We celebrate each month, as usual, with an abhishekam to one of the three Centre statues or the lingam, and once a month we do small poojas for the other deities. We always start with the Guru Astotra, followed by bhajans. After the abhishekam we read a satsang and have a short exchange about it. Then we spend a nice moment sharing tea and prasadam while we discuss the satsang. The atmosphere is always very friendly. Afterwards most of the people stay to help clean the abhishekam vessels.
This year we organized three special programmes, which took either a whole day or a weekend. We continued with our usual programmes, but we added metta meditation, a yagam with offerings to mother earth, a pooja to the Centre lingam with blessings and a longer sharing about one of Swamiji’s satsangs.
We try to organize a big event every year in order to raise funds for charity. This year we organized a big flea market. We informed people in our area a few months before that we would collect items to sell at the flea market. We fixed a place and time and for four Sunday afternoons. Two volunteers were present to collect everything that was going to be sold. People are always so happy when they can give something they don’t need or like anymore, knowing it will be for a good purpose. Many people felt inspired to do a big clean up in their houses so that they could look for items to donate, and they were also happy about the nice atmosphere which this created in their homes. As a result we received many things to sell.
One weekend at the end of November, where not so much else is going on in our rural area, we started to get everything ready with people from the Centre and many other friends we recruited as volunteers. The day itself was a big success. We had a stand were we sold hot drinks, soup, samosas with chutney, halva, cakes and vegetarian sandwiches. We really had a very nice day, even though everybody was very tired at the end of the weekend. We were touched, because many friends, who had volunteered to help us for half a day, finally stayed for the whole day. They just got caught up in the energy and were happy to help. When we had finally finished with storing and cleaning we shared the rest of the food with all the volunteers.
Finally we want to express a special gratitude to Swamiji, because all our Centre statues continue to manifest a little bit of vibhuti all the time. We are so happy about this special blessing for our Centre and our area.
Jai Prema Shanti!
Dhriti and Asutosh
