Dear Parents,
Harih Om!
We welcome your child and you to the 8th grade Sunday a.m. Balavihar class.
We request you to make sure that your child joins the class on time (9:15 a.m.) with their Balavihar handbook.
Required reading: Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari (available at the Chinmaya Vrindavan bookstore and online vendors/book sellers.)
Teacher's handbook is "Yato Dharmah tato Jayah"
There are two areas where we will be focusing. The first one is Symbolism and the second is recognizing and executing our duties (Dharma) so that we can enjoy a contented and happy life. We will be delving into some important episodes of the Mahabharata in order to make the connection to transactions/challenges we face in everyday life.
1.We began class with the following prayers:
Chanting Om three times
Sahanaa vavatu…
Karaagre Vasate Lakshmi…
Vakratundaya Mahakaaya Sooryakoti Samaprabha….
Shuklaam Baradaram Vishnum…
Saraswati Namstubhyam….
Shubham Karoti Kalyanam…
Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnuh….
- First, the students played an Icebreaker Game, and this enabled them to interact with each other and learn something new about each other.
- We talked about importance of Symbolism: Why do we need symbols? We showed the children a variety of symbols and asked them what it reminded them of? For example, the five different colored rings represent the Olympic Games. The thoughts that we connect with this symbol are sports, endurance, hard work, determination, athletes, success, failure, unity etc. Similarly, it is easy to say God is all pervading. If one has already direct living experience that God is formless, one need not go to the temple, nor does one need an idol. But for most of us there is a need for the support of a symbol to prepare our mind. For most of us though there is a need to prepare our mind and to make it more subtle, pure, and capable of seeing the highest truth. We are not able to see the Lord in everything, so we are asked to first practice seeing Him in at least in an image/idol and then slowly expand our vision. The temple, pooja room, idol, pictures of God are simply to bring into our mind the awareness of God.
- Explained the symbolism of Lord Ganesha including the story of his birth, why He is known as Modakahasta, Lambodara etc.
- Large ears represent continuous and intelligent listening
- After listening (sravanam) students need to reflect (mananam) on what they heard: this is represented by His big head
- Trunk can lift a blade of grass as well as move logs of wood: so the trunk represents perfect discrimination
- Broken tusk represents that the person has thought through the good and bad and made the appropriate decision
- Large belly represents the place where He has stored all his wisdom
- Significance of 4 hands: the axe is to cut off all our attachments and hence end our sorrows
- With the rope, He pulls his devotees closer to Him, the modaka is the reward, and with the fourth hand He blesses us all
- His one leg folded and the other dangling represents that He has integrated both subtle and gross bodies into one (i.e. an intellect into which the mind has folded)
- The mouse at His feet represents an obedient mind. By bringing our thoughts under control we can achieve a state of calmness which help us execute your responsibilities and duties in an efficient manner.
Thank you!
Rekha Pai and Mekhala Girish (Grade 8 Sunday AM Balavihar teachers)
