October 19, 2022

Notes by Saaya Bhakta

Review from last week

There is nothing wrong with asking for help but before we do we should put forth our own sincere efforts first.

This helps us learn about ourselves and respectful for those who we are asking for help. 

When asking for help = effort

When giving help = empower

Story: At the beach

Some people at a beach noticed that there was a young person drowning and they quickly pulled her  out of the water. The little girl was unconscious. The old man from the near by cottage quickly reached for the girl and put her down on the sea shore. The old man was about to help this girl, when another furious man started pushing others around and stated that I can do CPR(Cardio Pulmonary resuscitation which helps someone’s heart beat and breathe).

The furious man said I am trained to do CPR and everyone step aside. So the old man steps back and watched the man perform CPR. After a minute the little girl woke up and everyone was very happy. The old man who was pushed aside was just as happy and clapping. After 2 hours or so the guy who performed CPR became tired and passed out. Few mins later he woke up in the ambulance. He was being rushed to the nearest hospital. When he opened his eyes, was the old man next to him that he had pushed aside. The old man was checking his pulse. The old man had done CPR on him while he was passed out. He learned that the old man he pushed aside was a doctor. He asked the old man why didn’t you tell me you were a doctor. The doctor looked at him and smiled and said, it doesn’t matter to me whether you called me a doctor or not, precious life was in danger. I became a doctor not so I could be called a doctor. I became a doctor to save people’s lives. We had the same goal to save that little girl. There is a lot more to be protected than our ego. This man looks at the old man and said you saved two more lives today.  

Lesson

• Humility is a vision not what you see with your eyes but with your mind. 

• This vision is where we believe and act like its not about me. When we are focused on me we cannot see clearly. 

• Humility takes the form of gratitude. 

Doesn’t matter who helped the little girl, as long as the life was saved.

All classes we have had, come together  as character. Character is the embodiment of your values or moral. Being a good person. No matter what you do, be a good person and everything else will fall into place. 

Developing character, begins with our thoughts, thoughts shape our words, words shape our action, and our actions repeated overtime will become our habits, and habits form our character. 

Swami Chinmayananda quote:

“Character is formed from the repeated choice of thoughts and actions. Make the right choice and you shall have firm and noble character”. 

RAW:

Perform a random act of kindness everyday this week. 

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Notes by Siddhartha Kudumula

Review

We started the class with opening prayers. Then we recaped last week’s story and moral. 

Story:
Once there were a lot of people on a beach. They saw someone drowning in the ocean  and they quickly rushed to the ocean and got her out. There was an old man who was about to help her, then another man came running and pushing others. He said “I was trained to do CPR”. The man quickly did CPR and saved the girl. Everyone around him clapped even the old man who got pushed aside. After sometime the man felt so hot and tired  and he fainted. When he opened his eyes he was in the ambulance. The old man was checking his pulse and was touching his head. The man asked the old man if he was a doctor and the old man said he was a doctor. The man said you could have told me at the beach. The Old man (doctor) looked at him and smiled and said, it doesn’t matter to me whether you called me a doctor or not, a life was in danger. We both had the same goal to save that girl. This man looks at the old man and said you saved two lives today.  

Lesson:
Humility is a vision you see with mind. It takes the form of gratitude and making the right choice.

RAW:
The RAW was to commit a random act of kindness every day this week.