Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 14:
28thJanuary 2024 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
"Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha"
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
"Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
Govinda Damodara Sthotram - We practiced the first and second verse and then started learning the third verse of the Govinda Damodara Sthotram.
Karaa-ravindena padaa-ravindam
Mukhhaa-ravinde vinivesha yantam
Vatasya patrasya pute shayaanam
Baalam mukundam manasaa smaraami
Shree Krishna Govinda Hare Muraare
He naatha Narayana Vaasudeva
Jihve Pibasva amritam-eta-deva
Govinda Damodara Madhaveti
Vikretu kaama kila gopakanyaa
Muraari paadaarpita chitta vrittih
Dadhyaadhikam mohavasaadavochad
Govinda Damodara Madhaveti
Today's Lesson: Krishna Krishna Everywhere
After a brief recap of what we discussed in our previous class,... The kids took turns listing out the many asuras that Krishna has encountered so far. The last asura that Krishna killed was Aghasura. He was only five when he was able to defeat that demon. We went on to discuss how irresistible little Krishna was. We talked about our five senses and how we are attracted to things that look beautiful, smell nice, feel soft or inviting, melodious sounds (like that from a flute---many of our kids are learning to play an instrument and they were super excited to share with the class) and taste yummy. We discussed how we get mesmerized by anything that captivates our senses. When someone has the ability to attract all your senses, they become loved by all. In respect to that, Krishna was and is "Everyone's Darling"! He was so attractive in every way possible.
- He was dear to His parents because He was dutiful and obedient.
- His gopa friends loved Him because of His friendliness and cheerfulness.
- The elders loved Him because He protected them from all danger.
- The gopis loved Him for His beauty and divinity.
- The rishis and sages loved Him because He was "Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum", the Lord of the universe.
Today's Lesson, 24 Teachers
Like always, we started with a riddle:
Though I roar day and night, I am cool!
I am blue and vast.
Who Am I?
The Ocean is a symbol of calmness, vastness, and depth.
Where does the water in the ocean come from? River, rain, glaciers, etc. All these sources are constantly feeding water into the ocean. And the ocean seems to take it all. We often hear in the news about the river flooding or rivers drying up...but do we ever hear of ocean flooding? Some kids questioned about 'tsunami' causing the water in the ocean to rise. We explained that there were other scientific reasons for 'tsunami' such as earthquakes under the sea, etc....it was not because the water was too much in the ocean to hold!! The ocean remains unaffected whether the rivers dry up in the summer or if a myriad river flows into it during the monsoon.
The class was shown an image of a river meeting the ocean as well as a cross section of a similar scene. Just as an ocean does not swell up when a river flows into it nor does it dry up, we should try not to get easily excited or upset by small things that happen in our lives. And we should try to have 'equanimity' and to have "samattva buddhih". Meaning that irrespective of the situation we are in a calm/balanced state of mind.
Story: The Day When Everything Went Wrong:
We discussed a story about a boy's day at school and talked about what they would do if they had been in that boy's situation.
- The teacher got a call and stepped out of the classroom.
- Other kids in the classroom began to misbehave.
- Tossed around a shoe.
- It landed on the boy's desk
- He tossed it off his desk without any bad intentions.
- It landed on the teacher who just returned.
- The boy was punished and was embarrassed.
On top of what happened at the school…when he went home:
- His pet fish had died.
- His friend who was coming for a sleepover ----cancelled at the last minute as he was unwell.
- And his younger sibling had broken his favorite toy.
The day was just not going well, and it was not really his fault; but things just happened! On days like this, it's almost impossible to keep your composure. But the wise thing to do is not to get angry, because if you react and do anything out of anger, like fight with your sibling, things will just get worse. Best thing to do is keep your cool, stay calm and be patient, that's equal mindedness or having samattva buddhih!
We asked the kids if they could share any situations from their day to day lives that could throw them off balance. One kid shared a situation when her family had made plans to go to Canada to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side to celebrate her birthday, and realized a week before that her passport had expired and they would not be able to go to Canada. Her younger brother was upset for days for change in the plans; however, it did not bother her. She was not upset as she was happy that her family could still go to Niagara Falls and enjoy the trip and enjoy the fall from the US side.
We then gave another example: Lord Rama's coronation was a sudden announcement from the King of Ayodhya. Within a few hours after the announcement of the coronation, Prince Rama was summoned to go to the forest for fourteen years. Lord Rama was neither overjoyed about becoming the king nor was he angry or depressed about exile.
When things change and catch us off guard and we feel so upset!!! We feel like it's the end of the world... we become sad and cranky...we might even ask....'God why did you do this to me". Or we might say 'that' not fair'. One of the kids expressed that when things don't go his way he is not able to control his emotions, and feels upset, and even cries at times . We explained to him this is true even for adults, and we should remember 'this too shall pass' and remain calm.
Tale: Tranquil Ekanatha Maharaja
We then discussed a short story about sant Ekanatha Maharaja. His guru asked him to go to the river and get a pot of water for him. The guru's instructions were to make sure that no one touches him. When Ekanatha came out of the river with the water, a young man accidently bumped into him. Some naughty kids were watching this incident from behind a tree. They saw that Ekanatha went back to the river for a bath and filled the pot with water. The naughty kids took this as a game and took turns and touched Ekanatha and ran. Each time Ekanathaji would take a bath and fill the pot with water. This went on for a while until the town people found out what the kids were upto. Ekanathaji said, "Children, it is not your fault. You did according to your nature, and I did according to mine. There is no question of you asking for forgiveness or me giving forgiveness!"
Ekanatha Maharaja, took another bath in the river, filled the pot with water and took it to his guru and apologized for the delay. He never brought up what the kids did, but the guru knew exactly what happened. Like Ekanatha Maharaja, let us gain equanimity of mind.
Activity:
To reinforce what we just learnt from the ocean, we showed the kids three pictures and asked them what they saw. First picture was a closeup of a yellow tulip flower petal with water droplets on it. The second picture was taken from a little distance and we could see several yellow tulips but no water droplets. The third picture was further away and in this one we could see the entire field filled with tulips and the details of the petals, color of the tulips, and water droplets were not visible. When we look through a microscope, things look out of proportion and even small things appear big. When we step back and view through the telescope, the same things appear small. We explained that we should look at our problems from a distance. We reiterated the lesson that we learnt from the moon "This too shall pass".
Discuss with your kids some day-to-day situations and if we should use a 'microscope' or a 'telescope'. How we can maintain our calm and maintain samattva buddhih under these circumstances.
We met with a few parents today between 10:30 and 10:45 AM to share and receive feedback.
We watched Grade 1 kids perform today in the temple hall followed by our class leading the Pledge.
Our next class will be on February 04th, 2024.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns you may have.
Thank you and Hari OM
Neelima & Rekha
