March 4, 2020

Notes by Ambika Mishra

Review

Vivekji started the class with the quote- “As you think, so you become”. Who we love/ hang out with, is who we become eventually. Sneha is to love that which is lower (only feels good to self, not good for other/ family), such as pizza or ice-cream. Prema is to love that which is higher, such as our country, health or happiness. We should be with people who value the higher.

Story

A great teacher named Acharya Shankara had a student named Sunandana. One day Acharya Shankara was bathing in a river. When he was done, he asked Sunandana who was on the other side of the river to get his clothes. Sundandana looked around for a boat but was unable to find one. He started to walk across and every step he took, lotuses bloomed and created a pathway and he reached the other side dry. Everyone around him was shocked. From then on he was known as Padmapada Acharya, which means lotus footed one.

He was able to do this because of his faith in his Guru and the only thought of helping him. What you think, you become so all of the nature started to help him, help his Guru.

“Faith is when you feel you can be more!”

Lesson from the story

What you think you become. To have faith you must –

1- When you start to feel you can be more, then you can do more.

2- Be with people who have faith in themselves to start having faith in yourself. An example of that is — if you are looking for a jar of sugar, you have to ask someone who knows where it is. In the same way, if you are looking for being faithful, only people who have faith can help you find it.

3- You can always try the best you can. The more you try, the more faith you will start to have in yourself.

Practice

Listen to loud music for a few minutes. Thereafter, listen to soft music for a few minutes. We were very calm we listen to soft music and very agitated when we listen to the loud music. This shows that we react to our surroundings.

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Notes by Keshav Ganesh

“As you think, you slowly become”

Shankaracharya was a great teacher who had many students. One of the best ones was Sunandana. One day Shankaracharya was bathing in the river. When he was done, he went to one side of the river. On the other side were his clothes. Sunandana was also on that side. Shankaracharya asked Sunandana to bring him his clothes. Sunandana searched for a boat so he could go to the other side. But he could not find one. So he took a step on to the water and a lotus formed. Every time he stepped on the water, a lotus came out of the water. Thus he crossed the river and gave Shankaracharya his clothes.

VALUE — Shraddha (Faithful)

PRACTICE

Listen to loud music in a loud way. After some time, listen to soft music in a soft way. When you were listening to loud music, how did you feel. And when you were listening to soft music, how did you feel?

RAW

Every hour you are awake, write the word “ faith”.