April 5, 2023

Notes by Aarya Mishra

This class was taken by Shankarji about self-confidence. Self-confidence means that you feel confident about yourself. 

Story

This is the story of Prahalada. 

There was a evil demon named Hiranyakashyapu. He was the king of the demons. He was a cruel and awful king, and mistreated his subjects just for the fun of it. He had a wife named Kayadhu. She was just and kind, and hated her husbands’ ways. When she was pregnant, she went to Narada’s ashram, so her son wouldn’t grow up in her womb hearing bad things, rather in Narada’s ashram, where he would hear kind things. When Prahalada was born, he was born nice and caring. Hiranyakashyapu did not like that Prahalada was not like him, and sometimes he punished him. Still, Prahalada stayed kind and just. So, Hiranyakashyapu sent Prahalada to a school where he learnt how to be a king, and other things. One day, Hiranyakashyapu asked Prahalada, “What is the most most important thing you learnt?” 

Prahalada told him that it is important to be devoted to god. Hiranyakashyapu was very mad, because he thought of himself as very strong, stronger than the gods! So, he told his servants to punish him. Prahalada kept going to school. Another day, Hiranyakashyapu, asked the same question to his son. Prahalada said that we must love Lord Krishna. Hiranyakashyapu got very, very mad, for Lord Krishna was his greatest enemy! Hiranyakashyapu made fun of Prahalada. He asked, “Where is this god?”

Prahalada said that god is everywhere. Hiranyakashyapu  mocked prahalada, 

“Is god in this pillar?” 

Prahalada said yes. Hiranyakashyapu, raising his fist,  smashed the pillar. As he did, the avatar Narasimha came out. Startled, Hiranyakashyapu still fought, but Narasimha won.

Lesson

Shankarji said that there are 3 points to be more self-confident.

Shankarji said that if we wish to be kind, we have to surround ourselves with good things. Prahalada was kind and compassionate because he had been around good people, words, and places, even before he was born.It is important to try and be around good people, voices, and places, not bad ones. If we wish to be better, we have to be around better things. Another example of this is TV.  If you always watch cartoons, or fiction shows, you probably aren’t watching things that will help you improve. But if you watch documentaries, or true stories, you could be inspired. Other ways you could be surrounded by good things is by learning about famous people’s lives. Surrounding yourself with good things can boost your self-confidence.

The next best way to be self confident is to always tell the truth. The reason this is effective is because when we tell the truth, especially after we did something bad, that means we are telling ourselves that even though my family, friends, or others will be mad at me, I will tell the truth, and I will be fine. For example, Prahalada knew he would be punished if he said something about being devoted to god, but he still told the truth, because he knew that god was looking out for him, and that he could overcome any obstacle.

The third way to gain self confidence is to have integrity. Integrity means doing the right thing, even when you know it might hurt. Whenever we do what we know is right, that’s integrity. Prahalada was a huge example of integrity. Despite knowing that he would be punished for speaking what he knew was true, he still did it. For example, our parents have to do taxes. Taxes are money that goes to the government to do things like repair roads, or fix traffic lights. Shankarji said that when he does taxes, he gets very bored, and tells himself he can’t do it. All the time, while he’s thinking that, he is telling himself that he’s bad at taxes. That just makes the problem bigger, and his confidence smaller.

These are the 3 ways to get self-confidence:

• Stay around virtuous people. A way to do this is to learn about famous people’s lives!
• Tell the truth. To do this, keep reminding yourself that god is watching over you.
• Have integrity. Try to finish things the first time you try them.

Practice

For the practice, we were asked go to our parents, and tell them one time we lied to them. Remind yourself that god is watching over you. Reflect, how did your parent react? Were they mad at you, or happy that you told them, or just surprised?

Raw

Plant something with your family!

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Notes by Ambika Mishra

Shakarji taught this class as Sumanji is getting married. Best wishes Sumanji!

Shankarji told us the story of Prahalada, and through it showed us the different ways to practice self-confidence. 

Story

Once there was a demon named Hiranyakashapu, who wanted to show everyone that he was the strongest and would be a bully to prove he was the greatest. Hirnanyakashapu’s wife, Kayadhu, was kind; when she was pregnant, she went to an ashram so that Prahalada would grow up around positivity. When Prahalada was born, even from a young age, he was very compassionate and kind to everyone around him.  This is because he was surrounded by positive and inspiring people.

Soon when Prahalada was a bit older, he went back to Hiranyakashapu. Hiranyakashapu thought that the stuff Prahalada learned in the ashram was useless, and saw to it that Prahalada was now taught by teachers of his choice, teaching things he found useful, like politics and sciences. One day, Hiranyakashapu asked Prahalada what was the most important thing he learned at school. Prahalada responded by saying it was to be devoted to god. This unnerved Hiranyakahshapu and he did not like Prahalada’s devotion to god. When Prahalada was studying, all his teachers tried to convince him to worship his father. Later, Hiranyakashapu asked the same question to Prahaladha, and he responded with “To love Krishna,” This upset Hiranyakashapu even more, because he hated Krishna, and believed he alone should be worshiped.

After Prahalada said this, Hiranyakashapu started insulting Krishna. Prahalada told Hiranyakashapu that god is everywhere. Mockingly, Hiranyakashapu asked Prahalada if god was in a pillar, and Prahalada said yes. Hiranyakashapu smashed open the pillar, and Bhagavan Narasimha came out (half person, half lion), and eventually killed Hiranyakashapu. 

Lesson

• Just like Prahalada, the people we surround ourselves with will impact us. If we surround ourselves with confident, good-valued people, we will also gain those values. 

• Another thing we can do is to learn about famous people and learn the struggles they faced and how they overcame them, so we can be inspired to go outside our comfort zone. 
• We should always tell the truth.- Prahalada knew that Hiranyakashapu would be mad if he said that God was the most important, but he still said it because he knew it was the truth and would not lie.-We should avoid lying because lying tells us that we are too weak to face the truth and its consequences. By saying the truth, we tell ourselves that we can face the truth, and therefore strengthens our self-confidence. 

• Despite Hiranyakashapu’s anger and strength, Prahalada stayed confident and calm because of his devotion to Lord Krishna, and that protected him. We should also have devotion to god and believe that god is looking out for us in our daily lives, which will help us get over our obstacles and be confident. 

Practice – To practice telling the truth, we went to our parents and told them a time we lied to them, to get in the habit of facing the truth. 

R.A.W. – As a community, we have a goal to plant 1000 trees! This week, plant something with your family, whether it be a tree or some other plant, to help with this goal.