Preparation:
Have enough water packets so that everyone will get a chance to get a turn. Fill each packet with water, and keep extra water in the tub.
Procedure:
Gather everyone around and show them the activity. Talk about thoughts. What happens when we are full of thoughts? We are weighed down in our minds and hearts because of all the inner chatter that is going on inside. We can't think very clearly. The water packet illustrates our mind, the water is our thoughts. When we hold on to our thoughts, we are filling ourselves full of nonsense. But if we realize what we are doing, we should just release it, squeeze it out and be empty. Only then great things will happen. Drop the mind and be free, un-clutch the thoughts one at a time and all inner chatter will disappear and bliss will enter our lives instead. Demonstrate how to squeeze the water out of the packets and have the thoughts behind, leave the water packet also illustrating how we can drop the mind and go on to do great things.
The ability to think can get people into trouble, like Arjuna
Place the children into groups where they can discuss: "Arjuna is undergoing a process of transformation; he is going to rewrite his future!"
Arjuna had become a seeker of Truth. He wished to go beyond the sastras, the stotras and the sutras. He questioned them. Arjuna Vishada Yoga, is the name of the first chapter of Gita. Vishada means grief, sorrow, despondency, despair, depression, dilemma and such. Here what we see is the dilemma that Arjuna was in, not knowing whether what he had been taught all his life and what he had believed to be true, was really true after all. We create illusions in our mind about the situations we face, about how critical they are to our existence. Then we create fantasies in our minds about what is going to happen to us, be it an imagined good result or a difficulty. We do everything except face the present moment with awareness.
na ca śreyo 'nupaśyāmi hatvā svajanam āhave na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca
I foresee only evil omens, O Kṛṣṇa, I do not see any good coming out of killing one's own kinsmen [svajanam] in this battle. I do not covet my dear Kṛṣṇa, victory or kingdom or pleasures
Life becomes mechanical for most people. Our past is vividly remembered and it is used to forget the present.
kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogair jīvitena vā yeṣām arthe kāṅkṣitaṃ no rājyaṃ bhogāḥ sukhāni ca
Of what use will kingdom or happiness or even life be to us? For whose sake we desire this kingdom, enjoyment and happiness
Our lives become a constant series of 'What next, what next?' It takes a lot of courage to stop and question our lives, our actions and society's plan for us.
ta ime 'vasthitā yuddhe prāṇāṃs tyaktvā dhanāni ca ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrāḥ tathaiva ca pitāmahāḥ
They stand in battle staking their lives and property. Teachers, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers
It takes inner fortitude to say to the world, 'Stop, I want to get off; I want to seek true inner bliss!'
Here is Arjuna's dilemma spoken plainly. He had two options and is looking to be convinced of one or the other. The first was that going to battle was wrong, especially against his kinsmen. Therefore he should cease and desist, walk away from the war before it starts. All his arguments up to this point were in this line of thinking.
At the same time, Arjuna was open to the possibility that what he had set out to do was indeed correct, in which case he would go back into battle mode, as a true ksatriya would do. Arjuna's mind now brings up one more argument. Arjuna agreed that Duryodhana and his allies were the aggressors and wrongdoers. Whatever they had done to him, his brothers and his wife was unpardonable, and they needed to be punished for that.
By all rights Arjuna would have been quite justified in attacking and killing those wrongdoers for what they had done.
'But,' Arjuna asked, 'Would one wrong be corrected by another wrong? How can I be happy killing my kinsmen, however justified I might be in doing that?
Their misdeeds cannot be remedied by my misdeed and that would only make me miserable.
There are two factors central to Arjuna' s dilemma. The first one is that of relationship. The problem that Arjuna faced is one that we all face when asked to do unpleasant things to people we know. It is always easier to criticize and punish people one does not know. With people one knows, there is a danger of breaking the relationship through perceived negative behavior, even when it may be fully justified. To face this factor in one's dilemma, one must first break the connection or develop a sense of detachment that allows right action without worrying about the consequences. As long as the path is right, whatever destination the path takes one to will also be right. The other factor that Arjuna faces is the problem of directness of action. If he shot an arrow and killed a kinsman, death was a direct result of his action. He had to look the victim in the eye before releasing his arrow.
Arjuna was affected by the combination of these two factors. It affected him because he was not a Duryodhana, who denied the consequences of his actions to himself and others or a Krsna who would have taken responsibility for his actions, being aware all the time. His mind was pointing out that he might be doing wrong, but had not yet ascended into that state of awareness to be able to take responsibility for such actions. Arjuna was pleading with Krsna, 'Please tell me, am I right? Should I withdraw from this battle?'
To help the child cognize that even when making the right decision seems difficult and unpleasant to those you share a relationship with, one ought to be strong and stand up for the right path. To understand that as long as the path is right, whatever destination the path takes one to will also be right.
- 1. Why does Arjuna initially feel that he is making the wrong decision by destroying his kinsmen?
- 2. Explain one factor that is contributing to Arjuna's dilemma.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Paper
- Pencil or Sketch Pen or Colour Pencils
PROCEDURE:
Encourage children to draw good and pleasant in pictorial format. Ask them to tell what they drew.
He who chooses the pleasant misses the true end. Always choose authenticity even if it does not look pleasant. Doing what is right, may not always be pleasant, but doing that which is pleasant may not be right sometimes