Proceedings of the Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality 2016 - Day 01 (Evening Session)

The evening session of the Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality was held at Sai Kulwanth hall. The session began with invocatory Vedic chants by the students of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam campus. It was followed by the introductory talk by Sri B Chandrasekhar, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Management and Commerce, Muddenahalli Campus. He introduced the speakers for the day.

G. Vikram

The first speaker was Sri G.Vikram, III BBM, Muddenahalli Campus. He summarized the whole days proceedings at the Poornachandra auditorium in an eloquent manner. 

 R. Srikanth

He was followed by Sri. R Srikanth, III B.Com. (Hons), Brindavan Campus. He spoke on the topic 'Lessons from Ramayana'. He drew parallels between the stories of Ramayana with the five D's of Bhagavan - Discipline, Devotion, Dedication, Determination and Discrimination. He ended his talk on a high note by urging the audience to resolve to follow any one of these D's so that they can rewrite their destiny.

S. Shyam Sunder

Sri. S Shyam Sunder,  III B.B.M., Muddenahalli Campus was the next speaker. He spoke on the topic 'SAI – See Always Inside'. He began his talk by saying the man goes behind objects which he believes give him happiness forgetting the true happiness lies in realizing who he really is. The speaker then narrated instances from the lives of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and Bhagavan to substantiate the same.

Dr. Sanjay Mahalingam

Dr. Sanjay Mahalingam, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Management and Commerce was the final speaker for the day. He spoke on the topic 'Sri Adi Sankaracharya: His Life and Ideas'. He began his talk with a brief introduction about Adi Shankaracharya's life. He incarnated to resurrect Sanathana Dharma when it was at its abyss. 

He elaborated on the phrases 'Dukrun Karane'  and 'Bhaja Govindam' from the poem 'Moha Mudgara'. He explained that 'Dukrun Karane' is not merely memorizing rules of grammar but a life lived under conditioned mental structure. 'Bhaja Govindam' refers to opening oneself to the currents of love and leading a life aligned with our heart. He concluded by recommending the audience to introspect in their Spiritual lives to time and again ask the questions like 'What really matters in life?' and ' What is truly essential?'