March 29, 2021
Notes by Om Shreejay
Review –
We reviewed the virtue of vinaya sheela – which means “I admire the one who is humble”.
3 rules to practice humility –
- No job or task is too small for us to do.
- Always admit your mistakes or faults.
- Whenever we are given praise, we always give credit to someone else.
Virtue of the week – Living simply
Om Shri Sannyasasine Namaha – the one who lives simply
What does living simply mean?
- To have less – not too much
- To do less – choose few things and do them well
- To think less – less anxiety and stress, have as many positive thoughts as you can, and have a calm mind
Why should we live simply?
To make our mind calmer and to make us happy. Example – new things make us more anxious
Story
Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna were walking in the woods and were looking to rest when they
passed a farm. The farmer has one old cow that could make only one glass of milk every day. He
gave the glass of milk to Arjuna and Krishna. After they left the farm, Krishna blessed the farmer – May your cow die! Arjuna was surprised because Krishna’s blessing didn’t sound like a blessing.
Next, they passed a rich merchant’s house. The merchant asked them to move on as their clothes were dirty. Krishna blessed the merchant – May you get more money! Arjuna asks Krishna how these are blessings.
Krishna explains that the farmer will only think about higher noble thoughts/ God once the cow is gone. For the merchant, it was a curse as he would not think about God and would be focused on protecting his wealth and on lower thoughts. The people who don’t worry about their possessions are calm in mind, have positive thoughts.
Practice
- Guess how many things you own that you haven’t used in the past 1 year
- Go and pick out 2 pairs of clothes that you have not used in the past month.
- Ask your parents to go ahead and donate these 2 pairs of clothes.
- Any time you get something new, you should give away something that you already have.
Questions
1. Why did Siddhartha not fulfill his responsibilities as a king and become a saint (Buddha)?
A. Responsibilities are meant to help us grow. As long as you are able to grow by doing your
responsibilities, you should continue to do them. Buddha left his responsibilities to become a king as he pursued his growth to understand the
meaning of life and suffering.
2. Is Lord Krishna being selfish when he wants people to think about him?
A. No, because Lord Krishna wants everyone to be happy by having higher noble thoughts.
Reflection for the week (RAW)
Go through all your stuff and count all of things that you have not used in the last year, come
back to class with the number of the things you didn’t use used.
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Notes by Pranavi Ananthanarayanan
Name: Sannyasa
Meaning: I admire the one who lives simply.
Meaning of Simple: Having less, doing less, and thinking less
Story: Lord Krishna and Arjuna were traveling in the forest,then they were thirsty. So while they were walking they found an old farm. The farmer was poor. So there was a cow that gave milk. So the poor man drinks 1 cup of milk everyday. But when Lord Krishna and Arjuna came he gave the 1 cup of milk to them. After sometime Lord Krishna gave a blessing that “may your cow die”. Arjuna was mad but he just kept on walking along the forest with Lord Krishna. Then they passed a palace and then they asked the king if we could have some food,they said no. So then Lord Krishna gave a blessing that you will always be rich. Then Arjuna can’t stand it and he asks why are you doing this? Lord Krishna told that when the cow dies the poor farmer will think about Lord Krishna and by blessing the king he wouldn’t lose all his richness and would not think about Lord Krishna.
Lesson: Make life simple
Practice: If you have new things and clothes count how many you have.
RAW: Go through all of your things and tell how much you have in next class.
