Gita Panchamrit: 

Pearls of Divine Wisdom

During Memorial Day weekend, under the guidance of Brahmachari SandhyaJi (CM Los Angeles), 47 CHYKs gathered in the Krishnalaya ashram for the annual CHYK San Jose retreat: "Gita Panchamrit: Pearls of Divine Wisdom," for a weekend of study, reflection, and introspection.

Our mornings began with yoga, meditation, and a reflective nature walk in maunam. Fun Fact: When Gurudev inaugurated the Krishnalaya ashram, he put drops of Ganga in the Eel River, and named it Eel Ganga!

After an invigorating breakfast, we had discourses on Gita Panchamrit. These are 5 selected shlokas which guide the seeker from self effort to surrender. Sandhyaji explained the nuances of each verse and advised us on how to apply them. For example, to lift ourselves (Gita 6.5), we reflected on unnecessary possessions, commitments, relationships, and transactions that drag us down and identified one from each category to let go.

Then, it was time for interactive CHYK-led workshops! On Day 1, CHYKs made teams to compete in a board game, Krishnalaya Trail, which required them to explore the Krishnalaya ashram to complete challenges, such as recalling the CHYK motto, guiding a blindfolded team member around the mandir, and spending time silently in the Jeevan Darshan Museum. On Day 2, CHYKs were assigned a character to play and reflected on the verses from their perspective. For example, contrasting the devotion of Ravana with the devotion of Kunti helped CHYKs identify what makes a true offering to Bhagavan (Gita 9.27).

The afternoons had opportunities for rest, reflection, group discussions, and Q&A with SandhyaJi. CHYKs also played some volleyball-court-badminton!

On Saturday, our discussions took place amongst the towering redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park, where we also enjoyed a beautiful hike. On Sunday, we had an excursion to the Eel River, and came back to a wonderful surprise from the kitchen sevaks - rose milk falooda with ice cream!

Every year, the CHYKs have been contributing to various Krishnalaya seva projects - past years included painting the Jeevan Darshan Museum, organizing publications, and setting up the new Shruti Mandir lobby. This year's project was cataloging the library - which included many of Gurudev's personal books!

Evenings featured cultural activities - Day 1 was a lively bhajan session, Day 2 had CHYKs work in teams to discover secrets of little-known temples, and Day 3 was a high-energy garba and dandiya evening, followed by stargazing to relax and embrace the night.

On the final morning, we performed a Krishna Puja at the grove. SandhyaJi walked the CHYKs through each step of the puja, and everyone participated in chanting the mantras and performing abhishekam. After the final discourse and group discussion session, we offered Guru Dakshina in Gurudev's Kutiya, concluding the camp on a serene and sublime note.

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to: SandhyaJi for her enlightening and humorous lectures; the CMSJ sevaks (kitchen, AV, and more) who helped the retreat run smoothly; the CHYK volunteers for planning the retreat; and all attendees for making this retreat a grand success!