Harih Om Parents!
The following material was taught to your child during Bala Vihar session on Sunday, May 22, 2022:
Beginning Prayers
We practiced Aavo Gurudev Bhajan.
We continued with the 35 gems prescribed by Lord Krishna:
Gem 31 - Be equal in censure and praise, tulyanindastutih
Behaving equal in censure and praise does not mean that one is immune to insults or that one cannot understand them. But when one is true devotee of the Lord, he does not give any significance to the praise or criticism that other people level at him. He understands that people and circumstances change all the time. The same person who might be praising us at one time may come back and criticize us at a different time. Moreover, we cannot please everyone all the time. Even in Mahabharata, Lord Krishna was not able to please Duryodhana to avoid the war. The following story illustrates the point:
Once a son and father were going to a town to sell a donkey. The father asked the son to ride on the donkey, since it was a long way off. The first person who met them criticized the son for making his aged father to walk while he was riding on the donkey. Hearing this the son got down and made the father sit on the donkey. Later they met another man who commented that they were not making proper use of the donkey. So, both father and son sat on the donkey. Sometime later they met a third person who commented how cruel both of them were, the poor donkey was going to collapse due to the weight it was carrying! Now they did not know what to do, they started carrying the donkey, seeing which people started laughing at their foolishness! This story illustrates that one can never please everyone.
Once Buddha was sitting under a tree. People gathered around him and praised him for his equipoise and calmness. However, Buddha's expression did not change. He maintained his calm composure and beautiful smile. Suddenly a man started abusing Buddha. Buddha's expression still did not change. The man got tired of shouting, went home, and slept. He could not sleep properly. Next morning, he went to Buddha and asked him why he did not get angry at him even though he had shouted and abused him. Buddha had the same beautiful smile on his face and asked the man if his stomach was full and somebody brought him gourmet food would he still eat it? The man replied that he would not be able to. Next Buddha asked the man if someone brought bad food to him would he eat it. The man said no because I am already full. Exactly said Buddha, "when you are full with God's love, you do not need anything from outside to make you happy or mad." You are always full and content. The man realized his mistake and became Buddha's disciple.
Gem 32 – Be silent, mauni
It not only implies external silence but also silence within. It implies control over all senses. Pujya Gurudev states that when man is left alone, he will become spiritual. Once we start introspecting, materialism does not survive. We are afraid of loneliness because we do not have the courage to meet ourselves. When we're alone we will see a parade of our past deeds and thoughts; recognize how base our values are. With regular introspection we can change ourselves. The problem is we have a great image of ourselves, but our real self is not as good as anything we imagine. Gurudev states emphatically that - Be with yourself, and you will turn to God!
Once an old devotee of Tapovan Maharaj, along with his grandson visited him. The old gentlemen complained that his grandson does not listen to him and lives his life like a vagabond. Tapovan Maharaj agreed to meet with the boy. When the boy entered, he did not have any reverence towards Tapovan Maharaj. Tapovan Maharaj received him warmly and discussed with him about Bollywood movies, his college and all other things that youngsters are interested in!!! Looking at this Pujya Gurudev's jaw dropped, as he was not used to his Master speaking anything unnecessarily and being austere with his speech and interactions. As the boy was leaving the Tapovan Maharaj asked him if there was one thing he could do - he told him not to worry about prayer or poojas; but to get up in the morning at 5 o'clock, go for a walk and spend about 10 - 20 minutes in the park by himself. He can then come back and sleep if he wants to. He asked him to do this for a month. After couple of months a letter came from old gentleman saying that the grandchild has changed. When Pujya Gurudev met the boy several years later, he asked how he changed. The boy said on the first day when he went to the park he enjoyed the sunrise, the birds and the nature in general. After a few days the experience was the same, so the only thing that came to his mind was his deeds that he had done in the past. When he looked at his past actions; he realized what an ugly life he was leading. After few days of early morning introspection in the park he decided to change. Thus, the boy became spiritual through solitude. When we look at ourselves, we invariably make changes; think about what we do when we see a mirror. Similarly, when we start looking at our thoughts/mind in solitude we want to make it better. Gurudev states if you don't like your own company don't impose it on others. Improve it, make it better, be happy and spread the happiness. Few moments of daily solitude and silence will facilitate this change in us.
We asked the students what they felt was a difference between loneliness and aloneness. They had several different ideas, afterwards we agreed that in loneliness a person is dejected and depressed to be with himself, but in aloneness person is happy to be with himself. In aloneness one becomes more aware of his own self, his own thoughts and observes what is happening to oneself. One can be in a crowd of people yet feel lonely. So, aloneness and loneliness does not have to do with people surrounding us, rather it is our state of mind. Gurudev states – be silent and understand how really silent, silence can be. In sleep mind is silent, but dull and unaware. True silence is when mind naturally stops chatter out of peacefulness and contentment. In this state the mind is dynamic and beautiful. All creative and constructive activity stems from that silent mind.
Gem 33 - Be content, samtustah
Being content is to be happy whatever may be the condition of the body or the outer circumstances. If we seek happiness outside ourselves, we will never find complete and everlasting satisfaction.
There is a certain type of rat trap where a piece of dry coconut is placed on top of the wheel and the door to the trap is left open. The rat smells the coconut and is attracted to it. It gets in and tries to reach the coconut, but as it is too high it steps on the wheel - it almost reaches the coconut when the wheel starts to move. Each time the rat thinks that it is close to the coconut the wheel starts moving. After doing this many times the rat gets exhausted and gets trapped. This is exactly how most of us live our life. We live to fulfill our desires from outside world of objects and persons. We run after them even though our experience teaches us that we never get total satisfaction in indulging in them. All we gain is exhaustion and disappointment as the rat does in the trap! That does not mean that one should not have goals or have ambition in life. First, we should be happy with what we have and then with determination pursue the goal or ambition with the clear understanding sometimes we get what we want and at other times we won't. Contentment helps us to maintain equipoise. This can be achieved if we always remember God in our mind in all our pursuits.
In a forest there was an ugly looking tree, around which there were many beautiful looking trees – in perfect shape. Ugly tree always used to feel sad and sorry for itself. One day woodcutter came to the forest looked at all the trees and cut all the beautiful and shapely trees. The ugly looking tree was left alone. Now this tree smiled within and thanked Lord for his ugliness. We need to be content with how we are as we do not know what the Lord has in store for us.
Gem 34 - Homeless, aniketah
Having a roof over our head and four walls around us does not make it a home. We go on vacations and stay in hotels. However, despite staying in a hotel room for several days we do not call it home! When we have a sense of possession over the property, then we feel it is our home. In addition, home is a place where we feel comfortable, where we can live the way, we want to, where we are loved by the people around us. It is a place where we share equally and sacrifice together. If we extend this same sense of possessiveness towards the entire world and are willing to share with everyone in the world and work together with everyone in the spirit of sacrifice then the whole world will become our home with the blue sky as the roof over our head. A true devotee of the Lord realizes that Lord is the father and guardian of the whole world. To him the entire universe is Lord's kingdom and his home. So, in this sense he is 'homeless' because he lacks a sense of possession over a particular object or property. He takes shelter only at feet of the Lord.
Gem 35 – Steadfast, sthiramatih
Steadfast in the intellectual understanding of the goal of life. The ultimate goal of this human life is attaining moksha. In our daily activities and worldly pursuit, we should keep reminding ourselves of this goal. A true devotee of the Lord has the intellectual understanding to pursue this goal in all circumstances. To such a devotee the Lord himself will grace him with strength and courage to pursue the path. If someone persistently keeps knocking at our door how long can we resist opening the door? In the same way if we keep calling the compassionate Lord, He will surely shower His grace on us.
Once a father gave his son a $10 bill and told him that he could buy whatever he wanted. Later in the day the father asked the boy what he did with the money. His son replied that he gave to a man who was hungry. The father was upset with his son and told him that he should have bought something for himself and that he would not have money for his own desires. The son told father that he was taught in Balavihar that we should help the poor and the Lord Himself will take care of us. Touched by the son's simple faith, the father reached out for his wallet and gave him another $10 bill. The boy then said he was sure that he would get his $10 back, only he did not know that it would come back to him so soon!
Please encourage your child to practice these values that they have learnt this year.
We watched following videos associated with our class today
Don't like Your Own Company? Then…: Thinking About It
Pranam,
Mekhala Girish
Devender Akula