Om Amriteshwaryai Namaha!
Ayudh 2007 Retreat
I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever AYUDH America youth retreat, which took place between December 27th and December 30th 2007 at the MA Center- Amma’s ashram in San Ramon, California. It was an incredible experience to connect with a group of young people who were so diverse, yet also like-minded in intentions and goals.
This fall, some of the young people from America went on Amma’s European tour and were very impressed with the camaraderie and enthusiasm of the youths around Amma in Europe, and were inspired upon hearing about the AYUDH International Youth Exchange that took place in Germany this year. With the roots of AYUDH in India, and a strong branch in Europe- it was time for a branch in America to be initiated, and with less than two months of intense planning, it began!
Most of the retreat took place in a very picturesque part of the ashram, which is actually a beautiful house in the hills, with no roads or highways in sight; the perfect place for a “retreat” from the rigors of high school, universities and the working world. We all began arriving Thursday afternoon and the initial activity we did was some light seva while watching the Amrita TV program Ammayodappam. Once everyone arrived, we began with some ice-breaker games so that we could get to know each others’ names and to kick-off the retreat with some fun and laughter. After the orientation and dinner, we celebrated all the December and January birthdays with a big cake that said “Happy Birthday AYUDH America” which was appropriate, as we were also there to celebrate the birth of AYUDH America itself. After dinner we sat in the main temple of the ashram and Dayamrita Swami gave an inspirational talk on the meaning of AYUDH- Amrita Yuva Dharma Dara, or the flow of Dharma through the youths, and he also taught us that the Sanskrit word Ayudh literally means “without war.” After the talk, we all participated in the evening bhajans.
The next morning at 5:30 AM, and for every morning of the retreat, there was the chanting of the Sri Lalitha Sahasranama archana in the temple. After the archana, the Mahisasuramardini stotram was chanted as well. Even though attendance was optional, there was a nice turnout everyday! The true inauguration of AYUDH America took place that next morning, with Dayamrita Swami leading us all in a Puja, which included the chanting of the 108 names. He also spoke to us about the importance of spiritual practice, and gave us very practical advice on how to incorporate it into the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. A deep peace pervaded the atmosphere as Swamiji led us in a meditation; and it truly felt like Amma’s blessings were there with all of us.
Following a tasty pancake breakfast was an infinitely special treat; a live web cast of Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri from Amma’s ashram in India. In the midst of his ever-busy schedule, Swamiji took the time to talk to us- and with us, about the theme of this retreat and AYUDH America- Be the change. Swamiji told us that if we change ourselves that is the first step in changing the world around us. He gave us advice on how we can make an inner change. He taught us that music does not come from the guitarist’s fingertips; that the music comes from beyond, and like that, change also comes from beyond, and that Amma, or God is the changeless core of life. Swamiji told many funny stories and anecdotes that had us all laughing, and he even asked us questions and interacted with us. What stuck out the most to me was when Swamiji said that we should think simply, that as a group we should not start out with huge ideas, but small accomplishable ones, and that we should use Amma’s simplicity as a role model. Towards the end, one of the retreatants asked Swamiji to sing a bhajan. He sang Shristiyum Niye, and all of us sang along in response. It was such a beautiful moment, and definitely a major highlight of the retreat. Afterwards, we sat together to further discuss the meaning of be the change and had an opportunity to ask specific questions to Dayamrita Swami.
The rest of the afternoon was spent participating in an interesting array of activities. We split up into 4 groups and rotated between 4 different workshops. The first, named “Creative Giving” gave us an opportunity to make one square of what will later be a quilt. We had many paints to work with and a stencil of the AYUDH logo, and were given free reign to create any design we wanted. Another workshop was a question and answer session with Dayamrita Swami. It was so nice to sit in a small intimate group and to feel comfortable to ask him anything that we felt like. He also told us many funny stories of his experiences with Amma, and on the spiritual path that made us laugh, and in some cases moved us to tears. One of the facilitators of the retreat put together a power point presentation as one of the workshops, which highlighted the words and works of some of the great movers and shakers of our time- and before our time- like Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Teddy Roosevelt and Amma. The final workshop, Divine Delights, had us hands-on baking cookies and cupcakes and decorating them. This showed those of us not familiar with baking, just how easy and fun it can be. The cookies were sold at the next evening’s satsang to raise money for Amma’s charitable activities.
Later in the afternoon we played a competitive, yet fun game of charades, as well as a game of Jeopardy- it was projected on the big screen and we even had buzzers! The game tested our listening skills by giving us questions on Swamiji’s web cast and Dayamrita Swami’s satsangs. After dinner, and the evening bhajans, we relaxed after a packed day, with popcorn and a light hearted movie.
On Saturday morning, Dayamrita Swami again lead us in meditation and prayers and then we quickly set off on an outing; AYUDH America’s first service project. We caravanned to Half Moon Bay to do some habitat restoration on the coast. The weather had been quite stormy the day before, but by the time we reached the beach, the rain let up. A park ranger met with us and explained that the native plants of the California coast were being choked out by foreign-introduced invasive species, and that this has an effect on the entire ecosystem. She showed us the invasive species, gave us all hoes, and we dug in! After removing many of the invasives, we began to plant native species such as strawberry and sage plants. This was so much fun and it quickly became obvious that with so many people working together, seemingly big jobs can get done almost effortlessly. While we didn’t completely finish removing all of the invasive species in the area, we cleared a good chunk of it, and we get to look forward to doing more work there together in the future. As we were leaving the beach, it began to rain, which felt like a blessing for the new plants, giving them a good chance to grow and thrive.
In the late afternoon we had a discussion group with Jay Misra, one of Amma’s devotees that lives in the San Ramon ashram. He spoke to us about the problem of farmer suicide in India, and showed us a very informative video on the matter. Most of us had not been aware of this issue and it sparked a lively discussion on why it is happening and what we can possibly do individually and as a group to help bring about a remedy to this horrible situation.
That evening at the ashram was the regular Saturday public program, and all of us wore our new AYUDH t-shirts. Four of the retreat participants gave a short talk about their experience of the retreat so far. The Bhajans themselves were lead by Dayamrita Swami along with the youth singing and playing the instruments and performing the Arati.
The next day was the final day of our retreat. After the final round of meditation and prayers, we all came together to talk about some short term and long term goals that we as AYUDH America want to accomplish. Over the course of the retreat, numerous ideas had come up about different fundraisers and seva activities that we can do together, and it became obvious during the discussion which ideas had the most steam. Environmental projects seemed to be very popular for our group, so one pledge we made was to plant a certain number of trees before Amma’s next visit. If everyone does just a little bit, then as a group we should easily be able to accomplish that goal. My favorite pledge is that we will meet again at least 3 more times before Amma’s visit in June. And since be the change is not just about how we can change the world, but how we can change ourselves, we each wrote a letter addressed to ourselves with a pledge of how we plan to change our own thoughts and actions this year, and this will be mailed to us around the same time next year. For the final activity of the retreat, we all gathered on a hill just above the Amrita Hall to plant a tree. We planted this tree together not just to mark the end of the retreat, but as a prayer for the beginning of AYUDH America. While chanting Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu, we each put some soil and poured water on the base of the tree, and when it was finished, one of the kids said that we should name it “Amrita Ayudh,” meaning “Immortal Peace”. May its roots grow deep into the soil, and with Amma’s grace, may it grow towards the sky with strength and perserverence.
This fall, some of the young people from America went on Amma’s European tour and were very impressed with the camaraderie and enthusiasm of the youths around Amma in Europe, and were inspired upon hearing about the AYUDH International Youth Exchange that took place in Germany this year. With the roots of AYUDH in India, and a strong branch in Europe- it was time for a branch in America to be initiated, and with less than two months of intense planning, it began!
Most of the retreat took place in a very picturesque part of the ashram, which is actually a beautiful house in the hills, with no roads or highways in sight; the perfect place for a “retreat” from the rigors of high school, universities and the working world. We all began arriving Thursday afternoon and the initial activity we did was some light seva while watching the Amrita TV program Ammayodappam. Once everyone arrived, we began with some ice-breaker games so that we could get to know each others’ names and to kick-off the retreat with some fun and laughter. After the orientation and dinner, we celebrated all the December and January birthdays with a big cake that said “Happy Birthday AYUDH America” which was appropriate, as we were also there to celebrate the birth of AYUDH America itself. After dinner we sat in the main temple of the ashram and Dayamrita Swami gave an inspirational talk on the meaning of AYUDH- Amrita Yuva Dharma Dara, or the flow of Dharma through the youths, and he also taught us that the Sanskrit word Ayudh literally means “without war.” After the talk, we all participated in the evening bhajans.
The next morning at 5:30 AM, and for every morning of the retreat, there was the chanting of the Sri Lalitha Sahasranama archana in the temple. After the archana, the Mahisasuramardini stotram was chanted as well. Even though attendance was optional, there was a nice turnout everyday! The true inauguration of AYUDH America took place that next morning, with Dayamrita Swami leading us all in a Puja, which included the chanting of the 108 names. He also spoke to us about the importance of spiritual practice, and gave us very practical advice on how to incorporate it into the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. A deep peace pervaded the atmosphere as Swamiji led us in a meditation; and it truly felt like Amma’s blessings were there with all of us.
Following a tasty pancake breakfast was an infinitely special treat; a live web cast of Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri from Amma’s ashram in India. In the midst of his ever-busy schedule, Swamiji took the time to talk to us- and with us, about the theme of this retreat and AYUDH America- Be the change. Swamiji told us that if we change ourselves that is the first step in changing the world around us. He gave us advice on how we can make an inner change. He taught us that music does not come from the guitarist’s fingertips; that the music comes from beyond, and like that, change also comes from beyond, and that Amma, or God is the changeless core of life. Swamiji told many funny stories and anecdotes that had us all laughing, and he even asked us questions and interacted with us. What stuck out the most to me was when Swamiji said that we should think simply, that as a group we should not start out with huge ideas, but small accomplishable ones, and that we should use Amma’s simplicity as a role model. Towards the end, one of the retreatants asked Swamiji to sing a bhajan. He sang Shristiyum Niye, and all of us sang along in response. It was such a beautiful moment, and definitely a major highlight of the retreat. Afterwards, we sat together to further discuss the meaning of be the change and had an opportunity to ask specific questions to Dayamrita Swami.
The rest of the afternoon was spent participating in an interesting array of activities. We split up into 4 groups and rotated between 4 different workshops. The first, named “Creative Giving” gave us an opportunity to make one square of what will later be a quilt. We had many paints to work with and a stencil of the AYUDH logo, and were given free reign to create any design we wanted. Another workshop was a question and answer session with Dayamrita Swami. It was so nice to sit in a small intimate group and to feel comfortable to ask him anything that we felt like. He also told us many funny stories of his experiences with Amma, and on the spiritual path that made us laugh, and in some cases moved us to tears. One of the facilitators of the retreat put together a power point presentation as one of the workshops, which highlighted the words and works of some of the great movers and shakers of our time- and before our time- like Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Teddy Roosevelt and Amma. The final workshop, Divine Delights, had us hands-on baking cookies and cupcakes and decorating them. This showed those of us not familiar with baking, just how easy and fun it can be. The cookies were sold at the next evening’s satsang to raise money for Amma’s charitable activities.
Later in the afternoon we played a competitive, yet fun game of charades, as well as a game of Jeopardy- it was projected on the big screen and we even had buzzers! The game tested our listening skills by giving us questions on Swamiji’s web cast and Dayamrita Swami’s satsangs. After dinner, and the evening bhajans, we relaxed after a packed day, with popcorn and a light hearted movie.
On Saturday morning, Dayamrita Swami again lead us in meditation and prayers and then we quickly set off on an outing; AYUDH America’s first service project. We caravanned to Half Moon Bay to do some habitat restoration on the coast. The weather had been quite stormy the day before, but by the time we reached the beach, the rain let up. A park ranger met with us and explained that the native plants of the California coast were being choked out by foreign-introduced invasive species, and that this has an effect on the entire ecosystem. She showed us the invasive species, gave us all hoes, and we dug in! After removing many of the invasives, we began to plant native species such as strawberry and sage plants. This was so much fun and it quickly became obvious that with so many people working together, seemingly big jobs can get done almost effortlessly. While we didn’t completely finish removing all of the invasive species in the area, we cleared a good chunk of it, and we get to look forward to doing more work there together in the future. As we were leaving the beach, it began to rain, which felt like a blessing for the new plants, giving them a good chance to grow and thrive.
In the late afternoon we had a discussion group with Jay Misra, one of Amma’s devotees that lives in the San Ramon ashram. He spoke to us about the problem of farmer suicide in India, and showed us a very informative video on the matter. Most of us had not been aware of this issue and it sparked a lively discussion on why it is happening and what we can possibly do individually and as a group to help bring about a remedy to this horrible situation.
That evening at the ashram was the regular Saturday public program, and all of us wore our new AYUDH t-shirts. Four of the retreat participants gave a short talk about their experience of the retreat so far. The Bhajans themselves were lead by Dayamrita Swami along with the youth singing and playing the instruments and performing the Arati.
The next day was the final day of our retreat. After the final round of meditation and prayers, we all came together to talk about some short term and long term goals that we as AYUDH America want to accomplish. Over the course of the retreat, numerous ideas had come up about different fundraisers and seva activities that we can do together, and it became obvious during the discussion which ideas had the most steam. Environmental projects seemed to be very popular for our group, so one pledge we made was to plant a certain number of trees before Amma’s next visit. If everyone does just a little bit, then as a group we should easily be able to accomplish that goal. My favorite pledge is that we will meet again at least 3 more times before Amma’s visit in June. And since be the change is not just about how we can change the world, but how we can change ourselves, we each wrote a letter addressed to ourselves with a pledge of how we plan to change our own thoughts and actions this year, and this will be mailed to us around the same time next year. For the final activity of the retreat, we all gathered on a hill just above the Amrita Hall to plant a tree. We planted this tree together not just to mark the end of the retreat, but as a prayer for the beginning of AYUDH America. While chanting Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu, we each put some soil and poured water on the base of the tree, and when it was finished, one of the kids said that we should name it “Amrita Ayudh,” meaning “Immortal Peace”. May its roots grow deep into the soil, and with Amma’s grace, may it grow towards the sky with strength and perserverence.
-Vilasini
Wow this sounds like such a great retreat. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope there will be many more events like this! Good job!
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