ACHARYAS’ DESK

June 2006

Dear Teachers and Parents,

We welcome you to the only official purnavidya website. This website has been set up to facilitate communication between teachers and parents who are using Purna Vidya curriculum to teach their students and children Vedic Heritage. Purna Vidya curriculum is being followed in many communities throughout the world. There are communities in numerous countries where groups of children learn about their religious and cultural traditions. Many schools have also adopted it as a part of their school curriculum to teach their students Vedic culture and traditions. There is thus a wealth of experience in utilizing this curriculum waiting to be shared by the teachers among themselves. This website will serve as a platform for teachers to communicate with each other.

In addition, this site will enable teachers and parents to address their questions and doubts in connection with purnavidya curriculum by sending their questions via email to the acharyas, authors of Purna Vidya.

We also expect the web site to be a source of providing authentic resource material that will be of help to parents and teachers in teaching children Vedic Tradition and values. 

Please feel free to send us your experiences in teaching Purna Vidya, and we will share useful information with teachers and parents all over the world.

If you have any news about your classes that you would like to share with others, such as celebration special events, photographs, experiences, please let us know and relevant material will be posted on the website.

We welcome constructive comments and enquiries and will respond to them promptly and appropriately. Please let your friends know about this website and about purnavidya teaching program for children.

Many Purna Vidya classes all over the world are conducted during the academic year and the classes are suspended during the summer vacations. Thus this month many children are celebrating their year end graduation programs. We congratulate all the students and parents for another successful year of fun filled learning of their traditions.

Swamini Pramananda

Sri Dhira Chaitanya

July 2006

Guru Purnima falls on July 10^th this year. It is a significant day for spiritual seekers. On this day we recall the debt we owe to the gurus, teachers who have been instrumental in passing down to us our religious traditions and spiritual wisdom. The spiritual wisdom is in the form of knowledge of oneself, the world and its cause, Iswara. This wisdom has been transferred through thousands of years in an unbroken teaching tradition that remains alive to this day. The uniqueness of Vedic tradition is that it is an enquiry based spiritual tradition, unlike most well known theologies which are faith based. Thus gathering knowledge and asking questions to resolve one’s doubt forms an essential part of one’s spiritual quest and growth. We only accept as truth that which is not inconsistent with human reason. This makes the role of a guru important and unavoidable in our spiritual seeking. A guru thus becomes a source of knowledge, a role model and an inspiration to an individual. Moreover, knowledge is looked upon as being sacred and spiritual wisdom the most valuable and so the person who gives us knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge is held in very high regard and esteem. However it is important to know that we do not expect an intermediary to petition or vouch for us in seeking Iswara’s grace. In Hindu tradition, one’s relationship with Iswara is personal and direct.

Our religious tradition teaches us to recognize divinity in all and gives us the sensitivity and insight to be able to invoke the Lord in all forms, including human form. Thus, Maatr Devo Bhava, Pitr Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava, Atithi Devo Bhava. Mother, Father, Teacher, an uninvited guest are considered worshipful and indeed even worshipped by us. However this concept needs to be properly understood. We do not deify individuals literally. We do not make individual human beings into Gods. Sometimes individuals, because of their own neediness and insecurities have the hope and magical expectation of a child that somehow, someone will make their difficulties, pain, struggle go away without an effort on their part. Their need for approval makes them gullible and even perhaps vulnerable to exploitation by those who would take advantage of them. Thus they attribute magical qualities on other individuals and deify them. The need to create human icons often arises from our mistaken notion of ourself as inadequate. We develop a tendency to deny ourselves who we are and make others out to be who they are not.

It is reasonable to ask how one seeks, finds and recognizes a “true” guru, a teacher of spiritual wisdom. In reality there are no foolproof guidelines to assess another individual as one can never fully know the mind of another. To a lesser or greater degree there is an element of chance. But then, in Hindu tradition we do not recognize chance factor as arbitrary but as daivam, divine arising as a result of one’s own prior karma. Therefore it becomes more important to be prayerful in one’s attitude, cultivate a mind that is open to learning and at the same time learn to trust one’s own judgment. It is better to make mistakes born of ignorance and learn from them than to live in fear of making mistakes, be afraid of one’s own judgment and remain ignorant.

Iswara is worshipped as a teacher in the form of lord Siva manifest as a teacher, Sri Dakshinamurti who gave the knowledge contained in the Vedas to four disciples. We worship Lord Dakshinamurti on Guru Purnima day, along with the line of teachers, represented by Vyasa and including one’s own teacher who one learns from. May the Lord bless us and fulfill our spiritual quest.

Swamini Pramananda

Sri Dhira Chaitanya

August 2006

Dear Parents and Teachers,

August is a month of many festivals such as Varalakshmi Vratam, Svarna Gauri Vratam, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, and Ganesh Chaturthi. While they are all important, for now we will comment upon Raksha Bandhan which falls on August 8^th. Siblings are a very important part of our lives. They are the ones who share with us our early life experiences which mould our personalities and make us who we are. They exert a profound influence on our thoughts and feelings. Childhood experiences shared with them teach us how to interact with the world and negotiate with others. Later on in life too they share our joys and sorrows on a very personal level. While all sibling relationships are equally important, Raksha Bandhan celebrates the bond between sisters and brothers. On this occasion, sisters pray for the well being of their brothers Raksha means protection. Raksha also refers to the thread tied ritualistically around the wrist on occasions when one prays for protection. It is an ‘armor’ of prayer. Just as armor such as a bulletproof vest helps to protect one from a stray or intended bullet, so also an ‘armor’ in the form of prayer helps protect an individual by invoking the grace of Iswara. On Raksha Bandhan day, sisters tie a beautifully made silken thread around the wrist of their brothers as symbolic of their prayer for protection. They also feed them sweets. Brothers on their part shower their sisters with gifts and promises of their lifelong support and love. All children can celebrate the joy of this special relationship Raksha Bandhan day.

Before concluding, we need to acknowledge the tragic event that took place in Mumbai in July when terrorists blew up several compartments in many trains, deliberately killing and injuring hundreds of innocent people. Besides being shocking and sad, such incidents generate doubts in the minds of many people about goodness in human beings.  When people commit actions that go against universal norms of morality they need to justify their actions in their own minds. They do this by giving themselves and others varieties of reasons, political, economic, social or even religious. Whatever one may say, there can be no justification in deliberately choosing to destroy innocent lives. Attempting to resolve one’s grievances with others by victimizing the innocent bystander is not only inhuman but self defeating. We offer our prayers so that the families of those lost and hurt by this event gain strength in coping with their losses.

Swamini Pramananda

Sri Dhira Chaitanya

September  2006

September is a month of many festivals. Among other religious holidays we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri, Onam,

Onam festival falls on September 4  2006. It is celebrated extensively in Kerala. Onam is celebrated uniquely in Kerala where people celebrate the reign of king Mahabali. Mahabali is well known in the Puranas. He is the one who fulfilled his promise to Lord Visnu, who manifested in the form of Vamana. The honor accorded may appear to some as an irony, given that Mahabali is also looked upon as an Asura, who Lord Visnu had to come down to teach a lesson. Such apparent contradictions require a closer look in order to understand our thoughts and traditions.

Without getting into the details of the story of Mahabali which is told in Bhagavat Purana, we will look into its message. Mahabali was a great king, loved by his subjects, just and devoted to Bhagavan. He was the grandson of Prahlada and his teacher was Sukracharya, preceptor of Asuras. By his devotion to Bhagavan and service to his teachers and brahmanas he became powerful. However, his strength made him proud and he coveted the kingdom of Indra. He even managed to defeat the Devas and this only made his pride worse. Later on in fulfilling his promise to Vamana he offered his head, symbolizing surrender of his ego. It is then that Bhagavan blesses him.

It is said that as a result of his surrender to Bhagavan, Mahabali was made the ruler of one of the lokas, namely Sutala loka and will become Indra in the next cosmic cycle. It is believed that to this day he visits his beloved subjects in Kerala on the day of Onam  and the festival is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety by all keralites. They decorate the front of their homes with ‘rangoli’ made of flowers as a welcome mat to Mahabali. There are also spectacular parades with decorated elephants, fireworks and the world famous boat races of Kerala as a part of Onam festivities.

The story of Mahabali cautions us to the pitfalls of pride and greed. But then, he was redeemed and blessed by Bhagavan because he surrendered his ego at the feet of Bhagavan. He was also essentially a great king with positive attributes. He is therefore looked upon as an epitome of tyaga, surrendering one’s ego.

It is said in our tradition that “Hrshtah drpyati; Drptah dharmam atikraamati”. One who is elated from accomplishments can become proud. Pride can make a person transgress Dharma, righteousness.

In Hindu tradition we look upon Dharma as non separate from Isvara. Thus devotion to Isvara is expressed by living a life of Dharma. While there is no harm in feeling good about one’s accomplishments (Feeling ‘proud’ of one’s successes), one needs to be careful that this does not lead to the pride that precedes downfall. This can happen when one fails to recognize that one is never the sole author of any success. There are many factors that go into one’s accomplishments, some obvious and some hidden and unknown. One needs to acknowledge all the factors that are involved in one’s success. Thereby one can have gratitude, maintain humility and at the same time feel happy about one’s successes.

Swamini Pramananda

Sri Dhira Chaitanya

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