Oct 30 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Dear Parents  

Hari Om!  

 

The following material was taught to your child on Sunday, October 30, 2022, during Balavihar.  

 

1. We began class with the Beginning Prayers, and the kids led the prayers.   
2. We talked briefly about Halloween, what everyone is doing this weekend, and how everyone's school year is going. Rhea mentioned that it was her birthday on the 29th of October. Happy Birthday, Rhea!  
3. I then had them recap what they learned in the last class and segued from there. They mentioned they learned about the 10 sins and recapped what those sins were in their own words.   
1.  Sins committed by the body:  
1. To kill someone: killing a human being, plants, and animals is also a sin. Animals and plants are part of our ecosystem and contribute to our welfare. 
2. To steal: this does not just pertain to robbing a store but to not repaying borrowed money in time, excessive use of paper towels, plastic spoons, etc  
3. Having an illicit relationship: Maintaining an improper relationship 
2.   Sins of Speech:  
1. To say bad words: how easily these words come to us  
2. To use harsh words: speak sweetly and gently  
3. To lie: we lie to look better in front of someone else  
4. To complain and spread rumors: out of spite and sometimes just to gossip 
3.  Sins of the Mind:  
1. To think of taking someone's wealth: we envy another person's wealth, not realizing how much hard work and sacrifices have gone in to achieve that  
2. To have ill feelings towards somebody: when someone does not agree with us or does things our way, we develop ill will toward them.  
3. To not have faith in the law of action: we must realize that there are consequences to every action, thought, and speech.   
4. Before going to examples of the sins, we learned what karmaphala means. The fruit of your action. In basic terms, it goes with the concept of cause and effect.  
5. We connected the different sins to different stories in the Mahabharata  
1. We talked about the Kunti and her misusing her boon  
2. Arjuna and the sin of his mind made him weak before the war. When Arjuna stood on his side of the battlefield and saw all his family, friends, teachers, and everyone he grew up with, he became scared and started to doubt himself. He wasn't sure if he should be fighting them. His mind weakened. This is because he didn't have faith in the law of action (karma). The sin of not having faith in the law of action was the reason his mind weakened, and he started to doubt himself.  
6. We also tried to talk about different everyday examples  
1. Saying mean things to some -> hurt their feelings -> They react back in a negative way 
2. Saying bad words -> Becomes a habit of saying bad words -> say in front of parents or others and have no control -> get in trouble  
7. We then talked about Karmaphaladaata and how God is everywhere! He is all-pervading. Even if no one is looking, Karmaphaladaata is watching us! So be alert! Do Good! Think Good! Always! Every time! Many children started asking how that is possible and just the concept of God in general. To this question, I first asked how many people believed in God genuinely. I then tried to find an answer they could understand as many of them said they had a hard time understanding the concept of God as there are many different stories and versions and no real physical proof. I talked about the Ramayana and how the bridge that was built by the Hanuman can be found between India and Sri Lanka to use this as physical proof. From this, I talked about how God is essentially your conscious. God is always watching because if you do something bad, you know about it, and you will feel the guilt for it.  The different stories and versions of the stories we hear during childhood are all just changed versions through generations, but the story's main idea is the same. I talked about dance as I am a Bharatanatyam dancer. The aduvus (basic movements) are taught differently by different teachers and styles of Bharatanatyam. When you start choreographing a dance item and performing, it is all the same, even if you learned the aduvus differently.   
8. We had our house inauguration today, so we went into the main hall earlier today, and everyone earned some points for their house!   

 

Overall, it was a very interactive class, and everyone was engaged and thinking about the topics in depth.  

 

Thank you!  

 

Grade 8 Sunday AM teachers