Hari Om Dear Families,
We had a fun Sunday afternoon with our kids. We did start our class with a few yoga poses and some stretching exercises to calm down. Please find below the summary of our class on Sunday, March 24th 2024.
Opening Prayers: We chanted 3 OMs followed by the following opening Prayers
- Om Sahanavavatu
- Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
- Saraswati Namastubhyam
- Vakratunda mahaakaavya(for Lord Ganesha)
- Buddhir Balam Yashodhairyam
Kids are given an opportunity to come in front and lead the group for chanting. Please revise as we will be asking each kid to lead in our class. We started the classes with the revision of all 8 values of Hanumanji and did a recap of all the verses we did in past Verse 1 to verse 25.
Hanuman Chalisa: We started learning Hanuman Chalisa in the last 13 weeks. We have learnt 25 verses so far.
We did verses 26 and 27.
Verse 26:
Sankat tem hanuman chudave , mana krama bacana dhyëna jo lëvai. (Verse 26)
Meaning:
Srí Hanumanji helps those who worship Him with sincerity and faith (i.e. by thought, action, speech and prayer) in overcoming difficulties.
Story:
Once there was a king with a loyal minister. This minister would always say, "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best." One day during a tiger hunt, the king and his minister were separated from the army and were lost in the dense forest. As usual, the minister said, "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best." The king, however, could not see what good there was in getting lost in the forest, without food, surrounded by wild animals. In the darkness of the forest, the king's horse tripped. The king fell down and broke one of his fingers. The minister as usual said, "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best." The king was furious but he could not afford to kill the minister lest he would be alone. Thirsty, tired, and hungry, they reached a well. Alas, though the well was deep, had too little water to drink. Again the minister said, (children chant) "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best." The king could not bear it any longer, and in anger and rage pushed the minister into the well. As the minister was falling into the well, his voice echoed, (children chant) "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best."
Enraged and exasperated, the king walked away from the well and wandered about in the forest. Suddenly a tribe of cannibals, well known for offering human sacrifice, captured the king. They took him to the altar to sacrifice him. When the sword was about to fall on the king, one of the cannibals said, "Stop! Our Gods will be offended. He is not complete. His finger is broken." The king was saved. The king then remembered his minister who had said, (children chant) "It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best." He remembered the well with its shallow water. He ran back to pull out his minister and friend, and was relieved to find him alive. The minister was shivering, bitten by insects. The king apologized to the minister and said, "Now I understand your words, but why did a faithful, holy man like you have to suffer? What good has happened to you? The minister replied, "My dear friend, if I had not been in this well all night, the cannibals would have taken me along with you. You would have been saved because of your finger, but they would have sacrificed me and I would be dead. It was my Lord's grace and it was truly for the best." The king learned the importance of having faith in God. He
recognized the greatness and wisdom of his simple minister. Therefore, never forget that whatever happens in life, It is the Lord's wish. Everything that happens, happens for the best."
Moral: Everything that happens, happens for the best.
Verse 27:
Saba para rama tapasví raja, tinake kaja sakala tuma saja. (Verse 27)
Meaning:
You carried out all the missions of Lord Rëma, who is a supreme yogí ruling over everyone.
Hanumanji skillfully carried out all the missions of Lord Rëma. Think. Why was He skillful in carrying all the missions of Lord Rëma? Why did Lord Rëma trust Hanumënjí to carry out all His missions? Rama trusted Hanumanjí because He was disciplined. He lived by many vows.
Story :
There was a man who tried desperately to take a vow and keep it. However, he always failed. One day a saint came to town and the man went to meet him. The saint asked him to take a vow but the man said, "Sir, I would like to, but I just can't seem to keep any promises." The saint said, "Think of something very simple which you cannot really break." The man thought for a while and said, "Sir, I know which vow I can take. The pot-maker who lives across from me is a bald man. He always stays home. I can take a vow of taking my meal only after I see his bald head. This should not be a problem at all." The saint blessed him; at least the man was honest. A few days went by. The man was able to keep his vow since it was very easy to see the bald man before each meal. One afternoon, the man came home for lunch. He waited and waited but the bald pot-maker had gone out for a change! The hungry man went over to the pot-maker's home to find him, but learned that the pot-maker had gone to get some dirt. He went in search of the bald pot maker. He finally spotted him, caught a glimpse of the bald man's head and was about to return home to have his meal, but, before he could, the pot-maker called out to him. While digging for dirt, the pot-maker had stumbled upon a pot full of jewels. The bald pot-maker was sure that the man had spied the jewels and so begged the man, "Please, do not tell anyone. I will share half of the jewels with you!" He saw the result of taking even a silly vow.
Moral:
Take vows for greater gains.
Group Discussion:
Kids came forward and took one vow like they will help parents, do their work etc and got to learn the moral from both stories.
Other Activities:
Yoga: We did do few yoga poses and did some stretching exercises to calm down and get the class started.
Likhita japa: We did Likhita japa of the kid's favorite god in the book. Please remember to send it with the kids every class.
We did Listen to the Gita chanting.
Yellow is our house color. To read more about Balavihar Houses, check out this link and participate in the upcoming events.
Things to note:
You will receive class updates through email every week.
WhatsApp group if you haven't joined yet: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JTCTZ4rPWLPH8te76B1QGy
Class starts at 1 PM sharp with opening prayers. Please make sure kids are inside the classroom 5 mins before the class starts.
Please make sure kids use the restroom before entering the class.
This year's parent's handbook is available at the following link- https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/parents-corner/handbook
Materials Needed for the Class
Notebook for Likhita japa (Pencil and Eraser)
Hanuman Chalisa book
Balavihar Handbook (Bhagavad Gita)
Regards,
Aastha and Rajeswariji.
