The Spiritualtouch Summer Retreat 2017

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Children soared in spirit and rose in confidence as they experienced a spectrum of activities like interactive study, passionate seva and devotional offerings, in the Spiritualtouch Summer Retreat 2017.

Spiritual Nourishment
A beautiful inaugural ceremony flagged off the Retreat dedicated to the 150th Birth Anniversary Year of Param Krupalu Dev. Piously performing Jinpuja, the children commenced their jam-packed and vibrant day of love and learning. Tears flowed and hearts entwined with the Divine as they sang ajnabhakti. In addition, they prepared their bodies for the day through yoga and aerobics.

Param Krupalu Dev wrote Mokshmala at the tender age of 16 years and 5 months. Consisting of 108 lessons, Mokshmala combines philosophy with ethics and presents a straight forward exposition of the true nature of Jainism. The children energetically participated in classes on Mokshmala as facilitators shared the extensive meanings behind His phenomenal words. They deepened their knowledge of Param Krupalu Dev’s masterpiece, Shri Atmasiddhi Shastra and enjoyed a session on Chha Padno Patra. In these classes, games, discussions and introspection techniques further intensified and inculcated the profound lessons. A new incentive offered this year was completing Aradhana, in which students were rewarded with coupons for doing various things like khamasanas, writing jaap, taking an abhigraha, observing maun and much more.

Atmarpit Smrutiji took an elevating session on ‘Connecting through Seva’ and Yuva Swadhyaykar Jivanarpit Shraddha Kothari conducted an uplifting session on ‘Wanting Happiness to Being Happiness’.

Self-development
Different standards were offered a combination of activities which worked on improving life skills, proficiency and mental nourishment. These included seva at Shrimad Rajchandra Jivamaitridham, robotics, a treasure hunt, dance, art and games. Atmarpit Rakshitbhai took a session on Sadguru Prerna and the children received the opportunity to do seva at the site. Cooking for Pujya Gurudevshri was an exciting challenge offered to the children in the Master Chef classes. The Stompers session allowed them to make music with waste materials. Aero-modelling was an exciting endeavour as children interacted with pilot, Hridayarpit Darshan Desai. Shrimad Rajchandra Gurukul (SRG) children also benefitted from sessions on self-development and body language, communication and decision making by Amish Desai, a Senior Consultant and Trainer from Greendot Management Solutions.

The grand Summer Camp was created especially for the children of Dharampur. Atmarpit Nemiji conducted an inspiring session for the children of the Summer Camp. They also relished sessions on Life of Param Krupalu Dev, confidence building, origami, aerobics and more.

Devotional Dedications
Children were blessed to spend incredible moments in Pujya Gurudevshri’s divine aura. Inspired by Shikshapath 100 from Mokshmala, which reflects on obstacles to controlling the mind, the outgoing Standard 10 students wrote introspective letters to Pujya Gurudevshri seeking His help, which He read lovingly. A ‘divine phone booth’ was also created, in which children received an empowering message from Pujya Gurudevshri.

Each evening, children gathered with earnestness to offer dedications to Param Krupalu Dev. An awe-inspiring live exhibition was created, depicting various episodes from His life. The spiritual growth of the children from centres such as Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Botad, Dharampur was evident through skits, dances, prayers and more. Shrimad Rajchandra Gurukul students also performed a beautiful skit on the blessings they have received. Experience sharing by Namaha Mehta and Ruhee Shah allowed the children to reflect on moments of living in His grace. With resounding claps, tears of gratitude and joyously shouting voices, children relished each moment of divine connection.

On the final evening, children from different Mumbai centres performed a grand musical based on Param Krupalu Dev’s life, which made the evening enormously enriching for all.

The outgoing Standard 10 batch beamingly graduated Spiritualtouch in the presence of Pujya Gurudevshri. He blessed each student with a certificate and an autograph of ‘Raj’ in different languages like Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, Russian, Mandarin to name a few. To culminate the amazing Retreat the children immersed in bhakti, gathering with their instruments, tears, claps and smiles, reflecting on the precious moments they had experienced.

Thus, the all-round Spiritualtouch Retreat gave the children passion and perseverance to pursue the path laid by Param Krupalu Dev.