BALA VIKAS OF FAIRFAX
PRESENTS
(Competitions For Pre-elementary To High School ages. Rules And Topics Are On The Back Of This Flier.)
Registration 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
(Competitions start immediately afterwards.)
at
Sri Siva Vishnu Temple
6905 Cipriano Road
Lanham, Maryland 20706
at
Sri Siva Vishnu Temple
6905 Cipriano Road
Lanham, Maryland 20706
All are welcome to participate. There is no cost for participation.
All participants will be recognized with certificates. Winners will be awarded Trophies.
Dr. K. Sadananda will bless the children.
*** Competitors Pre-register Online at http://www.balavikas.org/youthregform.asp ***
*** Judges/Volunteers Pre-register Online at http://www.balavikas.org/jvregform.asp ***
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE Contact
P. Srinivasan (703) 251-0900
or Dr. G.V.V. Rao (703) 425-7866
Or Send E-Mail to balavikas.org@gmail.com
Or visit us at http://www.balavikas.org
Pre-Elementary (Grade 1 and below): Coloring, Religious Chanting, Story Telling, Quiz
Elementary I (Grades 2-3): Coloring, Religious Chanting, Story Telling, Recitation, Quiz
Elementary II (Grades 4-5): Coloring, Religious Chanting, Story Telling, Recitation, Quiz
Intermediate (Grades 6-8): Religious Chanting, Story Telling, Recitation, Speech, Essay, Quiz
High School (Grades 9-12): Religious Chanting, Story Telling, Recitation, Speech, Essay, Quiz
* If interested in Recitation, download the relevant pieces from http:/www.balavikas.org *
** If you are encountering problems, please call Srinivasan (703-251-0900) or e-mail balavikas.org@gmail.com, so that we can mail you a Recitation piece. **
PLEASE VISIT http://www.balavikas.org FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS TO OTHERS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED.
Directions: http://www.ssvt.org/about/general.shtml
High School:
Essay: “How do you use the teachings of Bhagavad Gita in daily life?”
Speech: “Which is The Easier Path to Attain Divinity – Devotion or Service?”
Intermediate:
Essay: "Is The Gandhian Philosophy Still Relevant In Solving Present Day World Problems?"
Speech: “What does Bhakthi (Love of God) truly mean and how do you practice it in daily life?”
RULES
PLEASE NOTE: All competitors will be recognized with Certificates. First three winners in each category will receive trophies.
High School
Recitation
In Hinduism, especially in Vedanta, it is this Science of Religion that is taught and explained as a scientific process. Religion is not portrayed as something to look for in a God beyond the clouds, or a time to be experienced after death, but rather it is to be lived right here and now. It advocates that the dividend of religious living is in the present moment. This is not the religion of ringing of bells, throwing of flowers, lighting of candles, or a Friday namaaz; it is not a mere temporary type of religion that we are discussing. Rather, when religion is adopted as a way of life, it brings about certain adjustments in our intellectual thinking, emotional equilibrium and physical relationships with the outside world that is concomitant with healthy living. At the intellectual, psychological and physical level the individual operates from and brings forth a greater harmony such that he achieves greater success in his chosen field of endeavour.
We are all aware that our external physical activities are all directly controlled, regulated and modulated by the emotions behind and the values of life underlying those actions. Low values of life and stinking emotions naturally lead to foul and fiendish actions. Think! However, where our ideals are high and noble, then our thoughts also are chaste and beautiful and the actions that stem from us are necessarily noble and great. Is it not true? Think! If an individual’s only goal is to get the maximum money with minimum effort, then his mind will also always be thinking only along these lines, until at last what else will he do in this world except…. print money locally! The easiest option, isn’t it? Even counterfeiting coins is difficult! Why? Minimum effort, maximum gain; or corruption, or pick pocketing – these are the things that will strike such a mindset. His calculation is that why be like those fools who work for 30 days and suffer?? They get paid on the first of the month while my ‘busiest’ days are only the first few days of the month, at the railway station (pickpocketing)! But one who has as his ideal, ‘doing something great for my country’ or ‘before I die, I must give more to the world than the world has given to me’, his thoughts will be more creative and his actions too will reflect this; even if not at the present moment, his endeavours will be geared towards a more noble way of living. Thus, whether as a doctor, engineer or lawyer, each has to meet his own challenges in life, but the very beauty and cadence of one’s activities will depend upon the quality of thoughts entertained, which themselves are determined by the nature of the ideal in the mind.
By Swami Chinmayananda
Source: Transcription of speech by Swami Chinmayananda to Medical College students, Manipal, 1967
http://www.chyk.net/Chinmaya_works/chinmaya_interviews2.asp#3
Recitation
The next is Abhyaasa, practice. The mind should always go towards God. No other things have any right to withhold it. It should continuously think of God, though this is a very hard task; yet it can be done by persistent practice. What we are now is the result of our past practice. Again, practice makes us what we shall be. So practice the other way; one sort of turning around has brought us this way, turn the other way and get out of it as soon as you can. Thinking of the senses has brought us down here – to cry one moment, to rejoice the next, to be at the mercy of every breeze, slave to everything. This is shameful, and yet we call ourselves spirits. Go the other way, think of God; let the mind not think of any physical or mental enjoyment, but of God alone. When it tries to think of anything else, give it a good blow, so that it may turn around and think of God. As oil poured from one vessel to another falls in an unbroken line, as chimes coming from a distance fall upon the ear as one continuous sound, so should the mind flow towards God in one continuous stream. We should not only impose this practice on the mind, but the senses too should be employed. Instead of hearing foolish things, we must hear about God; instead of talking foolish words, we must talk of God. Instead of reading foolish books, we must read good ones which tell of God.
The greatest aid to this practice of keeping God in memory is, perhaps, music. The Lord says to Naarada, the great teacher of Bhakti, “I do not live in heaven, nor do I live in the heart of the Yogi, but where My devotees sing My praise, there am I.” Music has such tremendous power over the human mind; it brings it to concentration in a moment. You will find the dull, ignorant, low, brute-like human beings, who never steady their mind for a moment at other times, when they hear attractive music, immediately become charmed and concentrated. Even the minds of animals, such as dogs, lions, cats, and serpents, become charmed with music.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol IV, p 8
Bala Vikas Youth Competition - 2008
Elementary I and II
Recitation:
He is everywhere, the pure and formless One, the Almighty and the All-merciful. “Thou art our father, Thou art our mother, Thou art our beloved friend, Thou art the source of all strength; give us strength. Thou art He that beareth the burdens of the universe; help me bear the little burden of this life.” Thus sang the Rishis of the Vedas. And how to worship Him? Through love. “He is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and the next life.”
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol I, p 11