A Balanced Mind Helps To Cognize The Divine
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THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे ।
तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास
॥ ११-४५ ॥
adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ hṛṣito'smi dṛṣṭvā
bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano
me | tadeva me darśaya
devarūpaṁ prasīda deveśa
jagannivāsa
After seeing this form that I have never seen before, I am filled with gladness but at the same time I am disturbed by fear. Please bestow Your grace upon me and show me Your form as the supreme personality, O Lord of Lords, O refuge of the Universe
POWERFUL COGNITION
Existence does not differentiate between good and bad, between beautiful and ugly.
किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तं इच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव ।
तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन सहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ॥ ११-४६ ॥
kirīṭinaṁ gadinaṁ cakra-hastaṁ
icchāmi tvāṁ draṣṭumahaṁ tathaiva |
tenaiva rūpeṇa caturbhujena
sahasrabāho bhava viśvamūrte
O thousand armed Universal Form! I
wish to see Your form with crown,
four armed with mace, disc in Your
hand. I yearn to see You in that form
POWERFUL COGNITION
A yogi is one who has passed beyond these emotional turbulences of the mind.
INTRODUCTION
Arjuna now makes his final plea in these verses. 'Show me Your form that I am familiar with,' he says, 'the One that I am comfortable with. I am grateful and overwhelmed by the visions that You have shown me, but what I am comfortable with is Your four-handed form, holding the discus and mace, as the Protector of the Universe. I am not comfortable; I am indeed fearful of the terrifying form of You as the Destroyer, however real it may be.' All of us are in the same situation as Arjuna.
We all have fixed ideas of what divinity is, what
motherhood is, what love is, and what friendship
is. Existence does not work that way. Existence
does not differentiate between good and bad,
between beautiful and ugly.
In the Vishnu Sahasranama, which is recited by Bhisma as he was awaiting his liberation, he describes Vishnu as ‘Peaceful, emanating bliss...’ If instead, Bhisma had used words to describe the fearsome attributes of Vishnu such as: ‘Frightful destroyer, with burning mouths...’ and so on, how many would recite the Sahasranama?
It is a different matter that most people who go through the motions of reading and reciting the thousand names of Vishnu do not understand a word of what they are saying! But if you do understand what the words mean, and if you are not in equilibrium, you will be disturbed. These words, understood to be negative by your logical mind, will create severe emotional turbulence within you.
A yogi is one who has passed beyond these turbulences. Arjuna at this point in time is yet to reach this stage. He still seeks the safety and comfort of the four-handed divine Protector that he is used to, rather than the terrifying Mahakala.
GOALS:
To understand that a
balanced mind will help us
to cognize the true nature
of the Divine.
ASSESSMENTS
- What delusion prevents us from truly seeing and accepting the cosmic form of the Divine?
- In your own words, describe how you think Arjuna might be feeling at this point.
- What powerful cognition can you give someone who may be experiencing what Arjuna is expressing here?
ART OF THE DAY
ART OF THE DAY:
DRAW BEAUTIFUL AND UGLY iN A PICTORIAL FORM.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
1. Paper Pencil, sketch pen or color pencils
PROCEDURE Encourage children to draw beautiful and ugly in pictorial format. Ask them to tell what they drew. Ask them to describe their ideas about beauty and ideas about ugly, so they can hear how different each person's ideas are.
INFERENCE Existence does not differentiate between beautiful and ugly
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
GAME OF EMOTIONAL TURBULENCE AND EQUILIBRIUM
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Chart paper
- Pictures or coloured paper for a collage
PROCEDURE: encourage the children to act out how they can go from emotional turbulence to equilibrium. You will say words like homework, pizza, scolding,, no money, and for each give time for The children to give first an emotional reaction like a grumpy face for homework, greediness for pizza, so on. Then encourage them to transition to a state of equilibrium. celebrate their ability to act this out and encourage them to use this approach in their life.
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
GAME OF EMOTIONAL TURBULENCE AND EQUILIBRIUM
INFERENCE:
A yogi is one who has passed beyond these turbulences.
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:
VAAKYARTHA SADHAS
Discuss "We all have fixed ideas of what divinity is, what motherhood is, what love is, and what friendship is. " have the children sit in a circle and take turns going round the circle for each word, so each one gets to say something about how they understand: • divinity • Motherhood • love • friendship • Krsna • arjuna
Krsna shows that He is in everybody and that everybody is in Him. Whether we are intellectually oriented, emotionally oriented or being level oriented, we can find our fulfillment in Krsna.
When the intellect ripens, it becomes intelligence; when emotion ripens, it becomes devotion; when our being ripens, we become enlightened. All these three modes of enlightenment find their peak in Krsna. He can fulfill every being. Hence, He is called Jagat Guru, master of the whole universe.