Pranaam,
Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Please find below the summary of our class on Friday, Oct 11, 2019.
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Neelambuja Shyamala Komalaangam (Rama Shloka)
Quote of the day: Temper takes you to trouble. Pride keeps you there.
Discussion: Ramayana Story
Character Analysis: Sage Vishwamitra
Bhagavat Gita: Ch. 1, Verses 1,2
Game: Walk of Faith
Aarati and Pledge : Temple - Lead by Grade 9
Next Balavihar class: 10/18/19
Announcement: Please attend a 10 minute parent meeting at 7:00 pm during the next class.
Summary: It was a great class this week. We started out with discussing Gurudev's quote of the day. Today's was about how nothing good ever comes out of losing our temper and having pride for the wrong reasons. We took turns discussing how losing our temper has affected us in our day to day situations. We do feel good for just a few minutes having lost our temper but invariably end up regretting our temper fueled actions. We had some interesting instances the children shared about losing their temper! We all agreed that
it is not good to lose our temper. We then moved on to a brief summary of the Ramayana story from Rama's birth until Sage Vishwamitra taking them away to Dandakaaranya to fight the demons while he and his Rishis performed yagnas for the welfare of the people. The focus of today's class was on Sage Vishwamitra and how both temper and pride made him lose all the powers he had gained from severe penances. He had to restart from the beginning to regain all his siddhis. It really helps that this group of students have a good knowledge of the basic Ramayana story. This helps us to focus on some subtler topics in the Ramayana. We will continue more such discussions and character analysis in the upcoming classes.
We then played a game. There was an obstacle course created. One student was blindfolded and a partner who had to guide them through the obstacles with one or two word clues. The blindfolded person had to rely on these clues having faith in the friend and walk through the obstacles across the room, without touching them. The kids enjoyed the game. The goal was also to show them that we should have faith and heed to the words of wise people. We will have more similar games as time permits in the upcoming classes. We chanted the first 2 verses of Bhagavat Gita ch. 1 along with Swamiji's broadcast.
Overall it was a fun class. Hope the children enjoy the classes as much as we do. It is always a pleasure to work with your children!
Shanthi and Anandhi
