With the grace and blessings of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and in the presence of Pujya Bhaktipriya Swami (Pujya Kothari Swami), over 800 karyakars from across the UK attended the National Karyakar Shibir held at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Leicester on Sunday 8 July 2012.
The shibir, entitled “Karyakaro, Karya Karo”, was themed around the concepts of ‘Samjan’,‘Sampark’, ‘Samay’ and ‘Dhani Thaine’ – collectively reinforcing the importance of developing spiritual understanding, building relationships, taking ownership, and offering quality time in one’s responsibilities to help perform one’s seva to the highest spiritual standards.
In the opening session, the experiences of Yogendra Swami and a question-answer session with Pujya Kothari Swami set a positive tone to the day. Their wisdom and encouragement guided and motivated the delegates on developing a greater spiritual understanding to overcome any difficulties that a karyakar may encounter.
An insightful panel discussion underlined the benefits of reaching out to people and building personal relationships, after which interactive group discussions addressed how karyakars can offer their time and commitment to their seva, taking Pramukh Swami Maharaj as their exemplar. Through practical scenarios and incidents from the life of Swamishri, karyakars learned a different perspective on the time they are able to offer to their seva.
Breakout sessions for departments and mandals were organised after lunch to enable karyakars to address pertinent aspects that relate to their more specific activities.
The concluding session started with short addresses from Aksharkirtan Swami and Tyagprakash Swami on taking ownership of one’s seva, drawing on historical examples of sadhus and devotees. Swamishri’s 70 years of personal seva was then presented through a touching video montage and an address by Tyagratna Swami. This was further supported by Shukmuni Swami who elaborated upon Swamishri’s untiring endeavours amid the challenges of his increasing age and ailments.
Pujya Kothari Swami fittingly concluded the shibir by speaking about the power and importance of prayer throughout the course of one’s seva, after which all the delegates joined to sing a prayer in unison.