Sahaja Yogis organize Public Programs several times a year in the cities of Russia. Public Programs usually include music performances (Indian Classical Art: Ragas, Bhajans, Qawwallis and dances), representing information about Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga as well as the fulfillment of Self-Realisation Protocol. Sahaja Yogis often visit cities and villages of their regions performing Sahaja music and dances at Public Programs there. They also visit and support Sahaja collectives of the regions where Sahaja Yoga is still weak.
As an example, the experience of organizing Public Programs by several city Sahaja Yoga collectives is depicted below.
The City of Novosibirsk
Sahaja Yogis of Novosibirsk organize Public Programs in the form of a concert in their city every month (3-4 programs a month on average). Usually 50-100 people visit such concerts. Several newcomers come after each Public Program.
Sahaja Yogis of Novosibirsk also organize concerts and Public Programs in the neighboring villages and distant regions. Besides, they support Sahaja Yoga collectives which are small (about 5-10 Sahaja Yogis). For them, vibrational support is especially important.
Advertising before Public Programs
For advertising in the city, Sahaja Yogis use banners placing them in the streets of the city. Besides, they also use leaflets, posters and the Internet.
For advertising outside the city of Novisibirsk, Sahaja Yogis use leaflets and posters for Public Programs and concerts. They also advertise in the Internet with the help of the web-site “1000 Petals” as well as of the groups of the social networking web-site called “InContact” .
Scheme of Holding Public Programs
The standard scheme is a concert. The performances (Bhajans, Ragas, Qawwallies, folk and classical dances as well as Sari Show) are usually interwoven with Self-Realisation Protocol and presenting the information about Sahaja Yoga and Shri Mataji, Indian culture and Music. For the decoration of the stage, Sahaja Yogis use backgrounds painted by them.
Program of the Concert
1. Indian Music performances such as Bhajans, Qawwallies and Ragas;
2. A talk on Indian Classic Culture, demonstration of Indian music instruments and national costumes;
3. Indian Classic and folk dance;
4. A talk on Indian Spiritual Culture and the practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation for all who wish;
5. Painting with Indian Henna on hands – Mehndi
Sahaja Yogis of the other Russian cities organize Public Programs in a similar way.
Due to the declared Year of India in Russia, Sahaja Yogis hold concerts and presentations which represent Sahaja Yoga as a part of Indian Culture.
The speech of the emcee is accompanied by Indian instrumental music serving as a background. At the same time there is a media presentation at the background of the stage.
The City of Togliatti
The Sahaja Yogis of Togliatti organize mass Public Programs two times a year in their city. They rent a cinema or any other building for cultural events, advertise in the Mass Media, put posters all about the city and hand out invitations to people in the streets of the city. They organize Public Programs as concerts of Indian Classic Music and dance or as an exhibition of the paintings made by Sahaja Yogis. During the concert or exhibition, the emcee suggests the audience to do the Self-Realisation Protocol together with him. Togliatti Sahaja Yogis also organize small Public Programs in towns and villages of the Region on a regular basis (2-3 programs a week).
The City of Voronezh
The Sahaja Yogis of Voronezh organize Public Programs every month. Usually they hold these programs in the form of concerts. Voronezh Sahaja Yogis put posters all about the city and hand out visit-cards as invitations to people in the streets of the city. Approximately about one tenth of the people who get the visit-cards come to the Public Program.
The Sahaja Yogis of Voronezh also do vibrational work before each program (shoobeating, Havans, bandhans, etc.). Usually about ten people come to the programs for newcomers after the Public Programs in Voronezh. It is noticed that if Yuva Shaktis organize Public Programs more young people come to them.
Voronezh Sahaja Yogis organize similar programs in the cities of other Russian regions also returning there later for holding programs for newcomers if necessary.
The City of Nizhny Novgorod
The Sahaja Yogis of Nizhny Novgorod organize Public Programs as concerts of Indian Classic Music two-four times a year in the city. But such programs are not the most effective way of presenting Sahaja Yoga in Nizhny Novgorod. As a rule, other ways such as giving Self-Realisation with posters in the streets, programs in orphanages and simple talking to familiar people have better results.
But even if less than 100 people come to the concert and none of them comes to the meetings for newcomers afterwards, the active work of organizing the Public Program improves the state of the SY collective as well as activates some hidden mechanisms. As a result, new people come to the collective. They have not visited the concert and even have heard nothing about it but somehow they have grown interested in their spiritual growth and decided to progress in it.
The last big Public Program organized on February 1, 2009 was especially significant. It was almost completely prepared by Yuva Shaktis for the first time. Sahaja Yogis used a new kind of advertising. Besides traditional posters and leaflets which were handed out a couple of days before the concert and right before it, they used ads on a Music Radio (the text was read by a Yuva Shakti sister) and social networking web-sites in the Internet.
During the concert they gave more detailed information about Sahaja Yoga than usually. As a result, 15 people came to the program for newcomers after it. Despite the fact that some newcomers stopped visiting the SY classes, the side effect and continuing informational support on the social networking web-sites led to the result that nearly the whole group of newcomers was ready to join the main collective after the 4-months classes for newcomers. Nearly everyone of this “February group” has passed the course of a “young Sahaja Yoga soldier”. More than a dozen of newcomers are about to start practicing Sahaja Yoga in the main collective and half of them is young.
The city of Naberezhnie Chelny
The Sahaja Yogis of Naberezhnie Chelny organize Public Programs in their city three times a year. In Tatarstan and Udmurtia – once a month. They advertise these programs on the Radio and on TV (TV commercials and creeping lines). They also distribute invitations and put posters.
Usually about 100 people come to the Public Programs and about 2 per cent of them start practicing Sahaja Yoga afterwards in the main collective. The technique of organizing Public Programs is basically similar to the one of other Sahaja Yoga city collectives.
