Hari om,
Class started with the regular meditation and geeta chanting (chapter 2 first half)
In the discussion segment, we concluded Chapter 17 which examined the nature of behaviors. These can be named as sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic; while our initial class focused on stories of kings and warlords to demonstrate these behaviors, we focused on situations closer to what a typical high schooler would encounter. For instance, we looked at volunteering – what sort of attitude should we approach giving back to our communities? We asked some of our JCHYKs about their volunteering experiences as well as their motivations behind volunteering. Our discussion revealed a sattvic approach focused on serving others rather than a selfish rajasic approach which favored personal benefit or a tamasic approach which would have actively made things worse. We discussed other topics of interest like studying for tests as well where one can once again go about the process in a sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic manner. While there is a school of thought that judges actions by only assessing the results of the actions, Krishna rejects this idea and emphasizes the motivation behind the action which in turn would influence the outcomes. An impure and halfhearted attempt will lead to an equally bad outcome most of the time. The lesson is to examine our motivations before acting.
We have been emphasizing the importance of introspection over and over again! Without introspection, one will not be able to re-evaluate his actions and may lead to repeated cycles of making the same mistakes. If not anything, the one takeaway should be inculcating this habit of introspection every day, as often as we can!
We will be doing our class presentation next week and celebrate Gurudev Jayanti too. Look forward to the special event!
Regards,
Rashmi and Raghav.
