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SHINE (Spiritual Heritage of India for Next-gen Empowerment)

 

Inspiration for our name – Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji, a renowned Vedanta teacher and Sanskrit scholar and our beloved guru had shared the glory of Sanatana Dharma through a 52 television series called ‘The Spiritual Heritage of India’. And so, it seemed natural that we adopt the name SHINE (Spiritual Heritage of India for Next-gen empowerment).

 

“Children don’t know about Sanatana Dharma. Whose fault?

Parents? Education system? Society? Does not matter.

It is our collective responsibility that children can and will be anchored in Sanatana Dharma.”

Swamini Brahmaprajnananda

 

Goal for the 76 th anniversary of India’s independence, (Aug 2023 – August 2024):  

300 children (4 – 12 years) across Bharat and overseas will learn and practice Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism in their everyday life. 

Strategy – About 25 SHINE teachers (Tejasvis)  will teach 300 children in these 12 months through weekly camps, three month courses and weekly classes.

Curriculum* of SHINE – SHINE will help children be happy, confident, grateful and anchored in Santana Dharma, contributing to all round success. Hence it includes –

    • Understanding of God & Dharma

    • Svadharma & Karma

    • Panchamahayajna-s (our BIG 5 connections & duties)

    • Knowing our ‘Ishta Devata’, Guru Parampara & Scriptures

    • Learning prayers & shlokas, 5-step Puja, Panchanga & Festivals

    • Living a value-based life

    • Yatras and Temples of India

    • Introduction to Sanskrit sounds & basic conversation

    • Discussions, Role models, Narration & analysis of Itihasa-s

    • Simple pranayama & yoga asanas.

    • Meditation, puja, chanting & art work

 

What does a typical SHINE class include?

A typical SHINE class includes an interactive session of a group of children once a week for about 60-75 minutes. Each class has –

    • Teaching on Sanatana Dharma

    • Learning shloka/bhajan

    • Stories from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas.

    • Art work/ Game/quiz/discussion

Parents get a recording of shlokas which the children can practice at home

All SHINE classes for children are charged.

Why SHINE? 

 

Qualifications for a Tejasvi (SHINE teacher) –

We are looking for SHINE teachers who always wanted to contribute to Sanatana Dharma and were looking for a meaningful way to do so. What better way than to work with our present and future generation?

 

Potential SHINE teachers   

    • Are committed to and wish to contribute to Sanatana Dharma in a long term, sustainable way.

    • Have 2-4 hours a week to conduct a SHINE Class for children (6-12 years) (offline/online)

    • Have an uninterrupted broadband internet connection (if taking online classes)

    • Have good communication skills

    • Can pronounce Sanskrit shlokas correctly

    • Enjoy interacting with children 

    • Can find an interested group of children either online or offline to begin teaching, the context for each teacher being different. 

    • Would like to earn some money while making a difference to the next generation.

Additional advantage (not mandatory)

    • Speak in a regional or local language
    • Any skill or knowledge which can make the class more enriching and interesting (Hindustani/Carnatic Music / Dance / Acting / Art / Ayurveda / Counselling)

 

Applications for the fifth  round of training of Tejasvis (SHINE teachers) are open from 20th January – 26th January 2023.

 Please note the following before applying –

    1. Training for a Tejasvi will include 10 hours which are spread over 5 sessions in Jan and February 2024. Each session will be of 2 hours.

    2. Training sessions will be conducted on Zoom. It will be largely interactive with discussion on content and tools for teaching.   

    3. There are no charges for the training. From our scholarship fund, each teacher will receive a one-time honorarium of Rs 7500 or its equivalent after the teachers begin their sessions.    

    4. Teachers will have the freedom to organise regular sessions with children at their convenience. The entire fees from the classes may be considered as the income of the teacher.     

    5. All teachers will be a part of our private online community on Slack and will be expected to share updates, raise questions and contribute to the collective wisdom of the group.  

    6. At the end of training, Tejasvis will be able to successfully conduct camps and regular classes for children such that they are anchored and live a life of Sanatana Dharma. 

 

 Next steps

From 20th – 26th January 2024  – Interested teachers will submit the form of interest. Please fill the Google form below.

Selected teachers will be informed of their selection.

Please check your spam folder also for email from swaminiji@discoveratma.com/shine@discoveratma.com

28th – 29th January  Preparation for training – Teachers will be given a list of videos to watch and material to read which they may do at their convenience (a total of 2 hours)

Training (5 sessions of 2 hours each)

(Times in IST)  

30th Jan – 2nd Feb  – 5 – 7.30 pm

5th Feb – 5 – 7.30 pm

Each session will have a few minutes of break

If we get a group that is overseas, we may consider a convenient time for training the overseas group.

ENROL NOW. BE A SHINE TEACHER.

Click here to fill up the Google form. 

For further queries please write to sonali@discoveratma.com

Do join us to celebrate India by contributing to our strategy of 300 children in Bharat and overseas living a life of Sanatana Dharma.           

                              

(*The pedagogy has been developed by Swamini Brahmaprajnananda, Vedanta teacher who has also designed courses on Dharma and has a background in psychology (including child psychology) & Sonali Ambasankar. Sonali has been studying Vedanta for nine years with Swaminiji, conducting SHINE classes and camps since the last three years and teaching Sanskrit shloka chanting to children and adults. We have reviewed online resources available for children and created educational and entertaining videos for topics that were missing. Additionally, we use three textbooks called Hindu Religion (A glimpse into spiritual, cultural and patriotic Bharat) designed by Sri Vivekananda Kendra and extensively used in Kanyakumari for more than 50000 children.)