G.O.D. organized a new summer initiative this year, with the Listening Club, to emphasize the importance of listening to kids. We find clubs for reading, speaking, etc. but rarely do we find any for listening. Yet listening or ‘shravanam’ is one of the most important values that is needed to be practiced, for progress in all walks of life, including spirituality.
As Sri Swamiji and his disciples emphasize, with the objective of enhancing children’s ability to listen to spiritual and developmental content, the club was held for 8 consecutive summer weeks with three 15-20 min sessions per week for a total of 24 listening sessions.
In each session, children listened to a short [less than 15 min] video talk by Sri Swamiji or one of his disciples, Sri Ramanujamji, Sri Bhagyaji, or Sri Poornimaji. This was followed by a Kahoot game based on the video and a short discussion encouraging a sharing of thoughts. The videos from G.O.D.’s YouTube channels were on various topics from our scriptures – some were stories, some were Q&A, some had a particular lesson, some were about self-development, some were spiritual, some even spoke about deep philosophical topics.
The purpose of the sessions was only for the kids to listen, and not necessarily to understand. After listening to the videos, the children were also encouraged to comment on them YouTube videos, as an exercise. Many children enjoyed the short, non-competitive sessions, and also said they learned something new each time.
The nationwide online program was organized and conducted by Gopa Kuteeram teachers from across North America.
