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