News from the Australian Yuva Shakti Seminar 2024

News from Australian Yuva Shakti Seminar 2024

3rd to 7th July 2024
Held at Templestowe Ashram, Melbourne

A fantastic experience augmented by awesome workshops, joyous collectively and cool vibrations is the best way to sum up the recent Australian Yuva Seminar in one sentence. Fortunately, we’ve been given a little more than that to share a recollection of the months of effort, excitement and anticipation that went into forming what was truly a wonderful week of absolute bliss.

The first official day of the seminar began with a frosty -2 degrees and the central heating turned off. Yet promptly at 6am, nearly 45 yuvas from all over Australia, ranging in age from 15 to 30, gathered in the meditation hall for a morning meditation and small puja to Shri Mataji, inviting Her to focus Her attention on the first Yuva Seminar in almost a decade. That morning, the atmosphere was filled with an auspicious air, a distinct sense of bhakti and a unique undercurrent of peace. It was almost clear from the start, that this seminar would be a time of abundant joy and beautiful collectivity that would be a memorable and transformative experience for all involved.

The variety of activities that followed the morning meditation really set the tone for the seminar. We started with some introductory games designed to help everyone get to know each other and build cross-state connections. The games included the infamous ‘Name Game’ and a couple rounds of the lively ‘Bang!’ game. Oddly, it seemed like Prabhneer had a little too much fun “shooting” his friends. We also tried a hand tangle game. We formed circles, one of boys and one of girls, and held hands with someone else in the circle making sure that both hands went to different people. We then attempted to untangle our hands without letting go, to form a new untangled circle. This was hard. The girls performed slightly better than the boys and managed to only untangle themselves five or so times before the boys finally freed themselves, while slightly cheating only to find they had somehow ended up with two separate circles! Looking around during these games, it felt as though the connections between people were being formed so easily, like reunions of long-lost siblings, some of whom had never met each other before.

Video

Australian yuvashakti seminar held in Melbourne, July, 2024

After a short morning tea break, we gathered in the meditation hall to participate in a workshop on qualities and guidelines for the Yuvashakti outlined in the ‘Yuvashakti Genesis’ document. The document, presented through a slideshow, is a summary of the instructions and advice given by Mother during the Shri Krishna Puja in Bombay 1987 and details how the Yuvashakti should function and what they should know. This included knowing about the life of Shri Mataji, knowing about Sahaj concepts, learning to appreciate art, culture, dance and Indian Classical Music amongst many other things. In the spontaneous manner that Sahaj often unfolds, the workshops succeeding this one happened to uniquely address some of these topics and actually helped us improve on some of these qualities in the following days. These included things like treatment sessions, bhangra classes and an interactive workshop on Indian Classical Music. We also held a ‘Growing up in Sahaja Yoga’ Q&A Panel with ex-yuvas and got to hear about some valuable firsthand experiences from some of our Aunties and Uncles who spent time with Shri Mataji in a Recollections Evening. In the coming paragraphs, a summary of some of these workshops will be provided, along with the insights and experiences that made the seminar a truly memorable experience.

Growing up in Sahaja Yoga Q&A Panel

A significant challenge for yuvas is determining whether their experiences and understanding of vibratory awareness and social challenges align with those of their sahaj brothers and sisters. Internally, we seek affirmation and belief in what we are doing, and we desire to learn about different people’s motivations and their understanding of the beauty of Sahaja Yoga. Throughout the seminar, there was a strong emphasis on removing the hesitation to speak about our experiences with others, in order to build a sense of collectivity within the Yuvashakti. After all, the entire purpose was to grow deeper, and having these conversations with one another is a special way to gain motivation, understanding, and the desire to grow spiritually.  One effective method of going about this was the use of an anonymous question box. The questions were collected and posed to a select panel of “ex-yuvas” (yogis who have grown up in Sahaja yoga) who gave insightful responses and shared many wonderful experiences with us. Interestingly, common themes in the questions emerged, indicating shared concerns among the group. Questions like, “How did you navigate social pressures while maintaining your integrity as a Sahaja Yogi?”, “How did you know you wanted to get married in Sahaj Yoga?” and “How did you know Sahaj Yoga was the path you wanted to follow?” were amongst the most asked things. It was really comforting to listen to stories and experiences that connect to where we are in our lives and to know that there are people we can relate to and encourage us on our journey was quite special. As stated by one attendee (Ajsan Aje) “the workshop answered many questions that I had, and that I didn’t know I had” showing how the session was a real eye opening and insightful experience for everyone. 

Spreading Sahaja Yoga Workshop

A workshop was also dedicated to the highly requested topic of how to spread Sahaja Yoga in the real world and how to discuss it with seekers. We split into predetermined groups and were given different scenario prompts based on situations we might encounter when speaking about Sahaja Yoga with a seeker. For instance, questions like, “How would you explain the relationship between chakras and deities?” or “Why do we meditate in front of Shri Mataji’s photo?” Each group would then discuss their prompt with their group members and devise different strategies they might consider or what might be difficult about their situation.

After about ten minutes of discussion, each group then nominated a speaker to share the fruits of their discussions with everyone else.  It was heartwarming to see many of the younger yuvas step up to share their group’s points, despite their evident nervousness about being put into the spotlight. It was also quite interesting to hear from some of the older and more experienced yuvas about situations they’ve been in and how they might’ve gone about and navigated scenarios similar to those in the prompts. This exercise was quite an important part of the seminar, as it really helped build our confidence in sharing Sahaja Yoga with others.

Recollections Evening

Amongst the many remarkable activities held throughout the seminar, the Recollections Evening stood out as a turning point for many. During the evening, the yuvas were given the opportunity to listen to stories about Shri Mataji in her human form from Aunties and Uncles who were fortunate enough to have spent time in person with Her.

As part of the session, a list of question was provided to the leads prompting the Aunties and Uncles to share their experiences and share stories in response to the questions. Each story offered delightful insight into what it was like to be with Mother, which was awe inspiring to as many of the yuvas had never seen Shri Mataji in person or were too young to have detailed memories of meeting Her.

A clear difference between the older generation of yogis (the Aunties and Uncles) and the yuvas was that the prior had the privilege of interacting with and seeing Shri Mataji as a Mother. While the yuvas understand that Shri Mataji is our Mother, they rarely get to see Her in a motherly form. We often listen to Mother’s speeches and watch videos, but these usually portray Her as a Goddess with endless knowledge. As a result, the yuvas mainly perceive the Goddess form of Mother.

However, listening to the stories during Recollections Night allowed the yuvas to see Shri Mataji as a caring and loving Mother who did extensive work for Her children. This activity helped the yuvas recognise Shri Mataji on a much deeper level and truly feel Her love and affection. Hearing these wonderful stories made it seem as if they themselves had interacted with Mother in Her physical form, leading to a profound sense of dedication and surrender towards Shri Mataji.

The stories shared included personal experiences of seeing Mother and recounting things She had said to the yogis that were not recorded or documented. It was awe inspiring to hear how she noticed the smallest details about people, or how she knew what people were thinking of when meeting her. These anecdotes were invaluable to the yuvas, helping them feel Mother’s love within themselves. After the activity, the yuvas were able to view a photo album containing various photos of Shri Mataji, thanks to an aunty who had meticulously maintained the albums.

Overall, the yuvas left the activity feeling an immense amount of love from our Mother and gained a deeper understanding and recognition of Her. Just as eager as the yuvas were to listen to the stories, the aunties and uncles were to share them. Ultimately, no one wanted the activity to end. The generation of yogis that had the privilege of seeing and interacting with Shri Mataji in Her physical form are truly fortunate to have such beautiful memories. We yuvas are incredibly lucky to have these recollections passed down to us. No matter how many hours we spend listening, we always find ourselves wanting to hear more stories.

Doncaster Public Program

As the grand finale to the Melbourne Yuva Seminar, a public program was organised to cap off the week. This event featured an evening of Indian classical dance and music, along with an introduction to Sahaja Yoga for newcomers. The program took place at Doncaster Secondary College in a theatre-style auditorium, with about 50 new seekers and 150 attendees in total.

Promotional video for Melbourne Doncaster Program – Held on 7th July 2024

The public program served as an ideal conclusion to the seminar, embodying Shri Mataji’s vision of spreading vibrations, love, and awareness of divinity to humanity. Following the “How to Spread Sahaja Yoga” workshop, which was held the day before, the program provided the Yuvashakti with the opportunity to showcase their confidence and knowledge of Sahaja Yoga.

The Yuvas felt a profound sense of responsibility towards Shri Mataji’s vision and a strong sense of belonging to each other and the Sahaj sangha. Additionally, the recollections night held the previous evening also reminded the Yuvas of Shri Mataji’s vision and the purpose of their practice of Sahaja Yoga in their day to day lives. This deeper understanding and respect for Mother’s vision truly enabled them to wholeheartedly contribute to the success of the public program.

The Melbourne Yuva Seminar 2024 was a great success and helped foster both personal and collective growth in the short time we spent together. Between the perceptive workshops, everyone stayed busy with spontaneous music sessions, board games and various sports. There was an abundance of joy, creativity and vertical growth, in what was our bubble of heaven for that one week.

‘Sahaja Yoga is a pretty magical thing, we tend to forget that sometimes’  – Isha Mane

An experience by one of the Yuva attendees

“So this was the night we had the ‘spreading Sahaja Yoga workshop’ and also all the ‘recollections night’ with older Sahaja Yogis experiences with Shri Mataji, so it was a very deeply connected night to Sahaj for me at least. But once that had all finished everyone was starting their conversations around the ashram and getting dinner, you know, sitting in the meditation room chatting. And I was just sitting there taking in what I had learnt from all the people that had talked that night. I especially liked Uncle Mark’s process of getting into thoughtless awareness that he took us through earlier that night, because it had kind of worked for me. So I decided to try it again but this time with a bit more depth in my meditation. So I start to meditate and almost immediately it starts to feel good. Uncle Mark talked about the thoughts as oscillations and I really connected to that. As I meditated, I watched my thoughts as a heartbeat. Each thought resembled another heartbeat. As I got further into the meditation, the beats became less frequent. Everytime a thought came, I would repeat ‘not that’. Eventually, there were almost no thoughts and it was like the heartbeat flatlined. It felt very still. This was the deepest I had ever been in thoughtless awareness. The room and all the noise of everyone talking and eating had also become a blur, like just one sound, hard to describe. Leading up to this point as well, my hands had been gradually getting colder and colder. It felt as if I had two balls of vibrations rotating on each palm, growing as I got further into meditation. My fingertips had been freezing. Everything felt so clear. So I sat there in this state of deep deep meditation for quite a while. It felt so easy, like when I entered that state of true thoughtless awareness, it became so easy to stay there. Thoughts, noise or anything didn’t seem to bother me. Anyways, on such a night filled with stories of Shri Mataji, I felt very connected to the divine and its presence. I decided to test something. With such clarity and distinction in my mind and body, I asked a question inside myself, three times. ‘Shri Mataji, are you there?’ ‘Shri Mataji, are you there?’ ‘Shri Mataji, are you there?’ I sit there a few more seconds in silence, the focus so strong. And there it is, I feel the single point of a finger just tap the middle of my Sahasrara. So gentle and subtle, but so clear. No one was around me, I knew that. It felt as if Shri Mataji had been there with me as I meditated and had raised my kundalini, ending with a tap on my head. It was surreal. Immediately after it happened, the vibrations rose up the kundalini and flowed heavily though that one spot on top of my Sahasrara and it felt like the point started to expand so quickly, like a lotus blooming. That was definitely the biggest cool breeze I had felt in my life. I wanted to open my eyes and look around when I felt the tap but something told me not to. All I could do was smile. The experience was amazing but it also made me truly feel insignificant to the great divine and our Mother. After it happened, I sat for a little longer very deeply in meditation. Eventually I finished my meditation and went outside onto the street. I looked up at the stars with tears of joy in my eyes. I never had any doubts in my mind, but the experience truly reaffirmed everything.”- John Mclearie, 16 years.