Hari OM! Parents,
We started our class with starting prayers. Some students took turns
to chant Namaste Astu Bhagavan.. and verses 62-64 from Chapter 2 of
the Bhagavad Gita.
Brni. Akalkaji visited our class and spoke to the students. She asked
them to introduce themselves followed by a favorite book they had read
recently. A couple of students mentioned they had read The Odyssey.
Akalkaji then narrated a part of the story as follows:
"Odysseus, while on his travels, comes across a one-eyed cyclops. This
cyclops captures him and his men, and keeps them in a cave, planning
on eating them later. With some quick thinking, however, Odysseus
manages to convince the cyclops that he is named "Nobody", making it
so that the cyclops shouts "Nobody is attacking me!" when Odysseus and
his companions escape"
Then she talked to them about how we can adapt this story's lessons in
our lives. Brni. Akalkaji concluded that bhagavan has blessed us with
an intellect which we should use wisely especially during difficult
circumstances. Our shastras and Pujya Gurudev have shown us the path
to live gracefully. We thank Brni. Akalkaji for joining our class and
talking to the students.
We did meditation by paying deep attention to our breath. After
several breaths we chanted Om Namah Shivaya a few times.
We then went to the topic of the day which was a discussion on Faith
or Shraddha. Had a discussion, based on the following two quotes:
Pujya Gurudev: "Faith is to believe what you do not see"
Rabindranath Tagore: "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings
when the dawn is still dark"
We watched a video of Gurudev which distinguishes between belief and
faith. Video attached below
https://youtu.be/KsCLU4JcGJg
Told the story of a little boy in Armenia. His father had told him he
would always be there for him. One day the little boy was stuck in the
rubble when his school was struck by an earthquake. He and his friends
survived because of his Faith that his father would rescue him.
The students shared examples of faith when applied in our day to day
lives. Also gave examples how beliefs can be turned to Faith and
finally conviction.
Finally concluded that faith in the shastras and the guru can help
transform our lives for the better.
The students then sang the Arathi and recited the pledge.
Our next Bala vihar class is on March 11th.
Shlokathon competition is on March 12th.
Pranams
Uma and Nirmala