Carpe Diem

Krishna was once asked what was the most miraculous thing in all creation, and he replied, "That a man should wake each morning and believe deep in his heart that he will live forever, even though he knows that he is doomed." - Christopher Pike, Phantom

Moksha is a concept most of us are familiar with. We have heard in Bal/Balika Mandal that our goal is to attain moksha. In fact we probably already know that moksha is the same as attaining Akshardham, which is the same as overcoming the cycle of birth and death, which is also the same as becoming Brahmroop, which is the same as becoming exactly like Swamishri. This message we have heard over and over that we can recite it anytime we need to (especially in a presentation about Moksha).

The interesting thing then is really that after realizing this truth how much have we done to achieve Moksha? Have we seized the day? A good unexpected way to start a presentation on Moksha could be to show this video (which is especially apt since Robin Williams passing several days ago)

Chalk Talk: Revisiting Ghosti

About a month ago, a fellow Sabhaologist shared with us an extensive list of strategies to mix up sabha, ghosti, or even meetings.

We decided to take him up on one of his recommendations, Chalk Talk, and apply it to kishore karyakar ghosti. Often times, we struggle with getting people to open up in ghosti, especially with larger groups, so this activity took advantage of silence by having participants respond on paper (as seen below).

Define how you think each aspect of Ekantik Dharma applies to your karyakar seva.

Which of the four pillars of Ekantik Dharma do you find easy? Hard? Explain.

To avoid repetition, tallies were noted next to comments that others also shared.

Overall, it was an interesting way to collect everyone's opinion and helped the moderator see the varying levels of understanding. As there were about 5-6 people present, a bigger writing space would have helped reduce wait time.

Nevertheless, we thank the Sabhaologist who shared with us a treasure trove of techniques. Want to try another one out? Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Balika 1 - It Worked! Burn you fears away

An intrepid Balika Mandal sabhaologist came up with a clever idea to add meaning to a presentation and make it stick. A few weeks ago the presentation - Ghosts in a Well - was about becoming fearless in the same way Ghanshyam Maharaj was fearless in dealing with the aforementioned ghosts. For Balika/Bal 1 this can become an abstract exercise. To make it concrete the Sanchalika came up with a great idea. She asked all the balikas to write down their fears. They then went to an open area outside and in a small pit the karyakars took the piece of paper and burned it while emphasizing that Maharaj and Swami will always help us if we are fearless. Unexpected and concrete rolled into one and simple emphasized through stories.