The first Australia and New Zealand Akshar-Purushottam Adhyayan Conference was held in Glenaladale, Australia in the presence of Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami and resident swamis from Australia. A total of 48 yuvaks and 31 yuvatis gathered for this historic conference, organized by the recently opened BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute. For the last one-and-a-half years the delegates had participated in two separate online courses: 1) Akshar-Purushottam Adhyayan and 2) Siddhant Sadhana.
The Akshar-Purushottam Adhyayan course focused on learning about the history of BAPS, Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, attachment to the Satpurush, learning how to sing Sanskrit verses from the Swaminarayan Siddhant Karika and discussions about the dedication of volunteers.
The Siddhant Sadhana course focused on understanding the Akshar-Purushottam philosophy in depth and its practical daily life applications.
The four-day conference began with the delegates taking their final exam for their respective courses. During the conference, swamis guided and inspired the delegates to continue to learn and imbibe the teachings from their courses. Swamis also gave creative in-depth presentations on performing the different ahniks – daily devotional routines. Also, the delegates actively engaged in group discussions on how to apply these teachings in their daily lives. At the end of the four-day conference, a convocation ceremony was held for all the delegates who had passed their final exam.
On the last day, 15 August 2022, the delegates participated in the flag hoisting ceremony to commemorate India’s Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav – India’s 75th Independence Day.