Hari Om Parents of 9th graders,
Happy Gudi Padwa/Ugadhi/Spring festival to everyone!!!. Last Sunday we were planning to cover some famous temples but deferred it to tomorrow due to lack of required quorum. Instead, we did small topics like "maya" and "shraddha"/"Faith".
I
n an ordinary sense, the word 'maya' means, trickery, fraud, or deceit. Our senses have the limited ability to perceive and discern truth, although we take them from granted and rely more on the appearances of things rather than the truth underlying them. In the spiritual parlance, maya means unreality, distinct from the reality represented by God or Brahman. God in His eternal and absolute aspect is pure consciousness, and His creation is a mere formation within that consciousness. It exists so long as there is an experiencer distinct from the experience. Etymologically speaking, maya is that which arises from Prakriti (nature) or Pradhana (primal energy). 'Ma' means the source, the cause and 'ya' means that which proceeds, goes, walks, or spreads out. Thus, literally maya means that which issue forth, expands, or arises from the source, 'ma', the universal mother.
We discussed about how Maya cannot be overcome without a fundamental shift in our awareness and inner conditioning. Where there is duality, the sense of separation, there is maya. When our minds and senses are active, we remain under the influence of Maya. When we perceive things in a state of duality, we remain in the domain of Maya. Maya disappears only when our minds and senses are fully stabilized, and we can experience things without the division of the seer and the seen.
Swami Chinmayanandaji, succinctly conveyed this concept: "Faith or Shraddha is to believe what you do not see. The reward of faith is to see what you believed.". "Astikya" is to cultivate an unshakable faith. Believe firmly in God, Gods, guru, and your path to enlightenment. Trust in the words of the masters, the scriptures, and traditions. Practice devotion and sadhana to inspire experiences that build advanced faith. Be loyal to your lineage, introspect and live a detached life doing all your duties in your respective ashramas of life. We discussed some basic practice of faith and asked the kids to participate in the round robin.
We will be doing Temples of India on Sunday Apr 3rd. Please make sure your kids attend the class. Also watch out for all the announcements and events coming through all the respective whats app groups and emails.
Hari Om,
9th Grade Teachers