Between 13 December 2013 and 5 January 2014, more than 7,500 children’s activities volunteers from 245 regions of Gujarat took part in the Annual Karyakar Shibir. A total of ten separate shibirs, each lasting one-and-a-half days, were held in six locations.
Each shibir was blessed by the guidance of sadguru sadhus: Pujya Keshavjivan Swami (Pujya Mahant Swami), Pujya Swayamprakash Swami (Pujya Doctor Swami), Pujya Tyagvallabh Swami and Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami. They explained that to ‘Live for BAPS’ means to sacrifice, have firm faith in our upasana, remain steadfast in one’s niyams and duties, and serve continually for life.
Other sadhus including Ghanshyamcharan Swami, Shrihari Swami, Acharya Swami, Anandswarup Swami and Vivekjivan Swami shared the stories of our Guru Parampara and past sadhus and devotees, highlighting the hardships they fearlessly and resolutely overcame for the sake of Akshar and Purushottam.
The shibir’s inspiring messages were conveyed in a variety ways: a drama, interviews of dedicated sadhus and volunteers, group discussions, and audio-visual presentations.
An important part of the shibirs was the launch of the 150th birth anniversary of Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj. The children will be taking part in numerous activities throughout the year to celebrate this important occasion.
The shibir’s training component focused on how the volunteers could become better, more effective and more creative as teachers. As an example, they learnt 25 ways of teaching just one lesson from the ‘Satsang Vihar’ book series used as the syllabus for the weekly children’s assemblies.
These annual karyakar shibirs inspired all volunteers to follow in the footsteps of the dedicated sadhus and devotees and honor the life of BAPS’s founder, Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj, by living for the upasana of Akshar and Purushottam.