Srila Prabhupada said, “Simply by chanting, one can have self-realization, God realization, and when there is God realization, then nature realization is included also.“
There are many analogies and teachings from nature given by Srila Prabhupada and sastra. (More are appearing online since this writing: Click here) Some of these are listed below. Becoming familiar with many of these may spark interesting discussions with children at opportune moments. And many of these can be used as subjects for art projects. Another idea is that children may work on nature study notebooks containing select analogies that they copy along with making an illustration for each.
Photos may also be taken and posted with the typed analogy as a caption on a web page.
Prabhupada spoke about nature study: "Now, for us, those who are materially attached, we cannot think twenty-four hours of Krishna. It is very pleasing, but because we are materially attached, we cannot do that. Therefore Krishna is prescribing that 'You see the varieties of this material world and try to remember Me.'... You drink water—you remember Krishna. You see the light—remember Krishna. You see the flavor, aroma of very nice flower...immediately remember Krishna. Practice this. It is not difficult." --Bg 7.9 lecture, 8/15/74, Vrndavana
So here's a few analogies to get started. Soon you'll be collecting your own, as an awareness increases of their presence throughout Prabhupada's books:
A BEE
"The difference between a devotee and a nondevotee is this, just like the bee and the fly: the bee always is attracted by the honey and flies go to the open sores. So the devotee is only attracted by the good qualities in other people and does not see their faults."-a letter excerpt by Srila Prabhupada
A CAT
"A cat carries a rat in its mouth and also carries a kitten in its mouth. Both the rat and the kitten are carried in the same mouth, but the perception of the rat is different from that of the kitten. Similarly, when death comes and a devotee gives up his body, he is unafraid, whereas a nondevotee, having no engagement in the service of the Lord, is very much afraid." SB 9.13.9p
OR
"The devotees die, and the nondevotees also die. What is the difference?” It is like this: The mother cat may catch a rat and carry it in her mouth, and she also carries her kittens in her mouth. It is the same mouth, but the kittens are comfortable and safe, whereas the rat is feeling the jaws of death.” -Srila Prabhupada
A CHILD
"Artificially stopping a mischievous child is not the real remedy. The child must be given some better engagement so that he will automatically stop causing mischief. In he same way, the mischievous activities of the senses can be stopped only by beter engagement in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead." -SB 3.7.13
AN ELEPHANT
"The process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless. It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land." --SB 6.1.10
A FISH
“If you take a fish out of water, you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position”.---SB 7.5.30 lecture, 9/9/71, London
ANIMALS IN GENERAL “One should be satisfied like the animals. They are satisfied with their position. They are not agitated. Similarly, we should be satisfied whatever is available automatically by the gift of nature or by God. Nature has given us the opportunity now to inquire about the Absolute Truth.”---SB 1.1.1 lecture
ELECTRICITY
"The Lord is everywhere, in both the material and spiritual domains, and He appears for the sake of His devotees when there is friction between His devotee and nondevotee. As electricity is generated by friction of matter anywhere and everywhere, the Lord, being all-pervading, appears because of the friction of devotees and nondevotees." -SB 3.2.18p
CONDUCTION
"If you place an iron within fire, the iron becomes so hot that it also becomes fiery. When the iron is red hot, it acquires all the qualities of fire. If you touch something with that iron, that iron will act as fire. Similarly, although this body is material, it can become spiritualized through Krishna consciousness and act as spirit."-Srila Prabhupada
A RAINBOW
“In addition to the roaring thunder of the clouds, there is an appearance of a rainbow, which stands as a bow without a string. Actually, a bow is in the curved position, being tied at its two ends by the bowstring; but in the rainbow there is no such string, and yet it rests in the sky so beautifully. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends to this material world, He appears just like an ordinary human being, but He is not resting on any material condition.”--SB 10.20.18p
A RIVER FLOWING TOWARD THE OCEAN- “A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.”--Bg 2.70
SUGAR CANDY
The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Kåñëa are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidyä [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root." NOI 7
A TREE NEAR A BODY OF WATER-”If one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. “--Bg Intro
A MOTION PICTURE- “The many, many frames on a reel of movie film, when seen consecutively, appear as one picture on the screen, although there are actually many different pictures. Similiarly, we see a man as localized, but actually his body is changing at every second. All this is happening without the notice of the viewer. However the soul within the heart does not change; he remains eternally the same.” -a caption from Bhagavad gita As It
A CAMEL
MORE
After a while you'll come up with your own observations. For example, I noticed one snowy day out with the children that all by itself a snowflake is a very fragile thing, but a powerful force when all the snowflakes stick together.
(above art work and photo are my own property)
More:
There are many analogies and teachings from nature given by Srila Prabhupada and sastra. (More are appearing online since this writing: Click here) Some of these are listed below. Becoming familiar with many of these may spark interesting discussions with children at opportune moments. And many of these can be used as subjects for art projects. Another idea is that children may work on nature study notebooks containing select analogies that they copy along with making an illustration for each.
"Moths are captivated by the glaring brightness of light, and thus they become prey to the fire. Similarly, the deluding energy is always captivating the conditioned souls." --SB 1.17.24p
Photos may also be taken and posted with the typed analogy as a caption on a web page.
"The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. As soon as the rainy season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the crops which were nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears."(Bg Intro) It is a reflection of reality.
Prabhupada spoke about nature study: "Now, for us, those who are materially attached, we cannot think twenty-four hours of Krishna. It is very pleasing, but because we are materially attached, we cannot do that. Therefore Krishna is prescribing that 'You see the varieties of this material world and try to remember Me.'... You drink water—you remember Krishna. You see the light—remember Krishna. You see the flavor, aroma of very nice flower...immediately remember Krishna. Practice this. It is not difficult." --Bg 7.9 lecture, 8/15/74, Vrndavana
So here's a few analogies to get started. Soon you'll be collecting your own, as an awareness increases of their presence throughout Prabhupada's books:
A BEE
"The difference between a devotee and a nondevotee is this, just like the bee and the fly: the bee always is attracted by the honey and flies go to the open sores. So the devotee is only attracted by the good qualities in other people and does not see their faults."-a letter excerpt by Srila Prabhupada
A CAT
"A cat carries a rat in its mouth and also carries a kitten in its mouth. Both the rat and the kitten are carried in the same mouth, but the perception of the rat is different from that of the kitten. Similarly, when death comes and a devotee gives up his body, he is unafraid, whereas a nondevotee, having no engagement in the service of the Lord, is very much afraid." SB 9.13.9p
OR
"The devotees die, and the nondevotees also die. What is the difference?” It is like this: The mother cat may catch a rat and carry it in her mouth, and she also carries her kittens in her mouth. It is the same mouth, but the kittens are comfortable and safe, whereas the rat is feeling the jaws of death.” -Srila Prabhupada
A CHILD
"Artificially stopping a mischievous child is not the real remedy. The child must be given some better engagement so that he will automatically stop causing mischief. In he same way, the mischievous activities of the senses can be stopped only by beter engagement in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead." -SB 3.7.13
AN ELEPHANT
"The process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless. It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land." --SB 6.1.10
A FISH
“If you take a fish out of water, you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position”.---SB 7.5.30 lecture, 9/9/71, London
ANIMALS IN GENERAL “One should be satisfied like the animals. They are satisfied with their position. They are not agitated. Similarly, we should be satisfied whatever is available automatically by the gift of nature or by God. Nature has given us the opportunity now to inquire about the Absolute Truth.”---SB 1.1.1 lecture
ELECTRICITY
"The Lord is everywhere, in both the material and spiritual domains, and He appears for the sake of His devotees when there is friction between His devotee and nondevotee. As electricity is generated by friction of matter anywhere and everywhere, the Lord, being all-pervading, appears because of the friction of devotees and nondevotees." -SB 3.2.18p
CONDUCTION
"If you place an iron within fire, the iron becomes so hot that it also becomes fiery. When the iron is red hot, it acquires all the qualities of fire. If you touch something with that iron, that iron will act as fire. Similarly, although this body is material, it can become spiritualized through Krishna consciousness and act as spirit."-Srila Prabhupada
A RAINBOW
“In addition to the roaring thunder of the clouds, there is an appearance of a rainbow, which stands as a bow without a string. Actually, a bow is in the curved position, being tied at its two ends by the bowstring; but in the rainbow there is no such string, and yet it rests in the sky so beautifully. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends to this material world, He appears just like an ordinary human being, but He is not resting on any material condition.”--SB 10.20.18p
A RIVER FLOWING TOWARD THE OCEAN- “A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.”--Bg 2.70
SUGAR CANDY
The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Kåñëa are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidyä [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root." NOI 7
A TREE NEAR A BODY OF WATER-”If one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. “--Bg Intro
A MOTION PICTURE- “The many, many frames on a reel of movie film, when seen consecutively, appear as one picture on the screen, although there are actually many different pictures. Similiarly, we see a man as localized, but actually his body is changing at every second. All this is happening without the notice of the viewer. However the soul within the heart does not change; he remains eternally the same.” -a caption from Bhagavad gita As It
A CAMEL
MORE
After a while you'll come up with your own observations. For example, I noticed one snowy day out with the children that all by itself a snowflake is a very fragile thing, but a powerful force when all the snowflakes stick together.
(above art work and photo are my own property)
