A divine afternoon - Annual get-together of Adhyatmavari group

Adhyatmwari group came into existence in March 2023 and has been active since then, offering the spiritual seekers a variety of programs and sessions. 

After operating online for two years, we thought of having the first annual get-together of the group in Karlsruhe. The date was fixed to be the 5th of July and the venue was my home. First we had thought of renting out a hall, but then decided against it, thankfully. 

The evening before 5th July was spent in deciding the decorations at the entrance of the house and also in the house. My parents are visiting me for a few days and they enthusiastically helped me doing the trial run of the decorations. I have gathered a plenty of stuff by now and was happy to be able to use it for the 5th July program. Being summer, we also got plenty of flowers from the garden that we could decorate in the corridor.

I had got woollen flowers and some small table clothes made from a lady in India, used them up to decorate the pedestal, that looked lovely!

Two friends came from Stuttgart and all others were all local, from Karlsruhe. We started at 12 pm on Saturday, the 5th by chanting the common Shlokas that we grew up listening and chanting as kids. 

After that we did 5 rounds (japmala) of Naamsankirtan (Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram) where 5 people led the chanting and others followed. After that we did 1 round of Shri Ram chants, together as a whole group. Followed by Maruti Stotra and Ram Raksha Stotra which got me goosebumps. Group chanting has a great power,  everyone could feel the positive vibrations. It brought peace and a sense of upliftment to face the further challenges of life. We did the final Aarti of Shri Ram and concluded the session. This session was mainly conceived and led by our dear friend, Mahesh Parkhi, who is an advanced Sadhak and has been a speaker at one of our programs for our group. 

Everyone was gracious enough to get one food item for our lunch together. There was a variety of food and everyone enjoyed such a vast platter. 

After the spiritual session, our hearts were filled with joy and then the tasty food filled our stomachs. We talked over lunch about various things. 

One of the friends who came from Stuttgart had brought a device called Naditarangini. We all took turns and got our pulse checked and she gave us a health report and things to take care about our health in future. The measurement of pulse is based on the science of Ayurveda and that can predict the temperament and health conditions and suggest remedies to correct a particular imbalance in the body.

We also chanted Sri Sukta and Vishnu Sahasranaam after the session of pulse measurement and then had tea. The weather was thankfully not very hot and we called it a wrap at 6 pm. 

Some people might think, what's the use of all this? Why waste one afternoon on something that is supposed to be done in old age? But only those who regularly chant, meditate and into a spiritual practice and are spiritually inclined will understand the value of such group chanting sessions and the healing powers that such group sessions can have on people who feel lost and are unable to face stress and the daily challenges of life. Prayers, chanting, meditation definitely give us strength to face anything that comes in our way. They give us a direction, they help us smoothen the obstacles in a way where we are no longer affected by them. 

Online sessions have their own benefits and the group sessions in person have a different flavour. We plan to do a session like today's, at least once a year. 

This is just the beginning!

!!!Jai Shri Ram!!!