HOUSTON: In this day and age, our lives are busy, and we are all running around with the urgency to fulfill various needs. If we have any more time left in between, we are bombarded with electronic stimulation in different ways. The sad part of this life style is that our children follow what they see around, and become attached to those habits.

Our children need to be engaged in our ever blissful spiritual culture and values. The only way, they can experience this bliss, is by engaging in pure spiritual connection with the process of Bhakti Yoga.  Engaging their intelligence, mind, and senses in the devotional service to the Lord.

This was the essence of the just concluded successful Children’s 4th Annual Gita Camp, held at Houston Hare Krishna Temple from July 7 – 13. There were over 60 enthusiastic children ages from 4 to 14 years old from all across the greater Houston area in attendance. The camp combined activities with traditional Vedic learning and included a field trip and a grand presentation during the regular Sunday feast celebration to put the values they learned into practice. There were over a dozen adult volunteers on hand to help with the various activities, lessons and cooking. The camp was conducted on the temple grounds new gorgeous temple building that opened this past May as well as its fellowship hall.

Each day the children led a morning Guru Puja Arati as well as Noon Arati Kirtan accompanied by Mridanga (Drum) and Kartals (Cymbals). There were daily Japa Meditation on beads. Part of the Vedic learning is to learn slokas and devotional songs. Great emphasis was placed on the students truly grasping the meaning of the slokas and application of this timeless knowledge from Bhagavad-Gita in their daily lives. The week’s teaching centered on Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita – The Most Confidential Knowledge. The children learned on how to engage their minds always thinking of Krishna and become His devotees and how to worship Him, as Lord Krishna instructs Arjuna in conclusion that “Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me”.

Read more: http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=27253