Hari Om,
We began class with starting prayers and Lingashtakam.After recap of the previous class about inner qualities that are to be cultivated for inner peace and serenity, we further explored Satyam. Satyam- Truth is that which remains the same in all periods of time, that is not negated by passage of time. We then dug deep into Satyam in thought, word and deed. Satyam as practiced by the mind, speech and body. When these three are aligned, that is thought, word and deed are aligned is when there is peace. Lies throw these out of alignment and thus it is important to maintain this alignment or integrity. The fear of getting caught, punishment and disgrace are incidental factors. We had discussed in the previous class about when we lie, so here we made the connection that the most profound consequence is the sullying and disturbance of our own mind. Even the so-called white lies, which we think are harmless, reduce our resistance to lying. One must think before letting a lie pass one's lips. 3 things to think of before we speak- is it true, is it kind, is it useful. Satyam vada, priyam vada, hitam vada. Keeping these in mind will ensure satvik speech. Silence is always an option! Among role models for truth - Harishchandra, Yudhishtira, and in modern times Gandhi.The next value we discussed was Ahimsa- Non injury or Non violence. Again, this is at 3 levels- mental, speech and physical. Gandhiji 's commitment to Ahimsa and Satyagraha greatly contributed to India's freedom movement. Of course Nethaji's Azad Hind Fauj, Great Britain's weakened position due to World War 2 played a part too, but Satyagraha, abidance in Truth in spite of personal discomfort, pain , imprisonment are seen in plenty in Gandhi's life. We urged the class to watch at least the Dandi March scene from the English film Gandhi ( 1982, directed by Richard Attenborough) It is a deeply disturbing and moving scene- if you get a chance , please watch and discuss with your children. We read Subramanya Bharathis' Tamil poem on Gandhiji as well as its English Translation. Bharathi, himself a great freedom fighter and poet revered Gandhiji even though his own methods were slightly different, but his poem captures the popular sentiment.
We then told them one of Sri Ramakrishna's parables - about a venomous snake living in the outskirts of the village. All the cowherd boys are scared of it and one day a Sadhu walks by and they warn him about it. But the Sadhu with his powers subdues the snake and the snake becomes his disciple - the Sadhu tells him he cannot hurt anyone and has to be non violent and gives him a mantra to repeat. Thereafter the Snake becomes totally harmless to everyone and when the boys realize that he is not going to bite, they throw stones at him and torment him - but he still does not retaliate as his teacher has told him that he should not entertain any violence in thought also. The snake becomes weak and hides in his hole all day and barely survives. When the Sadhu comes back that way a year later, the kids tell him that the snake is dead but the Sadhu discovers the snake in its hole and asks why he has been reduced to such a state. When the Snake tells him that he followed his Guru's advice and followed non violence, the Sadhu asks him, I told you not to bite, but I didn't tell you not to hiss!
We talked about how Ahimsa as an absolute value is prescribed mainly for Sannyasis (we haven't talked about Ashrama dharma yet - we will soon cover that) and how it should stem from love. It has to be practiced more at the thought and speech level for all others as it may not be always practical to follow at the physical level - we may have to defend ourselves or soldiers have to fight a righteous war etc. We spoke a bit about Vegetarianism and how looking at the Sattva Guna of the Sannyasis, many communities in India are vegetarians and even those who are not vegetarians follow a vegetarian diet on important days etc.
The next value Daanam we were planning to introduce through a story. We were doing readers theater of the story (each student reading a dialog) of the Golden Mongoose from the Mahabharata when we had a surprise visit from Swamiji who stayed and listened to it. After Yudhishtira has completed a huge sacrifice and given lots of gifts, a strange mongoose, whose body is half gold, comes and rolls in the leftover food and then says sadly - even this is not a great sacrifice. People are offended that the Mongoose should think so and then the Mongoose shares the story of a starving old couple and their son and daughter-in-law who give their only meal after a long time to a weary traveler and how because of their wonderful sacrifice, they are taken to heaven. The mongoose on rolling in the little bit leftover had half his skin turn into gold and from that time onwards looking for an equally great sacrifice to turn the other half. Swamiji explained to the kids the difference between Yudhishtira's yajna and the old couple's yajna. Yajna is sacrificing your selfishness not giving lavish gifts. He explained how any of their actions can also be converted into a Yagna - for instance helping a classmate who is weak in a subject by teaching him, or sharing their pocket money to help someone in need etc. We will continue to discuss more on the topic of Daanam next week.
Since we missed the Geeta telecast, children chanted verses 1 to 15 from the Handbook. They are all chanting very well and we hope they can all practice regularly and participate at least in the Reading during the Geeta Chanting Yajna in April.
Our class monthly program will be on March 31st and we will soon start brainstorming about it on the Google Classroom.
It was wonderful to have some of our class students come and help out at the story telling contest for younger grades on Saturday. Your seva is appreciated.9th grade teachers.
