Hari Om!
Pranaam
Dear Parents,
It was wonderful meeting the children in class this weekend! Below is the update of our class on Friday.
Opening prayers: Om Sahana Vavatu
Vakratunda Mahakaaya
Saraswathi Namastubhyam
Guru Brahma Gurur VishnuH
Neelambuja Shyamala Komalaangam (Rama Shloka)
Quote for the day: Mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell!
Bhagavad Gita: Chapeter 18 verses 45 - 46 (available in the handbook)
Story: Mantra and Kaikeyi - Rama ordered to go to the forest for 14 years
Character Analysis: Kaikeyi
Aarati and Pledge : Temple - Lead by Grade 7
Next Balavihar class: 10/19/18 (There is no Balavihar class on Oct 12th)
Few Announcements:
1.The CHYKS (Yuva Kendra) and JCHYKS (High Schoolers) have organized a Garba night on Saturdy, Oct 13th, 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm at the Ashram. Please save the date and do come to celebrate Navaratri with us. Entry is free. Snacks and dandiya sticks are available for purchase at a nominal cost.
2. The next Balavihar (10/19) will be Saraswati Pooja. The children will have the opportunity to perform the Pooja themselves! Please encourage them to wear Indian clothes as it is a special day!
3. The CORD Walkathon is at the Mercer County Park on Sunday, Oct 28th at 10:00 AM. You must have received information about it. Please register at http://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/cord-walkathon/ to walk. It is also a field day with fun games and activities for children. Parents, if you are available to volunteer for running the activities please join this WA group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/7xKAxcOUhcqLCduc5tREIc
Attendance will be taken at the park. Please don't miss this great opportunity to participate as a family and give back to our community.
Summary:
We started the class with the opening shlokas. We briefly discussed the general meaning of Sahana Vavatu - a prayer chanted by the students and teacher together vowing to be friends and mutually gain enlightenment by positive exchange of knowledge! Followed by this we chanted our other regular shlokas.
After a quick recap of the story so far, we discussed the story of how Mantra poisoned the mind of Kaikeyi and changed her from 'extremely happy with Rama's coronation' to 'extremely angry and disappointed' with the same. The situation had not changed but the way she perceived it had gone completely the other way! Her mind had indeed made a hell of heaven! We then opened the quote up for discussion. We discussed a few analogies to drive home the point and the children received the message very well! We understood that in order to improve ourselves and be happy, we have to first accept the situation and pay attention to what we learn from it and how to avoid mistakes in future. After this, we had Gita chanting broadcast. We learnt verses 45-46 from Swamiji. Since it was our class' turn to lead the Aarati, we did a quick practice before heading to the temple. Our class did a great job during Aarati! We are very proud of each one of them. We will see them again on Friday, Oct 19th. Happy Navarartri!
Grade 7 Sevikas
