March 20 2024

Notes by Saamya Deo

Review

A disorganized child’s parents got a robot butler to help clean up around the house. The next morning, the child’s room was spick and span. But as time went on, the child found that the robot was malfunctioning! It was taking the child’s things! The child complained to its parents but the parents were so happy with the robot that they didn’t pay attention. The robot heard this and told the child that it gave everything that the child didn’t value away to someone who would. The child then realized that the robot wasn’t malfunctioning, what it was doing was perfect. 

Ways to be organized:

1. Organize the external by tidying up and making things accessible!
2. Organize the internal by planning, setting goals and achieving them!

This helps make our mind much lighter. 

Story

A greedy mouse found a basket of corn. It made a small hole in the basket and gobbled as much corn as it could. Its belly expanded a little and it couldn’t get out of the basket! It starts crying. A rabbit passing by tells it to wait for a little bit so that its belly will deflate. The mouse falls asleep and the next morning, its belly is smaller. The mouse looks at all the corn around him again and eats as much as it can. The mouse falls asleep but this time, there is a cat in the area. The cat smells the mouse, creeps up and gobbles the mouse completely. 

Lesson

We always want more. One desire leads to the next which leads to many. This is why balance is required. We should be able to want what we have. 

First Friend Dwija’s activity:

1. What is your favorite thing to do?
2. If you were doing that favorite thing, would you listen to your friends if they want to do something else?
3. If your parents came, would you stop doing that favorite thing?
4. If you were doing your responsibilities, would you stop and go do something else if your friends wanted you to? Or your parents wanted you to?

If we do what we want all of the time and forget about our responsibilities, we lose out on the knowledge that we could have gained. 

RAW: 

When you want something, ask yourself if it is a want, or a need. If it is a want, sleep on it. 

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Notes by Sita Somnath Buono

RECAP: Last week we learned about a boy and his robot butler. The message was that there are 2 ways to be organized. The first is to be organized externally making things accessible. The second is to be organized internally, basically by planning. The old RAW was to pick a space in your house and clean it. 

STORY: Once there was a mouse who lived on a farm. One day he saw a huge sack of corn and wanted to eat some. He entered the sack through a hole he bit and saw the corn surrounding him. He was so happy he ate lots and lots of corn. Then he found that he couldn’t get out of the hole because he was too large from eating so much. He was sad and thought he might die in the sack. A passing rabbit asked him why he was sad and when the mouse explained, the rabbit told him to wait some time as his belly would get smaller. So, the mouse took a nap and found that what the rabbit had said was true. But again, he aw the corn surrounding him and got tempted and ate a lot of corn. Again, his belly got big but he remembered the rabbit’s advice and decided to wait a little time for his belly to go down. BUT that night, a cat snuck into the sack and ate the mouse!

MESSAGE: The mouse thought he didn’t have freedom in the sack but not doing whatever you feel like doing all the time (following your senses) is true freedom. A single desire can lead to infinite desires. There needs to be balance between your desires and what is good for you. 

If you only eat what you want (candy), you wouldn’t be healthy. What if you don’t want to brush your teeth? Then you would get cavities.

ACTIVITY: We had to imagine our favorite food (ice cream for example) and imagine that our friend came and asked us for some. If we didn’t give it to them, our friend would be sad. Then imagine that you were still eating ice cream and your parents came to call you for dinner, but you didn’t come for dinner. You would eat so much ice cream and that would be bad for you. From this we understand that moderation is good for us.

RAW: When you want something, think about whether you want it, or whether you need it. If it is a want, that’s ok but sleep on it and see if you really want it the next day.