Introduction
It isn’t academic education alone that makes people happy. It is ‘how-to-live’ education — how to develop a harmonious, moral life, stronger will power, and spiritual understanding — that will bring happiness.
— Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda felt deeply for the welfare of youth and took a lifelong interest in their all-around development. Carrying on in his footsteps, Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) offers a variety of How-to-Live programmes that teach young people how to live a balanced life of meditation and right activity.
In Autobiography of a Yogi, Yoganandaji, quoting Tagore, says: “True education is not pumped and crammed in from outward sources, but aids in bringing to the surface the infinite hoard of wisdom within.”
Based on this philosophy, YSS youth programmes create a nurturing and fun environment where young people can freely express themselves, bringing to the fore their innate talents and soul qualities, while picking up new life skills.
Outreach to Two Age Groups in Two Formats
YSS Youth Services Department coordinates youth outreach aimed at two age groups:
- Children’s Satsanga (ages 8–12)
- Teen Programme (Ages 13–17), and
Programmes for these two groups are conducted in two formats—both in-person and online.
Among the in-person programmes currently running are Children’s Satsangas conducted every Sunday at our YSS ashrams and kendras and Summer Camps in May-June at the Noida ashram and the Chennai retreat centre.
Among our online offerings are Children’s Satsangas and Teen Programmes, both of which will be started soon. Additionally, a weeklong online summer youth programme (in collaboration with SRF) is conducted every year. It provides children and teens with a solid spiritual and ethical foundation on which to build throughout life. The 2023 online summer youth programme ofSRF [YSS] was attended by hundreds of children from 21 countries! Other programmes are under development.
Benefits
Over the years, children and teens have written to us about how they have benefited from the youth programmes. Some benefits are:
- Learning yoga meditation techniques to find God
- Finding new, lifelong spiritual friends
- Ability to focus better
- Ability to face fear and anxiety with courage and calmness
- Better health through Energization Exercises, asanas, and pranayama
- Ability to do better in exams
Testimonial
N.B., a 17-year old, wrote: “When I was ten, I learned the Hong-Sau technique of concentration during the Youth Programme. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I began really experimenting with meditation. Whenever we got test results, I would analyse them and notice that many mistakes I made could have been easily avoided if I were more focused. The year’s final exam was approaching. My grade was wavering at 88% and I wanted a perfect score in Calculus class.
“The night before my final test, I meditated deeply until I felt the peace of Hong-Sau. The next day when I walked into the exam hall, I was calm and collected. When we got the results, I shouted for joy. I was the only one in the whole class to get a 100% marks. That was when I realized everyone knows the concepts and formulas. It’s just retrieving them in times of stress, like during a test, that’s the hard part. Meditation helped me to keep calm and concentrate, and that is what truly helped me in school.”
Children’s Satsanga
The ideal of right education for youth had always been very close to my heart….Moral and spiritual values, without whose appreciation no man can approach happiness, were yet lacking in the formal curriculum.
— Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
The great Guru began his work in 1917 with the establishment of a small school with seven children on a rural site in Bengal. Later, with his guidance the first Sunday Schools were formed in SRF temples and centres in the US. Today, a variety of youth programmes are offered by the YSS Youth Services Department.
With the continuing growth of the YSS/SRF worldwide spiritual family, there is increasing interest in Children’s Satsanga programmes offered by YSS kendras and mandalis.
The purpose of a weekly Children’s Satsanga is to offer continuous inspiration to children in the company of other spiritual children in an enjoyable learning environment that makes peer-to-peer learning possible. Classes are designed to inspire them to develop a loving personal relationship with God and show them how the right behaviour leads to a happy, balanced life. Periods of chanting and meditation inculcate mindful attention and improve memory and stories from Guruji’s writings improve their spiritual and emotional intelligence, while group activities encourage team spirit, cooperation, and harmonious communication skills.
Games or crafts are often included to teach good character traits such as creativity, perseverance, initiative, and patience. Age-appropriate instruction is given in Energization Exercises and meditation to the children. The aim in all of this is to avoid a classroom-type environment where there is pressure to memorize a lot of information, and to present the YSS teachings in a relaxed and engaging way — making Children’s Satsanga a happy experience that children will want again and again.
Role of Parents and Teachers
Paramahansa Yoganandaji said: “Expansion of love beyond the confines of self-centredness begins with family—the role of parents provides the initial instinctive introduction to reaching outside of oneself.”
This shows that parents have an important role in the all-round development of their children. Their budding spiritual life, if encouraged, can become the foundation for a successful and happy life.
Regarding the role that teachers play, Sri Daya Mata said, “Our Sunday School [Children’s Satsanga] teachers have a large responsibility, for they can help to change the world. By teaching the children of today to put God first in their lives, Yogoda Children’s Satsanga teachers will be helping to create a new and better world for tomorrow.”
YSS Youth Services needs the active participation of parents and teachers, as well as administrative staff volunteers, to build up the next generation of Guruji’s disciples. Those who wish to start a Children’s Satsanga in your local kendra or mandali, and those who wish to serve as teachers and staff in existing children’s programmes, may contact cs@yssi.org.
Summer Camps
Summer Camp for Girls at Noida
With Paramahansa Yogananda’s ideal of simple, wholesome living as the inspiration, an annual girls’ camp is conducted in the month of May at Yogoda Satsanga Sakha Ashram, Noida. The camp aims to provide a holistic learning environment promoting physical, mental, and spiritual growth amongst the young participants while fostering a sense of spiritual fellowship.
Camp Highlights
- Daily group meditation
- Chanting classes
- Practical knowledge like first aid, emergency handling, and fireless cooking
- Physical activities like Taekwondo classes and sports hour
- Craft projects
- Time management
- Email etiquette and online safety
How-to-Live Classes
A series of “how-to-live” classes that facilitate personal growth are conducted by experienced teachers on topics such as concentration, character development, will power, introspection, and the law of success. The camp schedule is interwoven with periods of meditation three times a day, along with practice of Energization Exercises and yoga asanas.
Audio-Video and Live Presentations
A series of evening programmes help the participants to inculcate spiritual ardour and deepen their spiritual knowledge and understanding. These include video shows on Guruji, presentations on Indian saints, and bhajan chanting sessions.
The five-day camp usually culminates with a cultural programme.
Learn the art of right living. If you have joy you have everything.
— Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Summer Camp for Boys at Noida Ashram
The Summer camp for boys focuses on the ideal of joyful, right living. It is a five-day camp conducted at Yogoda Satsanga Sakha Ashram, Noida, in June every year. The programme fosters well-rounded growth of the boys in the physical, mental and spiritual spheres
Orientation
The programme starts with an orientation class on the first day, conducted by a YSS monastic. A set of principles of conduct are enunciated—the “do’s and don’ts”—to help participants gain the maximum benefit from the camp in a safe and happy environment.
Workshops and How-to-Live Classes
The camp’s schedule includes a series of workshops as well as sports to facilitate the physical and mental growth of the young participants. Workshops are held on a range of topics such as crafts, Vedic mathematics, email etiquette, time management, basics of music, public speaking, and environmental awareness. Classes are also held on first aid and emergency handling. During the sports hour, boys play numerous games such as football, handball, dog-and-the-bone, and kabaddi. Personal growth topics such as ‘The Law of Success’ and ‘Health and Hygiene’ are explored.
Spiritual Instruction
At the core of the camp activities are those that facilitate spiritual progress among the boys. Yoga asanas are followed by group practice of Energization Exercise and meditation, which are conducted by both monastics and lay disciple volunteers. There are special story telling sessions by sannyasis from the YSS teachings and Indian spiritual literature. Special classes are conducted by senior sannyasis/monastics to inspire boys to cultivate a personal relationship with God and the Gurus.
The closing programme is interwoven with a cultural show. The participants share their unique experiences during the camp. Parents get an opportunity to view glimpses of the camp activities through a slideshow presentation and to listen to an inspiring address by a monastic.
Summer Camp for boys and girls at the Chennai Retreat
A similar summer camp is also held at the YSS Chennai Retreat at Sriperumbudur during the months of May and June.
Teen Programme
Online Weekly Teen Meetings
Building on the experience of conducting online Children’s Satsanga and early pilot programmes in some kendras, YSS is planning to launch an online Teen programme in 2024.
Please contact YSS Youth Services by emailing teenservices@yssi.org to know more details, or fill the form below to register your interest.
For service opportunities and general queries about YSS Youth Services Department, please contact: youthservices@yssi.org
Online SRF Programmes
The Youth Services Department of Self-Realization Fellowship based in the US has been conducting “how-to-live” (Sunday School) classes for decades in the SRF Temples and Centres. In the past few years, SRF Youth Services has started conducting online classes for children worldwide. Children from India are welcome to register for these classes at a time slot that might work for them.
Please visit the SRF Youth Services events page to see all the offerings for children and teens currently available and to register for those events.
