October 21, 2012

Hari OM.
After meditation and opening prayers, we learned the second stanza of Ganesha Pancaratnam. We then moved on to an interesting discussion on Navaraatri.

Navaraatri

The kids shared with the class how this festival is celebrated in their home. Some of them had already visited Golus, display of dolls; few others had participated in a Gaarba dance; many visited temples and friends' Golu; some of their moms had fasted and prayed; all had tasted sweets and special treats on the occasion of Navaraatri. We then learned that nava(nine) raatri(night) is a celebration spanning nine nights, praying to the Supreme Goddess: aadiparaashakti. It is believed that Goddess Lalitha Parameshwari fought a fierce battle against the demon Bandaasura. Lalitha devi's army comprised many devis: sampatkari, mantrini, varaahi, dandanaatha, etc.. Vijaya Dasami is celebrated on the tenth day when the asura was vanquished by Lalitha devi. 

In south India, the first three nights are dedicated to Durga Devi, second three nights to Lakshmi Devi, and the last three nights to Saraswati Devi. The Golu usually has an odd number of steps. Why? - a girl asked, and that shall be the research topic for next class. An array of vegetables, fruits, birds, animals, men & women, mahatmas, avataars, gods, goddesses, and a kalasham are displayed in a specific order. The steps represent various forms of life from lowest to highest, and symbolically represent that as humans we have the power to ascend and become mahatmas, or realized souls. At the same time we also have the risk of descending to lower forms of life.

Kasturi Uncle had invited the fifth grade class to visit the Golu in their house. Some of us had the privilege to see the amazing display at his house.

Golu at Kasturi Uncle's House

Ganesha Symbolism

We divided the class in to three teams: Durga, Lakshmi & Saraswati, and had a quiz on Ganesha and all the facts we had learned about. The kids were quite sharp in their memory and could recall new vocabulary words: mUrti, upaasana, upavaas, names of vedas, what Ganesha held in each of his four hands, symbolism of the trunk, mouse, etc. Good job kids, keep up the spirit.

The class then did an origami project and created a booklet, summarizing the symbolism of Ganesha. The kids really enjoyed the activity, and leaned another Ganesha shloka: "vakratunda mahaakaaya .."

Gita Vidyaarambam

We had a glorious, auspicious start to our study of Gita. We prayed as a class to Ganesha and Saraswati before beginning our study of Chapter 13. We lit a candle, an incense stick, prayed and sought blessings for our Gita study. Kasturi Uncle had brought hand-outs of chapter 13 printed in exquisite card-stock. Kids applied a mark of fresh sandalwood paste and kum-kum to the sheets. They then put them in sheet protectors and safely stored in their folder. We learned the name of the thirteenth chapter, and the first verse, which is Arjuna's question to Bhagavan Sri Krishna. 

Parents! Please encourage kids to chant Gita at home. Please be their role-model and chant Gita with them, to inspire them. There is an online learning tool available to help with the chanting. These resources can be found at CMTC Gita Chanting Yajna Home Page.

Next sunday the class will meet at Mercer County Park for the CORD Walkathon. Please remember to register for the walkathon. Parents were sent emails regarding CORD Walkathon registration and information. We will have a brief Bala Vihar class at the park prior to the walk, then the kids shall walk with their family. 

Well, we had so much fun in one class! We concluded the class with closing prayers and Pledge. 

Eagerly waiting to see you all at the park on October 28th,

Anjana Aunty & Prasad Uncle

October 14, 2012

Hari OM.
We started the class chanting OM followed by meditation. Few kids who had come in earlier than 10AM had remembered Likhita Japa and got stamps for their exemplary behavior :) We sang the opening prayers and revised the first shloka of Ganesa Pancaratnam.

We quickly reviewed what we had learned in our last class, leading to the discussion of the research assignment. We then looked up and found out that the highest civilian honor bestowed by the U.S.Government is the "Presidential Medal of Freedom". The kids wanted to know about the recipients of this Award, leading to the discussion of Stephen Hawking, who received this award from President Obama in August 2009. Some of the kids were really excited to explain how inspiring Stephen Hawking is. Click here to know more  about this award.

We resumed our discussion of Ganesha. We discussed about the trunk of Ganesha and how it is an efficient and highly adaptable tool. We also discussed about what Ganesha holds in his four hands. Kids quickly remembered Modakam and the blessing mudra. We then discussed about the significance of holding an axe and a rope. In some pictorial representations, Ganesa is also found to be holding a lotus along with a rope, and we briefly discussed the significance of the lotus flower. We also learned that in the state of Tamil Nadu, one of the many names of Ganesa is "Aingaran", meaning one with five hands; as the trunk is also considered as another hand. It is known as tumbikkai, kai meaning hand in Tamil. We discussed about Ganesa's pot-belly, and how it represents that all the knowledge he has acquired has been assimilated or digested. We talked about how knowledge is useful, only when one can apply it in the correct situation.

We then talked about C.O.R.D, the walkathon that we are going to participate on October 28th, and why it is part of the Chinmaya Mission Tradition. Kids were excited that this year, they could walk together with their BalaVihar class-mates, provided their parents permit. Parents please register as early as possible for the walkathon. Please refer to the Announcements section for the link to register.

We talked about the story of Kubera and Ganesa. We also talked about the story of how mouse became Ganesa's vehicle. 

After attendance, the class dispersed to the auditorium for Aarti and Pledge.

Take care until we meet next on Oct 21st. Please remember to look for an item that you could donate to the CORD Silent Auction program, and bring it with you next sunday.

Regards,
Anjana Aunty & Prasad Uncle

October 7, 2012

Hari OM.

We started the class with meditation. We chanted OM and sang our opening Prayers.

We had a discussion on the Research Topic assigned from last class: Why do we fast?
Kids shared their reasoning, and findings on Fasting. Majority of the class believed that we fast to purify our body and mind, while some were concerned that we would hurt ourselves by fasting.

We talked about the word upavAs, which in many Indian languages means "fasting". In samskritam upavAs means to 'live near God'. We had learned in Chapter 12 of Gita last year a similar word, upAsanA, which means to 'sit near God', or to 'worship God'.

During Swami IshwaranandaJi's lectures in Vrindavan Ashram last week, he had explained how the practice of fasting originally started. upavAs started as a day to spend with God; singing His names and reading or listening to various stories that depict His glory. We inherit the divine virtues of the glorious God by spending a day with Him, just like we catch the enthusiasm of a friend after having a play-date with him/her. During upavAs, as devotees skipped daily chores of shopping, planning a meal, cooking, etc. , they had ended up eating lightly - fruits and prasad offered to God, or sometimes even skipped their meals. The mind otherwise pre-occupied by thoughts on food, now entertained noble thoughts and stayed with the Lord. Thus fasting was an effect of the decision to dedicate a day to the Lord.

We also talked about the medical benefits of a light diet. Eating easy-to-digest and light food, detoxifies the body and flushes undigested food products consumed by us. Every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Periodical fasting thus rejuvenates our digestive system, cleansing our body and does not harm our body. Fasting also helps us gain control over our senses and purifies our thoughts.

Ganesha

We then listened to M.S.Subbulakshmi's rendition of Ganesa Pancaratnam, a shloka/poem composed by Adi Shankaracharya.  We discussed that M.S.Subbulakshmi is the first musician to have received the Bharata Ratna Award, the highest civilian honor in India. 

Assignment: What is the highest civilian honor bestowed by U.S Government? 

We learned the meaning of the first verse word-by-word, and sang as a group. Kids were asked to pratice the first verse until our next class.

We then moved on to discussions on what Ganesha's elephant head, ears, small focussed eyes and broken tusk symbolises.  We discussed why we call Ganesha to remove our obstacles: because he has the knowledge to solve all our problems. His vast knowledge is represented with his huge, elephant head. He gathers his knowledge, by listening carefully with his mind focussed, and retains the information in his head. Not only does Ganesha have the knowledge, but he effectively applies it in every situation. He discriminates between good and bad choices, always keeps only the good and discards the bad choices. We then talked about the story of how Ganesha broke one of his tusks!

Closing

After attendance, we sang Arati. We recited our pledge, lead by two kids in the class. 

We will meet again on October 14th to continue our discussions on Ganesha.

Anjana Aunty & Prasad Uncle