Hari Om,We began class with starting prayers and Lingashtakam. The class chanted it together. We are pleased that they are comfortable and joyful while chanting this offering , on time for Shivarathri, which is coming up soon.One of the students read the recap of the previous class from the portal while some chimed in with what they remembered from their notes.We continued with the next four of the inner qualities which when cultivated or practiced can lead to the mind staying in satvik mode longer.They are 5. Anaayasa- free of stress 6.Mangalam- auspicious 7.Akaarpanyam- not being greedy 8.Aspriha- absence of clinging desire.When do we feel stress? How do each of us respond? How can we avoid it? We discussed these.The common understanding was when we procrastinate, when we don't plan out our work and time, we end up feeling rushed, stressed.Stress can also be from having too much to do. To choose carefully what we take upon ourselves can also be a way to avoid stress. Some felt that a certain amount of stress is good because it spurs us on to act, but beyond a certain point, it is unproductive, but most students seem to suggest that it is an inescapable element of being in high school. When asked if they knew anyone that didn't look / feel stressed, many said they knew people like that, but it came as a surprise that the class felt that such people didn't care about the work or outcome. We may revisit this point at a later time, to flesh this out more- being stressed by itself is no indicator of one's interest or dedication to the work at hand. The class itself suggested ways to overcome stress- physical techniques- better sleep habits, eating right etc.Akaarpanyam and Aspirha went hand in hand and was well explored- Desire that is overly intense, leads to minimal or no satisfaction even after being fulfilled, that causes people to not let go, not share fall in thee categories.Such people tend to be miserly and not spend even for their own enjoyment. Here the story of the 7 jars was brought up. 6 jars full of gold and the seventh one , being less than full caused the owner so much heartache in that he didn't enjoy the 6, but kept striving to somehow fill the seventh one up to the brim..We then played a matching game to introduce the next big topic of Satyam.We had cards that read as following-Satyameva JayateSatyanarayanaBharat Ratna, Nobel Peace Prize for dismantling ApartheidAnudvega Karam Vakyam Satyam Priyahitam cha yatThese had to be matched with objects such as-Picture of Satyanarayana BhagwanCurrency note of South Africa with picture of Nelson MandelaBhagavad Geeta with book mark at Chapter 17, verse 15Replica of India's national emblemWith help, the matching was completed.We then looked at some questions -1. What is satyam?2. When do we lie?3. Why speak the truth?When do we lie had eye opening responses-We lie when we feel pressure. We lie when we don't like reality.We We lie to be included. We lie when we try to be something we are not.We lie to make ourselves feel better about a bad event. We lie to fit in. We lie when we get stressed. We lie to get away with things like cheating.Not truly understanding how karma and karma-phala work, we try to evade something that is sure to come our way. So logically at least, let us start to appreciate the futility of lying.Speaking the truth lightens the mind, maintaining satva, preventing the agitation of rajas.Which lead to a great definition of Truth- something that is the same in all periods of time and space, not disproved by passage of time. Some students were wowed by this.We then chanted verses 13 and 14 of Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 3 and proceeded to the auditorium to watch grade 8 play.9th grade teachers
