Hari Om Parents,
The following is what we did during today's class.
Shlokas:
1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Karegre vasate" (page 11 in My prayers book)
4. "Akanda-mandalakaram" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
5. "Ajnana-timirandhasya" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
6. "Gururbrahma" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
7. "Thvameva Maathacha" (page 62 in My Prayers book)
8. "Samudra vasane devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
9. "Saraswathi namasthubyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
10. "Subham karothi kalyanam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
11. "Karacharana krithamva" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
12. "Bhramaarpanam bhrama havih" (page12 in My Prayers book)
13. "Srirama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 in My Prayers book) - New
Activities:
- Please continue to practice the Geeta Chanting slokas with your kids. They have been introduced to slokas 1-16 in Chapter 1 & that will be their requirement for the Geeta Chanting Competition. Please refer to the following website gitachanting.net for the right pronunciation. Most kids have familiarized themselves with the first 3 slokas! Please record videos & send your individual child chanting the shlokas to the Geeta Chanting Team cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn house points.
- We have introduced most of the Dainikaprarthanah (means Daily Prayers) & 4 slokas from the Gurustoram. Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, (lighting the lamps / evening) after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer & daily prayer.
- We did some coloring towards the end of class. If you have some extra time at home, please have the kids complete their coloring pages in their Bala Ramayana coloring books. Some kids have missed a class or 2, we have had a few abbreviated sessions due to other activities and were unable to fit the coloring activity in. Please stop on Lesson 27. Please reiterate that the kids are recalling the story as they are coloring.
- We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 "Om's kids keep their eyes closed. They count the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. Today most of the students got the count correct! I had told them prior to beginning that I might take a longer time in between stones to try to trick them, they did a great job concentrating!
After a brief quiz like re-cap of our story so far, we returned to Kishkindha. The search begins! The vanaras from all directions assembled & search parties were given a month's time to bring back information. Sugriva sent armies headed North, East and West. The team heading South consisted of Hanuman, Angadha, Jambavan and Nila. As everyone already had clues pointing South, Rama wanted Hanuman to be his personal messenger. He called him aside and took off his ring and gave it to Hanuman. He said that Sita would instantly recognize it and will know exactly who you are and who sent you. Hanuman bowed down to Rama and accepted the immense task. The teams from the other directions already were back reporting failure. The team heading South came across a cave and entered it. It was enchanted and was like a never ending maze of beautiful gold trees with rubies, diamonds and emeralds hanging from them, lovely waterfalls, lily ponds and plenty of food everywhere. It was paradise and a tapasvini called Svayamprabha lived there. Hanuman related the happenings leading them to their search. She told the vanaras to close their eyes and she would transport them out of the never ending maze.
When the vanaras opened their eyes, they were on the sea shore. They were all confused. Most of them wanted to just go back and enjoy the rest of their lives in the enchanted cave. Hanuman had to remind them about their mission. An old, handicapped and starving vulture named Sampati was eagerly watching the vanaras from a close by hill, planning how to score his next meal. When suddenly he heard the name Jatayu come up in conversation. His eyes lit up, but immediately saddened on hearing that he was killed by a rakshasa. Sampati called out to the vanaras asking what happened and they narrated the situation. Sampati told them how he was protecting his brother Jatayu from the sun when his wings got burnt off and he had landed here. He told them that he recently saw a demon fly across the ocean grasping on to a crying lady! The vanaras brought Sampati down from the hill, fed him and asked for more details. Then with his keen sight, he was able to see Lanka across the ocean, the rich royal kingdom, its beautiful gardens and under a tree surrounded by rakshasis, a lady was sadly sitting! As soon as Sampati related this to the vanaras, he could feel blood in his veins moving towards his wing area and small wings started sprouting! He had received a boon that his wings would grow back when he helped Rama!
Sita was finally located, now the task was how they were going to get to her. The vanaras started estimating how far they could jump. No one was able to say that they could jump across the ocean. Then Jambavan looked at Hanuman and started praising the multitude of abilities that the son of Vayu had and made him realize that his very birth is for serving Ramchandraji and that Hanuman was their only hope to fulfill this mission. The hidden strength started to swell up inside of Hanuman and he started to glow and grow!!! He was ready to depart.
We were on the shore and nothing but the ocean was in front of the vanaras. Hanuman had just heard Jambavan tell him that his mere existence was to serve Ramchandraji! He is totally inspired and thinks that he would have to climb high enough and be able to put immense pressure down on the earth to give him enough force to take the leap. He picks the Mahendra hill. He pictures Lord Rama and feels him in his heart, his yoga centered mind is concentrating only on the task at hand and he finally offers prayers to Surya, Indra, Brahma and to his dad Vayu.
Hanuman turns and faces southward. He musters up even more strength and now even his surroundings can feel it too! The rocks, streams, trees, flowers and animals can all feel his strength as more blood rushed through Hanuman's veins. He was ready and his shadow looked like a humongous dark cloud over the ocean. As his flight began and continued, he met with a multitude of obstacles.
When he came across Mainaka the mountain, he gracefully declined the offer to take rest on the mountain and promised to visit another time as his task at hand was highly time sensitive! Mainaka agreed and he was allowed to pass. After a while, the hungry monster Surasa wanted Hanuman to enter her mouth. Hanuman was very intelligent and decided to grow and increase his size. As he did so, Surasa too opened her mouth wider, when it was 50 yojanas wide, Hanuman shrunk to a speck, went in and out of her mouth to fulfill her desire. She was actually the Naga maiden, she was only testing him. She gave him her blessings and on Hanuman flew. With great speed, Maruthi sped on, he encountered a hungry rakshasi and decided to speed through her mouth and made a hole through and out of her body, killing her without wasting time.He finally reached the shores of beautiful Lanka. He shrinks himself down to the size of a little monkey then moves to the top of a hill and surveys his surroundings.
Please go to the link below to check out the pictures from this week's class
Each week's update is maintained on Google docs, if for any reason you are unable to attend class on a certain Sunday, you are requested to check for weekly updates so that your child does not miss out. Below is the link
We require at least 1 parent inside the ashram during the full duration of the class. You are free to choose an Adult Study Group or sign up to Volunteer or Meditate/Read in the Temple.
Required books for Grade 1
My Prayers Book
Bala Ramayana Coloring Book
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla and Dipti Chauhan
