Hari Om Dear Parents,
Here is the update of our second balavihar session: Sep 23rd 2022. We Started our class today by greeting the students followed by Likhita Japa , Opening Prayers and attendance.
Symbolism in Hinduism (30 Mins)
We started with a brief summary of the last class where we Sketched Lord Ganesha (each of the students followed along and sketched it in their notebook too) and talked about the symbolism of Lord Ganesha. We further discussed other symbolism in Hinduism – Namaste, Lotus, Putting Bindi and Swastika sign) and explained the meaning and significance of those. I strongly recommend having the youths read the book Why do we which is a Chinmaya publications booklet which has a few more symbols and meanings of things related to our culture that we do everyday or frequently. This may be available in our Ashram bookstore too or can be purchased online @ Chinmaya publications
We also discussed the upcoming Navratri festival (Sept 26th to Oct 5th) and discussed the significance of the 10 Day celebration. We listened to a short video by Swamini Supriyanandaji which is nice short summarization of the same
Yato Dharmah Tato Jayah (30 Mins)
We briefly introduced this topic of Yato Dharmah Tato Jayah which is the main subject for the 8th Grade students. We explained its meaning and reference in the Mahabharata. We discussed the topic of Karma and karmaphala and did a short activity to understand the concept better. We then discussed the 3 laws of karma. We will continue this topic in the next session.
Bhagavad Gita : Geeta Dhyanam Chanting & Sanskrit Priemer (15 mins)
We chanted Geeta Dhynam shloka. Punima ji led the class and Students repeated after the first 2 shlokas of Geeta Dhyanam. We will continue to practice this in the next few classes and learn the meaning and significance of it. The intent is to help students read, listen and chant Geeta Dhyanam Shloka.
We Concluded this week's class by listening to and following the Sanskrit Primer videos that introduce new students to chanting Sanskrit sounds correctly.
Aarthi and Pledge : (15 mins)
We had Aarthi, Closing Prayers and Pledge in the main assembly Hall
Next Class : Oct 7th 2022. Please note there is no class next Weekend and is off for Navratri celebrations.
Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar
