A couple of weeks back a friend asked me if I would be willing to teach a class on Hinduism at his son’s school. They have been studying India and Hinduism in their social studies class and he thought it would be nice for me to share some of my experiences and thoughts with them.
So, this morning I made my way to the west side to the Village Community School on 10th street and was welcomed by 44 energetic and enthusiastic (maybe more like excited) 5th graders. I don’t think most of them had seen a Hindu priest in person before let alone have one come in and teach a class.
So, I had 45 minutes to teach and I shared with them, via a Keynote presentation, the basics of Hinduism which included beliefs, God and divine beings, sects, the two paths, the four goals, etc and we ended the class with a 5 minute meditation practice.
How do you get 44 5th graders to sit still for 5 minutes let alone concentrate and meditate? Breathe! And they did and did exceedingly well in this guided meditation. Some even sat in the lotus position and hands in the perfect meditative mudras. Budding yogis indeed! I was most impressed and after 5 minutes there was a great noticeable calmness in the classroom.
