Hari Om,
We started the class with deep breathing exercises followed by OM chanting and prayers.
Next, we started the ninth chapter of the "Key to Success" book. This chapter is called "The Horses''. We discussed what the Horses of the Dharma chariot represent: The horses strength (Bala), discrimination (Viveka), self-control (Dama), and caring for others (Parahita). We generally associate the word balam with physical strength, and it is true that our body, senses, mind, and intellect must be in a healthy condition in order to perform our duties in life. However the real Bala is the moral strength. Only with moral strength, can we live a righteous life, for without it, we will be weakened by the situations around us every moment and be lost. To illustrate this, we portrayed the moral strength of Mother Sitaji, who even while she was held captive by Ravana in the Asoka forest and threatened and tempted by him and continually tormented by demons, stood her ground and refused to give in to Ravana.
Next we discussed the second horse of the chariot of righteousness is Viveka, the ability of the intellect to distinguish and discriminate. In order to move forward in the right direction in our life, we must have clarity of thinking and the discriminative capacity to decide what is right and what is wrong. We then did an exercise in the class where the students had to respond to a situation and thus show the power of Viveka.
The third horse of the chariot of righteousness is Dama, the control of senses. It is emphasized in our scriptures that once you know what is right, do not let yourself be tempted or distracted by other things. The sense organs we have are meant to be used, but we must know the purpose for which we are using them; what not to use them for; when we should continue to use them; and when to stop. To illustrate this quality, we reviewed the story of the Monkey who decided to fast and do meditation after hearing a spiritual discourse, However his mind was constantly distracted by the thought of hunger and the inability to find food the next morning. This made the monkey abandon his noble pursuit and instead succumb to the temptation of his senses. If we do not control our senses, they will take control of us.
The fourth horse of the chariot is Parahita, caring for the welfare of other people. Caring for the welfare of others, putting others first is the culture of the world.
After this we started the tenth chapter of the "Key to Success" book. This chapter is called "The Reins''. We discussed what the Reins of the Dharma chariot represent: forgiveness (Kshama), compassion (Kripa), and equanimity (Samata). The highest level of Kshama (i.e. forgiveness - the first rope of reins) is when a person doesn't even feel that he has been offended at all. To illustrate this quality, we discussed the story of Sant Ekanathji Maharaj - how despite the repeated spitting by an evil man on him, while returning from his bath in the river, he never got upset. The holy saint said to the man "My dear, every day I take a bath in the river and thereby get punya (merit) for one bath, but today I had a hundred baths because of you and so I must have gained merits for a hundred baths. So I must really thank you!" This is true forgiveness which is the ornament of knowledge and strength. We also reviewed another story of Johnny and his Grandma to illustrate the beauty of forgiveness.
The second rope that makes up the reins for the chariot is Kripa (compassion). This is the quality by which one's heart melts even on seeing the sorrows of other people and one has a deep concern for the welfare of everyone. True Kripa is not a 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.
The third rope that makes up the reins is Samata (equanimity) of mind. Samata in Sanskrit means evenness. To have Samata means that in spite of all the changes and vicissitudes of life, our cheerfulness and evenness of mind is never lost.
After this, the entire class went to the Temple Auditorium and participated in the Mother's Day events along with Arathi and Pledge.
Our next class is on May 21, 2023!
Pranaams!
Vyjayanti and Krishna
