11/02/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

• Introduction Shlokas
• Om Sahana Bhavatu
• Recap - Dr Tomar's key points
• G - Goals
• R - Reinvent
• E - Effort
• A - Accept Failures
• T - Think Poistive
• Geeta Dhyana Shloka (8-9) - Pg 54 --56
•  Topics
• Charity
• Rama lives in the heart of those who do charity
• Humility (Amanitvam) - Bhagavata Geeta Chapter 13
• Charity and Humility
• Activity
• Spend 5 dollars at a sit down restaurant. The menu provided as follows
• Pizza - 2:50$
• Soda - 1:00$
• Dessert  - 1:50$
• Most of the children spent all the money on themselves. Some children did give TIP to the waitress.
• Story time - 'Two nickels and a Five Pennies'
• Lesson - One must do their own share
• Charity - . Discussion
• Definition from the dictionary
• "Giving Unconditionally with the purpose of betterment of others"
• Four Types -
• Physical
• Intellectual
• Emotional
• Material
• Talked about famous people to name a few
• Bill Gates
• Warren Buffet
• Gandhiji
• Mother Teresa
• Kailash Satyarthi 
• Charity is not limited to people who are rich.
• Using examples of Gandhiji and Mother Teresa introduce chapter 13 of Bhagavata Geeta that talks about Humility (Amanitvam)
• Ended the class with another activity - bowling - To emphasize charity to donate points earned to a person who did not get any points.
• HW - Can you feel proud of your accomplishments but be humble at the same time.
• Sreekar needs to complete the write up for the values of the month topic "Giving"

10/26/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Talk by Dr. Tomar

10/19/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Yoga (10 - 10:45)
4. Recap
5. Activity
1. Blinded by Money - The game involved splitting children into groups of two. One person from the group was told to put the coins on the eyes and the other person would direct to reach the dropping point
2. Objective of the game - Trust/Faith
6. What is faith?How does one trust someone?
1. Each child presented their opinion and at the end of discussion using examples like Sugar is sweet, they arrived at a conclusion, "Faith is a belief supported by knowledge and experience".
2. The above discussion led to the question as to why we are talking about Faith. How does Faith relate to God. "Give him compete authority over us". "We accept whatever He gives us, whatever He takes away, wherever He puts us, whoever he brings in our lives
3. To explain further, the children took turns to read the stories about "Gajendra the elephant" and "Prahalada".
7.  Values of the month presentation  - Decided on "Giving" in December - Sreekar will prepare the a story from mythology and the points to connect current day world.

10/12/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 7) - Page 54
4. Talked about upcoming items
1. Yoga next class - Bring Yoga mats
2. Bhiksha on Jan 18th
3. Values of Month presentation - need to pick a topic to present
4. Seva project will be assigned
5. Festival Project - May Gurudev Jayanti
5. Recap from last class
6. 128.1 Rama lives in the heart of one:
1. Who offers all fragrances, food, clothes and ornaments first to Lord and then we accept them as prasada from the Lord
7. The following activity and discussion was used to explain and understand it further -
1. The children were divided into 5 groups and they were given 6 Riddles to break. The objective was to guess parts of the body.
2. The objective of the activity was to discuss the importance of the sense organs which we take it for granted.
3. Conclusion - "Our Senses are gifts to us from Lord. A gift is no gift if we don't accept it".
1.  
8. 128.2 Rama lives in the heart of one -
1. Who bows down to Guru and Brahmin with respect
9.  To explain and understand, played a video by "Guruji Tejomayanandaji about Glory of Guru Mahima - snippets 6:50 - 12:18"
10. The following activity was used to explain and understand it further -
1.  Debate Topic - " Are teachers needed to help learn or can books or technology replace the teachers".
2. The children had a healthy debate and the conclusion was teachers are needed to help learn the topic effectively.
3. We further discussed not just about classroom teachers, sports coaches, music teachers e.t.c
4. We also discussed at every stage of life, we always learn something from everyone. We should always respect and appreciate people who have helped us learn.

10/05/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 6)
4. Recap from last class
5. Caupai 128 - Rama lives in the heart of one who eagerly waits for Rama darshan like how a cataka bird waits for raindrops
6. Game to get the above topic clear - Recognize the pictures of 4 celebrities
1. J.K. Rowling
2. Steve Jobs
3. Milton Hershey
4. Thomas Alva Edison
5. Discussed the biographies of each of the above individuals and discussed the common thread about their lives. Each of them had conquered all the odds and did not give up to reach the goals.
6. They were also asked to unscramble the following word - RESPVEEER. The kids were able to unscramble the word to PERSEVERE
7. Discussed Edison's famous quote "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
7. Caupai 128.1 - Rama lives in the heart of one whose tongue, like Hamsa bird, picks up only Rama's virtues in Manasarovara of His Glory.
8. What is Hamsa, It has the ability of taking in only the milk from mixture of milk and water.
9. To understand virtues about others, discussed all different types of animals how unique they are. Talked about 24 perceptors from 4th grade Balavihar, how it is possible to learn good values from anyone and anything if you keep your mind open.
10. To understand the virtues they were asked to close their eyes and introspect, the children were asked to list 3 things they like about themselves and three things they would like to improve. They found this to be a difficult exercise.
11.  To understand the virtues further, they were asked to list attributes about themselves for all the letters of the alphabet. Example - A (Awesome), B (Blessed) , C(Curious) e.t.c
12. Ending Prayers
13. Moral -

• Persistence is the key.
• See good in others and also yourself

9/21/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics -

1. Introduction Shlokas

• Om Sahana Bhavatu
• Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 5)

1. 2 Recap from last class
2. Played the game Hangman (Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient) 
1. Omnipotent - all powerful
2. Omnipresent - everywhere
3. Omniscient  - all knowing
3. Story time - Introduce the topic for P.O. Box God
1. Ratnakara(Valmiki)
2. Tulsidasji - Author of Ramacharitamanas
4. Caupai 127.2 and 127.3
1. Rama resides in the heart of those, who never gets tired of listening to God's stories.
2. To make the above concept clear introduced the discussion about Satsang.
3. Connected to current day topics about the bad influence ISIS
4. Connected to a movie Blindside where a kid from a bad neighborhood becomes successful due right influence brought in by a couple.
5. You become what you love - A kid who wants to loves a chicken starts behaving like a chicken.
5. Ending Prayers
6.  Moral -

•  A man is known by company he keeps.

•  The people you surround yourself with influence your behavior, so choose friends with healthy habits.

9/14/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Hari Om - 2014- 2015 Vijayam Class

9/14/2014 - Topics

1. Introduction (Name/City/Number of Years in BV)
2. Discussed Twenty Questions that included (What is God, Who is God and Where is God?). This was an introduction to topics for 7th grade P.O. Box Mr God
3. Pass Facial Tissues - The children were asked to take as many as they want. For every tissue they had taken they were asked to tell a story that they had learned in BV. Some children had taken as many as 10 sheets. It was difficult to come up with interesting stories without wasting time. The objective of the game was to learn 'It is not good to be greedy'. The objective of this game was to introduce the topic 'Values a person needs to inculcate to be successful'.
4. Name Grid  (Split into groups and made as many 3,4,5 letter words)
5. Geeta Dhyana Shloka - Reviwed the shlokas learnt in 6th Grade.

May 4th Vijayam Class Happenings

Hari Om,
The volunteer for this week is Anika. Here's the summary for this week.
Today in Balavihar, we spent our class discussing our idea for our Samskriti presentation- The Bhagavad Gita in Hollywood's Eyes We will be performing four short skits- Mulan, Toy Story 3, Kung Fu Panda, and Cars- to portray four value from Chapter 13 of the Gita. Here are all of the roles assigned to each student.

 Skit #1) Mulan

Value: Ananyayogena Bhakti {Unswerving Devotion}
Scriptwriters: Harshita, Maya
Roles:
·         Mulan-Harshita
·         Mom-Sarvani
·         Dad-Samyu
·         Chinese Soldier-Priya
·         Narrator-Maya

Skit #2) Kung Fu Panda
Value: Sthairyam {Steadfastness}
Scriptwriter: Srinaath
Roles:
·         Po-Shreyas
·         Master Shifu-Mahima
·         Tai-Lung-Srinaath
·         Tiger/Villager-Suchetan
·         Narrator-Abhimanyu

Skit #3) Toy Story 3
Value: Kshama {Forgiving}
Scriptwriter: Pranav
Roles:
·         Woody-Pranav
·         Buzz-Karthik
·         Slinky Dog-Sanjana
·         Sid-Nishaanth
·         Narrator-Neelay

Skit #4) Cars
Value: Atma-VinigrahaH {Self-Control}
Scriptwriter: Savitha
Roles:
·         Lightning McQueen-Vaishnavi
·         Chick Hicks-Nitya
·         The King-Ken
·         Narrator-Savitha

Overall Narrator: Anika

Once the scripts are finalized, the students are advised to memorize their lines, and practice at home with their families. Editors ONLY-the narrator parts in your scripts should not be over 30 seconds long, and your time limit per skit is 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Thanks you for helping us make this program a great success!

Regards,
Vijayam Teachers.

 

March 23, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om,

The class blog volunteer for this class was Srinaath. Here is his summary:

 This week, in the Vijayam classroom, we discussed the phrase "This too shall pass." This means that happy times and sad times alike will all soon go away, so one should not be prideful of the amount of wealth or power one has, because it will eventually disappear. Similarly, one should not lose hope and determination if life is not at its best because it will get better sooner or later. "This too shall pass" is the perfect quote to remember during hard or cheerful times, and it will remind us that nothing is forever. We also talked about a story involving this quote:

     A king asked his courtiers to find a saying for him to engrave onto his ring so that  no matter which day, no matter which mood he was in, he could look at his ring and remember to stay positive in bad times and be humble during prosperous times. None of the king's courtiers were able to find such a saying. Some time later, a visiting brahmin came to the court of the king and, after hearing about the challenge posed to the courtiers, said that he knew such a quote for the king's ring. It was "This too shall pass." He went on to explain the quote to the king, who ordered the saying to be carved onto his ring.

    After that, we had some fun. We played charades with terms previously covered in the year (some words were Pooja and Chataka bird). For some reason, one group got very hard-to-act and hard-to-guess words! For example, they got "God's gifts," which was repeatedly mistaken by the guessers as "offering to God."

     We talked about "This too shall pass" a little more before reciting closing prayers and ending the class.

Teacher's Comments: We started the chapter on Bhakti - Devotion, unravelling what it means and going over examples of great devotees and the values they espoused. We will continue on this topic next class, especially going over the story of Shabari and Lord Rama.

Reminder: There will be a quiz on April 6 class. The syllabus will be from the workbook "Values in the Bhagavad Gita": chapters covering 1. Amaanitvam (Humility), 2. Adambhitvam (Non-pretentiousness). 3. Ahimsa (non violence). 4. Kshanthi (Forebearance, patience) and 5.Aarjavam (Uprightness). There could be questions from other handouts distributed in class too.

Students are encouraged to come up with ideas for the Samskriti skit/musical.

Dhanyavadah

Vijayam Teachers [Aparna & Sri]

March 16, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om,

The class blog volunteer for this class was Suchetan. Here is his summary:

This week in Balavihar, we began with yoga taught by Mythri Aunty. We sang our opening prayers, and then started with Surya Namaskar a couple of times before we were reintroduced to the jumping motion to Santolasana (Plank position). After that, we did Surya Namaskar for a while again until we moved on to balancing exercises.  We started with the tree pose (Vrikshasana), then to the crow pose (Kakasana), then to Garudasana. Finally, we finished with our concluding prayers and headed to class.

When we got to class, we took a break until 11, and then recapped on what we did last week, but we first talked about the quiz about all the topics learned so far on April 6^th. Sri Uncle told us a story to recap charity about a Tibetan Monk Recruit who amongst the 1,000 Buddha statues in the monastery, had a favorite one, the 10^th one. When he tried to worship that particular statue by lighting a candle or incense, the light and fragrance went to the other ones around it other than his. As he was very possessive of his idol and selfish, he put a curtain around it, but that plan soon backfired. As he soon realized that his statue ended up becoming black and covered in soot, while all other statues were clean, due to his selfish act. After that, we talked about how charity isn’t the same when you get something good out of it. To move on, we talked about our supreme guru is god and that God is benevolent to all including atheists, irrespective of whether they strongly believe or not. God is the ultimate source and the ultimate Guru. Knowledge flows from God to the teacher, who then distributes it from a secondary, tertiary, etc. source. Finally, to end class, we brainstormed ideas to do in Samskriti.

Homework: Arjavam section in the Values in the Bhagavad Gita book, and brainstorm ideas to do for Samskriti.

Dhanyavadah

Vijayam Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

March 9, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om,

The class blog volunteer for this class was Samyu. Here is her summary:

Highlights

* Charity - To give the needy. e.g. Giving Knowledge to someone who needs it.

* What the Dictionary says about Charity: To help the needy; lenient love for others. Act or feeling of good will.Giving unconditionally.

Examples - If you give a man a fish, it will last for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, it will last for a lifetime.

* When you are doing charity, it can be aimed either for a person, community, society, nation or the world.

Charity is better if no ulterior motive is assigned to the act of giving. For example giving TIPS to a waiter is not actually charity it is to To Insure Prompt Service (TIPS)

Guru : Remover of darkness.

Also we discussed 15 things that we should do to ensure that we are doing better than good. Excerpt from Zig Ziglar.

March 3, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om,

The class blog volunteer for this class was Savitha. Here is her summary:

This week in Balavihar, we started our day with our directed breathing and meditation in a different format; we closed our eyes and focused on the meaning of two slokas while listening to it. This soon led to the realization that it is difficult to focus on one thing because our minds wander off too easily. Therefore, we discussed how you need to realize what your mind is thinking about, and bring it back to the wanted subject.
>  Later, we discussed the importance of theerthas, or sacred places. Theerthas usually involve having to take a journey to get there, so it normally isn't the place you can plan and go in the same day. The Thirupathi temple in south India is an example, but the Bridgewater temple may not necessarily be. This also ties into how people take the journey and go to the 106 accessible divyadesams out of the 108. In addition, we talked about how you don't necessarily have to go to the temple to pray or feel sacred. However, we also talked about how if you go to a temple, you aren't immediately one with god. This tied into a story.
>  The story goes that a group of people decided to go on pilgrimage and asked one saint Tukaram to come along. Saint Tukaram declined, however he asked them to bring a bitter gourd with them and dip it into the river in front of each theertha spot. Once the group came back, Saint Tukaram gave the bitter gourd to the village, and it tasted bitter. He asked the group why the bitter gourd wasn't sweet after being dipped into the water. Like the group, the bitter gourd wouldn't immediately change after going to each place- it took time and devotion.
>   The number 108 also came up and the students wanted to know the significance. You breathe about 90 times in one hour, so in 24 hours that is 21,600. If you sleep for half the day, you are left with 10,800 breaths for every 100 times you think of god. In other words, you should think of god one time every 108 breaths.
>  We spent the rest of the class going over homework, pg.22 in the Values of Bhagavad Gita workbook. The article talked about forbearance, or being able to tolerate and understand things others normally wouldn't and accept it.  We reviewed how this tied into patience, forgiveness, and self control, and students reviewed how they exemplified forbearance or situations where they could've.
>  Soon it was 11:40, and we ended the class with closing prayers

Dhanyavaadah

Vijayam Claas Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

Feb 23, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om,

The class blog volunteer for this class was Karthik. Here is his summary:

Vijayam class had a wonderful balavihar session with extra fun, on Feb 23^rd. We had a Biksha with swamiji. In class we all first opened with the invocation slokas, and then we talked about belief and it’s importance. The whole class had some good debates about certain beliefs. Then we learnt the Vedic Aarathi (nakarmana). It was very tongue twisting and challenging to many at first, but soon everyone got the hang of it. Then we all had our snack brake. We had some funny jokes and great riddles. Once it was over, we all got serious and started practicing the chants we were going to do for the Biksha. Soon it was time to meet our Swamiji for the Biksha. We all sat in front of swamiji and chanted Shiva Manasa Pooja, Vedic arathi and Mantra Pushpam. Everyone applauded at our Vijayam class performance. Then all of us served lunch for swamiji and we all joined him too! After lunch was over we had a session with swamiji.

Many of us asked lots of good questions like “Why do you have so many material possesions?” Swamiji answered quite simply, “I am detached, I do not need them. They are just to make things more efficient.” Another really good question was, “What is the perfect balance of Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic in an ideal person?” Swamiji answered, “80% Sattvic, 15% Rajasic and 5% Tamasic.” Soon swamiji had to leave, so we bid him farewell and we all went home.

 

Dhanyavaadah

Vijayam Claas Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

Feb 9, 2014 - Class Happenings

Hari Om

The class blog volunteer for this class is Maya. Here is her summary:

This week at Balavihar, we started off class with a yoga session with Mythri Aunty. We started out with three Om’s, then went straight into Surya Namaskar. After that, we continued on and did several poses, including Talasana, Konasana, and Samakonasana. Next, we learned how to correctly transition from Hasta-Uttanasana into Padahastasana. We also attempted Crow’s Pose, after which Mythri Aunty requested that we go onto www.yogajournal.com and read up on it.

After Yoga, we returned to the classroom and went over our Ahimsa homework. Similarly to last week, we had a discussion on vegetarianism, but this time, it was about how it is related to ahimsa. This discussion was prompted by one of the homework questions. We subsequently chanted the Siva Manasa Puja. I would like to remind the class that our Bhiksha is on the 23rd, and to be prepared for it.

Dhanyavaadah

Vijayam Claas Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

Feb 2, 2014 Class Happenings

Hari Om

The class volunteer blogger for this week was Shreyas.

Here is his perspective/summary of the class:
Today we started our class with meditation after our opening prayers. We closed our eyes and took deep breaths while saying a silent "Om". After our meditation, most of us were sleepy! Today's topic in class was faith. We did an activity where two kids stood one behind the other. The first person was to fall backward without bending their knees. The second person was to catch them. Many kids fell behind but kept their knees bent. This activity showed that many of the kids did not have faith in the person behind them. We talked about faith during a puja. To God, we offer fruits, but he also really wants devotion from the devotees. This led to an off-topic controversial discussion on people who believe in God and people who don't. This also led to another controversial discussion on vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Our concluding point was that faith is the most important thing to God, not the fruits and the flowers. After our discussion, we chanted the Siva-Manasa Puja to a tune. We will be chanting this in front of Swamiji later in February. After that, we chanted the Mantra Pushpam. We ended class with closing prayers.

Teachers Comments:
 We have completed the chapter on Puja both the physical and "manasa" (spiritual / mental) aspects. key take aways from this chapter was that Puja is a way of communicating to the Divinity (within us) and the puja vidhi ritual is a way of conditioning the body, as the body is the tool and the mind is the doer for this.
Puja is only meaningful if it is done with devotion and pure mindedness. In the actual act of puja the offerings like flowers are essentially only a tool for delivering the the real offering - our devotion (without any ulterior or selfish motives). Also we should incorporate this attitude in our daily life, by treating every act we do as an offering to the Lord, thereby we would lead a virtuous life.

Dhanyavaadah
Vijayam Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

Jan 26, 2014 Class Happenings

Hari Om

The class blog volunteer for this week was Mahima. Here is her update:

We started off class by practicing the first two stanzas of Siva Manasa Puja which we will be presenting to swamiji during February. We learned the third, fourth, and fifth stanza in class this week as well as the meaning for the stanzas:

3) Chatram Caamarayor-Yugam Vyajanakam Ca-Adarshakam Nirmalam
Viinnaa-Bheri-Mrdangga-Kaahala-Kalaa Giitam Ca Nrtyam Tathaa |
Saassttaanggam Prannatih Stutir-Bahu-Vidhaa Hyetat-Samastam Mayaa
Sangkalpena Samarpitam Tava Vibho Puujaam Grhaanna Prabho

 O Pashupati, please accept my Mental Worship of You) I Offer You a Canopy (Umbrella) for Cool Shade and with a Pairof hand Fans made of Chamara, I Fan You; I Offer You a Shining Clean Mirror (representing the Purity of Devotion in my Heart. I fill the Place with Divine Songs and Dances accompanied by Music from Veena (a stringed musical instrument), Bheri (a kettle drum). In this Divine surroundings, I do Full Prostration (Sasthanga Pranam) before You and then Sing various Hymns in Your Praise. All these are by me created in my Heart and Offered to You; O Lord, Please accept my Mental Worship.

  

4) Aatmaa Tvam Girijaa Matih Sahacaraah Praannaah Shariiram Grham
Puujaa Te Vissayo pabhoga-Racanaa Nidraa Samaadhi-Sthitih |
San.caarah Padayoh Pradakssinna-Vidhih Stotraanni Sarvaa Giro
Yad-Yat-Karma Karomi Tat-Tad-Akhilam Shambho Tava-Araadhanam

O Lord, You are my Atma (Soul), Devi Girija (the Divine Mother) is my Buddhi (Pure Intellect), the Shiva Ganas (the Companions or Attendants) are my Prana and my Body is Your Temple. My Interactions with the World are Your Worship and my Sleep is the State of SamadhiMy Feet Walking about is Your Pradakshina (Circumbulation); all my Speech are Your Hymns of Praises, Whatever work I do, all that is Your Aradhana (Worship), O Shambhu.

5) Kara-Caranna-Krtam Vaak-Kaaya-Jam Karma-Jam Vaa
Shravanna-Nayana-Jam Vaa Maanasam Va-Aparaadham
Vihitam-Avihitam Vaa Sarvam-Etat-Kssamasva
Jaya Jaya Karunna-Abdhe Shrii-Mahaadeva Shambho 

Whatever Sins have been Committed by Actions Performed by my Hands and Feet, Produced by my Speech and Body,Or my Works Produced by my Ears and Eyes, Or Sins Committed by my Mind, While Performing Actions, Please Forgive Them All. Victory, Victory to You, O Sri Mahadeva Shambho, I Surrender to You, You are an Ocean of Compassion.

This week was the deadline for all the food drive donations, so if you haven't brought them in, it's too late. Our class and the sixth grade class worked together to assemble donation bags using the ingredients donated for the seva. Every bag contained a juice, bag of chips, a fruit, and a sandwich. We successfully organized all the ingredients in the bags and had them ready to be donated.

Lastly, we decided who was going to play what instrument or who was going to sing for the siva manasa puja performance for swamiji. Some of us decided to be vocalists, play and instrument, or do both. We listed what we wanted to do on the board at the end of class.

Quick recap:

1. went over first two stanzas for siva manasa puja

2. learned stanzas 3,4, and 5 for siva manasa puja as well as meaning

3. with the help of sixth grade class assembled bags to be donated for the food seva

4. Decided and listed our roles in the siva manasa puja performance (vocal, instrumentalist, etc.)

Teacher's Comments:

This batch of Vijayam class is one of the most musically talented group of students in Balavihar. It is only fair that they share their gift with the rest of us. As we are are learning this beautiful stotram by Adi Shankaracharya, we are also singing it to a tune. The link below is the song with lyrics. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm8Ylq6IzBM

We asked if the students can recreate this hymn with vocal harmonics and accompaniments and present it at the assembly (Date TBD). The students enthusiastically volunteered.  Here is a list of students with their roles. We hope to start practicing soon, once the musicians in the group decipher the notes for their respective instruments.

Claves: Ken

Violin: Maya, Srinaath, Divya

Viola: Anika

Sitar: Nithya

Keyboards: Nishant, Sanjana 

Tuba: Pranav

Vocal: Shreyas, Vaishnavi, Mahima, Abimanyu, Harshita, Karthik, Sarvani, Savitha, Neelay, Suchetan, Priya, Samyuktha

We are also presenting it vocally (sans instruments) to Swamiji on 2/23 during the class Bhiksha.

Pictures from our class puja done by the students in 4 groups on 1/5/14

Team Krishna with their puja altar

Team Nipuna with their puja altar

Team Hanuman with their puja altar

Team Dhairya with their puja altar

Pictures from our Seva Project: Assembling lunch bags for Trenton Area Soup Kitchen on 1/26/14

Dhanyavaadah

Vijayam Teachers (Aparna & Sri)

Class Happenings - Jan 19th, 2014

 Today, we started by doing some Yoga with Mythri Aunty. We warmed up with poses such as taalasana, konaasana, and sama-konaasana. One pointer that was given to us by Mythri Aunty is to try to keep our back straight at all times, and not to let our backs become “camel backs”. We also learned two new asanas today. The first was Garudaasana, in which the doer stretches out their thigh muscles by wrapping one leg around the other, and opening their hands to imitate Garusa, Lord Vishnu’s vehicle, flapping his wings. Next, we learned about Veerabhadraasana variations ekam, dve, and trini, and how to do the poses.  Veerabhadraasana is also known as the warrior pose.

                Later on in class, we started to learn how to chant the first two verses of the “Siva-Manasa Puja” Stotram to present to Swamiji on February 23. Here are the first two verses which we learned, as well as their meanings, which Aparna Aunty and Sri Uncle explained to us:

 

ratnaih kalpitamāsanaṁ himajalaih snānaṁ ca divyāmbaraṁ

nānāratna vibhūsitaṁ mr̥gamadā mōdāṅkitaṁ candanam |

jātī campaka bilvapatra racitaṁ puspaṁ ca dhūpaṁ tathā

dīpaṁ dēva dayānidhē paśupatē hr̥tkalpitaṁ gr̥hyatām || 1 ||

I have imagined a throne of precious stones for you, cool water for you to bathe in, divine robes adorned with many jewels, sandalwood paste mixed with musk to anoint your body, jasmine and champaka flowers and bilva leaves, rare incense, and a shining flame. Accept all these which I have imagined in my heart for you, o merciful God.

sauvarnē navaratnakhanda racitē pātrē ghr̥taṁ

pāyasaṁ bhaksyaṁ pañcavidhaṁ payōdadhiyutaṁ rambhāphalaṁ pānakam |

śākānāmayutaṁ jalaṁ rucikaraṁ karpūra khandōjjvalaṁ

tāmbūlaṁ manasā mayā  viracitaṁ bhaktyā prabhō svīkuru || 2 ||

Sweet rice in a golden bowl inlaid with the nine jewels, the five kinds of food made from milk and curd, bananas, vegetables, sweet water scented with camphor, and betel leaves - I have prepared all these in my mind with devotion. O lord, please accept them.

Regards,

Vijayam Teachers (Sri & Aparna).

Jan 4th Class Happenings

Hari Om,

Our guest blogger this week is Abhimanyu.  We covered the pooja vidhi in the class for this week and formed four groups and went over why and how pooja is performed. The Sodasaupacrara puja is the sixteen step puja, explained by Swami Tejomayanandaji. Here are the materials required: 

§  Plates

§  A small turmeric ball

§  Kumkum

§  Candanam

§  Yellow rice

§  Flowers

§  A bell

§  A lamp

§  Matchbox (or lighter)

§  Incense

§  Plastic spoons

§  Bhoga

We welcome God first (in the form of a prayer) and offer a place for them to sit (take a pinch of yellow rice and offer at the feet of the Lord).  In the 3^rd step, we wash the feet of the Lord (take spoonful of water to wash his feet). In step number 4, we wash the Lord’s hands (take spoonful of water to wash his hands). Next, we offer water to the Lord (take spoonful of water and offer at his feet). After that, we offer water for our guest to take a bath (sprinkle water or rice over the Lord). In the 7^th step, we are supposed to traditionally give Bhagavan (a mix of milk, curd, honey, ghee, and sugar)*. We do this so that we can be forgiven. Now, offer your favorite clothing to the Lord*. In step number 9, offer some ashes to the Lord*.  Then, offer sandalwood paste and take rice grains to offer to the Lord. In the 12^th step, we place a flower garland on the Lord. After this offer the incense (light it) and give light to the Lord (light the lamp). On the 15^th step, we offer him what we have cooked* and chant 5 mantras. Finally, offer arathi to the Lord (hold the plate with lamp and turn clockwise while singing a mantra. After this, give the Lord your anger, naughty words, and jealousy. This is an important step because the Lord will turn all the bad things into good things. Lastly, we ask for forgiveness of the Lord and turn clockwise with folded hands three times). After all of this, conclude with the closing prayer.

We also would like to remind you that the seva project to prepare 100 lunch bags for TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) by 6th and 7th graders is next week. We still have a few slots for sign up. We will send the sign up link via email. Please do sign up.

A friendly reminder that there is class tomorrow (Jan 19th) and the 7th graders have Yoga. Please do not forget to get your yoga mats.

Regards,
BBNJ Vijayam Teachers.