May 3, 2023

Notes by Aarya Mishra

Shankarji shared that we would be talking about boredom, and how we can find ‘boring activities,’ and make them fun!

First, we watched a short called Sanjay’s Super Team. You can watch it on Disneyplus, otherwise I’ll narrate it below

Story

Sanjay was a boy who loved to watch TV! But his father wanted him to do puja with him. During the puja, Sanjay accidentally blew out the diya. Blowing out the diya strengthened his interest, and he imagined being in a big cavernous room, with the diya in front of him, and statues further ahead. But from the unlit dita rose a monster that began destroying and taking weapons from the statues. Sanjay frantically lit the diya, and from the statues, the gods arose. They tried to fight the monster with bells that seemed to weaken it, but it was too strong. As Sanjay looked on, he noticed that the diya looked like a bell! Running up, he hit it with all his might, and the monster found peace. The Gods went back to their places in their statues, and Sanjay went back too when his father nudged him, and looked at him disapprovingly. Sighing, he gave Sanjay the remote, and he went back to watch TV. But instead of doing that, Sanjay showed his father a drawing he had made  of the Gods he had seen, and called them, Sanjay’s Super Team.

Lesson

Why do you think Sanjay didn’t want to do puja? What changed? What made him suddenly so interested and absorbed in the puja? And, what do you think the monster represents? First of all, The monster could represent our bad qualities. Whenever Sanjay first did the puja, he did it mechanically, not caring about what it meant or why it was important.
What do you think the  diya represents? The diya gave light to the good things, the Gods! Whenever we want to learn or grow, good thoughts enter our head. When Sanjay understood what the Gods signified (good), and his imagination expanded, he instantly was no longer bored!

What do you think the bell means? The bell means to concentrate all of our thoughts, so that when we focus on one thing, all of our vices and boredom leaves, and we are instantly interested!

One way to practice overcoming boredom is to be observant! For example, when Sumanji was away on a family camp, they were playing in a parking lot. When a car approached, they didn’t see it, because they weren’t being observant! Being observant means that we notice everything changing. Whenever we are being observant, we can pay attention to our thoughts, so we can know when we are bored, mad, sad, and try to fix it!

Another example is that when Sumanji was staying in his ashram, he and his classmates had to serve their teacher. Whenever the teacher wanted more food, the students had to be observant, and think whether he wanted more, of or if he was finished eating. When they were focused on their teacher, their mind was quiet, and they were definitely not bored! Paying attention to things outside of us helps us focus on things inside of us.

Practice

We played DETECTIVE! One person is ‘it’. Whenever the game starts, ‘it’ has to start making a motion, and everyone else has to copy them. Sumanji also chooses one detective, and the detective has to be observant and find out who is ‘it.’ start the game, have to do something on their screen. Everyone else copies. 

RAW

Do puja with your family!

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Notes by Sahil Bhakta

How to overcome boredom-

We usually think things are boring, so how can we find the meanings in things? Whenever we are eager to learn, good thoughts start appearing in our minds. When we concentrate all of our thoughts on one thing, that is when we can destroy our evil thoughts.

Being observant-

We can notice all the changes that are happening around us. This helps us pay attention to the thoughts in our heads.

We always need to recognize our thoughts.

RAW – do puja with family at least once a week