February 26, 2020
Notes by Dhruva Shreejay
Prem — Being Kind
Review
We reviewed the story of a girl who was devoted to knowledge and learning from the guru with the value of niyama — being devoted. Being devoted to knowledge and a higher purpose brings out the beauty in our personality and gives us a direction to use our energy.
Story
A man was driving home. It had been a long day, and he was finally getting back home. While he was driving, he saw an old lady who was stranded on the side of the road because her car wasn’t working. She had been waiting all day for someone to come help her. The man pulled over his car, and started walking to the old lady. The old lady was scared because she wasn’t able to get to where she wanted to go and it was getting dark. The man came to her, knocked on the window and said his name was Vivek Gupta and if he could help her get her car moving. The old lady was grateful and talked to him about where she was going while he was fixing the car by changing the tire. When he was done, the old lady was grateful and asked, “How much can I give you for doing this for me?” He said that he didn’t want anything. He said, “I’ve been there before and don’t want anything. You can pay it forward to someone in need.” The old lady said how grateful she was, then drove away.
While the old lady was driving, she saw a restaurant. She went inside the restaurant and there was a waitress who was working so hard, but working happily. The waitress was pregnant and yet still she was happily working with a wonderful smile. The old lady ordered and had food and left leaving payment for the food on the table. When the waitress came to the table, she saw $100 on the table when the bill was only for $10. Then she saw a napkin on which a message was written. It said, “I’ve been there before, times can be difficult and someone was kind to me earlier and I want to pay it forward.” Then the waitress picked up the napkin and found $400 under it. She felt so happy and grateful for the kindness of the old lady. She thanked the old lady in her mind, continued her work and drove home after work to her home.
As she drove home, she thought about the old lady’s kindness in a time of need. When she reached home, she went to her husband, kissed him on the forehead, and said, “Don’t you worry, Vivek Gupta. Everything is going to be okay.”
Message of Story
The message of the story is to be kind. When you get kindness from others, you can’t help but share it. When we share kindness, it makes others feel more full and makes us feel more full also. We feel like we are more. We can be kind by holding the door for others, share snacks with others etc.
Real kindness begins with our self — the way we talk with ourselves, act with ourselves, the way we think about ourselves. When we are kind with ourselves, we become more kind with others. When you are kind to others, the circle of kindness will come back to you. Every chance we get, we should try to be kind to others.
Practice
We were asked to prove something. For example, if we were asked to prove you have hands, we would point at our hands. We did a bunch of activities to prove we could do something e.g. cross our eyes, wiggle our ears, walk backward and other fun things. Finally, we had to prove that love our parents.
The lesson from the practice is to understand Prem more deeply. Prem also means love. Love is expressed through kindness. It is more difficult to prove love unless it is expressed through action.
Lesson from The Little Prince
The fox tells the little prince — “And now, here’s my secret — It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
The lesson is that love is essential, but is invisible to the eye. We can see love when it is expressed through kindness.
RAW (for upcoming week)
Every day we have to write something kind for someone we know (at home or school) and leave it for them to find. You can write the note to yourself too.
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Notes by Sahana Iyengar
There was a man who was driving on a road. His name was Vivek Gupta. As he was driving, he came across and old woman who was stranded on the road. He decided to help the old woman. He parked next to the car, and fixed the car.
The old woman was full of gratitude and so she asked the man how much he wanted. The man said, no, kindness is better, and he walked away without any payment, and the woman and him, went their own ways.
The old woman drove to a restaurant and sat down. A pretty lady came by and took her orders. The old woman realized that she was pregnant. So after she finished her food, she left a hundred dollar bill in that place, and went her way.
The waitress came back to take the change, and realized that she had left a hundred dollar when she only needed fifty. But then she saw a note saying, pass on kindness to others, and she found a couple of more hundred dollar bills.
The waitress was happy as she went home. Her husband was always worrying, being pregnant and all of that. She was so happy, and she planned to tell her husband about that. As she got home, she changed her clothes, and went downstairs to kiss her husband.
“It’s going to be okay, Vivek Gupta,”
So, the value of this story is obviously kindness. In sanskrit, it is prem.
So kindness is contagious. So if one person is kind, another person is kind, and it keeps on going on and on. Also, kindness is a circle. For our practice, we played a game, in which Co Captain Sumanji asked us to prove we had arms, and prove we have legs.
And, finally, for our RAW, everyday, we have to write something nice, and put it in someone’s cubby. The person has to be different, everyday. That’s all for Happy Hour Jr. Notes!
There was a man who was driving on a road. His name was Vivek Gupta. As he was driving, he came across and old woman who was stranded on the road. He decided to help the old woman. He parked next to the car, and fixed the car.
The old woman was full of gratitude and so she asked the man how much he wanted. The man said, no, kindness is better, and he walked away without any payment, and the woman and him, went their own ways.
The old woman drove to a restaurant and sat down. A pretty lady came by and took her orders. The old woman realized that she was pregnant. So after she finished her food, she left a hundred dollar bill in that place, and went her way.
The waitress came back to take the change, and realized that she had left a hundred dollar when she only needed fifty. But then she saw a note saying, pass on kindness to others, and she found a couple of more hundred dollar bills.
The waitress was happy as she went home. Her husband was always worrying, being pregnant and all of that. She was so happy, and she planned to tell her husband about that. As she got home, she changed her clothes, and went downstairs to kiss her husband.
“It’s going to be okay, Vivek Gupta,”
So, the value of this story is obviously kindness. In sanskrit, it is prem.
So kindness is contagious. So if one person is kind, another person is kind, and it keeps on going on and on. Also, kindness is a circle. For our practice, we played a game, in which Co Captain Sumanji asked us to prove we had arms, and prove we have legs.
And, finally, for our RAW, everyday, we have to write something nice, and put it in someone’s cubby. The person has to be different, everyday. That’s all for Happy Hour Jr. Notes!