With blessings from our beloved Sadguru and guidance of Br. Harshaben, the US mumukshu were finally able to get together for the first ever Yuva retreat!
Mumukshus are spread out in the US, with small concentrations within the Northeast, South and Midwest regions. We usually meet up when PPB visits the US for Dharma Yatras and/or Brahmanishts from overseas grace us with their presence. A group of us had decided to meet this year to enhance our own relationships with one another, to learn from each other & to grow with each other.
Yuva retreat Goals
Increase interaction between US Mumukshus
Create our Truth Circle
Create an environment of psychological safety – support each other without judgment
Fail Forward
Keeping these goals in mind and Br. Harshaben’s guidance, 23 Mumukshus were able to get together in Kissimmee, Florida under the same roof for a 3 day retreat.
The daily schedule was kept simple, taking into consideration the split between spiritual aspirants and mumukshus. Our days began with meditation, and then moved toward spiritual discussions and group sessions that helped us individually.
Br. Harshaben, having lived in the US and experienced a lot of these challenges, was able to connect with us and make us see outside of the constraints we had put on ourselves. We related to her storytelling, and got inspired to face our challenges and fears, by attempting to live life in a spiritual way, recognizing that our life is a constant evolution. Some of the key takeaways from the retreat were:
The hurdles we face are not unique to an individual - We experience the constant pull between the worldly and spiritual forces
I live in this materialistic world, the materialistic world does not live within me - “Mein Sansar mein hoon, Sansar mereme nahi hai”
The importance of Mental Discipline - Listen – Observe – Act – Learn – Repeat until you achieve success, don’t try and achieve perfection.
Our brains are adaptable, constantly evolving - It requires negative experiences and reactions, negative thoughts to be replaced with something positive and calm
You are responsible for your actions, decisions and priorities you set for yourself everyday - Take ownership of your actions
Be selfish spiritually - Swa-Daya is more important than Par-Daya
Learning from mistakes and try to overcome them: failure is part of the journey, but if one cannot make progress, then we never truly learn from our failures
With practical teachings from Br. Harshaben and a list of great takeaways from the retreat, we all dispersed back to our regions, with newfound mental vigor and spiritual bonds with other mumukshus that we can rely on and reach out to, when we face hurdles in our materialistic life to overcome with spiritual mental discipline.
