Kalpana Krishnamurthy & Krishna Sistla
High school is a time of tumultuous change. It is when the journey to discover oneself begins. It would be helpful if there was a guide to help us on this journey. Alas! For many in the world, no such guide exists. As descendants of the eternal path of Dharma, we are blessed to have Gurudev as our guide and Bhagavad Gita as our Guide book. In 10th grade, we begin this journey of self-awareness earnestly. Students and teachers learn together and connect the concepts we learn to our experiences as an individual, family, nation and the world as a whole.
Our vibrant student group includes Devak, Deyvak, Kartik, Shruti, Ramya, Vishwesh, Anusha, Sriram, Shriya and Navya. They are an inquisitive bunch. On one occasion the discussion was so immersive that we all lost track of time. On other occasions the class breaks into fits of laughter that seem to go on forever.
Through the year, we journeyed through the garden of Bhagavad Gita. First we met the despondent Arjuna who is confused about who he is, unsure of what path to take, his energies have been laid to waste by his mental state. To his credit, Arjuna sets aside his ego and accepts Krishna as his guru and asks him to clarify the confusion. Thus ensues a lively conversation between Arjuna and Krishna.
We listened to short snippets of this conversation. We learned about the deathless and birthless state of Brahman. We learned about integrated intellect (Buddhi yoga) and actions of a stable Buddhi yogi. From Krishna, we learned about Karma and universal nature of Yagna. We learned about the path of action, path of knowledge and the path of devotion. We learned about meditation and the abhyasa needed to calm one’s mind. Finally, we learned about the cosmic cycles of creation and dissolution.
Along the way, we stopped and talked about civil rights history and the role of identity separation in fostering hatred and violence. We talked about genocide and the state of mind of the individual and collective that can lead to horrible acts of violence.
We successfully survived the cooking challenge and even had some fun while doing it. Finally, we ended the year with a bang. We headed out to Tree2Tree for a funfilled afternoon of climbing, rope walking, swinging, screaming with joy and screaming for life. In the end we all made it through the black course. Yes we did it !.
–Krishna & Kalpana
