Presentation: Gita Chapter 12
Kids learnt about Gita, Chapter 12 in our Prayer session. They talked about their personal experience relating to the key qualities in the following verses. We were really proud to observe how nicely they were seeing practical application of the teachings of Gita.
Verse 13:
Presenter: Ashwin Balani Date: March 7, 2010
"Namaste, mera nam Ashwin hai. Today I will speak to you about verse 13 the quality here is to not be egoistic and to be humble.
I can relate this shokla to my life when I go to Tae Kwon Do. Since I am a black belt, I have to teach the younger students. Instead of being proud of my higher belt and acting like the master I teach so the kids younger than me can learn and have the right mental experience with the Tae Kwon Do. Whenever a person that I am teaching makes a mistake, I don't get mad at them, I just simply correct them with a nice attitude. Remember, you should always help others when they need it, and not with any expectations for yourself. You should do it out of the kindness of your heart.
Also, think what if you were to teach the students, but became egoistic in the process. In other words, what if you became very proud of what you were doing and started getting mad and bossing everyone around? What do you think would happen? If you think about it deeply, you’ll see that it will turn everyone away from you and you would not accomplish anything. Gita is not just idealistic, but a very practical way of living one’s life simply and with ease.
Verse 14:
Presenter: Ankita Sharma Date: March 07, 2010
I would like to share my own life experience with everyone about the quality in verse 14 "determination/conviction of mind and intellect"
----- After many years of playing the piano, I decided to switch to the violin-even though it was difficult at first, making me almost want to quit, I was determined to focus on my new instrument and practice really hard; like a good devotee I had (i) yoga of practice and (ii) possession of a firm conviction. These are qualities that can help us in our daily lives.
However, we should consider one more point. Is it just enough to say that it is good to possess firm conviction? What if you’re firmly convinced about something improper or wrong? (Praveen uncle helped me understand...)
Geeta itself provides you with an answer. When the mind and intellect are dedicated to God, it purifies them both (mind and intellect). In such an event, i.e. when the mind and intellect are pure, the firmness and resolve are for the right cause. Thus it is important for one to have that connection with God, even while doing our daily chores.
Verse 16:
Presenter: Megha Rathi Date: March 14, 2010
~ Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. By Mahatma Ghandi.
Namaste I am Megha Rathi and today I am going to be speaking about verse number sixteen in the Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta. You must be wondering what the the 16th verse of the Bhagvad Geeta is about. Well, it's about greed, which can take over your mind and soul. In the geeta, greed is the desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves.
In my personal experience I have displayed greed by wanting the Wii. Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo. Th Nintendo game was the new fad and everybody in my school including me wanted it. I remember going to New York City with my family, and checking if there were any more wii video games in the Toys R Us. But we found out that there were none left. My only desire was to get the Wii because everybody had it including my cousins, and my friends. I also thought the Wii was fun to play with. Finally, after a month my dad got the video game with great difficulty.
With the excitement of finally getting the Wii;I played with it everyday. Then after a couple weeks of having the Wii, I gradually lost interest in it. I realized afterwards that materialistic things do not give long lasting happiness. The pleasure it gives is short lasting and the real happiness is renouncing worldly things and being devoted to god.
Verse 17:
Presenter: Rohan Garg Date: March 21 , 2010
Namaste, my name is Rohan and I am going to talk about Chapter 12 Verse 17 of Bhagavad Geeta. The moral of the Verse is to be neither too happy nor too sad about gaining or losing something in your life. I can relate to this by giving an example of myself. I extremelly desired an Xbox. But my parents did not let me get it, and wanted me to wait until my 13th birthday in August. All my friends had an Xbox, and this made me feel left out. I tried to convince my parents as much as possible, but it still won't work. In the end, I decided to get over the fact and decided to wait for my birthday to get it. I tried to be patient by neither being too happy nor too sad about not getting it for another 4 months, on my birthday. Even though I very much desired the Xbox, I learnt not to be distressed or sad anymore. All in all, if you greatly desire something and you don't get it right away you shouldn't be too gloomy and low and learn to be patient. By renoucing extreme desire/grief/excitement/joy one is able to focus better on the task at hand.
Below is the translation of verse 17. "One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things—such a devotee is very dear to Me."
Verse 18:
Presenter: Rianna Modi Date: March 21, 2010
Hello, my name is Rianna Modi and I will be discussing verse 18 of the Bhagvad Gita, chapter 12. The main focus of this verse is treating everyone equally. This verse dictates that you should treat both enemy and friend equally. Similarly, you should treat those who have been scorned or insulted the same as those who've been praised all their lives. Basically, you should ignore all biases that are created.
I use the concepts of this verses daily. In all our classes, there is sure to be that one child who is always scorned because of material things like the way they dress or speak. I know there are kids who are scorned because they dress differently, yet they have been my friends since kindergarten. I have come to ignore it and am still great friends with them. These values should be used daily and we should treat others without bias ."
Verse 19:
Presenter: Kevin Mittal Date: March 28, 2010
A person who takes criticism and compliments equally, who is quiet, content with anything, non-possessive, of a steady mind, and is full of devotion is dear to me. This phrase relates to me when I play tennis. Every week I train and whenever my coach compliments my strong serves or criticizes my returns I accept both statements equally. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am usually very loud and talkative, however when I play tennis every week I remain quiet and keep my emotions under control. I focus on what I am able to do well. If I lost control of my emotions I would make a mistake very quickly. When I play tennis I must be flexible with where I play. Unfortunately I do not usually have the choice of picking out what court or what place I play at, or even what side of the court. Therefore I must be homeless and be comfortable wherever I play. Lastly when I play tennis I stay focused on playing the game, and am completely focused on what I want to do, or god. By understanding that a true devotee, by virtue of his equanimity, is able to do work more effectively and following this important teaching from Bhagvad Gita I am able to do well in tennis.
Presenter: Keshav Sota Date: March 28, 2010
In this verse of chapter 19, Lord Krishna is telling Arjun what type of people are close and dear to him. He says : The person who takes dissapproval and praise from others the same way, who is content with everything in life, who consider the entire world as his home, and has a steady mind ; and who is full of devotion to Me, is the one I love.
In my life, I have had experiences, where I have been able to connect with this verse. However, there is one experience that stays with me the most. In the beginning of 7th grade, we had a very strict Reading Writing teacher. She graded us on tough standards compared my previous teachers. On my first assignment I was surprised to see a grade that I wasn’t expecting. I was really upset that I didn’t get the grade I wanted. I went up to her to see if she could re-evaluate my essay. However, when she pointed out my mistakes, I agreed with her score. That moment I realized that rather than taking bad comments negatively, I should take it as positive criticism; From that day I took her feedback and consistently improved my grades. Now, I take feedback in a positive manner rather than crib about the grades.The lesson here is that anyone who accepts praise and blame equally has to be a good devotee since that person will be quite humble. In this world, it is only the humble people who can gain true knowledge.