We were thrilled to teach a math intuition class to
students, as it was fascinating to have a sense of what the result would look
like. Under the guidance of Sanjeev Anna, we focused on patterns instead of
answers. He spent each morning explaining mathematical patterns, which we
taught to school students in the evenings
We discovered new patterns and logic that were not taught in
schools or colleges to us
Advantages of having intuition
in maths:
Having intuition in math allowed us to quickly recognize
patterns, leading to more efficient problem-solving. It also improved our
understanding of abstract concepts and fostered creativity in problem-solving
and generating new mathematical ideas.
Feedback from students who
attended the classes:
Firstly, they noticed the simplicity
of understanding maths with patterns.
Even complex concepts were
understandable
Patterns finding reduced our
school theory of memorizing maths
Telling stories and relating with real-time examples increased the logic of mathematics
I keep in touch with a few of my friends who I feel possess
qualities that I would like to inculcate in my life. One of these friends is strong
in his Christian faith. In a conversation to understand what a monk does to understand
the spirit of doing. He said:
Monasteries
are obligated to be as self-sufficient as possible for the basic necessitates.
The spirit of which extends to the individual monks. They farm but they are not
farmers. They makes clothes but they are not tailors. They herd but they are
not herders. They may even write computer programs and debug and test them, but
they are not programmers. They are spiritual scholars that happen to work with
their own hands to support their vocation as monks, but they must not be
distracted by the work itself.
This comment struck me very close to home because of the
similarities with what we are doing in C3StreamLand. At C3Streamland, we too
are self-sufficient, not only for our basic necessities but also to support a
whole host of activities such as employment (we provide it), education (we
provide it free of cost), Vipassana at Auroville (group sits/short courses,
10-day courses), Seminars for growth (RTL workshops), support other principled
and ethical actors (Thamarai, RTLWorks, SAIIER). Indeed in this respect,
perhaps, we go further than a monastery does.
Now comes to the point of being distracted by work and
activity. We work for a commercial concern in Bangalore as a means to support
ourselves, as well as fund our activities and the larger community in
Auroville. In addition, each one of us in involved in some teaching activity or
the other, be it an activity or formal classes. Further, each one us also has
an accountability with regards to maintaining the Organisation as a whole à Finances (school,
C3streamland), Maintenance (Internet, facilities, power) etc. Furthermore, most
of us are also supporting others in their growth (organising Vipassana
activities, organising RTL workshops and supporting them as PCs).
Apart from generating a livelihood and supporting others,
work and being busy with wholesome tasks is a wonderful tool to prevent me from
falling into lower mental states that for me a chiefly characterized by sloth,
addiction to useless information and trivia (which the internet has an unending
supply of), time wasting conversations, mental brooding and so on and so forth.
The benefits of having an engaged mind during all waking
hours have been spoken of by Great Men and Women down the ages. As my friend
never tires of reminding me, Jesus was a fine Carpenter with a very strong work
ethic. Buddha himself did not believe such a thing as R&R (rest and
relaxation) since the impurities never rested, so why should purity? Closer to time, GoenkaJi would keep busy
peeling potatoes if there was nothing else to do and his wife, Mataji herself
was never found idle when awake, her favourite go to activity being knitting
sweaters. Mataji used to mention the importance of having a mind engaged in a wholesome
(or at least not-unwholesome) pursuit at all times.
So much for the benefits of an engaged mind. Now I come to
my friends’ admonition. There is a very real possibility and danger that I am
getting distracted from my larger purpose in life in the rush to keep
delivering on my livelihood and my support activities. There is the danger that
I become so distracted by my Job performance and my various support roles, in
meeting the delivery schedules and my social commitments that I forget what I
really want from life in terms of my inner life. How do I forget what I really
care about at a deep level? When I notice that my thoughts are mostly about
what needs to be done next and what needs to be done today, when I notice that
my Vipassana practice has become mechanical, when I notice that I am too tired
at night time to care about any of the higher things in life that I claim to
care about in daytime, when I notice that I am too tired to desire the higher
mental planes that a human can access and that I wish to access.
Now that I notice it what will I do? I don’t know. For one,
I have become aware of it, so that is a good thing. The next is to reflect.
Clearly I am not overworked. It’s just that I am overwhelmed. I am building
tension during the course of my day that leaves me detached from the higher
mental planes as the daylight concludes. I no longer feel attracted to the
lower mental planes during the nights as I used to, so that’s reason to rejoice.
But the goal now is to cultivate the sort of mind that feels attracted to the
higher mental states even as the day progresses right until the time comes for
slumber.
8th grade students in Udavi are learning pie chart. In C3STREAM land we have a system where we enter teachers notes everyday and will receive feedback on the same from Sanjeev at the end of the week. From his feedback I learnt that I can ask children to draw pie chart for their daily activity. I asked them to collect data on their daily activities for 24 hours to create a visual representation of their time management.
Students began by recording their activities throughout the day, by writing them down on their notebook. They then organized the data into categories, such as sleeping, eating, studying, traveling, and leisure time.
After categorizing the data, students calculated the percentage of time spent on each activity. They converted number of hours in degree for each activity and plotted them in a pie chart.
Each activity was shown as a separate slice of the pie, with the size of the slice corresponding to the time spent on that activity.
Once the pie chart was complete, students analyzed and interpreted the data. They noticed patterns and trends in their time management, which helped them understand their own behavior and habits better. Students were able to notice where they spend more time and realized where they need to work on.
This exercise helped 8th-grade students develop their skills in data collection, analysis, and visualization. By engaging in this exercise, they gained a deeper understanding of pie charts and how they can be used to represent complex data in a simple and visual form.
On 08/04/2023 We organised a technical session for the teachers in Udavi school from C3STREAM land. In this session, we offered our learnings to teachers be aware of cookies, application permissions, agreements and terms and conditions.
The session was handled by Sanjeev. He began the session by
screening the popular documentary “The Social Dilemma,” which
highlights the dangers of social media and the impact it can have on our lives.
The documentary served as an eye-opener for many of the teachers, who were
unaware of the extent to which their personal data is being collected and used
by tech companies.
Participants were able to understand the situation of how
much children were addicted to mobile phone usage. How it affects their
emotions.
In Social media platforms, we always get feeds based how we
likes and dislikes. No one is monitoring each person to provide such things. It
was done by AI algorithm do it. The feeds were customised for each person based
what they search and see.
Notifications: Turn off notifications of applications. When
people get notifications, at that moment they get diverted to notification
message. Anyways we see our mobile phones many times in a day. Turn off
notifications of some app may help us to reduce the distraction.
Ethical and un-ethical business:
Ellipsis: Ellipsis are three dots you can see in some
social media while other person is typing a message. It makes us to keep wait
for the message until we receive. It also takes our time to be keep waiting for
what will be the reply. In some applications, there will be option to turn of
this.
Password: Never Save your passwords online. There is
always risk of losing your password when you are saving it online. When people
need to save their sensitive information like password, they can use keyPass
tree application to save their passwords safe in offline also.
Digital wellbeing: In every android phone, there is a
inbuilt app called Digital wellbeing. In this application, user can set
the timer to use mobile phone for a particular time period and also user can
set timer for usage of each application in your mobile phone. It will be useful
for the parents who wants to control their children phone usage. After the
usage of that particular time, application will lock automatically.
The session was well-organized, and the teachers were
appreciative of the valuable information they received. They left with a better
understanding of the importance of data privacy and online security and
Conveyed their gratitude for their learnings.
Insights from the Participants:
Insight 1: I am able notice that I don’t have the control
over the mobile phone usage.
Insight 2: I am able notice I am being monitored based on
likes and dislikes, feeds were customised based on my likes. This session
helped me to be aware of how I am using phones.
Insight 3: Creating these kinds of applications affecting
the people who don’t know about these AI algorithms. They simply using these
applications, get addicted to it. It leads to loss of their life sometimes.
Sri Bhavani:
From the session, I learned about ellipsis, keypass
application to save passwords safely and Digital wellbeing app in mobile phone.
I am to be aware of how I am using the technologies.
These avoided any strong negative mental volition.
We then practiced Samadhi which is Mastery of mind/ Concentration of
mind using breath.
Then we practiced about Panna(Wisdom) – which eradicates the defilements
from mind through observations of sensations without reacting.
Metta bhavana – a meditation which I shared my merits to all the beings
to be happy and be kind.
Here are our reflections from the same:
Ajay:
I found that the initial days of practicing
Vipassana meditation were quite physically challenging, but over time I began
to feel that my mind became more active and my body felt lighter. After
attending the meditation, I felt a sense of lightness and happiness. This
practice helped me gain insight into myself.
Arun kumar:
Vipassana is a cause and effect meditation technique, I learned that the
peace comes from within is more enjoyable than the transient excitement and happiness.
The focus on the sensations helped me to grasp that everything in life is
temporary and it will change, nowadays my emotions have been controlled and I am
responding to the situations rather then reacting to them.
I noticed the following changes in me at Vipassana and after being back:
Calmness in mind
Less anger
Increase in concentration
Lesser impatience
Taking responsibility for happenings around me
Dinesh:
My reflection about Vipassana was accept the reality as it is, don’t
stress myself at any cause. Before Vipassana I got distracted easily and less
focused but after Vipassana I am able to notice that If I got distracted I
accepted it ,I wouldn’t regret it and then immediately got back to work rather
than going into guilt and doing nothing. With Ana panna (breathing technique) I
am able to focus on my breathe for longer time and got focused mind even though
my mind got distracted. Previously, I gave more importance to my feelings and
started to react but now with my equanimous mind I started to observe my
feelings rather than reacting to it.
Rajesh
I have noticed that I have gained control over my wandering mind.
Through Vipassana meditation, I have learned to stay present and accept things
as they are, rather than how I want them to be.
Previously, I used to react immediately to situations based on my
emotions, which would lead to long-lasting regret and negativity. However, by
practicing Vipassana meditation, I have learned to be aware of the sensations
that arise within me . I no longer create cravings or aversions towards any
sensations, which has helped me avoid reacting to unpleasant situations.
As a result of my practice, I have also developed feelings of goodwill
towards all living beings, including humans and animals. While I continue to
practice daily to fully eliminate any remaining roots of aversion, I am
grateful for the progress I have made towards liberation.
Sivaguru prasath
Learning the vipassana meditation is such a divine experience, I felt
the sensations of my own body and also learned how determined I am.
To practice this technique, I prepared myself mentally and observed my
sensations without reacting to it.
Being equanimous the best part I have practiced in this 10-day vipassana
course without reacting to any impermanent reactions with craving or aversion.
-Pagoda cell
Vipassana in Swarna Bhoomi
We learned why the Pagoda structures are there at Vipassana centers in
honor or Swarna Bhoomi (Burma/ Myanmar) where it is
believed Vipassana was retained in its pristine purity.
It is said that King Ashoka who was called as Chand (Cruel) Ashoka and
he was very proud of this name and about the killing the rulers and extending
his reign across the country. When he came in contact with Vipassana and
practiced it he was transformed. He realized his mistakes and changed after
that, he insisted his sena members to learn this technique to master the mind
and he then sent them to make Vipassana reach worldwide.
The two monks “Sona and Uttara” went to Swarna Bhoomi (Burma) to share
this technique to Burmese people they kept the technique to its utmost purity,
after 25 centuries the ancient technique to master the mind reached its origin (India).
On February 18th, from 8:45 AM
to 5:30 PM, C3stemland organized a radical transformation leadership program in
Tamil at Auroville SAIIER conference hall. It was a one day program in Tamil, facilitated
by Srilatha Juva, Professor at TISS. B.VOC students and teachers, SAIIER
staffs, employees, volunteers and their family members were invited for the
program.
The primary objective of the
program was to help participants identify their stand,fear, four profiles and
gain a deeper understanding of their background conversations, system principles,
and design from universal values. By participating in these sessions,
participants were able to develop a new project that addressed their problem
statement, focusing on self-growth or social issues, and using their potential
to bring about positive change in themselves and their communities.
Around 55 people took part of
the program. Throughout the program, participants collaborated with their
partners, shared their reflections and insights, and engaged in a collective
effort to create a better future.
The
program was an interactive session with everyone and involved practicing the
tools such as:
Introducing oneself with what one deeply cares about or universal
values that reflects one’s purpose and vision
Identifying one’s own profile based on four dimensions: wisdom,
social, personality, and professional
Understanding one’s own background conversations within the family
and how they influence one’s actions and choices
Deriving system principles based
on universal values
Designing projects based on universal values and system principles,
noticing system and cultural norms, and shifting them by being in action
Throughout the session, everyone engaged with their
partners and shared their reflections and insights on plenary.
Some of
the insights from participants during the session were:
I realized that I have been limiting myself by my own beliefs and
fears
I learned how to communicate effectively with others without being
judgmental or defensive
I discovered my passion for environmental sustainability and how I
can contribute to it through my project
I felt more confident and empowered to take action for my goals
Poovizhi
Organizing the program was an opportunity for me to stretch beyond my comfort zone and be in rigor. At the end of the session, I felt whole and fulfilled. I was able to ask for support from my team. I was able to notice my fear, my background conversations and that I judge myself when I shared my personal example with everyone specially because most of the participants were from local area and were people I or my family members know. I was able to name my fear and be in my universal values and share.
Sribhavani
I was inspired by the participant through their insights. I saw this as an opportunity to remind myself to notice my fears and let them go by acting from my universal values. I was able to notice, what can I do differently and able to discern others perspective of thinking.
I work with two Youth, VasanthaRaj and Sundar as part of the modelling and MSV team for C3StreamLand/AuraSemi. All the youth here have been introduced to Vipassana meditation. While the high standards set by GoenkaJi for daily Vipassana practice (2 hrs/day. These are not met even by most seasoned household meditators and in many cases even Dhamma workers at the centers) may not be maintained by the youth, I notice that they do practice of their own volition from time to time.
I notice
both Sundar and Vasanth sit upright, back and neck straight on their chairs,
eyes closed, palms on thighs and meditating. This post is about this practice
of theirs in the form of a Q&A
Q:
I notice that the two of you meditate on the chair at work now and then. How
often do you do it?
Ans.
About once or twice daily?
Q: How long
do you do it?
Ans. 2-3
minutes each time
Q: Why do
you do it?
Ans. To Bring
back our attention to work. When we notice that our mind is not on work
Q: What
causes you to have difficulty in attending to work?
Ans. The
normal mental wear and tear of the day
Q. Does the
2-3 hour of meditation work in bringing back your attention to work?
Vasanth:
Yes, the Concentration does come back 60% of the time with just 2-3 minutes
Sundar: For
me, with 2-3 minutes, the concentration comes back 90% of the time
Q. Have you
tried longer duration, say 5 minutes?
Vasanth:
Yes, if I am completely de-energized, I sit for 10 minutes. This is rare. I did
not test how often this works
Sundar: I
sit only 2-3 minutes at a time, but if I find it not enough, I go for another
2-3 minutes. I don’t have an estimate for how often the next attempt works or
how often I need to sit a second time.
Q. Do you
use a stop watch for setting the time?
Ans. No, we
just sit for as long as is comfortable. We estimate it is around 2-3 minutes,
but not more than 5 minutes.
Q. Any
concluding comments?
Vasanth: Practicing
Anapanna for a few minutes throughout the day helps me to regain my
concentration when my mind is wandering. It also improves my work efficiency.
Sundar: Practicing
Anapana helps me regain my concentration when my mind is scattered. However, it
can be difficult to maintain focus on the breath, as my mind tends to get
distracted by my thoughts.
This week Miss. Muthukumari created an opportunity for us to experience sound bowl therapy. I am grateful to join the yoga session with shifuians.
My reflection on sound bowl therapy: When I hear the sound during meditation, I feel relaxed. It improved my concentration and felt brisk after the session.
Sound Bowl:
This bowl is also called a singing bowl. Buddhist monks used this bowl during meditation practices.
She used a bowl, sound wave takes 7secs to fade for single struck on the wall of the bowl. This sound helpful to activate 7 chakras (energy centres) in the body. Each chakra has its own frequency to activate. Sound bowl help to activate them by singing it in different note.
The length of time it takes to fade depends on many factors like size and shape of the bowl, material and the way it struck.
Because of these factors, it is pretty hard to assign accurate frequency for a singing bowl.
The 7 chakras in the human body are
Root Chakra (Muladhara): This chakra is located at the base of the spine and is associated with the colour red.
Sacral Chakra (Svadhishthana): This chakra is located in the lower abdomen and is associated with the colour orange.
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura): This chakra is located in the upper abdomen and is associated with the colour yellow.
Heart Chakra (Anahata): This chakra is located in the center of the chest and is associated with the colour green.
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha): This chakra is located in the throat and is associated with the colour blue.
Third Eye Chakra (Ajna): This chakra is located between the eyebrows and is associated with the colour indigo.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara): This chakra is located at the top of the head and is associated with the colour purple.
And also, we did asanas with supporting material like shawl in this week. We did back stretch and front stretch. This new method supported us to stretch beyond our comfort zone. We learned the asanas along with its benefits. There are some asanas than can help us recover from back pain and varicose nerve problems.
Gomukhasana
Dhanurasana
Bhramari Pranayama:
This is one of the pranayamas we learned in the yoga session. While doing this pranayama, we create a bee humming sound. It helps to calm our mind and helps to heal nerve system.
I learned to do the asanas with their benefits. It is good to have practice in routine life.
At STEMland in Udavi school, learning new games is always a fun and exciting experience. We work with the 10th graders in their classrooms and don’t have as much of an opportunity to engage with the games at STEM Land. However, recently, we had the chance to try out Abalone a very popular game among children at Udavi school and we had a lot of fun with it.
Before diving into the game, we took the time to understand the rules and mechanics of the game. For those who have never played Abalone before, it is a two-player strategy game where the goal is to push six of your opponent’s marbles off the board in any direction while keeping your own marbles intact. The game requires critical thinking, strategic planning, and as we were novices a bit of luck as well.
Playing Abalone at Stemland Udavi provided an opportunity to not only have fun but also use critical thinking and strategic planning. We could see how this could improve the cognitive abilities of children while enjoying the game. Having played it, it is not a surprise that Abalone has been named “Game of the Year” in several countries, including Switzerland and France, due to its unique design and engaging gameplay. The game has even sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Overall, Stemland Udavi is a great place to try out new games and learn new skills. With its friendly and welcoming environment, it’s the perfect place for anyone who wants to have fun while expanding their horizons be it children learning Mathematics or youth coming in to learn programming/electronics/VLSI design.
At C3STREAM land we have sessions of continued practice of Radical Transformational Leadership sessions every Thursday within our group as well as being open to people from outside.
Few people in our team have attended the PC training with Dr. Monica Sharma and the team. To continue the practice of delivering the tools we have planned to deliver one tool in a week on Thursday mornings. I have created an excel with the number of PCs and the tools and invited the PC’s to choose the tools for which they feel they need more practice and came up with a plan for next 5 months.
Being able to practice tools each week and being able to present tools each week creates a culture of being rigorous in our practice – understanding the tool better and deeper.
The plan includes a backup person also. Whoever is delivering the tool prepares on their own first and have a call with Sanjeev a day before to get clarity on how to deliver the tool, check if the examples are suitable.
On 02/02/2023 it was Sandhiya’s turn to take Four Profile tools and I was the resource person. We worked on “My Four Profile”. Once Sandhiya completed her presentations, I gave feedback to her and Sanjeev coached her.
Reflection on being a resource person:
My name is Sandhiya, I stand for courage, care, and happiness for myself and others. I notice that growth happens beyond my comfort zone. Though we had done the exercise many times each time it gives us an opportunity to reflect and learn about ourselves. By delivering the tool I was able notice that I was uncomfortable but when worked through it I was able
Reflection on being a backup person:
My name is Poovizhi I deeply care about equality and equity. I learnt that I have all the four profiles ( wisdom profile, social profile, personality profile and professional profile). When I work from my wisdom profile I am able to notice that the way I see at my other three profiles changes.
Participants insights:
I have been thinking that the shift in social profile is happening only now a days but during the exercise with my partner he said his parents have done inter cast marriage. I learnt that the shift has been happening from earlier also.
I learnt that wisdom profile is important
I learnt that wisdom profile is important because even if I change my profession my wisdom profile remains the same.
I thought that personality profile is not important but I learnt that all profiles are important.
