Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji:
Art Projects: Painted and decorated our Pooja Thalis. Click on our Photo Gallery to view the pics.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The campers did it -- a tie with Week 5 for the longest period of silence and an accurate pebble count. In fact, we think that the kids today did an outstanding job during our time of silence. Usually there are some children who become a bit restless after a couple of minutes. But, today we asked them to pretend to be a Barn Owl. If they must open their eyes after two minutes, then they must sit still -- not move an inch ... they can only move their eyes and quietly watch. Well, it worked! So, even though they tied with Week 5 regarding the time, the aunties think Week 6 campers are ahead!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 31 (click here to view)
Comments: Today we were a little sluggish with our Vedic Chanting, although all the children chanted well with Nirmala Auntie. Clearly the humid weather was effecting our ability to chant with gusto:-) Regardless, Auntie congratulated the children on a job well done -- and well deserved, we might add. They sat for an entire half hour completing our four vedic chants.
After our morning disciplines, we brought out the paints, brushes, glitter glue, gems and sequins and got started on decorating our pooja thalis. They really turned out beautifully -- each one is so unique. Definitely check the photo gallery (or the slideshow above) to see the kids' work.
This afternoon we promised the children another fun movie in our make-shift cinema (complete with popcorn and chips). Today we watched a short film clip on the Kanho National Park (click here to view), which is where Rudyard Kipling got inspired for Jungle Book. Then we popped in the Disney Classic and enjoyed some good music, and fun times -- boy, they sure don't make animation the way they used to! After the movie we spent a few minutes talking about how many artists were needed to draw, paint and animate this movie ... and the fact that they didn't have computers then. Now that is a concept our young campers had to get their head around :-)
For all of our friends who will not be with us next week, we are really going to miss you. We had such a nice time together this week. Some of you will be traveling to India -- we hope you have a super time and bring back lots of pictures to share with us in the Fall. We look forward to seeing you in Balavihar in September -- and expect a super loud "Hari OM" when we see you in the hallways.
For everyone else who will be joining us next week -- don't forget your "messy art" clothes. We will be working with clay -- and it will definitely find its way on your clothes :-)
p.s. Rishab, I didn't forget about posting the patterns for the Lord Ganesha bead pattern. I left the pattern in the ashram and will try to pick it up this weekend ... I know you're feeling rather skeptical right now -- but I will get them to you -- don't fret!
Have a great weekend! See you all on Monday.
July 30, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We had another technical difficulty today. We will resume our Vishnu Puran tomorrow. The aunties think they've figured out the problem ... :-)
Art Projects: Bead Weaving
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our prayers this morning, we spent a few minutes talking about the day's activities that were planned ... and how we can remain cool on such a hot, humid day. We did not play our concentration and time game -- but we will do it tomorrow. If all goes well, we will accomplish the 5 minute mark, which will put us in tie with Week 5 Campers!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 30 (click here to view)
Comments: Nirmala Auntie led us through the entire Mantra Pushpam this morning -- and the kids did great!! They very enthusiastically chanted the 3 vedic chants we have been working on all summer, and then repeated the Mantra Pushpam two times -- nice going everyone!
Because we knew that our pooja thalis were going to still be somewhat damp today, we promised the campers that if they did their morning disciplines (with gusto and enthusiasm) we would treat them to a "cinematic experience" of Wall-E. After lunch, and the release of our ashram pets (the Painted Lady Butterflies), we piled into the air-conditioned room, pulled out some comfy chairs, distributed some popcorn, turned off the lights, and watched the fun and adverturous tale of a little robot on the planet Earth. Afterwards, we sat in circle time and shared our thoughts about what we thought this movie was about. Everyone agreed that they understood this movie to be about taking care of the planet earth, and how people can make a difference once they become determined to do so. We unanimously voted that this was a film to recommend to our friends!
For the campers who wanted to work on their bead looms, we set them up in a quiet (air-conditioned) space so they could continue making progress on their projects.
Tomorrow is the day that we will be painting and decorating our thalis. We plan to do all of this work in the morning, after our prayers, vedic chanting and yoga. That way everything should be dried by the end of the camp day. The weather prediction is for thunder storms and hot, sticky temperatures. So, if we are not able to go outside and play for awhile (which is pretty likely), we promised the children another indoor movie for the afternoon. This time we will watch a short documentary on Kanha National Park (in Madhya Pradesh) where Rudyard Kippling's "Jungle Book" was conceived. And after our tour of the National Park -- we will then put on the Disney Classic, with yet more popcorn and chips!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We had another technical difficulty today. We will resume our Vishnu Puran tomorrow. The aunties think they've figured out the problem ... :-)
Art Projects: Bead Weaving
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our prayers this morning, we spent a few minutes talking about the day's activities that were planned ... and how we can remain cool on such a hot, humid day. We did not play our concentration and time game -- but we will do it tomorrow. If all goes well, we will accomplish the 5 minute mark, which will put us in tie with Week 5 Campers!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 30 (click here to view)
Comments: Nirmala Auntie led us through the entire Mantra Pushpam this morning -- and the kids did great!! They very enthusiastically chanted the 3 vedic chants we have been working on all summer, and then repeated the Mantra Pushpam two times -- nice going everyone!
Because we knew that our pooja thalis were going to still be somewhat damp today, we promised the campers that if they did their morning disciplines (with gusto and enthusiasm) we would treat them to a "cinematic experience" of Wall-E. After lunch, and the release of our ashram pets (the Painted Lady Butterflies), we piled into the air-conditioned room, pulled out some comfy chairs, distributed some popcorn, turned off the lights, and watched the fun and adverturous tale of a little robot on the planet Earth. Afterwards, we sat in circle time and shared our thoughts about what we thought this movie was about. Everyone agreed that they understood this movie to be about taking care of the planet earth, and how people can make a difference once they become determined to do so. We unanimously voted that this was a film to recommend to our friends!
For the campers who wanted to work on their bead looms, we set them up in a quiet (air-conditioned) space so they could continue making progress on their projects.
Tomorrow is the day that we will be painting and decorating our thalis. We plan to do all of this work in the morning, after our prayers, vedic chanting and yoga. That way everything should be dried by the end of the camp day. The weather prediction is for thunder storms and hot, sticky temperatures. So, if we are not able to go outside and play for awhile (which is pretty likely), we promised the children another indoor movie for the afternoon. This time we will watch a short documentary on Kanha National Park (in Madhya Pradesh) where Rudyard Kippling's "Jungle Book" was conceived. And after our tour of the National Park -- we will then put on the Disney Classic, with yet more popcorn and chips!
July 29, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We watched an episode of the Vishnu Puran -- where Narada curses Lord Vishnu for having turned him into a monkey, after he asked to be turned into a most handsome man so that he could win the marriage of Vishwamohini, the daughter of King Shilanidhi. This is the beginning of Lord Rama.
Art Projects: We started pasting our pooja thalis. If all dries well, we will begin our painting and decorating in two days.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We tried really hard to accomplish 5 minutes of absolute stillness and an accurate pebble count this morning. But we were a little too restless -- perhaps because of the weather. Regardless, we didn't quite make it. We are going to go back to 4 minutes tomorrow and and if remain disciplined and focused then we will be able to tie with last week's 5 minutes! Wish us luck ...
We began a watching a really good documentary which was originally aired on the BBC. It is called "What the Ancients Did For us." This documentary is all about the fantastic inventions and discoveries that Ancient India is responsible for. In the first three segments, which we saw today, we learned about the very cool Water Clock, the very sophisticated sewage system that was created by the Harrapan people in Dholavira, and about the discovery and importance of the number "0." We will continue watching the next three segments either tomorrow or Friday. You may click below to view the segments:
Part 1/6 (click to view)
Part 2/6 (click to view)
Part 3/6 (click to view)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 29 (click here to view)
Comments: Today Nirmala Auntie taught us the next two paragraphs of the Mantra Pushpam. So, at this pace, we will learn the entire vedic chant by Friday! She is extremely thorough with us and is patiently working with our intonation and pronounciation. Thank you, Auntie.
We were happy to have Sheila Auntie back with us this afternoon. It's always a good feeling to see her get out of the car with her guitar in hand ... we are learning really fun and beautiful bhajans from her. (Some of the children have been heard singing these bhajans while they play during EDP time ... and they don't even realize they're singing -- and we're listening :-) We look forward to seeing Sheila Auntie again next Wednesday.
Most of the children have completed papier macheing their thalis. Now all we have to do is wait for everything to dry -- which may take a little extra time with such high humidity these past few days. If the thalis are still damp tomorrow, and the children complete all their morning disciplines with tremendous gusto and enthusiasm, we promised them an afternoon movie theatre showing of Wall-E. The Aunties will be popping lots of popcorn tonight in preparation for this treat ;-) For the children who would rather do their beadwork, reading, board games or spinning, we will have another space set up for them to work in -- complete with air-conditioning and snacks.
Rest well, kids. We've got lots of work ahead of us in the morning ...
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We watched an episode of the Vishnu Puran -- where Narada curses Lord Vishnu for having turned him into a monkey, after he asked to be turned into a most handsome man so that he could win the marriage of Vishwamohini, the daughter of King Shilanidhi. This is the beginning of Lord Rama.
Art Projects: We started pasting our pooja thalis. If all dries well, we will begin our painting and decorating in two days.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We tried really hard to accomplish 5 minutes of absolute stillness and an accurate pebble count this morning. But we were a little too restless -- perhaps because of the weather. Regardless, we didn't quite make it. We are going to go back to 4 minutes tomorrow and and if remain disciplined and focused then we will be able to tie with last week's 5 minutes! Wish us luck ...
We began a watching a really good documentary which was originally aired on the BBC. It is called "What the Ancients Did For us." This documentary is all about the fantastic inventions and discoveries that Ancient India is responsible for. In the first three segments, which we saw today, we learned about the very cool Water Clock, the very sophisticated sewage system that was created by the Harrapan people in Dholavira, and about the discovery and importance of the number "0." We will continue watching the next three segments either tomorrow or Friday. You may click below to view the segments:
Part 1/6 (click to view)
Part 2/6 (click to view)
Part 3/6 (click to view)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 29 (click here to view)
Comments: Today Nirmala Auntie taught us the next two paragraphs of the Mantra Pushpam. So, at this pace, we will learn the entire vedic chant by Friday! She is extremely thorough with us and is patiently working with our intonation and pronounciation. Thank you, Auntie.
We were happy to have Sheila Auntie back with us this afternoon. It's always a good feeling to see her get out of the car with her guitar in hand ... we are learning really fun and beautiful bhajans from her. (Some of the children have been heard singing these bhajans while they play during EDP time ... and they don't even realize they're singing -- and we're listening :-) We look forward to seeing Sheila Auntie again next Wednesday.
Most of the children have completed papier macheing their thalis. Now all we have to do is wait for everything to dry -- which may take a little extra time with such high humidity these past few days. If the thalis are still damp tomorrow, and the children complete all their morning disciplines with tremendous gusto and enthusiasm, we promised them an afternoon movie theatre showing of Wall-E. The Aunties will be popping lots of popcorn tonight in preparation for this treat ;-) For the children who would rather do their beadwork, reading, board games or spinning, we will have another space set up for them to work in -- complete with air-conditioning and snacks.
Rest well, kids. We've got lots of work ahead of us in the morning ...
July 28, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We will resume our videos tomorrow (Wednesday), due to technical difficulties.
Art Projects: We continued sculpting our pooja thalis and made the center piece of the lotus out of clay (for our diyas.)
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Boy, has this week started off great! We are proud to announce that our campers successfully passed the four minutes of silence (with an accurate pebble count)! Tomorrow we will try for five minutes -- and at this rate, if we stay calm and focused every morning after prayers, we will definitely make our goal of 6 minutes -- maybe even 7!
We reviewed the story of Prahlad (click here to view the animation) and watched a few short documentaries on Dwarka:
Click here to view Video 1 on Dwarka.
Click here to view Video 2 on Dwarka.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 28 (click here to view)
Comments: And we thought yesterday was hot and humid ... today definitely took the starch right out of us! We closed all the doors and pumped up the air conditioners -- doing most of our work in the main satsang area. Fortunately, this space was comfortably cool throughout the day -- so we were able to focus and get some projects done.
The children finished sculpting their thalis and are now ready for the papier mache process. We had hoped to start the pasting today, but because of the high humidity we thought better of it. The weather prediction is better for tomorrow, so we'll plan to begin the paste in the morning. Instead, we decided to make our diya out of clay. The children modeled a diya in the shape of the inner lotus flower to place inside their paper lotus. Once everything dries, we will paint and decorate with glitter and gems. They will be absolutely beautiful sitting atop the pooja thalis.
Nirmala Auntie started us on the Mantra Pushpam today -- and we are pleased to share that the children did great with their chanting! We are eager to continue learning this vedic chant with Auntie throughout the week.
Also, we are looking forward to our weekly bhajan class with Sheila Auntie tomorrow -- we really missed her last week ... can already feel that tomorrow is going to be a pretty busy day!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
• Mantra Pushpam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 170)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We will resume our videos tomorrow (Wednesday), due to technical difficulties.
Art Projects: We continued sculpting our pooja thalis and made the center piece of the lotus out of clay (for our diyas.)
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Boy, has this week started off great! We are proud to announce that our campers successfully passed the four minutes of silence (with an accurate pebble count)! Tomorrow we will try for five minutes -- and at this rate, if we stay calm and focused every morning after prayers, we will definitely make our goal of 6 minutes -- maybe even 7!
We reviewed the story of Prahlad (click here to view the animation) and watched a few short documentaries on Dwarka:
Click here to view Video 1 on Dwarka.
Click here to view Video 2 on Dwarka.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 28 (click here to view)
Comments: And we thought yesterday was hot and humid ... today definitely took the starch right out of us! We closed all the doors and pumped up the air conditioners -- doing most of our work in the main satsang area. Fortunately, this space was comfortably cool throughout the day -- so we were able to focus and get some projects done.
The children finished sculpting their thalis and are now ready for the papier mache process. We had hoped to start the pasting today, but because of the high humidity we thought better of it. The weather prediction is better for tomorrow, so we'll plan to begin the paste in the morning. Instead, we decided to make our diya out of clay. The children modeled a diya in the shape of the inner lotus flower to place inside their paper lotus. Once everything dries, we will paint and decorate with glitter and gems. They will be absolutely beautiful sitting atop the pooja thalis.
Nirmala Auntie started us on the Mantra Pushpam today -- and we are pleased to share that the children did great with their chanting! We are eager to continue learning this vedic chant with Auntie throughout the week.
Also, we are looking forward to our weekly bhajan class with Sheila Auntie tomorrow -- we really missed her last week ... can already feel that tomorrow is going to be a pretty busy day!
July 27, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We started Lord Visnu's avatara, Lord Ram, today.
Art Projects: We began building our pooja thalis for our papier mache project. Also, we made lotus flowers out of watercolor paper for the center of the thali.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The week started well! After our morning prayers we successfully completed 3 minutes of absolute silence with an accurate pebble count. Tomorrow morning we will try ourselves at 4 minutes. Our goal is to top last week's 5 minutes. We think we can do it!!
Today seemed to fly by very quickly, but we still managed to find a good chunk of time this afternoon for our Shaanti Circle discussion. After lunch we got together to watch a few videos. Two of them were on the Sun Temple in Konark, Orissa. Video 1 click here to view. Video 2 click here to view. Then we watched two animations: One was on Yudisthira's Dog (click here to view) and the other was Typolution (click here to view), an animation done completely in type on pollution. After our videos, we spent a few minutes reviewing some of the details that are specific to the magnificent Sun Temple.
After our videos we went around the circle and posed our famous "Jelly Bean Questions" to our new camper friends, so we could learn a little about them. And then, everyone wanted to play "Telephone" ... so we did, only after we reviewed why it is so important to have a Guru in our lives and how he is our Telephone to God!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 27 (click here to view)
Comments: Quick reminder to parents: Please remember to send in a smock, apron or old shirt for your child this week. We will begin our "messy" art tomorrow.
Today was quite a productive day for us. Even though it was humid (and believe us, it was HUMID), we pumped up the air conditioners, stayed indoors and worked. The children spent a good deal of the afternoon building their armatures (skeleton) for their papier mache projects. We also sculpted a lotus flower out of paper to place in the center of the finished pooja thalis. Most of the kids opted for creating a decorative rim for their plates, so they sculpted it out of aluminum foil and adhered it to the plates with masking tape. Some of us will continue this process tomorrow afternoon, and some will move on to the messy, pasty, part :-)
A lot of the boys were eager to bring out the takhlis and book charkhas this afternoon ... so we did. Some of our new campers gathered in the fun and gave it a "spin." Looks like we've got some new recruits.
Parents, we have simply got to tell you that your kids are doing really well with their Vedic Chanting! Tomorrow, Nirmala Auntie will begin teaching us Mantra Pushpam, which we are quite excited about! However, we will also continue to chant Medha Sukhtam and Praarthanaa daily, so we don't become stagnant and stiff ;-)
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We started Lord Visnu's avatara, Lord Ram, today.
Art Projects: We began building our pooja thalis for our papier mache project. Also, we made lotus flowers out of watercolor paper for the center of the thali.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The week started well! After our morning prayers we successfully completed 3 minutes of absolute silence with an accurate pebble count. Tomorrow morning we will try ourselves at 4 minutes. Our goal is to top last week's 5 minutes. We think we can do it!!
Today seemed to fly by very quickly, but we still managed to find a good chunk of time this afternoon for our Shaanti Circle discussion. After lunch we got together to watch a few videos. Two of them were on the Sun Temple in Konark, Orissa. Video 1 click here to view. Video 2 click here to view. Then we watched two animations: One was on Yudisthira's Dog (click here to view) and the other was Typolution (click here to view), an animation done completely in type on pollution. After our videos, we spent a few minutes reviewing some of the details that are specific to the magnificent Sun Temple.
After our videos we went around the circle and posed our famous "Jelly Bean Questions" to our new camper friends, so we could learn a little about them. And then, everyone wanted to play "Telephone" ... so we did, only after we reviewed why it is so important to have a Guru in our lives and how he is our Telephone to God!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 27 (click here to view)
Comments: Quick reminder to parents: Please remember to send in a smock, apron or old shirt for your child this week. We will begin our "messy" art tomorrow.
Today was quite a productive day for us. Even though it was humid (and believe us, it was HUMID), we pumped up the air conditioners, stayed indoors and worked. The children spent a good deal of the afternoon building their armatures (skeleton) for their papier mache projects. We also sculpted a lotus flower out of paper to place in the center of the finished pooja thalis. Most of the kids opted for creating a decorative rim for their plates, so they sculpted it out of aluminum foil and adhered it to the plates with masking tape. Some of us will continue this process tomorrow afternoon, and some will move on to the messy, pasty, part :-)
A lot of the boys were eager to bring out the takhlis and book charkhas this afternoon ... so we did. Some of our new campers gathered in the fun and gave it a "spin." Looks like we've got some new recruits.
Parents, we have simply got to tell you that your kids are doing really well with their Vedic Chanting! Tomorrow, Nirmala Auntie will begin teaching us Mantra Pushpam, which we are quite excited about! However, we will also continue to chant Medha Sukhtam and Praarthanaa daily, so we don't become stagnant and stiff ;-)
July 24, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We continued watching the video on Vamana. Monday we will begin the avatara, Lord Ram.
Art Projects: Bead Weaving Techniques -- on-loom and off-loom.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Well, the kids did it! 5 Minutes of complete silence with an accurate pebble count. Boy, are we proud of them! Five minutes is not easy, even for some adults :-)
For our afternoon circle discussion, we viewed two videos on Gurudev. One was of him (at different periods of time) with Balavihar children, walking with the Dalai Lama, Dancing with youth, etc. (click here to view.) The other was a fim montage of Gurudev in his later years (click here to view.) One of the children asked what "Gurudev" means, and we talked about the meaning of Guru and deva. We also talked about Gurudev's MahaSamadhi which is August 3, 1993.
A few of the aunties made a big chart of the days of the week for us to hang up (Monday through Friday.) Then, they wrote in the day which God or Goddess is especially worshipped on -- i.e., Sunday is Lord Surya, Monday is Lord Shiva, Tuesday is Lord Hanuman/Lord Ganesha, Wednesday is Lord Vishnu, Thursday is Guru, Friday is Devi, Saturday is Lord Ganesha. They also wrote the days of the week and the God/Goddesses' names in their favorite colors. Hanumanji is orange, Lord Vishnu is Blue, Devi is Red/Green/White, etc. A few of the children asked how we knew that these colors were favored by the Gods, and we had to admit that this was an excellent question -- and we will wait for Swamiji to return from his travel so we can ask him!! :-) The aunties did not have all the answers ... :-)
During our "end of the day" Circle Time, Uncle shared some very interesting and cool thoughts that he had about Mahatma Gandhi and Prahlada. We also talked more on the significance of the charkha and what it represented in the fight for India's Independence from the British.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 24 (click here to view)
Comments: We really missed Swamiji today. Camp was not the same without him, especially during our vedic chanting class and storytime. Nevertheless, we chanted all 3 of the vedic chants we have been learning over the summer, with complete gusto. First, we listened to the recording we had of Panditji chanting, and then tried our best to parrot exactly what we heard. Guess we'll find out how well we did on Monday :-)
Because nearly all of our campers stand in front of the movie projector when we gather for movie time, we decided to share some puppet theater film clips with all the kids today -- if only to encourage them to be a little more creative with their shadow puppets ;-) The dance group is called Pilobolus and you can click here to view this really fantastic choreography! We also re-showed Wonderful World Shadow Puppet by Raymond Crowe (click here to view.)
Our caterpillars are now in the chrysallis stage. These little friends are in the process of transforming ... and we are looking forward to setting them free in another week or so.
The kids now lead the aunties in prayers. No longer do they repeat after us ... we repeat after them!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: We continued watching the video on Vamana. Monday we will begin the avatara, Lord Ram.
Art Projects: Bead Weaving Techniques -- on-loom and off-loom.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Well, the kids did it! 5 Minutes of complete silence with an accurate pebble count. Boy, are we proud of them! Five minutes is not easy, even for some adults :-)
For our afternoon circle discussion, we viewed two videos on Gurudev. One was of him (at different periods of time) with Balavihar children, walking with the Dalai Lama, Dancing with youth, etc. (click here to view.) The other was a fim montage of Gurudev in his later years (click here to view.) One of the children asked what "Gurudev" means, and we talked about the meaning of Guru and deva. We also talked about Gurudev's MahaSamadhi which is August 3, 1993.
A few of the aunties made a big chart of the days of the week for us to hang up (Monday through Friday.) Then, they wrote in the day which God or Goddess is especially worshipped on -- i.e., Sunday is Lord Surya, Monday is Lord Shiva, Tuesday is Lord Hanuman/Lord Ganesha, Wednesday is Lord Vishnu, Thursday is Guru, Friday is Devi, Saturday is Lord Ganesha. They also wrote the days of the week and the God/Goddesses' names in their favorite colors. Hanumanji is orange, Lord Vishnu is Blue, Devi is Red/Green/White, etc. A few of the children asked how we knew that these colors were favored by the Gods, and we had to admit that this was an excellent question -- and we will wait for Swamiji to return from his travel so we can ask him!! :-) The aunties did not have all the answers ... :-)
During our "end of the day" Circle Time, Uncle shared some very interesting and cool thoughts that he had about Mahatma Gandhi and Prahlada. We also talked more on the significance of the charkha and what it represented in the fight for India's Independence from the British.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 24 (click here to view)
Comments: We really missed Swamiji today. Camp was not the same without him, especially during our vedic chanting class and storytime. Nevertheless, we chanted all 3 of the vedic chants we have been learning over the summer, with complete gusto. First, we listened to the recording we had of Panditji chanting, and then tried our best to parrot exactly what we heard. Guess we'll find out how well we did on Monday :-)
Because nearly all of our campers stand in front of the movie projector when we gather for movie time, we decided to share some puppet theater film clips with all the kids today -- if only to encourage them to be a little more creative with their shadow puppets ;-) The dance group is called Pilobolus and you can click here to view this really fantastic choreography! We also re-showed Wonderful World Shadow Puppet by Raymond Crowe (click here to view.)
Our caterpillars are now in the chrysallis stage. These little friends are in the process of transforming ... and we are looking forward to setting them free in another week or so.
The kids now lead the aunties in prayers. No longer do they repeat after us ... we repeat after them!
July 23, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued the video on Vamana.
Art Projects: Bead Weaving Techniques -- on-loom and off-loom.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The challenge is on! After our morning prayers, we successfully completed 4 minutes of silence with perfect accuracy on our pebble count. Tomorrow we will try for 5 minutes. If we can sit silently and focus on our pebble drop (without any distrubances,) then this camp week will be the winner (so far) of the longest time! Get ready, kids ...
If was a very rainy, cold day today. So, during our afternoon circle time, we decided to watch some beautiful animation films. They were: The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle (click here to view), The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (click here to view), Kiwi (click here to view,) Self-Sufficiency Kids (click here to view,) and Wonderful World Shadow Puppet by Raymond Crowe (click here to view.) I know it sounds like a lot, parents, but trust us ... it wasn't. Each animation is only a few minutes long, at most :-)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 23 (click here to view)
Comments: It was definitely a cold and rainy day today. Nobody went outdoors -- instead we stayed inside and worked on our beading projects, read books, played games, and laughed alot. Some children continued knotting their japa malas from a few weeks back.
We happened to look at the caterpillars today -- and were quite surprised to learn that most of them are already hanging (in the "hooked" position) from the top of the lids! This transformation is happening pretty quickly -- so we should be releasing some butterflies into the gardens in about another 10 days or so.
Swamiji is off to Boston for the weekend -- we are definitely going to miss him tomorrow, but look forward to seeing him again on Monday. Also, we bid a temporary farewell to Bramacharya Ericji. Many thanks to him for stopping by the camp and lending some fun to our day!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
• Gayatri Mantra with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 5)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued the video on Vamana.
Art Projects: Bead Weaving Techniques -- on-loom and off-loom.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The challenge is on! After our morning prayers, we successfully completed 4 minutes of silence with perfect accuracy on our pebble count. Tomorrow we will try for 5 minutes. If we can sit silently and focus on our pebble drop (without any distrubances,) then this camp week will be the winner (so far) of the longest time! Get ready, kids ...
If was a very rainy, cold day today. So, during our afternoon circle time, we decided to watch some beautiful animation films. They were: The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle (click here to view), The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (click here to view), Kiwi (click here to view,) Self-Sufficiency Kids (click here to view,) and Wonderful World Shadow Puppet by Raymond Crowe (click here to view.) I know it sounds like a lot, parents, but trust us ... it wasn't. Each animation is only a few minutes long, at most :-)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 23 (click here to view)
Comments: It was definitely a cold and rainy day today. Nobody went outdoors -- instead we stayed inside and worked on our beading projects, read books, played games, and laughed alot. Some children continued knotting their japa malas from a few weeks back.
We happened to look at the caterpillars today -- and were quite surprised to learn that most of them are already hanging (in the "hooked" position) from the top of the lids! This transformation is happening pretty quickly -- so we should be releasing some butterflies into the gardens in about another 10 days or so.
Swamiji is off to Boston for the weekend -- we are definitely going to miss him tomorrow, but look forward to seeing him again on Monday. Also, we bid a temporary farewell to Bramacharya Ericji. Many thanks to him for stopping by the camp and lending some fun to our day!
July 22, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji showed a video on Vamana.
Art Projects: Finished sewing the felt torans.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we tried our concentration game for 4 minutes. We were able to sit quietly and silently for 4 minutes, but our focus on the pebble count was off. So, tomorrow we will do 4 minutes again and aim for 100% accuracy!
Today during our afternoon circle time, we viewed three short (very short) films of Mahatma Gandhi. One was of school children (ca. 1936) spinning on the book charkha and takhli, (click here to view) one was of Gandhiji spinning on a book charkha (click here to view) on a ship en route to England, and one was of the Dandi March (click here to view.) Afterwards, we talked a few minutes about the significance of the Dandi March and how this demonstration inspired the world.
Also, we spent a few minutes and talked about the word "Shaanti." In the book "Why do we?" (published by Chinmaya Mission Publications), there is a passage that explains why we chant "Shaanti, Shaanti, Shaanti" (three times) at the end of our prayers. We learned that the first Shaanti is for the unseen forces out of our control, (i.e., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes;) the second Shaanti is for the forces in our control (i.e. crime, theft, etc.) and the third Shaanti is for the forces in us (i.e., diseases, thoughts, feelings, etc.). This is also the reason why the first shaanti is loudest, the second is softer, and the third is softest. We were pretty jazzed and excited to understand this! We have a feeling that this book will be a popular reading over the next few days :-)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 22 (click here to view)
Comments: First we want to wish our very good friend, Nihal, a very Happy Birthday today! He is now 10 years old, and we were very honored that he chose to celebrate this special day with us. Thanks for making the trip in, Nihal -- and thanks for the yummy treats!!
Our caterpillars arrived safely and are resting peacefully in their new little homes. A group of our campers spent the afternoon transplating them and making sure that they had lots of food to munch on over the next week or so.
We had a great surprise today. Bramacharya Ericji is visiting with us for a day or two. Today he showed and taught us a very cool sailor knot -- the Bowline Knot (click here for the youtube how-to-video of the knot.) We spent a good half hour practicing our knots -- until we were sure we got them right! Some of the children didn't want to put the ropes down! We are definitely going to continue to practice our knotmaking for the rest of the week. It was a lot of fun -- and a great challenge for many of us. Big, big thanks Ericji!!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji showed a video on Vamana.
Art Projects: Finished sewing the felt torans.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we tried our concentration game for 4 minutes. We were able to sit quietly and silently for 4 minutes, but our focus on the pebble count was off. So, tomorrow we will do 4 minutes again and aim for 100% accuracy!
Today during our afternoon circle time, we viewed three short (very short) films of Mahatma Gandhi. One was of school children (ca. 1936) spinning on the book charkha and takhli, (click here to view) one was of Gandhiji spinning on a book charkha (click here to view) on a ship en route to England, and one was of the Dandi March (click here to view.) Afterwards, we talked a few minutes about the significance of the Dandi March and how this demonstration inspired the world.
Also, we spent a few minutes and talked about the word "Shaanti." In the book "Why do we?" (published by Chinmaya Mission Publications), there is a passage that explains why we chant "Shaanti, Shaanti, Shaanti" (three times) at the end of our prayers. We learned that the first Shaanti is for the unseen forces out of our control, (i.e., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes;) the second Shaanti is for the forces in our control (i.e. crime, theft, etc.) and the third Shaanti is for the forces in us (i.e., diseases, thoughts, feelings, etc.). This is also the reason why the first shaanti is loudest, the second is softer, and the third is softest. We were pretty jazzed and excited to understand this! We have a feeling that this book will be a popular reading over the next few days :-)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 22 (click here to view)
Comments: First we want to wish our very good friend, Nihal, a very Happy Birthday today! He is now 10 years old, and we were very honored that he chose to celebrate this special day with us. Thanks for making the trip in, Nihal -- and thanks for the yummy treats!!
Our caterpillars arrived safely and are resting peacefully in their new little homes. A group of our campers spent the afternoon transplating them and making sure that they had lots of food to munch on over the next week or so.
We had a great surprise today. Bramacharya Ericji is visiting with us for a day or two. Today he showed and taught us a very cool sailor knot -- the Bowline Knot (click here for the youtube how-to-video of the knot.) We spent a good half hour practicing our knots -- until we were sure we got them right! Some of the children didn't want to put the ropes down! We are definitely going to continue to practice our knotmaking for the rest of the week. It was a lot of fun -- and a great challenge for many of us. Big, big thanks Ericji!!
July 21, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam, Subramanyan, Anjaneya Raghuveera and Raghupati Raghava
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued showing a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Continued sewing our animals in felt, Lord Ganesha out of Modeling Clay, and more beaded Lord Ganesha's for the backpacks.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We successfully completed 3 minutes of silence and focus after our prayers this morning -- nicely done everyone! We're going to try four minutes tomorrow ...
Our Vedic Chanting class was moved to a different time slot today, so after our prayers and concentration game, we continued to stay in circle to practice our cotton spinning on the takhlis. We spent about 30-40 minutes learning how to gently open the fibers in a pooni (tightly rolled cotton), and how to keep our takhlis spinning for a good amount of time. We talked a little about the reason for needing a fast spin when making cotton thread, and exactly what are the steps in making a nice, strong yarn.
In our afternoon circle time, we watched a wonderful film clip of Gurudev. This was filmed while he was talking to some Balavihar children in the States (most likely California.) Most of us have only seen pictures of him in books and on our altars, and very few have seen or heard him in videos or audio. This particular film clip is of Gurudev singing a bhajan with the children and then telling a story of a yogi who saves a mouse. (We have the fable, illustrated by Marcia Brown, in our camp library -- so it was a double treat for us hearing Gurudev tell this tale!) His energy and connection with the children is inspiring beyond words. We will definitely be showing this film again ... and again ... and again ...
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 21 (click here to view)
Comments: Our caterpillars did not arrive today. Hopefully, they will come tomorrow. We're expecting rain throughout the week, so helping our little friends into their containers will be a welcome in-door activity.
Panditji was pleased with our Medha Suktam chanting today -- and boy, did that make us happy! We definitely need to practice Praatharnaa more, however. Swamiji lent us a recorder and we asked Panditji if he would record the entire chant for us. We will be playing it on our music system throughout the day so we can familiarize ourselves with the pronounciation and intonation. We will be missing Panditji for the next two days -- so, this will be an excellent way for us to continue practicing with him while he is away.
We brought the Lego Table back out today. Our youngest campers have done very well with exploring some of the other camp activities for the past 4 or 5 days. We are especially proud of their enthusiasm and determination to learn takhli spinning. We've seen them sneak off to a corner to practice spinning on their own! Tomorrow afternoon, during Shaanti Circle, will be show the children film clips of school children spinning, Mahatma Gandhi spinning, as well as the very significant Dandi March. All of the new clips are posted in our Shaanti Circle Discussion. (You can click here for the listing.)
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam, Subramanyan, Anjaneya Raghuveera and Raghupati Raghava
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued showing a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Continued sewing our animals in felt, Lord Ganesha out of Modeling Clay, and more beaded Lord Ganesha's for the backpacks.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We successfully completed 3 minutes of silence and focus after our prayers this morning -- nicely done everyone! We're going to try four minutes tomorrow ...
Our Vedic Chanting class was moved to a different time slot today, so after our prayers and concentration game, we continued to stay in circle to practice our cotton spinning on the takhlis. We spent about 30-40 minutes learning how to gently open the fibers in a pooni (tightly rolled cotton), and how to keep our takhlis spinning for a good amount of time. We talked a little about the reason for needing a fast spin when making cotton thread, and exactly what are the steps in making a nice, strong yarn.
In our afternoon circle time, we watched a wonderful film clip of Gurudev. This was filmed while he was talking to some Balavihar children in the States (most likely California.) Most of us have only seen pictures of him in books and on our altars, and very few have seen or heard him in videos or audio. This particular film clip is of Gurudev singing a bhajan with the children and then telling a story of a yogi who saves a mouse. (We have the fable, illustrated by Marcia Brown, in our camp library -- so it was a double treat for us hearing Gurudev tell this tale!) His energy and connection with the children is inspiring beyond words. We will definitely be showing this film again ... and again ... and again ...
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 21 (click here to view)
Comments: Our caterpillars did not arrive today. Hopefully, they will come tomorrow. We're expecting rain throughout the week, so helping our little friends into their containers will be a welcome in-door activity.
Panditji was pleased with our Medha Suktam chanting today -- and boy, did that make us happy! We definitely need to practice Praatharnaa more, however. Swamiji lent us a recorder and we asked Panditji if he would record the entire chant for us. We will be playing it on our music system throughout the day so we can familiarize ourselves with the pronounciation and intonation. We will be missing Panditji for the next two days -- so, this will be an excellent way for us to continue practicing with him while he is away.
We brought the Lego Table back out today. Our youngest campers have done very well with exploring some of the other camp activities for the past 4 or 5 days. We are especially proud of their enthusiasm and determination to learn takhli spinning. We've seen them sneak off to a corner to practice spinning on their own! Tomorrow afternoon, during Shaanti Circle, will be show the children film clips of school children spinning, Mahatma Gandhi spinning, as well as the very significant Dandi March. All of the new clips are posted in our Shaanti Circle Discussion. (You can click here for the listing.)
July 20, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued showing a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Started designing our animals in felt, Lord Ganesha made out of Modelling Clay and Lord Ganesha Beaded Buddy (for backpacks).
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Seeing that we are Day 1 in Week 5, we decided to try our "Time and Pebble" Game for only 3 minutes -- with the goal of increasing our focus to five minutes by Friday. We were a little sluggish this morning ... guess we can call it "Monday Morning Blues" :-) The challenge is on for us to top last week's highest score -- 4 total minutes of silence with almost 100% accuracy in counting the pebbles!
We are welcoming quite a few new campers this week -- and are delighted to have them join us with our learning and fun! This afternoon, we went around the circle and introduced ourselves, answering some of our famous Jelly Bean questions. We have lots of interesting talent in the camp this week -- one of our campers plays oodles of instruments and has offered to bring in his guitar and play us a couple of songs. We're definitely looking forward to it!
Today was one of those "off schedule kinda" days -- so we didn't get a chance to discuss some of our favorite topics (i.e., ahimsa, the Chinmaya Pledge, Truth, etc.) However, we all agreed that during tomorrow afternoon's Shaanti Circle, we're going to talk about the word "Shaanti" and explore the richness of its meaning.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 20 (click here to view)
Comments: We got word that our caterpillars are en route from Washington State and should be arriving at the ashram tomorrow (Tuesday.) So, if all goes according to plan, our afternoon will be spent helping our little friends feel comfortable in their new homes (laden with food.) We have our fingers crossed that we will successfully raise another batch of 40-50 Painted Lady Butterflies.
The kids spent most of the day exploring our fun board games and puzzles. Lots of creative energy was had in building, and problem solving! Some of the children wanted to continue creating Lord Ganesha out of clay, so we pulled out more modeling clay for them to work with. Others wanted to explore off-loom bead weaving techniques -- which we are very happy about! Tomorrow morning we plan to bring out the spinning equipment -- apparently, more than a few of the kids were missing the charkhas and takhlis today.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji continued showing a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Started designing our animals in felt, Lord Ganesha made out of Modelling Clay and Lord Ganesha Beaded Buddy (for backpacks).
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Seeing that we are Day 1 in Week 5, we decided to try our "Time and Pebble" Game for only 3 minutes -- with the goal of increasing our focus to five minutes by Friday. We were a little sluggish this morning ... guess we can call it "Monday Morning Blues" :-) The challenge is on for us to top last week's highest score -- 4 total minutes of silence with almost 100% accuracy in counting the pebbles!
We are welcoming quite a few new campers this week -- and are delighted to have them join us with our learning and fun! This afternoon, we went around the circle and introduced ourselves, answering some of our famous Jelly Bean questions. We have lots of interesting talent in the camp this week -- one of our campers plays oodles of instruments and has offered to bring in his guitar and play us a couple of songs. We're definitely looking forward to it!
Today was one of those "off schedule kinda" days -- so we didn't get a chance to discuss some of our favorite topics (i.e., ahimsa, the Chinmaya Pledge, Truth, etc.) However, we all agreed that during tomorrow afternoon's Shaanti Circle, we're going to talk about the word "Shaanti" and explore the richness of its meaning.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 20 (click here to view)
Comments: We got word that our caterpillars are en route from Washington State and should be arriving at the ashram tomorrow (Tuesday.) So, if all goes according to plan, our afternoon will be spent helping our little friends feel comfortable in their new homes (laden with food.) We have our fingers crossed that we will successfully raise another batch of 40-50 Painted Lady Butterflies.
The kids spent most of the day exploring our fun board games and puzzles. Lots of creative energy was had in building, and problem solving! Some of the children wanted to continue creating Lord Ganesha out of clay, so we pulled out more modeling clay for them to work with. Others wanted to explore off-loom bead weaving techniques -- which we are very happy about! Tomorrow morning we plan to bring out the spinning equipment -- apparently, more than a few of the kids were missing the charkhas and takhlis today.
July 17, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji showed a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Cotton Spinning, Cross Stitching, Clay Modelling
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We decided to increase our concentration game to 5 minutes this morning. Everyone really wanted to give it a try -- so we did. We almost made it, but that extra minute was pretty difficult. Most of us got the pebble count wrong (we admitted that our minds were wandering everywhere ... except in the ashram :-) As of now, our campers for week 4 have successfully sat silently for the longest period of time! Good going, kids!!! Our challenge for next week is to top 4 minutes. We definitely think we can do it!
Because we had so many birthdays in the last week or so, Uncle got hold of the lyrics of "Janmadina Geeta," (written and composed by Guruji) and taught it to us. What an absolutely beautiful song!! Though the song is written in Sanskrit, Uncle shared with us the English meaning: "O Dear Friend, May this birthday bring auspiciousness and joy to you forever. Indeed we all pray for your long life. May the Lord always protect you. By noble deeds, may you attain fame and may your life be fulfilled." Please click here for the Sanskrit lyrics, transliteration, and translation. We agreed that from now on we will sing this beautiful song for all of our birthdays!
Afterwards, we spent a few minutes sharing our favorite things about the camp. Some liked spinning, some liked the art projects, some liked reading the books in our library, some liked playing frisbee or basketball ... but all agreed that we liked making new friends -- and new family members.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 17 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was the last day for week 4 -- and we are sad to see some of our camper friends leave for the rest of the summer. We hope all of you had as much fun as we did -- and we hope you will continue to chant the shlokas and Medha Sukhtam with love in your heart and confidence in your voice. And, don't forget, we'll be looking for you in the hallways when Balavihar starts in the fall!
We are pleased and proud that so many of the children are exploring cotton spinning ... there has been such an eagerness to pull out the takhlis and book charkhas and give them a whirl! Some of the boys have already produced a couple of skeins of good, solid cotton -- and are planning to use their cotton for a weaving project. Talk about impressive work ... takes a lot of patience, perservence, and focus to do this!
We found a really great, albeit short, video of Gandhiji spinning cotton on a book charkha to show the kids. It was quite touching and exciting for us to see the Mahatma sitting peacefully, doing what he loved most. Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Because so many of the children have finished their torans, we set up some extra art stations for the day. Some of the children opted for cross stitching bookmarks. But many of the kids made a Lord Ganesha out of clay. Check out our photo gallery for the pictures. Each one is truly unique and precious.
We hope you all have a nice, coooool, weekend. Look forward to seeing you bright and early Monday morning.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji showed a video on Druv.
Art Projects: Cotton Spinning, Cross Stitching, Clay Modelling
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We decided to increase our concentration game to 5 minutes this morning. Everyone really wanted to give it a try -- so we did. We almost made it, but that extra minute was pretty difficult. Most of us got the pebble count wrong (we admitted that our minds were wandering everywhere ... except in the ashram :-) As of now, our campers for week 4 have successfully sat silently for the longest period of time! Good going, kids!!! Our challenge for next week is to top 4 minutes. We definitely think we can do it!
Because we had so many birthdays in the last week or so, Uncle got hold of the lyrics of "Janmadina Geeta," (written and composed by Guruji) and taught it to us. What an absolutely beautiful song!! Though the song is written in Sanskrit, Uncle shared with us the English meaning: "O Dear Friend, May this birthday bring auspiciousness and joy to you forever. Indeed we all pray for your long life. May the Lord always protect you. By noble deeds, may you attain fame and may your life be fulfilled." Please click here for the Sanskrit lyrics, transliteration, and translation. We agreed that from now on we will sing this beautiful song for all of our birthdays!
Afterwards, we spent a few minutes sharing our favorite things about the camp. Some liked spinning, some liked the art projects, some liked reading the books in our library, some liked playing frisbee or basketball ... but all agreed that we liked making new friends -- and new family members.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 17 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was the last day for week 4 -- and we are sad to see some of our camper friends leave for the rest of the summer. We hope all of you had as much fun as we did -- and we hope you will continue to chant the shlokas and Medha Sukhtam with love in your heart and confidence in your voice. And, don't forget, we'll be looking for you in the hallways when Balavihar starts in the fall!
We are pleased and proud that so many of the children are exploring cotton spinning ... there has been such an eagerness to pull out the takhlis and book charkhas and give them a whirl! Some of the boys have already produced a couple of skeins of good, solid cotton -- and are planning to use their cotton for a weaving project. Talk about impressive work ... takes a lot of patience, perservence, and focus to do this!
We found a really great, albeit short, video of Gandhiji spinning cotton on a book charkha to show the kids. It was quite touching and exciting for us to see the Mahatma sitting peacefully, doing what he loved most. Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Because so many of the children have finished their torans, we set up some extra art stations for the day. Some of the children opted for cross stitching bookmarks. But many of the kids made a Lord Ganesha out of clay. Check out our photo gallery for the pictures. Each one is truly unique and precious.
We hope you all have a nice, coooool, weekend. Look forward to seeing you bright and early Monday morning.
July 16, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji sat with the children and reviewed the story of Prahlada. We only got through half of the story -- so we will continue the rest tomorrow.
Art Projects: Toran making, beadweaving, and cotton spinning
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The kids did it again! After morning prayers, everyone sat very nicely and silently (without much restlessness) for 4 minutes. And, we are proud to share that nearly everyone got the pebble count correctly! The aunties are thinking that maybe the children are ready to meet the challenge of 5 minutes ...
After our Vedic Chanting we gathered in our Shaanti Circle to practice spinning. Everyone paired up with a partner and took turns practicing the "flick" to get the takhli spinning. We were all challenged to see who could spin the longest. We think someone was able to count up to 70+ before the takhli peetered out! We will sit together in a group again tomorrow and learn how to draw cotton from a pooni to make yarn. Once the kids have the spin down, it will be a breeze for them to focus on the cotton draw.
We spent some time today continuing our discussion of the Chinmaya Pledge. First we talked about the definition of "Pledge." -- and did we really realize that everytime we said this pledge we were making a promise -- to God, others and ourselves -- to try and fulfill all the different values and ideals that are so richly outlined. Some of the children shared their favorite parts, and when someone mentioned "producing more that what we consume and giving more than what we take," we took a few minutes and talked about what exactly this means. We also talked a little about the word "sacrifice." We all agreed that sacrificing -- willing and lovingly giving something up that we desire -- is difficult. But when we keep doing it, eventually it becomes easier and easier -- and that nothing feels greater than giving happiness and joy to others. We talked about how Sheela Auntie shared her experiences with Gurudev yesterday ... and told us how she witnessed Swami Chinmayanandaji continuously giving joy and happiness to others -- and much he loved everyone.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 16 (click here to view)
Comments: Our vedic chanting was okay this morning. Panditji said that our word pronounciation was good, but that we needed to pay closer attention to the intonation marks in the book. Tomorrow we will chant our Medha Sukhtam without a book -- so all the campers should get lots of good rest tonight :-) Also, we will practice chanting Praarthanaa when Swamiji enters the ashram. This is a vedic chant that is used whenever we are receiving a Swamiji -- so we are very grateful to learn this chant!
The children have finished their torans. Everything is now drying in the ashram and will be ready to send home tomorrow. Please remind your child to pack up their art work -- we will do the same :-) They really did such a lovely job with their work, and we are very satisfied seeing all the different, unique pieces!
We heard through the grapevine that tomorrow is going to be a scorcher of a day. Please make sure to pack an extra set of clothes for your child. We were very lucky this afternoon -- Uncle brought in his swim wear and took the kids to the field for a massive hose down! Yes kids, we think we saw him hang up his swimsuit in the ashram to dry -- so we're guessing that he's getting ready for another fun wet day tomorrow :-) Parents: You should have heard the scream of excitement from the kids when they learned that today was Hose Down Day ...
The aunties thank you, big time, Uncle!
Parents: Please note that Sri Swami Siddhanandaji will be bringing Dr. Vijayan to Vrindavan at 2.00 p.m. tomorrow to address our Summer Campers. If any of you are interested in joining this program, please do. You may learn more about Dr. Vijayan by visiting Chinmaya Mission Kedar's website at: www.chinmayakedar.org.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji sat with the children and reviewed the story of Prahlada. We only got through half of the story -- so we will continue the rest tomorrow.
Art Projects: Toran making, beadweaving, and cotton spinning
Shaanti Circle Discussion: The kids did it again! After morning prayers, everyone sat very nicely and silently (without much restlessness) for 4 minutes. And, we are proud to share that nearly everyone got the pebble count correctly! The aunties are thinking that maybe the children are ready to meet the challenge of 5 minutes ...
After our Vedic Chanting we gathered in our Shaanti Circle to practice spinning. Everyone paired up with a partner and took turns practicing the "flick" to get the takhli spinning. We were all challenged to see who could spin the longest. We think someone was able to count up to 70+ before the takhli peetered out! We will sit together in a group again tomorrow and learn how to draw cotton from a pooni to make yarn. Once the kids have the spin down, it will be a breeze for them to focus on the cotton draw.
We spent some time today continuing our discussion of the Chinmaya Pledge. First we talked about the definition of "Pledge." -- and did we really realize that everytime we said this pledge we were making a promise -- to God, others and ourselves -- to try and fulfill all the different values and ideals that are so richly outlined. Some of the children shared their favorite parts, and when someone mentioned "producing more that what we consume and giving more than what we take," we took a few minutes and talked about what exactly this means. We also talked a little about the word "sacrifice." We all agreed that sacrificing -- willing and lovingly giving something up that we desire -- is difficult. But when we keep doing it, eventually it becomes easier and easier -- and that nothing feels greater than giving happiness and joy to others. We talked about how Sheela Auntie shared her experiences with Gurudev yesterday ... and told us how she witnessed Swami Chinmayanandaji continuously giving joy and happiness to others -- and much he loved everyone.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 16 (click here to view)
Comments: Our vedic chanting was okay this morning. Panditji said that our word pronounciation was good, but that we needed to pay closer attention to the intonation marks in the book. Tomorrow we will chant our Medha Sukhtam without a book -- so all the campers should get lots of good rest tonight :-) Also, we will practice chanting Praarthanaa when Swamiji enters the ashram. This is a vedic chant that is used whenever we are receiving a Swamiji -- so we are very grateful to learn this chant!
The children have finished their torans. Everything is now drying in the ashram and will be ready to send home tomorrow. Please remind your child to pack up their art work -- we will do the same :-) They really did such a lovely job with their work, and we are very satisfied seeing all the different, unique pieces!
We heard through the grapevine that tomorrow is going to be a scorcher of a day. Please make sure to pack an extra set of clothes for your child. We were very lucky this afternoon -- Uncle brought in his swim wear and took the kids to the field for a massive hose down! Yes kids, we think we saw him hang up his swimsuit in the ashram to dry -- so we're guessing that he's getting ready for another fun wet day tomorrow :-) Parents: You should have heard the scream of excitement from the kids when they learned that today was Hose Down Day ...
The aunties thank you, big time, Uncle!
Parents: Please note that Sri Swami Siddhanandaji will be bringing Dr. Vijayan to Vrindavan at 2.00 p.m. tomorrow to address our Summer Campers. If any of you are interested in joining this program, please do. You may learn more about Dr. Vijayan by visiting Chinmaya Mission Kedar's website at: www.chinmayakedar.org.
July 15, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today the children watched an episode on Narasimha, an avatara of Lord Vishnu.
Art Projects: Toran making, beadweaving, and cotton spinning
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, the aunties put the challenge out there ... we didn't think the kids could do it. But they did -- 4 whole minutes of silence, and nearly every one of our campers gave the correct pebble count! By far, one of the best game plays we've done yet. Good going, kids!!!
We did not have time to discuss the Chinmaya Pledge today, as planned. Instead we very happy to spend our circle time learning a new song with Sheela Auntie. She will be joining us every Wednesday afternoon, with guitar in hand. In addition to reviewing the song she taught us last week ("Come to Me, Lord Krishna,") she introduced a new one dedicated to (and about) Gurudev, which she wrote. The tune and lyrics are absolutely lovely, and we really appreciate her sharing her experiences with Gurudev. Her descriptions of Swami Chinmayanandaji gave us a wonderful, personal feeling about him ... it was truly inspiring to listen to stories from a devotee who spent time with him. This is such a treat for the children (and the aunties) -- and we look forward to learning more songs and having her share her experiences every week!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 15 (click here to view)
Comments: July is really the birthday month for us. A very happy Birthday to Aishu! She turned 10 today ... we wish her many, many more special birthdays to come!
Today Panditji told us that our chanting was good -- and what a great feeling that was for all of us. His only comment was that we needed to chant louder. So, tomorrow, we have all agreed to chant really loud ... so much so that we hope to disturb our neighbors -- which happen to be about a mile or so down the road :-)
Believe it or not, our Lego Table was not missed today after all. Instead of the table being the hub of activity for our younger campers, we found them checking out the other stations. And, we were very excited to find that they spent most of their time at the takhli spinning center! Uncle was sharing his experiences with them of having to learn spinning in school when he was a young boy. The kids were pretty shocked -- and thought he was really lucky that he had to make yarn in school :-) We are extremely proud of all the boys who took time today to spin -- and hope that they will continue learning this remarkable art.
And, because the takhlis came out in full force today -- we had some older boys revisit the book charkhas. Man, oh man, so much productivity today -- cotton spinning, bead weaving, macrame knotting, puzzle solving. We're guessing that everyone is going to sleep nice and hard tonight ...
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today the children watched an episode on Narasimha, an avatara of Lord Vishnu.
Art Projects: Toran making, beadweaving, and cotton spinning
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, the aunties put the challenge out there ... we didn't think the kids could do it. But they did -- 4 whole minutes of silence, and nearly every one of our campers gave the correct pebble count! By far, one of the best game plays we've done yet. Good going, kids!!!
We did not have time to discuss the Chinmaya Pledge today, as planned. Instead we very happy to spend our circle time learning a new song with Sheela Auntie. She will be joining us every Wednesday afternoon, with guitar in hand. In addition to reviewing the song she taught us last week ("Come to Me, Lord Krishna,") she introduced a new one dedicated to (and about) Gurudev, which she wrote. The tune and lyrics are absolutely lovely, and we really appreciate her sharing her experiences with Gurudev. Her descriptions of Swami Chinmayanandaji gave us a wonderful, personal feeling about him ... it was truly inspiring to listen to stories from a devotee who spent time with him. This is such a treat for the children (and the aunties) -- and we look forward to learning more songs and having her share her experiences every week!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 15 (click here to view)
Comments: July is really the birthday month for us. A very happy Birthday to Aishu! She turned 10 today ... we wish her many, many more special birthdays to come!
Today Panditji told us that our chanting was good -- and what a great feeling that was for all of us. His only comment was that we needed to chant louder. So, tomorrow, we have all agreed to chant really loud ... so much so that we hope to disturb our neighbors -- which happen to be about a mile or so down the road :-)
Believe it or not, our Lego Table was not missed today after all. Instead of the table being the hub of activity for our younger campers, we found them checking out the other stations. And, we were very excited to find that they spent most of their time at the takhli spinning center! Uncle was sharing his experiences with them of having to learn spinning in school when he was a young boy. The kids were pretty shocked -- and thought he was really lucky that he had to make yarn in school :-) We are extremely proud of all the boys who took time today to spin -- and hope that they will continue learning this remarkable art.
And, because the takhlis came out in full force today -- we had some older boys revisit the book charkhas. Man, oh man, so much productivity today -- cotton spinning, bead weaving, macrame knotting, puzzle solving. We're guessing that everyone is going to sleep nice and hard tonight ...
July 14, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: Both groups continued working on their Toran projects. Many of them were able to decorate with sequins, beads, etc. You can view their work in today's Photo Gallery.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Today was the day that nearly everyone got the "Time and Pebble" Game right!! Our minds were forcused and silent for 3 minutes before the first pebble dropped. Tomorrow we are going to try 4 minutes -- we think we are ready for the challenge!
We spent a little time reviewing some of yesterday's disucssion on the Chinmaya Pledge. Afterwards, some of our campers shared their ideas on what they thought "living honestly" meant. When asked, none of us could honestly say that we were "living honestly" all the time! It was a bit hard to admit ... but we did it :-) Reviewing the pledge led us into some questions about how we can deal with day-to-day issues ... like "how to not hurt someone's feelings when they are sharing something with you that you don't agree with?" ... "how can you respect someone that you don't agree with?" ... "how are we like one family, courageous and disciplined?" Unfortunately, we only had a half hour for discussion -- with lots of comments and ideas to share! We will pick things up again tomorrow afternoon to continue our conversation on the Pledge.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 14 (click here to view)
Comments: Our chanting sounded much better this morning -- there was much more clarity and confidence in the childeren's chanting! We got the smile and nod of approval from Panditji after chanting the Medha Sukhtam. Boy, did that make us happy! Panditji did suggest, however, that we needed to pay close attention to some of our intonations. We must not forget to practice daily -- every morning.
This afternoon, in addition to some other topics, we decided to spend some focused time discussing the etiquette of the Lego Table. All of us agreed that the Legos needed a full day of rest. The Aunties have put bricks, wheels and motors away so that some of the children can begin to explore some of the other daily camp activities. We will bring everything back to the table on Thursday. Not to worry, kids ...
Everyone is doing so beautifully with their torans! At the rate everyone is working, we will probably have everything completed by tomorrow afternoon. Definitely take a look on the Photo Gallery to check out the childrens' work. Though everybody had exactly the same materials to work with, each toran is turning out very unique!
Sheila Auntie will join us tomorrow afternoon for bhajans. We look forward to singing with her again.
We have 50 more caterpillars on the way! (Hopefully, they will get here by early next week.) We still see an occasional butterfly friend in the ashram gardens ...
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: Both groups continued working on their Toran projects. Many of them were able to decorate with sequins, beads, etc. You can view their work in today's Photo Gallery.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Today was the day that nearly everyone got the "Time and Pebble" Game right!! Our minds were forcused and silent for 3 minutes before the first pebble dropped. Tomorrow we are going to try 4 minutes -- we think we are ready for the challenge!
We spent a little time reviewing some of yesterday's disucssion on the Chinmaya Pledge. Afterwards, some of our campers shared their ideas on what they thought "living honestly" meant. When asked, none of us could honestly say that we were "living honestly" all the time! It was a bit hard to admit ... but we did it :-) Reviewing the pledge led us into some questions about how we can deal with day-to-day issues ... like "how to not hurt someone's feelings when they are sharing something with you that you don't agree with?" ... "how can you respect someone that you don't agree with?" ... "how are we like one family, courageous and disciplined?" Unfortunately, we only had a half hour for discussion -- with lots of comments and ideas to share! We will pick things up again tomorrow afternoon to continue our conversation on the Pledge.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 14 (click here to view)
Comments: Our chanting sounded much better this morning -- there was much more clarity and confidence in the childeren's chanting! We got the smile and nod of approval from Panditji after chanting the Medha Sukhtam. Boy, did that make us happy! Panditji did suggest, however, that we needed to pay close attention to some of our intonations. We must not forget to practice daily -- every morning.
This afternoon, in addition to some other topics, we decided to spend some focused time discussing the etiquette of the Lego Table. All of us agreed that the Legos needed a full day of rest. The Aunties have put bricks, wheels and motors away so that some of the children can begin to explore some of the other daily camp activities. We will bring everything back to the table on Thursday. Not to worry, kids ...
Everyone is doing so beautifully with their torans! At the rate everyone is working, we will probably have everything completed by tomorrow afternoon. Definitely take a look on the Photo Gallery to check out the childrens' work. Though everybody had exactly the same materials to work with, each toran is turning out very unique!
Sheila Auntie will join us tomorrow afternoon for bhajans. We look forward to singing with her again.
We have 50 more caterpillars on the way! (Hopefully, they will get here by early next week.) We still see an occasional butterfly friend in the ashram gardens ...
July 13, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam and Subramanyam (My Prayers)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji. We saw the episode where Prahlada sat on the lap of Holika in the fire.
Art Projects: We began our Toran projects. Grades 1-3 started to cut their mango shaped leaves out of felt. Grades 4-8 made their long strip out of macrame and beads.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we played our usual "Time" Game. We sat silently for three minutes before dropping pebbles into the pan. Many of our minds were wandering outside (playing in the fields) during this game, so only a few were able to stay focused on the pebble count. We're going to try again tomorrow for more accuracy!!
Being the first day of the week, we were happy to meet some of our new campers. We spent a few minutes introducing everyone and finding out a little bit about each person (via our jelly bean game.) We also spent some time talking about the first two paragraphs of the Chinmaya Pledge. We plan to spend the rest of the week on the Pledge -- defining some of the words and sharing our thoughts about what these ideas mean.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 13 (click here to view)
Comments: Lots of fun was had today -- everybody was very industrious and busy at different activities! We brought out the PVC pipes for outdoor sculpture making. Some of the children tried creating echo pipes where someone would whisper into one end while someone at the other end would be the receiver. We're hoping that we will get a super hot day this week, where we can try and create a sprinkler sculpture.
Many of the children progressed very nicely with making their torans. The bases should be completed by tomorrow -- and then they will be able to decorate their leaves with gems, sequins, etc.
We do have to practice our Vedic Chanting a little, however ;-) Panditji thought we sounded a little sleepy this morning. We assured him that we would chant loudly and confidently tomorrow morning!
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam and Subramanyam (My Prayers)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji. We saw the episode where Prahlada sat on the lap of Holika in the fire.
Art Projects: We began our Toran projects. Grades 1-3 started to cut their mango shaped leaves out of felt. Grades 4-8 made their long strip out of macrame and beads.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we played our usual "Time" Game. We sat silently for three minutes before dropping pebbles into the pan. Many of our minds were wandering outside (playing in the fields) during this game, so only a few were able to stay focused on the pebble count. We're going to try again tomorrow for more accuracy!!
Being the first day of the week, we were happy to meet some of our new campers. We spent a few minutes introducing everyone and finding out a little bit about each person (via our jelly bean game.) We also spent some time talking about the first two paragraphs of the Chinmaya Pledge. We plan to spend the rest of the week on the Pledge -- defining some of the words and sharing our thoughts about what these ideas mean.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 13 (click here to view)
Comments: Lots of fun was had today -- everybody was very industrious and busy at different activities! We brought out the PVC pipes for outdoor sculpture making. Some of the children tried creating echo pipes where someone would whisper into one end while someone at the other end would be the receiver. We're hoping that we will get a super hot day this week, where we can try and create a sprinkler sculpture.
Many of the children progressed very nicely with making their torans. The bases should be completed by tomorrow -- and then they will be able to decorate their leaves with gems, sequins, etc.
We do have to practice our Vedic Chanting a little, however ;-) Panditji thought we sounded a little sleepy this morning. We assured him that we would chant loudly and confidently tomorrow morning!
July 10, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji. We saw the episode where Lord Shiva swallowed the poison from the food that Prahlada was going to be fed in prison.
Art Projects: Worked on bead looms and macrame projects.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we played our "Time" Game. We sat silently for four minutes before dropping pebbles into the pan. For our younger friends we asked them to raise their hands when they thought two minutes were up ... and then sit quietly while everyone else completed their four minutes. Everyone did very well, indeed! Almost everyone wanted to try a longer time -- but we decided that four minutes was long enough for this week. Maybe next week we'll give five minutes a try.
Yesterday afternoon we began discussing the Chinmaya Pledge and what the very first paragraph meant ... "We stand as one family, bound to each other with love and respect." We asked ourselves if we really thought of each other as family members, and what does love and respect mean? What are some of the ways that we can we show love and respect to each other? We had planned to continue discussing the next two paragraphs this afternoon, but had some birthdays to celebrate -- so we asked everyone to read the next two paragraphs over the weekend so we can talk more about the pledge Monday afternoon.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 10 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was definitely the day for birthdays. We had ice cream, cake and gulab jamun all day long!! First we want to say Happy Birthday to Nikhita who turned 6 today! And our other camper (vounteer in training) Vamsi turns 13 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to the new teenager!!! And last, but not least, our very cool Sanjana Didi will be 16 tomorrow. We wish all of you many, many Happy Birthdays to come!
This afternoon, once we finished eating all the good sweet treats everyone brought in to share, we had a wonderful musical treat with Sheila Auntie -- who is a longtime devotee of Gurudev. She brought in her guitar and sang a bhajan in English with the children. Parents: definitely ask your children to share the song with you -- by the end of the session they were beginning to memorize the verses. We look forward to having her lead us in song every Wednesday. Thank you Sheila Auntie!
Now that week 3 has come to an end, we will be saying farewell for the summer to some of our camper friends. We really enjoyed spending time at the ashram together -- and hope to see you in the fall when Balavihar begins. If you see us in the hallway, don't forget to shout out a really loud "Hari OM!"
Hope everyone enjoys this gorgeous weather we have been blessed with. To all of our campers: Get lots of rest -- we've got another fun-filled week of activities ahead of us ...
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji. We saw the episode where Lord Shiva swallowed the poison from the food that Prahlada was going to be fed in prison.
Art Projects: Worked on bead looms and macrame projects.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we played our "Time" Game. We sat silently for four minutes before dropping pebbles into the pan. For our younger friends we asked them to raise their hands when they thought two minutes were up ... and then sit quietly while everyone else completed their four minutes. Everyone did very well, indeed! Almost everyone wanted to try a longer time -- but we decided that four minutes was long enough for this week. Maybe next week we'll give five minutes a try.
Yesterday afternoon we began discussing the Chinmaya Pledge and what the very first paragraph meant ... "We stand as one family, bound to each other with love and respect." We asked ourselves if we really thought of each other as family members, and what does love and respect mean? What are some of the ways that we can we show love and respect to each other? We had planned to continue discussing the next two paragraphs this afternoon, but had some birthdays to celebrate -- so we asked everyone to read the next two paragraphs over the weekend so we can talk more about the pledge Monday afternoon.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 10 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was definitely the day for birthdays. We had ice cream, cake and gulab jamun all day long!! First we want to say Happy Birthday to Nikhita who turned 6 today! And our other camper (vounteer in training) Vamsi turns 13 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to the new teenager!!! And last, but not least, our very cool Sanjana Didi will be 16 tomorrow. We wish all of you many, many Happy Birthdays to come!
This afternoon, once we finished eating all the good sweet treats everyone brought in to share, we had a wonderful musical treat with Sheila Auntie -- who is a longtime devotee of Gurudev. She brought in her guitar and sang a bhajan in English with the children. Parents: definitely ask your children to share the song with you -- by the end of the session they were beginning to memorize the verses. We look forward to having her lead us in song every Wednesday. Thank you Sheila Auntie!
Now that week 3 has come to an end, we will be saying farewell for the summer to some of our camper friends. We really enjoyed spending time at the ashram together -- and hope to see you in the fall when Balavihar begins. If you see us in the hallway, don't forget to shout out a really loud "Hari OM!"
Hope everyone enjoys this gorgeous weather we have been blessed with. To all of our campers: Get lots of rest -- we've got another fun-filled week of activities ahead of us ...
July 8, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: Worked on bead looms and macrame projects.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers we played our "Time" Game. The children sat silently, without moving, for four minutes -- and then we dropped marbles into a pan to see if they could count how many there were. Nearly everyone got the right number -- very impressive!!! This is not an easy game -- usually we get several different answers from the kids when we play this game ... but this morning everyone was extremely focused! We used this game to illustrate how when our mind is quiet and focused, we will be able to know exactly what has transpired. However, when our mind is not focused, then our answer will be incorrect. The children who did not get the correct answer admitted that their minds were wandering when the marbles were dropped.
During our afternoon Shaanti Circle we began our discussion on "Satya" (Truth). We quickly reviewed the values we discussed in the previous two weeks (Guru, Ahimsaa, and Humility) and then spent some time talking about what Truth means, and how difficult (but important) it is to always be truthful -- even when we think no one else knows that we are being untruthful, God always knows ... we can never hide that from him!! And if we really listen to hearts, we will realize that when we are dishonest, we will never feel peaceful or calm. We also talked about Prahlada and how he represented pure Truth, especially in the face of difficulties and danger.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 8 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was the day we've been waiting for! Many of our butterflies were released -- and what a wonderful occasion!! Many of the kids spent the afternoon following our Painted Lady friends as they flew around the fields. We will open the net again tomorrow morning ... about 10 of our friends weren't quite ready to take flight today. We are certainly going to miss them -- but look forward to seeing them around the gardens ...
The older children finished their altar books yesterday. And boy, did they do a fabulous job!! These altar books were designed to accompany the mantra that Swamiji gave the children last week -- "OM Shri Krishna Sharanam Mama." Some of us were really sad to see these lovely art pieces leave the ashram. Please take a few minutes and enjoy the photo gallery -- you will really be inspired by their efforts! Tomorrow they will make another altar book on the God or Goddess of their choice.
The younger group will be finishing their books tomorrow. Because we were sidetracked with the butterflies today, we didn't have the time to complete everything as scheduled.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting:
• Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
• Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: None
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: Worked on bead looms and macrame projects.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers we played our "Time" Game. The children sat silently, without moving, for four minutes -- and then we dropped marbles into a pan to see if they could count how many there were. Nearly everyone got the right number -- very impressive!!! This is not an easy game -- usually we get several different answers from the kids when we play this game ... but this morning everyone was extremely focused! We used this game to illustrate how when our mind is quiet and focused, we will be able to know exactly what has transpired. However, when our mind is not focused, then our answer will be incorrect. The children who did not get the correct answer admitted that their minds were wandering when the marbles were dropped.
During our afternoon Shaanti Circle we began our discussion on "Satya" (Truth). We quickly reviewed the values we discussed in the previous two weeks (Guru, Ahimsaa, and Humility) and then spent some time talking about what Truth means, and how difficult (but important) it is to always be truthful -- even when we think no one else knows that we are being untruthful, God always knows ... we can never hide that from him!! And if we really listen to hearts, we will realize that when we are dishonest, we will never feel peaceful or calm. We also talked about Prahlada and how he represented pure Truth, especially in the face of difficulties and danger.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 8 (click here to view)
Comments: Today was the day we've been waiting for! Many of our butterflies were released -- and what a wonderful occasion!! Many of the kids spent the afternoon following our Painted Lady friends as they flew around the fields. We will open the net again tomorrow morning ... about 10 of our friends weren't quite ready to take flight today. We are certainly going to miss them -- but look forward to seeing them around the gardens ...
The older children finished their altar books yesterday. And boy, did they do a fabulous job!! These altar books were designed to accompany the mantra that Swamiji gave the children last week -- "OM Shri Krishna Sharanam Mama." Some of us were really sad to see these lovely art pieces leave the ashram. Please take a few minutes and enjoy the photo gallery -- you will really be inspired by their efforts! Tomorrow they will make another altar book on the God or Goddess of their choice.
The younger group will be finishing their books tomorrow. Because we were sidetracked with the butterflies today, we didn't have the time to complete everything as scheduled.
July 6, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam (My Prayers, page 7)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: We began our Altar Book. (Click to view.)
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Praarthanaa with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 3)
Bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam (My Prayers, page 7)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we continued our video on Prahlada and Lord Vishnu with Swamiji.
Art Projects: We began our Altar Book. (Click to view.)
Shaanti Circle Discussion: We talked about how today was a very special day, Guru Poornima -- and how much we love our Guru, Swami Chinmayanandaji. We saw a small video clip of Gurudev with children (click here to view) and then Swamiji spoke about how much we need a Guru in our life. Then all the children chanted Guru Stotram (My Prayers, page 9.)
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 6 (click here to view)
Comments: First we want to welcome all of our new campers! Because we had so much to cover today, we didn't get a chance to do our jelly bean introduction game -- so, we'll put that on our agenda for tomorrow.
Today was a very special day in our camp. Being that it is Guru Poornima, we were very lucky to have satsang with Swamiji and learn about the importance of one's Guru -- how it is our Guru who bring us closer to God. Swamiji told the children that our Guru, Swami Chinmayananda's name (Chinmaya) means "full of knowledge" -- and that is exactly what our Gurudev was all about!
Swamiji also reviewed our mantra which he taught us on Friday, "OM Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama." For the children who were not present last week, we also reviewed about how the Tulsi Plant is considered Goddess Lakshmi -- and that this is Lord Vishnu's favorite plant.
Our art project this week will be based on this special mantra. For the first altar book, each child will use a postcard picture of Lord Krishna and Radha, and decorate it. We started the art class by drawing 2 star shaped images onto watercolor paper, cutting them out, and painting them light pink. Once the cutting and painting was done, the children wet the paper again and formed the petals into a lotus flower. We then took 5 Tulsi beads and strung them onto wire, forming a small circle and glued it into the center of the the Lotus. Afterwards, the kids decorated with gold glitter -- and the lotuses are now drying, waiting to be placed onto their books tomorrow (or the day after.) The older children were able to cover their book boards today...the younger ones will begin this process tomorrow.
And, to make our day even more special -- our butterflies have begun to emerge from their chrysallis. By the end of the afternoon, we had 6 little guys flittering about. We checked the net periodically throughout the day -- and were blessed to actually see a little butterfly working his way out! It was truly a miracle to be able to witness this ... and everyone was so excited to see the little chrysallis shake. No doubt, by morning we will have almost all 50 butterflies eating the watermelon and orange slices we left out for them. We're really looking forward to see what's waiting for us in the morning!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 6 (click here to view)
Comments: First we want to welcome all of our new campers! Because we had so much to cover today, we didn't get a chance to do our jelly bean introduction game -- so, we'll put that on our agenda for tomorrow.
Today was a very special day in our camp. Being that it is Guru Poornima, we were very lucky to have satsang with Swamiji and learn about the importance of one's Guru -- how it is our Guru who bring us closer to God. Swamiji told the children that our Guru, Swami Chinmayananda's name (Chinmaya) means "full of knowledge" -- and that is exactly what our Gurudev was all about!
Swamiji also reviewed our mantra which he taught us on Friday, "OM Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama." For the children who were not present last week, we also reviewed about how the Tulsi Plant is considered Goddess Lakshmi -- and that this is Lord Vishnu's favorite plant.
Our art project this week will be based on this special mantra. For the first altar book, each child will use a postcard picture of Lord Krishna and Radha, and decorate it. We started the art class by drawing 2 star shaped images onto watercolor paper, cutting them out, and painting them light pink. Once the cutting and painting was done, the children wet the paper again and formed the petals into a lotus flower. We then took 5 Tulsi beads and strung them onto wire, forming a small circle and glued it into the center of the the Lotus. Afterwards, the kids decorated with gold glitter -- and the lotuses are now drying, waiting to be placed onto their books tomorrow (or the day after.) The older children were able to cover their book boards today...the younger ones will begin this process tomorrow.
And, to make our day even more special -- our butterflies have begun to emerge from their chrysallis. By the end of the afternoon, we had 6 little guys flittering about. We checked the net periodically throughout the day -- and were blessed to actually see a little butterfly working his way out! It was truly a miracle to be able to witness this ... and everyone was so excited to see the little chrysallis shake. No doubt, by morning we will have almost all 50 butterflies eating the watermelon and orange slices we left out for them. We're really looking forward to see what's waiting for us in the morning!
July 3, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we finished the movie with Swamiji about Prahlada.
Art Projects: Finished knotting our Tulsi Bead Japa Malas.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Panditji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we finished the movie with Swamiji about Prahlada.
Art Projects: Finished knotting our Tulsi Bead Japa Malas.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Seeing that this is the last day of the week, we thought it would be really good to review some of the words we have been definining over the past few days. We talked about ahimsa -- and how we should practice it with our thoughts, our words and our actions. We also reviewed what "humility" means. We planned to talk about our next favorite word, "Satya (truth)," during the afternoon -- but had a nice surprise satsang with Swamiji instead. So, we'll pick up where we left off on Monday.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 3 (click here to view)
Comments: Its hard to believe that Week Two of Summer Camp is now over. The summer is passing very quickly ...
Today we chanted our Medha Sukhtam without any text in front of us -- and we were so pleased to hear that many of the children have the first part of the chant memorized. We think it even surprised them! Panditji has been working so diligently and kindly with us on a daily basis, and the kids are really absorbing this chant. We will begin a new chant on Monday -- and can't wait to learn which one it is. For all of our campers: Don't forget to chant Medha Sukhtam every morning, before going to school. Remember what Swamiji and Panditji shared with us about this vedic chant -- Medha Devi (Goddess Sarasvati) will bless us with a sharp, photographic memory, if we continue to chant this daily.
We had a wonderful satsang with Swamji today. From our previous blogs, everyone knows by now that we have been knotting our tulsi bead japa malas. Well, today was the day that the children completed their japa malas and Swamiji sat with the children and explained how to properly use them. He also gave us a mantra to chant daily -- "OM Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama." He taught us that the Tulsi Japa Mala is only used for chanting mantras for Lord Vishnu. We learned that the Tulsi plant is Goddess Lakshmi. Some children didn't know what a Tulsi plant looked like, so Swamiji had his brought in so they could see it. He also explained how the beads were made from the stalk of the plant. He even shared with us why the Tulsi plant is considered a sacred plant. Everyone learned alot -- and we are really grateful to have had this time with him!!
A big "Hari OM" to all of our friends who will not be with us next week ... we really had such a great time with you -- and look forward to meeting up with you again when Balavihar starts in the fall. In the meantime, please remember to chant your shlokas with full love in your heart, and do it every day. Also, don't foget the mantra Swamiji taught us today ...
Have a peaceful weekend!
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 3 (click here to view)
Comments: Its hard to believe that Week Two of Summer Camp is now over. The summer is passing very quickly ...
Today we chanted our Medha Sukhtam without any text in front of us -- and we were so pleased to hear that many of the children have the first part of the chant memorized. We think it even surprised them! Panditji has been working so diligently and kindly with us on a daily basis, and the kids are really absorbing this chant. We will begin a new chant on Monday -- and can't wait to learn which one it is. For all of our campers: Don't forget to chant Medha Sukhtam every morning, before going to school. Remember what Swamiji and Panditji shared with us about this vedic chant -- Medha Devi (Goddess Sarasvati) will bless us with a sharp, photographic memory, if we continue to chant this daily.
We had a wonderful satsang with Swamji today. From our previous blogs, everyone knows by now that we have been knotting our tulsi bead japa malas. Well, today was the day that the children completed their japa malas and Swamiji sat with the children and explained how to properly use them. He also gave us a mantra to chant daily -- "OM Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama." He taught us that the Tulsi Japa Mala is only used for chanting mantras for Lord Vishnu. We learned that the Tulsi plant is Goddess Lakshmi. Some children didn't know what a Tulsi plant looked like, so Swamiji had his brought in so they could see it. He also explained how the beads were made from the stalk of the plant. He even shared with us why the Tulsi plant is considered a sacred plant. Everyone learned alot -- and we are really grateful to have had this time with him!!
A big "Hari OM" to all of our friends who will not be with us next week ... we really had such a great time with you -- and look forward to meeting up with you again when Balavihar starts in the fall. In the meantime, please remember to chant your shlokas with full love in your heart, and do it every day. Also, don't foget the mantra Swamiji taught us today ...
Have a peaceful weekend!
July 2, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Radhe Govinda (My Prayers)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we saw a movie with Swamiji about Narada and Prahlada.
Art Projects: Started knotting our Tulsi Bead Japa Malas.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans: Radhe Govinda (My Prayers)
Storytime with Swamiji: Today we saw a movie with Swamiji about Narada and Prahlada.
Art Projects: Started knotting our Tulsi Bead Japa Malas.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: Today after our morning prayers, we combined our concentration games -- and boy, did the kids do great!!! We first began with sitting absolutely silent for 4 minutes. And then after four minutes our group leader started dropping pebbles into a pan. Once all the pebbles had been dropped, we asked the children to open their eyes and tell us how many pebbles were in the pan. Nearly everyone got the correct answer!!!!
We continued our discussion on charkha spinning and what khaadi represented to the world during India's struggle for Independence. We had planned on setting up the charkha station today, but as it turned out, our day was so busy that we didn't get a chance to bring them out. We will make another attempt tomorrow.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 2 (click here to view)
Comments: Tomorrow (Friday) everyone will chant Medha Sukhtam without our text in front of us. Seems like everyone is ready to meet the challenge!! We hear our little ones chanting little bits of Medha Sukhtam throughout the day in the ashram while running around -- and they don't even know they are doing it!
Everyone is getting excited about our Ashram pets (Painted Lady Butterflies) emerging from their chrysallis. We will have some watermelon on hand starting Monday of next week, for that special day when we release them. During our circle time today, we talked about how we are very much like our little butterfly friends ... how all of our different activities throughout the day (storytime with Swamiji, yoga, vedic chanting, arts, play, etc.) is transforming us, much like the caterillars are experiencing transformation ... and that in the end all of these activities will make us free -- just like the butterflies.
We continued our discussion on charkha spinning and what khaadi represented to the world during India's struggle for Independence. We had planned on setting up the charkha station today, but as it turned out, our day was so busy that we didn't get a chance to bring them out. We will make another attempt tomorrow.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 2 (click here to view)
Comments: Tomorrow (Friday) everyone will chant Medha Sukhtam without our text in front of us. Seems like everyone is ready to meet the challenge!! We hear our little ones chanting little bits of Medha Sukhtam throughout the day in the ashram while running around -- and they don't even know they are doing it!
Everyone is getting excited about our Ashram pets (Painted Lady Butterflies) emerging from their chrysallis. We will have some watermelon on hand starting Monday of next week, for that special day when we release them. During our circle time today, we talked about how we are very much like our little butterfly friends ... how all of our different activities throughout the day (storytime with Swamiji, yoga, vedic chanting, arts, play, etc.) is transforming us, much like the caterillars are experiencing transformation ... and that in the end all of these activities will make us free -- just like the butterflies.
July 1, 2009
Morning Prayers Recited:
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji told the story of Narada and Prahlada.
• Om Saha naavatu (My Prayers, page 6)
• Karagre Vaasate (My Prayers, page 43)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (My Prayers, page 44)
• Guru Brahma (My Prayers, page 9, third shloka)
Vedic Chanting: Medha Sukhtam with Swamiji. (Chinmaya Book of Vedic Chants, page 35)
Bhajans:
Storytime with Swamiji: Swamiji told the story of Narada and Prahlada.
Shaanti Circle Discussion: After our morning prayers, we played another concentration game. Everyone had to sit quietly, with their eyes closed. After a period of silence, the group leader dropped a number of pebbles into a pan ... first slowly, then more quickly, then slowly again, etc. After all the pebbles had been dropped, we went around the room to have everyone tell us how many pebbles there were. Some said 24, some said, 25, some said 20, and some said 22. The actual number was 22! We'll going to do this same game tomorrow, combined with the "Time Game.
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 1 (click here to view)
Comments: Today during our Vedic Chanting, Swamiji asked the children how many knew the first few lines of the Medha Sukhtam -- and we were thrilled that many of the kids raised their hands! Of course, Swamiji then asked them recite it for us :-) And they did. Panditji will be back again on Thursday to practice with us ... and then Friday will be the big day where we chant without the written text.
We began our Tulsi bead japa mala today. Every camper and volunteer will be making this very special mala. Hopefully, we will have them completed by the end of the week. (We needed to practice some more knotmaking today.) When our japa malas are complete, Swamiji will sit with all of us and teach us the importance of the japa mala and how to use them correctly. This is definitely our incentive to finish as quickly as we can!
Now that most of the independent stations are well situated, we were able to set up a Charkha spinning area. One of the adult sevikas spent some time with a group of children explaining the importance of cotton spinning as India was fighting for Independence from the British. We also talked about how Mahatma Gandhi saw spinning as an expression of meditating on the Lord. Everyone had alot of fun assembling the book charkhas. We really hope that every child will come to this station and experience this amazing piece of Indian history. There is so much contained in this little machine -- history, science, meditation, craft and fun.
Our teen volunteers surprised JQ aunty with a wonderful, tasty lunch buffet today. Boy, was that food delicious! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful teens with us. Not only are they fantastic with the campers, but they are responsible, fun loving and big-hearted kids! They are truly the best role models we can have for our younger children. Parents: When your children come home at the end of the day talking about all the fun they had, just know it's mainly due to these teen volunteers ...
End of Class Prayers: Poornamadah, Chinmaya Pledge
Photo Gallery: July 1 (click here to view)
Comments: Today during our Vedic Chanting, Swamiji asked the children how many knew the first few lines of the Medha Sukhtam -- and we were thrilled that many of the kids raised their hands! Of course, Swamiji then asked them recite it for us :-) And they did. Panditji will be back again on Thursday to practice with us ... and then Friday will be the big day where we chant without the written text.
We began our Tulsi bead japa mala today. Every camper and volunteer will be making this very special mala. Hopefully, we will have them completed by the end of the week. (We needed to practice some more knotmaking today.) When our japa malas are complete, Swamiji will sit with all of us and teach us the importance of the japa mala and how to use them correctly. This is definitely our incentive to finish as quickly as we can!
Now that most of the independent stations are well situated, we were able to set up a Charkha spinning area. One of the adult sevikas spent some time with a group of children explaining the importance of cotton spinning as India was fighting for Independence from the British. We also talked about how Mahatma Gandhi saw spinning as an expression of meditating on the Lord. Everyone had alot of fun assembling the book charkhas. We really hope that every child will come to this station and experience this amazing piece of Indian history. There is so much contained in this little machine -- history, science, meditation, craft and fun.
Our teen volunteers surprised JQ aunty with a wonderful, tasty lunch buffet today. Boy, was that food delicious! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful teens with us. Not only are they fantastic with the campers, but they are responsible, fun loving and big-hearted kids! They are truly the best role models we can have for our younger children. Parents: When your children come home at the end of the day talking about all the fun they had, just know it's mainly due to these teen volunteers ...
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