Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Here is the summary of our class on Friday, Apr 16, 2021.
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam (Krishna Shloka)
Mookam Karoti Vaacalam
Activity: Dharma Thermostat
Lessons: Satyam, Gems: Love, Friendliness, Compassion, Non-attachment
Pledge - led by student
Ending Prayers
Next Balavihar class: 4/23/21
Summary: Today's class started with our reflection on the Dharma Thermostat. A couple of the students shared their experiences in trying to follow their selected virtues: Akrodha and patience. This exercise goes a long way in reinforcing self reflection! We then moved on to discussing Satyam (Truth) as one of the cornerstones of our Hindu culture. It is not always convenient or pleasant to speak the truth all the time but we must strive to do so! This is the only way to be at peace within. Our intellect choses an ideal/virtue to live by and our mind and body should work in harmony to live up to that ideal. External situations may sometimes be challenging and may hinder us in this path. When we allow our ideals and values to be broken due to a weak mind, we create inner turmoil! Therefore, we should first deliberate and choose an ideal that we are convinced about and then follow it despite possible external challenges. When we do this we develop integrity which is a very important virtue for a person in any field, professionally, personally and spiritually! We discussed a few hypothetical day to day situations and the kids shared how they would react in each situation. The children were honest about their reactions. It made for a very interesting discussion. Starting this class we have begun the discussion about the gems (values) in our treasure chest. In chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Geeta Lord Krishna has explained these values or gems and the one that possesses these gems are very dear to Him. We discussed a few of the 35 gems that make us the darling of Lord Krishna! We will discuss a few of these in every class going forward.
The first few gems were:
Hate none - We don't hate our nose if it caught a cold, or our arm because we hurt it, because these are parts of our own body! Similarly, when we start looking at everyone and everything as part of the One Brahman, the Paramaatma, we won't hate anyone! We should replace hate with love in our lives
Be Friendly - We should always extend a hand of friendship to others. When we cultivate good friendship, we enrich our lives! True friendships are not made based on how much material benefits we can get but it should be unconditional, unafraid to be truthful and selfless. Such friendships make our lives richer.
Be compassionate - We should always be compassionate towards others. Being compassionate does not mean that we blindly support a friend who is doing the wrong thing or breaking a friendship because of one mistake that our friend made! We should try to always understand the situation from the other person's perspective and strive to do the right thing while showing kindness always.
Be free from attachments - When we invest our emotions and feelings on other things and other people, we tend to get attached to these superficial things and our happiness and peace start depending on these things! When we let go of these lower attachments we can reach greater heights! It is not practical for us humans to not be attached to something or the other. So our strife should be towards attaching ourselves to the higher (Bhagavaan). When we climb up a ladder or stairs, we have to take our foot from the lower rung/stair in order to put it on the next higher step. Similarly, we should attach ourselves to the higher and let go of the lower and rise above!
We then had a brief discussion about our upcoming monthly program and ended the class with the pledge and closing prayers. We look forward to more discussions like these in the upcoming classes. Until then, please stay safe and well!
Pranaam,
Mythili and Anandhi
