OM SRI SAI RAM

Group: II

Year: 1

Value: Peace

Sub-Value: Fearlessness

Purpose of the Session: To help children develop the attitude of fearlessness

with faith in Bhagawan Baba’s words “Why fear when I am here?”

1. 3 Oms, Prayers:

2. Review of Life Application from Previous Lesson: Discuss the take-home

messages from the previous class, students’ practice of the sub-value
during the week, and review home-work, if any.

3. Prayer: Revise Shlokas

Introduction:

The Guru should ask children whether they have any fears. What are they
afraid of? We can also tell them in a lighthearted manner that across the
world, people have fears such as fear of flying, fear of open spaces, fear of
closed spaces, fear of spiders, fear of heights and so on. If the children do
have any fears, do they avoid doing the actions that makes them afraid?
How do they handle fears? Do they have any tips on how to overcome fear?
Do they believe that faith in God can help overcome fear?

4. Story:

Story 1: Freddie becomes fearless

There once was a little boy who was perhaps the most scared boy in the
entire world. He cried every morning when his mother took him to school.
At school he wouldn’t answer questions in case he got the wrong answer
and felt foolish. And if anyone spoke to him, he answered in a very soft,
scared voice. At break time he hung about in the corner of the playground
near the door.

His teacher saw him and wondered if he was being bullied while at school
and called him in, but he said he wasn’t. Indeed bullying had never been a
problem in the small village school. “Wouldn’t you like to play with the
other children?” his teacher asked him gently. “No,” replied a tearful
Freddie. “I might fall over and break my leg or something worse. Please let
me stay in the classroom. I don’t want to go outside.” The teacher smiled.
“All right, Freddie, you can stay here if you wish. I realize how awful you
must feel. I was just the same once.” “You!” exclaimed Freddie, in surprise.
“You’re not afraid of anything.” “Ah, but I was once,” replied the teacher.
“How did you stop being frightened?” asked Freddie, looking a bit more
interested. “My parents bought me a dog, Freddie,” said the teacher with a
twinkle in his eye.

“A dog! Was he very big? Did he bite everyone and look after you?”
Freddie’s eyes were wide and questioning. “It wasn’t quite like that,
Freddie” smiled his teacher. “It happened one sunny day when I was sitting
under a tree in the park. I was watching my dog looking at his reflection in
the lake. We had been running about a lot and he was dying of thirst, yet
every time he saw his reflection, he was afraid and backed away, barking at
what he thought was another dog. Finally, he grew so angry and so thirsty
that he jumped into the lake and, as he did so, the other dog disappeared.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Freddie. “What happened to the other dog?” “Nothing,”
smiled his teacher. “It was only a reflection and had no power over him.
Nothing had stood between him and the water except his fears.

After that, whenever I felt afraid, I would think of my dog and the mistake
he had made and wonder if I was mistaken too. I would examine my fear
and it often disappeared, like the dog’s reflection.” “My goodness! I never
thought of it like that. Perhaps I could try it,” said Freddie slowly. “I’ll go and
see my friend before the bell rings. Thanks.” And, as Freddie walked
resolutely out of the classroom, he quite forgot to be afraid.

Post-story Discussion:

 How did you feel hearing the story?

 Does it remind you of anything in your own life?
 Why was Freddie always afraid?
 What story did the teacher tell him?
 What was the dog seeing in the water?
 What lesson did Freddie learn?

Story 2:

A businessman was late for his flight. He reached the boarding gate just
before it closed. Sweating and out of breath, he scanned his boarding pass
at the counter and quickly made his way to the plane.

Arriving at his seat, he greeted his companions a middle-aged woman

sitting at the window, and a little girl sitting on the aisle seat. After keeping
his bag above, he took his place between them.

After the flight took off, he began a conversation with the little girl. She
appeared to be about the same age as his daughter and was busy with her
coloring book. He asked her a few usual questions, such as her age (eight),
her hobbies (cartoons and drawing), as well as her favorite animal (horses
are pretty, but she just loved cats). He found it strange that such a young
girl would be traveling alone, but he kept his thoughts to himself and
decided to keep an eye on her to make sure she was okay.

About an hour into the flight, the plane suddenly began experiencing
extreme turbulence. The pilot came over the PA system and told everyone
to fasten their seat belts and remain calm, as they had encountered rough
weather. Several times over the next half hour the plane made drastic dips
and turns, shaking all the while. Some people began crying, and many, like
the woman in the window seat, were praying intently.

The man was sweating and clenching his seat as tightly as he could. He
would exclaim “Oh my God!” with each increasingly violent shake of the
plane. Meanwhile, the little girl was sitting quietly beside him in her seat.
Her coloring book and crayons were put away neatly in the seat pocket in
front of her, and her hands were calmly resting on her legs. Incredibly, she
didn’t seem worried all.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the turbulence ended. The pilot
came on a few minutes later to apologize for the bumpy ride and to
announce that they would be landing soon. As the plane began its descent,
 the man said to the little girl “You are just a little girl, but I have never met a
braver person in all my life! Tell me, dear, how is it that you remained so
calm while all of us adults were so afraid?”

Looking him in the eyes, she said, *“My father is the pilot, and he’s taking
me home.” Similarly God is our Divine Father and let us place our trust on
Him and be courageous and confident that he would take care of us all the
time.

5. Quotation or Theme of the Week or Affirmation:

“Follow the Master, Face the Devil, Fight to the end, Finish the game.” -
Baba

“Be fearless. Fear arises only due to lack of faith in me.” - Baba

“Why fear when I am here?” - Baba

“Fate loves the fearless”

“Courage does not mean that you don’t get afraid. It means that you do not
let fear stop you”.

“Face your fear and it will disappear”

6. Group Singing: Bhajan

Bhajan Translation

Gowri Suthaya Om Namah Om We bow to Lord Ganesha, son of

Lambodharaya Om Namah Om Gowri Mother Gowri, remover of obstacles
Suthaya Om Namah Om and destroyer of sorrows.
Vigneshwaraya Om Namah Om
Bhava Dukha Bhanjana Om Namah Om

7. Group Activity: Enactment of skits

The Guru should group the children into teams of 4 - 6 and ask them to take
some time to discuss among themselves and come up with plots that they
can enact. The skits should bring out ways of overcoming or handling fear.
 After each skit, the Guru should explore the take-home message and
appreciate the children for coming up with solutions on their own.

We can ask children to talk about how fear prevents us from achieving
success. We can talk about the fact that fear cripples; for example, fear of
public speaking will always prevent us from speaking our mind and
conveying our thoughts to people in groups.

The Guru can then summarize some ways of facing our fears and
overcoming them. Perhaps the best way is to have implicit trust and faith in
Swami; does He not say “Why fear when I am here?” Swami has also said
that fear comes from not having enough faith in Him. So, when we are
faced with something we fear, we should first pray to Swami; we can do a
Silent Sitting session in which we visualize Swami in front of us and ask Him
to be with us and drive our fear away. It is best not to run away from our
fears, or avoid doing things that make us afraid; Face your fear, and it will
disappear. Also, it is a good idea to confide in your parents and tell them
about your fears.

The Guru, at this point, can ask a challenging question. What is one thing
we must really fear? We should fear committing sin! Baba tells us to love
God and fear sin.

Finally, we can tell the children that fearlessness does not mean doing
things that are dangerous for us and others; we should be smart while
being fearless.

8. Silent Sitting: Jyoti Meditation

9. Life Application: We should develop fearlessness because fear cripples and

prevents us from achieving success, and we can develop this attitude by
constantly calling on God to help us and to keep that faith.

10. Vedam: Mantra Pushpam

11. Homework: