June 5, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

June 5th was our last bala vihar class with students!!

1. As you know 8th Graders from different sessions met in person on Sunday morning. It was nice to see students in person - we couldn't recognize all of them! Some of them were so tall ... hard to see all these things on zoom - but it was very nice to see them all in person.

2. Swamiji came to our class and answered questions that students had about Hindu culture and bala vihar. Swamiji in his own inimitable style answered all the questions. I am sure students found this experience enriching. It was a great experience for all the teachers too. Then they played soccer, volley ball for sometime - class ended with pizza & ice popsicles!! 

3. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to teach your child during the current academic year. We enjoyed teaching them and learnt a lot in the process. We wish your family and you a safe and happy summer. We hope all the students will come back in Sept, for in person Bala Vihar - in Grade 9 they will be learning about Hindu culture.

4. On June 12 - there is annual day function - fun filled day - see below for details

 

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula

 

May 22, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

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

Don't like Your Own Company? Then…: Thinking About It

Mind at Rest is a Temple of Joy!: Thinking About It

Mind at Rest is a Temple of Joy!: Thinking About It

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula

May 15, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Harih Om Parents!

The following material was taught to your child during Bala Vihar session on Sunday, May 15, 2022:

Beginning Prayers

Tapovan Shatakam: We re-iterated verses 1 to 4 and taught verses 5 and 6 this week. The following children chanted verses 5 and 6 on their own: Hasini, Kavin, Vickram, Anwita and Nitya

We continued with the 35 gems prescribed by Lord Krishna:

Gem 21:    Renounce all undertaking – sarva arambha parityaagi

Means one who has renounced all desire prompted activities. Aaramba means beginning. To end all beginnings does not mean that we should not to undertake any new actions. It implies that we do all the activities without ego. We should renounce the feeling that I am solely responsible for any action that I perform. If we carefully analyze and dig deep into the meaning, we see that all our actions are controlled, regulated and governed by the world of things and situations around us. We are only a part of a long change of events that is happening in the world. No undertaking in our life in fact has an independent beginning or end. For example, when we decide to play a game of football, we get the football out and have some friends over; play the game, enjoy and have a good time. But to play the game we needed a football which we did not make, gravitational force that needs to bring the ball down, we did not invent or manufacture the material with which the ball was made, have other people around us to participate with us so that we can enjoy etc. So even for a simple game there are so many factors involved, hence we should give up the attitude that I am solely responsible for doing certain thing or performing certain action.

 

 Gem 22 and 23 - Neither rejoices nor hates – na hrsyati, na dvesti;

We rejoice from a sense of fulfillment or satisfaction when we get a desired object. However, when faced with undesirable situations/circumstances we express hatred or dislike. One must understand that everything is relative. What one person may like another person might hate. Likes and dislikes depend on our prior experiences and tastes (vasanas). Just like without cold, hot cannot exist similarly joy and sorrow are different sides of the same coin. The mistake we make is to expect continuous happiness in world that is always changing. If faced with difficult circumstances, do not run away. Face it with full determination. One must fall a couple of times to tame the ego. Once we drop our strong likes and dislikes automatically the hold of ego will lessen. This enables more happier and fulfilling life.

 Gem 24 - Grieves not – na socati;

One should not grieve unnecessarily understanding the impermanent nature of the world. To be filled with grief about things which are going to decay with time is meaningless. In addition, happiness or sorrow is not permanent. When sorrows come and try to overwhelm us, we need to constantly remember – 'even this will pass away'. Everything in this world is bound by time and space and with time, everything decays or changes. We need to elevate out thoughts to the higher ideal or God to help us come out of grief, sorrow etc. quickly. A true devotee constantly remembers the Lord and accepts everything – good or bad – as His blessings. Thus, he maintains a constant equipoise and meets all challenges in life with a smile on his face.

Gem 25 - Desires not – na kanksati;

Desires are never completely satisfied. Desires are endless. When we fulfill one desire ten other pop up. Just like a dying fire is revived by adding ghee (clarified butter) similarly, a desire fulfilled creates more desires. Fulfilling desires may give fleeting pleasure or joy but never lasting happiness or peace. Moreover, we must go through lot of struggles to fulfill over desires. In addition, there is no guarantee that we will get over desired object even after lot of struggles. The same object / person that 'gave us happiness' can become cause of our sorrow at different time. Hence our sastras say that all our pleasures are riddled with sorrow. Meanwhile a true devotee of the Lord, is always content, since his heart if full of joy. He has no selfish desires for the objects of the world. Nobody looks for a reservoir of water when the place itself is flooded. Similarly for the man who has known the Self, has no desires to obtain fleeting joys from objects of the world.

 Gem 26 - Free from good and evil – subhaasubhaparityagi;

A devotee who has known the Self goes beyond mind and intellect, he remains unaffected by pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. He completely gives up the concept of good or evil. The outside world causes sorrows and joys because of our attitude/attachment. The objects are by themselves neither good nor bad. Based on our prior experiences / vasanas we imagine situations to be good or bad. We have no control over what is happening in the world. My attitude should be that whatever happens to me is for my own good. Devotee accepts everything as His prasada.

 Gem 27 - Be equal to friend and foe – samah satrau ca mitre;

We estimate our friendship with another person as a friend or foe based on psychological reaction. This reaction belongs to the heart. If we do not identify with our mind's judgement of who is foe or a friend, then we will be equanimous and can maintain a pleasant relationship with everyone.

 Gem 28 - Same in honor and dishonor, in pleasure and pain – samah mana-apamanayoh,

A situation is judged by our intellect as good or bad based on our cultivated habits of thinking. We tend to respect honor and belittle dishonor. Honor and dishonor are due to evolution of the intellect and changes from time to time and from place to place. Both are the same for the person who has known the Self.

Gem 29: same in in cold and heat (samah sita-usnasukhadukhkhesu)

Pleasure and pain are experiences of the mind while heat and cold are experiences of the body. When one has given up identifying with the body, mind and intellect then cold and heat; pleasure and pain; honor and dishonor all are one and the same. What is pleasurable for one is painful for another. If happiness is the nature of an object, then it should give happiness to everyone and at all times! This is clearly not our experience. Happiness or sorrow depends on interpretation of our mind and intellect which in turn is colored by our past experiences.

Gem 30: Free from attachment: Sanga vivarjitah

The more we think about something, the more we yearn for it and the more we get attached to it. Continuously flowing thoughts towards an object create an attachment to it. If thought flow can be reduced, then attachment will be reduced. We need to redirect our thoughts toward Divine to get detached from worldly objects. As too much attachment only will lead to more mental agitations and less happiness or peace.

 

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula

May 1, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Dear Parents:

Harih Om!

The following material was taught during Bala vihar class on Sunday, May 1, 2022.

Important Note

Bala vihar class on May 8^th will be in person at the ashram starting at 9:15 AM – same time as the regular class – children will participate in Guru Paduka Pooja on occasion of Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda's Jayanti; there are monthly programs and group activities planned on that day. We humbly request that all children and parents come and participate in this important program.

Beginning Prayers

Tapovan Shatakam: We chanted verses 1 to 4 and taught verses 5 and 6 this week. The following children chanted verses 5 and 6 on their own: Hasini, Kavin, Vickram, Anwita and Nithya.

We started a project called "Thank you Project" – last week – we told the children that they have to say a prayer or thank you to God before sleeping every day– we have been learning all through the year, directly or indirectly, that we are able to do anything in this world only due the presence of God in us as Life Principle – we see, hear smell, talk, food digests, heart pumps … etc all because of His presence. This beautiful universe – sun, moon, air, space, rivers, mountains, flowers, fruits… all His gifts to us – so only thing we can really do in return is say our since "Thanks" to God. Glad to inform that all students started doing it – though none of them remembered to do it every day – we will keep reminding them about this every class, next few weeks. We hope it will become a lifelong habit for them.

We continued with the 35 gems/ values prescribed by Lord Krishna – so that we can become his true devotee:

Gems 13 and 14: By whom world is not agitated and whom the world does not agitate (yasmanno-dvijate lokah, lokanno-dvijate yah)

A true devotee of the Lord will not create any agitations in the world around him. Similarly, when we are with our friends and family, we should try not to spread negative feelings and create agitations and sow the seed of confusion in their mind. Things in the world are constantly in state of flux, there are many things that are constantly happening and things that we do not expect may happen. A true devotee of the Lord is one who is rooted in his devotion to the Lord and does not get disturbed by the happenings around. He does what needs to be done and sees the play of the Lord in all the various changes that are happening around. He is like a lighthouse which is firmly rooted in its foundation, erect and motionless, which watches all the waves crashing onto it. Similarly, we should not get agitated by the changes around us and should be firmly rooted and hold onto to the Lord who will protect us.

Gem 15 Free from joy, fear, envy and anxiety; harsamarsabhayodvegairmuktttah

When we get the desired object, we feel happy, if you don't get the desired object, we are envious of those who have it. Once we procure the desired object, we have the fear of losing it and if the object goes missing there is an anxiety for the object. For a person who is free of attachment and does not have clinging desires, these fears, anxieties do not exist. Fear is always because of unknown or uneasiness in our heart. Such emotions when left uncontrolled can prevent the blossoming of our personality. This happens due to lack of faith and lack of understanding of Lord. A child might feel fearful in the dark but holding onto the mother the same child can walk in darkness fearlessly. Similarly, if we hold onto the Lord, we can have the courage to face any challenges and overcome our inner agitations such as uncontrolled joy, envy, fear, and anxiety.

Story - once in the depth of ocean lived a fish, which was restless to explore and swam up to reach the surface of the ocean. It saw the vast sky and looked down below at the deep ocean which was many miles deep. The fish became overcome with fear. He thought it was going to drown in the ocean. So, it only swam on the top of the ocean. Lord of the ocean appearance asked the fish why it was only rolling on top of the water and not swimming gracefully. The fish replied that it was trying to catch its tail with its mouth so it may hold onto the tail and prevent itself from drowning. The Lord smiled and said that you should use your fins to swim gracefully; I am the one who is supporting you. It is My job to make sure that you float. The fish did not listen and succeeded in catching its own tail. Now the fins could not move so it slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean, the Lord could only look on.

Similarly, we have been given a healthy body, hands, and legs, utilizing which we should work and be free to act. We need to give up unnecessary worries and have trust in God who supports us. Do we get into the train and then carry the luggage on our head? Don't we put the luggage on the train so that the train can carry your burden. Similarly, while we are traveling in this life journey, we need to put the burden of our problems on God and let Him support us in this journey. Make Him our friend and supporter so that our journey may go on smoothly.

 Gem 16 - Free from dependence, anapeksah.

One who is free from wants or to be free from dependence. True devotee of the Lord is not dependent upon the external objects or things for his sustained happiness. We all feel happy when favorable things or situations happen and feel upset when facing unfavorably situations. For most of us our happiness or sadness depends upon external objects or relationships over which we have little control. In contrast devotee of the Lord draws his inspiration and joy from his attachment to the Lord, his happiness spring forth from deeper source inside him, so external objects and happenings have little influence over his inner peace and joy. Once we realize that the external objects emotions and thoughts are constantly changing and hence cannot give us everlasting happiness, we will try to find the source of happiness within us. Pujya Gurudev says that when we experience sorrow, tragedy, happiness we need to shift our attention to the one who is aware of these emotions. Then the attention is not on the object or on the experience of sorrow but is directed towards the consciousness within us. If you are alert and attentive, we can clearly see that many life circumstances show us that the joy or happiness that you experience from objects of the world or relationships is only temporary in nature. In fact, our sastras clearly state that these pleasures are not only temporary, but they also create bondage and have sorrow associated with them. For example, if you eat a food item that you like, initially it may give us pleasure, but if we continue to eat too much of it, then we will experience only misery and sorrow. In the long run this habit can also cause detriment to our physical health. God has given us so many precious things, in fact most important things that we need in life are freely available such as air, water and sunlight. We need to be thankful to God for this. Focus on what we have rather than dwell on what we don't. In fact, if you make a list of things that we need/want, most of us usually have 80% or more of what we need or want. Thus, by reorienting our mindset and focusing on positive aspects we can learn to be happier and less dependent.

Gem 17 - Be Pure, sucih.

We need to maintain purity both external and internal. Maintain cleanliness in our relationship with others and keep our surroundings clean. Our sastras have a lot of emphasis on externally cleanliness, because without external purity, internal purity will be a distant dream. Hence, we must keep our body and our surroundings clean and organized. In addition, internal purity, that is, having pure intentions and clear thoughts is also extremely important. Pujya Gurudev states that we should not be satisfied by practicing passive goodness. We need to live a disciplined life following our values sincerely. When majority of people in a society have honest intentions and pure motives; then that generation will lead the nation to glorious summits of joy and success. 

Story: Once a poor man decided to invite the King to his house. The kind King granted his wish. Royal messengers came before the King came and cleaned up his house, spread the carpet and decorated the place to receive the King. When the King visited everything was already set and ready.

Similarly, if we invite God to take his seat in our hearts, he will do what is necessary, he will send his messengers to clean our hearts so that our heart is a fit place for him to arrive. One of the simple ways to invite God and achieve purity is to pray to him regularly with devotion. Prayer should be done not to ask God some specific material stuff but is done to ask for His blessings and guidance. We all need to learn to 'pray' to God but not 'prey' to God. We need to clean up our act, Purity or sucih - is emphasized in Bhagavad Gita so many times. External cleanliness is easy to achieve but with regards to internal cleanliness we may not even be aware that we have a problem. We don't pay attention to our own thoughts. Regular introspection is necessary to look at our thoughts. We can then identify and remove those thoughts that are not serving any good purpose for us. We should always question what we are doing and why are we doing a certain thing – thus explore our motives behind our actions. This helps us to keep our mind clean and free from malice etc.

A question came about one of our shanthi mantras in one of the class –

 

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णश्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate
Puurnnashya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate ||
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning: 
Aum! That is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.
The infinite proceeds from the infinite.
(Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe),
It remains as the infinite alone.
Aum! Peace! Peace! Peace!

We watched a part of the video which tries to explain mathematically how when we remove infinity from infinity – infinity alone remains - Banach Tarski Paradox

https://youtu.be/s86-Z-CbaHA

We also watched following youtube video of Swamini Supriyanandaji:

What We Have is His Gift to Us.: Thinking About It | #ChimayaMission | #Motivation - YouTube

What We Have is His Gift to Us.: Thinking About It | #ChimayaMission | #...

See you at ashram on May 8

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula

Apr 24, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Harih Om Parents!

The following material was taught to your child during Bala Vihar session on Sunday, April 24, 2022:

Beginning Prayers

Tapovan Shatakam: We re-iterated verses 1 and 2 and taught verses 3 and 4 this week. The following children chanted verses 3 and 4 on their own: Yashvi, Anwita, Vikram and Kavin

We continued with the 35 gems prescribed by Lord Krishna:

Gem 9 Yogi - "Steadfast in Meditation." 

Yogi is one who practices to get control of his mind. We have to make laser focus – just like a weak light is made focused by a laser. Our minds are like a river, flow of thoughts is mind. It is difficult to control the river when it is in a state of flood, we have to wait till it quietens down, Similarly, it is difficult to control our mind which is always in as state of flood – three sources contributing to this flood in our minds are - memories of the past, fears of the future, anxieties of the present.  Unnecessary regrets of our past mistake impede us from doing what we need to do now, also over anxiety while performing our activities in the present and excessive fear of future should be avoided. When we can achieve this to some extent - the flood of thoughts in our mind calms down, then it is easier to control the mind. We can build a dam across the 'calmer river'; this dam is built by following right values. We can also imagine that these three portals - regrets of the past, anxieties of the present and worries about future - are the three dissipating channels by which the energy of the mind is dissipated. When we plug these dissipating channels, we can conserve our mental energies. Mind can be made focused and single pointed. Then by controlling these three sources we can quieten the mind. We can build a dam across the 'calmer river'; this dam is built in our mind by following right values. We can also imagine that these three portals - regrets of the past, anxieties of the present and worries about future - are the three dissipating channels by which the energy of the mind is dissipated. When we plug these dissipating channels, we can conserve our mental energies. Mind can be made focused and single pointed. Controlling mind is not easy but will come through practice and patience. This can be facilitated by various means including prayer, study and reflection on our sastras, surrendering to God and devotion, japa and of course by meditation. Thus yoga - the integration of our personality can be achieved by detaching ourselves from the lower and attaching ourselves to higher ideals namely the Lord.

 Anecdote: Swami Vivekananda, in his earlier days, also had a list of items that he desired. His Guru Ramakrishna found out about the list and asked him to present it to Maa Kali. He sat down to meditate upon Her. After some time when he came out of his meditation, Ramakrishna asked him, if he presented his list. Swami Vivekananda said he forgot. After about a week, Ramakrishna again asked what happened to his wish list. Swami Vivekananda said that he did not have any more wish list. That is the power of meditation! It makes our mind quiet, and our desires evaporate.

Gem 10: Self-controlled, yatatma

  Yatatama – one who has self-control and discipline. We had a discussion about why self-control is beneficial. It was reminded that freedom comes with responsibilities. Unless self-control and discipline are followed one cannot achieve anything productive in this life. Pujya Gurudev has said without self-discipline, concentration, and total dedication one cannot grow and shine forth. We have seen numerous examples in our own lives of people practicing for many years to perfect themselves in their own specific professions, for example a musician or a dancer or painter probably had put in many hours and years of hard work before they achieve success and recognition. Professional athletes are an excellent example that illustrates the result of dedication, hard work and concentration. Without having self-discipline and self-control we will not achieve anything meaningful in our life. Even when we look at the word discipline and add all the numbers of the alphabet - that is D represents the fourth alphabet; I represents the ninth alphabet; S represents the 19th letter of the alphabet so on so forth the total of all alphabets in discipline adds up to 100!!! The word itself is showing that we need to put in hundred percent discipline to achieve our goals. As Pujya Gurudev says one who has subjected himself to discipline is a disciple.

Gem 11: Firm conviction, drdhaniscayah

Firm conviction or resolve means having steadfastness, determination to make up one's mind. When we know value of anything then we make a resolve to get it. Students were asked if they wanted $100 note everybody said they would like to have it. When we said that the hundred dollars note was all crumpled up, still they wanted it, this is because they knew the value of hundred dollars. Similarly, only when we value something we can make a resolve to achieve it. Belief born out of understanding is faith. We also explained that there are many definitions or explanations possible for this word faith or sraddha, it has been said that there is no good meaning available in English language to explain all the deeper imports of word sraddha which is loosely translated as faith. It was emphasized to the students that they should have faith in three factors - faith in our sastras, faith in God/Guru and faith in oneself. Just because we cannot see God, we cannot conclude that He is not present. There are many things that we cannot see but can experience. Even though science says that the Earth is round and moving all the time we perceive the Earth to be stationary. But when seen through the eyes of science we understand that the Earth is moving all the time. Similarly, we need a special 'mirror' to be able to see God, the mirror is the purified mind. We achieve this purification by following the teachings of our sastras. When you watch a movie, we don't see the screen, but without the screen the movie cannot play, similarly without God the world cannot exist. Our inability to recognize him is because of our agitations and impurities in our mind. Pujya Gurudev said that the pilgrimage leading to the temple of truth is not easy one may have to go through dangerous forests, dark never-ending tunnels, or precipitous slopes. On this pilgrimage we may experience despondence, despair, and hopelessness. Hence, we need to have unlimited exchequer of power and strength, and this exchequer of infinite strength is called faith. Most of the time we are so busy with our life that we do not acknowledge God for what He has given us, but when we need something from Him, then we remember to pray to Him. In fact, what we are doing is not 'praying' but we are 'preying' on God. All we need to do is just to look around in the nature or even analyze how miraculously this human body works, how the heart pumps blood continuously without a break… to understand the greatness of the Lord. He is the one who is running the show of the world and making our body function seamlessly. We are too busy playing with his toys that we fail to recognize and acknowledge Him. We forget the Giver!

 Story - one night a family woke up from sleep detecting smoke and fire in their house. Frantically the father grabbed the one-year-old and a five-year-old and started running out. The five-year-old remembered that he had left his favorite teddy bear in the bedroom, so he let go of his father and ran back to the bedroom. In the anxiety and confusion father did not realize that the five-year old son had let go of his hand. Once he got out of the home, the father realized that his other child was still in the house. By now the fire had worsened and this prevented the father from going in. The father then heard his older son shouting from the bedroom window asking for help. There was lot of smoke. The father could see the son and asked him to jump from the window.  Unfortunately, son could not see him because of all the smoke, so he hesitated. The father assured the son that he would catch him and to trust him and jump. The son jumped at his father's behest and was rescued. The son had implicit faith in his father. Similarly, we should put all our effort, hard work and dedication to the work at hand and have complete faith in the Lord that he will provide us with the right result we deserve.

Gem 12: Mind/Intellect Centered In Lord mayyarpitamanobuddhi

Once during an interview, where many candidates were waiting in the lobby an announcement made in the public address system very softly, stating that the person whosoever hears the announcement can enter the hall for the interview. Only one person heard and entered the hall to get the reward of the job! If only we develop the ears to hear God's announcements, have eyes to see His play in the universe, we automatically will become a devotee; our mind and intellect will always sing His glory! How do we develop ears to hear His announcements? How do we develop eyes to see Him? In a movie once the projection upon the screen is over, the white screen in the background is seen automatically. So also, if we can quieten our thoughts, which are the projection blocking the vision of the Lord, the Lord is experienced. And how do we quieten our thought process? By chanting His name, and by having the constant awareness that it is because of the presence of Lord within us that our body can function and we are able to interact with the world outside.

 

Pujya Gurudev's Words Of Wisdom - Being Centered

Let our actions sing His glory. Let our feelings waft the fragrance of His eternal purity. Let our thoughts gurgle out, expressing His dynamism and divine will. Such a total God-centered life itself is a true hymn in praise of the Lord – from Bala vihar 8 th grade book.

 

At end of class we had monthly program by Grade 4 – who did an excellent presentation– based on 24 teachers / Gurus – from Srimad Bhagavatam. Hope you enjoyed the presentation.

 

Bala vihar class on May 8^th will be in person at the ashram starting at 9:15 AM – same time as the regular class – children will participate in Guru Paduka Pooja; there are monthly programs and group activities planned on that day. We humbly request that all children come and participate in this important program.

 

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula

April 10, 2022 - Grade 8 (Sunday AM)

Harih Om Parents,

1.     Following was discussed/taught to the children during Bala Vihar class on April 10, 2022.

2.     Initial prayers.

3.     We started learning Tapovan Shatakam. Completed two verses of Tapovan Shatakam

Satvik, Nithya verse 1 of Tapovan Shatakam

Vikram, Yashvi Verse 2 of Tapovan Shatakam

We are teaching the values taught by Sri Krishna in Chapter XII of Bhagavad Gita, where He enumerates 35 virtues or gems for us to live by. Bhagawan says he is showing us these gems so that we can make use of them and be happy. He says, "anyone who lives by these virtues is My darling".  We briefly reviewed values taught last class – hate no one; friendly to all; compassion and non-attachment.

4.     Gem 5: Free from Ego (Nirahamkarah); without egoism; one is free from ego. Pujya Gurudev says ego is a noun not a verb. Ego is nothing but a bundle of past actions and reactions, from birth till now. He commands us to throw away this stinking bundle down and look at the world without this muddy poison. Where ego is dropped, divine experience arises. Ego is false identification with our body, mind and intellect. When ego is divinized, the individual will automatically remain equanimous in both success and failure.

The Balloon Effect – when balloon filled with helium is let go it rises up as it is less dense than atmospheric air. With greater displacement of air, it will go higher and higher and, in the process, it expands, until the elasticity of the rubber is reached and it bursts. The balloon shrivels and falls. Similarly, we, the perceiver, feeler and the thinker – the ego entity – will get filled up with "helium" as we study scriptures and follow value-based lifestyle. The vasana burden in us gets reduced and the mind & intellect get an upward thrust. As we progress in our sadhana a time will come just like the balloon our mind and intellect will explode and we will merge with the Reality. The Reality / Bhagawan – whose is functioning as the life principle in us and keeps us going; just like a battery keeps the flashlight going.

5.      On a practical note, we can see that too much ego leads to its own problems. We can get angry with people, hurt our family and friends – even though we know we did wrong our ego prevents us from saying 'sorry'. When we say sorry, we should really mean it. We are unable to do that because our ego prevents us from acknowledging our mistakes.

6.     Story – in a forest lived an egoistic elephant and it treated everyone badly. One day a bunny who never heard about the elephant, did not greet the elephant, and went about singing. Elephant got angry and wanted to crush the bunny. A mosquito nearby decided to teach the elephant a lesson. The mosquito challenged the elephant to fight with it and to leave the bunny alone. The mosquito got into the trunk of the elephant and started biting him. The elephant jumped and rolled but could not get rid of the mosquito. All the animals started cheering for the mosquito. Finally, elephant realized the result of his egoistic attitude and asked forgiveness from all the animals. Mosquito then left the elephant alone.

7.     When we learn to detach from lower values and start attaching ourselves to higher values and higher ideal, we will be able to lead more happier and productive life, opening up a pathway for higher possibilities. By practicing these values, we are trying to chip away the negativity within our personality so that the beauty inherently within us can shine forth.  When we want to get rid of the moss in a tank all we need to do is fill up the tank with water and eventually the moss will overflow, and water will become clear again.  Similarly, if we continue to cultivate positive values and ideas in our personality, the negative values slowly but steadily will get sublimated and eliminated.  It is like removing the impurities around the diamond, when it is done successfully, the natural beauty of the diamond shines forth itself.

8.     Gem 6 - Equal minded in pleasure and pain; samaduhkhahsukhah.

One needs to be balanced in our responses to various situations we encounter in our daily lives. Balance the mind does not mean living like a statute. Normally we get very happy when we get things that we like or if persons behave according to our liking. We are unhappy when we get what we dislike or if circumstances are not conducive to our liking. What we need to realize is strong likes and dislikes make us unhappy. For example, I must sit in my favorite dining chair to eat my food, I must eat pizza every Friday that to only from Pizza Hut, I cannot eat pizza without Coke, or I get upset if I do not see my favorite TV show. We should avoid such strong likes and dislikes which will inevitably make us unhappy. Instead, if we have a balanced mind, we will be more peaceful and happier. Likes and dislikes depend upon background and environment. When we put finger in ice water for a few minutes and then put the same finger in warm water it will feel very hot. When the finger is put in lukewarm water, then put in warm water the water will not feel that hot. So too all our feelings are relative. Our likes and dislikes are conditioned both by circumstances and environment. We discussed the movie "Gods must be Crazy", in which all tribal people fight for a magic God-given instrument which was a coke bottle that was accidentally dropped in their village from the plane. Since the villagers never saw any coke bottle before, they thought this was a God given gift, which had many utilities. But ultimately the peace and tranquility that was in the village got destroyed as everyone wanted to possess the coke bottle with "special powers." Finally, the tribal chief throws the bottle away in a valley and then peace returns to the village. Pujya Gurudev says – if we can give up our likes and dislikes, world will become double its space. As we will stop chasing what we like and running away from what we don't like. Everything in the world changes, if we come across difficult situations and circumstances, we have to keep the thought in the mind that "even this will pass".  Knowing that nothing is permanent we need to keep a relatively balanced mind.

9.     Gem 7 - Forgive, Ksami.

God is all forgiving.  All we need to do is pray and ask for his forgiveness; He immediately responds.  There are numerous stories in our Puranas which show the extreme kindness of the Lord.  Shri Ramji did not even entertain any thoughts of hatred towards mother Kaikeyi; despite her asking boons to send Shri Ramji away to forest for 14 years.   Lord Rama always treated her with love and respect. Similarly, when Jesus was being crucified he prayed to God to forgive everyone as they did not know what they were doing.  Pujya Gurudev gives example of sandalwood which gives perfume to the very axe that brings the sandalwood tree down.  The more we rub Sandalwood to the stone more fragrance it gives.  Such is the beauty of forgiveness in life. Once a holy man was invited to a town to judge wrong doers to see what punishment they can be given.  The holy man entered the town dragging behind a basket full of holes filled with sand.  People did not understand his behavior.  The holy man replied - like this sand my sins are running behind me.  I do not see them, but I have coming here to judge others.  It only means that what right we have to judge others.  Just as we forgive and overlook our own sins, we should learn to forgive others. When we forgive people, it is we who benefit more than the person whom we have forgiven. We need to forgive and forget. A lot of times people say they have forgiven a person, but every time they meet the person, they'll remind him about the incident. It is important that we forget the hurt that incident caused even if we can't forget the incident. Forgiving somebody despite the harm or ill that they have done to us is what we should strive for. We should forgive everyone without exception, maintaining grudges against one or two persons will still poison our mind. For example one may say I forgive everyone except my in-laws, this is not good enough. Forgiveness should be complete. "To err is human, to forgive is divine." – Alexander Pope. "It is by forgiving that one is forgiven." – Mother Theresa.

10. We watched following video

Spirituality and Virtues - Forgiveness: Thinking About It | #ChinmayaMission – forgiveness

Spirituality and Virtues - Forgiveness: Thinking About It | #ChinmayaMis...

11. Concluding prayers: Yashvi: Pledge: Shrey and Kartik

Pranam,

Mekhala Girish

Devender Akula