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.
