Hari OM,
This week we started our class with prayers. We then had a debate / discussion in the class on why Duryodhana went to heaven after his death. We discussed Gunas and how they affect people's character and that most people have a mixture of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Our effort should be to increase Sattva so that we can attain peace of mind and come closer to realization of God. This was followed by a description on how Sattva can be increased by devotional observance of important festivals and visiting Temples regularly.
The following Festivals were discussed:
- Holi (Mar 28, 2021) - commemorates Holika sacrifice.
- Ugadi (Apr 13, 2021) - Telugu / Kannada New Year
- Rama Navami (Apr 21, 2021) - Birthday of Sri Ram
- Vishu (Apr 14, 2021) - Tamil/Malayalam/Bengali New Year
- Raksha Bandhan (Aug 22, 2021) - commemorates love between sisters and brothers
- Dushera/Vijaya Dasami (Oct 15, 2021) - Victory of Sri Ram over Ravana
- Diwali (Nov 04, 2021) - Return of Sri Ram to Ayodhya
The following Temples were discussed:
- Sri Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam, Telangana
- Sri Kalaram Temple, Nashik, Maharashtra
- Sri Raghunath Temple, Jammu
- Sri Kodandarama Temple, Karnataka
- Sri Ramaswami Temple, Kerala
- Sri Ram Mandir, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
- Sri Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Mumbai
- Sri Ramakrishna Mission Temple, Belur, West Bengal
- Sri Chinmaya Vrindavan, Cranbury, NJ
- Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, PA
