Dear Parents,
Happy New year to all of you and welcome to our session in 2019!
We had a great class today and we are looking forward to having a fun filled learning year ahead of us;
Shlokas: We started with morning shlokas followed by Guru strotam;
Meditation: We did our morning meditation followed by focus exercise. We did great!!
Quotation of the Day: Act efficiently whenever you work. The results of action depend upon the very quality of the action.
Shlokas before starting Ramayana: Sri Ram Ram Rameti and Nilambhuja-syamala
Ramayana story: We covered the story of Parashurama and how he realized his mistake of being arrogant after Rama put the thread on his bow. Dashrata decided on coronating Rama to become the king of Ayodhya. Manthara poisoned Kaikeyi's mind and reminded her to ask for the two boons King Dashrataha had promised her. Kaikeyi refuses her plan initially but then gets entangled in Manthra's evil plan. She asked King Dashratha her two boons.
There was meaningful discussion around the story. Students talked about how Kaikayi could have asked for Bharata to become a King and asked for Rama to never interfere in the kingdom instead of asking him to go to forest for 14 years. There was a discussion why Manthara wanted Bharata to become king and why did she love Kaikeyi so much.
Key To success: What does the flag of the chariot represent? Truthfulness (Satya) and Good Character ( Sila). We discussed what truthfulness is and why it's hard to be truthful. What are the challenges that we may face when trying to be truthful. Good Character implies good conduct, integrity and modesty. How do we develop good conduct? By doing satsanga and being in a good company (story of Narada was narrated to make the point).
What do the horses of the chariot represent? Strength (Bala), Discrmination ( Bibeka), Control of senses ( Dama), Caring for others ( Parahita)
Strength: We discussed that the real strength is the moral strength and the strength does not have to be about defying and resisting the world around us; it is being able to bend and accommodate to outside circumstances.
Discrimination: The ability of intellect to distinguish right and wrong. We discuss the scenarios students face these days like how much screen time etc.
Control of senses: Story of a Monkey who had no control over his senses
Caring for others: We talked about RAK (random act of kindness) and how we can incorporate this in our daily lives to make this world a better place. The students were asked to perform one random act of kindness and share with the class.
Brain Storming for Annual Day presentation: Each student is asked to think about what they would like to do and share with the group next class. The students want to have a stall or booth and raise money for the ashram.
Closing: We finished with aarti and pledge in the temple hall.
Thank You,
Sincerely,
Suma and Ruchi
7th Grade Sevikas
