Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Serving Others mini book

Serving Others mini book

Yogananda Parenting

August 27, 2018
Tweet

Other Decks in Education

Transcript

  1. YoganandaParenting.com For parents: How to use this mini-ebook? This ebook

    contains quotes and passages from Yogananda ji’s writings. Parents are needed to explain them in their own words and also to help children in doing the activities.
  2. YoganandaParenting.com Prayer for children Divine Mother, teach me to love

    others and to serve them. I want my friends to keep their promises to me, so help me always to be true to my own word. May I make my parents happy, my teachers happy, and my playmates happy. I will find my happiness in their joy. ~Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (Whispers From Eternity)
  3. YoganandaParenting.com A tip for parents: While using this mini-ebook with

    your child, make ‘Serving others’ as the theme for 1 week. Talk about and work on only this quality with him during this period. This will help him grasp and apply this quality in his own life.
  4. YoganandaParenting.com This mini-ebook has 5 parts s Part 1 s

    Part 2 s Part 3 s Part 4 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Start with Part 1 Part 4
  5. YoganandaParenting.com Brother Bhaktananda, a disciple of Master, said: One time

    Master was walking with two disciples down the street in Encinitas. They passed several shops. Suddenly Master stopped and went back two doors, then went inside. The establishment was a toy store. Master began playing with the toys, taking one after another off the shelf – many of them were wind-up toys - and having delight in playing with them on the floor. Over and over he exclaimed, “American ingenuity! American ingenuity!”
  6. YoganandaParenting.com The disciples did not know what to make of

    this – they felt a little embarrassed and were picking up the toys and replacing them when Master was finished with them. The owner of the store was watching them, sometimes smiling and sometimes looking sad. Then Master started driving around the store in a little toy automobile. After a while, he looked at the owner of the store and then he took out his wallet and gave the man $250. The disciples were amazed because $250 was a lot of money back then.
  7. YoganandaParenting.com The owner said, “This is quite a surprise because

    the rent is due. It is $250 and if I didn’t somehow find the money, I would have to close the shop tomorrow.” The disciples realized that Master had sensed the vibrations of despair when he had passed the shop and had returned to help him.
  8. YoganandaParenting.com Yogananda ji says… “Happiness lies in making others happy,

    in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others.” (Source: SRF website) A tip for parents: Explain the quote to the child in a way that he can understand.
  9. YoganandaParenting.com Affirmation Today I will do something for somebody. Today

    I will give something to a Hungry man. ~ Sri Paramahansa Yogananda How to Practice affirmations? Check the next page
  10. YoganandaParenting.com How to practice affirmations? From SRF website: • Sit

    with spine erect. • Close your eyes and gently focus your gaze and concentrate at the point between the eyebrows. Then, Paramahansaji said, “take a deep breath and exhale it, three times. Relax the body and keep it motionless.... • Cast away anxiety, distrust, and worry.... • Repeat all of the affirmation, first loudly, then softly and more slowly, until your voice becomes a whisper. • Then gradually affirm it mentally only, without moving the tongue or the lips, until you feel that you have attained deep, unbroken concentration — not unconsciousness, but a profound continuity of uninterrupted thought. • If you continue with your mental affirmation, and go still deeper, you will feel a sense of increasing joy and peace.”
  11. YoganandaParenting.com Activity – Serve Food to needy Visit a temple

    or a place where you can serve food to the needy. Tell children about how those people live and the facilities which we have but they don’t.
  12. YoganandaParenting.com A tip for parents: Daya Mataji tells us that

    “Children are imitators”, so be a role model and try to encourage all the family members to participate actively in developing this quality.
  13. YoganandaParenting.com Ramayana, a story of sacrifices, is retold here for

    children with many beautiful illustrations. It is the most beautifully illustrated and well written Ramayana for children that we came across. To buy: Find it on Amazon India or just Google it.
  14. YoganandaParenting.com Published by Ramakrishna mission, the Ramayana is retold here

    for children with many rich colour drawings. Buying options: Buy it online from an Indian store, US store or from Amazon (if available). Try finding a store in your own country.
  15. YoganandaParenting.com Published by Ramakrishna mission, it consists of deeply touching

    stories told by Swami Vivekananda on self-sacrifice, selflessness, patience and devotion. Buying options: Buy it online from an Indian store, US store or from Amazon (if available). Try finding a store in your own country.
  16. YoganandaParenting.com Published by Ramakrishna mission, this is an adaptation of

    a few stories narrated by Swami Vivekananda to his audiences. They introduce children to deep spiritual topics like serving others, maya, and desires. Buying options: Buy it online from an Indian store, US store or from Amazon (if available). Try finding a store in your own country.
  17. YoganandaParenting.com This story is taken from the above book, named

    “Mejda”, written by Yoganandaji’s younger brother. Story: Mukunda Gives away his blanket
  18. YoganandaParenting.com Yoganandaji’s brother says: One December night, about eight o’clock,

    I was talking with Father on the veranda in front of his room when we heard footsteps in the corridor below. Father said, “That must be Mukun.” I turned and saw him ascending the stairs dressed only in his dhoti and shoes, his entire upper body was bare. He had on neither shirt nor coat to protect against the chill winter air. Father asked him, “Where are your clothes?
  19. YoganandaParenting.com Why are you out in the night air bare-chested

    this way?” Like a child, Mejda replied, “I saw an old man lying in the street. He was shivering, and had nothing on except a torn rag. I thought to myself, ‘We have enough money to protect ourselves from the cold, but this poor man has nothing. He is helpless and has nowhere to go.’ So I gave him my garments. And I have also had the chance to know how others feel who have not the means to keep themselves warm!” Father wanted to scold Mejda, but he restrained himself to a practical
  20. YoganandaParenting.com suggestion: “All right. You could have given the man

    your shirt and coat only, you know. You didn’t need to give him your ganji (an undershirt) also. If you catch cold now, what then?” Smiling, Mejda reassured Father, “Nothing will happen to me. All will be well, with your blessing.” Father realised that no matter what counsel he might give, Mejda would have a logical argument in reply, so he wisely said, “You did very well. But there is no sense in your standing here in cold now. Go put on some warm clothing.”
  21. YoganandaParenting.com Yogananda ji says… “Happiness lies in making others happy,

    in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others.” (Source: SRF website)
  22. YoganandaParenting.com Activity “Children can serve the family with simple duties

    appropriate to their ages, such as making their beds and helping with the dishes.” – SRF/YSS magazine
  23. YoganandaParenting.com Tip for parents: Teach children to pray for others

    Daya ma says… “In my own Childhood, at a very early age we children learned to pray at our mother’s knee. It was part of getting ready for bed. We knelt around her, said a short prayer, and then prayed for the different members of the family. It was so sweet. We were never forced to do it. A child who is taught to pray loves it. By the time I was seventeen and came into Self- Realization Fellowship, I was so busy praying for others that my prayer at
  24. YoganandaParenting.com night seemed never-ending—there were so many to add to

    the list. Praying for others teaches one to feel for others. Children should be taught to be caring and unselfish.”
  25. YoganandaParenting.com A crowd of early bathers in the Ganga had

    gathered around to witness a tussle between a scorpion and a hermit. A scorpion was seen dragged along by the mighty Ganga in spate. Any moment, the heavy onrush of water would have drowned that poor creature. A hermit taking his early morning bath in the Ganga saw the scorpion in a desperate struggle for life.
  26. YoganandaParenting.com Saintly devotee that he was, he could not but

    rush to its help. With the hermit in grim de-termination and the scorpion in suicidal defence, there ensued a conflict of two opposing natures—the one to save and the other to sting. No sooner had the hermit taken the scorpion out of the water than the vicious creature stung him with its poisonous tail. Because of the fierce sting, the hermit’s hand jerked violently and the poor scorpion was thrown back again into the water. This did not deter the hermit.
  27. YoganandaParenting.com Once again he bent down and boldly picked up

    the scorpion in his hand and once again the scorpion stung its way into the water. But the hermit was firm to save the life of the scorpion, and so the crowd watched the hermit helping the vicious creature once again. The crowd was mystified to see the hermit inviting a sting for the third time. It was an uncalled-for mortification, thought the crowd.
  28. YoganandaParenting.com “What fools these hermits are!” said someone in the

    crowd. “Impractical people,” cried another. The hermit took no notice of what the crowd was saying. He was bent on saving the poor creature somehow, not minding the sting he would get in the process. A third time the scorpion stung the hermit and a third time did his hand jerk violently, but this time the hermit, not minding his pain, took care to jerk the scorpion away from the water on to the sand bank. The scorpion, blissfully ignorant of the
  29. YoganandaParenting.com hermit’s persistent love, wriggled out to safety. The poor

    hermit was now seen in great pain because of the persistent stings of the scorpion. Someone in the crowd approached the hermit and asked, “Why did you try to save that ungrateful creature? Who is it that is now suffering, you or the scorpion?” To this the hermit smiled and replied, “It is the nature of a scorpion to sting and the nature of God's devotees to love and serve. Seeing that the scorpion
  30. YoganandaParenting.com would not give up its nature of stinging, how

    do you expect me to give up my nature of helping those in need?” IMPORTANT NOTE: It should be explained to the child that in real life it is important to keep oneself safe by staying away from a scorpion. From a scriptural standpoint, human life is more precious than a scorpion’s life.
  31. YoganandaParenting.com Yogananda ji says… “When you came into this world,

    you cried and everyone else smiled. You should so live your life that when you leave, everyone else will cry, but you will be smiling.” (Source: SRF website)
  32. YoganandaParenting.com Activity – Donate books Donate books that you no

    longer use, to a charitable school, a church, or someone needy.
  33. YoganandaParenting.com Mukunda's mother gives Rs 10 Parents of Sri Paramahansa

    Yogananda (Source: “Autobiography of a Yogi”)
  34. YoganandaParenting.com “Please give me ten rupees for a hapless woman

    who has just arrived at the house.” Mother’s smile had its own persuasion. “Why ten rupees? One is enough.” Father added a justification: “When my father and grandparents died suddenly, I had my first taste of poverty. My only breakfast, before walking miles to my school, was a small banana. Later, at the university, I was in such need that I applied to a wealthy judge for aid of one rupee per month. He declined, remarking that even a rupee is important.”
  35. YoganandaParenting.com “How bitterly you recall the denial of that rupee!”

    Mother’s heart had an instant logic. “Do you want this woman also to remember painfully your refusal of ten rupees which she needs urgently?” “You win!” With the immemorial gesture of vanquished husbands, he opened his wallet. “Here is a ten- rupee note. Give it to her with my good will.”
  36. YoganandaParenting.com Yogananda ji says… Giving happiness to others is tremendously

    important to our own happiness, and a most satisfying experience. (Source: “Where there is light”)
  37. YoganandaParenting.com Affirmation Today I will do something for somebody. Today

    I will give something to a Hungry man. ~ Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
  38. YoganandaParenting.com Activity-volunteer Find age-appropriate ways to introduce your child to

    volunteering, such as visiting a nursing home and sharing a craft activity with a resident, serving a meal at a homeless shelter, helping to organize a canned food drive, collecting coats to donate to needy children, or even participating in a charity walk for a specific cause. (Source: this article)