Hari OM Parents,
Class commenced with opening prayers and a short meditation with a
prompt to watch the breath and bring the mind back if it wandered
away.
We did a recap of lessons till date.
Man's control of nature external- Civilization
Man's control of nature internal- Culture
Prakriti- Inherent nature/ tendency/ urge
Vikriti- Out of proportion urge/ perversion
Samskriti/culture – refinement prevents prakriti from becoming vikriti
Law of consequence- Karma- Cause and effect
-My goals and what efforts I need to put in to achieve them
-See this reflected in lives of the Masters- Veda Vyasa, Adi Shankara,
Swami Chinmayananda
- Their and our primary source of knowledge –Scriptures
Classification of Karma- Nishedha, Kaamya, nitya, Naimittika
Another way- Sanchita, Prarabdha, Agami
After the recap, we delved into our lesson for the day.
How samskaras help the individual to stay on the path, maintain
disciple was discussed. Students shared their experience of Upanayanam
and it was interesting to note that some knew the purpose of the
various practices, Sandhya Vandanam and some had a hesitant response
to this samskara.
Samskara
Acts performed to bring out the noble qualities in us
Purification acts are called samskara karma
Samskaras help us to stay away from vikriti
We will be studying 16 samskaras(later classes)
Since you are in the brahmacharya ashram we will start with 2 samskaras
Upanayanam, the thread ceremony
Samavartana, the graduation ceremonies
Discussed the 2 above samskaras in the Brahmacharya ashram. These
rituals involve the beginning of a new responsibility.
In addition Gautama dharma Shastra describes 8 inner qualities or samskaras
It is a guide book on dharma. We listed the 8 qualities and discussed one,
Compassion or daya with a story,
After school a young boy was selling some goods to collect money for
school. He got hungry and checked his pocket and realized he didn't
have money to buy food. He then knocked at the door of a home. A young
lady seeing the weary boy offered him a cold glass of milk. Years
passed, the lady was in the hospital for special tests. Seeing the
hospital bill she wondered that her savings will be gone paying the
bill. Someone handed her an envelope which said 'Paid in full with a
glass of milk'. The boy now grown up was a consultant at the hospital
and had paid her bills.
She knew it was all God's work.
These inner qualities should be part of our life as we grow
We looked at Daya in detail, it being the value for this year, and
discussed examples.The idea that these are not specific to any place,
time, age, role in life was stressed.
Since the virtual stage presentation is on Dec 18, at 8 pm we broke up
into groups and worked on small scenes highlighting some key lessons
picked by the students. Prarabdha and Purushartha seemed to resonate
with them and we excitedly await the final product.
We then proceeded on to Geeta chanting. This year, as they are allowed
to read, we are trying to encourage them to confidently and joyously
read. Please support your student's efforts at home by chanting with
them or listening to them.
Aarti and pledge concluded class with all taking turns to chant and recite.
Pranams
Uma and Nirmala
