March 8, 2023
Notes by Aarav Luthra
Story:
In the beginning of the story a grandpa of this family had trouble hearing, seeing and he was very weak. Whenever he would sit down and eat, he would spill or make a mess when he tried to put the food in his mouth. His son and wife were so annoyed/disgusted, so they moved him to a corner and made him eat with a mud bowl. The grandpa watched them in tears while he ate in the corner. This happened for a while until one day where the grandpa was trembling really badly and the mud bowl had fallen and broke. The son and wife got really mad at him because he made another mess again, so they got grandpa a wooden bowl instead. As more time passed, the grandpa’s grandson was gathering small wooden pieces around the house. His parents were curious and asked him what he was doing with the wooden pieces. The son replied “I am creating a bowl for you and dad to eat out of when you are older like grandpa.” The parents fell into tears. Right after that brought grandpa (gently) back to the table. From there on there were always kind to him no matter if he spilled or made a mess.
Message:
The point of this story teaches us the “golden rule.” The golden rule states that you should treat someone the way you want to be treated.
The 3 special words :
- Honesty : Some thoughts are meant to be shared while others should be kept to yourself.
- Respectful : Be respectful to everyone no matter who they are.
- Kindness : Be kind to everyone.
Activity:
For 1 minute, think about a scenario in which 1 person follows the golden rule. The next scenario is to think about 1 person who does not follow the golden rule and what happens.
Raw :
Use a rubber band and keep it on your wrist for 1 week. Everytime you get a bad thought about yourself or someone else, pull the wristband and let go.
Announcement:
Starting a dedicated to your mothers challenge called dedicating to devi. This involves the 3’cs. Contribute, Chant, and Change.
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Notes by Akshera Mukkamala
Review
Last class, our story was about a wise old man who came to a village, looking for shelter and food. Each villager could provide food, but none had enough food for themselves. As a result, the old man decided to make some stone soup. Each villager came with things to add to the soup, leaving everyone with more than enough food. The moral of the story was that of teamwork- by working together, the village found enough food for everyone. This brought us to last class’ RAW- Ask your parents for one chore to do around the house. Your family is your team, and your goal is keeping the house tidy.
Story
This week’s story brings us another old man. This old man is so old he cannot see or hear. He is weak, he can hardly stand and when eating, he can hardly hold his spoon. He would spill food all over the table cloth. Annoyed with the mess, his son and daughter-in-law moved him to a corner behind the stove with a mud bowl to eat out of. The mud bowl wasn’t very sturdy, so it spilled food. The old man had tears in his eyes as he ate. One day, the old man dropped the bowl and it broke. His son berated him and gave him a wooden bowl. The old man’s 4-year-old grandson started collecting wood scraps to build a bowl. When his parents questioned him, the grandson said, “I am making a bowl for you to eat out of when you are old, just like Grandpa.” At this, his parents started to cry and brought the old man out of the corner. They put him at the table again, and no longer cared whether the old man made a mess.
Lesson
The main takeaway is that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. For this, we must know how we want to be treated. To know how we want to be treated and how to treat others, we take three words: Honesty, Respect, and Kindness. We must be truthful with ourselves and others, but that truth must be delivered with kindness. Truth is not just whether we are lying or not, but also how we say that truth. Being respectful of others comes down to being accepting of differences, as differences are everywhere. We must value those differences as something that joins us together and not something that tears us apart. Respect must also be enveloped in kindness. We should want to be treated and treat ourselves with kindness. If we treat ourselves with kindness, we will treat others with kindness as well.
Activity
We took one minute to come up with 2 scenarios- one where someone follows the ‘golden rule’ of treating others the way you want to be treated, and one where someone does not follow the golden rule. We then shared a few scenarios.
RAW (+ Announcement)
This week’s RAW is to wear a rubber band around your wrist and stretch it out, then let go every time you have an unkind thought. The announcement is that for the next 8 months, starting on Mahashivaratri (Feb 18th) and ending on Vijaya Dashami (October 24th) We are challenging ourselves to give up our comfort for Devi, who always sacrifices for us. This is the Dedicating to Devi Challenge, which consists of 3 C’s to help us grow. The 3 C’s are to Contribute, Chant and Change. First Friend Anvita will send a link to the site in following emails.