Hari om everyone,
We started our class today by learning to chant the 1st verse of gitaa dhyaanam and chapter 2 (verses 39 to 43).
We had a small trivia quiz regarding the mahaabhaarata. It was nice to see them recollect from their previous years of learning.
To set the stage for us to learn bhagavadgeeta this year, we went through the family tree of the Kuru dynasty and the main stories revolving around those characters. During the stories, we discussed a few related points like yugas, their order, the predominant characteristics in people. We saw how good and evil have been coming closer and closer (physical distance - Raama and Ravana were in different countries, Kauravs and Pandavas were in the same family) with the yugas. Now, good and evil have come so much closer that they exist in the same person!! With the story of the 2 wolves, we understood how the black and the white wolf are good and evil in ourselves. We also learned that 'the one we feed, prevails'!!
We heard the main stories starting with Shaantanu until the birth of Dhritarashtra, Paandu and Vidura. We will continue the rest of the story next class.
To get to know their standpoints better, we also had a short survey in which we asked them about their thoughts regarding science, spirituality, etc. Their answers were interesting! One of the questions was - Do you believe in 'seeing is believing?' With one scenario, we figured out, it is not necessarily true!
Question: 'Have you seen your great-great-great-grandfather?'
Obvious answer: 'No!'
Question: 'Then how do you know he existed?!'
Answer: 'Because we are here!!'
So, we have to be open to understanding concepts that we may not see directly!! For that, we need to come with an open mind and willingness to learn.
So, discussions are always welcome! With that note, we ended the class with ending prayers.
See you all next week.
Regards,
Rashmi and Raghav.