Hari Om! Parents,
We started our class with the beginning prayers followed by the vedic chanting of,
Om namaste astu bhagavan....
Trayambakam yajamahe....
We then learned and chanted verses 24,25 from chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita along with Pujya Swamiji.
We recorded verses 1to 15 from the same chapter with the children leading the class.
We then proceeded to our curriculum which was on Upasana followed by Satsang with Pujya Swamiji.
Defined Upasana as "worship"or literally “sitting near”."Upa" means "near" and "asana" means "sitting".
Discussed that our thinking is always in the form of objects, we need an object or a symbol, that represents the Lord who is omnipresent and beyond all qualities. Teachers like Veda Vyasa made it easier for us by providing a host of deities in his Puranas.
We will continue our discussion on this in our next class with some stories and the benefits of Upasana.
Our Satsang with Pujya Swamiji was a discussion based on questions posed by the children.
Posting some of the questions and Swamiji’s answers below:
1. What is the purpose and goal of life?
Our purpose of life is Moksha or liberation from life and death. One important way is to get rid of our Raaga and Dwesha or our likes and dislikes. By having equanimity of the mind in all situations is the key to achieve this.
2. How can we graduate from the Brachmacharya ashrama to the Grihasta ashrama?
Swamiji jokingly answered “By getting married” implying that Grihasta is the stage of taking up the responsibility of family life
3. Questions regarding the righteousness of euthanasia
Euthanasia is a wrong a action. We have to endure the pain and suffering in life which has been caused by our previous wrong actions. Our situations in life is totally governed by the law of Karma. Our present body is the product of our past actions. Running away from a bad situations is not the solution. So the solution is to endure the pain while in this body.
4. Why do people suffer?
Again it is due to the Law of Karma. The infallible law of action and reaction - Every action, as the ancient rishis and later, Newton, too discovered, has an equal and opposite reaction. All our sukha/dukha experiences are all dependent on our past actions. We have to go through it and try to be mindful of our actions.
5. Is it good to have ego?
Ego is neither good or bad but it is a necessity. We have to use the ego in a positive way to perform good actions.
6. Why does the lord take an avatara?
The lord takes an avatara to rid the earth of evil. Lord Rama was the 7th and Lord Krishna was the 8th avatara.
7. How do sadhus live an austere life?
Sadhus live a simple lifestyle, they mostly survive by food donated by devotees. They consume bare minimum in order to just survive. They spend most of the time in meditation on God.
These were some of the questions from the children.
We had a very enlightening session with Pujya Swamiji. Thank you Swamiji!
Announcements:
Our next class is on February 14th.
Mahasivatatri celebrations at the ashram on February 21st.We have been talking about the glory of Lord Shiva in class and would like the children to attend the Pooja.
Thank you!
Pranams
Nirmala and Purnima
