Hari Om Parents,
Below is what we covered this week.
Shlokas:
Opening prayers, Sahanavavatu,
Geeta Chanting
We revised verses 1 - 35 which are required for the upcoming competition.
Lessons and activities
Vibheeshana Gita:
As a recap, we mentioned that Lord Rama talks about the dharma chariot needed for success when Vibheeshana gets very anxious about the safety of the Lord.
We reviewed components of this chariot covered so far- Wheels, flag and Horses.
The next components of Chariot are- The Reins and The Charioteer.
The Reins: Chariot driver must use reins to keep the horses under perfect control. The reins are
Forgiveness (kshama)
Compassion (Kripa)
Equanimity ( samata)
Forgiveness: The highest level of forgiveness is when a person does not even feel that he has been offended at all.
Ekanatha Maharaj story: A man in greed of money accepts a challenge to make Ekanatha Maharaj angry. As soon as Maharaj ji steps out of the river, after a bath, he spits on him. Maharaj ji goes back to take a bath. This continues many times till the man gets tired and ashamed. He falls at Maharaj's feet seeking forgiveness. Maharaj ji internally thanks the man because of whom he had an opportunity to have bath in the river many times to earn many merits.
Chinmaya Udghosh story:
When there is love it is easy to forgive.
Jack and his sister Sally visit their grandparents. Jack, fond of slingshot, accidentally kills grandma's pet duck and hides it in the woods. Sally notices this and continues to blackmail Jack to do all the chores. Jack after several days gets tired of these and confesses to his grandma about the duck. Grandma hugs him and says that she knew about this and wanted Jack to admit his mistake. She loved Jack and hence could forgive him easily.
Sandalwood emits perfume even when the ax hews it down. Such is the enchanting beauty of forgiveness.
Compassion(Kripa ):True compassion is not mere passive or sentimental pity for others but is that quality which causes us to actually do whatever is in our capacity to relieve other people's sorrows.
Equanimity (Samata): To have Samata means that in spite of all the changes and vicissitudes of life, our cheerfulness and evenness of mind is never lost.
Ride the storm: Eagles sense the storm before it arrives. They wait for the storm perching at the top of a high mountain. As the storm hits, as the wind of the storm picks up, they spread the wings in a way that wind picks them up and lifts them above the storm. They cleverly use the storm to lift them up higher than the storm and avoid being victim to the storm. In life we too can soar above the storm by developing equanimity of mind and by riding on the power of the lord.
The Charioteer
If wheels, the horses and the reins are fine, but the charioteer is no good, it will certainly perish. Devotion to God is an intelligent Charioteer.
When we have devotion to God, he himself becomes the charioteer of our life like how Lord Krishna was the charioteer of Arjuna.
We watched a small video on Prahlada and discussed how the lord protected him from all the punishments imposed by his demon king father.
Activities and play practice.
Kids continued to work on their chutes and ladder poster board for the theme of Courage.
We had a good round of play practice. Please have kids memorize their lines. Please fill in the google sheet about your child's costume. You need to get this ready by April 30th. May 6th is our mandatory stage practice from 2:00pm to 4:00 pm. Our Play is on May 7th.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UVEk-qXZxh11IIQ9XiPcI-OQJEUScw-H_BTv0P4TopU/edit
Pranams
Sirisha & Prarthana
