This year I’ve been teaching a class at Ananda’s Living Wisdom Highshool entitled, “Sharing Nature Leadership Training.” The Sharing Nature with Children book series was written by Ananda Village member Joseph (Bharat) Cornell and is used in virtually every part of the world. Joseph wrote the Sharing Nature activities to give inspiring nature experiences and to bring participants (both young and old) to a place of stillness within themselves. For as Henry David Thoreau said, “one cannot perceive beauty but with a serene mind.”
The most challenging and ultimately most rewarding part of working with these students is learning how to work with their energy and enthusiasm, or lack thereof. No matter how well prepared I am going into a class, I almost always have to tweak or sometimes even completely let go of my personal goals and work with their level of energy at the moment.
To help in this process I use a technique developed by Joseph Cornell called Flow Learning.™ Flow Learning is a technique of working with energy to calm the mind so learning can take place much more effectively and peace be felt much more deeply. It has four stages:
Let me demonstrate the process of Flow Learning in pictures…
1. Flow Learning first starts with a lively activity to awaken their energy and enthusiasm by having fun. In this activity, “Animals! Animals!” the girls act out a Dragon Fly.
2. Next you take that newly awakened energy and bring it to a calm focus. In this activity, “Duplication,” students are given 15 seconds to memorize natural objects before they are covered up. They then go and search for those objects.
3. Now that their energy is focused and their mind is calm, it is easier for them to experience nature deeply. Here Mark is practicing “Still Hunting” in a tree!
4. Finally the students gather to share their experiences. Sharing helps to extract meaning more immediately from an experience.
So far the boys and girls have had a wonderful time working with and teaching Sharing Nature activities. They’ve taught to mostly all of the younger students at Living Wisdom School and the girls recently got back from their trip to Hawaii where they taught a class of 7th graders. In May we will be Traveling to Ashland, Portland and Seattle to do a series of workshops and next year we will be taking Sharing Nature into the schools in Nevada County. Maybe you’d like us to lead your family or group in Sharing Nature activities? You’ll be sure to have a joyful time!
I teach science at a public high school in a southern California suburb. This is my third year of teaching and though not a veteran yet, you can say that I have mastered it quite a bit. But I thought I’d share with you some of my experiences as a brand new teacher. While on one hand they did not feel pleasant, especially at the time, on the other hand they are some of the most cherished experiences of my life as a devotee, as Master’s (my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda’s) child.
Let me give you a little background about myself. I had very little experience of the school system in the U.S having completed K-12 in India. An American high school classroom felt very “foreign” to me; the teenage jargon, the dress code, the behavior, the attitude – I was at times completely overwhelmed! – not to mention the pressure to perform anew in front of a 40 member class audience five times a day and the need to come up with new lessons every day, five days a week! I was exhausted!
Also since I had opted for what is called the internship instead of traditional student-teaching, it meant I had no mentor or guide to lend me a helping hand. I was on my own. However I did have Master and Divine Mother by my side.
Our school has a strict electronic policy that students cannot use electronic devices in the classroom. One day, and this was probably within the first three months of my first year, I had confiscated the cell phone of a student who was using it in the class and kept it on my table. It had never crossed my mind that it is possible for my students, the 14-15 year olds, to steal! Yes, I was naïve as I soon found out to my horror! The cell phone was gone and I realized it right after the class got over. It was very embarrassing as a teacher! What am I going to do?
I remember visualizing holding Master’s hand for support; “Everything is fine” – I felt calmer and centered. I talked to another teacher and she advised talking to the class which I did the following day. I told them how deeply disappointed I am and why I do not expect such behavior from the class. At the end of the class two students quietly came up to me, after everyone else had left, and said “We know who took the phone!”
Eventually the thief confessed and the phone was returned to the owner. I quietly thanked Master.
Another time I had left my thumb drive on the desk computer in my classroom. Again something one should never do, as I learned very quickly. As it turned out I had to call sick the following day. When I finally returned the day after the thumb drive was gone! Now that thumb drive had not only all my lessons, power point presentations and files, it also had all my assignments that were due at the university where I was completing my teacher preparation course. Remember that was my year of internship which means I had to go back to the university to my student-teaching class every week and yes, all my homework and papers ready to be submitted to the State was in that thumb drive. And it did not have a back-up. I was lost! Also there was a little hub like connection in the classroom where the video player, CD player, computer and speakers were all interconnected and connected to the overhead projector. Someone had pulled out every cord out of every socket and everything was lying in a big meshed up pile on the floor!
I went to see my department head about this incidence. He said this happens. As teachers we happen to enrage teenagers who then take out their anger on us. He also told me not to take it personally and that he too has lost his zip drive in a similar way. I was grateful for his support and kind words. However even though I understood it all, I was panicking in my mind – “what will I do without my lessons and assignments?”
I didn’t think I had the time and energy to recreate the lost work again – something that is sure to take months. I didn’t have all that time. I returned to my classroom and closed my eyes and tried to meditate. I mentally gave my problem to Divine Mother. “Thy will Ma, thy will; and whatever that is, its ok with me.” I felt lighter and relaxed and started to get ready for the next class.
Later that same day, I got a call from my department head. He said he’s found a zip drive and wanted me to check if it was mine. As it turned out it was mine! He, while keeping an eye out for his lost drive, by chance, saw something zip drive-like lying on the roof of one of the classrooms. The science building being a two-storey building allows a view of the rooftops of surrounding single storey buildings. Some students(s) might have thrown the zip drive and it landed on the roof. The recovery felt miraculous and I felt so grateful, both to him and to Divine Mother, that words didn’t come easy to me. I prayed that he find his drive too.
There were so many similar incidences that first year as I went fumbling my way into the school system and every time I experienced the guiding, protecting hand of Master and Divine Mother. We devotees do have an umbrella, in form of Divine Mother’s love and guidance, to protect us from the storms of our karma. We might get a little wet but isn’t it wonderful to experience the umbrella around us? And I’m thankful for all the storms. Looking back, how else would I have experienced Divine Mother’s umbrella?
Do you feel joy when using your physical skills to learn and grow and experience life? Perhaps you lead with your heart and feel most alive when you are in a beautiful natural setting, or caring for animals or babies. Maybe you live for a challenge – such as tackling a new project, or raising money for a cause or finding a solution to a problem. Then there are those who love to make lists and use their mind to discover and learn.
Body, Feeling, Will and Intellect – those are the four tools of maturity that Swami Kriyananda describes in the book Education for Life, which is the foundation of the Ananda Living Wisdom Schools.
I teach at the Living Wisdom School in Beaverton, Oregon. We recently had a workshop for parents and experienced the tools of maturity in a fun, interactive way. Learning through direct experience is an important tenet of Education for Life and Living Wisdom Schools. So we didn’t sit around all evening talking about the tools of maturity; we played games, built towers out of blocks, looked through animal pictures, wrote about our feelings and had a great time.
The parents went home with a real understanding of how we teach and how Living Wisdom Schools approach education differently than the mainstream schools. They were all smiling and laughing and asking for more classes as they left. I could tell that the evening they had anticipated – important perhaps, but an imposition on other, more entertaining activities – had turned into an engaging and enlightening time with people they enjoyed.
Education for Life will change the way we learn and teach all over the world. The technology available now is making it possible to share with other educators and parents who are not near a Living Wisdom School, or who really want to create one. With online classes teachers in India can share with those in Wisconsin.
It has been a blessed month indeed! Here are a few excerpts worth a listen:
First, from our Living Wisdom High School Concert on Friday, Dec 11th, a piece by John Rutter titled Mary’s Lullaby.
On Saturday, Dec 12th, I led an astounding performance of Swami Kriyananda’s Oratorio, Christ Lives! at Mills College in Oakland, in a beautiful chapel with marvelous acoustics! Here are a few choir pieces: Christ Has Come
Sing Out With Joy
When Human Hopes Toward Thee Aspire
Thy Light Within Us Shining
Then back at the village, on Sunday, Dec 13th, we had our World Brotherhood Day celebration, which included performances of: The Christ Child’s Asleep (studio recording)
And The Christmas Mystery (studio recording)
Here is a link to the video of many of the pieces performed that afternoon (Three Wise Men at the beginning, The Christ Child’s Asleep and Mother of Wisdom at 24:23).
On Sunday morning Dec 20th, we had our Christmas Sunday Service, led by Jyotish and Devi, which can be viewed by visiting our video page. It includes our children’s choir joining us at the beginning of the video for Christ Has Come and The Christmas Mystery. You’ll easily find my daughter - the only one not standing still!
That same evening we had our annual Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec 20th, which included performances of The Blue Danube, For Unto Us a Child Is Born, the Halleluiah Chorus, a visit by the Victorian Singers, and many of Swami Kriyananda’s Christmas pieces.
It truly has been a blessed month, and our wish is for you to carry with you these vibrations of Light, Love, Peace, and Joy with you throughout this coming year! May God Bless you all.
I’m always conscious of the fact that living the teachings of Ananda – the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, is an every day, every moment decision. But, sometimes that decision seems to stand out in bright, beautiful contrast to the way most of the rest of the world lives.
This is a long blog, but I wanted to share this story with you.
It is traditional for the Living Wisdom School intermediate class (grades 3 – 6 this year) to take one or two overnight field trips during the year, with the help of teachers and parents.
We recently set off on an overnight trip to eastern Oregon, to visit the High Desert Museum during their Pioneer Days Festival. We had many enthusiastic parents so our caravan consisted of 5 cars, loaded up with 10 kids and 7 adults. We could have squeezed into fewer vehicles, but it seemed right to do it this way. This is one example of living intuitively, from the heart and not the head.
We stopped at a scenic viewpoint and enjoyed lunch at the picnic tables. We were friendly with the other travelers there, including a young woman with a little dog who asked for directions. After lunch we put everything away, locked up the cars and went down the trail to the view.
When we came back up to the parking lot about 20 minutes later, the kids were the first to notice that one of our cars had a smashed window. The driver quickly discovered his wallet was gone and another one of our drivers reported things missing from his car, although no windows were broken. The young woman with the dog told us she heard the car alarms and there were two other cars in the lot that were also vandalized while she was in the restroom.
The kids were disturbed and upset, and we immediately reassured them and started making calls. All of our adults were calm and focused on solutions to the situation. As we worked on the best way to handle the thefts, we also were considering how to keep the children’s energies from moving into fear, anger and blame.
When the owners of the other vandalized cars arrived on the scene, one man reacted with explosive anger, frustration and agitation. Shortly after, we discovered some of the stolen items were visible in the young woman’s car. As we all realized the thief was right in front of us, our adults continued to be calm and focused on safety for all concerned. The other gentleman was beside himself with anger.
In a matter of moments, we knew the children had to be taken away from the scene and four of us loaded them in three vehicles. Three of our adults stayed to deal with the circumstances.
We took the kids to a nearby resort and tracked down a place to sit quietly and have lemonade. When everyone was calm and cool, we explained what had happened, reassured them that all the items were recovered and the police were taking the thief into custody. We also took time to send healing prayers and thoughts of light and love to everyone concerned, particularly the woman who felt so desperate and friendless that she believed preying on others was the only way to survive.
The children responded with various levels of emotion, but they all focused on positive thoughts and gratitude. They took all their emotional energy and played outside with great enthusiasm until we were able to meet up with the others of our party.
Another remarkable part of the story is that the man who was so agitated actually had a heart attack at the scene and an ambulance was called to care for him. He recovered.
The sheriff showed up at our rendezvous point and kindly gave all the children an opportunity to check out his really cool police vehicle. He patiently answered all their questions and gave us a large chunk of his valuable time.
We continued to our destination much later than planned, but everyone was relaxed and grateful for the mutual support and harmonious conclusion to the day’s drama.
As I processed the incident and looked at it from every angle I could imagine, my heart was overcome with gratitude and love. I couldn’t see any moment when the consciousness of God and guru was not present. Although three of the adults in our group are not disciples of this path, they are sensitively attuned to the Living Wisdom School philosophy, which is built on these teachings.
The situation was a complete surprise, and yet, our intuitive guidance to take an extra car meant that we were able to split up and keep the children safe. Everyone worked to keep the energy high and joyful, affirming the many positive aspects of the circumstances: the breathtaking scenery, the lovely weather, the kindness of the sheriff and others we met, the return of all the stolen items, the fact that the damaged car was still useable, the thief was caught and we didn’t spend the rest of the trip wondering who did it.
There was simple awareness and acceptance that life offers a mixture of joy and pain. The enraged man with the heart attack was a glaring example of what can happen to your inner peace if you react to life with personal outrage and blame.
Without the conscious choice to keep God and guru the center of all things, the trip may have been a long experience in suffering and loss. But we had a wonderful time!
It is a remarkable gift, to see that there are no circumstances where the highest truth is not present. Living the teachings means living from that realization.
The spiritual seasons of the year have nudged me to think about what inspiration I want to share with my kids, depending on their ages at the time. This all started when they were little and I knew they would be captivated by Santa and the Easter Bunny, etc. I used that momentum to slip in some age-appropriate spiritual substance, often from our collection of beautiful, spiritual books for children.
Sometimes we had casual events with our neighbors who had the same age children. For instance, some years, as Easter drew near, we had a special supper with our neighbors, followed by a commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus. We winged it using flat bread, grape juice, and reading words from the Bible. What struck me, in the warm afterglow of the full meal we had just shared, was how involved the kids were; it was respectful, yet casual. They each seemed very willing to have their turn to read a few sentences before passing the Bible on to the next person. They wanted to be part of it. And this was a welcome balance (for the moms) to the upcoming Easter candy routine.
We did special things leading up to Christmas, and to the birthday of our guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. I can blog about those when the time comes closer again.
These spiritual seasons help me to take stock, and freshen up my act, as needed. Truth be told, once they hit the teen years, it was harder to be as consistent with the inspiration on a daily level, so the seasonal bursts helped us return to our spiritual roots as a family.
Now, as Easter again approaches, our youngest son is in high school. I see Lent as a time to focus on our guru’s teachings on the life of Jesus Christ. The 40 days of Lent honor Jesus’ fast of 40 days in the desert. So, I’ve told my kids before, 40 days of just about anything is easier than a 40 day fast in the desert. With that pitch, they might opt to do something privately, but at least they’ll go along with hearing about the life of Christ each night after dinner…especially if I keeping it short, sweet, and interesting. I have my ways…
Would you like to follow along with me, using this blog? Okay, my main resource is The Second Coming of Christ, The Resurrection of the Christ Within You by Paramhansa Yogananda. When I read this book, I feel close to both Yogananda and Jesus, but I don’t read it cover to cover.
Sometimes I pray over the book, asking, “What do You want me to see today?” and then opening the book, my eyes fall upon words that are wondrously alive and helpful to my personal spiritual journey. I have been in awe at how deeply, precisely, and personally God has guided me with this book. It is a true, timeless scripture written by our great Master, giving a pathway the living, mystical, presence of Jesus.
Other times I go to the chapters that pertain to the season, such as the Last Supper, Good Friday and the Resurrection, as well as Christmas. I’ve also been deeply inspired by the chapters on Christ’s healing miracles. Paramhansa Yogananda wrote deep commentary on all four of the gospels, over the last 20 years of his life, as installments printed in his magazine. The very last one coincided with his Mahasamadhi (conscious exit from the body).
Paramhansa Yogananda visited Therese Neumann in Germany in 1935, and verified the truth of her visions of Jesus’ life in Autobiography of a Yogi, CHAPTER 39; Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist. Accordingly, based on that endorsement, I sometimes use The Visions of Therese Neumann, by Johannes Steiner (currently out of print, but still available). This fascinating book details many of her visions of the life of Christ. But read it to yourself first before plunging ahead with your kids! Choose wisely!
Read these things ahead of time, then pick out some short sections to share with the family. Try to keep it simple. We share in the reading, depending on how people feel that evening. If I have done my part well, they are grateful. I tailor it for the youngest family member, looking for enlightening, inspiring stories.
This guided use of the Second Coming of Christ is really only suited for kids in high school on up. If your children are young, I would suggest you simply read it for yourself, a bit here and there, to build your own inspiration. It will stand you in good stead when your kids are older and start asking tough questions about God, and religion. And you might find some stories here and there to paraphrase to your children.
Invent it as you go. Much of what we share with our children springs from the things that we find most inspiring. In an upcoming blog, I will list a few of the children books we have in our home. I’ll blog more on this as we go through the sacred time leading up to Easter. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments…
It’s been months since I’ve written. Life is full to overflowing, and every day is a new challenge just to keep up. I’m sure that sounds familiar – I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel busy and pressed for time. I have found blessings in busyness though.
More than any other time in my life, I feel the horizons of my experience keep stretching me beyond the tightly held limitations I define myself by.
Teaching at the Living Wisdom School has brought 9 children into my life and this week we round up to 10, with a visiting 4th grader. All of those students have parents and many have siblings in the school. There are also 11 other staff members and helpers I work with. Once a month I take part in an Education For Life teacher training and join more than a dozen other educators and parents in classes. Just the act of taking on this job has enlarged my circle of contacts and responsibility enormously.
My imaginary circle had to grow as I experienced health issues with my mother and my husband. My world had to take in doctors, nurses, other caregivers and all the concerned loved ones I was in touch with.
My children are growing and I have to expand my circle to include all their friends and activities. I take the light rail transit to work and I expand my circle to include hundreds of people I cross paths with each day. I don’t even speak to most of them, but I reach out and feel my circle wrapping around each person as they get on or off the train.
It slowly occurred to me that I don’t feel “stretched thin” or “stretched to the breaking point”, like a piece of bread dough, although it seemed as if I should. It felt as if God were just asking me to get bigger. Every time that imaginary circle settles into one size, there is a need to expand. Then there is a feeling of opening and including, without tension or stress. God just makes me bigger.
I thought about the connection I feel with all of my Ananda spiritual family. I know people in this family all over the world. I am in contact with many hundreds, through email, letters, and through the Ananda Portland center. There are thousands of others I include by association – all of you reading this, as well. There is no stress to include them all in my circle, only joy and gratitude.
Then I remembered Yogananda’s description of God as being “center everywhere, circumference nowhere”. My imaginary circle evaporated and I realized it was my center connecting with all those other centers. God was showing me that circumference is nowhere – it’s an illusion that we end somewhere and others begin. That’s why I feel bigger – because spirit is endless.
This must be a little taste of what Swami Kriyananda and other saints feel – no limitations, no circumference, only center everywhere and in everyone. Read what Swami Kriyananda says about relating to life at the center in the post from April 1, 2008.
Today has been the first day I have had a couple hours at the computer, for weeks. My little desk is at the end of the kitchen, not far from activities of four other people in the house. I have three guinea pigs at my feet, and the interruptions have been continuous, as the rest of the family comes into the kitchen for one reason or another. Tomorrow is Monday and another busy week begins. I’m sure God will show me that I’m not yet big enough.
