Saturday, Nov 22 2008  

SPIRITUAL RETREAT (Jan 2006)

Sisters at Spiritual Retreat Click here for more pictures from Spiritual Retreat 2006

My humble pranams at the Divine Lotus feet of Swami. Sai Ram uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters. My name is Sis Anuja and I am from the Young Adults Group. As we all know, the annual Sai Spiritual Retreat was held during the Chinese New Year holidays and today I am here to share with you the wonderful experiences that we had.

After a torturous bus ride with our very own “Lata Mangeshkars”, Sister Falguni and Sis Anagha, I was  thrilled when I saw the sign “Kotta Tinggi Waterfall Resort”. When I first arrived at the resort, I was greeted by a clan of notorious monkeys. We saw the beautiful waterfall right across the function hall and it gave me a feeling of peace and serenity. The theme of the retreat was “Life Is A Game, Play It”. A drama was put up by a few sisters who depicted the four stages of life as described by Swami. The first stage of life is that of a student. The second stage is that of a householder and it ranges from the ages of 20-25. The third stage is that of a hermit and lastly the fourth stage is that of a renunciate. The drama created a better understanding for those who were present.

Our daily routine was to be up by 5am and be ready for morning prayers which commenced at 6am. While some of the others had nice warm bath, Sis Anagha, Sis Nikita and myself had to have showers with a kettle of hot water and a cup because our heater wasn’t working! After morning prayers, we were allowed to do something really special. We did “Nagarsankirtan” where we sang bhajans while walking along the waterfall. This was an extraordinary experience which I have never experienced before. It was such a refreshing feeling to be able to enjoy the beauty of the waterfall accompanied by bhajans in the morning. Thanks to Bro Yugu, we even had the opportunity of drenching ourselves in the chilled water of the waterfall. On the second day of the retreat, we played some interesting games. My personal favourite was when we had to do an advertisement on one of the four stages of life. Everybody came up with very different and interesting ideas for their allocated stage.

As I was reflecting on the theme, I thought to myself that I am in stage 1 of life and by attending this retreat I now have a better understanding of how to play the game of life fairly and how I can overcome the obstacles I may face. It was a very enriching experience for me and to the people around me also played a huge part in making it fun and joyous.

As Swami has said “Every life is a new chance, a fresh opportunity for realizing the Truth. Every minute is to be welcomed as valuable and precious." So therefore we must all aim to make the best out of our lives and make a difference in the lives of others.- I really encourage all of you present here to come next year. I would certainly participate again. It was a package deal, spiritually charging and tons of fun! Thank you.

Jai Sai Ram