Class Recap December 16th (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Dear Parents and Guardians,


Today was a special day for 1st graders. In addition to our usual class routine,we did a Seva Project. Many of you know that we were supposed to prepare breakfast bags for TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen). This seva was meant to help out all those families who are less fortunate than all of us and would enjoy and cherish our gift.

This morning we talked about how fulfilling it feels when we give to others. All the students shared about what they have and how blessed and grateful we all are. We then colored a index card to keep in the breakfast bag we were going to make. The children did an amazing job. They made nice colorful index cards with best wishes and happy holiday season written on them.

After this we all went to the cafeteria and made the breakfast bags. It was so much fun. Each child got to put the breakfast items as well as the index card inside the brown bags. It looked like a assembly line. Each child patiently waited for their turn to start the bagging process. We are so proud of our kids to be so respectful and disciplined while doing this seva.

Once we finished making our bags we lined up and went back to our class. We did our story, chanted Geeta shlokas and distributed coloring book to take home for the holidays. The students can finish up the chapters they were not able to color. But there is no need to color beyond chapter 17 as we have not covered the story after that. At the end we did arti and pledge and it was time to go home.

Enjoy the Holidays and See you all next year. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Class Recap (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

It was a pleasure to see the smiling faces of children at our Balavihar class today. As always we started with our chantings and meditation followed by a recap of the Ramayana story that we are following. We have to remember so many names from the story. We practiced all the names together. We also progressed in our story and enjoyed listening to the tales of "Rishi Agastya" and his mighty power. Also one of the character that became the turning point in Ramayana was introduced. And it is none other then " Supanakha".

After the story we all sang our bhajan and danced as well. We also did some stretches and yoga moves. Towards the end of the class we chanted the three sholkas from Geeta and it was so nice to see that some of the students are already started to memorize the shlokas. Keep up the good work. We colored our books and it was time to go home!

Next class we will be making breakfast bags for TASK (Tenton Area Soup Kitchen). Thank you to all of you for your contribution. Kids will have lots of fun assembling the bags. We will also talk about the gift of giving and the true happiness that one gets when giving and sharing.

Take care and have a good week. See you all coming Sunday.

Class Recap for 2nd December ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

 

We had a great class today. The students are now getting acquainted with the class routine. Everybody came on time and we all did our warm ups and our daily prayer recitation with lots of energy and enthusiasm.In story time we talked about "Bharata's reaction" when he came back to Ayodhya to find that Rama had gone to forest and King Dashratha had died. We also learned that Bharata along with almost all of Ayodhya went to meet Sri Rama and asked him to come back. At the end, Bharata got Rama's charan Paduka and decided to take care of Ayodhya on behalf of Rama. 

 

We all colored our books and it was time to go home!

 

  We would like to inform you that our grade will be doing a 'Seva project' in December.  To be more specific, we will be making breakfast bags for those who are less fortunate.  We will be dropping the packages off at TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen).  The role our children shall play is, they would make these bags.  We shall bring the supplies and the children will put the packets together.  This will be an opportunity for the children to learn about giving and also sharing what they already have in abundance!  The collective thoughts and love of all would make it equivalent to a yagna.   More importantly, when the children make the packages, their love will be included.  That is sure to receive extra blessings from those that receive their warmth.

To materialize this project, we would need your help.This coming Sunday, we are collecting a suggested donation of $10 per child in this regard.  Also, we will be talking about this project with the children in class.  If they already know about it, they might have their own thoughts to share about the project :).  So, please share it with your children.

Look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Class Seva for 1st Grade

Hari om parents,

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving break.  We are emailing to you today to let you know, our grade will be doing a 'Seva project' in December.  To be more specific, we will be making breakfast bags for those who are less fortunate.  We will be dropping the packages off at TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen).  The role our children shall play is, they would make these bags.  We shall bring the supplies and the children will put the packets together.  This will be an opportunity for the children to learn about giving and also sharing what they already have in abundance!  The collective thoughts and love of all would make it equivalent to a yagna.   More importantly, when the children make the packages, their love will be included.  That is sure to receive extra blessings from those that receive their warmth.

To materialize this project, we would need your help.  On this Sunday, we are collecting a suggested donation of $10 per child in this regard.  Also, we will be talking about this project with the children in class.  If they already know about it, they might have their own thoughts to share about the project :).  So, please share it with your children.

Look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Regards,
1st and 2nd Grade sevikas team.

Class Recap Section 1 ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

We had yet another fun filled and exciting class today. In the beginning we shared what we did this weekend or what we were planning to do the rest of the day. We recited our prayers. One of the prayer that we recite is the evening prayer. Before reciting this we discussed the importance of light and that we should be thankful for light. We agreed how difficult it was when many of us lost power during the recent super storm. And we should be thankful for what we have.

The story time was all about "Sravana". The striking virtue of Sravana is his devotion towards his parents.We also learned that though unknowingly King Dashratah killed Sravana, he got the result of his action.

We did a lot of discussion during our story time. It is really nice to hear feedback from kids. Please talk to your children about the class. This helps them retain the story and what we learned in the class.

We also did some exercises as we did not want to sit for the entire class. We colored our books. The class came to an end after we sang our favorite bhajan. Next weekend we will be closed for "Thanksgiving". Enjoy the long weekend and the class will resume on 2nd of December. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Class Recap for Section 1

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

A warm welcome back to all our students. We did not have class last week because of "Hurricane Sandy" but now we are back with full enthusiasm and energy.

Today's highlight was starting the practice of "Bhagwata Geeta" chapter 13. We did first shloka and we have given the handouts. If you have not received the handout, let us know and we will give it to you. Please practice at home. We will post more details of "Geeta Chanting Competition" later in coming months.

The story time covered the excitement of Sri Rama's coronation preparation and the poisonous seeds sown by Manthara. The contrast of happiness and sorrow in Ayodhya. The poise with which Rama faced the situation. We also played a game where kids were given different scenarios and were asked what will they do if they acted like Kaikayi and what will their decision be when they acted like Rama. There was a very interesting discussion. At the end of the game we all repeated together " I, Me, Mine is Kaikayi" and " We, Us, All is Rama"

We did the coloring and sang our Bhajan. The class ended with aarti and Pledge. We look forward to our next class. Have a good week.

Class Recap for October 21st (Section 1)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,


We all had a fun time in our class today. We all are reciting our "Mantras" and "Shlokas" very well. Please keep practicing. We request all the parents to bring their children on time so none of us miss any activity in the class room. If you are late and "Meditation" is going on please wait outside the classroom till we are finished. We don't want the class to get disturbed when everybody is trying to concentrate.

Today our story was about King Janaka and how he found Sita. We also talked about" Rama and Sita's "wedding! How exciting. We discussed what happens in weddings and compared the festivities and celebration during " Rama and Sita" wedding and weddings today. It was really interesting to hear feed back from children regarding what they think happened during "Rama- Sita" wedding. We also learned about "Parashurama" and his fury.

We all did the coloring and sang our Bhajan with lots of enthusiasm and energy. The class ended with aarti and Pledge.

Please note that our next class is going to be in "Mercer County Park" where "CORD WALKATHON" will be held. Please register for the walkathon if you have not done so. It is going to be a fun filled event for the whole family. We will meet at the park as a class for couple of minutes and then all the kids will  be free to walk/have fun with their parents.We have already talked about it in the class. Please visit the "chinmayavrindavan.org" for more details.

Have a good week and see you at the park on October 28th.

Class Recap for 14th October ( Ruchi and Rukmani Aunty)

Hari Om Everyone,

We had a great class today and we got a brand new classroom! It is much bigger so we all can do our activities and games much better.Our new class room number is A-105.

As usual we started with shlokas. We did "Om Sahana Vavatu" followed by "Daily Prayers".We then recited two shlokas from "Sri Guru Strotam". We all recited loudly and looks like we have been practicing at home because most of us can say them without looking at the book. Great job everyone. Soon we will be starting "Geeta Chanting " as well.

We did one minute meditation. We are so proud of our students. There is so much discipline and silence during this time. It is hard to believe that we have first graders in the class. We have asked the students to practice meditation before bed time or/and after waking up.

Story time was exciting as we learned about "Vamana" and also the fate of "Maricha and Subahu". We heard the story of "Ahalya" and played a game related to the story. We can't wait to hear next week's story as "Rama will reach Mithila".

We finally started the coloring books. Almost everyone has bought the coloring books now. If you haven't paid, please do so by next class. Please make sure that students have crayons so they are able to enjoy this activity. We will color the chapter that we have covered in the class. The books will be collected at the end of the class. The coloring books will be sent home periodically.

We finished our bhajan (Khate bhi Ram kaho). It was so much fun doing the actions during the bhajan. Please ask your children about the bhajan. They have remembered it by now.

Aarti and pledge was done in the auditorium.

Thank You so much and have a good week. See you coming Sunday.

Class Agenda for October 7th ( Ruchi and Rukmani Aunty)

Hari Om Everyone,

We had a great time today in our class. Today we got our coloring books! How exciting! Some of the parents have bought the books already (it is $5). Those of you who haven't got it, please get them next week. Please bring exact change. Thank you so much!

We all started with our mantras and shlokas followed by meditation. It is amazing how still and silent these young kids are during this time. Our request to parents is that please come on time so your kids do not miss this important part of our agenda but if you are late please stand outside the class door and wait till we finish our meditation. We love it when all of us are silently doing Rama Nama Japa.

Today our story time was about how Rama. Lakshmana, Bharat and Shatughna were growing up in Ayodhya and how happy was King Dashratha surrounded by his sons. Also how King Dashratha allowed Rama to go with sage Vishvamitra and followed the command of his Guru, trusting it would be for his good.
 Also we came to know about Tatka and how she was cursed to lead the ugly life of a demon.

We did some exercises and jumped up and down. We also learned the Bhajan "Khate bhi Rama kaho." It was so much fun. We all did actions along with the song and danced as well. We did not get a chance to finish the song. We will do so in our next class.

We finished with aarti and pledge. Please note that  we might change our class room next week as we are not able to accommodate everybody in our room D112.. When you come for Balavihar next class we will post our new class number at the entrance.

Have a great week and we will see you all coming Sunday.

Grade 1 updates for 23rd September (Ruchi and Rukmani Aunty)

Hari Om,

Today we had yet another exciting class. Our class agenda goes like this:

First we started with three loud OM's so we were full of energy and enthusiasm followed by opening shloka (om sahna vavatu...).

After the shloka we did one minute meditation. Today we talked about the importance of meditation and how it helps us become a very strong and focused person. Please ask your kids more about what we discussed during this important part of our agenda. We are very proud to say that all the children sat quietly and focused. for a minute. Great job!!

We then moved on to our morning shlokas and shlokas from Sri Gurustotram.You will find all of these in "My Prayer" books. Please buy them whenever they are available in the book store. We all tried to recite them and did a great job. We will keep practicing every class.

Then we all decided to play some games and do some yoga exercises and stretch our bodies. Please ask your kids what we did. We had so much fun.

After the games and exercises we all were ready to hear our story. We learned about what "Ayodhya" means. How "Ayodhya" is so much different than "New Jersey"! There was no electricity or running water,no airplanes and no video games! It was such a lively discussion. Also we came to know about king Dashtatha and why he was so unhappy when he had everything possible. We asked the kids to guess and they came up with many interesting reasons.. some of them said, King Dashratha had no electricity,he did not have a school, someone said he did not have a brother and yet another student said that he did not have pretty jewellery. Very interesting but then couple of us did say that he was not happy as he did not have kids. We went on with our story and enjoyed it very much.

After singing a bhajan and dancing at the same time. We came to an end of the class. We did arti and pledge and it was time to leave.

We do not have a class next week So we will see you on the 7th October. Till then have a good week.

OUR FIRST CLASS OF THE SESSION

Hari Om Parents,

Today was the first class of the session. We all were very excited to see new and enthusiastic faces. After we all assembled in our classroom. We divided the class in two sections. You will get the updates on the blog after every class. Please make sure that you have registered your children. Make sure they come on time and carry crayons and pencils etc. with them. There is no food and drink allowed in the class room so do not send these. You can send bottled water if your child feels thirsty.

Today we got to know each other. Aunties will try to remember every one's name in next couple of classes. We shared what we did this summer and what are we going to do throughout the year. We discussed a little bit about Sri Rama, recited couple of shlokas and sang bhajans.

The class came to an end really quickly and we all assembled at the auditorium for aarti and pledge. We look forward to see everyone in our next class.

Hari Om!

Welcome to the Chinmaya Vrindavan 1st Grade Balavihar blog.

Please continue to regularly visit this online journal to learn about our weekly Sunday morning class activities, as well as other important announcements pertaining to the First Grade Class.

For your convenience, we have made this blog available for subscription. Just click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" at the bottom of the front page to set your preferences. By subscribing, you will be instantly informed of any new postings or updates.

Teacher Contacts

Below are the email id.s of the sevikas of 1st grade class. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions or concerns. Hope to have a wonderful experience with the 1st graders this year :).

Rukmini Sriram -- ruks [..dot..] sri [..at..] gmail [..dot..] com

Ruchi Malaviya -- ruchimalaviya [..at..] gmail [..dot..] com

Savitha Ganesh -- savitha [..dot..] ganesh8 [..at..] gmail [..dot..] com

Harinee Madhusudhan -- harineem [..at..] hotmail [..dot..] com

Note : The e-mail addresses above have been ciphered ;), to prevent automatic e-mail parsing software from deciphering for mass e-mailing purposes or spams. Please translate them accordingly.

April 15th class review

Hari Om,
     Fresh from spring break. All the friends had exciting stories of holidays with family and friends. Welcome back. We started with the usual 3 loud oms. Next we said the starting Om Sahana vavutho prayer followed by 2 minutes of mediatation.

After a lively yoga break we moved on to the geeta chanting. Some of the friends came forward and recited in front of the class. Geeta competition is scheduled for this Saturday April 21st at the ashram. The individual time slots will be posted on Friday.

We continued with the Ramayana story. The North, East, Weat search parties return back to Kishkinda without any news of Sita. The South search party reaches a cave with golden trees, beautiful emerald leaves and sculpted buildings. The sanyasini at the cave welcomes them but tells it would not be possible to leave the cave. The search party plead that they are on an important mission for Rama. The sanyasini then asks them to close their eyes. When the search party open their eyes they find themselves at the shore. Some of the party are ready to give up the search but Hanuman rallies the vanaras around. While they are sitting at the shore and discussing the history of events an old featherless bird is watching them. He hears Jatayu's name and immediately calls out to the vanaras He is Jatayu's brother Sampathi. Sampathi has powerful eyes. He spots a lady setting in garden in an island across the ocean. She seems to be guarded by big raksasis.
The vanaras immediately perk up. They decide to check out the lady before giving Rama the news. But who can jump and fly? Hanuman can. Even though he is modest and humble. He is the son of Vayu. Hanuman meditates and seeks Lord Rama's blessings. He then climbs to Mahendra mountain and takes a griant leap to start his flight to Lanka. He meets a few obstacles on his way. Hanuman has the power to change size when he wants. He deals with all hurdles with caution and intelligence.

The story session ended and the children colored lesson 25 and 26. We ended the class with om pornama adah and then the chinmaya pledge.

April 1st, class review

Ram Navami 2012 update March 31^st

       Ram Navami celebration started with Sundarkand parayan chanting at ashram on March 31^st at 4:30pm. The grade 1 class came together to celebrate Rama’s birthday. Some of the children dressed up as Hanuman, Rama or Sita. At the end of the Sundarkand parayanam, the children got up on stage and sang a couple of Rama bhajans.  After the bhajans dinner was served.  Thanks to grade 1 parents and children.

April 1^st class.

    Before the class started we took a few minutes to review the prior night's celebrations at the ashram. The class started with the usual 3 loud ohms followed by om sahana vavathu and then meditation for few minutes.The class then proceeded to enthusiastically say the guru strotrams.

We continued the Ramayana story. Rama has helped Sugriva become the king. With advent of the monsoon season  Rama and Lakshmana have to stop their search and wait at the Rysamukha mountain. After the monsoon ends, Sugriva does not come forward with the help he promised Rama. Sugriva ignores nudging from Hanuman and Angada. Rama sends Lakshmana to remind Sugriva of his duty, but cautions his short tempered brother to act with discretion.

When Lakshmana arrives at Kiskinda, Angada tries to stop him from seeing Sugriva. Hanuman tries to sober up the intoxicated Sugriva. Lakshmana gets angry and lets out a twang from his mighty bow. The shocking sound stops everyone in their tracks and also wakes Sugriva to his senses. Sugriva rushes to meet the waiting prince. He immediately organizes his vanara army for Rama and Lakshmana. So this chapter ends with search party being dispatched to North, East, West and South. Since Rama has a strong instinct about the South, the best vanaras like Hanuman, Angada and Jambhavan were dispatched to the South. Rama also gives his signet ring to Hanuman.

Instead of the drawing we all played the Zip zap zoom game. Thus ended the last class before spring break.

March 25th class review

Hari Om,
     We have been practicing our Ram bhajans for the Rama Navami presentation on March 31st. The children  are excited. Many have plans to become Ramas or Seetas that day. The puja starts at 4:30pm with Sundarkand Parayanam. 

We have been practicing  the following bhajans

Rama Rama Rama Rama, Rama Nama Tarakam
Rama Krishna Vasudeva Bhakthi Mukthi Dayakam
Janaki Manoharam Sarva Loka Nayakam
Shankaradi sevyamaana divya nama vaibavam

-----------------------------------------------

Khathai bhi Rama kaho peethai bhi Rama kaho
Sothe bhi Rama kaho Ram Ram Ram

otathe bhi Rama kaho Phirthe bhi Ram kaho
Girthe bhi Rama kaho Ram Ram Ram

Likhte bhi Rama kaho padhte bhi Rama kaho
Sunthe bhi Rama kaho Ram Ram Ram

Kelthe bhi Rama kaho Jeethe bhi Rama kaho
Harthe bhi Rama kaho Ram Ram Ram

Hasthe bhi Rama kaho Rothe bhi Rama kaho
Marthe bhi Rama kaho Ram Ram Ram


Ram Ram Ram (3)
RAM RAM RAM


Thanks to all who have signed up for prasad. We appreciate all your help.
sevikas

March 11th, class review

Hari Om
       Time sprung forward but we are happy to declare that we were all on time for this class. We started the class with 3 loud oms and meditation. We then continued to guru strotrams. One of the sloka is Tvameva maata. The guru strotrams are in the my prayers book and you can find them in older posts as well.

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणम् त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव सर्वम् मम देव देव 

Meaning:
1: You Truly are my Mother And You Truly are my Father .
2: You Truly are my Relative And You Truly are my Friend.
3: You Truly are my Knowledge and You Truly are my Wealth.
4: You Truly are my All, My God of Gods.

We then sang happy birthday to one of our little friends. The birthday song was extra special as it was created by Pujya Swami Tejomayananda.

janmadinamidam ayi priya sakhe śantanotu te sarvadā mudam ||1||

Prārthayāmahe bhava śatāyuṣi īśvarassadā tvaṁ ca rakṣatu ||2||

punya karmaṇā kīrtimarjaya jīvanaṁ tava bhavatu sārthakam ||3||

Translation

O dear friend! May this birthday bring auspiciousness and joy to you forever. Indeed, we all pray for your long life.

May the Lord always protect you.By noble deeds, may you attain fame and may your life be fulfilled.

Please register your children for the geeta chanting competition. The prelims are on April 21st at the ashram.   We have complete all 15 verses and children are coming forward to recite it in front of their friends. We hope all the children participate and get their medals.

 We then came to the favorite part of the class. Aunty continued the Ramayana story.  When Hanuman took the two princes of Ayodhya to Sugriva, the banished vanara brother promised to help Rama find Sita. Sugriva wanted Rama to help him oust his powerful brother Bali. Rama gave his promise to his new friend.                                                                                                                                                                                              Sugriva challenged Bali to a duel. The brothers started fighting. They looked exactly like each other. Rama hiding behind a tree could not distinguish his friend fromhis brother. Finally having taken a thorough beating Sugriva retreated to the woods. He admonished Rama "If you did not want to kill Bali, you should have said so. I would not have asked you". Rama replied that he did not want his arrow to take out the wrong brother. He advised Sugriva to wear a garland and challenge Bali again. He assured Sugriva that he would not fail him. 
           Sugriva went back to Kiskindha and called Bali out.  Bali  blood rushed to his head and he went striding towards Sugriva. Once again Sugriva was losing, but Rama carefully sent an arrow from behind the tree. It pierced Bali's chest and the great warrior fell. The dying Bali was immensely hurt to see that it was Rama who had killed him. Rama said "Bali, do not read wrong into my action. Every act of mine is done with a view of steadying a tottering dharma. You usurped Sugriva's throne and took his wife. When a king is out hunting, does he not hide and shoot an arrow. Have you not done it many times?"
            Bali understood and said "Lord,  I am no longer troubled. I am blessed at having met my death at your hands.Sugriva I entrust to you not only my kingdom but also my wife and son Angada".  


We ended our story session and then it was time to go to the auditorium for the 8th grade play. Please let us know if you have any questions.

 

Announcements and February 26th class review

Important announcements

Geeta competition prelims April 21st, finals April 28th. Please register using the following link. You will also find mp3 file. Our grade has to memorise verses 1-15.

         http://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/GeetaChantingCompetition.php

Ram Navami celebration at ashram in Cranbury - March 31st. Our class's annual day performance. Please block your calanders and plan to attend with family and friends.

        We started our class with deep breathing and 3 loud oms. We then followed our usual routine and practise meditations for 2 minutes. The children are controlling their movements, breathing, and focusing on Rama in their minds. Some of them are chanting Rama, Rama in their minds.
        Next we said our morning prayers starting with Om sahana vavathu. Followed by the guru strotrams and the daily prayers.
        We came to the fun part of the class. The Ramayana story. Rama and Lakshmana are searching for Sita and the raksasa who has abducted her. Sabari an old tapasvini a disciple of sage Matanga lived in ashram by river Pampa. When her guru was departing from this world, she wanted to die as well, but her teacher told her to wait for Rama's darshan.
        When Rama and Lakshmana stopped by Sabari;s ashram, she lovingly took care of them. Her life was fulfilled. Her entire life had been spent in guru seva and it had been rewarded by Rama's presence. She had gathered fruits and berries from the forests. She took a bite off each of them to make sure they were sweet and not sour.
   Lakshmana frowned at the offering, but Rama smiled gently and ate the fruits with relish. The Lord accepts whatever we offer unto him if we offer it with pure untainted love.

  Aunty then continued to Bali's story. Bali and Sugriva were brothers and vanaras. Bali was the king and physically very powerful. He could lift and moutain with his bare hands. A raksasa called Dundhubi felt he could defeat any person in fight. He challenged sea god to fight. But the god pointed Himalaya to raksasa. When the raksasa approaches the mountain, the mountain smiled and said "I am a hermit. I cannot fight you. Why not ask King Bali. He will give you a good fight."
       Dundhubi went to kishkindha, Bali's capital and challenged Bali. The two then had a terrible fight. Bali defeated the raksasa, but when he threw his body many miles away, a few drops of the raksasa blood fell on Matanga rishi's ashram in mountain Rsyamuka. The sage cursed Bali for this. Bali for fear of his life took great care not to step near the mountain.
    Later Dundhubi's brother Mayavi wanted to avenge his brother and challenged Bali to fight. It was the dead of night and Bali enraged rushed out to meet his challenger. Mayavi took fright and bolted. Bali and then Sugriva pursued the fleeing raksasa. They saw him disappear into a cave. Bali ordered Sugriva to stay outside and guard the entrance. He then went into the cave to settle with the raksasa.
   Sugriva waited outside and when he heard a blood curdling yell, he mistakenly thought his brother Bali had been killed. He blocked the cave entrance with a huge boulder and went back to Kiskindha, gave everyone the news of  Bali's death. The citizens grieved and then eventually installed Sugriva as king. Bali returned to the palace tired and wounded. He was furious to see his brother on his throne. He banished Sugriva from Kiskindha.
     Sugriva with a few faithfull followers moved into the Rsyamuka mountain. The fugitive vanara king saw the wandering princes and thought they were search party being sent by his brother Bali. His wise minister Hanuman pretended to be a brahmin and approched the princes to check out their intentions. As soon as he met their gaze, he felt an affinity to them. Hanuman then took Rama and Lakshmana to Sugriva.
    

February 11th class review

Hari Om,         Aunty set up the altar with guruji and Saraswathi devi's picture and we started the class with deep breaths followed by 3 loud oms.
            We all then meditated with the children reciting shri Rama jayam in their minds. They were still for more than couple of  minutes. We then continued with our regular prayers from my Prayers book. Some of the prayers are also in previous blog posts.
          We continued to the geeta chanting exercises. We have covered upto verse 14 in class. Please practise these at home.

verse 10

Abhyaasepya-samarthosi Math-karma Paramo Bhava

Madartha-mapi Karmaani Kurvan Siddhim Avaap-syasi
[Audio]

If you are unable to do constant practice, be intent on doing all actions for my sake; even by performing actions for my sake, you will attain perfection.

verse 11

Athaita-dapya Shaktosi Karthum Madyoga-maashritaha

Sarva-karma Phala Thyaagam Thathah Kuru Yathaathma-vaan
[Audio]

Meaning: If you are unable to do even this, surrender thyself to me in love, not worrying about the fruits of actions with the self subdued.

verse 12

Shreyo Hi Gnaanam Abhyaa-saath Gnaanaad Dhyaanam Vishishyathe

Dhyaanaath Karma-phala-thyaagaha Thyaagaat Shaanti-ranantaram
[Audio]

Meaning: Better indeed is knowledge than formal practice; better than knowledge is meditation; better than meditation is the renunciation of the fruit of the action (surrender in love); peace immediately follows this.

verse 13

Adveshtaa Sarva Bhoothaa-naam Maitrah Karuna Yeva Cha

Nirmamo Nirahan-kaaraha Sama Duhkha Sukhah Kshami
[Audio]

Meaning: He who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from the feeling of I and mine, even-minded in pain and pleasure and forbearing...

verse 14

Santushtah Sathatham Yogi Yathaa-thmaa Dhrida Nischayaha

Mayyar-pitah Mano Buddhir Yo Madbhaktah Sa Me Priyaha
[Audio]

Meaning: Ever content, steady in meditation, self controlled and possessed of firm conviction, with mind and intellect fixed on me, such a devotee is dear to me.

Aunty then continued telling the Ramayanam. Anxious Rama and Lakshmana search for Sita. Rama loses self control. How could he live without Sita. He asks the tress, creepers and squirrels if they have seen Sita. Lakshmana calms him and reasons with him. He says " I know Sita is not dead. Leave aside this grief and let us continue our search". They come across some flowers scattered on the ground and some of Sita's beads broken dropped as a result of a struggle. An immense rage overtakes Rama. He takes out his astras to destroy the world. He says "This world does not deserve to live if it safeguards a icked Raksasa . I shall dry up the ocean and darken the sun. The world will be no more." But Lakshmana stops him. "Why punish the innocent ones in the world. I always remember your teachings of universal love and good will. Let us find this evil rakasasa and finish him off. " Rama became calm. He put away his astra or weapons. They continued searching for Sita and came upon wounded Jatayu. Rama and Lakshmana tried to help the bird by cleaning his wounds. The great bird said "I was not able to save the princess. Ravana is flying south. I seek your blessing Rama." The wounded bird's life departed from him. Rama and Lakshmana were very sad.
     As they continue searching the forest, they come across a strange creature.  A huge monster with no legs or head. He has long bigs arms, one huge eye and a giant lip on his stomach. His eye is on his chest above his lips. He was called Kabandha.  He grabs the two princes with each hand. Rama and Lakshmana struggle in his clutch and seeing his sole strength is his arms they chop off his arms.
    Kabandha was a heavenly creatured cursed by a rsi. He got liberated by Rama and as he left for heaven he advised the princes to seek out vanara king Sugriva by the banks of the river Pampa.

     Our class ended and we had aarthi in the auditorium. We also had siva rathri celebrations in the ashram on February 19th. We will be having Rama navami celebrations in the ashram on March 31st.Our classes have assigned to help out. See you all next class February 26th.

February 5th 2012, class review

Hari Om,
    We got to a delayed start due to confusion over room availability. We may have a different room next week. The children started with 3 loud oms followed by guru stotrams and daily prayers. We then meditation by chanting Rama, Rama in our minds for two minutes. Some of our friends also tried to count the number of times they chanted.We then moved on to the geetha chapter 12.

verse 11
Athaita-dapya Shaktosi Karthum Madyoga-maashritaha
Sarva-karma Phala Thyaagam Thathah Kuru Yathaathma-vaan

verse 12
Shreyo Hi Gnaanam Abhyaa-saath Gnaanaad Dhyaanam Vishishyathe
Dhyaanaath Karma-phala-thyaagaha Thyaagaat Shaanti-ranantaram


Time to jump, jump and get our jiggles out.  We got up from our chairs and exercised. We did some jumping jacks, wind mills with our folded arms and then folded our upper bodies to make tables. By then our blood was flowing fast from head to toe.

Aunty then continued telling us the Ramanaya. Rama chased and tried to capture the golden deer that had captivated Sita but not before asking the suspicious Lakshmana to watch over Sita. Rama wanted to capture the deer alive for Sita but the deer led Rama further and further away from the ashram. Rama decided to stop the fleeing deer with an arrow. When the arrow hit the deer, it transformed into Marica.

As the raksasa fell down, he shouted for help in Rama's voice. He yelled "Sita, Lakshmana help me...". Rama sensed some foul play. He started to panic when thought of Sita but calmed down by telling himself that he had left Lakshmana to safeguard her.

In the meantime Sita was waiting for Rama, excited at possesing the golden deer and Lakshmana was anxious for Rama. The unnatural stillness of the air was pierced by Rama's cries for help. Sita panicked and urged Lakshmana to go help Rama. Lakshmana stood stubbornly. He said "Rama just cannot be defeated. This is one of the raksasa's tricks. Rama left me behind to look after you.". Sita grew hysterical. She said "I thought you were loyal to Rama. What a snake you have turned out to be. Waiting for Rama to die so you can take me." Lakshmana said "Stop. I have never looked upon you as anything but my mother. Do not force me to leave you and go. This is the raksasa's tricks.". But Sita was emotional and started to gather wood to prepare a pyre. Lakshmana finally said "At the risk of disobeying my brother, I shall go. Do not let any strangers near the ashrama. Look after yourself  mother."

    When Lakshmana left, Sita closed her eyes wearily. She was emotionally drained. When she opened her eyes she saw a sadhu with begging bowl staring intently at her. His gaze quickly turned to something frightening. He grabbed her wrist and said " I am Ravana. The greatest king in the three worlds. Come with me and be my wife". Sita was scared but her purity gave her courage. She said "My Rama is the greatest among men. No one can defeat him. Leave now before he tears you to pieces."

Sita repented sending Lakshmana away. Ravana did not listen to any of her pleas or threats. He resumed his own form and dragged the struggling Sita to his vimana or aerial chariot. As they flew over the trees, Jatayu tried to dissuade Ravana. But Ravana cut off the mighty bird's wings. Ravana then grabbed Sita and took off to Lanka. Sita tried to throw her jewellry down to the people on the ground. But there was no help from anyone. Ravana took her to Lanka. He asked her to marry him and forget Rama. She cursed him and threatened him. He left her in a Asoka Vana telling her that she will have a year to think about it.

Rama was desolate when he found Sita missing. Lakshmana had to calm him and they started searching for her.We ended our class with aarthi in front of the altar.

January 29th 2012 class review

Hari Om,
           We started a class by wishing one another Namaste with hands folded and bowed heads. Namaste is not only wishing hello to another but also acknowledging the God within the other.We then continued with our usual 3 loud oms followed by Om Sahanavathu saha nau bhunakthu. We are very happy to report that the children are now able to mediate by chanting Ram Ram in their minds for two minutes.Please encourage them to meditate at home as well.
           We continued with the gurustrotrams Akanda mandala.., Ajnana timir....., guru brahma.... tvameva mata cha..., and then the morning prayers Shubham karothi...., Saraswathi namasthubyam.... etc.. We then gave a loud rendition of Subramaniyam bhajan.

         The Bala Ramayana is moving to a critical stage. Our little friends helped us rebuild the story up to where we left off last week. Rama 's brahma astra destroyed all the rakasasa in Khara and Dusana's army except for Akampana who escaped to Lanka. He warned Ravana that no one could fight Rama. He advised Ravana that the only way to beat Rama is to carry Sita off.
     Ravana visited Marica. But Marica had been taught well in rishi Viswamitra's yagna. He was performing penance now for all his sins. He said "Ravana I have your welfare in my heart. Rama is God on earth.  You have all the glory, name and fame of the three worlds. What will you gain by fighting Rama?
Ravana thought that over and decided to heed Marica at first. But Surpanakha came to his court the next day and enticed him with description of Sita's loveliness. Ravana then vowed to revenge his brothers and take Sita from Rama.
     He visited Marica again and forced him to take on the form of a lovely golden deer that would captivate Sita. Marica resisted and revolted as long as he could. But ultimately decided he would be happy to die in Rama's hands. Both got into an aerial chariot and flew to Dandaka.
       Sita noticed the deer right away. She was immediately fascinated by it. She pleaded with Rama to get it for her. Lakshmana was vehemently against the deer. He suspected some foul play. But Rama decided to go after the deer. He thought if it is a deer, Sita can have it and feel happy. But if it turns out to be a raksasa he would kill it. He thought he had nothing to lose.

Before leaving Rama strictly warned Lakshmana to watch over Sita and not to leave her alone for a moment.
       
The children then did a Ramayana word search. We ended the class with Om Puranam adah in front of the altar.

The next class is February 5th. Please let us know if you have any questions.



         

January 22nd 2012 class review

Hari Om,
    Om.. Om.. Om.. Three loud oms followed by Om Sahana vavathu... Our friends were quite excited about the snow from the previous day. We discussed how the snow gets created and who makes the rain, clouds, winds and the earth. The final answer for all questions is Bhagvan or God.

We then followed our usual routine and mediated for a minute with the lights off. The children are getting good at focusing their minds for a minute. We are going to extend the time in the next class.

Next we practised verses from geeta chapter 12. We have covered upto verse 9 in class. Please review these verses with our little friends. The geeta competion registration is available online. Please visit the chinmaya vrindavan site for more information. Following are verses 8 and 9.



We then sang our regular prayers starting with guru stotrams, Karagara vasathe, saraswathi namastubyam,  Bhrama arpanam, shubham karothi kalyanam, kara charana kritam vaa. Some of these prayers are in your volunteer handbook, some are in previous blog posts and all these are in my prayers book.

We continued to the favourite part of the class for all of us. The Ramayana story. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana arrive in Panchavati by the river Godavari. They see a huge vulture waiting for them. At first they mistake it for a raksasa, but the bird is a friend of their father and offers to protect Sita when the brothers are out hunting.

Lakshmana deftly builds a lovely little kutiya with bamboo poles and dried branches. The lessons learned under the guidance of their Guru Vasistha help them adapt to their environment and circumstance.
      One day a heavily built lady demon approached the trio. She wondered who they were and why they were dressed as ascetics or monks, why they were carrying bows and why they had a women with them.
On finding out their true identity, she introduced herself as Surpanakha, daughter of Visrava muni and sister of Ravana the powerful emperor of Lanka. She was drawn to Rama and wanted to marry him and claimed to be in love with him. But Rama joking told her that he was married but that she should ask Lakshmana.
When she went to Lakshmana, he too jokingly told her that he was a slave to his brother and that she should not become a slave of a slave. He asked her to try Rama again as his brother might leave his wife. Surpanakha was enraged and tried to attack Sita but Lakshmana quickly stopped her and cut her nose and ears. She ran away to her brothers Khara and Dusana.
     They sent a raksasa army to attack the trio but Rama finished all of them with his mighty weapons or astras. Ravana's brothers and many followers were destroyed at this time. This proved that Rama was born with divine purpose to destroy all evil and to establish the law of Dharma.
     Ravana on the other hand stood for everything that is adharma. He had disturbed a vast number yajnas, troubled many rishis and carried away many women. Surpanaka now ran to her mighty brother. She wanted revenge and Ravana promised to avenge the great insult to the raksasa race. Aunty stopped the story here and we quietened our minds with some Likith japa and coloring.

January 8th, 2012 - Class review

Hari Om,
          Welcome back. A Happy New Year to all our young friends. We had a fun class this Sunday. Our friends were excited and energised after their winter break.
          We are happy to celebrate our little friend's birthdays during balavihar class. But we cannot serve food or snacks in the class rooms or hallways. It is against the school rules. If you wish you can send in some pre-packaged snack. But we are happy to celebrate our friend's birthdays without treats or gifts  

            Aunty set up the altar with guruji and Saraswathi devi's picture and we started the class with deep breaths followed by 3 loud oms.
            We introduced meditation without marbles. The children recited shri Rama jayam in their minds and were still for more than a minute. We then continued with our regular prayers from my Prayers book. Some of the prayers are also in previous blog posts.

Aunty introduced us to a new bhajan favored by our acharya Swami Tejomayananda
           Srikrishna Govinda Hare Murare
           Hey Nath Narayana Vasudeva
           Hey Nath Narayana Vasudeva
           Hey Nath Narayana Vasudeva
           Srikrishna Govinda Hare Murare
           Hey Nath Narayana Vasudeva
Please ask the children to sing it to you. 

We are making slow progress in the geeta verses. We have covered upto eight verses. Please practice these at home.

We then got up on our feet and followed Aunty's lead to stretch and exercise. We touched our toes or some of us tried to. We did the hula hoop with our hips and wind mill with our arms.

Played Zip Zap Zoom and recollected the main characters, places and events of the Ramanaya story. We want to take this opportunity to thank all our parents. We are having  wonderful time teaching your kids. We will be having a Hanuman jayanthi in the ashram sometime in April. Our classes are responsible for decorating for the festival. Please take this opportunity to get involved in the program.