Hari Om Parents,
Here is a summary of Balavihar class activities for December 19, 2021.
1. We commenced our class today with three OMs followed by the opening prayers.
2. We introduced the Ajam Nirvikalpam and children took turns repeating the prayer a couple of times. This is in our curriculum this year. This prayer to Lord Ganesha was composed by Adi Sankaracharyaji. We will continue practicing this and getting the pronunciation correct. Please remind children to practice reciting Ajam Nirvikalpam and Ganesha Pancharatnam at home.
3. We then discussed the assignment from our last week's Balavihar session. Children shared their progress on the value(s) that they had picked. How they reminded themselves to not put-off their daily tasks, and homework till the last minute. One kid shared how she felt good when she helped her mother wrap the holiday gifts. She had avoided doing this last year, thinking that this was not easy. Another kid shared how she was able to finish doing her homework without distractions. We also talked about the strength of silence and focusing and enjoying every little thing that we do. One of the kids shared how this past week, she reminded herself to not be chatty in the class and get into trouble. She instead remembered what had been taught in our Balavihar session, and she chose to pay attention to what was being taught. It was truly inspiring that the children were open to share these experiences with the entire class.
4. Gita Chanting:
We reviewed verses 39 through 45 from Chapter 2 Saankhya Yoga, kids took turns chanting the verses assigned.
We learnt verse 46 today. We followed Swamiji's chanting video and kids took turns reciting it.
5. We then continued with our journey on learning about the Saints of India.
Two children presented about the life, teachings, and values of two great proponents of Bhakti movement - Tulasi dasaji, and Mirabai.
After the presentation, children asked questions and talked about how both these saints were pious and had unwavering faith in God. How they believed that the wealth of worshiping the God doesn't deplete and cannot be stolen.
The kids appreciated Tulasi dasaji devotion to Lord Rama. We learnt that Tulasi dasaji was believed to be the avatar of Valmiki ji., the miracle stories about him having a darshan of Lord Rama and Hanuman. He was an acclaimed poet, and that he had several compositions. Ram Charit Manas, and the Hanuman Chalisa hymn were the best known creations among them.
From Mirabai's life we learnt that we should hold on to the Lord's feet and march on in your life to be safe. There were many instances where there were attempts to kill her, and how she was saved each time by Lord Krishna. We spoke about not losing sight of what is real and going for what is only a shadow and losing everything. We discussed the story of the dog and the reflection, where the dog with a bone in his mouth, sees his reflection in water, and thinks that another dog has a bigger piece of bone in his mouth, and lost the piece of bone he had in his mouth! Mirabai knew that Krishna was real. She knew all else was but shadows! With this understanding, she had no trouble giving up her palace or comforts.
The children did a great job researching and putting together the slides and presenting. We really appreciate all the efforts.
We had a short Balavihar session today. At 10:30 AM, children were asked to join a Zoom link for the Grade 9 monthly presentation with their parents.
Our next class is on January 09th.
Reminders:
§ Please have the My Prayers Book and the Balavihar Handbook handy during our Balavihar session.
https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/parents-corner/handbook
§ House Points: Please send your child's individual chanting recordings for earning house points. The recording video link can be shared with geeta@chinmayavrindavan.org with your session (Sunday AM), and grade 5.
Pranaam,
Subha and Rekha