Please find the summary of the 5/7 class.
Opening prayers: Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam (Krishna Shloka)
Activity: All Balavihar students participated in the GURU Paduka pooja from 8 pm.
Lessons: continued with the 35 Gems/virtues discussion.
Closing prayers
Next Balavihar class: 5/14/2021
Summary: We started the class with a quick reflection on the Dharma Thermostat. We had a short class and covered the following gems in today's discussion:
Gem 18 - Be alert, be prompt (Daksah) : It implies that we need to be clever in determining what should be attended immediately among a variety of matters. One who knows 'first thing first' is a daksah or alert person. Pujya Gurudev says that opportunities come to everyone in life. Unfortunately either we are out or sleeping in and not prepared to make use of them. We need to be alert and awake to make use of these opportunities. Being alert and vigilant is the price that will have to pay for leading spiritual life. In our day-to-day life, we are busy and don't pay attention to many small things and focus on big issues. If one is alert and aware and pays attention to all the details, we will know where our energies should be directed to and how we can best utilize our time and resources. Being alert also implies that we should always remember the final goal, moksha as we go through our life's journey. One may question how is this possible? When we are traveling from work to home, despite all the traffic issues and possible detours due to construction, we never lose sight of our destination which is reaching home. Similarly we should never forget our final destination!
Story – King Akbar had a wise minister by name Birbal. He was always king's favorite because of his wisdom and cleverness. But it made many people jealous of Birbal. Once the king's barber told King Akbar that he had neglected to inquire about his forefathers in heaven. He suggested that they send Birbal to heaven to check them out. King liked the idea. So they prepared a fire ritual as a way to heaven. Barber and his friends started thinking Birbal would sit on the fire and he would burn to ashes. The fire was started and Birbal was asked to enter the fire. Birbal entered the fire without hesitation. People thought he was burnt. But Birbal who learnt about the vicious plan of the barber and his friends, had secretly made a tunnel for himself where the fire was lit so that he could escape from the fire. He appeared before the king a few days later and told him that he went to heaven that all his forefathers were living happily. But they had one problem: Their hairs and beards were growing too long because they did not have a barber in heaven (similar to our covid situation!). So the King ordered the barber to enter the fire to go to heaven. Barber got burned into ashes. Hence it always pays to be alert!
Gem 19 – Unconcerned (udasinah): One who is fair and does not take sides is said to be unconcerned. Unconcerned/Over Concerned attitude helps to consider our energies. It does not mean that we don't have empathy and sympathy, but instead of reacting to a situation we think and act wisely. In life we all have difficulties, discomforts and sorrows. We tend to exaggerate their importance and try to run away from them. In this way our life is a constant struggle trying to adjust to various situations and difficulties. Instead we need to learn to overlook the small pinpricks in our life. This overlooking is called udasina or unconcerned attitude. It does not mean being lazy. It is a cheerful attitude of accepting various situations and circumstances that come across in our life and facing them bravely. This is the intelligent way of living. It has been beautifully said that God keeps us in water not to drown us but to clean us. It is only when a diamond is chiseled the beauty inherent within it comes out. Similarly difficult or sorrowful conditions, depending on how we react and respond to it, can help to polish your personality and lead to inner unfoldment.
Gem 20- Untroubled (Gatavyathah) : When the Lord himself is carrying our burden why should we be troubled or worried? We should learn to do our best and leave the rest. People complain that God has forsaken us, especially with this Coronavirus pandemic going on. But can mud ever forsake the mudpot? Gold forsake an ornament? In the same way God has never really forsaken us. Once a man had a vivid dream at the end of his life. He could see himself walking with Bhagwan on the beach and was able to replay his entire life. He saw two sets of footprints on the sand most of his lifetime, but during difficult times he saw only one set of footprints on the sand. This disturbed him and he asked Bhagwan that when I needed you the most, I see only one set of footprints. How could you forsake me? Bhagwan kindly replied and asked him to look carefully, the footprints that he was seeing were the footprints of Bhagwan himself. Bhagwan told him that during troubled times he was carrying him! So whatever happens we should remember that the Lord is with us. We should remain untroubled and unperturbed.
Gem 21 - Renounce all undertaking (sarvarambha parityagi ):One who has renounced all desire prompted activities. Aaramba means beginning. To end all beginnings does not mean not to undertake any new actions. It implies that we do all the activities without having an egoistic feeling that I am solely responsible for any action we perform. If we carefully analyze and dig deep into the meaning of it we see that all our actions are controlled, regulated and governed by the world of things and situations around us. We are only a part of a long change of events that are happening in the world. No undertaking in our life in fact has an independent beginning or end. For example when we decide to play a game of basketball, we get the basketball out and have some friends over; play the game, enjoy and have a good time. But to play the game we needed a ball which we did not make, a gravitational force that needs to bring the ball down, we did not invent or manufacture the material with which the ball was made, have other people around us to participate with us so that we can enjoy etc. So even for a simple game there are so many factors involved, hence we should give up the attitude that I am solely responsible for doing certain things or performing certain actions.
Gem 22: Neither rejoices nor hates ( na hrsyati, na dvesti) : Does not rejoice upon gaining what is desirable and does not hate upon gaining what is undesirable. When we have mistaken expectations it will only result in disappointment. The fundamental mistake we make is that we wish permanent happiness in the world which is continuously changing. World is nothing but a play of pairs of opposites. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, heat and cold, darkness and light all are unavoidable. For example if you take a magnet it has north and south poles. If we cut it into two, each piece will have a north and south pole, so no matter how small we cut the magnet into these two poles exist. Similarly two pairs of opposites exist in the world all the time. It doesn't mean we have to run away from the world, but we have to face it. We should not get too overjoyed when we get the desired object and not get too dejected or depressed when our desire is not fulfilled. A great devotee realizes these and rises about these pairs of opposites. We should face them bravely with equipoise holding onto the Lord.
Gem 23: Grieves not (no socati): Having no grief even while parting a beloved object. If analyzed carefully the happenings in the world, everything is bound by time and space, and nothing remains permanent. Things, objects and people decay with time. We bought up conservation of energy and matter. We can neither produce nor destroy matter, but matter disappears when it changes into energy form even though we may not be able to see or perceive it. In the same way the substratum which holds the whole universe together, the Lord, neither changes nor decays; while the objects or people can decay & die. Knowing this we should not grieve excessively.
Gem 24: Desires not ( na kanksati ): When the whole area is flooded with water what is the use of a bucket of water. In the same way a true devotee completely identified with the Lord is always satisfied. He does not have any egoistic desires. For him all his desires have been fulfilled as he has found eternal happiness within himself. Pujya Gurudev says that we need to understand we will never be fully satisfied by indulging in our desires. In fact the more we indulge the more our desires will increase. Moreover uncontrolled desires by themselves will lead to bondage and sorrow. For example if we feel like eating a sweet, the first time we eat it might taste very nice and we feel happy, second or third time you may still be happy but the extent of happiness decreases, it follows the law of diminishing returns. But if somebody were to eat 10 or 20 sweets at same time he will start feeling miserable and positively uncomfortable. In the long run this habit can cause its own health problems. Understanding this fact we should know to control our desires, and channelize our energies in the proper way.
We all then joined the Paduka pooja with the rest of the Balavihar students. The pooja was led by our temple priest.
Regards,
Mythili and Anandi
