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2/23 Spiritual Principle:The kind of food we eat will determine our ideas. For all our ideas, it is our food that is responsible. If we eat sathwik food, sitting in a clean place, we will have clean ideas by eating that food. There will thus be a good possibility of our getting spiritual ideas. Students learn why it is important to have good thoughts while eating food and by chanting food prayer we purify the food we eat
We discussed why it is important to do the food prayer to help purify the food and also not watch tv/phone while eating. We had a short yoga session to try some fun poses with a friend.
2/16/25 Spiritual Principle:A healthy mind is pre-requisite for a healthy body Students learn why a healthy mind is important, how it influences the healthy body and how yoga can help develop a healthy mind and healthy body Class Summary: Next we moved into understanding the connection between the physical body and mind. We played a game where children were given a scenario and what emotion they felt and what was the physical reaction . eg : You get a surprise birthday gift, a favorite toy, emotion – Surprise, happiness, joy, physical reaction – big smiles, jumping with joy. This led us to the discussion of what is really being healthy and we reached the conclusion that it is not only the physical body but a “healthy” mind is necessary and bringing in inner happiness and peace. All the exercises that we do is for the physical body. what is the exercise for the mind. Children said having positive and good thoughts. Introduced the practice of Yoga as a means to healthy mind and body. A little history of yoga was also explained. We had a short yoga session trying some balancing poses and some challenging poses like snail pose and lotus pose. Affirmation: I am pure Note to parents : Please talk to children about how we can keep our mind “healthy”. You could practice couple of yoga poses with them. Ask them the name of the sage who founded yoga. Life application: Spiritual Diary—5 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting,Keeping bags and shoes in place, finishing the water bottle, choosing a healthy snack.Please create a february calendar to continue. 2/9/25 Spiritual Principle: Right Action The class commenced with 3 oms and the kids chanted the prayers they have learnt so far . After the bhajan practice for sai madhuram , we learnt about a very important virtue that is essential for life”learning from our mistakes”. To err is human but when we realize our mistakes and determine not to do it again we can become great humans(mahatma). The children named many values that is essential to practice truth like integrity, being fair, discipline etc. They learnt this value through 2 stories: 1. Gandhi Ji and his mother Putli Bai: This story is about how little boy named Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi became Mahatma Gandhi . Once when Gandiji’s mother was fasting, he wanted her to break the fast and so he lied about hearing the cuckoo bird. His mom was very upset about that and so from then on he realized his mistake and vowed not to lie ever again. This realization helped Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi become Mahatma Gandhi. 2. Ashoka, the greatest emperor: King Ashoka of Mauryan dynasty was a wonderful king and very valiant. He wanted to conquer the neighbouring territory and won them. When he went to the battle field he saw the families of lost soldiers mourning for their loss and their sadness. A transformation came over in his heart and he decided to do dharma Vijaya from there on. From then he was considered a finest emperor . CLASS DATE: 02/2/25 TEACHER(S): Sunita,Nitya Topic: Food is god. Attendance: Spiritual Principle: right Action The class started with 3 oms followed by 3 sai Gayathris, Gayathri mantra, and we reviewed the food prayer. We practiced Silent sitting for 1 Minute. Last week we learned about healthy food choices and this week we transitioned to the food wastage and effects of food wastage. . 1 out of 6 Americans do not have food to eat Swami has said “Annam Brahma meaning Food is god. So do not waste food because Food is god, Life is god and man is born from food. Food is the main source of Man’s body, mind and Character”. These points were taught to the kids through a skit that we teachers enacted. Do talk to them about it to know more. Food prayer: Finally We learnt the bhajans for sai madhuram that’s coming up on Feb 23rd and lingashtakam. Mana bangaru parthi baba- http://www.saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/449 Punya naam Pavithra naam – http://www.saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/79 Lingashtakam Affirmation: I will not waste food. Note to parents : Life application: Spiritual Diary—5 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting,Keeping bags and shoes in place, finishing the water bottle, choosing a healthy snack.Please create a february calendar to continue. Bhajans 1/26- Punya naam Pavithra naam 1/19- Mana bangaru parthi baba 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 01/26/25 Class notes : We learnt about the importance of healthy food and the nutrients that are essential for the body. We discussed about the 5 categories of food that makes a healthy meal and additionally the amount of water we have to consume per day. All the kids have promised to keep themselves hydrated and finish the bottle of water that they take to school.We learnt about the vegetables/ fruits that look like the body part they nourish. Talk to kids and ask them about it. They were very excited to guess it. We helped them learn the food prayer and its effects, when we chant the prayer before we eat our healthy meal. Please encourage them to chant it everyday. The story behind the brahmārpañam mantra in brindavan campus : In the early days (70s if I recall), Swami had asked all the Brindavan campus college boys to join Him for lunch. At that time, only about 100 boys were there. Kirlian photographer Dr. Baranowski was also there and was invited for lunch. The sumptuous food was laid out on plates in front of the boys. The boys were waiting for Swami to come and join them. Dr. Baranowski then used his Kirlian camera and took photos of the food laid out on the plates. No aura was found around the plates of food. Later, Swami arrived and joined the boys for lunch. The boys recited the Brahmaarpanam mantra before partaking the food. After the mantra was recited, Dr. Baranowski again took pictures of the food. This time, a blue aura was found around the plates of food. He was excited, but, having a scientific mind, asked Swami for the reason for the blue aura around the food. Swami said that the Brahmaarpanam mantra is a very powerful mantra and that after recitation, the food is converted to prasadam, since it has been offered to God. It further purifies the food and all items around it. That is why the blue aura was found around the plates of food after the mantra was recited. Brahmārpañam Brahma Havir BrahmāgnauBrahmañāhutaṃ, Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam BrahmakarmāSamādhinah. AhamVaishvānaroBhutvā PrāñināmḌehamāshritaha, PrāñāpānaSamāyuktah PachāmyannamChaturvidham Finally We learnt the bhajans for sai madhuram that’s coming up on Feb 23rd. Mana bangaru parthi baba- http://www.saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/449 Punya naam Pavithra naam – http://www.saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/79 lingashtakam Affirmation: Note to parents : Life application: Spiritual Diary—3 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting, and Keeping bags and shoes in place. Please create a January calendar to continue. Bhajans 1/26- Punya naam Pavithra naam 1/19- Mana bangaru parthi baba 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 CLASS DATE: 01/19/25 TEACHER(S): Sunita,Nitya Topic: Honesty Attendance: Spiritual Principle: 01/19/25 In today’s class, we learned to chant the Gayatri Mantra and discussed its meaning. Om Bhur Bhuvaḥ Suvaha Tat-savitur Vareñyaṃ Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi Dio Yonaḥ Prachodayāt Meaning as we learnt: We worship and bow down to the divine light, which is the source of creation. We meditate on its divine radiance and pray- may our intelligence be stimulated and activated. We discussed Group 1’s 100th birthday offering, which is to continue the spiritual diary activities of prayer and silent sitting sincerely and honestly. The emphasis is on sincerity and honesty. We also talked about how an offering should be made to God. We observed that some children tend to fill the diary with tick marks all at once at the end of the week just before class. We all agreed that the proper way to maintain a spiritual diary is to mark each day with a tick or a cross, depending on whether we completed the activity or not. We request parents follow up with their children to ensure it is done correctly. To emphasize how much importance Swami gives to honesty we shared an experience. Back in 2002, Swami gave refuge to 62 orphan children and 11 widowed mothers from and around the villages of Puttaparthi who lacked basic education and good living conditions, under a program called Deenajanodharana Pathakam. Swami built a new housing complex for them that has a prayer hall and a spacious dining hall with a modern kitchen and attached stores. The complex has 200 independent rooms, each with an attached bathroom and toilet, and a solar water heater that provides hot water for all the residents of the home. A few days after the children and their mothers moved into the new complex, they came to Sai Kulwant Hall for Swami’s darshan. Fruits were distributed among all the devotees present. One of the younger boys among them was also offered a fruit, but he politely declined, stating that he had already received one. Watching from a distance, Swami took another apple and offered it to the boy. Again, the boy declined, giving the same reason as before. Swami then called the boy over, patted his cheek, and said, “Good boy. Always speak the truth. I will give you everything if you are always truthful.” The boy was filled with gratitude and love for Swami. We discussed how a small act of honesty makes Swami feel proud of his children. We continued learning the Lingastakam (third stanza). We also learned a new bhajan, which will be sung during Sai Maduram bhajans on February 23rd. The recording will be shared shortly. Lingashtakam brahmamurāri surārchita liṅgaṃ nirmalabhāsita śōbhita liṅgam । janmaja duḥkha vināśaka liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 1 ॥ dēvamuni pravarārchita liṅgaṃ kāmadahana karuṇākara liṅgam । rāvaṇa darpa vināśana liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 2 ॥ sarva sugandha sulēpita liṅgaṃ buddhi vivardhana kāraṇa liṅgam । siddha surāsura vandita liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 3 ॥ kanaka mahāmaṇi bhūṣita liṅgaṃ phaṇipati vēṣṭita śōbhita liṅgam । dakṣasuyajña vināśana liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 4 ॥ kuṅkuma chandana lēpita liṅgaṃ paṅkaja hāra suśōbhita liṅgam । sañchita pāpa vināśana liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 5 ॥ dēvagaṇārchita sēvita liṅgaṃ bhāvai-rbhaktibhirēva cha liṅgam । dinakara kōṭi prabhākara liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 6 ॥ aṣṭadaḻōparivēṣṭita liṅgaṃ sarvasamudbhava kāraṇa liṅgam । aṣṭadaridra vināśana liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 7 ॥ suraguru suravara pūjita liṅgaṃ suravana puṣpa sadārchita liṅgam । parātparaṃ (paramapadaṃ) paramātmaka liṅgaṃ tatpraṇamāmi sadāśiva liṅgam ॥ 8 ॥ liṅgāṣṭakamidaṃ puṇyaṃ yaḥ paṭhēśśiva sannidhau । śivalōkamavāpnōti śivēna saha mōdatē ॥ Affirmation: Note to parents : Life application: Spiritual Diary—3 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting, and Keeping bags and shoes in place. Please create a January calendar to continue. Bhajans 12/19 Mana bangaru parthi baba. 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 http://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/1467 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 Spiritual Principle : 01/12/25In this class, Children learnt what it is like to remain honest at all times, as honesty helps us build self-confidence. As part of the lesson, we narrated a Chinese folk tale titled “The Empty Pot.” In the story, a Chinese emperor who does not have children decides to hold a contest to find a successor to his throne. He invites every child in the country to the palace and gives each child a seed, declaring that whoever grows the best plant will win the throne. A little boy named Ping also gets his seed from the king and carefully carries it home, clasped in his fist. Having experience growing plants, he sows the seed in a pot, waters it and places it on the window sill for sunlight. However, days pass with no signs of sprouting. Ping tries making adjustments to the soil and puts the pot in the garden for brighter sunlight, but still, no growth occurs. As time went on, the boys in the country began talking about how well their seeds were growing but Ping did not find any signs of his seed growing. A few months later, the other boys’ seeds grew into big leafy plants while nothing grew in Ping’s pot, despite all his efforts. The time has come for everyone to show their pots to the emperor. Ping thought he wouldn’t attend the palace to present his empty pot in front of the emperor. But his grandfather encouraged him, saying that he had put in his best effort and should not fear failure. With his grandfather’s support, Ping agreed to go to the palace. There in the palace, all the boys arrived carrying huge plants with flowers and fruits while Ping stood with just his empty pot. The emperor looked at his empty pot and smiled. He said, “I have given you all roasted seeds that cannot grow. Ping is the only honest boy among you all.” He then declared Ping to be the next emperor.We then had an interesting discussion on honesty. We asked who the first person was to know if we were not honest and were lying. The children answered, we ourselves. We then said that the voice that tells us if we are being truthful or lying is the inner voice, and that is also the voice of God, always telling us what is right. It is us who sometimes don’t listen to it. We will continue discussing the same topic in our next class as well. Affirmation: Note to parents : Life application: Spiritual Diary—3 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting, and Keeping bags and shoes in place. Please create a January calendar to continue. Lingastakam: In preparation for Shivratri, we are learning Lingastakam. Bhajan list 11/3, 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 |
| Spiritual Principle : 01/05/25 The primary objective of today’s lesson is to understand God’s all-knowing nature, which encourages us to be mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions. To illustrate this, we shared a student’s experience of Swami’s omniscience, as narrated by Brother Sunder Iyer during one of the Souljourns interviews. A student from a foreign country enrolled in Swami’s college, and during his initial days there, Swami showed him a lot of attention. However, as the student began to adjust to his new routine, Swami gradually started to step back. This apparent indifference from Swami left the student feeling quite uncomfortable and frustrated, as the challenges and discipline of hostel life began to weigh on him. Then as the day of the sports meet drew nearer, the student saw an opportunity to regain Swami’s attention. Skilled in karate, so he formed a group and began practicing daring stunts to perform before Swami. Unfortunately, just a week before the event, he injured both of his legs during practice and found himself bedridden, relying on crutches to move around. This setback brought back all his frustration, as he felt physically hurt and mentally upset for losing the chance to perform before Swami. One day, while he was lying in the sick room, he felt the urge to use the bathroom only to realize that his crutches were missing. Another student with a leg injury had borrowed them and had not yet returned them. Frustrated and unable to take it anymore, he began blaming himself and everything around him, including Swami. Just then, the door opened, and to his astonishment, Swami walked in. Swami then lifted him up, placing one of the boy’s arms around his neck and wrapping his other arm around the boy’s hip, and carried him to the bathroom and brought him back. He then gave assurance to the boy that he is always there for him and would take care of him.After sharing this incident, we reflected on Swami’s all-knowing nature and his unconditional love. We reasoned that Swami is in our hearts, and knows our every thought and feeling. He is always ready to help us whenever we call out to him. However, there is one thing he wants us to be – sincere in our words and actions.Affirmation:Note to parents : Take time and talk to children about being sincere and truthful in what we speak and what we do in our day-to-day activities, with an understanding that swami knows our every thought, word and action.Life application: Spiritual Diary—3 activities–Prayer, Silent sitting, and Keeping bags and shoes in place. Please create a January calendar to continue.Bhajan list11/3, 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 |
12/8
| Spiritual Principle :Some people say that money is the basis of the entire world (dhana moolam idam jagat). Others say that righteousness is the basis of the entire world (dharma moolam idam jagat). But the correct statement is that compassion is the basis of the world (daya moolam idam jagat). The five basic elements, the sun, the moon, and night and day all function on the basis of compassion (daya). The heart filled with compassion is divine. Even if others talk to us harshly, we should always speak amiably. One can find fulfillment in life only with compassion and mercy. https://saispeaks.sathyasai.org/discourse/compassionate-heart-temple-godIn continuation with how to light the lamp of love in our hearts, we focussed the class today on kindness. WE started off with an experiment of adding a carrot piece in a cup of water, where it sunk to the bottom. Then the carrot piece was removed and salt was added to the water and mixed well to dissolve. Then the carrot piece was added and now it floated. An analogy was brought with this experiment that sometimes we feel down, upset etc and we also “sink” down because of the words and actions of others and sometimes we do that to others too. How can we help ourselves and others to come up? What is the “salt” in our life which will help us come up and push others up as well. It was explained through a story 2 girls Ellen and Marcia who are 3rd graders. One day at school they were waiting for the audition results of the dramatics club. They were very eager but realized that their name was not on it. Ellen feels very jealous that one of their classmate, Della’s name was on it and remarks that she didn’t deserve it. Della was standing next to them and hears her say and Ellen turns around and sees Della almost in tears. Ellen feels very bad but doesn’t know how to undo what was done. She goes home and asks her mom as she feels very sad and guilty. Her mom says that if kind words cannot be spoken, it’s better not to speak anything. Words cannot be taken back once spoken. Her mom says the only thing she can do now is to apologize to Della. Ellen agrees and next day goes and says sorry to Della. Della says it was ok and it doesn’t matter as she cannot participate because her parents cannot afford the dress they want for her character. Immediately Ellen thinks of the blue dress she has in her closet and offers that to Della. Della initially refuses but Ellen convinces her that it would be. great fit for her and she would be very happy to give it as she can participate in the play.We briefly discussed how we can be kind and be helpful to others and help them come up, so the “salt” in our lives is th kindness which can life people upLife application : Continue the sameAffirmation : I am kindNote to parents : Parents, please talk to your children about the story and then techniques that you use to manage your anger or share any experience/story. Please talk to them about the trackerLife application : Please continue with the tracker – Prayer, Silent Meditation, Bags&Shoes in placeBhajan list11/3, 12/8 – Saibaba Saibaba sathya sai avatar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEW19xS0P_Y 11/3 – Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981 https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945 |
12/1 – No class, ThanksGiving
11/24 – Swami’s birthday , no class
11/17 – Recap class – Quiz
11/10 – No Class, Akhand Bhajan
Class notes from 11/3
Spiritual Principle : In our daily lives, we know that when we become angry, our nerves become weak and feeble and we lose grip over ourselves. Even a moment of anger takes away our strength that we gather by eating good food for three months. Anger not only debilitates us and takes away the merit of our good deeds, but also enfeebles our condition. If we are able to control this anger, we shall be in a position to attain merit through the utterance of the Lord’s name.
https://saispeaks.sathyasai.org/discourse/anger-greatest-enemy/
We had a wonderful class today, as a continuation to the last class on anger and its management. Recapped how Narakasura’s anger brought him down. We talked about what happens to our body and mind when we are angry/mad, it increases heartbeat, we feel something boiling inside and we are unable to think clearly and we end up yelling or saying bad words. Anger burns up all the nutrition that we have acquired over couple of months by eating food. So, it’s not worth getting angry and lose our energy. Uncle Lion’s story, the Nailed Fence was narrated – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVfrXel-kU. Just like while pulling the nail out, it leaves the hole, when we get angry it hurts the other person and also hurts us as well. So, we concluded that it is ok to feel angry but it’s important to know how to deal with it. There are several ways, we can deal with it –
Relaxation (listening to music, playing an instrument , take a walk etc),
Distraction ( do your hobby, move away from the place),
Communication (talking to an elder and express how you feel),
Thinking (Think about the whole episode that made you angry and feel what differently could be done, is it worth getting angry).
We talked about the anger thermometer – different levels of anger and what we can do in each of the situation. We came up with one tip: Whenever we are angry and want to use a bad word, we decided to try saying a funny made up word , eg : googlicious, googoogaga, bubblybubble 🙂
Life application : Please add one more line item this month – Put bag/shoes in its place, starting today. We talked in length about why we do the tracker, please ask them
Affirmation : I am happy
Note to parents :
Parents, please talk to your children about the story and then techniques that you use to manage your anger or share any experience/story. Please talk to them about the tracker
Life application : Please continue with the tracker – Prayer, Silent Meditation
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Class notes from 10/27.
Spiritual Principle :When the lamp of love is shining, God manifests. Keeps it burning bright and pure. God persists. Allows all to light their lamps from it, God showers grace – SSS v.292
We had a fun filled class on significance of Diwali – Festival of Lights and also did a small celebration with lights 🙂
We started the class by asking how each of the families celebrated Diwali and how they all felt with festivities. One of them common theme was lighting lamps apart from of course sweets :). We talked about if they knew the story about why this festival is celebrated and children immediately talked about Rama/Sita/Lakshmana’s return to AYodhya after the victory. The other story behind the festival is about Narakasura who was the son of Mother Earth, who got the boon from Lord Vishnu to be invincible. Narrated the story of how his evil ways brought down his downfall from the hands of Krishna’s consort Satyabhama. One aspect Swami talked in many discourses is about his anger and how it weakened him and hence his failure. Just like how we light lamps to dispel darkness in our homes and everywhere, the festival reminds us how we have to remove the “darkness” from our hearts by lighting the lamp of love. We specifically talked about how anger can “darken” our heart and is an internal enemy we have to keep away from. Children shared different ways that they manage anger – distracting by doing something they like (eg: drawing, playing with toys, watching tv), think happy thoughts , taking deep breaths, or reach out to elders. We will continue talking about anger and how it negatively impacts us in the next class. Finally we had a fun song we did some dance steps with the t-lights :).
Affirmation : I am happy
Note to parents :
Please talk to children about what lighting the lamp of love in our hearts mean to you and share your thoughts on impact of anger. Also you could question them on narakasura story, they seem to have gotten all the details of the characters and specifically ask them the name of his kingdom :), it may be a new one for you too :), it was for me as I learnt it myself as I was going through the story
Class
Vittala Hari Vittala : https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/981http://saimelodies.org/Songs/Deta
il/1467
https://saimelodies.org/Songs/Detail/945