More than 1,300 karyakars from across the UK gathered for the National Karyakar Shibir held in the presence of Anandswarup Swami and Bhadresh Swami, visiting from India, on Sunday 10 June 2018 at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London.
The shibir was titled ‘Aksharam Aham Purushottamadāso’smi’, the siddhant mantra given by Mahant Swami Maharaj to all satsangis in January 2018, which is based on the eternal principle of Akshar Purushottam Darshan revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan – to realise one’s self as Akshar and worship Purushottam.
The programme began with a collective recitation of the mantra, narrated by Mahant Swami Maharaj through a video presentation, which set the tone for the day’s learning.
Bhadresh Swami and Anandswarup Swami explored the history and spiritual significance of this mantra through insightful spiritual discourses. Further discourses from swamis explained how the fundamentals of this mantra can be applied in one’s spiritual journey by drawing upon the concepts of introspection, personal reflection, humility and its application in one’s seva and daily living.
These spiritual concepts were reinforced through various interactive items, including an enlightening panel discussion with swamis who provided further guidance to karyakars based on real-life challenges.
A series of video presentations highlighting the exemplary lives of Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj charged the gathering with renewed motivation to perform their seva with the correct understanding and, in doing so, earn their innermost blessings.
An attendee from Leicester shared her impressions of the shibir: “The concepts and discussions have given me renewed inspiration to perform my seva not only to the best of my ability, but with greater humility and unity. The combination of discourses, videos and other presentations helped to really consolidate the learning which I will apply in my daily life as well as my seva.”