June 2th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 18 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 40 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• None

Story time:

• None

Activity:

• ½  a Party :)

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Hari Om Parents!

Can you believe that the year’s over already? It seemed to fly by so quickly.

Anyways, we had a wonderful last day of Balavihar this past Sunday. After we finished the beginning prayers and meditation, the children chanted the Bhagavad Geeta and sang the Hanuman Chalisa. Of course, although this may have been their last Balavihar day as Second Graders, they can definitely continue the chanting and meditation at home. They all got to keep their japa malas, as well as their laminated copies of the Hanuman Chalisa, so they sure can continue their prayers!

Also, on Sunday, we learnt a new Hanuman Bhajan! It’s a very upbeat bhajan, and Swami Siddhanandaji, from the Kedar in Pennsylvania, sings it a lot. Here are the words:

Veera Hanumana, Athi Balawana,
Rama Nama Rasiya Re, Ohohoh-hoi!
Prabhu Mana Basiya Re
Rama Lakshmana Janaki… Jai Bolo Hanumana Ki
Sita Ram Jai Sita Ram… Bhaja Pyare Tu Sita Ram
Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram… Patita Paavana Sita Ram

The children enjoyed the Bhajan very much… Ask them to sing it for you!

Finally, as the class came to an end, we went and joined the other Second Grade class as they went outside and had their end of the year party. So, you could say, the children had two parties this year! Or, maybe 1 ½ :).

It has been an amazing year, and we can’t believe that the children have already completed Second Grade and will be moving on to Third Grade next year! From what we’ve seen of them, we know that they will be successful in everything they do, and we wish them all the best. And to the parents, we congratulate you for making the wonderful choice of placing your children in the Balavihar classes, and we hope you can continue through Balavihar and we can continue to see the children grow for years to come.

Until then, have a wonderful Summer! 

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

May 12th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 20 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 40 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What happens when one remembers brave hanumaan
• What is the meaning of gosia
• What is the result of chanting hanumaan chaalIsaa 100 times 

Story time:

• The Miracle
• The magic carpet

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - in auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Happy Mother's day to all the wonderful moms out there!  Hope your day is as special as you are.

We are having so much fun discussing life issues in class that the time we are allotted is just not enough :).  Time and again, we are amazed at the type of topics and discussions we have in class!!  We sure have a bunch of extremely smart kids!

We have continued learning bhagavadgItaa beyond the competition.  We had learnt 15 verses before.  We now have learnt up to verse 20.  The children have promised to do their best and want to go all the way to the end of the chapter!  See, don't we have a bunch of enthusiastic kids who are willing to learn!!  Of course, we grooved along singing the whole hanumaan chaalIsaa!

We learnt about Miracles through the true story of a girl who had so much faith that a miracle HAD to come her way!  Truly, her undaunted faith was what saved her brother's life!

We also saw how being thoughtless and giving the reigns to our sense can be dangerous through the story of the magic carpet acquired by a thoughtless man.

Our discussions on these stories led to so many big thoughts that to establish those, we had to hear 2 - 3 extra stories :).  Isn't this a fun, fun class?!

Time is running out and our end of the year is fast approaching.  We are almost wrapping up our curriculum.  In fact, we will be finishing up before the last day itself!  Then, how about we have some fun party time!!  Will be emailing regarding more details of the party that we can have Next Sunday.  Do watch out for our emails.

Happy Mother's day again to all the hard working moms who do so much for their children constantly!  Enjoy your day and the rest of the year ahead.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

opeing prayers
Japa mala
Hanuman Chalisa Chanting
Bhajan:
Veera Maaruti
Brainstorming
Hanuman chalisa caupai 27 to 30
Discussion: Who is a Tapasvi?
Meaning of our Parama Guru's , name Tapovan Maharaja.
Tale:
Take a vows for greater gains
You get What you Want...God's shop.
The Nature of Saints
Game: Sadhu Musical Chair
Children had fun playing this game .
Children learned that sharing, accommodating each other can also be fun.
Discussion:
How Does One Become Famous?
Closing prayers

May 5th - Annual day celebration

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Wow!  What a wonderful group of 2nd grade children and parents we have!!  Due to all your hard work and co-operation, we were able to pull off a wonderful hanumaan chaalIsaa presentation today!  Children, you did very well!  You kept the beat and tempo though out the chanting.  Heard some nice comments from a few people too, during dinner later on :).   Looks like you rocked the show!  Keep up the good work and the team spirit kids!

Here's the link for reminiscing the show again!

Enjoy!  See you all next Sunday at balavihar.

April 21st Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 18 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 

Brain Storming:

• None

Story time:

• None

Activity:

• Rehearsal

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Awesome kids!  We did it!!  We went in the true 'yagna' spirit to the 'gItaa chanting yagna' and made it an awesome, memorable event!  We were the group with the highest registrants and.... we won ourselves an ice-cream party for the Summer :)).  Oooo!  We sure can't wait for that day, right?!

We did better than that!  We have always been talking about how we are not learning for the sake of competing alone.  We are learning to chant due to our love for gItaa and the values it gives us to lead meaningful lives.  To uphold that, we continued our learning today, beyond the 15 verses cap that we had for our grade!!  Infact, the children want to learn ALL 35 verses in the chapter!  So, we learnt 16 - 18 today and will continue to add to it through the rest of the year.

After that, we had a combined class.  The 2nd graders have been rehearsing for a presentation on the Annual Day, on May 5th.  Please make sure the children practice their 'hanumaan chaalIsaa' chanting well by then.  The program starts at 3 p.m.  Will be posting on the blog, as well as sending emails regarding the time they need to assemble in the cafeteria on the day of the performance.  They can come in Indian clothes, please NO jeans/shorts/casuals.  Look out to hear from us.  If we don't see them in the cafeteria, they will not be able to go on stage.  So, please be there on time.

See you all soon.  Until then, happy practicing.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

April 14th class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 40 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the cause of our unhappiness

Story time:

• Ask and you shall receive

Activity:

• Practice for Annual day performance

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Good going everyone!  Most of you have registered for the gItaa chanting!!  A very handful few of you who did not register have requested to be registered as late registrants as well!!  That has officially made us the class with most registrants!!  Hurray!  Keep it up kids!  We are so proud of you.  You are all doing the chanting so beautifully.  Keep up the practice and arrive on time on the day of the competition, which is this coming Saturday 20th April.  Participate with all your effort and attention.  That itself makes all of you WINNERS!  That calls for an ice-cream party in the summer!! Yay :).

Today is special for another reason!  We finished learning all the chaupa-s of the hanumaan chaalIsa!!  We see that most of you are learning by heart, as we are adding new chaupa-s.  Now, you can finish learning all of them.

We then learnt about the story of the child who was building a sand castle.  He hit a rock midway of his building.  He tried with all his might, all possible ways to move it.  When he couldn't, he was disappointed.  His father asked him the reason for his droopy face and he explained that he had tried all possible ways.  The father said, you apparently didn't try one - asking me!  Similarly, when we hit a wall in our life circumstance, we struggle all we can, but forget one thing, asking for the Lord's help.  When we seek Him, he instantly comes to our rescue and we will be rid of all obstacles, just as the little boy's father helped him move the rock!

After that, we had a combined class for the last half hour and we familiarized ourselves with our presentation.  We will be practicing more next week as well.  Keep up the good work everyone. 

Until next week, practice all your chanting!

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

April 7th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 33 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the magic cure of all the problems
• What was the boon mother sItaa gave to hanumaan
• How are our miseries relieved
• What happens when we worship hanumaan

Story time:

• Learn about aShTa siddhi-s
• Who is a haribhakta
• The difference
• The desire
• Don’t blame the Lord

Activity:

• Our class presentation for the annual day

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

It was nice seeing all the smiling faces after such a long break.  We sure missed you.  Hope you all had a great spring break.

It is nice to see that many of you are registered for the gItaa chanting competition.  We strongly encourage ALL of you to register and participate.  They have really worked hard through out the year and it will be a very rewarding experience for them.

Also, our class will be performing on the stage for the annual day program on May 5th.  We will be talking more about it in the next couple of classes.  Since we will have only 2 more classes, it is crucial that they attend regularly.  Parents please make sure they are prepared.

In the story time today, we have discussed many big words like- aShTa-siddhi's namely - aNimaa (becoming as small as an atom), mahimaa (becoming as big as a mountain), garimaa (being heavy as a mountain), laghimaa (being light as a feather), praaptiH (attaining everything), pratyakSha (self illuminating), Ishitva (lordship of oneself), vashitva (controlling everything, including oneself) - these are the aShTa-siddhi-s that sItaa maata granted to hanumaan, and also the power to bestow it upon anyone he pleases!!  So, let's get praying to hanumaan for the attainment of the aShTa-siddhi-s as well all the nava-nidhi-s (9 treasures of wealth).

We also listened to 3 different stories to see what makes a true devotee, different from anyone else!  

So, let's get praying, without being attached to any material returns or blaming the Lord for any disappointments.

See you all next week.  Until then, remember to practice your chanting.  Let's win that ice-cream party for the highest participation for any class! :).

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

March 17th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 28 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• Why hanumaan is large hearted
• Does God always give us what we want
• When does hanumaan’s glory radiate (all 4 yugas)
• How did hanumaan use his might

Story time:

• You get what you want
• Man, the glory of creation
• Nature of saints

Activity:

• How many apples in a seed?
• God’s gift or my gift
• How does one become famous

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Our chanting sessions are coming along very well.  On the other hand, the discussions in class are getting very intense!!  We are talking about concepts like birth, re-birth, mokSha, karma...  Are we sure we have a bunch of 2nd graders at hand :).  They just wanted to continue the discussions on and on...  We had to put a hold on it due to lack of time...  The contemplation and churning of these ideas are happening rapidly in their little minds and they sure are THINKING!!  We spoke about how our actions affect us before they affect those around us!  We discussed about the need to do rightful actions whether we are being watched or not.  We spoke about how we cannot take a notebook with bullet points written down, into our next birth and it is only our good/bad actions that get carried over along with us!  

Even before we realized, it was dismissal time.  We finished the class with the ending prayers and pledge.  We will see you all in two weeks.  Until then, have a fun filled spring break and keep thinking :).
________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

March 10th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 26 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the true pooja for the Lord
• Where does God reside 
• When does hanumaan help us in overcoming difficulties
• Who is a tapasvI; what is the benefit of being a tapasvI
• What is the meaning of our guru, tapovan mahaaraj’s name

Story time:

• God dwells in all beings
• God is everywhere
• It is the Lord’s wish
• Take vows for greater gains

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - in the auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

In today's class, we had wonderful discussions about God, God's presence, God's part in our lives, our awareness of His presence!  Gosh, are we striding BIG steps or what!!  We heard interesting stories regarding this topic.  We then wanted to relate to some other story we'd heard a while ago.  Instead of hearing from Aunty, the children themselves finished the story, one sentence at a time!!  We are so impressed at the attentive group of children we have in class!  The chanting is coming along beautifully as well.  Parents, if you have not already done so, please register you children for the competition.  They are all very enthusiastic about it.  We then went to the auditorium to watch a play, followed by  aarti and pledge. 

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

March 3rd Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 27 chaupas
• khaate bhI raam kaho...

Brain Storming:

• Why seek refuge in hanumaan
• Why shouldn't we complain about things going wrong
• Why the 3 worlds tremble when hanumaan roars
• What is the advantage of chanting raama's name

Story time:

• Saint malidaasa
• Grandma and the cake
• Have faith and heal yourself

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

We are just grooving and grooving!  The discussions and participation in class by all the children is on a tremendous up turn!  We are having one blast learning the chanting of gItaa, hanumaan chaalIsa, shlokas and bhajans.

Today's stories were interesting and we had avenues to discuss many values that make our lives better and make us better people in turn.  We spoke about how faith is an essential ingredient to achieve anything in life.  We know that we trust our parents.  Similarly, if we learn to trust in God, after doing the needful duty, we have nothing to fear!

Please talk to your children what they enjoy most in class.  Also, encourage them to do their gItaa chanting practice.  They are doing awesome so far!  We are doing very well till verse 12.  We've finished learning till 15th verse today.  We shall continue our practice and by the time of the competition, each of them will be so comfortable chanting it with ease!

We finished off with our finishing prayers and pledge.  See you all next week.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

February 24th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 14 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 26 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• 2 things that we need to be victorious (God's grace and hard work)
• Whom does God help (Those that help themselves)
• How can we reach raama (Through hanumaan)
• Qualities raama and hanumaan admire in each other - boldness, nobleness, fearlessness, humbleness, righteousness, loyalty

Story time:

• Everything is possible (Wrestler boy and his grandma)
• God helps those who help themselves (Man with his bullock cart)

Activity:

• 'Survival kit' items and their meaning
• 'By your grace' - puzzle 
• Qualities of hanumaan and raama - fill in the blanks

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

The class began with our regular prayer, meditation, gItaa chanting, and hanumaan chaalIsa.  Even before we started with the stories for the day, we had a wonderful discussion regarding how many 'hindu Gods' are there!  We discussed our opinions regarding the topic.  Then, the conclusion was - just like the Sun can be called with many names in many different languages, but it refers to the SAME SUN, so are all the Gods!! In however many names we call the Lord, he is one universal driving force behind all existence, working in different forms.  It is the same Supreme power working as Wind or Sun.  But one cannot and should not do the job of the other, else, we will have a shiny Wind and a breezy Sun :).  It is truly impressive how wonderfully these children can think, comprehend and understand such high level discussions in class!!  Do you wonder why we love this class so much now :).

We the heard stories about how 'Self help is the best help' and 'God helps those that help themselves'.  We then discussed about our nature and attributes, how we can make ourselves pleasant and nice.  We discussed the 'Survival Kit' and the items we need in it.  A Survival Kit helps us survive under any circumstance.  Similarly, this kit helps us remember the most important attributes we need in ourselves -
Rubber band - reminds us to be flexible
Band aid - reminds us to heal ourselves from hurt feelings
Pencil - reminds us to jot down all the things that we are thankful for
Eraser - reminds us to erase, forget and forgive others' mistakes as well as our own
Candy Kiss - reminds us to hug and kiss our loved ones

We then solved some puzzles on the board.  But they were no puzzles for these smarty pants :).  They were solving it even as they were being written on the board!  We then had another round of solving with the clues, the attributes of raama and hanumaan.  It was a fun, fun class.

Until we meet again, be good and keep practicing your shlokas and chanting.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Opening prayers
Japa mala
Bhajans
Hanuman Chalisa Chanting and Learned chupais 14-16
Brainstorming
Tales:
How does one gain glory?
Man's greatness lies in his efforts
Sugriva meets Lord Rama
You become the company you keep
We had very interesting discussion today in the class, good  participation.
Enjoyed working with children.
Bhagavad Gita Chanting
Closing prayers

February 10th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 13 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 24 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What does hanumaan teach us? (To be fearless)
• How did hanumaan succeed in his mission?  
• How did hanumaan cross the ocean?  (Keeping raama's name on his lips, literally, holding raama's ring in his mouth)

Story time:

• hanumaan trying to eat the sun
• Be fearless - Akbar Birbal story
• Fearless Edmund Hillary
• hanumaan flying to lanka, with raama's ring in his mouth
• Searching for sItaa
• Power of raama-naama - The story of the lady who made cow-dung cakes

Activity:

• raamaayaNa review - quiz

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - in the auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Today was an awesome class!  The class did all the chanting exceptionally well!  Before we even began bhagavadgItaa, we discussed about why we need to learn and chant the gItaa.  We heard some nice stories of - the grandfather and the coal basket; why their younger siblings or cousins learn the alphabet; how the gItaa helped Gandhi-ji at every juncture in his life.

The children were so full of energy and they chanted up to verse 10 very nicely indeed!  We worked on verses till 13 now.  Parents please keep encouraging them to keep up the practice and make sure you register them (link given in the 'Announcements' section) for the April 20th competition.  Each one of them deserves to be there on that day!  

We heard many many stories regarding hanumaan and his fearlessness.  We all discussed our own ideas regarding this attribute and how we could adapt it in our daily lives.  Please talk to your children and see how they are relating to the topics and what part they enjoy.  Parent involvement sure encourages them to participate more in class :).

Hope you all enjoy a nice long weekend and stay warm!

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Opening prayers
Japa mala
Bhajans
Attendance
Bhagavad Gita Chanting also  learned13,14,15 Verses
Lesson and related Tale:
Hanuman chalisa Chanting and learned caupais 11-13
How is Hanuman a lifesaver of Laksmana? Why Lord Rama loved Hanumanji like a brother?
How does one become glorious? Why is Lord Rama indebted to Hanumanji?
Activity: May I?
Children had very good time in  this activity.
Closing  Prayer

February 3rd Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 12 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 22 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• Why hanumaan a wise minister
• How is hanumaan a good adviser
• What is the glory and power of raama naama

Story time:

• sugrIva meets raama
• You become the company you keep
• hanumaan meets vibhIShaNa
• naarada's pride

Activity:

• Simon says

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

We are coming along nicely with the gItaa chanting as well as hanumaan chaalIsa.  Keep up the good works kids!  The registration for gItaa chanting competition is now open.  Click here or the link in the  Announcements section above.  We encourage each one of you to register, participate in the competition and do your best!  We shall continue to practice in class and you continue to practice the verses at home regularly.  Remember, the class with the most registrants wins an ice-cream party at the end of the year!  Let's make it the 2nd graders this year!!

We had some interesting discussions regarding hanumaan's efficiency as an adviser as well as a minister.  Do discuss with your children the conversations we had.  We refreshed our memories with the stories of hanumaan's encounter with vibhIShaNa and his timely wisdom to sugrIva.  We also heard 2 stories regarding naarada's pride about being the best devotee.  This reinforced to us the fact, we just need to focus on being 'OUR BEST' than being the 'WORLD BEST'.  When we have put in our best effort and keep trying to better ourselves, there is nothing that can beat that!  In the story of the 2 parrots, we saw how the company we keep affects us and we 'become' the company that we keep.  Hence it is very important to keep a check on our surroundings and especially our own thoughts and habits.

Until next class, keep practicing the chants and stay warm!
________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

January 27th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 11 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 18 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• why is hanumaan the lifesaver of lakShmaNa
•  why raama loved hanumaan like a brother
• how does one become glorious
• why is raama indebted to hanumaan

Story time:

• lakShmaNa's revival - sanjeevinI mountain
• hanumaan is like bharata to raama 
• Finding faults is easier than praising others :(
• 1000 mouths of aadishesha not enough to sing hanumaan's praises
• Man's greatness lies in his efforts

Activity:

• Ready, set, go - Game
• Practice praising - Saying one nice thing to the person sitting closest!
• PS check

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

The gItaa chanting and hanumaan chaalIsa are coming along nicely.  For those of you interested in extra help with the gItaa chanting, there are gItaa chanting classes happening at the ashram on Thursdays between 8 pm and 9 pm (Rashmi Aunty).  Anyone interested is welcome to attend.

In our stories segment today, we saw how hanumaan was very alert and his timely thinking saved lakShmaNa's life.  This made raama very happy and indebted to hanumaan forever.  He even said to hanumaan that He was like a brother to Him, as dear as bharata too.  To be like hanumaan, ever ready to go on a mission for raama, we played a fun game - Ready, set, go.  We tried to trick the children giving complicated directions, but then... we could not succeed even once :).

To sing the glories of hanumaan, even aadishesha's 1000 mouths fall short!  Such are His qualities.  We heard a story about how people find it very easy to speak of others' faults whereas, look for words if they have to praise others!  But then, it is good things one is identified for that makes people happier and the world a better place to live!  We then practiced saying nice things to the children sitting next to each other.  

We then listened to the story regarding the importance of one's own efforts.  When a magic genie appeared, the boys wanted the genie to do their homework, clean their rooms for them, do their chores, etc.  But one smart boy wished that the genie should disappear before granting anyone's wishes!  He explained that he wanted so, because - 'A man's greatness lies in HIS OWN EFFORTS'.  He said that there would be nothing great or fun in their own lives, without putting in their own efforts.  Then all the boys agreed and were happy about his wish!

We have spoken to the children about the likhita japa.  We all have a unique opportunity this year!  Since our ashram and temple are being built, we call can contribute our share.  We can write likhita japa in composition notebooks, exclusively, on regular basis.  At the end of the year, the children can bring in their books.  The books shall be kept under the respective deity idols before they are installed.  The naama smaraNam shall remain there forever!  Please encourage your children to do this regularly.  Do ask them for more details about this sacred work.

See you all soon.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

January 13th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 10 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-20 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is devotion
• What is resourcefulness

Story time:

• sItaa gives hanumaan a pearl necklace
• hanumaan's ability to be small as an atom or as giant as a mountain
• good wolf vs. bad wolf 
• raavaNa's penance for aatmalingam

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

In today's class, we discussed about hanumaan's devotion.  We spoke about the story of how mother sItaa presented him with a pearl necklace, but hanumaan broke each bead!  He said he was looking for raama's name in the beads, but could not find it.  Hence the necklace was of no use to him!  Such was his devotion to Lord raama.  He constantly thought of Him and every atom of his body sang His praises.    We spoke about dedication and heard a few other stories about dedication.  We had nice discussions and brainstorming session on a lot of topics.  We ended up listening to a couple other extra stories, as we were establishing our view point :).  Do talk to your children about all the stories that they have learnt today.

Please make sure the kids practice their gItaa chanting regularly.  We can see that some practice is making a nice difference in their pronunciations!

We wish you all a very happy sankraanti/pongal/lohri/new year.  May the harvest season bring health and cheers to one and all.

See you all in two weeks.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Opening Prayers
Meditation with Japa mala
Dhyana shloka
Bhajans:
Learned new bhajan: Duniya chale no shri ram ke bina
Hanuman Chalisa
Story:Indra's Vajra
The concept of Kumati and sumati
Discussion: Am I beautiful?
Different parts of our body and what makes them beautiful?
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13th
Ending Prayers.

January 6th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 8 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-16 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is makes one beautiful
• What is brilliance
• Why was hanumaan brilliant

Story time:

• Ramu and Kanu, two good friends
• hanumaan's flight

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you all enjoyed a nice winter break.  Our first session of the year was very interesting!  We had a great brainstorming session of what makes us beautiful.  We spoke about how we can beautify our hands, lips, eyes, ears, etc.  We discussed how lipstick, makeup, ornaments that we think, beautify us, are temporary.  They wash off, fade off or lose their luster.  But what keeps them permanently beautiful are – good speech, charity, seeing good things, listening to good things, etc.   We discussed how hanumaan had barely any accessories, but He always looked attractive!  What gave him that luster was, his every readiness to serve the Lord.  His brilliance came from Him being constantly engaged in the Lord.  We discussed about how hanumaan was completely focused on his assignment, even during his flight to lankaa.  He did not let any of the hurdles deter his determination.

We are progressing well in all arenas!  The gItaa chanting, hanumaan chaalIsa, etc are coming well.  Please remember to keep up the practice.  We will see you all next Sunday. 

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

This week in class

We welcomed each other with new year greeting for 2013.

Began with the starting prayers.
Did meditation with Japa mala
Students who came on time got stickers!.

We chanted Dhyana sloka, Hanuman chalisa and Bhagavad Gita verses 1-10

We also are learning meaning of each chaupai in hanuman chalisa.

We have completed learning meanings with stories on Doha and first and second chaupais.

It was very good to see everyone comeback with lots of energy!.

Our humble thanks to all kids and parents who contributed towards the breakfast bags. The children at TASK we much appreciated it.

Will see you all in the next class.

Hari om

December 16th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 8 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-15 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is seva
• Why should we be kind and what does kindness do to the world

Story time:

• Video - Kindness boomerang - life vest inside - One day (song)

Activity:

• making breakfast baskets for TASK - seva project
• making cards to accompany the breakfast baskets
• PS check

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Today was an especially special day at our class!  We did our initial prayers, meditation, gItaa chanting and hanumaan chaalIsa.  After that, we spoke about the seva project, for which we'd raised money.  We shared ideas about why we were doing this project.  We spoke about the importance of sharing what we are so fortunate to have.  Then, was the brainstorming session regarding kindness and its effects on us and as well as those around us.  Our awesome group came up with such wonderful thoughts that we couldn't believe they are little second graders!!  To establish how a little act of kindness cheers us the receiver and inspires him to pass on the kindness and how that little act boomerangs back to the initiator when in need, we watched our video in class!  There was pin-drop silence for those few minutes while watching the video :).  After that.... it was a whirlwind of thoughts and ideas from all!!  We the began putting together the bags, with all those good thoughts running in the minds.  We packed each bag with breakfast items for two people - cereal boxes, cereal bars, milk boxes, fruit cups, napkins, spoons, bowls.  Most important of all, the children made beautiful, thoughtful and heartfelt cards to accompany the bags.  They decorated them with sequence, colorful drawing and warm messages :).  We were so touched by the way they expressed their love and thoughtfulness in those cards.  Each one was so artistically and beautifully decorated!  We are so pleased that their love shall brighten someone's morning for sure!!

We had a few parent volunteers who came to our class to help us out with this project.  We can't thank them enough not only for their time, but their involvement and participation in the activity.  So, parents, once again, our sincere thanks to you for all the help in class today.  With such parents, no wonder we have such smart, kind and diligent children!!  Isn't that why we say, 'this class rocks' :).

We wrapped up the class with our ending prayers and parted for the winter break.  Have a happy time, celebrating the New Year.  We will see you all in 3 weeks.  

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

December 9th class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 6 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-12 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• Who is a messenger
• What is kumati and sumati

Story time:

• swallowing of the Sun (becoming hanumaan)
• who is anjani-putra/kesari-nandana/pavana-kumaara
• anjani's (punjisthalaa's) curse - curse/boon
• qualities of a messenger

Activity:

• Are you a good messenger
• PS check

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Looks like good progress in the gItaa chanting practice.  We had the kids rolling till the 4th verse all by themselves today!  We have worked on the next 2 verses as well.  Learnt few more new verse in hanumaan chaalIsa.  During story time, we learnt the meanings for a lot of words in hanumaan chaalIsa. We learnt that anjani-putra means devI anjanI's son.  We heard about the story of how punjisthalaa had disturbed the penance of a sage with monkey like pranks and was cursed to be born as a monkey.  When she realized her mistake, she did penance for Lord shiva and turned her curse into a boon.  The Lord promised to be born as her son and redeem her birth as a monkey.  Hence, Lord shiva was born as hanumaan.  His divine father was pavana, the Lord of wind and hence the name pavana-kumara.  His earthly father was kesarI, a very courageous monkey.  kesarI-nandana means kesarI's son, and one who made kesarI happy.  We spoke about what makes one a nandana(boy)/nandinI(girl).  We had a check list for that too.   The children came up with the idea that they want it put up on the blog so they can print it!  So here it is.  Click here to print the nandana/nandinI check list.
We then spoke about the many stories regarding kumati (bad intellect) and sumati (good intellect).  We saw how a jealous neighbor wanted to hurt his neighbor, even at the cost of getting hurt himself.  We have some very good children who said, they would not bother with what the neighbor has or not, but would be very happy to just have what they needed!!
We spoke about why hanumaan is called raama-duuta.  It means raama's messenger.  A good messenger is very focused, does not get distracted, alert and time conscious.  hanumaan had all these qualities.  To see if we are good messengers, we played a game of passing the message around the class.  If we passed the message correctly to the last person in the class, that means we have good messengers...  And, we did!
For parents who brought in the money today for the Seva project, our many thanks.  For those who haven't we encourage you to do so in the next class.
See you all next Sunday.  Until then, stay warm.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

December 2nd Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 5 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-10 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• Why should we pray

Story time:

• Who is pavanakumaara
• Serving silently like pavanakumaara
• guNa saagara meaning
• God is everywhere!
• TASK seva project

Activity:

• Cleaning the heart
• PS check please

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - at auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

We had TOO many stories in today's class!  We started with our invocation prayers and meditation.  Children remember to bring your japa-maala to EVERY balavihar class.  Most of you did, but for some that missed, please be reminded to bring it.

We are learning the meanings of the words in hanumaan chaalIsa and the importance of praying.  We compared current day's technology to connect with the world through wi-fi, to prayer :).  Just the way the internet is the channel to connect to the world of information, prayer is the means to connect to the Lord!  When we were on the topic of connection, the children came up with questions like, how can prayer connect us to God?  How can we ask Him questions and how will He answer them to us?!!  We learnt that prayer is just like the alphabet.  Once we learn the alphabet, we can learn words and then make sentences, progressively.  Similarly, prayer, japa, meditation and contemplation are the steps towards attaining the Lord (getting our questions answered :).

We learnt about hanumaan's attribute of invisible service.  Just like the wind serves all the time, without bragging about his presence, hanumaan serves the Lord continuously, with humility and devotion.

We learnt why hanumaan is called 'guNa saagara'.  The only way to hold the most amount of water on earth is, in an ocean (saagara).  Similarly, hanumaan holds the most 'guNa's, meaning 'virtues' (goodness).  That means, He is an 'ocean of virtues' and by praying to Him, we attain virtues as well.

While discussing about prayer, the children questioned - how does God, who is in our heart, answer the questions we have in our head?!!  Wow!  These children are awesome thinkers!!  To establish this, we heard an extra story -

A teacher once had a group of students.  The students thought that the teacher favored one student than the rest of them.  When they questioned the teacher, he posed a test for them.  He gave a banana to each of them and told them that they had to eat it where NO ONE saw them.  They all went to find isolated places.  Someone ate it behind the door, one ate it under the bed, another ate it behind a couch, etc.  But this one student (on whom the others were complaining), brought back the banana.  All students made fun of him.  But when the teacher asked why, he replied that he couldn't find a single place where there was no God and the condition was, to eat the banana where 'NO ONE' saw!!  This made others realize how wrong they were in teasing that student.  This established to us, that God who is in the heart is in our head too!

We then spoke about the Seva project our class will be doing for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.  A lot of children came prepared with the donation for the task.  Our sincere thanks to all those who have already contributed.  If you haven't already made the contribution, we would encourage you to do so in the next class.  In connection to this we were discussing about why we should give?  When we give, we make someone happy.  That someone in turn, makes someone else happy... Like this, the chain of kindness and giving continues, making a world a happier place.  We were referring to a particular video in this regard.  Here is the link to see this wonderful circle of kindness.  Enjoy!

See you all next week.  Until then, stay warm!

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

1. starting prayers
2. Gita chanting
3. Bhajans
4. Dhyana sloka
5. Hanuman backbone project

The hanumaan backbone project was completed.

As madhuri aunty sent out the email to all for the seva project fund, parents who were unable to pay last week kindly do so in the upcoming class. Children will be putting together the gift bags.

Hari om.

November 18th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 4 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1-8 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is sweet speech
• What is untainted heart

Story time:

• Strong ox and the farmer

Activity:

• Order raamaayaNa incidents according to chronology

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - in the auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

In today's class, we did japa during the meditation time.  We worked on using the japamaala, the correct way.  Some of us were fine and some are still working on the flipping when the guru bead was reached.  But in no time, we will get good at it.  We then did the gItaa chanting, hanumaan chaalIsa, etc.  For our activity, we had a game of ordering the events from raamaayaNa in the correct sequence.  We had fun recollecting all the lessons we had learnt in 1st grade!

We already learnt the meanings of the individual words in the shlokam - 'buddhirbalam'.  In the second section, we will be spending quite some time learning the meanings of the chaupas in hanumaan chaalIsa.  To begin with, we learnt that it was written by 'tulasIdaas' in a language called 'avadhi'.  It is said that one gains sweetness in speech by chanting hanumaan chaalIsa.  To establish how 'sweet words' can have a profound impact on others, we listened to the story of 'The strong ox and the farmer'.
Then, moving on to learning the meanings of the verses, we saw that in the first verse, it speaks about having 'untainted hearts'.  We brainstormed what untainted meant.  We learnt it with the example of a lotus.  It grows in dirty, murky waters but never lets itself be tainted by the grime.  Similarly, when a heart is pure and unaffected by the surroundings, just like the lotus, we would have untainted hearts.

We then went to the auditorium for aarati and pledge.  Have a happy long weekend everyone.  We will see you in two weeks.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

1. Began the class prayers with meditation using the japa mala
2. We also revised the first five geetha chanting with madhuri aunty and learnt the 6 and 7th one
3. Madhuri aunty also talked about arogatha and ajaadyam.
4. We played fun game of P and S - posture and smile to see how many of us are really practising ajaadyam
6. We also moved on to the next backbone quality of vakpatutvam and shared a story of hanuman and socrates and learnt how important is vakpatutvam.
7. We also did likitha japa today.

Reminders:
1. Please ensure to bring the following to your class every week.
Japa mala, gita chanting paper, super hanuman book,notebook oly for likitha japa, pencils and color markers and most importantly lots of energy!

Timing:
Meditation time begins at 10:00 am in the class for 5 min and the lights will be turned off when the meditation is in session.

Please be kind enough to wait outside until the japa is completed to avoid noise and distraction to other kids who are doing this meditation.

Wishing you all a very happy thanksgiving weekend!.. will see you next class.

November 11th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• none

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam

Brain Storming:

• What is eloquence

Story time:

• Socrates

Activity:

• Making of sandal paste, putting the sandal paste and kumkum(vermillion) on the japamaala boxes and sanctifying them

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

We had a blast coming back to class after a long break.  (We had walkathon one week and then due to hurricane Sandy, we had a cancelled class too.)  Today, we learnt about japa and the use of japamaala to do the japa.  We also learnt about how sandal paste is used as an offering to God.  We had a fun activity where we all even learnt how and made with our own hands, some sandal paste!  We saw how the sandal wood is rubbed on a stone, with a little water and it gave out some very cool, fragrant paste of sandalwood.  Each child came up and experienced rubbing the sandal stick on the stone themselves.  Then, they were all getting their special 27 bead (quarter) japamaala-s which we will be using through out the year.  So, they put a dot of the sandal paste on their boxes, put some kumkum on top too.  They were already blessed by our Swami Shantanada-ji, now they prostrated to Goddess Saraswati, Swami Chinmayananda-ji and Swami Tejomayananda-ji and received their blessings as well.  We promised to take good care of our maala-s, be respectful to them, handle them well and do japa the right way.  We all learned that there is a 'meru' bead or the 'guru' bead at the beginning/end of the maala.  We learnt that the right way of doing japa, is by putting the string on the ring finger and moving the beads towards us, one by one, with the thumb.  We also spoke about how the meru/guru bead should never be crossed. When we reach the meru, we need to flip the string 180 degrees and continue with the japa.  We practiced quite a few times, how to do this, without dropping the beads :).  We had so much fun doing all this that, we just had time for one little story about eloquence, the last word in our shlokam!

We learnt that 'vaakpatutvam' means 'eloquence'.  To be effective communicators, we need to be eloquent.  To be eloquent, we need to know what to speak when!  All these are attained by praying to hanumaan.  Do talk to your children about the story of Socrates and his talkative visitor :).

We will see you next week.  Until then, enjoy meditating with the japamaala.  

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

This week we did the following in the classroom

1. Began with morning prayers.
2. Madhuri aunty handed out the japa malas to all the children and taught them how to hold the beads and do the japa.
3. There are few more kids who did not receive it last week and will receive it this week
4. Please remember to bring the japa mala every week. It will not be replaced by the teachers if lost
5. we also completed the first 4 verses of chapter 13 in bhagavad gita
6. We recited hanuman chalisa and and read story of swami  tapovan ji, guruji of swami Chinmayananda di and also story of the sleeping rabbit. The story carried the moral of “nirbhayatvam” – fearlessness
7. We ended the class with prayers and pledge
8. Likitha Japa – Please keep a separate notebook for likitha japa. We are currently writing : Sri Ram Jaya ram Jaya Jaya Ram. The idea is to keep this notebook beneath the Hanuman idol in the new temple – ashram in cranbury.
 
Reminders:
 Please remember to bring the following to the classroom.
-          Folder, my prayers book, japa mala, pen , pencils, super hanuman book, a notebook for likitha japa.
 Thank you,