The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita : 11.7 - Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission

From July 24th to 28th, 2023, at Chinmaya Somnath in Chantilly, VA, 90 high schoolers from across the United States gathered for the Youth Camp and were engaged in several activities ranging from discourse to dodgeball from 9 am to 5 pm.

The camp’s theme was “Embracing Discomfort” focusing on how to find joy while being outside your comfort zone, conceptualized and conducted by Vivekji (Shri Vivek of Chinmaya Mission Niagara Falls, Canada).

Vivekji, Shankarji, and Sumanji facilitated daily satsangs with the campers reflecting on the Mananam Series book Youth: 

Keeping the Balance. In addition to satsangs, Vivekji led a workshop called Vitamin R3 for the campers that consisted of 20 minutes each of reading, writing, and reflecting to help campers begin to build the habit of daily self-reflection. 

Our Vedanta teachers also gave challenges to the campers while eating lunch served by our Sevaks in order for them to get out of their comfort zone, such as eating in silence, eating with their hands, and swapping sandwiches.

CHYKs led athletics every day to help campers explore outside of their comfort zone and work together as a team. On July 26th, the campers went to JK Community Farm, a farm which donates all of their harvest to local homeless shelters and food banks, and volunteered their time to help remove weeds, harvest watermelon, and fill beds with compost for new crops to grow. Afterwards, they went to a large field and played a variety of games such as soccer, handball, and ultimate frisbee for three hours.

CHYSKs and CHYKs also led dynamic workshops about relevant societal issues such as climate change and gun control, bringing light to these issues to the younger generation.

Overall, the feedback from the campers was very positive and the camp was very successful.

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Tuesday, 22 Aug 2023 07:00.

Chapter 11: The Yoga of Meditation - 7.

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The difficulties are only in the beginning when one feels as if one is in hell itself. But, later on, one will see the rays of the supernal light flashing upon one's face. Everything is difficult and hard and unpleasant in the beginning. The Gita will tell us sometime afterwards that things which are good ultimately look very unpleasant in the beginning, but they yield the fruit of the greatest satisfaction and delight later on.

The pains of life, the sufferings through Yoga, are inevitable in the case of every kind of spiritual practice. When we practice meditation, we are clearing the debris of our personality. It is as if we are sweeping our room which has not been dusted for years, clearing the cobwebs, etc. And when we clear the room of the dirt, there we will find the dust rising up and blinding our eyes, and it may look as if things have become worse than what they were earlier. But afterwards the dust goes; it has been swept completely, and we are happy.

So, these problems and difficulties, pains and sorrows and doubts, the agonies that appear in the course of the practice of Yoga are the inevitable consequences of our effort in cleansing the mind of all the dirt that is deposited there since aeons and incarnations. But a glorious day is to come and that should keep us happy, expecting a blessedness that is supremely divine.

One who believes in God and trusts in God wholly, taking refuge in God, shall be taken care of by God. “He shall not lose Me, and I shall not lose him,” says the great Master. One who has taken shelter in God cannot be deserted by God under any circumstance, and peace, protection and satisfaction of every kind shall be the fruits of sincerity and honesty. What we are called upon to be sure of is that we are honest at the core, and there is no duplicity of attitude even in the least. We are not gambling with God, and we are not testing Him, and we are not expecting anything from Him with a personal motive. Let these things be clear to us, and we shall receive the flood of His Grace descending upon us instantaneously, because God is Spaceless and Timeless.

“He sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self, whose self has been made steadfast by Yoga, who everywhere sees the same.” “He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, to him I cease not, nor to Me does he cease.” “Whoso, rooted in oneness, worships Me who abide in all beings, that Yogi dwells in Me, whatever be his mode of life.” “Whoso, by comparison with his own self, sees the same everywhere (as his own self), O Arjuna, be it pleasure or pain, he is deemed the highest Yogi.”

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Next

Chapter 12: God and the Universe

To be continued

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