J: I can't remember how long I've been a CHYK for…a year? A year and a half? It doesn't really matter, because, I've realized that length of time spent with mission has nothing to do with amount of spiritual growth. Going to one CHYK study group session alone can do magic. Soaking yourself in an environment where everyone's debating a particular point with a fiery fervour, feeling the pulse of the group dynamic and the synergy of intellectual camaraderie, being able to voice your ideas and opinions, no matter how stupid, to a group of strong individuals who won't ridicule you or put you down, but rather will take the effort to dissect the idea with you, sharing life experiences and candid stories, grounding spirituality in humanity, putting religion and spirituality in perspective, laughing our heads off, scratching our heads in confusion, feeling the eureka moment of having explained a brilliant analogy, having a support group of friends, who will be there for you outside of class, working on projects with people with varying personalities and yet are on the same wavelength as you, knowing that in unity, anything is achievable.

This is what being a CHYK means to me. And for this, I am grateful.

CHYK has changed by life. How?, one asks. I go silent, trying to internalize and categorize my thoughts so that I don't sound like a freak. But before I can think about what I want to say, it feels as if something hit the 'play' button not once, but twice... and I just can't seem to control my words. Its impact and influence on me is that obvious.

CHYK has given me
- A belief that whatever happens, happens for a reason
- Knowledge, in the form of individuals, literature and ongoing interaction
- A better understanding of my life
- The motivation to serve without expecting anything in return
- A bunch of my closest, or rather, most reliable friends
- An excuse for me to be the best person I can be
- A reason for me to sit up and explore the purpose of my life
- An assurity that it'll give me my life

Abstract, but all true. I love the spirit of CHYK, and I hope it goes on. We're the only sane people around, guys. Let's keep marching!

Since we've been talking about keeping the CHYK blog alive, I thought I'd share my own experience here. :) I got to thinking about how CHYK's influenced my life these past three years that I've been involved after I helped facilitate my very first JCHYK session today. THis is direct copy-pasted from my own personal blog, so excuse the super colloquial language please. :)

I've sort of volunteered to help conduct classes for the teenagers age group of the religious/spiritual organization where I go for my CHYK classes, and I was like, blown away by my first session. It was nothing spectacular in its own right, but I just felt very impressed with the kids that attended. These classes (called JChyk - Junior Chyk), are conducted on like, campus housing and are mainly for the kids of expat Professors who teach at NUS. And I think their upbringing really shone through in how amazingly well-behaved, engaged, alert, witty and bright these kids were. There were only 4 of them, but like, the intelligence and goodness of these teenagers was plainly evident. And we were trying to teach them today about how their place in the world is made up of not just their immediate roles as students, friends, sons/daughters, but also as citizens and members of the collective human race. They didn't really get where we were trying to take them at the beginning of the session, but at the end of the hour, I could practically see all the cogs in their brain turning and all the ideas being processed and internalized in the right way. And on the way home, I was just thinking that most of these kids have been attending these Chinmaya Mission related classes since they were kids - the ones for total kiddies are called Bal Vihar and teach you very basic stuff about like, right and wrong and make the most extensive use of Hindu lore/myths. When I think back to myself at 14, my existence was so hermetic and self-absorbed and I was so very immature and unfocused compared to these kids.

Despite the fact that I don't seem like (and am not, infact) one of those WOOHOO GOD! RELIGION! YAY! people, I think the stuff I've learnt at my CHYK classes as been pretty central to how I've changed over the past few years. I think I'm a lot more receptive to the stuff in these classes mainly cos it's peer discussion and not knowledge handed down to us by some external party, and secondly, its not just abstract religious mantras and stories, but more like the core concepts of Hinduism distilled into individual lessons and channeled into relatable everyday examples. It doesnt' really shove anything down your throat, but just presents the information and lets you absorb and digest it at your own pace. Ah, well. I just realized today how important it has been in providing some sort of a grounding influence in my life when a lot of the other stuff happening in anyone's life is enough to shatter this carefully maintained facade of equanimity. Even though I have minor freakout moments, I think I'm a lot saner than I would be without this to turn to when I need some sort of logic and reasoning and principles in my life. Yay CHYK! :)