Proceedings of the Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality 2017 - Day 01

Invocatory Vedam chanting by the students of SSSIHL, Muddenhalli campus.

The morning session was in Poornachandra hall which was attended by all the faculty and the students  of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. The morning session commenced in the morning by 8:30 am and went on till 1:30 PM at noon. The morning session began with an invocatory Vedam chanted by the students of SSSIHL, Muddenhalli campus. 

Welcome address by Sri Sanjay Sahni

This was then followed by the welcome address by Sri Sanjay Sahni who is the Controller of Examinations, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He said that the soul of education is the education of the soul. He then also clarified the need for people to listen to good things as Swami had Himself said that the good things should be said again and again and again. He then narrated one experience where in an ardent devotee of Swami who was also an eminent academician had stated that if we give our heart to Bhagavan, our education would be complete.

Inaugral address by Sri K Chakravarti

This was followed by the Inaugral address by Sri K Chakravarti. Sri Chakravarthi’s speech was about the greatness and the significance of Indian Culture and Indian Heritage. He elaborated on many subtle points like that of adherence to our Dharma, Salvation and going beyond senses.
 
We then had the pleasant opportunity to listen to Swami’s discourse. Bhagavan emphasized on the nature of Love. He said the love between even the mother and the child was ephemeral and is based on a finite period of time due to attachment. Love for God alone can be called true love as it is complete and permanent as this Love was beyond time. He encouraged students to develop eternal love for God.

Swami’s discourse was then followed by the a soul stirring speach by Sir Vijay Menon, Faculty of IIM Kozhikode. He spoke on the topic ‘Excellence in Action’. He went on to share the examples from the lives of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mrs M S Subhalakshmi and Swami Vivekananda. He then further implored and urged all the poeple to read The Loving God by Proessor Kasturi, All the volumes of Sathyam Shivam Sundaram and the Sathya Sai Speaks series in order to understand and live by Swami’s guidelines and principles. 

 

This was then followed the the quiz programme where the contestants were from Swami’s institutions namely the SSSIHL, Anantapur Campus, Brindavan Campus, Prashanti Nilayam Campus and Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School. The quiz program was on the life, the lilas and the message of Swami.

The evening session in Sai Kulwant Hall started with a summary of the morning proceedings followed by three speeches by students and faculty of SSSIHL. They wonderfully expounded the central theme of faith and inner strength that Indian culture exemplifies through the topics that included Our Culture, Our Strength, Our Beloved Swami and Bhagavan Baba on Education.

 

Lastly, Prof R Gangadhara Sastry, Hon. Professor, Dept of Political Science delivered a talk on Bhagawan’s impact on education. He narrated major milestones of His work on education as well as the background philosophy of culture, spirituality and human values on which Bhagavan founded His educational institutions.