Hari Om Dear Parents,
Update of class : 10th Feb 2023
Started our class with Yoga and opening Prayers.
We then practiced Gita Dhyanam, first 6 verses. The text is in our BV handbook.
Recap:
Lesson: Yato Dharmah Tato Jayah
We dove deep into Satyam and how speaking truth would never hurt. Discussed about Satyam Vada (Speak the truth), Priyam Vada (say the truth in a kind way) and Hitam Vada(speak the truth without hurting anyone).
Once a thief being chased by King's men, entered Sant Kabir's house to hide. Sant Kabir was singing the glory of God. The thief told Kabir not to let anyone know his place of hiding and hid in a spot. When the men came and asked Kabir if he ever saw any robber, Kabir ji pointed the place where the thief was hiding . But the men didn't take him seriously and left his house. The thief came out of hiding, was angry at Kabir and asked him why he showed the place of hiding. Kabir ji said that he had to speak the truth since it was his Dharma.
We had a surprise visitor yesterday. Our Swami Shantananda ji visited our class and engaged kids in a conversation and asked them what would happen if they did not speak the truth. Kids answers varied from Dharma, Karma concept to more logical answer - once you lie, you have to lie more and more. Swamiji pointed that once we tell lies we have to remember the lies, but we don't have to remember the truth. Truth always prevails. Also he said that our mind and intellect will be in great deal of conflict once we lie and that will lead to a different personality within one's self.
We thank Swamiji for the visit and hope he visits us more often.
We continued with our lesson on the 35 gems that Krishna pointed out in Chapter 12 Bhagavad Gita verse 13 onwards. Krishna said that if we followed these 35 values in our life, we will live a happier and peaceful life.
We went over 3 values - Hate None, Be Friendly and Kindness/Compassion.
We had a good discussion with kids on what these values meant to them. How hate would slowly make us worse human beings and how it can be replaced with love.
A friendly smile is all that would make a difference in anyone's life. We discussed a true story on random acts of kindness - a young boy with no friends in school and always looking sad, while returning from school met another neighboring kid who just greeted him. Years later, the boy was very successful and met the neighbor kid in a gathering and told him how grateful he was to him. That he owed all his success to him. He said that the one greeting he got from him while he was young, changed his decision to harm himself that day.
We concluded the class with closing prayers.
Bhagavad Gita Chanting :
Kids continued to chant Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3. They repeated after Swamiji's recorded verses. Please ask them to practice at home.
Next Class : Please note we are off next week Feb17th. We will meet on 24th of Feb.
Thanks and Hari Om
Shankar and Purnima
