May 13th 2018

Hari Om, Parents

After opening prayers and spending some time on the Samskriti play planning, we went straight to learning 'where God is' so we can mail our post card to HIM.

God resides in the hearts of those

• who give
• who looks upon one's teacher more than you

We discussed what charity is, from each of our perspective, and went onto learn the story of a poor boy who opted for a cheaper ice cream so that he can share tips with the waitress. We also learnt the Mongoose story which is the kids' pick to present at Samskriti. We then learn the story of the Smoky Buddha. A devotee loved only one Buddha statue, which is shiny and golden, in a temple where there were several. He lighted incense sticks for his favorite Buddha everyday, but saw that the fragrance is spreading to other Buddha Statues also at the temple. He wanted only his favorite Buddha to get the incense fragrance. So he built an enclosure around his favorite Buddha.

Apr 29, 2018

Hari Om!

This week's blog is written by Nikhita Iyer. This is her second blog post for this year.

Last class, we learnt that God resides in the hearts of those who do Puja. So we learned how to conduct a Puja.The Puja was called the Sodasaupachara pooja. It was to honor Lord Rama.The idea behind it was to greet the Lord into our home.We chanted shlokas (phrases in honor of the God) while we were conducting the pooja.

At the beginning of any pooja, we always have to honor Lord Ganesha before any other Gods.This is because Ganesha is considered to remove obstacles. We used a plate to hold the Gods while we do the pooja. First, we placed a turmeric ball as a symbol of Lord Ganesha. Next, we washed the God’s feet and gave him a bath.We offered him clothes and jewelry.We put some Kumkum and Candanam (sandalwood) on the God’s forehead. We offered Atchadai (Rice mixed with a pinch of turmeric, and a little water) to the God, which we put it on his head. Next, we offered him fresh flowers. After that, we offered the Gods some food. We offered some panchamrutham ( 5 nectars food made of various fruits and honey) and some other foods. We filled a plastic cup with some water and used a plastic spoon to pour few drops of water on the offerings. We rang a bell so the God knows we are offering everything to him. The significance of ringing the bell is we are asking him to accept our offerings. Lastly, we did an arthi. We used a tea light instead of a real fire because we were doing the pooja in a high school classroom.This is when we would normally sing the arthi  song. The arthi song is to praise the Gods. At last, we ate the food that was now blessed by the Gods.This food is now called Prasad.

In this class, I learned to conduct a pooja.The next time I see a pooja, I will be able to follow along. I will know the significance of each ritual with regards to what they are doing and what it means.

April 22, 2018

Hari Om, Parents

Brainstorming on the upcoming Samskriti, Yoga, and review of prior lessons dominated our class today. The kids have decided on a story, and also have written a first draft of the screen play. So good going!

We spent considerable time on reviewing prior lessons, and also reflecting on the values learnt so far. After review, we continued to learn where Rama resides. Rama lives in the heart of one:
- Who bows down to Guru and brahmin with respect
- Whose hands always perform Rama puja
- Who has faith

We discussed why we should respect Guru, and all the sources we learn from. We learn from friends, family members, parents, leaders, nature, rivers ,etc.,  

       Parents are our teachers too. In this connection, we learnt a story of a newborn who was left to grow on its own, by its parents. The new parents who thought it would be easy to bring up their new born, realized that it was actually challenging with their full time jobs. If the new born animals in the wild grow on their own,  their new born baby can also grow on its own. So they left the baby with milk, food, etc., in a cage, went to work, and did not teach the baby how to eat, drink, etc., Yes, he learned to eat and drink on his own, but like an animal. The child grew and became a young boy. But could he talk like a human? Could he walk like a human? Could he think like a human ? No. Chances are that such children would be no different than animals in their behaviors. We usually take things for granted without much thought of the process of learning. 

• A human baby is not capable of doing much at the time of birth
• Everything is taught progressively at the appropriate age
• Learning never stops among humans; we are life-long learners
• Learning is crucial to our survival and so is the role of teachers

With those thoughts, we ended our classroom instruction, and moved to Yoga.

Next class we will learn about Puja Vidhi, Japa, Faith. The kids will do a Puja in class. Please see the email for the items to bring next Class April 29th 2018. 

April 15, 2018

Hari Om, Parents

This week's student blog write is Rima Rajan.

This week in Balvihar, we started off class by reviewing where Rama lives.

God’s address:

Rama lives in the heart of one whose tongue, like a Hamsa bird (a swan), picks up only Rāma’s, virtues in the Mānasarovara of His glory; meaning, sings the Lord’s glory in the world.

Just like the Hamsa bird picks up only the milk out of a milk-water mixture, we must also learn to extract only the good from the world.

                   (Hamsa Bird)

Who is Rama?:

We then proceeded to review who Rama is. Rama is the son of Dasaratha, the conqueror of all senses and he was born in Ayodhya. So therefore, if we live by self control, conquering all of our sense organs, we create in our hearts Ayodhya, which signifies peace.

A visit to the zoo:

We were then told that when we go to the zoo, we see a ginormous, majestic elephant with an ironically disproportionate minuscule tail. We also see a colourful peacock with beautiful feathers but a very screechy voice. Finally, a giraffe can be seen, with a small head, a very long neck, and thin legs. Although all of these animals have flaws, we look past them and accept things as they are. We need to be like the Hamsa bird and find good in everything. We should also be happy with our talents and weaknesses because that is what God wants in all of us. If we develop the habit of seeing good in everything and everybody, we ourselves will become the place where the Lord can reside.

         

                      (Elephant)                                    (Peacock) (Giraffe)

Chame-Giraf-Eleph-Peacock:

Then we heard the story of the chame-giraf-eleph-peacock. One day, there was a chameleon who just like all of us, went to the zoo. It sees a giraffe and immediately wishes for the giraffe’s neck. It’s wish is granted. It then sees an elephant and wants the elephant’s trunk. It’s wish is granted. After that it sees a peacock and wants the peacock’s feathers.Once the chameleon fulfills all of its desires, it looks hideous and is no longer the unique chameleon it originally was. It could not eat the fly that it used to be able to eat with its long tongue, nor able to hide from its predators. 

We learned that we should not be like the chameleon in the story and desire what others have. We should be happy with ourselves and accept others as they are. After all, we are the way we are for a reason. We should also keep in mind that the world is the Lord’s glory and everyone and everything is also part of His glory. Therefore, we should always strive to see good in all beings.

The Puppy No One Wanted:

We were then told the story of a puppy no one wanted. There was once a boy who longed for a puppy. He goes to a pet store but is disappointed to see that all the puppies in the store are very costly, since he only has a couple of dollars to spend. The boy then spots a puppy in the corner, limping, and he asks the shopkeeper if he may have it. The shopkeeper responds by saying the puppy is not for sale, but the boy is desperate to buy the puppy. The shopkeeper tries to convince the boy that puppy is a waste of money because it cannot walk. But the boy still wants the puppy and says that the puppy can walk. He then shows the shopkeeper his artificial leg. We see faults in each other when we don’t put ourselves in other people’s shoes. In this case, the shopkeeper saw the dog’s limping as a fault because he did not put himself in the dog’s shoes. This also proves that we need to be like the Hamsa bird and pick out the good qualities in everyone so we can have a fulfilling life as well.

 

                  (Unwanted Puppy)

God’s address:

Rama lives in the heart of one who offers all fragrances, food, clothes, and ornaments first to the Lord and then use them as prāsada from the Lord.

Our Senses:

Those who use their ears to listen to Rama Katha (the stories of Rama) and whose eyes are waiting for Rama’s Darsana (seeing Rama), their hearts are the Lord’s residence. Since our senses are gifts to us from the Lord, we need to think about how we can use our senses so that Sri Rama can reside in our hearts. A gift is no gift, if we do not accept it. Therefore if we do not accept and use our senses, it is no longer a gift.

Gautama Buddha:

To illustate the concept of choosing to accept gifts we were told the story of Gautama Buddha story. One day, Buddha went for bhiksha, since that is what he lived off of, when a man abuses him, making mean and rude remarks about him. Instead of getting angry, Buddha simply says, “Sir, I have no need for all these, though you have given to me generously, please keep it”. In this story, Buddha chose not to accept the man’s gift of hatred and anger. Therefore, it is not a gift. By not accepting it, Buddha chose to not let another man’s anger hurt him. We learned that we should do the same as Buddha, and not let the gift of anger and hatred hurt us.

Conclusion:

Swami Chinmayananda once said, “What you have is a gift from God. What you do with that gift is your gift to God”. By accepting and using our gifts we are creating a place for God to reside in our hearts. That is our gift to God.

April 8, 2018

Hari Om, Parents

It was really nice to see the kids after a few weeks' break. After the last class on March 4th, we had Vedic Science Utsav on March 11th, in which several of our class kids participated. We all learnt a lot from our projects plus from each other's projects! It was great to see the kids' research, demonstrations, and poster presentations. Very proud of all the participants! Well done, Diya, Hari, Maanas, Nikhita, Rima, Suchir. 

We had our Gurudwara visit on March 18th. As you saw, we had several fun things organized at Gurudwara for us - Talk on Sikhism, Q&A, Turban Tying demo, Langar, Breakfast, etc., Last year, we learnt about the major religions of India, including Sikhism. This year, it was really nice to hear what Sikhism is about, from those who practice the religion.  

We had break on the following two weekends. Hope you all had a good Spring break.

Here's our student blogger, Seema Parmar's account of the class happenings of last class:

     We did many things in Balavihar class this week.  First, the teachers assigned us some time to start planning Samskriti.  During this time, our class decided that we would videotape a skit summarizing the values we learned throughout the year.  The skit we chose is the Story of the Mongoose.  This a tale about a half-gold mongoose who tells a long how he got to be half- gold.  We also appointed jobs for everyone.  For example, Suchir and Diya Hunashimarad are the script writers, Nikhita is the music director, and Seema is the editor. We plan to all work on the script via a shared document.

     After this brainstorming, we resumed our quest into where God resides. The answer is in Ram Charit Manas, the text this class is based on. We revised prior lessons on how Cataka bird is so selective and determined to drink water only from raindrops, and also other stories on perseverance, of King Bruce, etc., We also learnt who Rama was - He was the son of Dasaratha, conqueror of 10 senses, and was born in Ayodhya. We learnt the meaning of Ayodhya - a place where there is no fight(yudh).  If we live by self-control, conquering all our sense organs, we will create an 'Ayodhya' in our heart - where God can reside. 

Remember to come to Samskriti on June 17 2018 from 9 to 12 in the high school auditorium.

March 4, 2018

Hari Om!

Our student blogger for this week's class is Nikhita Iyer. Here's her summary for the class of March 4, 2018.

Importance of Perseverance

What is a goal you have? What will you do to succeed at your goal? What is the key to accomplish your goal?

Thomas A.Palmer once said,”If at first you don’t succeed,try,try,try, again!”. That is the key to succeed at your goal. Last week in balvihar I learned that if I want to succeed at my goal, I have to keep trying and never give up. I also have to be patient’. If I want to succeed at my goal, the result may not come right away.

A Chataka bird is a beautiful bird that only drinks water from the rain drops.It does not drink water from anywhere else.It is always patient until the next rainfall to get its water.

King Bruce was a great king of Scotland. He was fighting in war, and he was losing. He was ready to give up. He was hiding in a cave, after a battle, and he saw a spider spinning a web. The web kept on breaking but the spider never gave up. The spider always tried again and was patient. At last,the spider had spun a beautiful web. The king was inspired to try again and not give up on the war.

Like the Chataka bird and the spider, we need to be patient and be able to wait for our result.That will make us better people over all.

=====================================================

We also started learning to chant Mantra Pushpam. This is usually chanted at the time of offering of the flowers to the deities at the very end of the Prayers, Pujas, and rituals.This mantra is taken from the Taittiriya Aranyakam of the Yajur Veda. 

Please note that Mantra Pushpam is in the Handbook-page # 34-35. Please have the kids practice at home.

We also learnt the God resides in the hearts of those whose ears are like oceans. What does that mean ? An ocean never gets flooded in spite of numerous river streams pouring water into the ocean. Tulsidas says that Ram resides in the hearts of those who never gets tired of listening to Rama's stories.

We also learnt that words trigger thinking and thinking results in love, You become what we think of, and what you love. So it is important to hear only the right things. We discussed what is good for us and what is not good, because what we hear tends to have a profound effect on us. Therefore, we must hear what is good for us.

February 25, 2018

Hari Om!

Today we started the class with an energizing Yoga Class where we learnt not only the yoga poses Surya Namaskar, etc., but also why we should treat the Yoga Mat with respect. Ask your kids about it! Having yoga class means having a shorter instruction class where we continued our quest into where God is. 

We have heard time and again that God is everywhere. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, 

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharmasamsthaparnarthaya sambhavami yuge   yuge

“For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age”

"When you are good and if someone or something is troubling you, I shall come to protect you”

• How does Bhagavan fulfill His promise to help us when we are in trouble? 
• Can He take a form?
• In what form does He come to help us?
• Where does He come from? and
• Does He really come from Vaikuntha?

Saint Tulsidas provides answers to these questions, and gives us the addresses of God in Ramacaritamanas. God is where the world is. All forms are His forms, just as all gold ornaments are nothing but gold only.

Saint Tulsidas wrote Ramayan in Awadhi language. Sage Valmiki wrote Ramayan in Samskritam. We took a pause and learnt the story of Sage Valmiki through a Cartoon, and also learnt about Saint Tulsidas. We will continue to learn about the addresses of God in the coming classes.

February 11, 2018

Hari Om, Parents

Having completed the 'Key to Success' as enunicated in Vibhishana Gita, which is a part of Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, we moved on to the second part of our curriculum - 'P.O. Box Mr God' in today's class. Intriguing , is it n't? Kids also had fun doing a couple of activities in the class.

Opening with Prayers, followed by a quick review of  the 'Dharma Chariot', we continued the past week's exercise on finding which component of Dharma Chariot appealed to our class, and how this chosen component leads to embrace the other components as well. 'Devotion to God' was the way to go for Suchir, while 'Character' was the starting point for Seema. Rima will begin with 'Self Knowledge' and for Diya, it is 'Samtosha or Contentment'.

The curriculum for 'P.O.Box Mr God' is developed from Ayodhya Kanda in Ramcharitmanas, where Saint Tulsidas has shown us where God resides, i.e., the address of God. Hence this curriculum is aptly titled, P.O.Box Mr God. The goal is to drive home the message that God is omnipresent, and He is within and without us. We all can become an address of God, if we assimilate the values described in Ramcharitmanas.

We began with questions on why we write letters, and who God is, what God is and Where God is. We had active participation with answers mostly in the tune of 'God is everywhere'. Children already got the point! Then they wrote down their answers in a piece of paper, which they will compare with what they come up with, at the end of the year.

God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. If God is present everywhere and with Science telling us that same space cannot  be occupied by two objects, where does God reside ? In all of us! God is Brahman. God is the changeless substratum. God of waves is the Ocean, God of pots is mud, so on and so forth. God is thus the cause and is in and through the effects

Kids then wrote a letter to God, mainly to thank him for what they have, which they put inside an envelope that they made during the class. They wrote their self address for 'From' address, and are in a question as to the 'To' address of Mr God. That's where we stopped this class. We will continue with the 'To' address section of Mr God next class.

February 4, 2017

Hari Om!

Our student blogger for this week's class is Hari Karthikeya D. Here's his summary for the class of February 4, 2018.

Last week, during Balavihar class we started with opening prayers. Then we wrapped up our understanding about the Dharma Chariot, and talked about the Quiver, Arrows, and Bow. We also discovered a new topic in the Dharma Chariot, the Armor. Armor in Dharma Chariot symbolizes the unbreakable armor (Kavaca) is devotion to the Guru, and to the Learned People. The idea of Dharma Chariot, represents the life goal of Dharma, this understanding can be employed in our daily life. We then chanted Guru Stotram, ending with prayer.In this class we finally know the components of Dharma Chiarot, what they symbolize, and why we need it ?

This is what we learned about Dharma Chariot past classes.   

Flags

Satya - Truthfulness

Sila - Good Character

Shield

Birati - Dispassion

Reins

Ksama - Forgiveness

Krpa - Compassion

Samaria - Equanimity

Charioteer

Isa Bhajanu - Devotion to God

Wheels

Sauraja - Valor, Courage

Dhiraja - Fortitude, Patience

The Sword

Santosha - Contentment

Horses

Bala - Strength

Bibeka - Discrimination

Dama - Control of Senses

Prahita - Caring for others

The Axe

Dana - Generosity

Bow

Bara Bigyana - Self Knowledge

Quiver

Pure and Steady mind

Arrows

Quietude of mind

Amour

Kavaca - Devotion to the Guru

Guru Stotram

akhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṃ vyāptaṃ yena carācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 1 ||

aṅñānatimirāndhasya ṅñānāñjanaśalākayā |
cakṣurunmīlitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 2 ||

gururbrahmā gururviṣṇuḥ gururdevo maheśvaraḥ |
gurureva parambrahma tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 3 ||

sthāvaraṃ jaṅgamaṃ vyāptaṃ yatkiñcitsacarācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 4 ||

cinmayaṃ vyāpiyatsarvaṃ trailokyaṃ sacarācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 5 ||

tsarvaśrutiśiroratnavirājita padāmbujaḥ |
vedāntāmbujasūryoyaḥ tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 6 ||

caitanyaḥ śāśvataḥśānto vyomātīto nirañjanaḥ |
bindunāda kalātītaḥ tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 7 ||

ṅñānaśaktisamārūḍhaḥ tattvamālāvibhūṣitaḥ |
bhuktimuktipradātā ca tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 8 ||

anekajanmasamprāpta karmabandhavidāhine |
ātmaṅñānapradānena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 9 ||

śoṣaṇaṃ bhavasindhośca ṅñāpaṇaṃ sārasampadaḥ |
guroḥ pādodakaṃ samyak tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 10 ||

na guroradhikaṃ tattvaṃ na guroradhikaṃ tapaḥ |
tattvaṅñānātparaṃ nāsti tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 11 ||

mannāthaḥ śrījagannāthaḥ madguruḥ śrījagadguruḥ |
madātmā sarvabhūtātmā tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 12 ||

gururādiranādiśca guruḥ paramadaivatam |
guroḥ parataraṃ nāsti tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 13 ||

tvameva mātā ca pitā tvameva 
tvameva bandhuśca sakhā tvameva |
tvameva vidyā draviṇaṃ tvameva
tvameva sarvaṃ mama deva deva || 14 ||

January 28, 2018

Our student blogger for this week's class is Isha Trivedi.

Today in Balavihar, we first reviewed the parts of the chariot, 
Wheels: Sauraja - Valor, Courage and Dhiraja - Fortitude, patience
Flags:

Satya - Truthfulness

Sila - Good character

Horses:

Bala - Strength

Viveka/Bibeka - Discrimination

Dama - Control of senses

Parahita - Caring for others

Reins:

Ksama - Forgiveness

Kripa - Compassion

Samata - Equanimity

Shield: Birati - Dispassion

Axe: Dhaana - Charity

Charioteer: Isa (Bhajanu) - Devotion to God

Sword: Samtosa - Contentment

Bow: Bara Bigyana - Self knowledge

Quiver: Pure and steady mind

We learned about the arrows in depth:

Quietude of mind is Sama.

The five noble values of life are:

- Non-injury

- Truthfulness

- Self Control

- Non stealing

- Non hoarding

The five daily disciplines are:

• Austerity
• Study of the scriptures
• Purity of mind
• Contentment
• Worship of God

We learned about Ahimsa.  We talked about doing the right thing.  If you want to hurt someone, think, would you want that to happen to you?  The answer would be no so, don't do it to them.  

We talked about truthfulness, always tell the truth.  "Three things cannot be hidden - the sun, the moon, and the truth." Buddha said.  

We learned what Brahmacharya means, it means self control.  

Asteya means non stealing, which brings me to, we looked at a bunch of pictures and stated which ones were stealing and which weren't.  

We concluded our class with the closing prayers.