Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
We extend a warm welcome to all new and returning students and parents! It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with your children this year! Please find below the summary of our class on Friday, Sep 18, 2020.
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam (Krishna Shloka)
Quote of the day: Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and suddenly you will find yourself doing the impossible.
Lesson: Symbolism of Goddess Sarasvati
Chanting: Gita Dhyana Shloka
Bhagavat Gita: Sanskrit Pronunciation practice
Aarati and Pledge: Zoom meeting
Announcement: The next e-Balavihar will be on 9/25/2020
Summary: Thank you for attending the brief introductory meeting. It was good to see you all. We have a great set of kids, well behaved and eager to participate! We started with a round of introduction and got to know their favorite subjects, activities and interesting facts about them. We followed it with the discussion of the quote of the day. We were able to connect it with Newton's First Law of motion: Every object will remain at rest or in motion unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. The action of the external force is starting to do something. Initially we will shake off the inertia by just doing the minimum required action and soon we will find ourselves setting higher goals and trying to and even succeeding in achieving the seemingly impossible! The important point is to start trying to change the status quo!
We then moved on to discuss the symbolism of Goddess Sarasvati. We discussed that in Indian tradition women are revered and that is why the Vedas, our scriptures, are called Maa Shruti and Sarasvati is the personification of Knowledge. We need knowledge to create anything and that is why Brahma ji. the creator has Sarasvati as his consort. She is seated on a rock to signify that knowledge shines in a steady and stable mind. She has a japamala to symbolize meditation and plays the Veena denoting that She is the goddess of all art forms. She adorns a white saree indicating the purity of mind. A pure mind is more susceptible to gaining true knowledge (Self Knowledge). She also has the Swan by her side (as her vehicle). Swan or Hamsa is a mythical bird with the extraordinary quality of being able to separate milk from water. We should also cultivate the discretionary power to distinguish between the real and unreal and the good and evil! This will help us always make the right choice and elevate us.
When we think of the ocean, we think of the waves. The waves are formed in the water and disappear in the water. The waves are not different from the water, they are just a different form of it. The water is constantly present while the waves appear and disappear! Hence the water is real as it is always there and the waves are unreal. We should always keep the unchanging constant in mind and understand that, that which is ever changing cannot be real!
We then learnt to chant the Gita Dhyana Shloka and reviewed Sanskrit pronunciations video. Please encourage them to practice at home too.
We look forward to seeing the children again next week with more interesting topics to discuss. Please stay safe.
Friday Grade 8 Sevikas
