Ekadasi Cheese Biscuits! Cooking Lab :)

We had a wonderful cooking lab with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Prabhu! Who said Ekadasi prasadam has to be boring? :) 

For a full album of pictures, check out our Facebook album here
See recipe here

The Heart of the Gita

This week in Sunday School, we delved deeply into the heart of the Gita, Chapter 9. In small groups, students immersed themselves in selected verses , trying to extract the essence of Chapter 9. I was impressed at how students were able to thoughtfully listen to one another and engage in deep and personal conversation. 

 Some of their points included:

-Doing anything with love for Krishna is the most important, more important than how much we give
-Krishna is simple and does not want much from us
-Krishna gives second chances....He forgives us and wants us to come back
-Krishna is always there for us, He always provides us with what we need
-Whoever we worship, that's where we will go, so if we worship Krishna, we will go to Him

Students immersed in writing personal prayer

The second half of class centered around a practical application of Chapter 9. How do we actually build a relationship with God? Students analyzed prayers from exemplary devotees such as Queen Kunti, Prahlad Maharaj, Dhruva Maharaj and King Gajendra. Together as a class we identified qualities of prayer. Class ended with a quiet reflection, where students were able to write their own prayers to Lord Krishna. All their prayers were offered at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. 

I was personally inspired to see how sincerely all of them worked at creating some connection with Krishna through both quality discussion and personal prayer. 

They say that students learn from their teacher, but I have to say that I find myself constantly learning from my students. May I follow in their footsteps of sincerity. 

Students prayers offered to the feet of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai

Better Than Good

Trai-gunya-visaya veda     nistrai-gunyo bhavarjuna

Nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho     niryoga-ksema atmavan

Translation: The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.

             
           My understanding of this verse is as follows. There are three modes of material nature. They are the mode of ignorance, the mode of passion, and the mode of goodness. One may think that the mode of goodness is the highest mode of material nature, but it does not free oneself from the cycle of birth and death. Even though we do everything we can, we can’t be perfect until we surrender and serve to Lord Krishna, continuously, with pure love and devotion. This is the only way we will be able to free ourselves from the cycle of birth and death. I chose this verse because it is one of the one hundred eight most important verses. Also, it tells us that no one can be perfect until they surrender themselves to Lord Krishna, and pray to Him with pure love and devotion.

                This verse relates to my and other people’s lives because we all have probably known someone who either believes in the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and the mode of ignorance. An example of the mode of goodness is a Brahmana because he/she strongly believes in God but still has not completely surrendered. An example for the mode of passion is a politician because he/she works very hard to earn material enjoyment and does not strongly believe in God. Last but not least, an example for the mode of ignorance is atheists because they are lazy, they don’t worship a God and they are always angry. Because they have no interest in spiritual life, they have no chance of liberation. Those are examples of the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and the mode of ignorance.

                This relates to what we talk about in class because we have discussed about people who are atheists and who don’t believe in a God or that God exists and even had a debate on that topic. Also, we have talked about how we should surrender Lord Krishna with pure love and devotion. That was my realization and thoughts on this particular verse.

Reflections written by Nandini Majmudar