Hari Om! Parents,
We started our class with the beginning prayers followed by 2 Vedic chants on Lord Shiva,
Om namo bhagavate astu…
Trayambakam yajamahe…
We also did a 5 minute meditation on Lord Shiva.
Chanted and learned verses 19, 20, 21 from Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita.
This week our curriculum was on learning about 2 important values;
1. Charity or Danam
Discussed, danam should be given with faith, modesty and empathy.
Discussed how charity can bring vanity in us and how we can avoid this by having love and compassion for the person or the organization.
Discussed to give we must acquire wealth first. Work hard to accomplish our talents and capabilities and contribute to the society at large.
Discussed can be in the form of money and time.
Discussed why Annadanam is considered Para Danam.
Told two stories from the book to reinforce the value.
One story was about a saint who was very pious and humble. So the Gods decided to honor him . They wanted to give him the power to cure people. The saint refused to accept it as that was the Lord’s work. The saint wanted a boon whereby without his knowledge he could perform good deeds. His reward was, that his pesence brought joy and wealth to the world.
2. Shraddha or Faith was the 2nd value we discussed,
Defined faith as told by Sri Shankara as confidence in the words of the Guru and scriptures. Having faith in Guruvakyam and Shastra Vakyam and abiding by it is the key to success.
Discussed a quote by the Nobel Laureate Shri Rabindranath Tagore,
“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
Told and discussed two great stories.
One was about the children who were part of a junior football team. The 12 children survived the 3 day ordeal having faith in the words of their coach. The coach inspired them to meditate and all the children were rescued.
The other story was about a small boy who helped his friends survive an 8.2 earthquake in Armenia. The little boy had faith that his father would rescue him. After more than 36 hours he and his friends were
rescued.
Discussed faith in the words of the guru and parents can lead us closer to the lord and succeed in life.
Finally, the children lead and performed Arathi at the temple. They did a great job.
Announcements:
Swamji will be visiting our class in February to answer the children’s questions. We would like for all the children to be present and get the blessings of Swamiji. We will confirm the date next week.
Our next BV class is on January 31st.
Pranams!
Nirmala and Purnima
