Feb 24, 2013

We started the class with Likhita Japa of OM namaḥ śiva̅ya. After chanting OM three times, we closed our eyes, held our hands in chin mudra and meditated for a few minutes. We sang opening prayers, followed by shlokas and bhajans in praise of each deity we have learned so far.

We had a quiz on facts we have learned so far about Lord Shiva.

We started our discussion on "SivaLingam". We learned about the various parts of a siva lingam - brahma bhaaga, vishnu bhaaga and rudra bhaaga. The elliptical rudra bhaaga represents the formless Lord Siva and as Lord Siva loves "abhishekha", devotees offer holy water, milk, honey, bhasmam, bilva leaves etc.  on the top of the rudra bhaaga. We also discussed about TriPundra and reviewed the significance of wearing bhasma.

We discussed about "Nandi", Lord Shiva's vehicle. The class had an interesting discussion regarding ṛṣabha. We discussed the meaning of the word ṛṣabha, recalled how SriKrishna refers to Arjuna as bharatarṣabha in Bhagavad Gi̅ta̅. We discussed about the zodiac sign - ṛṣabham.

We then discussed about a practice followed when visiting shiva temples. Devotees first offer their salutations to Nandi; then place the index finger and thumb of the right hand on the two horns of Nandi, and look through the circle formed to get a darshan of Lord Shiva. We discussed the symbolism behind this practice. The index finger represents the individual ego, the thumb represents the self, the Lord within. They are far removed from each other, each facing a different direction. However to get a vision of the Lord, we need help from the two horns of nandi that represent viveka (discrimination) and vaira̅gya (dispassion). Nandi that is placed inside the temple represents a realized soul, and the Nandi that is placed outside the temple is an extroverted human. The two horns of the Nandi placed outside symbolize the two gunas or characteristics: tamas and rajas.

The class chanted Bhagavad Geeta verses that they have learned so far in Chapter 13. They learned to chant two new verses, Verse #11, Verse #12. We briefly discussed how SriKrishna explains the term Knowledge in verses 8-12.

After attendance, teachers and kids from the other section joined our class. We brainstormed ideas for the game-show that fifth grade shall be hosting on the Annual day. Fifth grade team finalized the game, brainstormed on the high level task list, and did a mock round of the game.
Note: Fifth graders are requested to think through the game show, decide what role they would like to play, and send their suggestions regarding the name of the game-show, ideas for prizes, game presentation. Please put your thoughts down in words, and share your thoughts by sending an email to 5thgradecmtc@gmail.com.

After Arti and closing prayers the class dispersed.

Blessings,
Fifth Grade Teachers

Feb 10, 2013

Hari OM.
The class warmed up by writing OM dakṣiṇāmūrtaye namaḥ, in the Likhita Japa notebook. We chanted OM three times and meditated for a few minutes. It was encouraging to see that even those kids who usually fidget their feet, made an effort to be still. We then sang our opening prayers. The teachers had brought more castanets for the class bhajan. Kids sang the bhajan - "Shiva Shambho Shambho ..." very melodiously. We recorded the kids singing the bhajan. Please play the audio clip and listen to the bhajan.



We started our discussion on Lord Dakshinamurthy. Dakshninamurthy is a personification of Lord Shiva as a youthful, spiritual Guru. Dakshinamurthy is revered as the spiritual Guru who leads his disciples from immortality to mortality. He instructs his disciples through silence. In this regard, we discussed how profound transformations always happen from within. An egg when broken from the outside gets destroyed, however when let to mature on its own and it breaks open from within, a new life springs out. Something to ponder upon ...

We discussed what are held in the four hands of Dakshinamurthy. We discussed that with the chin mudra or jnana mudra, the Lord is gesturing that our prime goal is to strive for one-ness with supreme consciousness. This can be achieved by detaching oneself from body, mind and intellect. All kids practiced this mudra.

We learned that the demon who is crushed under the Lord's feet is known as "apasmara", symbolizing our ego and ignorance.

As today was the fifth graders' turn to lead arti and Pledge at the auditorium, we then reviewed the arti songs  and shlokas. The kids showed such great enthusiasm in learning the Chinmaya Arti.

We reviewed shlokas 1-10 in Bhagavad Geeta, chapter 13. The kids can chant quite well reading from the hand-out. We have instructed them to chant every day with their parents, so that it would go down in memory. Parents please remember to register the kids for the Geeta Chanting Yajna. We request you to be a role model and inspire your kids by registering yourself as well, to read Chapter 13, if memorizing is too big a challenge :) Please refer to the announcements section for Geeta Chanting Yajna Home Page.

At 11:30, we dispersed to the auditorium. After announcements, the fifth grade kids from both sections lead Arti and pledge. With enthusiasm, confidence and devotion the fifth graders led the group. The kids did a fantastic job! We are blessed to have an opportunity to teach and interact with all of you.

See you all on Feb 24th. Blessings,
Anjana Aunty & Prasad Uncle

Feb 3, 2013 - Section 1

Hari OM.
We started the class with Likhita Japa of the mantra OM naṭara̅ja̅ya namaḥ. The class then meditated for about 3 minutes. We sang our opening prayers. Kids are learning a new Shiva bhajan: shiva shambho shambho, to add to our opening prayers. Kids took turns making beats with a castanet, similar to finger cymbals.

After revising all the facts about Shiva that we have learned in the last few classes, we moved on to the topic of the day "Nataraja", the Lord of Dance. Most kids were familiar with the idol of Lord Nataraja we had in our class altar.

We carefully examined the four hands of Lord Nataraja and what was held in each hand.

The rear two hands of Lord Nataraja, hold the Damaru and a bowl of fire. Damaru, a type of drum, symbolizes sound or creation. Damaru symbolizes that he is the lord of creation. Fire, represents destruction, reinforcing that He is the Lord of Dissolution. Nataraja, the Lord of Dance, is symbolically expressing that Creation and Destruction go hand in hand. One cannot function without the other.

The front left hand of Lord Nataraja is held in an abhaya mudra, the blessings gesture. The front right hand is held in a Gaja hasta, an Elephant's tusk. This hand is pointing to the raised right foot, signaling the way to get Lord Nataraja's blessings.

On examining the Lord's feet in the idol, we noticed that the Lord is standing on a Demon, known as Mulaayaka. This Demon represents the evil in all of us, like anger, pride, jealousy, greed, selfishness, laziness, etc. We discussed that we all have a mental picture of "Who we want to be" and an actual state of "Who we are". The difference between the two is caused by the evils mentioned above. Lord Nataraja is showing us that with our own effort, we have to raise above the evil tendencies in us. We seek Lord Nataraja's blessings to help us conquer the demons in us, and realize the state of perfection.

Kids in groups of four, standing one behind the other, demonstrated Lord Nataraja with his four hands and raised foot. Kids had fun, struggling to hold the pose until we could take a picture. However, Lord Nataraja though dancing, has a calm and serene face, teaching us that we have to be poised and calm even while we are working hard performing our duties.

With that we concluded the symbolism of Lord Nataraja.

Prasad uncle then narrated an interesting story that explained why Brahma is not worshipped on Earth and why Shiva is usually worshipped in a Linga Roopam and not human form. Kids were fascinated to find out that Sage bhṛgu had an extra eye in his toe, which was the source of his Ego, and how Lord Vishnu while washing his feet with water removed this eye. This story also explained why Lord Vishnu comes down as Balaji or Venkateshwara in Tirumala, and how Vakula Devi gets to perform the wedding of lord venkateshwara and goddess padmavati.

We discussed how Bhagavan Sri Krishna had explained the term kṣetram or prakṛti or Field in the verses we had learned to chant in the previous class. We discussed that in the next few verses that we were going to learn, Krishna explains the term jñanam or knowledge. The class chanted the first seven verses. We then learned to chant verse 8,9 and 10. Kids took the challenge of chanting janma-mṛtyu-jara̅-vya̅dhi-duḥkha-doṣa̅nudarśanam in one breath without a pause, and were successful in chanting it! It was almost 11:40 and we stopped with verse 10 of Bhagavad Gita.

After attendance and closing prayers the class dismissed. Parents, please encourage and inspire the kids to chant Gita every day at dusk.

Let us all strive to conquer the demons in us and raise ourselves to perfection,
Anjana Aunty and Prasad Uncle