Jay Swaminarayan,
NNDYM's 2012 camp in Boston was a wonderful experience for me, not only because of the things I have learned but because of the friendships I have forged and how
I have gotten closer to bhagwan.
This camp created many memories that will not be forgotten, two of them being the legacies of Jivan lal and Herman. Jivan lal possessed a type of aurora about him that made everyone who interacted with him a little bit happier. To see a man of that age toughing the outdoors like the rest of us inspired me to enjoy everything a little more, not to mention he did feed us well. Another highlight/inspiration of mine was Herman Singh from Weehawken mandir. Herman had actually come on the bus a little late when we were departing from Colonia and sat alone for most of the ride, I didn't actually make contact with him during the trip there. However, once we got off the bus it was evident that he needed some help and direction, I helped him then, that's when he started telling me his story of going to Weehawken mandir everyday. He told me he moved there many years ago but did not know of the mandir until recent. However, it was not that piece of information that stuck with me, it was his question at the end of the story that has stuck with me, he said, “The mandir isn't going to go anywhere right?" (the words were a little different). I told him no, it was not. After last year’s camp's emphasis on my mandir, this stuck with me. The piece of mind that Bhagwan will always be there, he's not going anywhere no matter what, was a constant theme I looked at continuously while at camp.
Also, Herman consistently attempted to attain more knowledge through his peers that really encouraged me to have discussions during our free time with friends of mine. Not only did he want more knowledge but he wanted to be part of our sampraday.
Those highlights centered on people who by actions taught me a lesson, however, there were a few people by their words that made the highlights for me. One of these people was Ram Swami. Two of his speeches remain with me; one of them was on how we as satsangi's should do what bhagwan tells us to instead of worrying too much about why. That will stick with me because I often find myself asking the question why out of pure curiosity. What Ram swami said made me remember/realize that it's not important the why, it is important that you do it because it's bhagwan's words and his wishes. The second speech that will stick with me was Ram Swami's final speech on Saturday. Ram
Swami talked about how he might have thought that the future of our sampraday might be in a little trouble because of the lack of knowledge from the youth. Then he said, based on what he saw, he believes our sampraday is going to be fine, that really meant a lot to me. Moreover, Tajesh's presentation really got to me. Sometimes, I wonder how the
Dharmakul does it; the travel, the interaction with everyone else. It's asking so much of them and Tajesh showed us that it really is. People go years without seeing their Guru’s face, but we children literally sat next to our guru’s feet and could look up to him at any given time. The power they hold, the blood they hold it's all very important to our identity as satsangis. It also made me realize that I should not take the time I spent with
Lalji Maharaj for granted. I got to spend some time with him, but because of the lasting significance of that presentation it made me think twice whenever I was in his presence. What I connected everything I learned at camp to was how to get closer to bhagwan. This was shown through various things we learned, one of them being the 9 types of bhakti. These “types of bhakti” are things that you can do in your daily life in order to get closer to him through your different relations (friend, guru, father figure). In addition, I learned about bhagwan's presence during the Vachnamrut
