December 8, 2013

Today in class we learned about what differentiates us from others. We heard a talk by Swami Swaroopanada (Swamiji from Chinmaya Mission UK) via you tube on the topic "Conquering our destiny". Click here for link to Swamiji's talk.  According to Swami Swaroopananda each of us has our own mental texture which is composed of our personality, our actions, and our choices. Another important highlight from class was whether we truly have control over our lives or not. But what are choices? Choices are options that allow us to change or alter the direction of our lives.

 

Another question was do we as individuals have control over our own lives or is everything predestined? Many of us argued that we don’t necessarily make choices for ourselves rather decisions that we make are influenced by choices that we made in the past. So, they aren’t necessarily choices considering that they are influenced or affected by other sources. Factors that don’t have control over, influences what you do have control over. If we are influenced by other sources then do we really have control? If we have bad influence, then our actions will result negatively also. This is why we should try to get good thoughts/ ideas from valid sources; in this way we can become a better person.

 

Some people act without thinking but why does this happen? the body reacts to the command from the mind based on the sensory stimulus, the mind is trained or helped by the intellect which acts like the filter based on actions learned. As long as the MIND and the INTELLECT work in sync following the Right values the actions will be successful and will happen smoothly.(Eg: we know that fire burns, so when we see a fire we are careful and do not try to touch it or are very cautious around it as the intellect which has learnt this has informed the mind which has listened to the intellect. )

- Rachna Ammanamanchi

November 24, 2013

Today, in class, we mainly discussed the three types of Gunas:

 

Sathvik Guna: This guna generally represents the purest and best attributes that one can possess:

·         Just action – action for justice (against injustice)

·         Generosity

·         Selflessness

·         Kindness

·         Love for everyone and everything

·         Calmness – polar opposite of anger

 

Rajasik Guna: This guna represents the “middle” level of attributes. These attributes are better than Tamasik Guna attributes, but are not the best attributes that one can have:

·         Action oriented

·         Greed for more than oneself

·         Less selfishness and more empathy

·         Firmness, but not Cruelty

·         Not Lust, but just liking things

·         More controlled anger (against unjust causes)

 

Tamasik Guna: This guna represents the lowest attributes that one can have:

·         Laziness

·         Greed

·         Selfishness

·         Cruelty

·         Lust

·         Anger 

Once we were taught about these ideas, the whole class then collectively took a survey. The survey consisted of the teachers giving the class a scenario and 4 responses – we (as students) had to choose the response that applied to us. In the end, it showed everyone in the class what attributes they had, which would in turn show them what guna they were a part of.

 

This activity showed us what we need to improve on by showing us what attributes we possess. Therefore, it was highly beneficial for everyone that participated in it.

 

- Srivats Narasimhan

November 17, 2013

Today, our class started off by discussing the importance of knowing the reason behind each action. We cannot simply follow the smaskaras blindly without understanding why we are doing so. Why do we do certain things in our culture? Why do we follow rituals, chant prayers, do pooja, offer naivedyam - why do we do anything that we do? We chant prayers to appeal to God, to ask Him, to reach out for Him, and to show our devotion.

    Chanting prayers is our communication with, and expression to God. It is through our actions that we can convey what we intend. Our words must be conveyed in our everyday actions - not just towards God, but towards everyone around us. Our parents, family, friends, even strangers whom we do not know very well. We say thank you, or sorry- but how do others know that we truly mean it? It is through our action, that we convey our intentions. Without actions, our words are meaningless.

    How do we express love? Everybody expresses love differently. Helping out parents without they asking, shows love for your parents. Being there for your friends during hard times because you know they need you shows how much you care about them; watching a T.V show every week unfailingly without ever missing any episode shows your love for that show! Love is not simply an expression, but an action.

    This brings us back to the rituals and prayers. They are our actions that convey our faith and devotion to God. If we have faith in the Supreme Power, then chanting our prayers and following the rituals proves that we believe in this power. This is why we follow our prescriptions - they are the guide to our actions that tell God that we are thankful to Him, and that we are loyal to Him.

    The Rishis are dedicated to God, so much that they descend to the mountains to find the secret of God. Their actions obviously show how committed they are. They start on a lifelong quest to find God and the ultimate truth. Stephen Hawking once said, “There is no God before Universe came, nothing was there. When I die, I don’t go anywhere.” Is this true? Was God here before the Universe began? Rishis searched and searched, to find the truth behind all. However, in the end, it was decided that it is beyond our comprehension to know whether there was anything before God, let alone what was before God. After all, we believe that God is all powerful, and exists always.

    Sanatana Dharma not only gives us prescriptions to follow, but also states that we can worship whatever we want in whatever form to represent the idea. We do not worship the God or Goddess; we worship the ideas that they represent, the ideas that they stand for. While some people can comprehend the thought of worshipping the idea itself, others comprehend easier through other means, such as praying to a more connectable form, such as God. Everyone is different, and everybody thinks and understand differently as well.

    Some are emotional. Others are analytical. Many are observant. We use words that label us, and label others. We confine ourselves to identity and we do not understand that it restricts us. All these identities that put upon ourselves and others make us forget that, in the end, we are all one and the same. The karma kandas help us remove these restrictions. For example, when we go weddings, do we know what is being said by the priest? The guests simply talk to one another, because they do not know what is being said. However, chants or prayers are very important. They are very significant. They are part of everyday rituals. One such ritual is the Upanayanam.

    Upanayanam is a tradition that all Varnas followed- in the beginning, even the woman followed this tradition. Until children turned 8 years old, children were not required to work very hard. However, when they were ready(usually when they turned eight), they were given a sacred thread and sent to the Gurukulam. This ceremony, the Upanayanam, marked the start of a long journey that required hard work. The children woke up early, did all the chores, and were educated. There are three strings that are part of the Upanayanam. Each string in reality symbolizes something specific. The first string symbolizes our debt to our ancestors, as it is believed that whoever we are now is all because of our ancestors. The second string for the Devas, and the and the third string for the Rishis and society. Another three strings are added when a man is married- again, the three strings bearing a very important meaning. The string is called Yagnyopavitam, the symbolic reminder of the duties and debts of a man. Yagnyopavitm has many names in many different languages- Poonal in Tamil, Janoyam in Gujarat, and Dhanjyam in Telugu. This is the reason behind the Upanayanam, and why this tradition is followed to this day.

    We wrapped up by discussing the importance of the Gayatri Mantra. The Gayatri Mantra is also the mantra that is chanted into a boy’s ear by the father when receiving his Yagyopavitam. The Gayatri Mantra is chanted for the benefits of the intelect of the student, praying to both Savitr (Sun), as well as Paramatma(consciousness).  The Mantra is as follows - OM bhur bhuvah svaha tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo yonah prachodayaat. The first part is not really part of this Mantra. It is merely stating that this mantra can be beneficial to those who belong to the three worlds (Bhur, Bhuvah, Svaha).  The rest of the Mantra prays, praises, and appeals to Savitr. This Mantra is very powerful, and we concluded the class by chanting the Gayatri Mantra continuously three times.

 -Pranati Ambati

November 10, 2013

We as children of the twenty-first century are forever buried in our electronic gadgets and jam-packed social lives. Thus, when we ninth-grade whippersnappers met for class today, we were all armed to the teeth with our iPhones, iPods, cell phones and iWhatevers - sadly. However, it took some persuading, but we eventually surrendered our gadgets… realizing the true nature of ourselves as humans in the process.

 

 You see, the scriptures tell us of the “guidelines” or prescriptions we have for living, called SAMSKARAS. Some are the same rules we have been fed since Kindergarten: kindness, happiness, generosity. The easy stuff. And then there are the more difficult rules to keep in mind; the ones that we, as teenagers, often don’t really care about. Take, for example, ASPRAH… the absence of desires or clinging attachments.  Clearly, we could use some help in that area, with the number of people who came in engrossed in their phones. We are so attached to our devices, our friends, and getting good grades that we do not perceive what is important in life… fulfilling our dharma and breaking free of the cycle of wrongdoing. Often, these desires keep us from doing what is right, and we end up living in a superficial, distracted state. One must be like a statue (have SAMATTVAM), we agreed, and remain constant and true, not allowing petty desires to affect us on our path to our ultimate goals. Another value we as ninth-graders often overlook is ANAYSA, or being free from mental strain. Instead of abstaining from conflict, we often willingly engage ourselves in it, allowing our emotions to take on a life of their own! Well… some of us. Ram Uncle shared with the class a super-fun word that describes this behavior perfectly: VIDANDAVADAM, or arguing simply for the sake of arguing (Word of the Day!). So many of us feel the need to have the last word, or simply to talk because we can, and we fail to realize that the occasional heated atmosphere of the classroom as well as our brains arises from this need. If we stopped creating tension, like the proverbial stretched rubber band, we would all remain at much more peace.  Finally, a significant samskara discussed in class today was purity (SAUCAM). What is purity? Some argue it is synonymous with kindness. Some believe it is achieved by taking copious showers. However, we learned today that purity is achieved by having a clear state of mind, whether it is through daily prayer, meditation/time spent in solitary reflection, or simply by keeping one’s room tidy. All of these methods lead to a more organized, clearer mind that can focus on greater things, such as fulfilling one’s dharma and stuff. Basically, friends: start making those beds!

 

The 8 Samskaras discussed in class today were

·      KIndness

·      Ksanti-Forebearance

·      Anasuya-Absence of jealousy

·      Sauca-Cleanliness/purity of thought/word/actions

·      Anayasa-free from mental strain

·      Mangalam-Auspiciousness/happy state of mind.

·      Akarpanya-not being a miser

·      Asprah-Absence of desires

Even though we ninth-graders occasionally come to class distracted and are quite fond of heated debates, Balavihar class allows us to take away knowledge that eventually makes us better people. Learning about the various samskaras as we did today will certainly help us achieve our goals in high school… and beyond.

 

- Ananya Ramachandran

October 20, 2013

Today in class we discussed the different types of Karma Kanda. Karma Kanda basically means duties everyone has, and it applies differently to everyone. 

 

There are 6 types of Karma Kanda:

 

Nissidha Karma - Things you shouldn’t do

Kamya Karma - Driven by desire. There are good desires and bad desires. Good desires have long-term positive effects, while bad desires only satisfy short-term (positive or negative) wants. 

Niyata Karma - Follow rules

Sanchita Karma - The balance of positive and negative values between lives.

Prarabdha Karma - The destiny/result of Sanchita Karma.  Also, it ends vasana (tendency). When vasana is burnt out (becomes 0), it stops the life-death cycle, when full service to god is performed.

Agami Karma - Things you do to achieve the end to the life-death cycle.

 

We also briefly discussed the 16 Samskaras. They are:

1. Upanayana
2. Samāvarthana
3. Vivaha
4. Garbhadana
5. Pumasavana
6. Simantonnayana
7. Jata Karma
8. Nama Karma
9. Niskramana
10. Annaprasna
11. Cudakarma
12. Karnaveda
13. Vidyarambha
14. Vanaprastha
15. Sanyasa
16. Antyesti

There are also 8 inner qualities, we only touched base on one of them: Kindness. We heard a story about a poor little boy who got some milk from an old lady. Later on in life, when the lady was critically ill, she needed an operation. Afterwards, the bill was really high, and she didn’t know how she was going to pay it back. It turns out, the surgeon who worked on her was the same boy she gave the milk to a long time ago. He grew up to be an educated surgeon, and he recognized the woman, and waived the bill. This story showed us that kindness pays back later on.

 

We concluded class today by performing the aarthi and pledge in the auditorium.

 

- Sashank Srinivasan

October 13, 2013

Today in class we discussed the Vision of the Scriptures and how if we understand them it can  help influence our thoughts. These then  help us to choose and act on those choices. These actions result in success or failure.

There are three sections that the Vedas explain and directly address the basic kinds of problems:

Karma Kanda: the ritualistic portion is prescribed to clear the impurity of the mind.

Upasana Kanda: deals with worship and meditation and helps deal with restlessness of the mind and 

Jnana Kanda: helps us attain highest knowledge.

Karmas when done with understanding will clear it of  the impurities of the mind is the idea of:  what limits us from understanding. They are the actions of what we do, for example doing ritualistic prayers clear the impurities of the mind. Because of human nature, the mind perceives what it gets. Karma Kanda has to do with the perception and the response we give to that. To help us understand this further, Ram uncle gave us an example of how we pre judge a person based on color, age, what a person wears etc. We can change this response by performing actions which having a good intent.

Upasana Kanda helps us overcome the restlessness of the mind and how you get close to the supreme being. In this phase you are asking yourself what am I trying to achieve? The scriptures say to control your mind you should meditate or think about God (we had done this in the beginning of class). The last phase that we learned about was Jnana Kanda, when you achieve Jnana you are with God. To achieve this you must get rid of all the ignorance in your mind. We also talked about perceptions and their responses. They are driven by our desires. There are two things that the Vedas tell us, “raga” and “dvesa”-which mean likes and dislikes respectively. 

We concluded class today with getting our Likhita Japa books. These notebooks are for us to write in and put in the ashram. They are put in front of the idol to bring more power to the deity, help us quieten our mind and help us focus.

- Ameya Ivaturi

October 6, 2013

We began class today with a discussion on the origins of our values.  Our values are said to be from the breath of God, only revealed to self-realized individuals.  Of these individuals, great gurus such as Veda Vyasa, Adi Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekananda, and Swami Chinmayananda made these teachings more available and understandable for the common man.  Revelations are perceived and acted on, which is the reason we follow them now.

From our source - God, come Srutis and Smritis.  Srutis are revealed knowledge, given to us by ear. Smritis are memories, compared to a secondary source.  There are 18 Smritis that are told as stories, most popular being the story of Manu.

From Srutis, come the Vedas, organized and compiled by Veda Vyasa: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Vedas are Hinduism’s oldest scriptures whose creation Hindus accredit to Brahma. The Vedas are hymns and prayers priests chant during poojas.

From Smritis, there are 6 important categories of scriptures we study.

Itihasa is history that inspires us; this includes the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Puranas are divine stories centralized on one God that have important morals. Examples of puranas are the Shiva Purana, Ganesh Purana and Vishnu Purana.

Sad Darshana, or six ways to live life, consist of six systems: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
- The Nyaya Sutras were composed by Gautama and states that one can attain moksha by avoiding illusion and unhappiness.
- The Vaisheshika system was created by Kanada who proposed that everything in the universe is composed of a finite number of atoms.
- Sankhya was founded by Sage Kapila, who believed that the universe has two realities: Purusa (consciousness) and Prakriti (basic nature). When Purusa and Prakriti are put together, the end is moksha.
- Yoga comes from Sage Patanjali, who teaches that yoga is physical, spiritual and mental discipline. - Mimamsa -  started by Jaimini, is the study and following of dharma.
- Vedanta - attributed to Veda Vyasa is the study of spirituality.  At Chinmaya Mission, we focus on Vedanta, which is the path to self-realization.

Next, we learned about the Sad Angas, or six limbs of knowledge. Before the age of technology in India, there was still very developed research. These categories included astronomy, Siksa (phonetics), Kalpa (religious rules), Vyakarna (grammar), Nirukta (etymology) and Chandas (meter for poetry and chanting).

Lastly, we talked about the Upavedas. The Upavedas are the studies of cultural aspects in society. There is Ayurveda (medicine), Dhanurveda (the art of warfare), Gandharvaveda (music, dance, art) and Stapatyaveda (architecture).

To conclude our class, we brought up cause and effect once more as it is always present in our lives. We can question beliefs and procedures, as long as we take time to apply our understandings. The system of learning, analyzing and application is very useful if we use it to focus on our progress and goals.  Success is not far off if we put in the time.

- Mahima Kakani

September 29, 2013

Today in class, we went over a variety of topics and we began with something called “gracious professionalism”. Whenever we have something to say, it is important that we respect others around us. If we don’t agree with what someone else says, it is not correct to say a derogatory comment back. That is the meaning of “gracious professionalism” which we will maintain in class from now on.

We began today with a discussion about what is “prakriti” also known as inner nature. Our inner nature is “Sat-chit-ananda "( existence - Conciousness-Bliss), to be happy. This is dictated by svabhava also known as our nature which are dictated by our actions. We should not engage in Vikriti, perverted nature.

 We discussed about cause and effect. The Law of Consequences states that there is a cause and effect to all our actions. But some classmates including me believed that not only cause and effect was important, but luck was incredibly significant. After a discussion, we agreed that even luck was dictated by cause and effect.  That led to a discussion about God and who is God. God is a power that watches over us, a silent guardian who plays everything fair who can be experienced. Something that made us understand this was the conversation read of the web between the professor and student. It clearly demonstrated the point that science and philosophy as incredibly different. Science is based on facts while religion’s entire premise is based on faith which says that believing in this greater power will give us the courage to fight and deal with bad and good things. Although God cannot be seen, He is everywhere.GOD who is omnipresent,omniscient is the unchanging factor in this constant changing world.

We then talked about how each one of us is special and have taken up this life for achieving something special.   It is because of our past karmas that we have got the life of a human being.  We should do our best to make the best use of it for us, our society and our country.

 

Dev Devnani

September 22, 2013

Today we began the second week of Balavihar 2013-2014 by discussing the meaning of culture. Many people contributed with parts of the correct answer. The discussion moved towards the formation of civilization, where we talked about the necessities for civilization: water, food, and shelter. When these are in place, language (to communicate) and celebrations (to give thanks to some higher power, generally due to a good harvest), start developing.

To soundly define culture, we listened to a 10 minute excerpt of a talk by Swami Chinmayananda, in which he began by explaining the origin of the word “Hindu.” When European foreigners traveled to Persia, they Persians told them of a people who lived on the banks of the Sindhu River. Since the Persians had no “s” sound in their language, they replaced the S in Sindhu with a H, and when the Europeans came, the pronunciation was not corrected. Swami Chinmayananda goes on to enforce the point that culture is not religion, though the two are related. He then defines culture, as something that develops when a people are living in the same geographical area, for a long period of time, start to respect some fundamental values.

After the talk was over, a lengthy discussion about the values of life, and how all humans share the most basic values ensued. A point was made about how religion presents us with many paths, but what path we choose is up to us. Ram Uncle made an analogy about how culture can be represented as a larger box, in which religion sits. Another discussion was started about how culture is still applicable today, (although many students disagreed at first), because basic human nature has not changed. The topic moved to religion, where Ram Uncle explained how Samskaras(prescriptions) help Prakrti(inner nature) from becoming Vikrti(perverted). He explained it through another analogy between an iron block, and how its value can change (ignoring labor costs), by refining it, and how we must strive to refine ourselves so that our value can increase.

On a side note, as we had not learned the stages of life, it was explained as it was relevant to the next point to be made. Brahmachari is the stage for the first 25 years of life, in which the person’s purpose is to learn. Grhasta is the next 25 years, and in this stage, the person must be a householder, earn a living, and take care of their parents. In the next stage, Vaanaprasta, the person’s purpose turns more towards God. The person need not earn a living, and must focus more on living the scriptures. In the final stage, Sannyasa, the person gives up all desires, and attends only to his absolute needs: water, food, clothing, and shelter.

The class concluded with what each student should do every class: analyze the aspects of Hindu culture being discussed in class, detect where he/she can apply that to their own life, and fix, or apply what they have learned.

- Uday Shankar

September 15, 2013

Today was the first day of Balavihar for 2013-14.  We started the year on an auspicious note.

Today in Balvihar, we learned about Pooja, and the steps that are taken to perform one.  We did a Pooja today in class. The first step in performing any Pooja is devata avahanam, or inviting the lord. After that, you must offer him a seat, called asanam. Then we must wash the lord washing the feet, padyam, and washing hands, arghyam. Now the lord can’t go thirsty, so we must offer him a drink, achamanam.  Then the lord must take a bath, snanam. Then we must offer Prasad and sweets to the lord, panchamirtam. We then have to offer clothes to the lord, vastram. The next few steps involve the placing of ashes, sandalwood, rice, garlands, and incense to the lord, bhasma, gandam, akshata, pushpam, and dhupam respectively.  Then we offer light to the lord, dheepam. Then for the closing of the Pooja, we give food, naivadyam, and finally we perform the closing prayers, aarti. 

- Pranav Ramesh