This year's karyakar shibir had the central theme: “Yagnapurush chhe saathe” (Yagnapurush is with us). This shibir was aligned with Shastriji Maharaj‟s Saardh Shatabdi being celebrated this year.
The purpose of the shibir was to help all karyakars experience that the Satpurush-Guruparampara are always with us; and since the Satpurush is with us then naturally Bhagwan who is ever present with Him is always with us too. When Bhagwan and the Sant are with us then we have nothing to worry about, we gain continuous strength and our enthusiasm should never falter. In order to experience this we have to cultivate appropriate qualities. To imbibe these qualities focus was directed towards three types of nistha (conviction) during the shibir:
1) Dharmanistha - Karyakars were guided on topics such as niyam, dharma, agna of Shrihari and the Sant; their conviction towards their duties and to further strengthen sang-nistha (unity).
2) Bhaktinistha – The karyakar were given appropriate guidance in order to gain a better understanding of the daily rituals, puja, mansi, aarti, katha, smruti, sabha.
3) Gnannistha – The importance of the need to understand one's own swarup, and to cultivate aksharbhav, to understand the form of Shriji Maharaj and to believe Him to be the karta-harta (the all doer).
If these three types of nistha are imbibed in our lives, one will experience Yagnapurush with oneself. Due to this understanding, one will be able to remain equipoised in any harsh circumstances or difficult situations. One's enthusiasm will not decrease, and there will be an overflow of bliss and pride. To continuously nurture the yearning for the progress of satsang, all of the above points were presented through various mediums such as pravachans, workshops, videos, plays, powerpoint presentations, question and answer sessions to make it interesting and joyful.
The karyakars also attained inspiration through the means of video messages of Sadguru sadhus as well as Swamishri's blessings. The presence of senior and experienced sadhus from India, Pujya Yagnapriya Swami and Pujya Vivekjivan Swami during these shibirs was a rejuvenating experience for all participants as they shared their invaluable wisdom.
Bal, Kishore, Yuva and Vadil karyakars from 13 countries within the African continent participated in this shibir. These shibirs were held at three difference locations. The first shibir took place in Arusha (Tanzania) - on 11, 12, 13 April 2014. 302 karyakars from Kenya and Tanzania took part in this shibir.
The second shibir was organised in Jinja, Uganda - 19, 20, 21 April 2014. 267 karyakars from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan participated in this shibir.
The third shibir and final shibir took place in Johannesburg, South Africa – 26, 27 April 2014. 160 karyakars from South Africa, Botswana, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia and Congo participated in this shibir.
At the end of these 2-day or 3-day shibirs, the karyakars were inspired and left with an abundance of happiness and unlimited enthusiasm. They all reverted to their duties with singular faith and conviction – "Yagnapurush chhe saathe."