Banu Mahalingam
- Identification of different Gods
- Show & Tell - Each kid brings a god item to share with the class and say a few words about it
- Talked about the gods Ganesha and Saraswathi
- Bhajan/slokas
- Shuklam Bharatharam
- Saraswathi Namastubhyam
- Karaagre Vasathe
- Closing class sloka - Asatoma Sadgamaya
Vaishali Bhatt
- 3 OMs
- H = Happiness- what is happy/unhappy?
- Go around room - what makes us happy? - Name it
- What makes us unhappy? - The same thing can make one happy and another unhappy. Example : Barbie doll : boy = unhappy, girl=happy
- Story - "Harmony and the elephant"
- See the whole, not the part or piece of something
- Bhajan/Sloka
- Om sahana vavatu
- Gajananam Bhoota Ganathi Sevitham
- Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
- Sree Srinivasa Govinda - Bhajan
- Ganesha sharanam and Jai Ganesha - Bhajan
- Youth helper Hardevi Shah
- Learnt Devanagari letter
- Story of Sagara Madhanam
- Pledge
- Sahana Vavatu
- Ganesha sharanam
- Jai Ganesha
- Gauri Nandana
- Daily prayers - morning, before studies, before meal, before evening light, before sleep
- Substitute teacher Deepika Rao
- We continued with the alphabets - R for Righteousness, Ramayana, Religion
- Told the story of Rama for righteousness
- We made the Japa mala with beads and asked the children to do meditation with the mala
- Sahana Vavatu
- Ajam Nirvikalpam
- Prem Muditha
- Atmarama Anandaramana
- Homework - learn Atmarama on page 55 in 'My Prayers'a
- Significance of Makara Sankranti and Pongal
- Shared halwa sweet (Til Goud)
- Art project
- OQSEU - values we need to practice - ask your child what each letter stands for
- Gajanana
- Nandalala
- Adishesha
- Govinda Bolo
- Dehi Dehi Sharada
- Substitute teacher Anjani Gharpure
- Being helpful
- Being honest
- Lord Siva - different names for Lord Siva. Symbolism for Siva's three eyes, snake, trident etc.
- Substitute youth helper Kavita Ragavan
- Daily prayers
- Guru stothram
- Youth helper Preeta Ragavan
- Values - Purity - Jealousy
- Discussion, explanation, games with what do they think god gave us as gift in ourselves and others
- Guru slokas (4 verses)
- Gajanana
- Madhurastakam
- Ayi giri nandini (Mahishasuramardini stothram) up to stanza 7
- Guru Nanak
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
- Gajanana
- He jagat tratha
- Dehi dehi sharada
- Jagadeeshwari
- Govinda Jai Jai
- Ananda cha kanda harita
- Review Makara Sankranti
- Mahasivaratri discussion
- Meaning of first sloka of Geet dhyanam
- Mahabharat - Draupadi, Swayamvar, Subhadra Swayamvara
- Om Sahana Vavatu
- Om great god ganapati from Br. Arpitaji's tape
- Shri Gurustothram page 9
- Lingastakam page 72
- Geeta Dhyanam page 14-17
- Trayambakam
- Discuss BV journal project
- Video (episode from Ramayana, Hanuman's travel to Lanka)
- Beginning prayers
- Shambho Mahadeva Sadashiva - page 65
- Ending prayers
- The children through their own intuition helped to develop the following
- Identifying the goal: Who is God or the Divine? How do we understand this God? What communicative terms shall we use?
- We borrowed two definitions given in an 8th Grade Public School text: What is science? ("A method of organizing curiosity") What is the scientific method? ("investigation using observation, analysis, synthesis, testing")
- What do we do in our Monday through Friday education? What do we do in our Sunday classes? Are they same or is there a seperation? If Mon~Fri we claim we study science, can we say that we are scientists, too, on Sundays? As a Sunday scientist are we all embracing?
- Using the example of the Sun (Surya, Aditya) we discussed the following:
- What concepts or language does a M~F scientist use? We talked of inputs and activity through our senses; of terms like measurement, forms, sizes, motion, temperature etc. and of abstracted notions like big, small, infinite, infinitesimal etc. We also arrived at the key notion of "objectivity
- We then looked at the same example from a philosopher/"spiritual" scientist's view point and saw how we could derive "subjective" notions and from it values for the good of human society
- We instantiated how the Hindu Rishi first observed the outer world (like todays material scientist) and what they abstracted (1)All objects are finite (2) Decay is inevitable (3) How movement, space and time are interconnected in a simple way
- Over the next two sessions, we shall move on to understand how the Rishis conceived the notion of God and in what axioms, terms and language they shifted from "enquiry" into "inquiry".
- I have distributed three shlokas from Bhagwad Gita and the Mundaka Upanishad (I have not yet gone over them) to the youth an idea of how God (Bhagwan) is described/thought by the sages. My attempt is also to give them a feel for the sound of Samskrita.
- Om Saha Naavavatu
- Gaureenandana Gajanana
- Introduction to: Vakra Tunda Maha Kaya, Mukund Madhav Govind Bol
- Combined with grade 11-12 class
- Mrs. Amy Glen from the Lawrenceville school shared her thoughts on Hinduism and Dharma with students. She is knowledgeable about Yoga and Pranayama