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.