Beginning prayers
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· Meditation
· sahanaavavatu
· gurustotram verses 1-9 and 14
Gitaa chanting
· bhagavadgItaa 12th adhyaaya 1 - 9 shlokas
Story time
· 3 types of devotion (kapila story)
· sati
Chanting/Songs
· none
Quiet time
· none
Game time
· none
Ending prayers and pledge
· pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
· chinmaya aarati - in the auditorium
· om jaya jagadIsha hare - in the auditorium
· pledge - in the auditorium
Rashmi Aunty and Indira Aunty:
Our morning prayers and meditation are coming along very well. Today, we did not have to tell anyone to keep their eyes closed or not wag their legs or any such thing! They all know now what we do during meditation. We get into our routine right away.
We are learning a lot of new shlokas in gurustotram, gItaa chanting, etc. Today, we had a surprise pop quiz! (We have always had informal quizzes, but today, we specially played it like a game with points for boys team vs. girls team, to make it more interesting :). In the end, it was a tie, both had equal points!
We learnt about what devotion (bhakti) is today. We learnt the 3 types of devotion - taamasika, raajasika and saatvika are the 3 varieties. We learnt that taamasika bhakti is practiced with a selfish motive, in order to destroy others. raajasika bhakti is praying for the betterment of oneself. saatvika bhakti is the purest kind of devotion where one prays due to love of God and betterment of others.
We then heard the story of sati. She was the daughter of dakSha and prasUti (manu/shatarUpa's daughter). sati was married to Lord shiva. We learnt in detail how a dakSha was arrogant of his possessions. His own daughter sati emulated herself in fire and became ashes because of his conduct. The very 6 qualities that make a good person (knowledge, austerity, wealth, great body,, youth and birth in a good family), converted him to a bad one due to his blemished vision of arrogance. We learnt with many examples, how the same good qualities can turn bad in an instant, the minute ego creeps in. We then finished off with ending prayers.
We did not have time for raama hare song or likhita japa as we had to go to the auditorium for aarati and pledge. We will see you all next week.
________________________________________________
We are learning a lot of new shlokas in gurustotram, gItaa chanting, etc. Today, we had a surprise pop quiz! (We have always had informal quizzes, but today, we specially played it like a game with points for boys team vs. girls team, to make it more interesting :). In the end, it was a tie, both had equal points!
We learnt about what devotion (bhakti) is today. We learnt the 3 types of devotion - taamasika, raajasika and saatvika are the 3 varieties. We learnt that taamasika bhakti is practiced with a selfish motive, in order to destroy others. raajasika bhakti is praying for the betterment of oneself. saatvika bhakti is the purest kind of devotion where one prays due to love of God and betterment of others.
We then heard the story of sati. She was the daughter of dakSha and prasUti (manu/shatarUpa's daughter). sati was married to Lord shiva. We learnt in detail how a dakSha was arrogant of his possessions. His own daughter sati emulated herself in fire and became ashes because of his conduct. The very 6 qualities that make a good person (knowledge, austerity, wealth, great body,, youth and birth in a good family), converted him to a bad one due to his blemished vision of arrogance. We learnt with many examples, how the same good qualities can turn bad in an instant, the minute ego creeps in. We then finished off with ending prayers.
We did not have time for raama hare song or likhita japa as we had to go to the auditorium for aarati and pledge. We will see you all next week.
________________________________________________
Alka Aunty and Prasad Uncle:
