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'.
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.
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.
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
