this calmness as our companion, that everyone turned in for the day.
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