Hari Om Parents,
Following was discussed in the e Balavihar class on March 29.
1. Class was conducted again using Zoom conferencing technology – thanks to all the hard work by the coordinators/administrators.
2. Initial prayers.
3. We chanted 30 verses of Bhagavad Gita chapter 1.
4. We practiced five slokas of Tapovan Shatakam.
5. Initially we discussed with children how they are coping with online school and stay home situation –for most part they seem to have adjusted well. Some like the fact that their schedule / timings are flexible. Most miss their friends and direct human interaction – like rest of us. But they are tech savy kids – so snap chat is being used more!!!
6. We briefly discussed what was taught in last class - Sri Krishna in Chapter XII of Bhagavad Gita enumerates 35 virtues or gems for us to live by. Bhagawan says he is showing us these gems so that we can make use of them and be happy. He says "anyone living by these virtues is My darling". Verse 13: Gem 1 – Hate None (advesta sarvabhutanam): Gem 2 – Be Friendly; Maitrah and Gem 3 – Be Compassionate; Karunah. They still remembered these values (well at least the one student who answered did).
7. The importance of these values was again reemphasized. Students were advised to find one value which appeals to them and try to follow it under all circumstances no matter what – no compromise. This will definitely give them happiness and peace as immediate benefit; in the long run lead to their inner unfoldment and progress in spiritual path. As we follow one value we see that all the other values seem to automatically get incorporated in our personality. For example if we hate no one – then automatically you will be friendly with all and have compassion for them.
8. Gem 4 – Free from Attachment (Nirmamah), Without Mineness. The more one thinks of an object the more one gets attached to it. The less one thinks of a thing the less one is attached to it. Think more of the Divine to get attached to It; think less of worldly objects to get detached from them. We should live like a broken pot, a pot with holes, so that our mind remains ever empty. "Empty thyself, and I shall fill thee" is the eternal promise.
9. Pujya Gurudev has said that the concept of renunciation has nothing to do with have or have not in a physical sense; it means an attitude of non-attachment. Detachment from worldly objects is not possible unless we attach to higher or nobler. To attach ourselves to Divine is to detach from the undivine. Divinity is within ourselves!
10. Everything we have in this world was given to us by Bhagawan. We did not bring anything when we came into this world. Unfortunately as we grow older; we start saying this is mine etc. – example of smartphone was used. Once we start having this feeling that an object is mine – then the worry start to keep it safe and not lose it; if someone breaks it we get angry with them. All the trouble because we are attached to the object. The objects/persons were there before we came into this world and will be there after we leave the world. Let us learn to thank God who is giver of all and not get attached to these things. Excessive clingingness to various things should be given up. If a given object is there great, if it is not then, no problem life goes on – need to learn to be in the world but not of it!
11. We make be an excellent singer or musician etc. but do we realize how many people have their hand in our success. Our parents, teachers who taught us, people who made the musical instruments, electrician, people involved with the speakers …. the list can go on and on. When we thus analyze we become humble and develop detachment.
12. When asked, children were able to point out in Mahabharata story how Dhritharastra's blind attachment to this son & kingdom let to the downfall of Kuru dynasty. Even Duryodhana's excessive attachment to power and throne was another significant contributing factor for the Mahabharata war. Hence history teaches us that excessive and blind attachment will lead to our downfall.
13. Gem 5: Free from Ego (Nirahamkarah); without egoism; one is free from ego. Pujya Gurudev says ego is a noun not a verb. Ego is nothing but a bundle of past actions and reactions, from birth till now. He commands us to throw away this stinking bundle down and look at the world without this muddy poison. Where ego is dropped, divine experience arises. Ego is false identification with our body, mind and intellect. When ego is divinized, the individual will automatically remain equanimous in both success and failure.
14. The Balloon Effect – when balloon filled with helium is let go it rises up as it is less dense then atmospheric air. With greater displacement of air it will go higher and higher and in the process it expands, until the elasticity of the rubber is reached and it bursts. The balloon shrivels and falls down. Similarly we, the perceiver, feeler and the thinker – the ego entity – will get filled up with "helium" as we study scriptures and follow value based lifestyle. The vasana burden in us gets reduced and the mind & intellect get an upward thrust. As we progress in our sadhana a time will come just like the balloon our mind and intellect will explode and we will merge with the Reality. The Reality / Bhagawan – whose is functioning as the life principle in us and keeps us going; just like a battery keeps the flash light going.
15. On a practical note we can see that too much ego leads to its own problems. We can get angry with people, hurt our family and friends – even though we know we did wrong our ego prevents us from saying 'sorry'. When we say sorry we should really mean it – here we discussed a scene from popular hindi movie Zindagi Na Milegi Doobhara – where the hero says to his friend that when he says sorry he should really mean it; circumstances later make the friend realize what it means to say sorry and really mean it. He later in the movie tells the hero sorry with tears in his eyes. We can't do that because our ego prevents us from acknowledging our mistakes. Even when we realize mistakes we don't ask for forgiveness.
16. Story – in a forest lived an egoistic elephant and it treated everyone badly. One day a bunny who never heard about the elephant, did not greet the elephant and went about singing. Elephant got angry and wanted to crush the bunny. A mosquito nearby decided to teach the elephant a lesson. The mosquito challenged the elephant to fight with it and to leave the bunny alone. The mosquito got into the trunk of the elephant and started biting him. The elephant jumped and rolled, but could not get rid of the mosquito. All the animals started cheering for the mosquito. Finally elephant realized the result of his egoistic attitude and asked forgiveness from all the animals. Mosquito then left the elephant alone.
Think: Temper gets us into trouble, pride keeps you there.
17. Aarti and pledge was led by Avani and Raghav. We will continue to ask students to lead aarti/prayers and pledge in coming classes to keep them engaged. Again be safe, stay home and let us continue our prayers for everyone's well-being.
Pranam,
Mekhala Girish
Devender Akula
Sun AM 8th Grade Teachers
