HariOm parents,
We had a fun session this morning. Three high school girls ( Priya, Reva & Pooja) taught today's first part of the class. They did an awesome job connecting with 7th graders and teaching them about the wheels of the chariot by which one can gain victory as described in Vibhshana Geeta. They also came up with a fun game of human knot to demonstrate the wheel of patience/fortitude. Our 7th graders had lots of fun forming knot and untangling. Thank you Priya, Reva & Pooja.
Following are the key points of today's session :
Opening prayers: Om saha naavavatu.
Meditation followed by focus exercise.
Ramayana recap in 5 min We went over Ramayana as each student contributed one sentence and re-told the main storyline from the birth of Rama to the killing of Ravana.
Key to Success:
We discussed Vibhishana Gita - the teaching by Rama to Vibhishana on the battlefield which explains how success can be achieved in our lives. In the battlefield Ravana arrives in a golden chariot with a lot of weapons, dressed up in rich clothes and armor. Rama, on the other hand, comes barefoot, in plain clothes holding a bow & arrows. Seeing this Vibhishana gets anxious and asks Rama how he is going to defeat Ravana who is riding this great chariot. Rama replies back saying that the chariot by which one gains victory is totally different. The wheels of that chariot are made of Courage/valor and Patience/fortitude.
Priya Senior Co-teacher explained about the wheel of Sauraja - courage/valor and gave the wheel activity where the kids got a print out of a wheel and they wrote the things which are acts of courage on the spokes of the wheel.
Reva our senior co-teacher brainstormed on the acts of courage versus acts of foolishness. She also listed some acts and fun situations and questioned if these are acts of foolishness or courage. Kids had interesting conversations discussing.
Pooja another senior co-teacher explained about the wheel of Dhirata - patience/fortitude. She explained the importance of mental strength. How physically strong Ravana finally lost everything he had because of his mental weakness - his desire to capture Sita.
We also discussed a short moral story - The golden egg - How important it's to be patient.
Quote of the day: Life is a boomerang. What you give you will get.
Here is what some of our students Sahiti, Nikitha, Varun Krishna, Srivatsa & Pavitra had to say:
This quote means that what you do is always somehow going to come back to you. Example- If you show love you will get love back just like a Boomerang.. When you throw a boomerang, it always comes back to you.
Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. It means that fate happens and you get what you deserve based on how you treat other people.
This quote means that what you give is what you get. If you give kindness, you get kindness in return. If you help someone out, that person may come back and help you out when you need.
If you are mean to people life will be mean to you. If you are nice, then life will reward you.
Bhagwat Geeta Chanting with Swamiji
Human Knot activity: We played a human knot game and figured out that we really need to work with patience in order to overcome issues when working in a team.
The class ended with aarti and pledge in the temple.
Thank You,
Suma and Ruchi
7th Grade Sevikas
