Hari om everyone,
We started today's class as usual, with a few minutes of meditation, chanting gItaa dhyaanam and ch. 1. The voices are getting louder with the chanting and we couldn't be happier :). We learnt dhyaanam till verse 6. We progressed very well with Ch. 1. Today we learnt up to verse 9. This was very impressive. Below are the recordings links for practice.
Gita1.7-9.wav
Today was a revision of Chapter 5 of the gItaa. We reviewed some very important concepts that will serve as a basis for many discussions in the coming classes. Well, not just classes, but the rest of our lives actually! We spoke about how essential this knowledge is and we will be spending a lifetime reinforcing the understanding as we grow. We will get a better idea and deeper import of these words at different junctures of our lives.
Today was a revision of Chapter 5 of the gItaa. We reviewed some very important concepts that will serve as a basis for many discussions in the coming classes. Well, not just classes, but the rest of our lives actually! We spoke about how essential this knowledge is and we will be spending a lifetime reinforcing the understanding as we grow. We will get a better idea and deeper import of these words at different junctures of our lives.
We discussed vaasanas; 3 guNas - sattva; rajas; tamas; 4 varNas; the root cause of all problems; etc.
We learnt that our previous vaasanas drive us into being born the way we are, but what we make of them is up to us. We have all the liberty to progress or regress from where we started. Only in this human birth do we have the freedom to tip the scale one way or the other. All other births are only to exhaust the vaasanas, but cannot change the outcome.
We discussed at length, what are the repercussions of different vaasanas with some daily scenarios. We need all the 3 guNas, there is no rating on them! Our job is to go beyond them all.
Different proportions of these 3 guNas make up the 4 varNas of the society. We understood that the varNa system in our culture is NOT really the 'Caste system' that it is dubbed as! The varNas are based on our predominant inherent guNas. The hierarchy of varNas is NOT vertical where one is stacked upon the other, but a linear system where each one is essential for the healthy functioning of a society. We saw this with the example of a school. To run a school we need all the four varNas of people!
- The teachers (brahmaNas) are the ones who disseminate knowledge;
- the principal/administration staff (kShatriyas) are in charge of the administration and functioning of the school;
- the parents (vaishyas) are the financers (tax-payers who fund the schools);
- the custodial staff (shuudras) are the maintenance personnel.
When one organization like a school cannot function without all its limbs, how can a society stand tall without this system? It is NOT the taboo topic of the culture that it has been made into, but was the very foundation of a healthy, functional society! This very fabric of the society was broken by the invaders of different eras by pitting one against the other and creating distortion among the people of a harmonious society. We need to understand this system well ourselves, before feeling apologetic.
We then saw that the root cause for all the problems is 'desire'. Our endless wants trap us in the material world and take us away from our true quest: like they say 'We just only need to search for ourselves; for everything else, there is google' :)). Below is an award-winning short film "Black Hole". Please watch as it reveals the desire turning into greed (very unique to human species alone)! It is less than three minutes with just one person and no dialogues. Hope you enjoy it.
We had a class photo scheduled today. We all went and came back in within four minutes! The photo team and the children both did great with the timing :). We are yet to receive the pictures. We will share once we get the digital copies. They will be published in the Vrindavan Surabhi magazine that will be given out during the fundraiser on Friday, Nov. 15th. Do look out for them.
There is no Bala Vihar on 10th. (Sorry we switched up the weeks when we were talking about it in class). We have class the following week on Nov 17th. Hope you are enjoying the fall break :). See you all then.
Regards,
Rashmi and Kishore.
Rashmi and Kishore.
