|
Post by cintamani on May 7, 2022 8:36:35 GMT 1
Our first Sanga was on Tuesday 3rd May 2022 which was also the auspicious Akshaya Tritiya. It was a very encouraging beginning. The room filled up with mums and children. We were ecstatic to see that one dad also came to keep Krishna Dharma company. I didn't count how many came, but one mum estimated there were around 10 adults there, and another mum estimated it was closer to 12 (not including myself and Krishna Dharma). We sat in a circle and took turns reading one or more verses of BG chapter one. Then each person tried to explain in their own words what they had read. The person next to them reflected back what they said. We are practising hearing, comprehending, retaining and reflecting. Everyone left smiling, and there was a great energy in the room. Some parents asked me later I they could have come, even if their children were not with them. The answer is yes. Please come. We hope that by regularly doing this together our mutual loving relationships will develop and we will all make authentic spiritual advancement, and so will our children. That's what Shukadeva Goswami promises in SB 11.3.30-31:
"Text 30: One should learn how to associate with the devotees of the Lord by gathering with them to chant the glories of the Lord. This process is most purifying. As devotees thus develop their loving friendship, they feel mutual happiness and satisfaction. And by thus encouraging one another they are able to give up material sense gratification, which is the cause of all suffering. Text 31: The devotees of the Lord constantly discuss the glories of the Personality of Godhead among themselves. Thus they constantly remember the Lord and remind one another of His qualities and pastimes. In this way, by their devotion to the principles of bhakti-yoga, the devotees please the Personality of Godhead, who takes away from them everything inauspicious. Being purified of all impediments, the devotees awaken to pure love of Godhead, and thus, even within this world, their spiritualized bodies exhibit symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, such as standing of the bodily hairs on end."
Shyama Kumari Devi Dasi very kindly sent me this little message: "Really loved it. I always found chapter 1 dry, especially the beginning. Reading and discussing the way we did has given it life for me! Looking forward to keep reading more. Thank you!"
Thank you for the feedback Shyama dear xxx
If you would like to share your feedback on this first session or any subsequent sessions, please feel welcome to add your say here on our IMOSS pro board.
Looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday. We will start on chapter 1 text 30. Hare Krishna!
|
|
|
Post by cintamani on May 23, 2022 12:11:15 GMT 1
Last Tuesday was cancelled because I had a bad cold. The Tuesday proir approx 15 adults and 13 children showed up. We read up to Bg 2.1.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all again tomorrow. We will meet and greet from 10 am till 10:15. At 10:15 I will share some inspiring sastric statements about the powerful benefits of discussing Bg and SB.
Then 10:30 to 11:15 we will continue with reading Bg.
See you tomorrow xxxx
|
|
|
Post by Saraswati on May 23, 2022 12:27:45 GMT 1
Really enjoying these sessions. Thank you for hosting and supporting us through the beautiful process of BG Discussion. The children enjoy themselves too so it's a great place for families to come without feeling the need to leave due to noise of their children.
|
|
|
Post by cintamani on May 30, 2022 4:27:45 GMT 1
Tuesday 24th May 2022: Today there was a small turn out in comparison to the two previous sessions. Only four mums came, so with Krishna Dharma and myself there were altogether 6 adults and four children. We discussed BG verses 2-6. The smaller group allowed us to incorporate a new aspect of discussions: 'seeing things from different perspectives': “I am very much stressing nowadays that my students shall increase their reading of my books and try to understand them from different angles of vision. Each sloka can be seen from many, many angles of vision, so become practiced in seeing things like this.” letter to: Tribhuvanatha — Los Angeles 16 June, 1972 The result was very enlivening as we shared and reflected back our different perspectives. The children played more confidently as the smaller numbers helped them to feel more relaxed too. Altogether a great session. I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 31st
|
|
|
Post by cintamani on Jun 6, 2022 13:43:42 GMT 1
On Tuesday 31st May 2022 7 adults (including Krishna Dharma and myself showed up) and 6 children. These small intimate groups are proving to be very sweet, giving both the adults and children the opportunity to connect more. We started with Priti Kumari Prabhu recapping the benefits of learning to discuss SB properly with other devotees. (See SB 11.3.30-31 verses). We read from BG 2.1-11. We focused on the foundational skills of good sravanam and kirtanam: repeating in our own words what the text says, and reflecting back each other's understandings. We also incorporated another principle we first introduced in the last session: Seeing the text from different perspectives (https://improvingsanga.com/principle-seven/ ). Around 11 am, the younger children were restless, so the mums took them to see the cows. Two mums and their children remained behind. We introduced one new element: Asking questions about the literal meaning. The first question we asked was: "What does Godhead mean?" The mums admitted they thought this was a word Srila Prabhupada had made up, but when we looked it up, we discovered it's in the English dictionary. See here the meaning of Godhead: www.dictionary.com/browse/godheadI'm so looking forward to tomorrow's Family Sanga. Please join us in this transcendental experiment to see if the Shukadeva Goswami's promise in SB 11.3.30-31 will work for us. See you tomorrow
|
|
|
Post by cintamani on Jun 7, 2022 16:37:03 GMT 1
Tuesday 7th of June 2022:
A very small but sweet turn out today. 3 mums, Krishna Dharma and myself. Only 3 children as Nandini was at home sick. We started by meditating on the following two statements Srila Prabhupada made:
'Without hearing sufficiently and properly, no one can make any progress by any of the other methods of practice.” SB 2.2.36 purport
"The word jīvanti indicates that a devotee who always hears about Lord Kṛṣṇa will go back home, back to Godhead, even if he can do nothing except maintain his existence and hear topics concerning the Lord." SB 10.14.3 purport.
In the first Srila Prabhupada tells us no other devotional activity will help us unless we also hear properly and sufficiently, and in the second he tells us even if we do no other devotional activity, if we simply hear properly we will go back home to Godhead.
With this assurance in mind, we set about trying to improve how we hear. As before we read the verses, put in our own words what we understood the verse to mean, reflected back each other's understandings, and asked some questions clarifying meaning. For example, Priti Kumari looked up what 'scion' means.
Since two of the children were becoming a little bored, I played with them while Krishna Dharma facilitated the discussion with Saraswati, Priti Kumari and Shyam Kumari. They introduced different levels of questions, but I wasn't there so I will let Krishna Dharma or one of the mums say what their questions were.
At the end of the discussion some mums commented how sweet it is when there are only a few, as it really gives everyone the opportunity to churn and connect. But don't let that put you off coming. Everything is sweet when there is Hari katha.
Many thanks to Priti Kumari for her kind message later which she said I can share here: "Really grateful to you for starting this family sanga Bhagavad Gita reading sessions. It’s so helpful for mums like us, where mums can read and reflect on each and every verse of Bhagavad Gita, and kids can play together 🙏😊"
Next week if the weather is good, we will meet in the playground.
I will leave it to Krishna Dharma to tell us what verses they covered and share any tidbits from their discussion.
See you next week xxx
|
|
|
Post by Krishna Dharma das on Jun 8, 2022 4:01:46 GMT 1
We covered Gita 2.11-16 with many nice understandings from all the devotees present. As there was just a few of us we went into responses beyond just word meanings, i.e. questions and insights. Cintamani asked what was meant by "one must learn to tolerate" happiness and distress, mentioned in verse 14. How do we learn? Her light was that we must develop an attraction and taste for hearing Krishna katha, then we will not be dependent on material happiness and thus subject to material distress. She cited evidence from the Gita 10.9 where Krishna says how the devotees derive great satisfaction and bliss from discussing together, which is how we will cultivate a taste. She also cited an evidence from Krishna Book describing how devotees enjoy discussing:
“The devotees become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the Lord, are only superficially attracted by the Lord’s personal activities. As such, in spite of coming in contact with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they become just as morose as the materialists do in pursuing their fruitive activities.” KB Ch.80
I also responded to verse 16, asking what was meant by “non-existent” in reference to the material body. The light was that this means the designations of the body, which are ultimately temporary and illusory. The body itself is really just Krishna’s energy, which of course is real, but our material identity is nothing but false ego. Next week we will begin from 2.17. Hope to see you there. 😊
|
|
|
Post by cintamani on Jun 17, 2022 12:22:19 GMT 1
Tuesday 14th June 2022:
Radhika and Nandini are away today, and since there has been such a small attendance recently I thought it would just be Priti Kumari Prabhu and myself, so my husband didn't come. Then I got a message from Nisha saying she's coming. So I thought it would be the three of us, and maybe I could convince Gopi to come to make 4. As it so happens, today 6 mums plus me came with their little ones, and we had an incredible discussion. We covered two verses: BG 2.17 and 2.18. We did a few responses on text 18 which really helped us churn the Gita's wisdom. As far as I remember, the last response we did was: "Since none of us are soldiers, what relevance does this verse have to us?"
There were some wonderful reflections and lights, and I personally had a great time. I hope everyone who attended it found it as enlivening as I did, and I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday.
|
|