Hari OM Parents!
In the first class of Balavihar, we played an ice breaker to get to know the students and also for the new students in the class to mingle with existing students. This year, we plan to provide practical guidance based on the Bhagavad Gita in an open and fun atmosphere.
The Bhagavad Gita is in the Mahabharata. As Gurudev says in his commentary in the Holy Geeta book, the Mahabharata and the Gita together are an organic whole; each devoid of the other would be ineffectual and empty. We provided an overview of the Mahabharata and how religious philosophy is explained through stories that are easy to relate to. We reviewed the purushartha (the goal of Human life) and the laws of Karma and Dharma. We provided takeaways from the key characters and events in the Mahabharata.
The Gita is not an esoteric Vedantic text but a practical manual on how to lead life, how to have peace and happiness amidst the chaos of everyday challenges, and how to be the best we can be. Here the Gita is likened to be the driver's license to an expensive car as it teaches how to face life's challenges head on and be in charge. Our class is going to be based on Gurudev's Holy Geeta book (get a copy if you don't have one) and we will be providing the "driver education and the license" to the students so that they can succeed in their pursuits and be happy in their life.
As an introduction, we talked about the difference between manas and buddhi and introduced the concepts of Body Mind Intellect (BMI) and vasanas, the impressions on the mind from past actions either in this life or previous lifes. We discussed how facts that are perceived by our senses are interpreted differently by different people. We will be revisiting these concepts again in the coming weeks.
For the High schoolers in Balavihar (grade 9-12), we recognize the need to balance teaching and discussions in class with activities and social interactions to make Balavihar an engaging and rewarding experience. There are many activities planned for the academic year. A Garbha dance is coming up during Navaratri in the Ashram for which we are going to have a workshop for the youth. The announcements will be shared in the class and in the class WhatsApp groups. Please join the parent WhatsApp group if you have not already done so and we request your active participation in activities related to the class.
Regards,
Siva and Sankar
