Hari Om !
Dear Parents,
Here is the summary of our class on Friday, Dec 8, 2023
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam
Lesson: Krishna, The Divine Child (Krishna Krishna Everywhere)
Discussion: Review of "Stopping the Kali"
Activity: Marble drop meditation
Lesson: Moon (My 24 Teachers)
Chanting: Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and Govinda Damodara Stotram
Geeta Chanting:Chapter 4 - Verses 10 - 11
Next Balavihar class: 1/5/24
Summary:
We had an almost full class yesterday. We started with the opening Shlokas, followed by Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and learnt 2 more verses in the Govinda Damodara Stotram. Hope the children can keep practising at home. We then reviewed our week in class and shared what we did to stop Kali. We discussed that it is easy to be kind to our friends and those who are not mean to us but we should practise being kind to those who are not kind to us. We should try to recognize that Bhagavan is in all beings and all beings are in Bhagavan.
Following that, we moved on to our story of Lord Krishna. After a quick recap, we discussed the story of Krishna's Leelas as a naughty child. One time, He ate mud and when Yashoda asked Him about it, He opened His mouth and showed her the entire universe. Yashoda was mesmerized and for a brief second she realized He was indeed the lord of the universe. Then Krishna made her forget this because He wanted to experience the joy of being yashoda's son. Another time, Krishna was very hungry and Yashoda was feeding him his food when she suddenly saw that the milk was boiling over. She immediately placed Him down from her lap and went to attend to it. This made Krishna angry and cranky and He broke the butter pot, ate the butter and fed the monkeys too! Yashoda was upset seeing this tantrum and wanted to punish Krishna by tying him up to a big mortar. Bhagavan allowed Himself to be bound by his mother but started crawling away into the garden when she was not looking. He kept crawling until the mortar got stuck between 2 huge trees. Bhagavan pulled at hard making the trees to crack from the roots and fall away. From there emerged 2 divine beings, Nalakubara and Manigreeva, the sons of Kubera the Yaksha. They were both cursed by Narada to become trees as they misbehaved and disrespected him. Krishna delivered them from their curses. This was the reason behind this entire Leela!
We then discussed Moon as one of the 24 teachers. From the moon we can learn that everything changes with time. Instead of placing our happiness on the ever changing objects of the world, we have to focus within and understand that Bhagavan is in us and all beings around us as the only constant! We also discussed that the time for action is Now! We asked the children, if we are given a candy and are not told when we are supposed to it, when would we want to eat it. Everyone said now is when we would want to eat the candy. We discussed then, that, that should be the attitude we should have to do good and kind deeds because, in Pujya Gurudev's own words, "Yesterday was, and tomorrow will be!" today is what we have with us and we must make the most of it.
We then played our favorite shell drop mediation game! Most of the children got their numbers right today! After that we learnt Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verses 10 and 11. Please encourage the children to practice at home during the break. We will meet again in January, 2024. Wishing you and your family a great winter break and a happy new year!
With Prem & Om,
Radhika & Anandhi
Grade 4 Sevikas
