Six qualities & Bhiksha

This past Balavihar class we had only Three kids and two were blessed to attend the Bhiksha. We had an extended assembly and a shortened class as the Bhiksha was advanced to 11:30 instead of the usual 12:30 as Swamiji had a commitment to go to another place.

In our class we continued our journey on the Godesses and concentrated on the six important qualities Shama (Faith), Dhama (Self-control), Uparama (self-withdrawal),Titiksha (staying unwavered - capacity to endure) , Shradda (belief in teacher, scriptures & oneself) and Samaadhaana (tranquility). These are so important that we will continue on this for atleast one more class. Please talk to your kids about these six qualities.

We practiced Guru Stotram in the class and along with Sixth graders as well. Kids from both classes recited Guru Stotram in front of Swamiji and asked questions.

We are planning for a play in this years' samskriti. I would like to meet all the parents tomorrow. Please see me in the class.

Symbols of Goddesses

Our special mention goes to Dhruv for taking the initiative and joining the Bhagavad Gita Yagna by chanting the Gita. We (Aparna and I) had the blessing of participating as judges. It was a wonderful experience and blessing!

We continued our journey and transitioned from Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva into Goddess. Last class, we started with Mother Durga and her various forms (Kali) and Mahishasura mardini. The symbols carried by her and what do they symbolize actually. The word Mahisha stands for the lazyness or our Tamo Guna and killing of that asura stands for killing the tamo guna in ourselves. We saw the story of the Cow and we had a lively discussion on how various living beings communicate. Talk to your kids about this discussion. In addition to that, last class we had a practice of the play for Samskriti.

Today we had our Yoga class and continued on to Mother Lakshmi, the Godess of wealth. We saw the story of her origin, what she stands for and what is the wealth stands for. We don't seek the physical wealth but mental well-being. While Mother Durga stands for killing all the tamo gunas and bad qualities in us, when we devoid our mind of all bad qualities, it will be empty. Now, we need to fill it with good qualities. By praying to Mother Durga and Lakshmi, we can achieve mental equipoise.

Next class, we have Biksha for our Swamiji. You will be receiving emails on Pot luck. Please signup generously. We have asked kids to come up with questions for Swamiji. Parents, you can do so too! This is a wonderful opportunity. We also seek to give Guru Dakshina of minimum $5 to Swamiji next week. We would love the kids and parents to Serve food to Swamiji. Feel free to reach out to us for any clarifications.