Chinmaya Mission Family Camp 2009
Spiritual Retreat in D/FW
December 2009
We were showered with blessings from Lord Shiva and Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda as unexpected snow and ice ushered us to the spiritual retreat on Christmas eve! Chinmaya Mission D/FW was honored to welcome Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda, acharyas and guests and from all over the world for a week-long winter camp at the Hilton D/FW lakes in Grapevine, TX. In spite of the weather, almost 650 camp attendees enjoyed the retreat and embarked on The Journey from Change to Changeless.
Our president, Mr. Ashok Dandekar kicked-off the camp with a welcome note. The inauguration ceremonies featured a welcome address by Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda and a melodious prayer song with accompaniment by our own balvihar kids.
Each day of the camp was filled with age-appropriate activities for children, youth and adults along with plenty of time to relax and mingle with attendees from different places and delicious vegetarian food. These were followed by sessions conducted throughout the day for different age groups.
Swami Sharanananda began the day began bright and early for children while he conducted yoga. Classroom sessions for children incorporated the Changeless Values of Sanatana Dharma. The middle-school and high-school kids learned the 20 values from Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 (verses 8-13) taught by Swami Sharanananda and Swamini Shivapriyananda respectively. Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda had a very special treat for the kids as he visited each classroom. The kids enjoyed His presence whether it was for clarifying their questions or simply being engrossed listening to stories he told. In the later half of the day the children also learned how to chant the vedic aarti taught by visiting acharya Smt. Lakshmi Sukumar; while the high school children on the other hand were engaged in daily satsangs with various acharayas – Swami Sharanananda, Swami Shantananda, Smt. Sharada Kumar, Br. Prabodh Chaitanya and Acharya P. B. Ghate.
The adults’ meditation sessions early in the morning were followed by Pujya Guruji’s discourses on Kaivalyopanishad. He emphasized on the proper way to chant the Shanti mantra (peace invocation) and rendered it’s meaning. Along with Ahswalayan, we learned the Bramha-vidya (ultimate knowledge) that will help us try to achieve moksha – true freedom from grief. In these satsangs we also learned how to meditate following the saguna saakar (form of the Lord). Swami Shantananda’s discourses on Gopika Geetam gave an historical perspective on the gopis (female friends) and the meaning of Gopika Geet (song of the gopis). In addition, various acharyas gave discourses by on Karma Yoga (Path of Action) as an applied science that all of us could relate to.
Families treasured precious moments with Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda as they participated in daily Guru Paduka Puja or Bhiksha (meal offerings) with Pujya Guruji. The evening yagna on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 was open to everyone, enabling the maximum number of people to be in His presence.
Camp Part I concluded with the annual banquet. The event featured performances by including songs, dances, Gita chanting and Slokathon trophy awards. Pujya Guruji’s keynote address included a story of young cowherd who did not know the value of the diamond he found and a jeweler who knew the price of the diamond but not its value. Pujya Guruji asked each one of us to reflect on the true value of Balavihar and Chinmaya Mission and its impact on our lives.
Camp Part II concluded with an evening of cultural program presented by Balavihar kids and CHYKs (Chinmaya Yuva Kendra members). The show was a pure delight to watch. Our youngest little ones taught us the most touching lesson. Their skit reminded us that every single aspect of this universe is important – whether it is grass, or trees, flowers, animals, etc.. Every one matters and we all have a role to play, regardless of how big or small our contribution is. A musical performance on Shabari and Navadha bhakti (nine forms of devotion) certainly struck a chord in everyone’s hearts! The CHYKs presented a skit about kids’ and parents’ expectations and resolving dilemmas as kids grow up in America’s Indian households. The underlying message was loud and clear, and every single person in the audience could relate to it especially since it applied to children’s upbringing in America. The evening was concluded with a dandiya presentation by the kids and CHYKs.
The overall camp experience was extremely satisfying. The camp was an even higher success considering what each one of us received here – zeal to work harder, better in our workplace as we learned from the teachings on Karma Yoga, desire to live life with an incline towards sattvik (godly) tendencies, our children trying to emulate the 20 values learned from Bhagavad Gita and the closeness we felt towards each other as an extended family. This truly was a memorable experience. If you were unable to partake in this camp this year, we hope you can take part in similar camps in the future.
