The Original || Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday ||

I have learned a lot from this wonderful experience. Basically, to sum it all up, I learned that Purna Purshottam Shree Swaminarayan is the one and only God. He is the one who came down to Earth when humans were in need of help. He is the only reason why we are alive today. We do bhakti and seva to please Him, and let Him know how much we think of Him and how important He is to us.

I would change nothing. This camp was completely fine to me. This is because BinduRaja and the two sankhya yogi bais' were here. I learned so much here and the slide show presentations were very helpful. The copies of the slides in our binder were helpful too. The nitya niyam were very pretty.

-Mira Pandya, 12

I learned a lot at this camp about Bhagwan. I learned about Bhagwan's aagna and how every satsangi needs to follow ALL of His commands, we also learned about upaasna and maryada , not just for Bhagwan, but Acharyas and elders, and how offending either God, Acharya, or elders is a great sin. The groups were also great and I learned a lot from each member, and we tried to answer each other's questions. The most important thing I learned was that my “one vision” is the same as every other Swaminarayan satsangi , our whole purpose of being, of life, our goal, is to each Akshardham, and that moksha will only be given to Bhagwan's true satsangis.

- Age 15

I now know why I am here. And to where my destination is.

I feel ever so confident to be able to say I am Swaminarayan Bhagwan's follower.

- Age 15

The presentations were brilliant and I definitely learnt lots. Maryada, aagna , and upaasna were all new to me so it was good to understand what it is and what it involves. I already knew certain things in the presentations, but it was good to have information refreshed. I loved all the stories and leelas , they were brilliant. The Ba's were interesting as well, their stories were great. I liked how we do aarti and thaal and kirtan several times a day because that way it gets drummed into your heads. Workshops were fun and interesting and it was somewhat different in the schedule.

- Jaysha Patel, 15
Oldham

I learned maryada for Bhagwan, my guru , etc. This maryada helped me realise how to respect God, how to please Him, and how to purify my soul. I learned to love God with all my heart, to do bhakti from the heart, to have faith in Him no matter what. The camp straightened my belief in God and our sampraday . The camp provided me with the knowledge I need to reach my destiny, Akshardham. Everything I have learned, heard, and seen in this camp, I will take back with me. I will teach it to all the people who did not make it to camp and make them believe in God. I have faith in Him, and I want others to have the same faith.

-Age 14

There are several things I already knew and several things that I didn't have knowledge about. Before I came to camp, I was familiar with only three influential women of Bhagwan's time, Jivubai, Ladhubai, and Rajbai. But at this camp, I learned about others, Gangamaa, Ladhibai, Karanibai, and Kushalkunvarbai. Each one had a different experience with Maharaj showing how much they were devoted to Him.

- Age 18

I learned many things while attending this girl's conference. This girl's conference was much more serious, which was very good, because the previous camps weren't as serious! Another thing I liked about this camp was that it was very well organised and disciplined! The sabhas were shorter, but informational!! The group discussions were excellent because you could express your ideas more openly. During sabha , since there are a lot of people, it's much harder to say what is on your mind.

- Age 16
Boston, Massachusetts

These discussions [group discussions] made the presentations a lot more interesting and interactive. The best part of this year's female camp was exactly that, all females.

- Age 20

I want to show other Hindus who are not Swaminarayan the truth. I want to bring most of my friends slowly to Mandir and I want to have weekly readings as a group activity of our shastras . I especially want to learn how to read and write Gujarati so I can sing kirtans correctly.

Last camp, I wanted an all girl's camp. Now I'm really glad I asked for it because it allowed me to really understand my role as a woman. What I want to change though is the fact that we didn't get to interact up front. We could have done a skit or something with everyone and experience what the people we were talking about went through first hand for a better understanding.

- Age 17

When I go back home I will try to re-present the presentations with the same devotion and enthusiasm as it was presented to me. Hopefully everyone in Streatham that could not make it will still gain the benefits through me.

For the amount of people attending and it being the first ever girls camp I think it was excellently organised and hopefully I will learn from you guys for similar things we would like to do at my local Mandir.

- Pranali, 20
UK

I have learnt that maryada and shishtachar were strongly emphasised during this conference and I am glad because by realising their importance I can discipline myself to be a better, stronger satsangi .

When I go home I hope to be able to pass my knowledge gained here to other people with confidence and be proud to be part of this sampraday .

Personally, I thought that the camp went as well as it could go as improvement from previous camps, and I hope that future conferences are as well organised as this one.

- Age 16

I would like to change the amount of people attending camps in the future by encouraging others. Also I would like to start putting some of the things we have learnt into practice and gradually add more in.

- Age 14

I would like to change just one thing in this camp - that people should make more friends and not just hang out in their own groups. But this camp was the best camp I ever been to. I have been to like five camps. The workshops and the presentations were so good that I didn't even feel sleepy.

- Age 12

In this camp I learned a lot of things like more about my culture like when you go to Akshardham you need to have a chandlo and a kanthi. When I go home I am going to teach my friend Priya more things about God and her culture. I am also going to tell my parents if they know this stuff. I had a great time at camp with all my new and old friends. And I had a great time with the facilitators.

- Age 9

Coming to this camp, I learned so much. From the beginning the positive attitude that was given off made me focus more and concentrate more. Things that were taught in this camp really hit me…that I only have ONE chance, right now, to make it to Akshardham!

Also, starting now I'm going to start appreciating what I have and how important that is! We have our GURU so close and I've never really appreciated that. Finally, I want to start reading the Vachnamrut because like I know my best friends, I want to KNOW Swaminarayan Bhagwan.

- Age 14

Respect for our God, Acharya, and Gadiwala Ba made me realise that we are very lucky to be here today and if we respect our guru we will get our way to Akshardham (our one and only goal).

- Age 16

Some thing I would like to see different is I want more people to come to camp and learn more about Bhagwan and just like me become closer to Him and be friends with Him. I want more people to come to camp and do what I do and tell other people, such as your friends, what you learn and I personally want to change by trying my hardest to learn more about Bhagwan by reading the Vachnamrut.

- Age 14

I honestly would just talk to God and stand in front, never did I feel or thought of God being there, but now I look at the murti and I know that God is there and I also learned that whatever God has given, we should not take for granted and to try to make Him happy.

This camp has made me have more faith in Swaminarayan Bhagwan. After this camp, the main thing I want to do is keep myself closer to God like I have this week of camp.

- Age 22

What I've learned is that in the presentation of the influential females of Maharaj's time was that when they talked about Gangama. Maharaj was the only one to call her “ma”—think about it, the Almighty Supreme Lord calling you “ma” is very, very impressive.

- Neeti, 10

I learned about maryada , influential women during Maharaj's time, and how lucky we are to have Gadiwala as our guru . We learn about the influential women and understand their love for Bhagwan. Not many religions have a female guru and for us to have Gadiwala, we are extremely lucky. We can actually learn a lot from her and go to her.

- Age 17

I learned a lot of new information about Swaminarayan Bhagwan. It rekindled my desire to reach Akshardham.

- Age 17

A lot of things I had been unsure of before were actually made clear to me in the group discussions. I was able to get other people's point of view on everything we talked about, and in doing so I learned how to change negative things about myself.

- Age 17

I learned so much stuff about Bhagwan. When I go back I will do puja everyday, I will go to Mandir on every Saturday, I will follow the niyams , and I will also follow Bhagwans aagna . I had a great time and I had fun.

- Age 12

I learned that no matter what gender, all Swaminarayan satsangis have one God, one leader, and one vision. There were many females during Bhagwan's time that made a difference. I learned that all of us have to remember what we learn, be strong in what we believe, and teach others as well. I also realised that just coming to camps is not enough. We need to go home and learn more through our scriptures, etc. if there is any question; I know our guru or the Bai's are there for us. This camp taught me, a female in the Swaminarayan Sampraday that the rules that Bhagwan has given us helps us to get through life peacefully so that following these rules will make our lives as females easier.

- Age 20

I've learned a lot more about out Ishta Dev, our Guru, and most importantly how to sing kirtans with the mahima of Bhagwan in mind.

- Age 20

While I did not fully attend the week long camp, I had the opportunity to spend the time away from camp with BinduRaja and her boys. While spending time with her, we would speak of Bhagwan and the importance of these camps, how great it is.

I think it is wonderful that we had a camp dedicated to girls because one of our leader, gurus , is an amazing, spiritual leader and woman. I am so grateful to have these opportunities.

- Age 24

The one thing I would like to change back home in London is the way they learn. Introduce the kind of teaching method that had been used in this conference. Hopefully some of the girls that don't attend the satsang sabha would be more interested in something that is taught somewhere else in the world.

- Roshni Hirani, London

When I go home, I want to think of God all the time and picture him whenever I close my eyes. I will try to read the Vachnamrut on a daily basis and try my hardest to make it to Mandir at least once a week. And try my hardest to do Ekadashi with only fruits and water.

- Age 13

I learnt that I'm not alone. I felt warm inside when singing kirtans and listening to people talk about religion. I feel closer to God and feel God wants me to be a satsangi .

My primary aim for attending this satsang shibir was to learn about the Swaminarayan Sanatan Dharma. I was also hoping to get darshan from Param Pujya Akhand Saubhagvati Bhava Shri Vahuji Maharaj. I was disappointed at first, when we were informed that she won't be coming, but it was very very happy to see BinduRaja and her beautiful twin babies.

I will leave this shibir knowing that there is still a lot of topics covered in lectures where I am weak on. I have been given the “hype” to learn more and build on my knowledge. I'm going to go home and try to finish reading the Satsangi Jeevan and Vachanmrut.

- Anjana Lalji Patel, 23
UK London