OM SRI SAI RAM

Group: II

Year: 1

Value: Love

Sub-Value: Generosity

Purpose of the Session: To help the children understand the power of giving, and
the love and joy that can be spread through giving.

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:

In a discourse to His students in Brindavan in 1975, Bhagawan Baba stated:

“The emphasis in Sai education is giving and forgiving, not getting and
forgetting”. This is such a powerful statement. Swami has often said that Love
means giving and forgiving. What does generosity mean? It means being
willing to share. Someone showing generosity is happy to give time, money,
food, or kindness to people in need. Generosity shows unselfishness, it shows
kindness, concern for others. When we practice generosity with a sincere
heart, it can show that we see God in others. In fact, generosity is a practical
expression of Love.

We should ask children at this point whether they are generous by nature. Can
they give examples of their generosity? Have they felt joy in giving without
expecting anything in return?
 Generosity warms the spirit. The act of giving, no matter how small, opens our
hearts and spreads joy to the giver as well as the recipient. Random Acts of
Kindness are the perfect springboard to leap into generosity. But what exactly
are Random Acts of Kindness? Simply put, they are good deeds done for
strangers who could use a little blessing.

4. Story:

Story 1:

A young queen was given a special gift from a great wizard. It was a magic
chest which would bring happiness to the whole kingdom whenever it was
opened in a place where there was a spirit of generosity.

The queen travelled all over her kingdom, looking for the most generous
people. When she had collected them all, she opened the magic chest.
However, nothing whatsoever happened. Opening the magic chest in front of
these generous people did not suddenly bring happiness to everyone.

That was, until one day when returning to her castle, the queen saw a poor
little boy begging. The queen would have given the boy some money, but she
didn't have any with her. So the boy asked her if she could give him the old
chest she had, so he could sell it for a little money in town. At first the queen
hesitated, because she had been told the chest was magic. But on seeing how
poor the boy was, she gave it to him. The boy took the chest and opened it.

Immediately, all the most wonderful things one could imagine started flying
out of the chest, accompanied by the sound of singing: "Why look for it in
others? Goodness always starts in yourself" went the song. The queen became
very thoughtful; the song was telling her that she should not look for qualities
like generosity, she should have the quality in herself. Instead of checking
whether others were generous, she needed to be generous herself.

And because she had practiced generosity in giving the magic chest to the poor
boy, the magic prophecy worked and wonderful things started happening.
 And as well as enjoying all the wonders of the magic chest, the queen learned
to set an example in virtue, and she became the best queen ever to reign over
that kingdom.

Post-story Discussion:

 What was so special about the magic chest?

 What did the queen first try to do? What happened?
 What happened when the queen met the poor boy?
 What message can we take home from this story?

Story 2: Karna, the Generous

Karna was once applying oil to his head before his bath. He was dipping his
right hand into a jeweled cup filled with oil. He had just scooped some oil in his
right hand and rubbed it well into his hair, when Lord Krishna appeared in
front of him. Krishna said that He had come to demand the cup from him as a
gift! "I am surprised that You, the Master of the Universe, have a desire for this
paltry thing but who am I to ask you questions? Here is the cup, I gift it to You"
he said. He lifted the cup with his left hand and placed it in the Lord's right
hand. Krishna took him to task for that error in dharma, offering a gift with the
left hand. But Karna said "Pardon me, O Lord! My right hand is smeared with
oil; I was afraid that if I take time to wash the hand and make it fit to give the
cup, my wayward mind which now had agreed to the gift, might discover some
argument not to accede to Your request; I might therefore be deprived of the
unique fortune, by the fickle mind with which I am burdened. This is the
reason why I acted immediately and passed it on to You, regardless of the
breach of a rule of etiquette; please pardon me" Karna pleaded.

We can tell the children that when we feel in our heart to give or help
somebody in need, we should do that immediately without another thought.

5. Quotation:

“Give and you gain; grasp and you lose” – Baba

“Giving is not giving if you want what you gave back”

 “Give with humility
Give in reverence
Give in plenty
Give as to a friend
Give without any thought of reward” - Baba

Affirmation: “I will give to others with love without any expectation”

6. Group Singing: Revise bhajans

7. Group Activity: 1 Group Discussion of Swami’s quotation

The Guru should repeat Swami’s teachings on how we should give, the attitude
with which we should give.

Give with humility

Give in reverence
Give in plenty
Give as to a friend
Give without any thought of reward

We should explore this with the children. What does “Give with humility”
mean? It means that when we give, it should be without any ego or pride,
without making the other person feel that they are inferior. What does “Give
in reverence” mean? It means that we should respect the other person, we
should try and see God in that person. We should try and feel that the person
receiving your generosity is just another form of God. Similarly, what do the
other lines in the quotation mean? These points should be discussed because
these are very practical aspects of generosity. We should emphasize that our
attitude while giving is extremely important.

The Guru should use this opportunity to talk about Random Acts of Kindness.
These can be big or small. The possibilities are endless, as are the
opportunities. We just have to train ourselves to be watchful for the chance to
share God’s blessings. It can be as simple as a greeting card for a friend or a
neighbour who has been unwell, or a flower for your teacher. Opportunities to
 share love surround us every day. It's up to each of us to grab hold of those
opportunities and turn them into Random Acts of Kindness.

https://media.radiosai.org/journals/Vol_06/01OCT08/12-kindness.htm

8. Silent Sitting: Guided visualization

“Dear children, sit up straight, get comfortable. Place your hands on your laps,
then gently close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and breathe out slowly. As
you breathe in, let in good thoughts and as you breathe out let out any all your
anxieties and worries.

Now imagine that you are in a train travelling with your family. As the train
slowly moves away from the platform, see the trees and buildings pass by… It
is so beautiful. It is sunny outside, blue skies… and you feel happy and
contented.

Look at the children playing outside... Some are well dressed and some are in
very simple clothes ... Some are clean and some are playing in the muddy
streets... Listen to their laughter as they play... Some of them have no homes
to go to ... Many won’t have a proper meal tonight ... Perhaps we can do
something to help? Can you think of one way you might help another child?
What might make it difficult to do this? What can be done to overcome the
difficulty? Thinking how you may be able to help makes you feel happy.

You resolve to try and help such children; even as a child yourself you can still
try to do something. Could you tell your parents that you would like to help?
Could you give away your old school books, story books and toys to needy
children? Could you save some money from money that you may get from
your parents and relatives? And then give some of this to needy children?

You feel good as you think these thoughts, because there is joy in giving.

Now slowly become aware of your surroundings and slowly open your eyes.”

9. Life Application: We should go ahead in life with this conviction: “We can
make a difference to the people of the world if we give happily, without a
 thought of getting anything in return.” We should always look for chances to
perform Random Acts of Kindness.

10. Vedam: Mantra Pushpam

11. Homework: Children should write an essay on Generosity; they should write
about why we should give, what we can give and what our attitude should be
when we give.