Prasangs of Mahant Swami Maharaj

In this week's kishore-kishori sabha, we will be highlighting the life of our guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj, with prasangs. With 35 minutes allotted, it may appear difficult to connect his 85-year lifetime with ours, so we need to emphasize relevance. At NC18, delegates took the time to put together a life map highlighting milestones in their life.  

One way to kick off sabha is by asking the audience, "Imagine we had the seva of drafting Mahant Swami Maharaj's life map. From birth, what 9 events would he want to feature from his life through the age of 30?" 

Allow them time to brainstorm independently before putting together the events.

To explain why we picked this age, Chip and Dan Heath cite a study in their latest book, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, which clarifies why we picked this age range. 

In a study by Dorthe Berntsen and David Rubin, respondents were prompted to think about the life of a baby who had just been born and to predict what would be “the most important events that are likely to take place in this infant’s life."

1. Begin school 
2. College 
3. Marriage 
4. Parents' death 
5. Others' death 
6. Retirement 
7. Leave home
8. First job

It’s striking that 4 out of the 8 most important events all happen during a relatively narrow window of time: roughly age 15 to 30. 

Similarly, if you ask older people about their most vivid memories, research shows, they tend to be drawn disproportionately from this same period, roughly ages 15 to 30. Psychologists call this phenomenon the “reminiscence bump.” Why does a 15-year period in our lives—which is not even 20% of a typical life span—dominate our memories? “The key to the reminiscence bump is novelty,” said Claudia Hammond in her book Time Warped. “The reason we remember our youth so well is that it is a . . . time for first... first jobs, first travel without parents, first experience of living away from home, the first time we get much real choice over the way we spend our days.”

For Swamishri, let's look at his firsts. We highly recommend this book in preparation for this weekend, particularly the first section on his life as a balak, a kishore, and a yuvak. Here is our sample of 10 major events from birth to age 30.

1. 9/13/1933: birthday
2. 1934: first encountered Shastriji Maharaj who named him 'Keshav' [0.5] 
3. 1946: placed first in the annual exam and received a book as a prize [12]
4. 1951: encountered Yogiji Maharaj & Pramukh Swami Maharaj [17]
5. 1951: received first kanthi at the hands of Yogiji Maharaj [17]
6. 1952: spent time in Gondal with Yogiji Maharaj and acknowledged his guru's wish for him to become a sadhu after graduating college [18]
7. 1952-1954: pursued Bachelor's in Agriculture as it allowed him availability to spend time with his guru [18-20]
8. 1957: received parshadi diksha [24]
9. 1960: received diksha again [27]
10. 5/11/1961: received bhagwati diksha [27]

See what ideas the audience comes up with, and let's share with them the experiences our guru had in his life.

Yogiji Maharaj’s Love for Devotees

This week, we look at Yogiji Maharaj's love for his devotees. On first glance, it might be harder to create excitement for this topic, it is definitely possible through maximizing our storytelling skills.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement. Feel free to brainstorm or use some of the ones taken from the syllabus.

• Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees.
• Yogiji Maharaj's was a servant of servants (das na das).
• Yogiji Maharaj's love inspired others.

Step 2: Start with the shakeup. 

• Start off sabha by asking the audience to identify this kishore who we already know. Framing this prasang pre-emptively encourages the audience to pay attention in hopes of identifying the individual. If the majority of your audience may have already read this book, feel free to substitute this prasang with Pujya Viveksagar Swami & Pujya Doctor Swami from below.
• Mahant Swami Maharaj: An Epitome of Saintliness: In 1951, Yogiji Maharaj visited the home of one family. Their 18-year old son didn't find religion or sadhus appealing - to the point where he would run out of the house the moment he knew Yogiji Maharaj entered their home. Once as he was leaving the home, he encountered Yogiji Maharaj who lovingly held out his hand and asked affectionately, “Guru, where are you going? Come back upstairs.” He loving places a kanthi around his neck, but he immediately tears it off with the beads flying everywhere. We can only wonder what future this kishore will have in Satsang! A couple of days later, Yogiji Maharaj was departing. En route to the the railway station, he saw this kishore sitting on the parapet of the village pond with his friends. Yogiji Maharaj hailed him affectionately, so the kishore reluctantly came to Yogiji Maharaj, wondering what would he say now! However, to his surprise, Yogiji Maharaj humbly joined his palms and smilingly said, “Now I am going. Forgive me for my mistakes.” And so saying, Yogiji Maharaj blessed him with his signature pat and walked away hurriedly. 
• See if anyone can identify this kishore. We all know this kishore. He is our guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj.
• Through prasangs like these, we will learn about the power of Yogiji Maharaj's love.

Step 3: Support the simple statement with stories filled with details (concrete) and validity (concrete). Here, we took prasangs to support the simple statement, "Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees."

• Kiritbhai: Yogiji Maharaj's love reminded Kiritbhai of his parents given the care and attention he took the smallest things.
• Natvarbhai Shukla of Jhadeshwar: Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees enough to acknowledge the time they spent. 
• Theplas for Third Class [Nilkanth, March 2012]: One kishore in college in Mumbai decided to spend five days with Yogiji Maharaj in Atladra. Adhering to Yogiji Maharaj’s wishes, on his way to Atladra, he traveled in the 3rd class compartment on the train. However, his return ticket was booked for the 1st class compartment – in which there was air conditioning, food, & comfort. After the five days were complete, he went to Yogiji Maharaj and told him he was leaving. Yogiji Maharaj asked in which train he was going, but he tried to avoid the question. Yogiji Maharaj said that he couldn’t let him buy the ticket and that the Sanstha would pay for the ticket. Yogiji Maharaj told a haribhakt to buy a 3rd class ticket for him, as he was a student and probably didn’t have the money. Yogiji Maharaj also instructed that haribhakt to ensure he got dropped right onto the train to avoid getting lost. In private, this kishore told the haribhakt that there was no point buying the ticket because he had money and would buy it himself. The haribhakt then told him that it was Yogiji Maharaj’s agna, so he could not disregard it. The next morning, Yogiji Maharaj woke up at 4:00 am, made fresh theplas, and a package for him. He initially became embarrassed because he would have to carry the package onto the 1st class compartment of the train, where there would already be food. With this in mind, he decided that, on his way to the train station, he would give the package to some homeless person. Additionally, he decided that after getting into the cart and leaving the mandir, he would tell the haribhakt to step out. As the cart left the mandir, Yogiji Maharaj made sure the kishore got on to the cart. When the cart was about to make a final turn, the kishore looked back to get one last darshan of the gate of Atladra mandir, and his heart skipped a beat. He saw Yogiji Maharaj standing at the gate and watching the cart make its last turn. That moment changed everything. He decided that he would sit in the 3rd class compartment and eat the theplas that Yogiji Maharaj made. We all know this kishore as Pujya Viveksagar Swami, and the haribhakt as Pujya Doctor Swami. Both can personally recall how Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees.

Yogiji Maharaj's love for all inspired the start of Sunday sabha, so let's make the most of our time in sabha this week.

Data Science in Bal 1!

Viren - a bal karyakar and experienced Sabhaologist shares a great way to modify the un-unexpected of asking every kid a question.

During my preview for my Bal 1 talk, I said that I would get everyone’s attention by asking them who they loved the most and then comparing that to Bapa and using that to start my talk. The idea I wanted to convey was that Swamishri’s love for us is unconditional. I know from past experience that just asking Bal 1 an open ended question can lead to lots of talking. So what better way to captivate kids’ attention than doing data science? The best way is to see who everyone loves the most was to create a bar graph. Each balak was given the question “Who do you love the most?”. When every balak answered, we tallied for either mom, dad, brother, sister or grandparents. After tallying up each balak’s response, we saw that most balaks love their dads the most because they spend more time with them. However, then it was easy to connect this to how Swamishri loves us unconditionally though the balaks said they love their dads. If we graph Swamishri’s love for us, it would be impossible to graph. This idea of graphing easily caught all the balak’s attention and it was an awesome way to see Swamishri’s love is unconditional.

Connecting with Shaluk

With this upcoming weekend, we kick off a momentous project that will help fulfill one of Swamishri's very own sankalps, Akshardham North America.

To aid in our efforts of pitching this project, several karyakars went through the presentation and have created a video highlighting the important manan points. This video is not meant to replace the presentation but just as a guide to aid us in our preparation, especially since most of us are coming off Swaminarayan Jayanti.

As noted in the video, the idea behind a powerful prasang rests in how we connect the details with the concept at hand, and this Sunday's topic proves no different as we hope to generate energy and excitement.

Link:  https://vimeo.com/163498447
Password:  Akshardham2020

15 Things to do before a Presentation

"The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public." —George Jessel

It is uncanny how public speaking can make almost anyone feel uncomfortable. In the past we have explored how preparation (Simple, Unexpected, Story) can make a world of difference. However even the most confident of speakers can feel butterflies before a talk - even a talk they have given hundreds of times. The key is to harness these feelings and make the butterflies work for us. The following Business Insider article looks at 15 things we can do to make that happen. The entire article is worth a read. We wanted to touch on a few of the points. 

Remember and live up to the 3 Audience Truths

• "This audience believes I am the expert."  This is especially true in Balika and Bal Mandal. However even in Kishori/Kishore/Yuva Mandal this can apply. You have read the syllabus, done your home work (SUS). So at the very least, the material is fresh for you. You are also the expert in your opinion and point of view.
• "They want me to succeed." Nobody wants a boring sabha. Everybody wants you to do well because that means they are engaging in something of value. Samp is not relegated to basketball and team building activities. Samp is also rooting for you to give an amazing talk. Even the apathetic of audiences will be happy if your talk goes well.
• "They don't know what I'm going to say." If you forget a prasang or don't say everything exactly as you planned - nobody will know. (Yes the karyakars that previewed your talk will know, but they REALLY want you to do a great talk - it's their seva - so they will be the ones who are most forgiving).

Take several deep belly breathe
Pranayam - it works.

Practice the first (few) minutes of your talk
Nerves tend to dissipate as our talk goes on. If we are going to choke it is going to be right at the beginning (I once messed up the Jai Naad when giving a talk). If we nail the first five minutes - the rest of the talk should follow with flow.

Smile

We never believed this one until we tried it. Smiling relaxes us when we are most stressed. Guy Kawasaki has written a whole book about it, which expounded the idea that true (duchenne) smile is indicated by crows feet at the side of the eyes. More recently Kraft and Pressman replicated an earlier study showing that forces smiling reduces stress. (They made subjects bite chopsticks whereas the previous study had them bite pencils).

Share or Steal

The monthly retention game doesn't always get the attention it deserves, but let's take a look at one variation a fellow Sabhaologist will be trying out Sunday with his bal-2 audience:

• Moderator selects two people.
• Each receives a white board. 
• When the question is asked, they have to write the answer down along "share" or "steal."
• If both say "share," then only one person needs to get the answer right for both to split the award equally (one Hershey kiss each).
• If both say "steal," neither get anything for a correct answer.
• If both say different answers, the player who "steals" must get the answer right to collect four Hershey kisses while the other who "shares" gets nothing.
• If a player gets an answer wrong, they sit down.

As always, please let us know how this idea pans out this Sunday, especially if adapted for another sabha. We're all ears when it comes to revisiting the retention game!

Retention Remixed: Wheel of Fortune

For last month's sabha, a fellow sabhaologist shared with us a unique way to present the monthly retention game by adapting Wheel of Fortune.

Rules

• Create 2-3 teams depending on number of present. 
• Each spins the wheel:  http://www.unpracticalmath.com/applets/virtual_spinner.html
• The wheel has six sections labeled with numbers 1-6.
• #1-5 represented satsang-related questions with #6 being trivia.
• Points were awarded based on the level of difficulty.
• If a question is missed, the next team gets a chance to answer.
• Missing the question results in the next team getting the turn to spin - not the one who got a chance to steal.
• If all teams pass the steal, answer is announced and turn passes. 
• Answers must be started within 15 seconds of the question ending. 

The game worked well until the issue of stealing questions came up when teams found it unfair that they forfeit their turn to spin if they miss the question which was not theirs initially, so we decided that next time, teams should not be penalized for trying to answer a question that was not theirs initially.

A little ingenuity can go a long way to make this monthly game memorable, so feel free to share with us your remixes.

Spelling Out Kusang

As always, we love to share examples that communicate our timeless topics of Satsang in a contemporary if not relevant way, and a fellow sabhaologist sent us this example to explain the idea of kusang.

More than often on the topic of kusang we find ourselves hearing about immoral folks who threaten to take us off the path to moksh, but kusang is much more subtle than we often think it is - just like the words we input into a search query on Google.

Grammar predicts a query as much as the people we choose to include in our circle. We all have our flaws, but some flaws carry more danger (e.g. pressure to break our niyams) than others (e.g. crave chocolate incessantly). Our awareness of these defects can do much to safeguard our satsang like a simple spell check can do to guiding a more meaningful search.

One minute SUS Example

If you have a minute (literally) you should watch this talk. We talked about Wadsworth Constant. You can remove a great deal of our matter and still make our point stick. The talk below is a great example. Simple message, unexpected using the rocks, and a great story. Also Rosling's is passionate about the subject - that always helps. Could you do this same thing with your Sunday talk? It would make for a very quick - yet sticky - sabha.

Case Study: 100-Year Thought Experiment

Last week, kishore/kishori mandal kicked off 2012 with their first priority sabha with the intent to practice preparing and planning for an excellent sabha, a model for the other sabhas throughout the rest of the year.

A fellow Sabhaologist sent us an example of one way in which they made their topic, “Analyzing their Relationship with the Satpurush,” resonate with the audience without using any of the activities. We have nothing against activities, but this example demonstrates merely how matter elevates a presentation from mundane to memorable.

The presenter started off with his shakeup: Intertwine your arms such that one hand rests on the other. Depending on your handedness (left vs. right), different outcomes were to be expected. The presenter then asked for everyone to switch hands much to the discomfort of the audience members.

"In the first orientation, our body was in sync whereas in the latter it was not."

Then, he dropped his simple statement: We want to be in sync with the Satpurush.

Following up, he presented an example of Pramukh Swami Maharaj and his morning puja. He asked, “What does Swamishri do before his puja?”

One hand shot up: “He wishes everyone gathered with folded hands, 'Jai Swaminarayan.'"

Bingo: We notice such details when we are sync with the Satpurush.

Example #2: Nearly two centuries ago, cultural notions saw nothing evil with slavery, utilizing the labors of others without necessarily paying them. That same idea does not stand firm nearly two hundred years later, but a few days ago, one collector decided to auction off seemingly mundane items collected from the Titanic. The value pegged at these items numbered in the millions, but why?

Why do people value items from the Titanic?

And on each kishores’ face appeared the puzzled look reflective of deep thought – an indicator of a well-designed question.

1. One kishore ventured to answer, “Well, the Titanic was seemingly unsinkable, but it still sunk.”
2. Another responded, “Anything historical sells.”
3. A third chimed, “It’s history, so yeah, it’s worth a lot.”

The first kishore hit the mark, but now the presenter threw the mother of all monkey wrenches:

"Even though we look back 200 years ago and wonder how and why people can profit of others’ misfortune with slavery, here we are in 2012 doing the very same thing."

"Perhaps items from the Titanic may be of value even if had not sunk, but the fact that it did sink made it a legend and an object worthy of study in the century following its demise."

But the greatest strategy of the presenter was where he went from this point by helping the hero.

“Now, let’s turn our attention to 100 years into the future – 2112. What new cultural thought will shift? Will it be a constitutional amendment outlawing eating meat? Perhaps society will see the harm of consuming onion and garlic? It can be any one of the other niyams prescribed by Shriji Maharaj in the Shikshapatri, but it’s also where we enter the picture.”

“Let’s think about it. There are 20-25 kishores in this sabha, and with about 50 other mandals in North America, we can estimate total 1,000 kishores who are hearing this message today. Of course, if each of us talks to even 5 people during the week about our beliefs, we hit 5,000, and when we factor in the 8 years we are in kishore mandal, the math really takes off. “

“Shaping cultural acceptance is not as far-fetched as we think, and we can achieve it when we strive to be in sync with our guru. How cool would it to be a part of a movement that has an impact long after our lives? It's all possible when we are in sync with the Satpurush.”

Case Study: Maharaj's Legacy

A fellow Sabhaologist shot this ensemble over to us as an example of utilizing Prezi as a presentation modality for a presentation in this week's kishore-kishori sabha entitled, "Maharaj's Legacy." As we mentioned before, Prezi serves as an interesting alternative to Powerpoint with its dizzying turns and intricate angles.

Note his shakeup as he started off with a reference to TIME's recently published issue in which they named the Person of the Year and then followed up by drawing comparisons to Shriji Maharaj's legacy in three areas: societal change, structure, and successorship.

Given the stories provided in the syllabus, this Sabhaologist concocted a winning combo. 

Go To Move #7: Balak Generated Sabha

The following Go To Move was from a fellow Sabhaologist. (If you have a Go To Move, let us know and we will post it).

Much like user generated content, I think of Balak Generated Sabhas as a way to capture the attention of balaks by having them express their thoughts/ideas/imagination through some medium about the topic being discussed (one of the reasons why I think why social sharing sites - YouTube/Facebook - are sticky).

Of course, this idea doesn't mean we tell a balak to explain to us why they think the 16 Hindu Samskaras are important or to tell us what happens when Bhaktimata was afraid of ghosts in the well at night time.

What this means is that we come up with ways in which topics stick to balaks because they get a sense of authorship while the topic is presented.

For example, during the Summer Challenge in bal 1 sabha, we went outdoors to an empty area of the parking lot.  As the balaks sat outside, we told them two stories. The first story was describing the atmosphere when Ghanshyam Maharaj was born, then all the balaks were given chalk to draw the story outside:

After they finished, the balaks were told the second story of the ghost well, Bhaktimata and Ghanshyam -- that too the balaks illustrated with chalk.  From both stories, the balaks learnt that Ghanshyam Maharaj is forever with us, and so we should never be scared of anything and always be brave.

Another example is what we did in bal 3 sabha this past weekend.  The balaks learned about the 16 Hindu Samskaras.  The analogy of a treasure hunt was used to describe the 16 Hindu rituals as described by the munis for purity and sanctity of the human life as spoken by Bhagwan.  There was a treasure map drawn on the white board with the signs and symbol representing the 16 Hindu Samskaras:

As a quick shakeup activity and to get the balaks thinking about the 16 Hindu Samskaras, balaks volunteered to come up with a story in groups and connected the various drawings representing the Samskaras.

Afterwards, we reviewed the Samskaras and what they represent in our lives and drew parallels with Ghanshyam Maharaj's prasangs.  In conclusion, we got to the 16th Samskara and realized that we're lucky to have found our treasure from the beginning in the form of Maharaj and Swami, and all that we need to do is please Pramukh Swami Maharaj to attain moksh.

Positive Life

This week we have a presentation on Positive Thinking. Depending on our Balika/Bal Mandal the little train that could maybe an example that will not resonate. They have heard it many times, they may feel like you are talking down to them, they may get restless with the repetitive nature of the story.

We can try and punch of the story through different storytelling techniques some examples:

• Every time the engine feels like giving up, have all the kids shout words of encouragement.
• Have the kids clap or stomp to the I-think-I-can beat
• Change the story point of view from an omniscient narrator to maybe someone riding the train

Also parts of these seemed pertinent depending on the age of your kids

The video bane

You got your presentation two weeks ago, thought about it and synthesized a great simple message you want to share with your sabha. You listened to some katha and read some books and found some great prasangs you can tell as stories that provide concrete and credible evidence to highlight your simple message. You practiced saying these stories with feeling so it is engaging and emotional. Now it's the Friday before you have to present on Sunday you have everything you need from the Made to Stick model (SUCCES) except the dreaded U - nothing unexpected. If this Sunday you start kishori sabha by saying, "Today we will be talking about seva." or start bal 3 by saying, "The definition of punya is xxxx," then Houston we have a problem. Starting off without something unexpected will cause us to lose our audience, our sabha, before it even starts. They will start thinking about the Walkathon or what they are going to eat for dinner instead of seva and punya. So what do we do? We need an unexpected.

Unexpected Idea 
If you are in this boat, then all of us at Sabha.ology want to congratulate you and we would really want to sit in a sabha where a presenter went through all this. It is going to be great sabha. You just need the missing piece. The thing is the answer to what most people do now sometimes may not work. We found (in a very unscientific, but still pretty interesting survey of presenters) that most people in this situation will turn to the Internet to find a video. A video that is within maryada, but a video none the less. There is nothing wrong with this but a video (or sometimes erroneously called a bang presentation - a topic for another post) may not always be the answers.

If in every sabha everyone were to begin their presentation with a video, then after a few weeks this would not be very unexpected. Everyone knows that a video is coming.

Also it is idea that needs to be unexpected. Initially just the act of showing a video - since we usually do not show it - causes everyone to wake up and say, "Wow this is new." However after the novelty of the showing the video wears off, then we are just left with the idea that the is in the video. That idea has to stand on it's own legs to be unexpected.

Now, if you see a video with an unexpected idea that you can put to great use in a presentation, then by all means use that idea. However, how you present the idea (a video or drawing on an iPad or saying a story) really depends on your situation and can help make an idea even more unexpected. It is still the idea that is important. In fact you can find these unexpected ideas everywhere - books, talking to people, etc. Starting with a bang or starting with something unexpected involves starting with an idea that nobody is expecting. So with the Kishori./Kishore presentation on seva for this week, starting with a prasang of Bapa cleaning the bathroom after the Gurujayanti samaiyo would not be very unexpected. The MC has introduced that you are going to talk about seva (maybe seva and Shastriji Maharaj), so everyone is expecting something about seva, related to the Mandir. The key is to find an idea, any idea that will support you simple message regarding seva (iK) or punya (B3).

Lies my Teacher Told Me
How did Newton discover gravity? (Apple fell on his head, and he had an epiphany.)

What did Washington do after chopping down the cherry tree? (Told his parents he could not lie)

What are the primary colors? (Red, Yellow, Blue)

Each of the three questions above are things that people believe since most people say they were taught this either in school or by parents. It turns out that all three of these things are not true.

Newton was never hit by an apple, nor did a falling apple lead to him "discovering" gravity.

Washington never chopped down a cherry tree. After his death his biographer made up this story to exemplify his honesty.

And finally the subtractive primary colors are red, blue, and green (look at a video projector) and the additive primary colors are magenta, cyan, and yellow.

The idea: each of these things are something we believe without question, but upon further analysis we realize that we may not know this exactly.

Applied to Kishori/Kishore Shastriji Maharaj's Seva Presentation
The topic starts out by defining seva and looking at why we do seva and how to do it perfectly. In the same way that we think we knew the "facts" above about Newton, Washington, and colors, we may feel we know the facts about seva. Start with an unexpected. Ask these questions and have audience members stand up if they think it is false. Or make up multiple choice questions and have audience stand up for each answer. Drop the shoe by saying that each of those were false and that we believe we know certain things that maybe we do not. In the same way we believe that cleaning bathrooms is seva and anybody can do it. (or even add that as one of the questions) it turns out that this is not the case. Cleaning the bathrooms is only seva if we do it for the right reasons. Also not everyone gets the opportunity to clean the Mandir bathrooms - look at how many people drive by our Mandirs and never even go in. Now you are on your way. The sabha is awake and listening to your talk on seva.

Applied to Balika/Bal -3 Punya Presentation
Same idea and same process as above. This time add the question what is Karma? Now we can explain that sometimes we are confident we know some facts, but we can always add to our knowledge. In fact Newton  was never hit with an apple, Washington never chopped down a cherry tree,  magenta, cyan, and yellow are the primary colors, and there are really three types of Karma.

Or you can show a video

Circle of Life

This week in Bal/Balika Group 2  Sabha the presentation is based on the ten avatars of Vishnu and introduces the idea of the circle of life (creation, sustenance, and destruction). We are thinking of using geometry to shake things up - yes geometry. We thought that a good way to grab attention and talk about the circle of life would be to introduce some calculus for kids - the very simple notion that a circle is made up of an infinite number of sides. It may seem like this is really complex for Bal/Balika 2, but we have found kids do not really know what is and is not too complex for them and really get into neat ideas when presented in a form of a great story.

Here we go.

The simple idea is that if you start with a triangle (the most basic polygon) and keep adding sides you get different shapes. Now if you add lots and lots of sides you get something that looks really close to a circle. However only when you add an infinite number of sides, you get a circle.

This can be a game or interactive. Use the picture above, start with the triangle and ask what shape it is and what happens if you add just one more side. When you get to the decagon, ask what happens if we keep doing this?

Use the pictures above to drive home the point that you have to keep adding sides forever to get a circle. Now it is easy to link this to Brahm, Vishnu, and Mahesh. Three corners of a triangle that keep on creating, sustaining, and destroying - forever - to create the circle of life. This can lead to the idea that Maharaj actually is above the circle of life overseeing the whole process. 

Let us know what you think and if you wind up using this let us know how the kids take to it.

Yogiji Maharaj & The Balak Connection

Yogiji Maharaj’s personality was different. He didn’t make people become better Satsangis. They became Satsangis on their own out of love for Yogi Bapa. His style was different, he didn’t have to “make” people become sadhus; his way was such that he could attract the most malicious person and turn him into an ideal devotee.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement.

• Yogiji Maharaj had the greatest respect for balaks.
• Yogiji Maharaj’s love attracted people to him.
• Yogiji Maharaj lived a life where he sought happiness for others.

Step 2: Start off with a shakeup.

Note: This activity will need materials, and will take some time to prepare. It would be ideal if you gathered the materials before sabha.

• Provide each balak with a ruler. However, have different units of rulers. For example, give one balak a ruler that measures in inches while another receives one in centimeters. Another one could even have a yard stick. Feel free to create any other ruler - just involves taking a sheet of paper and drawing lines for whatever unit of measurement we choose.
• Then, have all the balaks measure one object (e.g. the length of the mandir, the length of the whiteboard, the length of the door, the length of the room, etc).
• Before letting them loose, make a note that whoever has the most accurate measurement of the object wins.

Tip: This activity could be done with tablespoon/cup/pint/quart measurements too.

It’s obvious that the balaks will come back with different measurements. The answers will be in inches, centimeters, yards, millimeters. It’s hard to relate to these because they are all different measurements; all used around the world. The point is that with the Satpurush, we have a certain unit of measurement. We can relate to him by miles, inches, whatever, but that’s our unique way of connecting with him.

Thus, the Satpurush can relate to anyone. It doesn’t matter what unit you’re using. He knows all the units of measurement. There for we uses one measure with little Tarun, another with the mischievous balaks, and yet another with the man caught stealing shoes.

Step 3: Support the simple statement with prasangs filled with concrete details. Yogiji Maharaj knew how to connect with everyone, especially balaks. The famous phrase, “Young people are as precious to me as my own heart” was told truthfully by Yogiji Maharaj. He had this unique way of showing love. These prasangs below will show how he used his love to spread Satsang.

• Little Tarun - Yogiji Maharaj knew what to do and what to say to cheer up the crying balak. Yogi Bapa took time to connect with the balak. That’s what made him unique! That’s why not only balaks but everyone could connect with Yogi Bapa. 
• The Mischievous Balaks- Even to the most bad-behaved balaks, he would show so much patience. Balaks were the center of Yogiji Maharaj’s thoughts. Even in the middle of his katha, while he was talking, if a balak interrupted, he would take time to listen to the balak. Thus, through his love, he connected with kids.
• Champal Chor- Almost every balak knows the story of the Champal Chor. You can use this to your advantage to ask the balaks what they know about the story. Then, fill in the details. After Yogiji Maharaj ‘released’ the champal thief, 50 years later in Atladra, he showed up with a tilak chandlo, jabho lengho. He grabbed Swami’s hand, and asked him, “Swami, mane olakhyo? Yogiji Maharaje je chorne chhodi didho hato ae hu aa tamaaro chust Satsangi thaine betho chhu" 

The last prasang, especially, exhibits that Yogiji Maharaj used his love to turn thieves into karyakars. This was his “divya-tantra”. Through his love for balaks and his devotees, he spread Satsang worldwide into Africa, America, and many other places.

Bhagatji Maharaj's Devotees

Our Satsang is filled with rich examples of character and value-based living hailing all the way from Shriji Maharaj's time until now. Let's take a look at some example from Bhagatji Maharaj's time with the upcoming sabha presentation in kishore/kishori sabha.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement. Here are a few we created. We are leaning towards presenting the first since our target audience and our sabha could really use a boost in the commitment department.

• Our only barrier to connecting with the Satpurush is commitment.
• The strength of a true devotee cannot be matched.
• The Satpurush meets us more than halfway if we try to reach him.

Step 2: Start with the shakeup. Any one of these examples will wake people up - a good way to start.

• Hitting Rock Bottom: Let's face it - whenever we hear of the prasangs of great devotees of our Satsang, we can only feel helpless and inferior in the presence of such shining examples. Hearing their tales only serves to expose our own vulnerabilities to ourselves, which of course we don't so like, so we often tune out and rationalize away the essence of these devotees' existence. However, we can turn to the life of J.K. Rowling; in her 2008 Commencement Speech given at Harvard University, she narrates the story of her life and offers a powerful insight in what she had learned, “Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” This example can introduce the idea that seeing our faults can help us focus on improving them - as long as we are committed to this. 
• David Blaine: Finding his true strength is what David Blaine does for a living; listen to how he trained his body to survive without oxygen for a record-breaking 17 minutes, defying even what the doctors considered healthy. These devotees also had true strength.

• Saving the Ship: In Act 2 of This American Life episode, we come to learn of two individuals who piece together a sunken ship. While one provided the know-how, the other did the actual labor. We synergize with the Satpurush in a similar manner as he provides us with the knowledge to meet him halfway. (Note: We took inspiration from the Titanic example in the syllabus; using this example to start off the presentation would best be achieved by detailing how the original ship sunk and how it was recovered by efforts of these two men.)

Step 3: Support the simple statement with stories filled with vivid details (concrete) and validity (credibility). For the stories below, we chose to link back to our second simple statement, "The Satpurush meets us more than halfway if we try to reach him." These prasangs will be brand new for many kishoris and kishores, so a greater emphasis on storytelling will hold everyone's attention.

• Girdharbhai: A keen interest in offering bhakti can go one of two ways. Either the individual stagnates with succumbing to the infatuation of his/her spiritual ability or they grow closer to God & His Ekantik Bhakta. Girdharbhai was obviously of the latter, and Shriji Maharaj Himself took notice to help him realize the pragat form of God. However, Girdharbhai doubted God's words which any devotee does at some point or another, yet his intent brimmed with sincerity which beckoned Shriji Maharaj to once again help him on his path to finding the Ekantik Bhakta. Again, if our intent is true, then God & His Ekantik Bhakta will forever appreciate it and go out of their way to help us out.
• Bechar Bhagat: He went to Pragji Bhakta to get a shirt stitched, and Pragji Bhakta offered him the chance to awaken his inner strength of Satsang. However simple this encounter may appear to be, we fail to realize that even merely stumbling into the Satpurush's company is enough for him to open the door for us. Again, iwe unknowingly ask the Satpurush for help in a genuine sense, he will reciprocate that sincerity through steering us to the right path. (For more information about Bechar Bhagat, check out this post.)
• Balmukund Swami: When Bhagatji Maharaj arrived in Junagadh, the Nagar devotees understood his eminence as Gunatitanand Swami's prime devotee. Thus, devotees and sadhus like Balmukund Swami felt humbled in his presence and expressed that same sentiment to those that came into contact with them, like Dr. Umiyashankar. Upon first look, we may not see how the Satpurush met this devotee halfway, especially since he questioned Bhagatji Maharaj's status, but would he have even come to understand Bhagatji Maharaj's mahima if he never lay eyes on him at all? Let's think about it - the Satpurush travels to quench our spiritual thirst and to awaken that thirst in those who have a sincere intent. As Balmukund Swami was of a learned nature, those who claimed him as their guru, like Dr. Umiyashanker, would have imbued such sadhutaa in their lives as well from associating with him. Thus, Bhagatji Maharaj's visit enabled these peripheral devotees to gain a better chance at seeking to understand him.

Just as the Satpurush will meet us halfway (and even more), let's strive to put forth that genuine effort into making this presentation powerful. If we too meet our audience halfway, they too will meet us all the way in loaning us their keen interest.

Isn't it Obvious? Bal/Balika Go To Move #3: Stories with Holes

This week in Balika/Bal 2 sabha, we look at bad guys. In the drama we saw in sabha when we were young, they all usually had long oily mustaches and they had one more thing in common: they did not get that Maharaj was Bhagwan, an obvious fact all of us know. We will also explore Bal/Balika Go To Move #3: Stories with Holes and use this as a case study with this presentation.

Simple Message: Due to ego, these “bad guys” all failed to realize Maharaj’s greatness. Prasang Pick one or two out of the three bad guys in the syllabus and practice your storytelling techniques to get the point across that ego caused these "bad guys" to not see Maharaj as Bhagwan, even though they had direct access to Him. The creativity tips have some ideas on grabbing attention. Unexpected / Go To Move: Stories with Holes Stories with Holes are short mystery stories which seem to not make sense because an obvious fact of the story has been withheld. The sabha audience can ask “yes” or “no” questions in order to piece together the clues to figure out the obvious fact. Here are some examples:

• Balak was drawing on a piece of white paper, but nothing appeared. How? He was drawing with a white crayon
• Jatin breaks into a house in the middle of the night, but the owners of the house are happy to see him. What happened? Steve’s a firefighter.
• There was a fire in a house, the firemen did not come and the house did not burn down. Why not? The fire was in the fireplace.
• A man's wife got all of the packages out of the car even though the windows and doors were closed and locked. It was a convertible

However here is our favorite. We told this story about seven months ago and our Bal Mandal kids still remember it - it is that sticky. A kaka is eating dinner (prasad) after sabha. He gets up and asks a balak who is handing out water for a glass. The balak looks at the kaka, then takes out a gun and points it at the kaka. The kaka says “Thank you,” and sits back down. Can you guess the answer? Keep reading the answer is somewhere below. Usage Hint: DO NOT START WITH THESE STORIES These stories are sticky, in fact they are too sticky. We found that when we started with these stories, the kids loved them. They wanted more. They enjoyed sabha, BUT the only thing they remembered was this story not the point of sabha. When we lead with a prasang and then went to this story and then tied it back to the original prasang, we got better retention of the simple idea. Relate to the Message: After playing just ONE game of stories with holes, tie it back to the prasang right away. This is critical. Example: At first, it’s hard to come up with an explanation for these stories. However, once we know the missing facts, it almost seems obvious. In the same way, Jagjivan had a hard time understanding that Maharaj was Bhagwan. His best friend and his wife knew this, but he could not get it. Just like when we started playing this game, nobody could understand why that balak pulled a gun on that kaka, we could not get it like Jagjivan could not get it. However after we figured out that he had the hiccups, it became obvious. Jagjivan's best friend and wife had faith and believed that Maharaj was Bhagwan, they got it, it was obvious to them. Now if the kids really want to play another game of story with holes, you can but as soon as that is over, tie it back to your simple message. This technique is powerful, maybe a bit too powerful - wield it wisely.

Progress through Patience

This week, we explore the theme of dhiraj (patience) in kishore-kishori sabha. Let's put our patience to practice by preparing for this upcoming presentation.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement - the message we want the audience to retain.

• Mastering patience will help us master life.
• Patience is the mother of all virtues.
• Patience is the path to earning raajipo. 

Step 2: Start with the shakeup. Break expectations with an example of patience

• Zen Master - This example in the syllabus provides a strong segway into the topic itself.
• College Reject - Max applied to two colleges - Stanford and University of California-Berkeley; he got rejected from the first (his dream school) and accepted by the latter for the spring, not the fall. Instead of crying foul or accepting the result, he wrote a blog post about how he was going to get into Stanford and ended up being accepted the following year. The juicy details about how he did it make this story all the more interesting to hear.
• One Elephant vs. Pack of Lions - We can only imagine the odds of how this battle would pan out in the end, yet this elephant defied the odds through its patience. Watch (6:45-8:45) as how two wildlife photographers shot this amazing footage in Africa one cold and seemingly cruel night.  

Step 3: Support the simple statement with stories filled with detail and credibility. This step requires that we choose a simple statement to serve as the cornerstone of our presentation; if we skip this part, then our presentation will be in shambles. For the examples below, we chose to link to the first simple statement, "Mastering patience will help us master life."

• The Addict - Pramukh Swami Maharaj sought to help Atul conquer his addiction which morphed from heroin to opium to alcohol. We have to wonder why Swamishri would waste his time and energy counseling someone who drifted from one drug to another when he could easily spent that time and energy showering his compassion on what we would consider more deserving haribhakto. Still, Swamishri did not give up because he knew that in conquering his addiction, Atul would develop the patience that would sustain him through any other difficulty in life. Drugs alter our brain chemistry, and to rewire our brains to overcome these issues would indeed require developing a strong sense of patience - one that would inevitably come in handy again for Atul as he came across future difficulties.
• Patience = Opportunity - In the January 2011 issue of Swaminarayan Bliss (p.5-6), we see a counter-example; Shriji Maharaj did not lose his patience with Dada Khachar even when he failed to understand Maharaj's warning that he was in danger. We all know the story of Chicken Little and how frustrated he may have felt with trying to communicate to others the coming of the end - the same feeling we would predict to be running through Maharaj who was God Himself trying to protect one of His most beloved devotees. However, the fact that He does not lose his patience reveals to us one way patience helps us master life - by giving us the opportunity to appreciate others. Muktanand Swami expresses this sentiment in comparing Dada Khachar's apparent apathy with that of Arjun's state of serenity; both lost their desires and sense of being in the presence of God. While we may be tempted to lose our patience with others, we fail to see their virtues and in doing so feel our life to be disheartening as we let our impatience fester. Moreover, Shriji Maharaj does lose his patience with Jiva Khachar, an individual who fails to appreciate Dada Khachar's true nature. He goes so far as to devalue all that Jiva Khachar performed in the way of seva - the cost of scheming against a fellow devotee. 
• Mango Trees - In the January 2011 issue of Swaminarayan Bliss (p.18), P. Mahant Swami noted that Yogiji Maharaj blessed two mango trees for doing penance for 10,000 years at one devotee's farm. To perform a focused puja every morning proves to be a difficult task in and of itself, yet to perform penance for so long is truly remarkable. In performing this penance, those jivas not only mastered patience but also the punya needed to attain the Satpurush. Again, we see how patience helps us master life, for we need the Satpurush's blessings to make this our final one.

In short, patience plays a powerful role in what we do at mandir. Nurturing and mentoring our fellow haribhakto requires that we continue chipping away at complacency and creating an environment for growth. All that falls on how well we communicate, which is why patience is integral to our ability to present and execute an excellent sabha.

House or Home

Where is your house? Where is your home? What is the difference?

These are simple questions. Simple enough for a Balak or Balika to understand. However the implication are deep. We once asked this question in Bal sabha and Rohan, age 10, whose dad was a financial consult proceeded to remind the sabha that a home is any structure that you can live in while a house is when a home starts "generating income." When we inquired what "generating income" meant he said, "I don't know. You have to ask my dad." Fair enough.

This weeks Balika/Bal 2 syllabus topic looks at this distinction to show why Maharaj chose Gujarat and Saurashtra as his "home." Let's look at breaking this down using our three step guide.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement

• Maharaj chose Gujarat and Saurashtra as his home because of the devotion and love he was surrounded by.
• Maharaj chose Gujarat as a place where he would carry out His divine mission of spreading Ekantik Dharma.

Step 2: Start off with a shakeup

• Ask the balaks/balikas to draw their home (Most likely they will be similar)
• Then, have them list what makes their “home” their home. (i.e. is it their bed, their toys, their family?)
• Talk about the difference between a house and a home.While the physical drawings of our home may seem similar, our real homes are much different. I’m sure you’d agree that a home isn’t just the cozy bed that you could sleep on every night. It isn’t the chair you sit in everyday where you can eat your breakfast.

Step 3: Support with examples/prasangs to backup the simple statement

• Start off with the prasang of Ghanshyam climbing up a tree, looking in the West Direction, saying, “I can see that there are many devotees in the West. They have been waiting for me to come. One day, I will surely go there and fulfill their dreams. 
• Talk about Shriji Maharaj’s greatest devotees, one of them: Dada Khachar. Despite Maharaj’s many “tests”, Dada Khachar was determined in his devotion to Shriji Maharaj. 
• The actions of devotees like Dada Khachar won over the heart of Shriji Maharaj. In essence, Shriji Maharaj also believed that home is where the heart is. In fact, it was in Gujarat that he had founded the Swaminarayan Sampraday. It was in Gujarat where he built 6 magnificent mandirs, and it was in Gujarat where his heart laid. And as the saying goes, “home is where the heart is”. For Shriji Maharaj, Gujarat was where he would find the devotees that loved him and were willing to do anything for him.