Hari Om! Parents,
We started our class with the beginning prayers followed by
meditation. This time we tried focusing on the Ananda aspect of Sat-
Chit- Ananda. This Ananda is our true nature. For this meditation we
focussed on the present moment and asking the question – is there any
problem in this present moment?. We had a choice between focusing in
breath, sounds around etc. This was a good way to transition into
Shat-Sampatti.
Learned verse 5 of Shiva Manasa Pooja and chanted the whole shlokam.
For our lesson we recapped our previous lesson on the mahavakyas and
the ashrama dharma.
For this week we discussed about our Purusharthas or fundamental
pursuits. These are Dharma or ethical living, Artha or wealth and
prosperity, Kama or desires for enjoyment and Moksha or liberation.
Our wealth and desires should be mainly for increasing dharma.
We focused our discussions this week on artha. Artha when earned with
dharma is a blessing. Working in our inner wealth by following the
shat sampattis as taught by Shankara helps to enhance our outer wealth
and enjoyments. These are :
Sama: Mind control. This can be achieved by meditation and japa.
Dama: Sense control. To be vigilant and alert moment to moment helps
to c ontrol our senses.
Practising sama and dama diligently helps to sharpen our intellect
which helps in our pursuit of our material and spiritual goals.
Uparama: Withdrawal or moving with vikriti to prakriti. We took the
example from the Gita, of the tortoise withdrawing it's limbs into its
shell.
Titiksha: Forbearance
Shraddha: Faith in guru and shastra vakyam
Samadanam: Single pointed focus on our short term and long term goals.
To enrich our outer life our aim should be to work on these inner values.
Our conclusion was, a student in the brahmacharya ashrama, along with
academic training should also focus on the cultural, and spiritual
aspects of life.
Our next Balavihar class is on May 21st
Pranams
Uma and Nirmala
