Last weekend we had the third edition of the gurukulam session {for basics on the gurukulam system of education, read this post. For a brief intro to yagnyashALA gurukulam sessions, read the addendum below}.

We had 12 members joining in from different locations, three of whom were quite new to yagnyashALA. We had scheduled this gurukulam session for three and half days – from Friday, Mar 27th morning, till Monday Mar 30th afternoon.

To me, it looked like recreating the old space of family vacation get togethers. We had people of age groups, from 13years all the way to 87 years. Everyone who had come, held the space together for each other, according to their own capacity. Afterall, the real learning in this space is that – Can I serve the other, being mindful of my own needs? Can I ask for help when required?

We are living in a world which is getting more and more disintegrated. Families are becoming nuclear. I only have mindspace to take care myself and my needs. Wealth one has amassed has become the only currency to measure one’s success in the world.

Reversing this trend requires more than bahIratha prayatnam. gurukulam is one small step in that prayatnam. We turn to simple practices from our yesteryears – Can I pray together? Can I eat together? Can I eat food with respect without wasting a single grain? Can I play together? Can I go beyond my room, my space, to share space with others? Can I start to look at many of these practices with a lens of curiosity recognizing their value in today’s context? What does it mean to take the effort to observe how I am using/ misusing resources? How much do I take things for granted? Can I start to ask questions beyond the popular narratives that brands are building? What are the invisible ecological and health problems of drinking “99.99% germ free water”, “goodness of 5 grains biscuit” etc etc? Saying “No to Plastics” is a easy dialogue – What does it mean to bring in enormous effort in practicing this, in a context filled with plastic filth? While “Reuse”, “Recycle” are relatively easy, “Reduce” is a little more difficult, “Refuse” – the first of the four Rs, is a very difficult one, especially when it is given “free”. To “Refuse” requires effort and high degree of commitment and awareness, and that is shraddhA in action.

These are simple practices, rediscovering of which requires support from a sangha. We realize that this is not a kid’s camp, but a gathering of all age groups who inspire each other. As much as kids were exploring practices of simple mindful living in our day to day actions, grown ups become aware of how much of the innocence have I lost growing up? The question that we often ask in such a context is, “Is that growing up at all?”. Unfortunately, these days, in the pressure to show off, kids are losing the child in them even before growing up. gurukulam is a space to remind ourselves the value of nurturing the child in me.

When Rohit chants the hanumAn cAlisA gently as he sweeps the floor early in the morning around the chatters of sanathan helping him in the act, when Ruthwik ensures that the mud pots are having sufficient water for drinking, when candrAmmA (“annapUrani“) is ensuring that all kids have their milk/ kanji in the morning, when ananyA takes care of the diya and altar for the sessions etc etc – we are left with the hope that all is not lost, though the journey is long and arduous; but isn’t vigna an essential part of a worthwhile journey.

Even as the chatter for “AI as essential for success in life” is getting louder, the silent voice inside us that “svAdhyAya/ gurukulam as essentials for a meaningful life” is getting deeper rooted.

Brief intro to yagnyashALA gurukulam sessions: gurukulam is a space to connect with oneself and other like-minded sAdhakAh, wishing to explore the indic way of life. The foundation of this session is exploring simple community living. This space gets created when some of the practitioners from the yagnyashALA community come to our home to live together for few days. Often, we also have few others who are new to yagnyashALA, but wanting to explore its practices, join in.

To rediscover a way of living that is anchored in one’s conviction, to be able to ask few fundamental questions to oneself, on the habituated behaviors,, beyond merely adjusting and accommodating to the whims of the world is indeed the real need of the hour.

guukulam offers a space to explore this, through gentle channeling, with firm care and concern. While the practices/ activities in the gurukulam include bahiranga and antaranga yOgA, dancing, singing bhajans, chants etc, the learning is not just in the content of what one learns, but in the lived experience of practising and growing together.

Our Prayer and Sadhana, is to do our bit in making this place a better (bhAvAtmic, rasAtmic and dhArmic) place to live in, to truly elevate our own selves first and in the process, be a humble example for the coming generations.