tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57982847029785636772024-03-18T15:17:31.216+05:30Sathya Sai with StudentsSathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.comBlogger1760125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-85178457909397398752021-12-31T21:13:00.001+05:302021-12-31T21:13:54.939+05:30How can we make the New Year a Divine Experience?<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQp5_AQU3bvgQ9uFuJFd0ffz6Neumz6ox6guO6yOrZ7TY4-8BKYuIMdvm8pGxDiwmWX5vbxjd62XJJjP_43kz_jY-6o7iGKNtXNoh3G0XLf6GSXBPShD6UrZLtsTk12i_l7olOHTkafLGpj8aAoxK6gvlu024TXTsRpt_8DyPNZhZPPuNd3nuiEFQ_Cw=s837" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="837" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQp5_AQU3bvgQ9uFuJFd0ffz6Neumz6ox6guO6yOrZ7TY4-8BKYuIMdvm8pGxDiwmWX5vbxjd62XJJjP_43kz_jY-6o7iGKNtXNoh3G0XLf6GSXBPShD6UrZLtsTk12i_l7olOHTkafLGpj8aAoxK6gvlu024TXTsRpt_8DyPNZhZPPuNd3nuiEFQ_Cw=w640-h530" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Every man has his origin in Truth. He is sustained by Truth. And he merges in Truth. He is the embodiment of Truth. When every individual recognizes this truth, the whole world </span>will be permeated by Truth. What man should seek today is not pleasure. Nor is his goal sorrow. Man should bring under his control the source of pleasure and pain. More than pleasure, it is pain that awakens the wisdom in man. If you study the lives of great men, you find that it is out of trouble and pain that they derived wisdom. Without sorrow there can be no wisdom. It is pain that teaches many wise lessons to man.</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not realizing this profound truth, man pursues pleasure endlessly. No doubt man needs to be happy. But how is happiness to be achieved? It is only when sorrow is overcome that man realizes happiness. Hence everyone should welcome sorrow in the same spirit in which he greets happiness. Wherefrom does pleasure come? When pain is got rid of, pleasure is secured. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Treat pleasure and pain alike as Divine Gifts </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In our country today the young boys and girls are the inheritors of the prosperity or poverty of the nation. The future progress of the nation depends on them. Hence, these boys and girls are the true wealth of the nation. It has to be realized that man is the architect of his own pleasure and pain. Hence he should face with equanimity whatever happens to him – good or evil.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">God is described as Siddhi Swaroopa (the embodiment of wish fulfillment). He is also described as Amogha (One without a limit or measure). This means that the power of the Divine is infinite. He is also known as Aprameya (the immeasurable). Hence, everyone should treat whatever happens to him as a gift from God. Pleasure and pain should be treated alike as Divine gifts. There is a unique joy in this process. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In daily life we tend to treat defeat, loss or grief as calamities. But, nothing occurs in the world without a cause. Hunger is the cause for eating. Thirst is the cause for drinking. Difficulties are the cause of sorrow. If man is to enjoy enduring happiness, he must discover the source of such happiness. That source is love (prema). There is nothing greater than love in this world. Everything has a price. The price to be paid for enduring happiness is Divine Love. Without Love, no object can give you real happiness. Hence, the primary wealth for man is Love. Everyone should seek to acquire this wealth. With this wealth anyone can enjoy enduring bliss.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Pain divinizes the pleasure that follows it</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We witness in the world all kinds of pains and sorrows. But none of these is permanent. Every term of pain is followed by pleasure. The experience of pleasure is refined and enhanced by the earlier experience of pain. Like the refinement of gold by melting in a crucible, pain divinises the pleasure that follows it.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The New Year or a new month does not bring with it any new joy or sorrow. Every moment is new. Every second is new, because it heralds the march of time. A year is in fact a succession of seconds turning into minutes, days and months. It is only when every moment is cherished as new, will the new year become new. The sacred way in which every moment is spent will determine the fruitfulness of the year. If you wish to lead a sacred life and have sacred experiences, you must engage yourself in sacred actions. The good and evil in the world can be changed only by the change in men’s actions. Transformation of society must start with transformation of individuals.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This morning the students recited a Vedic prayer about students living together in amity and acting in unison. But they did not mention the crucial passage in the prayer which declares: Let us live in harmony free from conflict” The Vedic hymn stresses that unity can come only when people live together without discord. Hence everyone should give no room for conflict or unrest but lead a life of harmony and love with others.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Love is the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT3tUes0tguZD2XyP17amD8oyQ5K8BUOUvn02F8EdG-UU4CYeSnHCxXcqaVo3yKDD7zH3F4N9ASG8fua5UYCsJHUmEXAq_eRdatmWfbi9Kyj8hrEJlCYlUmbtUBxGPKelp9hMUSoaaXZMXC9VqaU3OGujQLfEJHF4n_P1xgygY5ihAHn0TXoAyFDhbKQ=s2500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1767" data-original-width="2500" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT3tUes0tguZD2XyP17amD8oyQ5K8BUOUvn02F8EdG-UU4CYeSnHCxXcqaVo3yKDD7zH3F4N9ASG8fua5UYCsJHUmEXAq_eRdatmWfbi9Kyj8hrEJlCYlUmbtUBxGPKelp9hMUSoaaXZMXC9VqaU3OGujQLfEJHF4n_P1xgygY5ihAHn0TXoAyFDhbKQ=w640-h452" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God is ever love incarnate. His love permeates the world. The universe is termed Visvam because of the Lord’s presence in the entire cosmos. One of the names of the Lord is Vishnu. Etymologically the word refers to one who is present throughout the universe. God is the cause and the cosmos is the effect. The Lord is also known as Atma, which means light or effulgence.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">The Lord is the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance. Every word used in the ancient scriptures has profound inner meaning. This profundity is characteristic of the Bharatiya </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">spiritual heritage. Very few are interested in exploring these profundities. Most people confine themselves to ritualistic worship for a brief time every day. They do not even attempt to know what for they are performing these rituals. There is no meaning in performing these rituals without understanding the purpose and goal of life. The ultimate purpose of </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">all spiritual exercises is to realize the Love Principle (Love of the Divine). To foster love is the purpose of all spiritual endeavor. In no circumstance should love be given up or ignored. Where there is love, there can be no hatred, grief or want. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Time is passing. You are all growing in years. But there is little change in your attitudes. Purity in thought results in purity in knowledge and wisdom. Self-Realization can come only </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">through spiritual wisdom (Jnana). Many in the world acquire wealth, fame and position. But what have they achieved in terms of the goal of life? Their failure is due to lack of understanding of the unity that underlies the apparent diversity. It is a mark of spiritual goodness to recognize the divine in everyone. Prahlada declared that you can find God wherever you seek Him. His father, Hiranyakasipu, was a great person because of his attainments. But he failed to achieve goodness because of his denial of the Divine. A similar difference can be seen between Rama’s goodness and Ravana’s greatness.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">The lesson for students today is that they should follow the sacred path of righteousness. They should work for the welfare of society. Students should cultivate three qualities. They </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">should cherish love for all living beings; they should cultivate all good qualities; they should acquire all useful knowledge. Love is the basis for these three qualities. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">Fill your Hearts with Love</span></b><span style="color: #45818e;"> </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">See that your love for God does not fluctuate according to whether your wishes are fulfilled or not. Remember that you reap the fruits of your actions, according </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">to whether they are good or bad. Love of God alone can confer enduring bliss. Eschew bad qualities like hatred and envy. Today marks the beginning of the year 1998. At least from </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">today fill your hearts with Love. Look upon all as God’s children. Sri Krishna has declared that all human beings are sparks of Himself. This means that everyone should lead a godly life.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Everyone should express his love to some persons everyday. Thereby the whole world will be filled with love. Ponder for a moment on the phenomenon you are witnessing here today, with thousands gathered from all parts of the world. What is the reason? You are seeking to find something here that is lacking in your native land. What is that? It is Divine </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Love. You are missing it in your place. You have not found it in yourself. Hence you have come here, like a sick man going to a hospital. Now that you have come here, take </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">back with you Divine Love. Fill your hearts with that Love.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Carry it with you wherever you go like a sick man who carries his medicines with him. Let Divine Love guide you like the mariner’s compass points ever toward the Divine. Dedicate all </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">your thoughts and actions to the Divine. Thereby you will be divinising your entire life. It is by leading such a godly life that our ancients left a glorious heritage. Boys and girls today </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">should fill their minds and hearts with such sacred ideals and transform the entire society into a loving community. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Sanctify all actions by dedicating them to God</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Students! Remember that you are in a ‘golden age’ in your lives. Do not waste it. Do your duty. Love and revere your parents. Serve society. Adhere to the good qualities associated </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">with right education. Be happy and make others happy. From this new year onwards, when students cultivate humility, reverence for elders and love toward all, I shall feel very happy.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At a meeting of the Central Trust yesterday, I told the members that I had no interest in property. Do not involve me in any connection with these properties. I do not wish to have any connection with money or property. My only concern is with my devotees. Telling them all this, I signed the papers.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">You are my property. When I have this boundless property, why should I have any interest in material assets? Students are my property. Nothing can give me greater pleasure than what I </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">get from seeing the students lead ideal lives. That is the return I expect from you. No fee of any kind is received from you for your education. But I want you to pay one special fee - that is love. When you offer that fee, you will be offering everything, as it were.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lakshmana surrendered to Rama totally, declaring that he was offering his family and everything he possessed to Rama. Everyone should follow Lakshmana’s example. He revered his elder brother’s wife as his mother. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzX12s7XzmynGm5fDcE4Z2jZQNErmNS0_hKa-UhSez1uEs6Rpfc-HVpJBTkbLnEaUN4Ateq9dywWLFbdAc8mlCnz6u6012H5rF35PuIs5QZBUt5vov8u912VTuec7sr6egAyGLqtOPgNFw1cX0uGvleEtM8qgY8x09NJ9hPaIauSI1vSfyV9W-DzioyQ=s1000" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1000" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzX12s7XzmynGm5fDcE4Z2jZQNErmNS0_hKa-UhSez1uEs6Rpfc-HVpJBTkbLnEaUN4Ateq9dywWLFbdAc8mlCnz6u6012H5rF35PuIs5QZBUt5vov8u912VTuec7sr6egAyGLqtOPgNFw1cX0uGvleEtM8qgY8x09NJ9hPaIauSI1vSfyV9W-DzioyQ=w640-h452" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The eyes should see only what is good. The hands should be engaged in good actions. The ears should hear no evil and listen only to what is good. Talk no evil. Talk only what is good. Think no evil. Think what is good. Do no evil. Do what is good. This is the way to God. The eyes should see only sacred objects. The whole world will be transformed when your vision becomes holy. </span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">This is New Year Day according to the Gregorian calendar. We have other New Year days according to the practice in different parts of the country. There is no need to bother about the </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">year as such. Devote every moment to actions that will please God. Develop love for God, which will confer every blessing on you. This is exemplified by the life of Harishchandra. He </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">sacrificed everything in the cause of truth. And ultimately he got back everything by the grace of God. On this New Year Day I wish you all every happiness and prosperity. The ancients used to bless those who come to them with long life of 100 years and good health. They wished the people long life so that they may lead worthy lives. Lead a long life, happy life, peaceful life, loving life and divine life. Redeem your lives by practicing Divine Love.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Divine Discourse on 1 January 1998 at Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-82460711796253982902021-12-27T14:35:00.000+05:302021-12-27T14:35:05.548+05:30Sri Sathya Sai Baba: The Light of My Life - Lt.Gen. S. P. Malhotra (Retd.)<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRcpqyrnJ1ybY1ExnDoZJX7nHglaKyN3uKUNF6nCF6YFVChwf_N8yuSck0kpASeC1AyuS--ihlxAePnSmltPphg49oD44KNHmF8NxZLaofw61fHSKu3G00ZAjcQiiA-Otz3XIYAYuSg8BujUwCmzj2OwF8zIuy-xx1n8x5uzCm8VA5fd-RucZ41_4nfA=s856" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="856" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRcpqyrnJ1ybY1ExnDoZJX7nHglaKyN3uKUNF6nCF6YFVChwf_N8yuSck0kpASeC1AyuS--ihlxAePnSmltPphg49oD44KNHmF8NxZLaofw61fHSKu3G00ZAjcQiiA-Otz3XIYAYuSg8BujUwCmzj2OwF8zIuy-xx1n8x5uzCm8VA5fd-RucZ41_4nfA=w640-h498" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lt. Gen. Malhotra and Smt. Prem Malhotra with Sri Sathya Sai at Srinagar, 1980</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">Our first contact with Baba came while He was visiting Ooty. The year was April 1974. At that time, I was stationed at Wellington (Nilgiris), Tamil Nadu, commanding the Defence Services Staff College. I got to know about Baba’s visit from my staff officer, Brigadier Dixit who had gone for His darshan the previous day. Till then, we had no knowledge of Swami. After hearing so much about Baba’s miracles, our curiosity was roused and we decided to go for His darshan the next day. We listened to His discourse, which was in Telugu. We returned blessed and with a feeling that He is Divine. We were told that Baba was visiting Wellington the next morning. So, I requested Him to visit our Staff College temple and bless the staff and the students. Baba very kindly acceded to my humble request and visited our temple. His discourse in Telugu was interpreted in English by one of the students. We indeed felt blessed by Swami’s visit to our Institution. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We were told that Baba was leaving for Bangalore that day but we took a chance and went again for His darshan. We were lucky because Baba had not gone. He called us for the much coveted interview. He was all love and kindness and we were immediately drawn to Him. This started our journey of realizing the Supreme and my Light of Love. He changed the course of my life. I believed in God but I was not particularly a religious man in the conventional way. My contact with Swami turned me Godwards in the true sense. A Professor from Arizona University characterized Baba as “Love walking on two legs”, Walking or sitting, talking or silent, Baba is Love, all the time, to all, in all places. Many people have been transformed by His very </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Darshan.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My wife and I visited the ashram at Puttaparthi a few months later. The occasion was Shivaratri 1975. The crowds were large but He made it possible for us to have a vantage position in the auditorium. The Shivaratri experience was breath-taking. The next morning I was fortunate to get prasadam from Swami’s divine hands. My joy knew no bounds. My conversation with Baba </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">was a heavenly experience. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have been visiting Puttaparthi again and again for three decades. He has showered us with His grace and given so much love. His love is phenomenal, very difficult to understand fully. Baba is a great giver and His love flows to all alike. Our greatest blessing was when Swami listened to our prayers and visited Kashmir. It was a real boon for the people of Kashmir and </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">His devotees in particular. During his stay, he blessed thousands of devotees, irrespective of caste or creed. He appeared to be happy and relaxed during His stay at all the places He </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">visited.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI3dgJilYtqHIAMkQtd7GxcEBpK7bykhbEnx0fbhJ2VmYbUGMDuQ7f2CHKZewtGFrAoF12Q-2IXju0Fi7e6Wi_OGoOj7kSiJwREQKV5Uu0lIO9iuM_cimsHHxbds8BH1_200M5JHC96wHAaa6vU5Kh5yRH6tYbC72DGAqwDSNNNuZfUh4dHycW8fStlQ=s2503" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1681" data-original-width="2503" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI3dgJilYtqHIAMkQtd7GxcEBpK7bykhbEnx0fbhJ2VmYbUGMDuQ7f2CHKZewtGFrAoF12Q-2IXju0Fi7e6Wi_OGoOj7kSiJwREQKV5Uu0lIO9iuM_cimsHHxbds8BH1_200M5JHC96wHAaa6vU5Kh5yRH6tYbC72DGAqwDSNNNuZfUh4dHycW8fStlQ=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lt.Gen. Malhotra (centre) and his Indian Army colleagues with Sri Sathya Sai in Kashmir</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As you enter Srinagar, there is a giant hoarding which reads, ‘If there is a paradise on earth, it is here’. This became a reality when Baba spent almost two glorious weeks there. The </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">time spent in His close proximity was absolutely heavenly and seems like a dream today. He was like a father, mother, friend, guru, all in one. It must have been our great good karmas of past births that brought Bhagavan to our humble home.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Baba has been our tower of strength, whenever we faced a crisis. Our son met with a serious scooter accident in 1978. He was in Mumbai at that time. In the middle of the night, a speeding taxi had hit him. He was grievously hurt but his head was saved despite the fact that he did not have a helmet on. It was Swami’s mercy that saved his life. It took some months but he recovered fully without any permanent disability. We faced another crisis in the early 80’s when our son-in-law came up with a rare kidney ailment. The doctors did not have a ready cure </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">for it. They also felt that even if he recovered, the disease would recur. We were very worried and approached Baba for his help. Swami knew about the ailment and created some medicine to </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">be given to him. After he took the medicine for a few days, the disease started receding and has never recurred. It was Swami’s grace.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My own case is well known. I came up with herpes zoster of the eye. It came up in a severe form and also got aggravated due to my preoccupation with some important work. By the time, I was flown to the Army Hospital in Delhi, my eyes were not opening. It was a real bad case and the doctors were most concerned. Dr. Bhagavantam and Mr. Sohan Lal came to see me in the hospital; Baba had very kindly sent some vibhuti packets through them. Once I was better and able to travel, I came to Swami. He reprimanded me for being negligent and said He had gifted me my eyes. During this period, I was suffering from acute post herpes pains, for which medical science has only pain killers. Baba took away these pains when I spent a week at Puttaparthi under His benign eye. He took me off the pain killers and I came back fully cured. My face had ugly pigmentation marks which the doctors said would never go. In course of time, even those marks disappeared. Such is Swami’s love for His devotees and I felt His benevolence as I recovered. Swami has been our anchor, all these years. We have felt His benign influence in our day to </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">day life, more so in our hour of stress and need.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2SSRVadNLVRAerm7CaIcEEXnRhu4HKz6ZpkNLcB3qiP5nuSJzcnknowaq0MkB2v--MVo-2Sh0h34jAgL8N2xbgvE6dHylzSdnxlP3qLog_2zwkdpAUBZSSD8C860pBdBPl5FglCSUHeMNo6XkGtGrmAoKlBAsi9fuz2k_VEIl2Dwz3PUbiEhHXWjuug=s872" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="872" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2SSRVadNLVRAerm7CaIcEEXnRhu4HKz6ZpkNLcB3qiP5nuSJzcnknowaq0MkB2v--MVo-2Sh0h34jAgL8N2xbgvE6dHylzSdnxlP3qLog_2zwkdpAUBZSSD8C860pBdBPl5FglCSUHeMNo6XkGtGrmAoKlBAsi9fuz2k_VEIl2Dwz3PUbiEhHXWjuug=w640-h494" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lt. Gen. S.P Malhotra with Sri Sathya Sai</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">Sai Baba’s mission does not imply any new cult or religion. Swami wants us to respect all faiths; however, he would like each of us to adhere to his own religion and practise it sincerely. He says there is only ONE GOD and all the religions are various paths leading to Him. He talks about love as the only true religion and wants us to embrace the whole of humanity in our love. We are asked to develop a positive attitude, be good human beings and meet hate with Love. Baba emphasizes on love as a doctrine of life. His saying, ‘Start the day with love, Spend the day with love, and End the day with love - that is the way to God’, sums up His teaching. Love, He says, is a wonderful thing, which works from within a person so that the change is thorough and absolute.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">My light of love is the fruit of my life; through this love I visualise Truth. There is nothing above love in this world. All problems can be solved with love, devotion, dedication and determination. My light of love says ‘love more and more people, love them intensely as love is universal and divine and has a deep sense in life and has immense strength’. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">Baba’s miracles are numerous and mindboggling. But his greatest miracle is the transformation, He brings in an individual. Swami’s main programme is of reforming the next generation. He is rendering yeomen service through his educare, sociocare and medicare programmes. Under the educare programme, several educational institutions have been started providing free education to all from primary to doctoral levels. He has started Bal Vikas classes and Education in Human Values as well. Along with academics, moral education is emphasized in all educational institutions. Baba stresses on the role of teachers and the students. He feels, much can be done with the help of ideal teachers and students of high character. Thousands of candles can be lit with a single candle when teachers are ideal gurus guiding the students on right lines. The Medicare programme, is an eye opener to the world of commercial medicine. Through the Super-specialty Hospitals, with free medicines to all, Baba’s Medicare provides medical services, particularly to the rural poor. One of the projects under sociocare has been His Drinking Water Project providing water to 731 villages in Anantapur district. Such a huge project unparalleled in human history is a monumental example of Baba’s benevolence for the betterment of the living conditions of the masses in remote villages.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">The list of what Baba has done and is doing for humanity is endless. We are indeed blessed to have Him amongst us. We pray to Swami to keep us in His protecting care. I am most grateful to Bhagavan for giving me the honour and privilege to serve on the Day-to-Day Management Committee of the Sai International Centre for Human Values. I pray fervently to Baba that I come up to His expectations.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><u><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">About the Author:</span></u></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">Lt. Gen. (Retd.) S P Malhotra, PVSM, served as Commandant, and retired as GOC-in-C, Northern Command; served in Burma and the Far East during the Second World War; was appointed as the first Indian Adjutant at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun; served in the United Nations Emergency Force at Gaza, Palestine; recipient of Padma Bhushan award, a rare honour for a soldier. He merged at the Lotus Feet in 2010.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Sai Sparshan (2005)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-32750822607300085102021-12-23T16:31:00.002+05:302021-12-23T16:31:43.220+05:30Jesus was Love and Compassion in Human Form<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Friday, December 25, 1981</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Christmas was celebrated at Prashanti Nilayam on this day. The Christmas Eve was celebrated by the overseas devotees in the Divine Presence at the Round building in Prashanti Nilayam. On 25th morning, Swami gave Darshan through the the silver door from the Mandir balcony. At Poornachandra Auditorium the same evening, Swami permitted the Alumni Association of the Anantapur Campus, ‘Kingdom of Mother Sai’, to celebrate their annual day on 25th December every year. Then Bhagavan delivered His Christmas Discourse followed by a cultural programme by the overseas children. Bhagavan posed for photographs with the children after the show and accepted Mangala Arati. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzdp4g_OhYzHzeuJFuXTSD493MId_k3fJCWrmVvb48V_7jXdeymA88q4YHfAy7w9odl-e1l0iOPagcny64bsLYqXHDc-0bCg2IAzUp5Z35uVOE-kIppWYC495ebmtv2prR1cVe_9mZd7btfJj8suaxB6TvmkxQ5O-XbYCcuPMg5cg71maHkQydQnXucw=s839" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzdp4g_OhYzHzeuJFuXTSD493MId_k3fJCWrmVvb48V_7jXdeymA88q4YHfAy7w9odl-e1l0iOPagcny64bsLYqXHDc-0bCg2IAzUp5Z35uVOE-kIppWYC495ebmtv2prR1cVe_9mZd7btfJj8suaxB6TvmkxQ5O-XbYCcuPMg5cg71maHkQydQnXucw=w562-h640" width="562" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;">In His Christmas Discourse, Swami said:</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Love binds one person to another. Love attaches one thing to another. Without Love the Universe is naught. The highest Love makes us aware of the Lord in everyone. The Lord is equally present in all. Life is Love; Love is Life. Without God, deprived of God, nothing and nobody can exist. We live on and through the Divine Will. It is His will that operates as Love, in each of us. It is He who prompts the prayer, "Let all the worlds be happy." For, He makes us aware that the God we adore, the God we love, the God we live by, is in every other being as Love. Thus, Love expands and encompasses all creation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Looking a little closer, we discover that life itself is Love. They are not two but one. Love is the very nature of life, as burning is the nature of fire, or wetness of water, or sweetness of sugar. We tend a plant only when the leaves are green; when they become dry and the plant becomes a life-less stick, we stop loving it. Love lasts as long as life exists. The mother is loved as long as there is life in her; when life departs, we bury her without the least compunction. Love is bound with life. In fact, Love is Life. The person with no Love to share is as bad as dead. This is the reason why love expands in an ever-widening circle.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Love is the fruit of life. The fruit has three components' the skin, the juicy kernel and the seed. To experience the fruit, we have first to remove the skin. The skin represents egoism, the 'I' feeling, the excluding, limiting, individualising principle. The seed represents 'selfishness', the 'mine' feeling, the possessive, the greedy, desireful principle. This too has to be discarded. What remains is the sweet juice, the rasa, which the Upanishads describe as Divine, the Love Supreme. Parama Prema is Jyothi, Amrutam, Brahma: "Aapo Jyoteeraso Amrutam Brahma." Everyone has the right to partake of this nectarine prema and to share it with others. No one is excluded on the basis of race, caste, creed or place of origin. The only condition is: “Have the skin and the seed been removed?"</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">Give Love to God and be liberated from worry</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">When the Love Principle is known and practised, man will be free from anxiety and fear. Imagine your visiting a friend in a city and planning to stay with him for ten days. You have some money with you, and you are afraid to carry it about with you. Now, if you have handed over the purse to your friend for safe-keeping, you can happily go round, to all the places in the city and suburbs you long to visit. You can roam through the busiest market, with no trace of fear. The purse you had is Love; give it all to God. He will liberate you from worry, anxiety and fear.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Through Japa, Dhyana and seva Sadhana, you have to cultivate Love towards God. Take Dhruva, for example. He prayed and practised austerities in order to induce God to grant him the rulership of the Kingdom. But when God appeared as Vishnu before him, he said, "Lord! I do not desire the Kingdom. I want you and you only." Similarly in the preliminary stages, one prays for worldly boons and material gain, but as thoughts get clarified and purified, one desires just one boon from the Lord - He Himself!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">For, God is the entity closest to man, dearest to man. Your mother and father might be a little afar but God is right with you, in you. Even if you do not love Him, He will not depart from you or move afar. "Anoraneeyaan" (smaller than the atom) say the Vedas. He becomes "Mahato Maheeyaan," expanding beyond the cosmos and filling all with grace. In every cell. He will be in you. You can earn this awareness through intense Love. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">Good works always provoke the wicked</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhSEUD61c2alP4yEsWkBLaANIQYqpAYZ-G8pqkKDwdhz3v1OdDgt0oO3EHn0NvmGhLHkvA2irbXL-0Gw8NCA-zGFflLwY0qq-Y3NkeoVuHfgzztwP3uFRbei0p1bdVG6M-AXgyNo2dS02Rw412UGotbs2it9Fmy02k4R0Oyifh8tR9AVqLiPME8wyTaQ=s999" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhSEUD61c2alP4yEsWkBLaANIQYqpAYZ-G8pqkKDwdhz3v1OdDgt0oO3EHn0NvmGhLHkvA2irbXL-0Gw8NCA-zGFflLwY0qq-Y3NkeoVuHfgzztwP3uFRbei0p1bdVG6M-AXgyNo2dS02Rw412UGotbs2it9Fmy02k4R0Oyifh8tR9AVqLiPME8wyTaQ=w512-h640" width="512" /></span></a></b></div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus was compassion (Karuna) come in human form. He spread the spirit of compassion and conferred solace on the distressed and the suffering. Noticing the torture of birds and beasts at the Temple in Jerusalem, he reprimanded the vendors and drove them out of the precincts. He drew upon himself the anger of the priests. Good works always provoke the wicked. But one should not falter or fear when opposition obstructs. The challenge gives joy; it evokes hidden sources of strength; it brings down Grace to reinforce the effort. Pleasure springs during the interval between two pains. One has to struggle with difficulties in order to taste the delight of victory. Jesus was the target for many mighty obstacles and he braved them all. As a result, his name and story and message are shedding splendrous light all over the world now.</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Not Jesus only, every Prophet, Messenger of God, Teacher of Truth and Spiritual Leader had to wade through ridicule, neglect and persecution. Though a diamond is cast in a dust bin, its lustre remains; its price will not diminish. Though a sweet pumpkin grows on a thorny fence, its taste remains; its attraction will not diminish. Even if a peacock's egg is hatched in a fowl-roost, its charm remains and its nature does not change.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The Divine, though it moves among all the sundry, can never be affected or deflected. Envious folk heaped insults on Jesus. Even among his disciples, some betrayed him and deserted him. Self-dominated people turn envious at greatness and goodness. But since Prema, the Prema of Jesus, had no trace of self in it, Jesus was unafraid. The loveless are enveloped in fear. Love instills courage and promotes adventure. It delights in daring. If you follow the Master, you can face the devil, fight to the end and finish the game.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">Love must bind all believers together</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi60eCzbJpUbf3pGZvCiCs4IiZgHYE1Bf1W0Zhq704EgVaAxeRoe1v3CoFrxop1V_SvgLGYQz4rDIkVJO-0AI2wLzVGKK3DerLDbxVBeGPFpSKz-C9AxB3PZ0BMuthoqS2I5dZE53EKiyaeDmDugiOeqoS-O0eIhox_3Hve5c12j5U-eiSLCxx2-DjvEw=s1099" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="791" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi60eCzbJpUbf3pGZvCiCs4IiZgHYE1Bf1W0Zhq704EgVaAxeRoe1v3CoFrxop1V_SvgLGYQz4rDIkVJO-0AI2wLzVGKK3DerLDbxVBeGPFpSKz-C9AxB3PZ0BMuthoqS2I5dZE53EKiyaeDmDugiOeqoS-O0eIhox_3Hve5c12j5U-eiSLCxx2-DjvEw=w460-h640" width="460" /></span></a></b></div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus was Love. Sathya Sai too is Love. That explains the gathering of Christians of all sects, which we see here. In Rome today, Catholics gather to celebrate the Advent of Jesus. The Protestants celebrate it by themselves in their churches. The Jews are not welcomed anywhere. But, in the Presence of Sathya Sai, all are equally welcome. The Jews arraigned Jesus and demanded that he should be punished; in this Presence, Jews are adoring that very Jesus. The Prema of Sathya Sai has transformed and transcended those memories. It made them realise that there is only one caste, the caste of Humanity, there is only one religion, the Religion of Love. A few moments ago, AI Drucker spoke to you on Jesus Christ. He got the courage and the wisdom to offer homage to Christ, because of the impact of Swami's Presence. He understands that there is only one God and that God is omnipresent. Names and forms are different naturally; but they are all aspects of the ONE. Love must bind all believers together; not only believers but non-believers too must be loved and served as His images.</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Love must be manifested as Service, Seva. Seva must take the form of food for the hungry, solace for the forlorn, consolation for the sick and the suffering. Jesus wore himself out in such Seva. The heart full of compassion is the temple of God. Jesus pleaded for Compassion. Compassion was His Message. He was sorely distressed at the sight of the poor. This day, Jesus is worshipped but His teachings are neglected. Sai is being worshipped but His teachings are neglected. Everywhere, pomp, pageantry, hollow exhibitionism! Lectures, Lectures, Lectures! No activity, no love, no seva. Heroes while lecturing, zeros while putting what is said into practice. Develop Compassion. Live in Love. Be Good; do Good and see Good. This is the way to God.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 – 1985) </a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-26636879264390350532021-12-21T19:12:00.001+05:302021-12-21T19:12:48.361+05:30Be Perfect! - By Prof. E. Mukundan<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfULKNNxwXlFXbISuxC5gX-aRMZI_EBUqEakeDM9D5vepuaQJi4eN6_xvGeed4cILw1inXd8mh_EKkh9D6JOE6iRkcNpq9U8RJM4S7yDLZ274VLqTcfTimAe64pZDLBHamxw9KeeOj5ce6zKpujADyt21AazaWVbacNPNSGPoxD8j43RyqUkW8Uf7YzA=s886" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="886" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfULKNNxwXlFXbISuxC5gX-aRMZI_EBUqEakeDM9D5vepuaQJi4eN6_xvGeed4cILw1inXd8mh_EKkh9D6JOE6iRkcNpq9U8RJM4S7yDLZ274VLqTcfTimAe64pZDLBHamxw9KeeOj5ce6zKpujADyt21AazaWVbacNPNSGPoxD8j43RyqUkW8Uf7YzA=w640-h430" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Years ago, Bhagavan granted interview to a group of youngsters from Kerala. Bhagavan graciously materialized a ring and put it on the finger of one of the boys. Amazed and overjoyed, he was enjoying the beauty of the Creator’s Creation. “Is ring perfect?” queried the Lord. “Yes, Swami!” the boy answered. To this, Swami said, “Be perfect!” Life’s journey as a humble child of our Beloved Bhagavan is a journey ‘from Sai, with Sai, to Sai’. This journey demands perfection at each and every step, then only can we realize the perfection that is within ourselves!</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This journey to perfection demands constant self-audit; the ‘ABC of Life’ that Swami has given us, “Always Be Careful” is very important in this regard. During one of the Vishu elebrations, I got the opportunity to speak in the Divine Presence. In the speech, I highlighted Bhagavan’s assurance, “When you take one step, I take a hundred.” In the Divine Discourse that </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">followed, Bhagavan said, “What Mukundan said is correct. When you take one step, I take a hundred. But, that one step must be in the right direction.” The awareness about this ‘right </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">direction’ must be the light that guides our life’s journey.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another important aspect of this journey is: be positive always. The second Sadhana Camp of the Sai Youth of Kerala was in progress at Brindavan. On 11th of April 2004, a drama was </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">to be staged by the Sai Youth in the Sai Krishan Kalyanamandapam. At 4.45 pm, we went inside Trayee to report to Bhagavan that everything was ready. But Bhagavan gave us the opportunity to </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">sit near him and talked to us on the theme of the drama. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When the discussion came to the point of positivism, Bhagavan asked, “Where does this positivism come from?” Bhagavan was evidently not satisfied with the various answers that we </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">gave; He went on asking the question over and over again. All that we could do was to pray for the Divine Answer on this vital point. Finally, Swami declared, “Positivism need not come from outside; it is inside only. Our duty is to develop it.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3NzXCbYsmR-xjojcOBBQCqZiBt86d6jkLqHexTzonqyIxr09WUNxbyObwMe9x2to7HGxkmSdajhEjjchajlWsQ5mzQI-xY11mYuAEQMdsQiIcJUxrWS0gl2Wtqn7ttn2_NxbEvA0QmSY2fILcMUcIwcFHg_CAaR3btCbni3GksozP5W9a4x-nohSwYQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3NzXCbYsmR-xjojcOBBQCqZiBt86d6jkLqHexTzonqyIxr09WUNxbyObwMe9x2to7HGxkmSdajhEjjchajlWsQ5mzQI-xY11mYuAEQMdsQiIcJUxrWS0gl2Wtqn7ttn2_NxbEvA0QmSY2fILcMUcIwcFHg_CAaR3btCbni3GksozP5W9a4x-nohSwYQ=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kerala Sai Youth Sadhana Camps at Brindavan</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bhagavan’s Love knows no limits. On one of the days of the Sadhana Camp for the Sai Youth of Kerala in 2005, two youngsters were selected to speak in the Divine Presence, as instructed by </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bhagavan. When Swami came to the verandah of the Sai Kulwant Hall, the boys were about to get up to come to Swami. I signaled to them to sit down and conveyed to them that they could </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">come to Swami after Swami occupied the chair. But Swami intervened and told me, “No… They are coming from distant places… Let them come to Me…”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It was on the first day of the Sadhana Camp for Sai Youth in 2003. All the Sai Youth had assembled at the Sai Ramesh Hall, when Swami came for Darshan. I prayed to Bhagavan to inaugurate the Camp, to which Swami asked, “At what time?” “Swami… 8.30…” I replied. “Why so early?” asked Swami, “The boys and girls have just come. They may not have had their breakfast.” It was another instance that revealed how much Swami cares for each and every one of us.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Bhagavan has categorically remarked that His love for us is to the level of seeing Himself in every one of us. Let us see Swami in all, so that our love is pure, selfless and perfect. In this divine journey, it is best to realize that we are nothing and He is Everything. It is He who plans; it is He who does.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In 2004, a school named ‘Sri Sai Vidya Vihar’ was opened in Aluva. The response from the public was tremendous and applications piled up in our office. It became necessary that we purchased a new plot and constructed a bigger building. Banks came forward to offer help. Everything was set to take a financial loan from a bank. Suddenly a devotee came to our office and said, “Why take a loan? This is Swami’s school… I shall contribute the cost of the entire project.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjD7iZDGRNtWrHBI2Tgs9qCI2qnRvTkrjq_r9tMA2DKJ00j-d5zvOtuCq03lDsEojlRkWIQ9qDZXQk-giyMFsaHB1uEyi2LFi1qdBsQYo9dOpmRKeMeg9ifEIqHhFL6ooXiuaQBFVNVuWg2ZPCYxVff6EkqaeDfPRt48xUT206Teu1yTdz0HSWp3w53YA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjD7iZDGRNtWrHBI2Tgs9qCI2qnRvTkrjq_r9tMA2DKJ00j-d5zvOtuCq03lDsEojlRkWIQ9qDZXQk-giyMFsaHB1uEyi2LFi1qdBsQYo9dOpmRKeMeg9ifEIqHhFL6ooXiuaQBFVNVuWg2ZPCYxVff6EkqaeDfPRt48xUT206Teu1yTdz0HSWp3w53YA=w640-h360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Aluva, Kerala</b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">We are amazed at the amount of confidence the society has in Swami and His Principles. When we announced the opening of the Sai School, many parents withdrew their children from prestigious schools (despite the heavy donations they had paid to them) and enrolled them in our school. To one of the Muslim parents who had come for admission, we made it clear that we would teach the children Bal Vikas lessons, Veda and Yoga, he happily responded, “Why not? These are part of our culture, let my child also learn them…” After one of the sessions of ‘Sai Parenting’ that was held in the school, a mother approached us and said, “I am terribly upset after today’s session; to this day, I have not been a good mother.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is a matter of great joy seeing how the society of Kerala is adhering to Sai ideals. ‘Sai Parenting’ has become the guiding principle of families all over the state. When our young ‘Sai </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Soldiers’ - the team formed to take Swami’s message to newer and newer areas – visited new areas, they observed that Swami was not at all new there. Wherever they went, they were greeted by Bhagavan’s photographs. Now Swami’s Message is reaching every nook and corner of Kerala.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bhagavan’s Infinite Love has transformed the Sai Youth of the state. The three Sadhana Camps in the Divine Presence were unique and have provided golden opportunities for them. Now </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">they are fully involved in the Grama Seva Project. We have also been arranging Summer Camps for the Bal Vikas children all over the state for the past three years. Going through the responses of the children, we understand that much more than the sessions of the camp, what touched and transformed them was the love and care the Sai brothers and sisters shared with them. They are motivated to involve themselves in the Sai activities.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Now we have ‘Deenajanodharana Projects’ in all the fourteen districts of the state for rehabilitating destitutes - old and young. One of those who joined one such projects was a boy who had discontinued his studies. We enrolled him in the school and encouraged him to study. He has passed this year’s Std. X Public Examination with 68% marks. These centers convey Swami’s message of Love and Seva to the society. When we commenced this project in one district, the local people, belonging to all religions approached us and asked as to what they could do for the project. Thus Sai Seva transforms not only us, but the society also. Really, we are becoming the “role models” for the society to gauge the Glory of Sai. Once Swami asked a devotee as to what he wanted. He promptly replied, “Swami…. I want to merge in you…” “How is that possible?” Swami asked, “You are very fat… I am very small…” The statement that followed was very revealing, “It you want to merge with Me, become like Me…” Let us observe our Lord; let us emulate Him. Let us try to become like Him, so that we become one with Him.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was during the Onam of 2002. Bhagavan called me inside the interview room to ask about that year’s Onam Programme. When I took out my glasses to read, Bhagavan smilingly remarked, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“See… You are only fifty… I don’t need any glasses… One has to use one’s energies properly.” What a great lesson! We should always be aware as to how we can match His Sankalpa.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtXdG6b102oL0cv_drFOSlWHbAdXbWv1F4ReHienG9nC-JB2_22X-ZDurMwaVAQoReTdoYxzYOPEk4ojtYYeTn4kkIZQ579fMYUJ1B8m3BcoJm5swcT66_1SnVlcsRZPKXd68RxbXyLKTsotlIX-ZMl10Mg_x7JWup1MQvgIOCQfUSzQDwd2M3cNnJSg=s450" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtXdG6b102oL0cv_drFOSlWHbAdXbWv1F4ReHienG9nC-JB2_22X-ZDurMwaVAQoReTdoYxzYOPEk4ojtYYeTn4kkIZQ579fMYUJ1B8m3BcoJm5swcT66_1SnVlcsRZPKXd68RxbXyLKTsotlIX-ZMl10Mg_x7JWup1MQvgIOCQfUSzQDwd2M3cNnJSg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Prof. Mukundan with Sri Sathya Sai</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This narrative will not be complete without sharing with you the Infinite Grace that Swami is showering upon my family and me. During one of the interviews, Swami said, “I am above you, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">below you, around you and in you… I shall always protect you…” Every split second of our lives has proved this to be Absolute Truth. When we are fully engaged in Sai Seva, Swami will take </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">care of everything - not only the major things of our lives, but also the minutest ones. Once, my elder son, who was then a student at Prasanthi Nilayam, developed distressing headache. He was examined at the Superspecialty Hospital; nothing abnormal was found. The Warden asked me to take him to the NIMHANS, for a second opinion. I took him to Brindavan as Swami was there at that time, to take His blessings and permission. There, Swami told the Warden, “The boy has no problem, but for the satisfaction of the father, let him take him to the NIMHANS.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">As I entered the doctor’s room at the NIIMHANS, he greeted me with a smile as if he knew me. He appeared to be from Kerala; when I told him that I was a Professor at the U.C. College, he was very happy. He was an old student of my college! And it is needless to say that the doctor, after examining my son, said that he had no problem of any sort! A few years back, we were about to leave for Puttaparthi, my younger son, who was then studying in the eighth standard, developed pain in the abdomen. The doctor diagnosed acute appendicitis and advised emergency surgery. His right lower abdomen bulged and was extremely painful. We took him to Parthi and Swami graciously granted us interview. After discussing the matters relating to the Sai Organization, I told Swami that my son was having appendicitis. “What appendicitis…” Swami asked, “No… No… Just Gas…” Within hours, all the pain and bulge disappeared.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The rehearsal for the drama, ‘Bhakta Hanuman’, to be presented in the Divine Presence was on. One night, Swami came in my wife’s dream and told her that the boy who was enacting the role of Hanuman was not holding the mace in the way it should be. True, Swami takes care of even the minutest aspects of our life. Gratitude to our Beloved Bhagavan cannot be expressed fully. It is not to be explained with words, but to be expressed by plunging ourselves into Swami’s Divine Mission. What greater opportunity can we have than to be part of His Story!</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><b><i><span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: right;">- Prof. E. Mukundan</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">State President </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Sri Sathya Sai Seva </span>Organisations, Kerala</div></span></span></i></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Sai Sparshan (2005)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-47552841660802646232021-12-15T20:10:00.002+05:302021-12-15T20:10:58.306+05:30With Love and Gratitude - By Anush Mohan<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #468762; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Excitement ran high amongst the vanara ranks. The Lord’s work was at hand. The bridge to Lanka had to be built as soon as possible and they could not afford to waste any time. They threw into the sea whatever they could lay their hands on – tree trunks, rocks, boulders; even hills were uprooted for the purpose. On the shore a tiny squirrel was keenly watching all the action. All of a sudden, this little creature too felt a sudden urge to participate in the Lord’s mission. He was aware that he was too small to be of any use. “I am too little,” he thought to himself. “What will I be capable of doing amongst these gigantic monkeys?” Then, somewhere in his tiny little mind, an idea flashed. He rolled about in the sand, ran down to the bridge, shook off a few grains of sand, ran back to the shore, collected some more sand and deposited it on the bridge. The tiny squirrel repeated this ceaselessly, without any break. Some distance away, Lord Rama was seated in His tent watching the antics of this little squirrel. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #468762;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #468762;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbjgRIsM-xaQsuglz1vsWvbZbEVq6eltqmXBayUmtqHVxkA86uIcOA_S8-8tVgonZhSOYfNb4s0F4rqtWO3dnI-7406gQv811qWFnHZi50ZGRWOQJF6oJWsQl9-5qrvr4Wy3gl81v8fOfkMdTvkD1gxRKApTD340cq6I_vZwk6m4kN8BnAPprFGRVaJw=s1075" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1075" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbjgRIsM-xaQsuglz1vsWvbZbEVq6eltqmXBayUmtqHVxkA86uIcOA_S8-8tVgonZhSOYfNb4s0F4rqtWO3dnI-7406gQv811qWFnHZi50ZGRWOQJF6oJWsQl9-5qrvr4Wy3gl81v8fOfkMdTvkD1gxRKApTD340cq6I_vZwk6m4kN8BnAPprFGRVaJw=w640-h574" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Amply pleased by its service, Lord Rama picked it up and lovingly caressed it. As a mark of Lord Rama’s appreciation of this little squirrel, three golden streaks appeared along the squirrel’s spine where the Lord’s fingers had touched it. Even today squirrels bear the sign of God’s appreciation on them in the form of the three stripes running across their back. When God Himself has shown so much of appreciation for a task which is so insignificant, how much of gratitude must we show the Lord for all that He has done for us? He has given us everything bountifully and made our lives peaceful and happy in His Presence.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #468762; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is true of Swami’s own students – whom He considers as His own property. To enumerate all that He Has done for us would be an impossible task. He has given us education of the highest standards free of cost, a spiritual foundation too strong to be shaken, and above all this, His physical proximity, which is the envy of gods, and His limitless love, which is unmatched in any way. To be with Him is what the devas and the gandharvas yearn for. We enjoy His presence day and night and drink the nectar of His Love. Sages perform penance for thousands of years to earn His grace, and here He is showering it on us in abundance. What more can we ask for? Bhagavan is like a potter who has shaped us with His own hands into beautiful pots from mere lumps of clay. It is time we offered our heartfelt gratitude to Bhagavan for having given us everything in life. What does our great Lord ask from us in return? The lines of a song drift into my </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">mind – “All I want is your Love, my child, all I want is your faith All I want is your Love in God, no matter what’s your faith So says Baba, Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Baba, my Lord.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #468762; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg58V5RWE1DqkfjyIZ2tw5J6L7a1EWcLTr6RrrO8xzK1vek_uQeWqFJBR9T2L3x3jvGzngl5MIyPbCR_TGi4uv6BBTaDyNJJq_aiplzklDpF5zW2HN0r2dbFia9N6TFYwfE-XL1rVA6GWjkTCOVBTL52w0PgQoYT2VDKUwiLjilgUcYz8YAQY-OlK6OUg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg58V5RWE1DqkfjyIZ2tw5J6L7a1EWcLTr6RrrO8xzK1vek_uQeWqFJBR9T2L3x3jvGzngl5MIyPbCR_TGi4uv6BBTaDyNJJq_aiplzklDpF5zW2HN0r2dbFia9N6TFYwfE-XL1rVA6GWjkTCOVBTL52w0PgQoYT2VDKUwiLjilgUcYz8YAQY-OlK6OUg=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;">Love is all that He seeks. Is it too much to ask for? The word ‘Love’ reminds me of a touching incident, which according to me is the best example of gratitude. When preparations were being made to commence the construction of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Prasanthi Nilayam, Bhagavan was looking into every detail connected with the construction. During one darshan session, while moving amongst the students He accepted a letter from a little boy. Clutching the letter in His hand, he went inside the interview room accompanied by some doctors. He suddenly came out and beckoned that small boy. He asked him, “Should I read out aloud what you have written to me in this letter so that everyone can hear?” The little boy was hesitant for a while and then he replied, “Whatever You wish Bhagavan.” Bhagavan then read out this boy’s letter for everyone present to hear. The boy recounted in the letter how Bhagavan was providing free education to all His students and was now constructing a big hospital that would provide the most modern health care facilities to every section of the society totally free of cost. This little schoolboy prayed that he too wanted to be a part of Bhagavan’s glorious mission. Yet, being a small boy from a middle class family, he did not know how he could </span><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;">contribute to Bhagavan’s work. He mentioned in the letter that for the last three months he had been trying to save from the meagre amount his parents sent him every month. In order to do this he had avoided giving any clothes to the washerman and had been washing his clothes himself everyday. He had also resisted the temptation of chocolates and other delicacies so </span><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;">as to save some money. In all his innocence, this boy now wanted to offer a hundred rupees to Bhagavan. While he was ashamed that he could offer only such a small amount for this gigantic </span><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;">task, he prayed to Bhagavan to accept this offering saying that he would be the happiest child in the world if this money could be used to buy a small brick for the new hospital. So saying, he had enclosed a hundred rupee note with his letter. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwLA3YQjIuvznCzm8A2ss0SbnTYn-NTPrm7G2SpmNs1WSC0Ew-b-gASfCH_Vye7_zOuQ86drowCjkqcuZ6Q1z5f8vy6HsmGFl9uG8GkLp8pyfIgiOce-y7JijUY3298lLUpTaJxvwE7EYiELlLB0cajoUGGUsSYct-hRBrbv532pVk-1IZzKGkktOVBA=s600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwLA3YQjIuvznCzm8A2ss0SbnTYn-NTPrm7G2SpmNs1WSC0Ew-b-gASfCH_Vye7_zOuQ86drowCjkqcuZ6Q1z5f8vy6HsmGFl9uG8GkLp8pyfIgiOce-y7JijUY3298lLUpTaJxvwE7EYiELlLB0cajoUGGUsSYct-hRBrbv532pVk-1IZzKGkktOVBA=w512-h640" width="512" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #468762; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There was a twinkle in Bhagavan’s eyes when this letter was read out. Like a proud mother Bhagavan held the 100 rupee note in His hand and told the little boy, “My dear son, this is not a 100 rupee note for me. This note is worth much, much more than crores for me.” It was not the amount that Bhagavan saw, but the feeling of love and gratitude, which had poured forth from the innocent boy’s heart. The Lord is ‘Bhaava Priya’ and not ‘Baahya Priya.’</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #468762; font-size: medium;">We must also make an effort to repay our debt to Bhagavan. The onus is upon us to participate in Bhagavan’s mission and contribute our bit to it. Let our contribution be at least a few grains of sand like that of the small squirrel. Let us begin by pledging that we shall follow every word of Bhagavan and thereby offer our sincere love and gratitude to Him.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">- Anush Mohan</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">Student (2004 - 2009), Department of Management & Commerce</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">Currently, Manager, Larsen & Toubro</div></span></span></i></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Sai Sparshan (2005)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-52748603196792499882021-12-11T17:26:00.000+05:302021-12-11T17:26:07.002+05:30Three Defects of the Human Body<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifui7MpF2FiBC1rerYeenTj-nfiB2lOKWAztTmYDW5Gp6TKehz9X-rmqN-ZGdegb4wm5n7zUsipyF5PkDp5VFihTk3G7wDn5MCbU293FlopR-FKMdISWPWSBCH7WRPteuF1fnxwdSVcf487_wU9GZRKriO_zx4P04pDRQAzAIxmCAXjzYQPt9WbMbtpg=s1221" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1221" data-original-width="1155" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifui7MpF2FiBC1rerYeenTj-nfiB2lOKWAztTmYDW5Gp6TKehz9X-rmqN-ZGdegb4wm5n7zUsipyF5PkDp5VFihTk3G7wDn5MCbU293FlopR-FKMdISWPWSBCH7WRPteuF1fnxwdSVcf487_wU9GZRKriO_zx4P04pDRQAzAIxmCAXjzYQPt9WbMbtpg=w606-h640" width="606" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The possession of this physical body is by the will of God. This body is completely inert. One might wonder as to how the body continues to grow if it is inert? The car has headlights, which function when there is power supply from the batteries. The horn produces a sound only when power is supplied to it. Thought the headlights and the horn, the nuts and bolts which constitute the engine are also inert, yet they enable the engine to start. All this is because of the power in the car. Inert objects perform their respective functions owing to the power supplied to them. Similar is the situation with this body. For all the organs to function there must be some current. That current is the Atma. This inert body is able to function only because of the Atma. There is a magnet and there are iron filings. The iron filings move in the direction of the magnet. Iron filings are inert, yet they move. It is only because of the magnet. In the same way the Divine Lord, who is dwelling inside the body, performs all the tasks. </span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">God is the basis of the universe. Whatever cosmetics or perfumes you may use, you cannot change your basic colour, which is given by the Lord. This is the truth. This physical body is given to you to perform different functions and duties. You should never believe that this physical body is permanent and that it never dies. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><i>There are three defects with this body. The first one is that it seeks ownership of things which are not its own. Next, it treats people as its own, who in reality, don’t even belong to that body. And finally, the body considers untruth as truth. These are the three defects of the body. </i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Man believes that he is the physical body. If you are really the physical body then why should you say that it is ‘my’ body. When you say this is ‘my’ body, it implies that you are behind the body. Then how can you say that you are the body. The first defect is that you have already defined yourself as the physical body. In this world we keep on telling that this is ‘my’ body, ‘my’ field, ‘my’ wealth, ‘my’ money, etc. How long will it be yours? We have attachment to such transient things and we keep on claiming that they are ours. Nothing is yours in this world. You are not the body. How can this body belong to you? This is all illusion. You have possessiveness, which emerges from your mind. These are all passing clouds which come and go. Does anyone, before marriage, know who is the husband and who is the wife? So too, does anyone, before birth, know who is the father and who is the son? It is only after the birth that you say he is my son, and only after marriage you can say that she is my wife. These relationships, established during the course of life, are like passing clouds. There is no permanent relationship between these things at all. You go on telling ‘these are my people, my people’. This is the physical delusion of the body. When you came to this earth, you did not have a single piece of cloth. Nothing is yours. We are facing all these problems today only because we think that all these things belong to us. You belong to none of them. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">There is only one truth and that is that this body is not permanent. One person gets married and when his wife comes she addresses him as ‘my dear husband’. The daughter comes and addresses the same person as ‘my dear father’. His mother comes and addresses him as ‘my dear son’. If his son-in-law comes he addresses him as ‘my dear father-in-law’. All this relationships are related to the same physical body. The same body is the son, father, brother, etc. The fact is that there is only one truth and different people talk about it in different ways. Different types of relationships are established with this single body. I am one, but I have multiplied myself in many forms. The unity in everything is one. There exists, in reality, only one thing. That is the hero (God). Entire world is a big zero. When you keep this zero next to one it becomes ten. Another zero makes it hundred. Put one more zero it becomes thousand. How are these zeros getting their value? It is because of the hero that is one. If you remove this one then the value is only zero. Divinity, Divine power and God is the only hero. The delusion of this body, mind and intellect is zero. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Consider the Body as an Instrument</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But at the same time we should discharge our duties. We should never give it up. It is your responsibility to take care of your children. While discharging your duty you should never forget about the ‘Paramatmic’ vision. The worldly life should be enjoyed by keeping this vision at the forefront. As long as you live in this world you should follow the code of the life. Our purpose, while performing all actions, must be only one - to reach God. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In the world everything undergoes change. How can you believe this mind which undergoes many changes? The physical body depends upon the mind. When any one is born it is called a ‘child’. After ten years we call the same child as ‘boy’. After 30 years you call the same entity as ‘man’. After 75 years, we call the same body as ‘grandfather’. This child, boy, man and grandfather are one and the same entity. These changes are only with reference to the name and the form. These are different types of delusions. This physical body is the basis for all these illusions. It is not proper to firmly believe that this physical body is the permanent one. You have to keep this physical body fit for performing various actions. Until you cross the ocean or the river you should take care of your ships. For whatever period you may be alive you should not allow worldly desires to enter within you. You live in the world and also enjoy the world. But do not get attached to the world. All the diseases come because of attachment. You stay where you are. Consider the body only as an instrument. Discharge your duties. Believe that this body is an important instrument. Consider this body as a vesture. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Make efforts to cleanse your physical body from all the bad actions. You give your clothes to the Dhobi (washer man), who removes the dirt from it. What is the nature and colour of this cloth? It is white (the white clothes that Swami’s students wear). It is white, but after our use it changes its colour. When it becomes dirty you send it for a wash. The Dhobi removes the dirt and brings the clothes back to you. But the reality is that the washer man has not given the white color to the clothes. All that he has done is that he has removed the dirt. In the same way, this physical body also resembles some colour. It is natural for this physical body. When you put this body for wrong use, dirt accumulates. But when you chant the Lord’s name and do Japa and Tapas, you remove the dirt. God may be compared to a washer man. He is the one who purifies your heart. You offer your heart to God and He will cleanse it. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If you want your clothes to be cleaned, you give them to the washerman and not to the barber. Similarly, if you want to purify your heart then offer it to God, not to the world. When you put this body to proper use and for proper action it will purify itself. Consider this body as a cloth worn by you. You are not the body, it is only an instrument. It is ignorance to consider yourself as the body. You can shine with splendour only when you are free from this ignorance. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEEosNkYZXGedrblrURQq5e5xxnVdZ3ZBqp27xFyYJ_TdKaQdOHZuBXguus5wRG9ol0oP-WxEqwbQ8WRKIlKFGHT0VhkHP6zeLcJ_2fOqohzTyR92G2SbjNqoz8jqroNSYIv3lq4xu5arTfGcI0zVZQqSIWLZKdtrIToeTBICOIwHplDWu9t_rz_lNUA=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEEosNkYZXGedrblrURQq5e5xxnVdZ3ZBqp27xFyYJ_TdKaQdOHZuBXguus5wRG9ol0oP-WxEqwbQ8WRKIlKFGHT0VhkHP6zeLcJ_2fOqohzTyR92G2SbjNqoz8jqroNSYIv3lq4xu5arTfGcI0zVZQqSIWLZKdtrIToeTBICOIwHplDWu9t_rz_lNUA=w640-h452" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My Dear Students!</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Take this physical body only as an instrument. There are few more things which form the basis of this body. There are some inner sense organs which are different part of this body. Along with all these sense organs there is the mind which controls the body. You also have the intellect which keeps the mind and sense organs under its control. The Ghee (clarified butter) from the Laddu (an Indian sweet) will spoil the shirt and leave a mark on it if the Laddu is kept in the pocket. In the same way even thoughts leave marks. So channelise your thoughts in appropriate directions. Man can only prosper when he understands the inner meaning of his mind, intellect and sense organs. People suffer because they have not understood the meaning of the physical body. We are wasting time in the name of Sadhana (spiritual practice). There is no need for doing any type of Sadhana. Recognise the Truth. That is the best Sadhana. All Sadhana is meant to teach you the Truth. Once you have the vision of Truth where is the need for Sadhana. Fuel is required only as long as the food is cooking. Once the food is cooked there is no need for the fuel. We should understand the secrets related to the body, mind the sense organs and the intellect. It is the five elements which are all pervading. The entire cosmos is filled with these five sense organs. We should understand the Truth properly and conduct ourselves in the light of proper understanding. You should understand that God is the basis of all things. This is God’s will. Students should develop faith in God. Make efforts to offer your hearts to God.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: The Human Body: A Temple Of God, Discourse 10, <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b003_my_dear_students_vol_4.html">My Dear Students Volume 4</a>; Divine Discourse delivered on December 10, 1993 at Prasanthi Nilayam</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-37011574903801092902021-12-07T19:08:00.000+05:302021-12-07T19:08:17.921+05:30Medical and Management Miracles of Sri Sathya Sai in My Life - Dr. Ramesh Baheti<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAS7bZe4wEXraGNhQLN-uCYZ00GnJrlVEvlLM5SuY4fPgmYvJYq1ySEIoI8pyK-SuQl6nkboFatqN5YN-XV9QTv44bfnwWtADOh6t-UVL5RQaJuRFq3XvEPQP0xKvp-Dh0JxHYTGz8rnM/s727/Experience+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="727" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAS7bZe4wEXraGNhQLN-uCYZ00GnJrlVEvlLM5SuY4fPgmYvJYq1ySEIoI8pyK-SuQl6nkboFatqN5YN-XV9QTv44bfnwWtADOh6t-UVL5RQaJuRFq3XvEPQP0xKvp-Dh0JxHYTGz8rnM/w640-h432/Experience+1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Swami always says, “No one can come to me unless I will one to come.” People from all over the world are visiting Him and are blessed with His divine vision, divine touch and divine conversation. Without any invitation, news bulletins, broadcasts, telecasts or publicity, it is only His inscrutable Divine Will that draws His devotees in response to their yearnings and prayers.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">In the year 1968, I heard of Swami from the goddess of Gods, that is my mother, who had visited Puttaparthi in that year and had had a conversation with Swami. She narrated her experience to me, which attracted me like a magnet towards Swami. I take this opportunity to express my Pranams to my mother – Matru Devo Bhava – in gratitude. She is no more with us, having left us for her heavenly abode.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In Mahabharata, Kunti always prayed for difficulties in life so that she would think of God. In time of distress, difficulties, depression, worries and anxieties, God responds to our </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">prayers and manifests His Divinity by way of His miracles. The miracles are just visiting cards of our God to step into our lives. Swami’s miracles are expressions of His Divine Grace for his devotees.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">I have experienced so many miracles of Swami in life. My youngest daughter Darpan, born on 10th August 1975, was born with a cardiac problem. She had a hole in the heart; medically it is called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). She continued to grow as a depressed and sick child. Doctors said that in 50% of such cases, the hole will get covered in the natural process within 10 to 12 years and all the wellknown and eminent Doctors in India advised us to take her to the USA for a surgery. We made all the arrangements for her cardiac surgery by the best pediatric heart surgeon in Honolulu, USA on 2nd July, 1985. However, we also thought of taking Darpan to other eminent doctors in London and the USA who confirmed the opinion for surgical treatment and approved our idea of going to Honolulu. On 1st July 1985, we admitted her to the hospital and on 2nd July morning she was taken for final angiography before being taken to the operation theatre.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Now I experienced a great miracle on this earth. Swami had materialized a ring for me on my birthday on 2nd January 1985, which I wear with great satisfaction. On the same day, Swami had also sent through my brother Kailash a pendant for Darpan. The pendant had Swami’s engraved photograph. The doctor before the angiographic test asked Darpan to take off all clothes and jewellery, which she did but requested the doctor to allow her to continue wearing Swami’s pendant. The doctor said that she could not keep it around her neck, but she could keep it near or below her pillow, which she reluctantly agreed to. During the angiographic test, it was found that the hole in the heart had completely healed.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">I repeat, with Swami’s miracle, the hole disappeared and rather than taking her to operation theatre for a major surgical operation, she was discharged and now she is leading a healthy life and with the blessings of Swami, happily married and settled in London. His Divine Lordship blessed the newly married couple on 20th February 2000, at Puttaparthi and materialized a ring for the bridegroom Rajesh. The second miracle of Swami happened in our family in the year 1992. My sister-in-law, Pushpa, developed brain tumour and the doctor advised an immediate surgery in UK or USA. We all came to Whitefield on 5th December 1992, to have the blessings of Swami before leaving for London. Swami, with His divine touch, materialized a Shivalinga for Pushpa and advised her to pour milk or water over it as Abhisheka in the mornings and in the evenings every day and said that she would be totally cured. From the medical symptoms, it was observed by doctors that the tumour was going to be malignant. A major surgical operation was done on Pushpa in London on 12th December 1992, which she went through with a smile. After the surgery, eminent surgeon Dr. Thomas said that the operation was successful but he was afraid that the preliminary pathology reports indicated that the tumour was going to be malignant. However; detailed biopsy report was expected in 3 days’ time. During this period, Swami performed another miracle: the malignant portion became non-malignant. She is now leading a healthy and peaceful life and thanking and praying to Swami for his kind gesture. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami says, “If you walk one step with me, I shall walk ten steps with you!” If we turn initially towards God, start our sadhana, spiritual practice, make progress by taking one step, our </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">merciful Bhagwan walks ten steps with us and grants Grace ten times. We cannot get our photographs unless we turn our face towards the lens of the cameramen. We cannot listen to the radio news unless we tune in and adjust the band accordingly. Then only we get “news”, otherwise nuisance. Similarly, we should take the initial step to earn His grace infinitely.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhis3PToSZbP5s-MnbOKKxduo_8ync5UumBesR6xDG-pIofswgEDRvkmZtnnmnuRI37R_cztsXVEZEVD9u3e1nrmeRFFVSfM4vY9QhHk_YzSRdN-fpPtpplaGl2t3SAgcugG_6IJkI_xEEc/s848/Experience+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="848" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhis3PToSZbP5s-MnbOKKxduo_8ync5UumBesR6xDG-pIofswgEDRvkmZtnnmnuRI37R_cztsXVEZEVD9u3e1nrmeRFFVSfM4vY9QhHk_YzSRdN-fpPtpplaGl2t3SAgcugG_6IJkI_xEEc/w640-h396/Experience+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;">In 1980, I visited Brindavan, Whitefield for darshan. While having darshan, I prayed within myself; “Swami, please enable us to put up one manufacturing plant in the same Whitefield area so that I could have more frequent darshans.” Swami’s miracles are infinite. On my return, I visited one of the factories of Kamini Metals and Alloy in Whitefield and during our discussions, they offered me an extra piece of 5 acres of land which I readily accepted and without any project report or project finance, I set up a tube manufacturing plant named STI Products of India Limited and it has been running profitably since inception. It is Swami’s blessings only that besides a factory at Whitefield, it has been possible to make our dream come true to set up a 100% export oriented granite plant at Tumkur near Bangalore.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami says, “Life is a dream, realize it!” It appears as if our whole life sojourn is a dream. We dream of wealth, position, name and fame. But the golden dream in one’s own life should be </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">to see God, talk to God, to be in His company and to receive His blessings. This golden dream is realized when we come to Him, bask in His divine grace and bliss. It is the dream of fulfillment and satisfaction. We decided to lay the foundation stone for the granite factory on 10th August,1992, with the blessings of Swami. It also happened to be the birthday of Darpan, my youngest daughter whom Swami had so miraculously cured of the congenital heart defect. We invited all guests at 4:00 p.m. All of my family reached Puttaparthi that day at 6:00 a.m. to have the blessings of Swami for our maiden diversification venture from steel to granite. Swami did not bless us in the morning but called us at 4:00 p.m., the time of our foundation laying ceremony. This put us in a dilemma and embarrassment. Swami called us at 4:00 p.m. and said “I know the foundation stone is being laid and do not worry, Swami is there.” By His grace, the plant has come out very well. Again Swami blessed us by paying a Divine Visit to bless the granite plant on 2nd April, 1994, which happened to be my second daughter Namrata’s birthday.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Swami has showered abundant love and blessings on us. I and my brother Kailash have been visiting Swami almost every month. We always have His darshan together. Swami in His infinite love calls us Ram and Lakshman. Can one have greater proof of His grace? He sometimes jokingly calls us Larsen and Toubro. Swami can make small things look big and serious things, light.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami is the perfect host. I had a personal experience when we travelled to Kodaikanal with Swami. It was a small group of thirty and we all had a wonderful time in Swami’s presence. It was </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">time for food and we all sat down to eat. As the food was being served, Swami said, “Stop, don’t serve rice to Ramesh. He does not like rice.” Well, it is true that I usually don’t eat rice. Swami went in, brought a tiffin box and opened it. There were chapattis in it and Swami served chapatti to me. Who made chapattis, who put them in the tiffin, only Swami knows, but there they were! When out of great amazement I remarked, “Swami, why did you have to take so much trouble for my sake?” Swami smilingly replied, “Ramesh, it is my duty to make you happy.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My brother Kailash and I, started steel tube manufacturing plant with a meagre capital of Rs. 3 lacs in 1967 and today, with Swami’s blessings and kindness, we have grown into a well-known </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">medium sized group in the country. Industrialists and businessmen are usually concerned with bottom line of their business in terms of Profit and Loss account, which, in short, is called “P&L account”. However, we have been inspired by Swami to continue to make one additional “P&L account”, with “P” standing for Peace and “L” for Love. In the present materialistic world, man’s appetite for money is endless. His desire to get money goes on increasing and thereby peace of mind is disturbed. However, with Swami’s grace, in our group we enjoy to a great degree peace, happiness and harmony which are much more important than any material wealth.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">About the Author:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsja2s3sbe66FJ5ViV8GvXutPDPOo4mFbaBEU9yWqVkx9DgXAlNePxkL54MYdYMnM-BGfYogwePEcGCi55R-ETLwl12bwib_zIUWChiZ4fibYQGgaSuhufeJugk-JnE1Fmds0tqb-zWhF/s389/Ramesh+Baheti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="381" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsja2s3sbe66FJ5ViV8GvXutPDPOo4mFbaBEU9yWqVkx9DgXAlNePxkL54MYdYMnM-BGfYogwePEcGCi55R-ETLwl12bwib_zIUWChiZ4fibYQGgaSuhufeJugk-JnE1Fmds0tqb-zWhF/s320/Ramesh+Baheti.jpg" width="313" /></a></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dr. Ramesh B Baheti, M.Com., Ph.D., has been a devotee of </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami since 1968. He is a renowned industrialist from Madhya </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pradesh who started his industrial career at the age of 21. He serves as the Chairman of Steel Tubes Ltd. He is a </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">Member of Governing Boards of IIM Indore and IIM Lucknow, and </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">a Member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">. </span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He is the the </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">Founder Convenor </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">of the Board of Governors of Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Indore.</span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Sai Sparshan (2005)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-9895554905789386952021-12-03T16:31:00.001+05:302021-12-03T16:31:41.546+05:30Chaksho Suryo Ajayata - By Dr. T. Ravikumar<p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEphH3yNhoHAAcGdnLpYqArFO4Snu9PsNeXqueItDbHW6wlsFgEpRGfsjBBkRBwZ_YxOxBlo9ho-nwBuZm-WqDYz3oXvOV4MiekRZyny_usG3Ia7pdwgOF0oHfjWULdmPtXEgOCTBKZJcz/s1196/Dr.+Ravikumar+with+Swami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="924" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEphH3yNhoHAAcGdnLpYqArFO4Snu9PsNeXqueItDbHW6wlsFgEpRGfsjBBkRBwZ_YxOxBlo9ho-nwBuZm-WqDYz3oXvOV4MiekRZyny_usG3Ia7pdwgOF0oHfjWULdmPtXEgOCTBKZJcz/w494-h640/Dr.+Ravikumar+with+Swami.jpg" width="494" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Dr. Ravikumar with Sri Sathya Sai</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“.... and when we showed the cast to Swami, He said, ‘Ask Ravi to act the role of the blind beggar boy.’ How lucky you are to be remembered by Swami even in your absence! “It was my senior describing to me the events of the past few days. I had come to Parthi from Anantapur to spend my weekend, as was my wont. I was doing my Masters in Chemistry at the PG centre at Anantapur, and the alumni of the Brindavan Sri Sathya Sai College had decided to stage a play depicting the life of Jesus Christ entitled ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">During Darshan the next day, Swami told me that he had selected me in the role of the ‘blind boy’ for the drama. He asked us to go to Poornachandra auditorium and rehearse with Christopher St. John, an actor from Hollywood, who was Swami’s devotee. “I will give Darshan to devotees and come there,” He said. My scene was being rehearsed. Jesus asks the blind beggar who prays that sight be bestowed on him, “Boy, do you have the faith that I have the power to do so?” “Yes Lord, I have faith in You.” Jesus rubs on the boy’s eyes and bestows eyesight. Just at that moment, Swami entered the stage. He smiled at us and remarked, “Sai Baba came and Ravi got back his eyesight.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMDoE545X5ZL2N9p6FqbRL1iMixp3J5Dy7kkdJS4Wk5S2JeieLIFdHx8GZHP7aEKMrSy0KqEcDpue2cWfTi8ppZuNckC8W5V30MJM46p4U4Q2NAWpxRaa5Eb5UurkE2FCqc_TwVJP54Re/s2048/Christmas+Drama+by+Sai+Students.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1151" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMDoE545X5ZL2N9p6FqbRL1iMixp3J5Dy7kkdJS4Wk5S2JeieLIFdHx8GZHP7aEKMrSy0KqEcDpue2cWfTi8ppZuNckC8W5V30MJM46p4U4Q2NAWpxRaa5Eb5UurkE2FCqc_TwVJP54Re/w640-h360/Christmas+Drama+by+Sai+Students.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The Drama on Jesus Christ presented by Students and directed by Sri Sathya Sai</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The next day, again we went for practice. Even as we were practising, we heard applause outside. Bhagavan was giving Darshan to devotees. We continued with our rehearsal. Again, at exactly the same juncture, Swami arrived and remarked, “Sai Baba came and Ravi got back his eyesight.” After the scene ended, I went and sat near Swami. Swami asked me, “Did you hear people clapping during Darshan? Do you know why? I gave eyesight to an 18-year-old girl who had been born blind. I gave her eyesight just as Jesus gives it to you in the drama. I shall give you also.” I laughed and took Swami’s remark rather casually. This was towards the end of November 1980. I completed my M.Sc. and Bhagavan blessed me with the wonderful chance to join as a lecturer in Brindavan College in 1981. In 1982, He asked me to move over to Prasanthi Nilayam campus where I could continue to teach and also do my research side by side. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica;">It was July 1985. I had enrolled for Ph.D. and was doing my experimental work. One afternoon when I was in the lab, the lunch gong sounded. A fellow researcher asked, “Are you coming for lunch?” I said, “Not immediately. I’ll just finish this experiment that I am doing.” I was trying to detect steroids by thin layer chromatography. It was necessary to prepare the Leibermann Buchard spray reagent for this purpose. To prepare this reagent, one has to mix acetic anhydride with concentrated sulphuric acid. As I was doing this, there was a sudden explosion and the next thing I knew, the chemicals had splashed into both my eyes. I shouted ‘Sai Ram’. Hearing this, a few students who had just left the lab, came back running. They asked me what had happened. I could only tell them to take me to the nearest tap. The burning sensation was terrible. The nearest tap was dry, and so were the ones in the vicinity. (I found out later that the water line had been closed as some plumbing work was in progress for the new library building coming up along side.) By the time we found a tap that yielded water, the anhydride-sulphuric acid mixture must have been in the eye for 1½ to 2 minutes. We washed the eye repeatedly. I noted with rising panic that I could not see anything. “Let’s quickly go to the doctor”, said my colleague. There was a general hospital nearby. The route of course, was much longer than it is today. One had to go </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica;">up the University road and turn left. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">As we went in, the nurse who was there said, “Oh! What a time to come! Our (only!) eye doctor, Dr.Wansa (from Sri Lanka), has gone to get her visa extended.” My heart sank as the nurse examined my eyes and tut-tutted, “I suggest you go to Bangalore”.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It was afternoon Darshan. I had to be led by the hand, as I could not see. Everything was so silent and then it was that the boy next to me whispered, “Swami has come out for Darshan (there was no Darshan music those days). He has turned to the left.... the ladies side...He is near the Dashavataram gate...gents side...East Prasanthi...He is now approaching us....”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7U52fNrC6ig7_31GRVGh6hFpJNqBGKRGDf3gZFCQ5qrCG7CmJ52khMpDQXZ2M6tqcC70Qh0TubFSTzcA-0wtfIkOWeaB-c2TTwgkfNcdlbtY5opp-huYNLviwAerELnDTzEyc0243FTa/s589/Sathya+Sai+Darshan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="589" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7U52fNrC6ig7_31GRVGh6hFpJNqBGKRGDf3gZFCQ5qrCG7CmJ52khMpDQXZ2M6tqcC70Qh0TubFSTzcA-0wtfIkOWeaB-c2TTwgkfNcdlbtY5opp-huYNLviwAerELnDTzEyc0243FTa/w640-h422/Sathya+Sai+Darshan.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I could hear the rustle of silk as the Lord passed by me. I thought, ‘Oh! How unlucky I am to be unable to see the Beloved Face...’ I heard Swami’s loving, soothing voice, “Take this prasadam for three days-three times a day. Everything will be fine. I shall protect you. Start today.” He placed three packets of Vibhuti prasadam in my palm. It was the third night after the accident.... I had consumed the last ‘dose’ of vibhuti. As the night prayer ended, I was plunged in thought. I could not control my tears as I recalled all my hopes and aspirations. Having been brought up by Swami as I had lost my mother when I was 4½ years old, I always looked forward to the day when I could finish my studies and in some little way be of service to Swami, and here I was, blind, having to depend on others for the rest of my life. I was depressed and cried myself to sleep.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It was the next morning. There was a knock on the door. “Please come in” I said, and turned to see that one of my student brothers had brought coffee. “Oh you have brought coffee for me” I said. The boy exclaimed, “Sir, can you see!” It was then that the magnitude of what had happened struck me. I was able to see everything clearly and was speechless for sometime. “Yes I can see very, very clearly” I said, overwhelmed.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">During the morning Darshan, Swami came straight to me and asked, “How are your eyes?” I had no words to reply. My eyes took over and answered in the language of tears that washed His feet. As I looked up through the film of tears, Swami said, “Go to Bangalore, get yourself a pair of spectacles. Wear them always in the lab. Be careful next time.” A shudder ran through my spine. The last couple of words scared me. ‘Oh God! Would there be a next time?’ Swami’s words would always come true, I knew. But Swami’s kind smile reassured me. I got myself a pair of spectacles and diligently wore them.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRLayIIhmW77-ie4jc3uHiv8fONUUp4h8-ZosHybjyG06wHcvEeo2Q14Z6okUqLBw_RvNNxSPFioyXSAt5KFdJanKLtidoMTkT5-vY1dxqTyG4-Y9GFyGbhJKFgou4OBjRXZkQqq7Q8zo/s1479/Chemistry+Lab+at+Prasanthi+Nilayam+Campus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1479" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRLayIIhmW77-ie4jc3uHiv8fONUUp4h8-ZosHybjyG06wHcvEeo2Q14Z6okUqLBw_RvNNxSPFioyXSAt5KFdJanKLtidoMTkT5-vY1dxqTyG4-Y9GFyGbhJKFgou4OBjRXZkQqq7Q8zo/w640-h424/Chemistry+Lab+at+Prasanthi+Nilayam+Campus.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One of the Chemistry Labs at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Four years later, one morning, the spectacles slipped and fell from my hands and broke. The experiment on hand was of great importance. If I discontinued it for a day or two, the work of a couple of months would go waste. So, I decided that I’d continue to work but, very carefully. During the course of the morning, I had prepared some hot chromic acid (the dark hot viscous liquid emitting fumes would remind one of halahala poison!). I had poured it in a sintered funnel and to finish the work quickly, connected it to a vacuum aspirator - a new one which had just arrived from Japan. Nothing happened for a few minutes or so it seemed. As I went to have a close look, the flask imploded and tipped 30 ml of hot chromic acid into my eyes. “Sai Ram”, I shouted. As the acid streamed down my face and fell on my shirt, the cloth was being eaten up. I was taken to the tap, and much water was liberally splashed on my eyes and face. Even after 45 minutes of washing, the burning sensation was unbearable.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This time the eye doctor was available when we went to the hospital. She removed the handkerchief that was tied around the eyes and examined. She then called the person who had accompanied me, to the next room, discussed something with him; then returned and carefully dressed my ‘eye’. I asked the person who was holding my hands and leading me, “What did the doctor say?” He said, “She said everything was fine.” I knew that this was not true. I understood that this way I could not prise the facts from him. “If Swami asks me what the doctor said, I would have to give Him the correct picture, don’t you think...” I ventured. That did the trick. He said, “The doctor after examining said, ‘There is very severe damage to the eye. I can’t do anything. </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Swami alone can help”. So that was it. As I sat in the Darshan line with my bandaged eye, many thoughts raced through my mind. ‘Had not Swami warned me so explicitly? Why? Oh, why did I disobey His instructions? Would He be angry with me? Am I, after all, destined to be blind? Did Swami only postpone the inevitable?’ There was a hush. I knew Swami had come out to give Darshan. I heard Swami’s sweet voice, “Emi ayindi, Ravi?” (What happened, Ravi?) I quickly tried to get up. Softly patting me on my cheeks, He continued, “I told you, to be careful next time, didn’t I? You are careless, careless...Hold out your hand. Eat this Vibhuti. Swami will always protect you. Everything will be fine.” I ate the Vibhuti (which Swami had materialised) with relish and relief. From Swami’s own lips, I had heard ‘Everything will be fine.’ And, indeed, Swami’s words would always be true, I knew.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wEN-MGCsrA_pEu0x4Cn5nzjNch0mAlyJ6HRcz1vRev0C_XVv0v-Nyytt35VlMAnuhFd2Sdb8ZPptioztTYBhgvX0wm80qzGwrgd_v2NUUn7mcrMJLDRTGInMCap9q7i1vwy71UIcjNk/s821/Sri+Sathya+Sai+Baba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="821" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wEN-MGCsrA_pEu0x4Cn5nzjNch0mAlyJ6HRcz1vRev0C_XVv0v-Nyytt35VlMAnuhFd2Sdb8ZPptioztTYBhgvX0wm80qzGwrgd_v2NUUn7mcrMJLDRTGInMCap9q7i1vwy71UIcjNk/w640-h460/Sri+Sathya+Sai+Baba.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The next day, I went to the doctor to have the dressing changed. She removed the bandage and said, “Sai Ram! What a miracle! Your eyes are absolutely fine.” Everything indeed was fine. I could see everything clearly. It is 20 years to date... I live each day grateful to Sai Ma for the boon of eyesight granted to me. Sai is the Sun around whom my life revolves... Even as I was contemplating on writing this article, Swami appeared in my dream and said, “Give the article the title ‘Chaksho Suryo Ajayata’”(It is from the Supreme Being’s Eye that the Sun was born.) Swami elaborated on the title. ‘Chakshu, means ‘eye’; ‘Surya’ means ‘Ravi’; ‘Ajayata’ means ‘was born’. Chaksho Suryo Ajayata - this Vedic declaration will forever remind me that from the Supreme Being Sai was born the sunlight of my eyes.</span></p></span><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div><b><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">- Dr. T. Ravikumar</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">Warden, Brindavan Campus</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: right;">Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning</div></span></span></i></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Sai Sparshan (2005)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-69123269753861272512021-11-27T19:03:00.000+05:302021-11-27T19:03:29.847+05:30Sri Sathya Sai Institute: A Temple of Learning - By Dr. P. Selvie Das<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Perialwar was one of the seventh century Alwars (staunch devotees of Lord Mahavishnu). While singing the glory of Lord Venkateshwara, the Incarnation of Mahavishnu adored by different names, such as Govinda and Balaji, Perialwar said: “Govinda, we have worshipped you for generations as family God and you have bestowed on me your grace like an ocean and none else in the universe can be better blessed than me.” In the present century as a humble devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, whom I worship as Sai Govinda, I feel that I am a greater beneficiary than Perialwar, as He is my life’s navigator showering His choicest blessings on me.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">I was born to and brought up by Godfearing parents in a small town of Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka. They inculcated in me basic values of life such as respect for elders, honesty and integrity, which have drawn me closer to Bhagavan. Baba always says to me, “Be Honest, Work Hard and Leave the Rest to Me.” In fifty years of my life, Swami has elevated me from the position of a research assistant at Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore to the Member of Rajya Sabha nominated, as an eminent educationalist, by the President of India. But for Baba’s grace, none of these could have happened.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Though formally founded on 22 November 1981 by Baba, the process of starting the Institute had begun much earlier. With His great vision, He has provided dynamism to the Institute emphasizing on the quality of education and the rich cultural values. The three campuses of the Institute - Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur (for Women) and Whitefield were brought under one umbrella of the Deemed University. On evaluation of the systems in place to achieve the mission and vision, the Government of India and the University Grants Commission awarded Deemed University status to the Institute hailing it a model Institute for higher learning. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Baba preaches that education is not merely for getting academic degrees or certificates to fetch employment but it is for life – a Valuebased life, and education should aim at character building. He says, “The end of knowledge is love and the end of education is character.” It is Sath, Chith, and Ananda leading to Self-Realization. Sathya, Dharma, Prema, Santhi and Ahimsa are the pillars of education in the Institute. In many of Baba’s discourses, He elaborates on character building very eloquently stating that everyone in the process of education should develop selfrespect, self-discipline, self-courage, selfconfidence, self-satisfaction and self-sacrifice.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Bhagavan’s divine concept is that education should enable an individual to achieve a quality life through practice of Devotion, Dedication, Discipline, Determination, Discrimination and Detachment. Generally, humility is mistaken for weakness. Knowledge should lead to wisdom and in turn to humility. An individual possessing both commands respect. Therefore, Swami preaches to all those who come in contact with Him to become humble through education. ‘Divine Sai’- Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient and the Creator of the Universe yet appearing so simple and humble, commands love and reverence from the world community. Baba who is an epitome of humility, says, “My Life is My Message.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYdb-ycvzkBo8os0qqKRCpGTksil8WDnTOvvIsh22Lk0t-5ZxxLGHwBjGXlA9lUYrVjh49eIuDwSUsGvjDLom8s3xjoXXeebIO2GYtgl901IAfPb2G2K3Nsa3rIT6-7rqKQp9gFXX9Jxe/s850/Sri+Sathya+Sai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="850" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYdb-ycvzkBo8os0qqKRCpGTksil8WDnTOvvIsh22Lk0t-5ZxxLGHwBjGXlA9lUYrVjh49eIuDwSUsGvjDLom8s3xjoXXeebIO2GYtgl901IAfPb2G2K3Nsa3rIT6-7rqKQp9gFXX9Jxe/w640-h420/Sri+Sathya+Sai.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Bhagavan Baba being the Chancellor of the Institute makes a world of difference, as its curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are sanctified by His grace. The Institute’s wholesome education which gives rise to physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual upliftment is widely appreciated by every visitor.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">The Institute features uniquely designed and constructed buildings, well-equipped laboratories with state-of-the-art infrastructure enabling the faculty and students to engage in research, exploring creativity. The Space Theatre established in the Institute is a feature unique to the Institute located in a rural part of the country. The library is rich in its collection of books, periodicals and journals. Elegantly designed auditoriums in each of the three campuses eloquently glorify the Institute. Listening to Baba’s discourses in them has been a blissful experience for me. The Institute looks like a temple of Goddess Sai Saraswathi. The residential campus promotes universal brotherhood in students, faculty and their families.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Unlike other autonomous academic institutions, the Institution grants full freedom to the faculty to design the courses dynamically to match the technological advances with glasnost and perestroika in teaching and examinations. Introspection backed by scientifically designed performance appraisal systems is the basis of sound higher education system in the Institute.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Baba says, “The over-head tank should be clean enough for good water to flow in the taps.” Thus, Baba has recruited men with integrity, dedication, devotion to the profession along with academic credentials fulfilling the student-staff ratio coupled with excellent staffstudent relationship. Underperformers are given special focus as underpinning measures. Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning is the only Institute where integrated courses of five years duration is offered giving opportunity to the students to learn more and develop talents through additional courses, which are prerequisites for pursuing further higher studies.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLXxeM8YcJNB7jxXY0dtlluswnW6RfUuEmdzzC4L7EI5R6I7NzHR7ILRdUW677uW3gf25PJyOoK0ApAZfKLyOULK_7bRkoXx1kfdp1Sdyl6KQ8abaGsb0jYU0PQwkpQoUbUKLbx3oi4B8/s1240/SSSIHL+Admin+Block.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLXxeM8YcJNB7jxXY0dtlluswnW6RfUuEmdzzC4L7EI5R6I7NzHR7ILRdUW677uW3gf25PJyOoK0ApAZfKLyOULK_7bRkoXx1kfdp1Sdyl6KQ8abaGsb0jYU0PQwkpQoUbUKLbx3oi4B8/w640-h360/SSSIHL+Admin+Block.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning - Administrative Building</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">In Sathya Sai Institute, time is respected and effectively used unlike in other Institutions I have come across in my long tenure as Director of Collegiate Education, Karnataka and Vice Chancellor of Mysore University. Strikes and frittering away time is a commonplace in the Indian scenario. Swami strongly believes that education should culminate in service to society. Thus, in addition to utilizing working hours efficiently, the faculty of Sathya Sai Institute dedicates weekends and semester interludes for reaching the rural masses and the needy through extension programmes. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">The Institute practises secularism in letter and spirit, without any discrimination of caste, creed, income, region, religion and language. The very application forms for admission to the Institute stand testimony to this. Admission is granted purely on merit and entrance test performance. Thus, the Institute is an Abode of Learning for students across the globe. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Education is totally free from nursery to the highest level in Sathya Sai Institutions. Donations are unheard of in these Institutions unlike in others where education is charged exorbitantly as sports fee, laboratory fee, caution deposit, medical fee, etc., in addition to donations. The Institute also provides free medical treatment to the staff and students in super specialty Hospitals located in Prasanthi Nilayam and Whitefiled, Bangalore.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">Though, the United Nations Organization has declared March 8 as Women’s Day, the celebration in real terms is yet to happen. Baba advocates women empowerment and hence believes in education for both boys and girls. He recognizes the role of women as mothers, wives, daughters, teachers and so on, thus contributing to the building of culture and tradition in the society. Children will benefit greatly from a spiritually elevated mother. Thus, Swami started a college exclusively for women in 1969 at Anantapur, affiliated to Sri Venkateswara University until SSSIHL was established. Way back in 1995 Baba earmarked a day in November as Ladies’ Day and it is a big celebration for every woman devotee. All the programs on that day are conducted only by women.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">The entire administrative machinery of the Institute comprising the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and others works with devotion and dedication for the development of the Institute. The Institute has received wide appreciation from eminent leaders of India and abroad. The high level committees of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India and of the University Grants Commission which visit the Institute periodically have declared SSSIHL as the best University in India. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) established by UGC for assessment and accreditation of the higher education institutions has awarded accreditation to Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, the Deemed University with A++ grade. The Institution will remain a role model to all educational institutions for generations, with the grace of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><u>About the Author:</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Selvie_Das"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERec2YxPVoU3sPsG9fa0YeNBz3voGH6YwqRZahYTepG_IquinQ759s5eSYSwgzcQ6_LHSdjXW3Ut7sSdn5IHbqiJBo774FB4Mep0yWcpA0BcP84qx-Y8zkrSjnlcxh_wikMWFxN5-fqId/s355/P.+Selvie+Das.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="355" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERec2YxPVoU3sPsG9fa0YeNBz3voGH6YwqRZahYTepG_IquinQ759s5eSYSwgzcQ6_LHSdjXW3Ut7sSdn5IHbqiJBo774FB4Mep0yWcpA0BcP84qx-Y8zkrSjnlcxh_wikMWFxN5-fqId/s320/P.+Selvie+Das.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Dr. P Selvie Das (1932-2021) was an eminent educationist and acclaimed administrator. She was a member of the Governing Body of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. She was nominated to Rajya Sabha (1997-2003) by the President of India; member of UPSC (1991-1997); and member of UGC. She was the first and the only woman Vice Chancellor of Mysore University (1988-1991).</span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Vidyagiri: Divine Vision (2006)</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-40803171281317698052021-11-23T10:32:00.001+05:302021-11-23T10:32:27.124+05:30The Sathya Sai Incarnation is to foster Dharma and confer Ananda<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf7ZsiPJ6yHXbtAv0esAHfgjgz2bI-rdCyAT-JTFhEUoQEGdEBm18Cb_HKPYrQRPnIbtZL93pTkbUfmKFu_4A285YDYDk7CrM-kWqPOrMv5C5phzKRS_YxKWWjKVnW4unUq-wgrnF0koG/s685/Sri+Sathya+Sai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="685" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf7ZsiPJ6yHXbtAv0esAHfgjgz2bI-rdCyAT-JTFhEUoQEGdEBm18Cb_HKPYrQRPnIbtZL93pTkbUfmKFu_4A285YDYDk7CrM-kWqPOrMv5C5phzKRS_YxKWWjKVnW4unUq-wgrnF0koG/w640-h634/Sri+Sathya+Sai.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">This day, 23 November 1961, is significant in more senses than one. It is not only the day that marks the date of birth of this Avatar. The previous Sai Avatar was also inaugurated on a Thursday, and on the day after the full-moon day of the month of Karthika. Today is also the day after the full-moon day of Karthika and a Thursday!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">You are all lucky that you could come to Prasanthi Nilayam from great distances and have this Darshan on this auspicious day. But the joy you get today is only a reminder of the eternal full joy that is in store for you, in fact, for all humanity. That joy is your birthright; this momentary bliss is but a drop of that ocean; to get that, you must dedicate yourself to spiritual practice, continuous and conscious spiritual practice. The symbol on the Prasanthi Flag, the symbol that is put up in concrete form in front of the Nilayam, has therefore to be clearly understood by every one of you. Conquer lust, anger, and hatred, roam in the expanse of equal and impartial love for all created things, and then, you are fit for inner communion with Divinity (Yoga), which will open the petals of your heart. Then, from the fragrance and beauty of that lotus will emerge the flame of spiritual wisdom, illumining world illusion (Maya) into destruction until you and the flame become One.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It is when you approach near that it appears in all its majesty, in all its overwhelming size. Suppose you see it small, what does that indicate? Not that it is small but that you are far away! The sun and moon appear huge, huger by far than the stars, for they are near and the stars are far. Approach the Lord and realise Him as Big; do not stand afar and prate that He is small!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #76a5af;">You are all entitled to joy that is eternal</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Incarnation is for the sake of fostering Dharma, for demarcating and directing it, and to show mankind the true path of desireless activity. That is the one task I am engaged in, through various channels. Instead of reforming you without your knowledge, it is better to reform you with your own cooperation and knowledge. So, I reveal to you my glory, off and on, to a little extent, through what you call miracles. I do not engage in them for name and fame; I am miraculous by My very Nature! Every moment of Mine is a Miracle! The miracles are beyond your understanding, your art and skill and intelligence. I must save every one of you. Even if you say nay and move away, I shall do it. Those who have strayed away from Me have to return to the fold sooner or later, for I will not allow them to be distant for long. I shall drag them toward Me. That is My basic nature, love, and mercy.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Today, at this meeting, as members of this gathering, you are all overwhelmed with joy. I can see that. But this is momentary, this will not last. You are all entitled to broader realms of joy, deeper springs of joy, and joy that is eternal. Your real Dharma, the purpose for which you have taken human birth, is to earn and enjoy that bliss, which no external contact can change or diminish. To earn it is quite easy. It can be done by everyone who just sits calmly and examines themself and their mind, unaffected by likes and dislikes. One then discovers that life is a dream and that one has a calm refuge of peace inside one’s own heart. One learns to dive into its cool depths, forgetting and ignoring the buffets of luck, both good and ill.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Importance of Time</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The doctor first diagnoses the disease. Then he prescribes the course of treatment. So too, you must submit yourself to the diagnosis of your illness, viz. misery, travail, and pain. Investigate fearlessly and with care, and you will find that while your basic nature is Ananda, you have falsely identified yourself with the temporary, the frivolous, and the paltry and that attachment brings about all the sorrow. You have to realise that both joy and sorrow are passing phases, like white or dark clouds across the blue sky, and you have to learn to treat both prosperity and adversity with equanimity.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">If only time is well used, the ignorant (Pamara) can become an ascetic of the highest order (a Paramahamsa) and that ascetic can also be transfused into the Universal Substance and Substratum (Paramatma). </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Just as a fish can live only when it is immersed in water, when it feels the element all around it, so too the human is an animal that can live only when immersed in Ananda. One must have bliss not only at home, in society, and in the world but, more than all, in the heart. As a matter of fact, bliss in the heart produces bliss everywhere. The heart is the spring of joy. That spring has to be touched by constant meditation, recitation of God’s name, and the intermittent dwelling on the glory, the grace, and the inexhaustible manifestations of the Lord. Hold fast to the goal; the devotee should never turn back. Never give way to doubt or despair.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #76a5af;">Pray, as the performance of a duty</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">A person driving a car concentrates on the road, for they are anxious to save themself and others from accident. Fear is what induces single-mindedness in this case. Love is a greater force for giving concentration. If you have steady and resolute love, concentration becomes intense and unshakeable. Faith develops into love, and love results in concentration. Prayer is possible and begins to yield fruit under such conditions. Pray, using the Name as a symbol of the Lord. Pray, keeping all the waves of the mind stilled. Pray, as the performance of a duty for your very real existence, as the only justification for your coming into the world as a human.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">“Mine” and “yours” — these attitudes are only for identification. They are not real; they are temporary. “His” — that is the truth, the eternal. It is like the headmaster of a school being in temporary charge of the furniture of the school. He has to hand over the items when he is transferred or retired. Treat all things with which you are endowed just as the headmaster treats the furniture. Be always aware that the final checking-up is imminent. Wait for that moment with joy. Be ready for that event. Have your accounts up to date and the balance already calculated to be handed over. Treat all things entrusted to you with care and diligence.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Narayana is the Lord of the Water; (Naaram means water). But what is the water of which He is the Lord? He resides in the heart, and His presence when recognised melts even the stoniest heart, and the water emanates from the eye as tears of joy, gratitude, and fullness! His Presence is said to have been recognised by the person when the person is suffused by sympathy, making them sad while another is sad and joyful when another is filled with joy. Narayana is He who brings tears of joy to the eyes! The function of your tear glands is to express internal joy, not to weep like a fool or a coward.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Divine Discourse on November 23, 1961 at Prasanthi Nilayam</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-37237424735641010922021-11-20T14:30:00.002+05:302021-11-21T11:27:35.734+05:30Inauguration of the Administrative Building and First Convocation of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b> Monday, November 22, 1982</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This day was yet another red letter day for Prashanti Nilayam. Two significant events took place on this day. The first one being the inauguration of the Administrative Building of Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning; and the second one being the First Annual Convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaeMZuVP0q3gTxUqjlhX2ncE9Tum0Aav5HYUDmfQnBjZAyWVwjEfYlOwI1Iz-Ufu-vjzOhT1ETNxscBDNU0cP6wAXaL7cJ4CojZO-_O_CMvHerFhjFy1VZGOtU_sKYEZBlKu4_q2U2yCo/s1551/Inauguration+of+SSSIHL+Admin+Block%252C+1982.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="1551" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaeMZuVP0q3gTxUqjlhX2ncE9Tum0Aav5HYUDmfQnBjZAyWVwjEfYlOwI1Iz-Ufu-vjzOhT1ETNxscBDNU0cP6wAXaL7cJ4CojZO-_O_CMvHerFhjFy1VZGOtU_sKYEZBlKu4_q2U2yCo/w640-h480/Inauguration+of+SSSIHL+Admin+Block%252C+1982.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Inauguration of SSSIHL Admin Block - Chief Minister of Karnataka with Sri Sathya Sai - November 22, 1982</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">The new Administrative Building was inaugurated in the morning of the 22nd of November, by Sri Gundu Rao, Chief Minister of Karnataka. Bhagavan, accompanied by Sri Gundu Rao went in a procession in His gleaming chariot to the Administrative Building for the inauguration. Bhagavan went around the building along with the Chief Minister and came back to Poornachandra Auditorium accompanied by all the dignitaries. The procession was led by the Police Band. Prof. V.K. Gokak, Vice Chancellor of the University, welcomed the Chief Minister.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCgY6DyphMUyhklNDIrY2YOomtnB9DcwODfULT9q55a6mMSV2WT-OQdGctLRfdAu1XNZsKSoIvSG1gyXZATbhaOAtHGle1jEbICMU12SVpxLHmlNyX42OSssq-3lAeQHZSl9cFD2Oaxer/s2048/SSSIHL+Inauguration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="2048" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCgY6DyphMUyhklNDIrY2YOomtnB9DcwODfULT9q55a6mMSV2WT-OQdGctLRfdAu1XNZsKSoIvSG1gyXZATbhaOAtHGle1jEbICMU12SVpxLHmlNyX42OSssq-3lAeQHZSl9cFD2Oaxer/w640-h422/SSSIHL+Inauguration.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Chief Minister of Karnataka addresses the gathering on the occasion of the inauguration of the Administrative Building. Revered Chancellor and Vice Chancellor looking on.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Chairman of the World Council of the Sri Sathya Seva Organisations read messages received from the President of India; the Prime Minister of India; the Chief Justice of India; Smt. Sheila Kaul, Union Minister for Education; Dr. Madhuri Shah, Chairman, University Grants Commission; Sri S.B. Chavan, Union Minister for Planning; and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Sri Gundu Rao addressed the gathering. Bhagavan then delivered His Discourse. The meeting concluded with the National Anthem that was played by the Police Band.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">The First Annual Convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning was held at Poornachandra Auditorium on 22nd evening. The Convocation procession headed by two students bearing the Institute Emblem followed by the Registrar, Members of the University Trust and the Governing Body, Members of the Academic Council, the Deans, the Vice Chancellor, the Chief Guest, Mr. Nani A. Palkhiwala (renowned jurist); and Bhagavan, the Divine Chancellor of the Institute, arrived at the Poornachandra Auditorium.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx9oy2dZTHkIgvGp3Z00jNaLS0UefS0zQUfVDtkvvwwioLasNPO8thHXo5RtBUKb0XzfHKj64J6rJBK4SHmcZG4tkImxCIsw8TCkWw8DlemNAyQvgCVLGcX3m4GOWPDCd-677ZALxfxmG/s835/SSSIHL+-+1ST+CONVOCATION.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="835" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx9oy2dZTHkIgvGp3Z00jNaLS0UefS0zQUfVDtkvvwwioLasNPO8thHXo5RtBUKb0XzfHKj64J6rJBK4SHmcZG4tkImxCIsw8TCkWw8DlemNAyQvgCVLGcX3m4GOWPDCd-677ZALxfxmG/w640-h398/SSSIHL+-+1ST+CONVOCATION.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">First Convocation of SSSIHL (Left to Right):<br />Vice Chancellor Prof. V.K. Gokak, Chancellor Sri Sathya Sai, Chief Guest Nani Palkhivala, Trust Member Justice P.N. Bhagwati</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Prof. V.K. Gokak, the Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the gathering. The Revered Chancellor then declared the Convocation open, and pronounced His Benediction on the meritorious candidates. Mr. Nani Palkhivala then delivered his Convocation address which was followed by the Revered Chancellor’s Benedictory Address. He said: </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">"What exactly is education? What have we to learn through the process of education? What is the aim which educators must have in view? What are we gaining through education as devised today? Students have to pay attention to these four aspects first. One’s standard of living depends on the way the mind is cultured. Culture does not imply any special transformation. It involves only the sublimation of one’s habits and attitudes and their dedication to the Divine path.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Education does not end with mastery of the meanings of words. It means opening wide the doors of the mind; it means cleansing the inner tools of the consciousness, the mind, the ego, the senses, the reason. Unfortunately, education is subserving the restricted purpose of making one fit for securing jobs which earn for him the wherewithal to live! True education must purge one of all traces of selfishness. But, today, what really happens is the elimination of love (Prema) and joy (Ananda) from the educated mind! Instead, the flames of jealousy are fed and fostered. The Divine spark in man is smothered. Modern education negates the virtues of discipline and humility. Science without a sense of values, activity dictated by whim, scholarship without experiential satisfaction, humanity with no involvement with humans, music devoid of sweet melody - these are all dull and dreary. They cannot inspire men to appreciation and observance. Therefore, you should give up selfish desires and welcome the Truth beyond the reach of the mind operating through senses and manifest the Divinity that is your Reality.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOE6CHyHTWP_n27beqD_V2YE3gmYT35uFS0CIbV7g6FDKr1rPMN5oCWm2KA-Mt0tO9NKVtBYOu9vKP8yVQY-k15epzHEKele1ryacIUvGMH3sOhyYHlMSkYEk2QZ-QgCveTCIL6Jy1MqAw/s2048/Nani+Palkhivala+at+SSSIHL+Convocation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1376" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOE6CHyHTWP_n27beqD_V2YE3gmYT35uFS0CIbV7g6FDKr1rPMN5oCWm2KA-Mt0tO9NKVtBYOu9vKP8yVQY-k15epzHEKele1ryacIUvGMH3sOhyYHlMSkYEk2QZ-QgCveTCIL6Jy1MqAw/w430-h640/Nani+Palkhivala+at+SSSIHL+Convocation.jpg" width="430" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Sri Nani Palkhivala (Eminent Jurist and former Ambassador of India to USA) as the Chief Guest at the First Convocation of SSSIHL</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Education must award Self-confidence, the courage to depend on one’s own strength. Today, one emerges from the process of education with a hardened heart. Education has as its goal the fostering of sympathy with the less fortunate, but the knowledge and skill earned by one are diverted to selfish ends. Einstein explained to a friend why he spent sleepless nights and Gandhi too once gave the same reason to a questioner: ‘The hardness which the heart gains in through education’! The friend told Einstein, ‘But you are a product of the same educational system.’ Einstein retorted, ‘I am what I am not because of it but in spite of it!’ Education has become a means to gain self-importance and boost one’s conceit.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Western education has spread so deep that culture is submerged out of view;</span></span></div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">Western education has spread so deep that family bonds are loosened much;</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">Western education has spread so deep that Aryan wealth is frittered away;</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">Western education has spread so deep that gaudy speech and dress fascinate all</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">’Tis considered wrong to talk in the mother’s tongue.</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">‘foolish to tread the ancient path,</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">And cheap to honour the Guru.</div></span></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We have to be warned of these dangerous developments and prepare a generation of youth which can restore the glory of India in the coming years by enthusiastic and intelligent projects of loving service.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Bharat had unique goals for education in the past. You must relearn them and revive them. Vidya, it was understood, caused splendour to emerge from the heart. Vidya implied dedication for mutual service. Today, education does not impart the virtues of renunciation, selfless love and sympathy. Monetary return should not be the aim. Dependence on others should be avoided. Self-reliance is the most desirable virtue. One should always have the future of one’s country in view and mould oneself into an ideal for others.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The pity is, as soon as one secures a degree, he registers his name in the Employment Exchange and thereafter year in and year out, walks up and down that place, wasting his life in despair and distress. Narrow loyalties and limited visions inhibit student minds at the present time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Wherever students are, silence, serenity and security should prevail, for such an atmosphere alone promotes study. But, what do we find now? What prevails is fear, anxiety and restlessness! Those who come out of our colleges are not at all educated in the real sense of the term. Many behave even worse than their uneducated brethren.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students should be clear about their life values, their real Reality and the ideals which should shape their lives. Now, they are engaged more in judging and blaming others. When one has no knowledge of himself and of what is good for him, how can one claim the right to correct or condemn others?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Who is the friend, who the foe?</span></div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Who is the Guru, who the pupil?</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;">Who is the poet, who the cast?</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;">Have you the head to surely know?</div></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;">If you haven’t, do not resent the blame.</div></span></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Unless, one is aware of one’s powers and possibilities, principles and processes, one has no right to point his finger at the evils and excellences of others, or at the condition of his, country or of the society in which he is born and bred.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The end of education is Character. And, character consists of eagerness to renounce one’s selfish greed. Persons without a good character cannot claim to be educated ones. At present, men of character are most needed. Our Organisation has decided to establish such colleges in order to promote the development of character through the educational process. You must know that this is no commercial venture nor is it designed to foster personal reputation. We had to venture on this plan in order to realise and reveal the validity of the ancient ideal, ‘Lokas Samasthah Sukhino Bhavantu’ ‘May all the worlds be happy’. The chief goal of human existence is the realisation of Ananda for mankind and the unity of all men in a world of Love. This the higher learning which this Institute will teach.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Service rendered to society is the sure road to prosperity. This is the lesson which it will teach, with the brotherhood of man, as its inspiration. When this Institute succeeds in this effort, it will be an example for other centres too and they too will strive towards the ideal. It will encourage transformations in moral, material, ethical, spiritual and political spheres too. Students who have to resuscitate the glory of the country, who have to protect and develop the country have to recognise and value these high ideals, for, the welfare and wealth of the country are based on their talents and virtues.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">A Telugu proverb declares, ‘When the daughter-in-law is dark-skinned, the entire clan is dark’. When students are good, the country will be good. As the student, so are the people. Just consider all persons whom we revere today as elders and leaders have been, at one time, students like you. And, you too will replace them later. Make yourself ready therefore by utilising best the chances you have. Your education must make you Self-reliant and Self-confident.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">On one occasion, a follower told Gandhi, “Independent India is your crown.” Gandhi commented; “Independence is my crown; but separation is my Cross.” We have to grasp the sadness of that confession. Divisiveness has become the bane of the nation in all fields. The evil of separatism is infecting the entire country and passions are rising sky high. True humanness yearns for unity. Man seeks the one in the many, unity in diversity. He should not break the unity into diversity. All limbs and organs have to work in unison in order to ensure health. The nation too is a body and the same rule applies to its various limbs and, parts. The welfare of the nation depends on the welfare of the societies comprising it and the nation’s welfare is proportionate to the welfare of its component States. So, we must promote human values at every stage. What is happening today is just birth, growth and death.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Bharat has through countless centuries not only treasured the Vedas, the Puranas and other priceless spiritual teachings, but put them into practice, derived supreme delight in the process and, what is more, shared them with all mankind. Students of today must take a vow to continue the observance of those teachings and to derive the bliss they can confer.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsht-3Zydf9s6MHThzdE_yYSWM8NxhB011VDsvtduVw7k_SZE9cwYGe0P0WRK0uXgzPXdweRCzt_A2slcWrtM9VxGHMdVXidQXcVvxjvduVd1ei8MdyCJ-_GFCU2plbIvqmtwmWSZnv0g/s1280/SSSIHL+Campuses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsht-3Zydf9s6MHThzdE_yYSWM8NxhB011VDsvtduVw7k_SZE9cwYGe0P0WRK0uXgzPXdweRCzt_A2slcWrtM9VxGHMdVXidQXcVvxjvduVd1ei8MdyCJ-_GFCU2plbIvqmtwmWSZnv0g/w640-h360/SSSIHL+Campuses.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">SSSIHL Campuses at Anantapur (top right), Bangalore (top left) and Prasanthi Nilayam (bottom right)</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At first, our Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning had only the Vidyagiri Campus College at Puttaparthi and the Anantapur College for Women. Gundu Rao, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, resolutely overcame the obstacles that had to be met and helped in adding the College at Brindavan, Bangalore, to this Institute. This day, the Institute has become the Holy Triveni—Anantapur, the Ganga; Bangalore, the Yamuna; and Puttaparthi, the Saraswati. Ganga is the pure heart, the source of good work (Karma). The Anantapur College has initiated service activities saturated with holy love. The women students visit villages and render various forms of rural service. The Bangalore College students cooperate lovingly in service in order to realise the Divine Atmic reality that is evident in all. The flower (the Anantapur College) emerged first; later, the fruit (the Bangalore College) developed; the fruit has become ripe and sweet at Prasanthi Nilayam. As a result, degrees which enshrine the sweetness are to be awarded here itself today.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This Trinity (Trimurti), the Three Eyes in the one face (trinetra), the Three Ages of Time (trikala), the Three Worlds in one Cosmos (triloka), the three Prongs of one Sula (trisula), the Three Modes of One Nature (Triguna), the Three Leaves in one Bilva (Tridala), are to be adored and symbolically offered today by the students.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">When pupils completed mastery of all branches of knowledge at the Gurukuls in Ancient India, they were exhorted, on the day they left the sacred precincts of the hermitage, by the loving preceptor who showered blessings on them, to observe certain ideals and adhere to certain practices and attitudes in life. The convocation address, delivered on the occasion of conferring degrees to those who have passed the examinations and who are venturing into the world beyond, is but a poor counterpart of that benediction and that encouraging counsel.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The message communicated then was most elevating and was worthy of practical application in daily life and each axiom was nectarine in content. Every advice was, clothed in inspiration. The tone and tonic effect of the message has became erased in the womb of Time and reduced to a forgotten dream. While the immortal words of the Shiksha Valli (the section on education) of the Taitiriya Upanishad are being repeated for their benefit, the pupils of those days were thrilled and transformed by them. The response of the students of today to the same message will only be a mixture of strangeness and surprise. But that same message can serve as a beacon light to guide present day students, who are tossed about on endless waves of worry and anxiety caused by inordinate desire and vain pursuit of tantalising goals. The characteristic result of the modern educational process is the bloating of conceit into the size of a pumpkin when only a mustard seed size of learning has been acquired! And, the students aspire for unlimited rewards. As the proverb says, they pay for an onion and demand a melon as extra. The bond between jobs, degrees has to be cut asunder. Education should foster moral and spiritual excellence. Students should cultivate the intelligence needed to cleanse the mind, to stand on one’s own feet and to render service to fellowmen. Napoleon used to tell his people, “Be clear. The rest will follow.” Minds clear and strong can achieve the hardest tasks with ease.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students in the past practised “simple living and high thinking” but today, they, are engaged in “High living and low thinking”. High living urges them to earn and amass money, which is subject to devaluation and diminution. But the wealth of knowledge and character is free of both these. “Fire cannot burn, nor rulers confiscate. Floods cannot dampen nor thieves decamp with it,” as the saying goes. Kith and Kin can lay no claim on it. Share this special wealth with others; it does not become less; it grows with each gift. Accumulate wealth and you will be bled dry by sycophants pretending to be friends.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Atheism is growing wildly among students these days. They forget and ignore even elementary human qualities as a result of the cursory and perfunctory study of natural, physical and spiritual sciences. Scientists declare, “seeing is believing.” But, can the eye be trusted? Can the mind, delight, sorrow, the soul be seen by the eye in order to induce belief? Experience is believing, not seeing. The Milky Way, according to scientists, has billions of clusters of stars. How few have seen them! Yet; how many believe in them! Has each person who believes, seen them? So, too, a few have experienced God after arduous processes of denials and assertions and many take their words as genuine and valid truth. The seers of God proclaim what they have visualised, and when people put their faith in it. It is condemned as blind faith as if belief of people in the number of star clusters in the Milky Way as proclaimed by those who have seen them is not blind! Have faith in the Divine and one can experience the Divine. Have faith in oneself and one can have faith in the Divine.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Scientists announce that the cosmos is composed of atoms. Spiritual seers announce that God is the minutest of atoms and the vastest among the vast. Sea water yields salt crystals. Similarly, the all-pervading Divinity crystallises as Avatars. The crystal is a build up of many atoms; the Avatar principle is the buildup of many divine attributes. The two sciences—physical and spiritual—can never clash; one complements the other, for the sciences related to nature have bounds which they cannot cross. They can study only the created; the Creator is the special field of study for religion. One is a scientist; the other is a saint. The saint probes the root; the scientist peers into the tree above ground.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One cannot succeed in spiritual search unless one has attained a pure, untainted consciousness or Chitta. This is possible when one becomes aware of one’s reality, God. No attempt is made to impart this knowledge to the tender minds of youths. Men are more valuable than all the precious wealth of the world. For, every human body is the temple of God the Almighty! The individual has to be strengthened and sanctified so that the country or mankind can prosper. Knowledge without action is useless, while action without knowledge is foolishness! Education must be brightened by means of discrimination and spiritualisation. In stead, the educational process fosters merely greed for selfish aggrandisement, without using one’s attainments for social service and beneficial sharing.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The touchstone for virtue in a person is his keenness to give up, to sacrifice, to develop detachment. I exhort students on many occasions to associate with good and godly people only so that the precious aspect of divinity in them can manifest. Many of them are humble and subdued and disciplined as long as they are in hostel and college, but once they enter the outer world, they resume the routine and ruin themselves. This should not happen. Once Truth is accepted as an article of faith, one should sacrifice one’s entire life to its practice. Or else, man degrades himself below the level of birds and beasts.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Speak the truth. Follow Dharma. Treat thy mother as God. Treat thy father as God. Treat thy teacher as God. Treat thy guest as God.” These were the duties marked out for the pupils. The baby is borne and bred by the mother, the child is fostered and fed by the father, the boy is directed and divinised by the Guru, and the adult is afforded the chance to serve and sacrifice for the guest. Man is moulded and made to shine and spread light, by these four mother, father, teacher and guest. Students might fail to revere the guest or adore the teacher as God. But it will be a great pity if they fall into the sin of dishonouring their parents.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students learn effective means to smother the anxiety, the tears, the cruelties and the lies that afflict the world today. Revive the ancient ideals of learning and of high living in the awareness of divinity. Shine forth in the splendour of eternal truth, in the practice of time hououred values and in ways of holy living adjusted to the times. Be ready to renounce that which seems to you as precious. Be heroes for adventure. The world needs today youths full of universal love, enthusiasm to serve, and disciplined emotions.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">When we survey the career of this country, we can discover clearly why this great country has come to such a pass. There was no lack of powerful rulers in the past; there was no lack of skilled administrators and brave generals. There were many scientists and learned pundits and profound teachers. But there was one defect which ruined the land, want of unity. There was no spirit of accommodation and social friendship. We may have vast resources but we have some wrong traits which weaken us. We cling to trivialities and mechanical acts and thoughts. We pay no attention to the divine exhortation and instruction that inhalation and exhalation of breath, kills moment by moment. “Soham”, “Soham” 21,600 times a day! ‘That is myself’ ‘I am That’ ‘I am God’. Teachers have to discharge this responsibility. Since the students are the roots of a prosperous nation, the basis for a strong structure, they have to be moulded into citizens we have to depend upon in the future. Students must develop extensive interests. They must visualise wide horizon.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Be grateful to the Institute that has fostered you. The Sai that is loving you as the mother, protecting you like the father, counselling you as the Guru saving you like God should ever be in your memory. Live, wherever your future lies, in accordance to the ideals you have imbibed here. Do not fall into the temptations of imitating wild and vulgar fashions in dress, deportment and thinking.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The educational institutions must endeavour to produce students with integrity, character and Self-confidence. Cultivation of knowledge is secondary. We can assure that colleges of Kamsa or Hiranyakasipu might have produced knowledgeable pupils but would not have produced a Prahlada or Krishna! Maintain purity of speech, of sight, of learning and of action. Awarding a university degree on a person of low character and vicious habits can be condemned as sin, for the degree has to be justified to the recipient by his exemplary noble living.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtqVLshl3VMeV89W_qmMJIFEm2_IQC7aJVNZcOZhuMDcGpFP15Eq2hqXt7DDgAwxTjlp50eIItAKlcKlKKTbLTuovfAvHBgyyFUDpWC6GA8fQMOfZEqEjhw7txNsLqc0kb63zVnwNeX0y/s1379/1ST+CONVOCATION+-+A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1132" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtqVLshl3VMeV89W_qmMJIFEm2_IQC7aJVNZcOZhuMDcGpFP15Eq2hqXt7DDgAwxTjlp50eIItAKlcKlKKTbLTuovfAvHBgyyFUDpWC6GA8fQMOfZEqEjhw7txNsLqc0kb63zVnwNeX0y/w526-h640/1ST+CONVOCATION+-+A.jpg" width="526" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Governing Board Members with Revered Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Chief Guest - November 22, 1982</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Students! I am speaking to you in this strain. I for your own good, for your happiness, for making your lives meaningful, not because I dislike you; each of you has a living mother though you may not be aware of the depth of that love. Know that Sai Love is the Love of a thousand mothers. Naturally you will find it impossible to gauge the intensity of my Love,and understand this. If you place yourselves outside that Love, you place yourselves outside the love of all mankind. Mine is Love that is pure, free, selfless and unconditional. It is a great good fortune to receive such love.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Do not barter away this priceless human embodiment of the divine for a handful of trash. Gold can never make a man genuinely human nor can diamonds achieve that goal. It has to be reached through your own sincerity and tireless effort."</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 - 1985)</a></span></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-56473633247576423682021-11-08T17:52:00.002+05:302021-11-08T18:01:46.068+05:30Vice President of India lays the foundation stone of Sri Sathya Sai College for Women Building<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b> Friday, November 7, 1969</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbSA1EltjYjU3FsWSBtdhUYHmUFChYV0NZf6UZrqNrxpjDdlAGa9fXtiE44OY9HMQ6iemPSBeVtDJ2kkGZfaP8KZoOksdwD-UjPJpffNqW_fR9RxNzwXcfjD8DLO6Pc2Jo8n9IORcPGBsA/s965/TDTA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="617" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbSA1EltjYjU3FsWSBtdhUYHmUFChYV0NZf6UZrqNrxpjDdlAGa9fXtiE44OY9HMQ6iemPSBeVtDJ2kkGZfaP8KZoOksdwD-UjPJpffNqW_fR9RxNzwXcfjD8DLO6Pc2Jo8n9IORcPGBsA/w410-h640/TDTA.jpg" width="410" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The foundation stone for the New Building of the Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for Women, Anantapur, was laid on this day in the Divine Presence of Bhagavan by Sri Gopal Swarup Pathak, Vice President of India.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">"This day marks a significant and sacred stage in the history of Anantapur. It is also a great day for those who yearn for the revival and growth of Bharatiya culture. The people of India are now giving themselves, through their Government, vast opportunities for the development of education, and of medical facilities, and the promotion of schemes for the provision of vaster quantities of food grains and drinking water. These will raise the standard of living of the millions; more houses are built; more schools, more hospitals, more factories, better farms, more trade - these are being planned and established. This is all desirable, no doubt. But, along with these, and even more than these, plans have to be devised and executed for guaranteeing for the millions security, contentment, equanimity and peace. These are inner accomplishments which will ensure a stable, satisfied community, which can embody the real culture of India and reveal its strength-giving qualities.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">It is indeed surprising that neither the rulers nor the ruled have yet tried to diagnose the prevalent discontent, the recurrent waves of hate and misunderstanding that disturb the peace, the anxiety and fear that. undermine social peace. The causes for these maladies are to be sought in the realm of the spirit, rather than in the economic, political or intellectual, scholastic or social fields. It is indeed deplorable that the education of the spirit has been totally neglected while attention is devoted to the training of skills and to gleaning and garnering information. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Sahana gives peace, removes hatred</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This College and other such colleges which I am establishing in every State of India has as one of its purposes, the demonstration to the people and the Administration, the urgency of this task as well as the ways in which it can be fulfilled. My Sankalpa (plan of action) is to provide the youth with an education which, while cultivating their intelligence, will also purify their impulses and emotions and equip them with the physical and mental disciplines needed for drawing upon the springs of calmness and joy that lie in their own hearts. Their higher natures will have to be fostered and encouraged to blossom, by means of study, prayer and saadhana, contacts with the sages, saints and spiritual heroes and heroines of their land, and place them on the path of self-confidence, self-satisfaction, self-sacrifice and self-knowledge. The heart of man which is now allowed to lie fallow has to be ploughed by spiritual exercise like Japam (repetition of sacred word) and Dhyanam (meditation); then, when the seeds of prema are sown and fertilised by shraddha, and the crop protected by </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Titiksha (vigilance), the harvest of Sahana (endurance) can be gathered. Sahana gives Shanti (peace), and removes hatred and anger. Sahana is the richest treasure of man. To understand aright the culture of Bhaarath, people have to study the Puranas (spiritual legends), which are the Pramaanas (authority) and the Shastras (spiritual sciences) which are the Netras (eyes). Both these are designed to elaborate and simplify the profound teachings of Vedanta, and so, they can be called "popular manuals of spiritual science." These Puraanas and Shastras stress the role of women as mothers and extol the mothers, who instilled high ideals in the minds of the children of the land. The Vedas speak of Maitreyi and Gaargi as great scholars and spiritual heroines. Gaargi was revered in the assembly of Vedic Pandits for her mastery of the abstruse problems of the spiritual voyage into the heights of Self-realisation. </span></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">In historical times, we have the mother of Shivaji who fed him on the epics and Puranas, and brought him up as a brave representative of the best in Hindu Culture. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">India should get back the status of Guru for mankind</span></b><span style="color: #45818e;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dharma for the Hindu, the adherent of Sanatana Culture, is as near and as dear as his own body. To save it and it, he was prepared to face exile, torture, death. Dharma was also the land whereon he lived, the breath wherewith he drew his vitality. He never cared to reside in a land where Dharma was not practised; he felt suffocated, when he had to be in an atmosphere that was polluted by A-dharma (life, contrary to the principles of Dharma). In the A-dharmic land, he can exist only as Seeta did in the Ashokavana of Lanka, breathing the ozone of Rama Nama and ignoring the entire environment.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMLtD0ndljUaM8V2ny1ynFysujpy9kmf1lppfc4uZ-WWeTpCGip7vRB_ktrH1pX_J33SQTvossjoXAH8qoFnHyfylUxnnxxM8QCgZdUJvUgnukX-euRCTs7iVEAqKqjpUVjGCLu2by8mF/s2000/BHARAT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="2000" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMLtD0ndljUaM8V2ny1ynFysujpy9kmf1lppfc4uZ-WWeTpCGip7vRB_ktrH1pX_J33SQTvossjoXAH8qoFnHyfylUxnnxxM8QCgZdUJvUgnukX-euRCTs7iVEAqKqjpUVjGCLu2by8mF/w640-h452/BHARAT.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bharat can never find real happiness, except in the atmosphere of devotion and dedication to God; God is so much inter-twined in every word, act and thought of the people. Dams, factories, universities - these too will prosper, and attain the targets, only if the men and women involved in them and benefiting by them have the earnestness, the sincerity, the humanity and the reverence which Bhakti (devotion) can build into them. It is only by this means that Bharat can, once again, attain the status of Guru (spiritual precept) which she had won and retained for centuries, the Guru for all mankind. This college will be run by the Sathya Sai Trust, which has as advisers and associates a number of distinguished sons and daughters of India, full of the spirit of Yoga (spiritual effort) and Tyaaga (sacrifice) which are the distinct features of Bharat. They will foster the nobility of the Mother in our society and culture, and try to nourish in this institution the ideals which strengthen and support the educated, compassionate, cultured, loving, unselfish Mother, the Inspiration for the Dharmic (virtuous) life in this country.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Trust does not look forward for any help, financially or otherwise from the citizens of Anantapur. It is satisfied when they derive Ananda, watching the Ananda of the Trust, its </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">associates, the staff and the students of the college, the parents and the families of the students in the years to come. This college is not only for this town, but, it has to be a model and an eye opener for all who are interested in the education of women and the uplift of our culture, through the mothers of the land. There is even a thought lurking in my mind to make Anantapur the Centre of a University, perhaps a Women's University.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4h7loIeZUCM0SKm8j4Mo6a3iMaOPklB57FE3l2PzqsPWiFj7ABvaIYEXG67Huw_hNyRoL_UEDl3EEsNG6rBegIxyWUg6P7Vdys2Zqj_YVh9tElgpoODHYiEV9epkdV7rwc6jcp1SY4sw/s1157/Anantapur+Campus+SSSIHL.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="1157" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4h7loIeZUCM0SKm8j4Mo6a3iMaOPklB57FE3l2PzqsPWiFj7ABvaIYEXG67Huw_hNyRoL_UEDl3EEsNG6rBegIxyWUg6P7Vdys2Zqj_YVh9tElgpoODHYiEV9epkdV7rwc6jcp1SY4sw/w640-h412/Anantapur+Campus+SSSIHL.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Present-day image of the College Building, now Anantapur Campus of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I desire that the relationship between citizens be founded more and more on Love, and that unity will establish itself more firmly, removing all traces of malice or envy or pride. Let the mind dwell more firmly on the universal Atma, which is reflected equally in every being and, Love will automatically guide all activities along fruitful paths. I bless that this college will be an example of the triumph that Love and Reverence can win. Let it be an inspiration to workers in the field of Women's Welfare and National Progress, in every State. May the college educate generations of noble mothers who will live Dharma and raise heroes surcharged with devotion and dedication to God.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 - 1985)</a></span></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-23487324905093692162021-10-31T17:32:00.001+05:302021-10-31T22:26:12.020+05:30Understanding the Stories of the Festival of Diwali<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgClkjnmzuu0UcoAGcr8MjJG2-01EzsuJhMRDbEnM10iwU_TqPMYa8y9_qmFmvvq5N1D07NQLIujhKTRL-f_ZnqWsXkpoRsh-22U8WSX8RyTEL6H4_IB5Od2BdSUCwbxXgu8Ime_lxLnXc/s744/Sathya+Sai+Baba+and+Diwali.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="554" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgClkjnmzuu0UcoAGcr8MjJG2-01EzsuJhMRDbEnM10iwU_TqPMYa8y9_qmFmvvq5N1D07NQLIujhKTRL-f_ZnqWsXkpoRsh-22U8WSX8RyTEL6H4_IB5Od2BdSUCwbxXgu8Ime_lxLnXc/w476-h640/Sathya+Sai+Baba+and+Diwali.jpg" width="476" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Some days in the year are marked out as Holy days, in the calendars of all human communities. They are distinguished by greater attention being paid for worshipping deities, propitiating the deceased, praying to the forces of nature and similar elevating spiritual exercise. They are occasions to remind man of the God without and the God within. Such holy days are prescribed and observed in India also, along with other festival days. One such festival is Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, which people are celebrating today. Deepavali means a garland or festoon of lights, the most characteristic way in which the festival is observed by all.</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Illumination, such as is done today, is a sign of victory, or triumph over some foe or some obstacle to happy living. It is a way of expressing one's joy and attracting the attention of others to one's achievement of unexpected happiness. Festivals of which illumination is a part are found among the Parsis, the Christians and the Muslims. They are celebrated in Malaysia, Nepal, Japan and a host of other countries.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are countless legends which seek to explain the origins of Deepavali. In Northern India, it is believed to be the Day when Sri Rama was crowned Emperor after his return from exile. In Kerala, it is believed to be the day when Emperor Bali, who was allowed to visit the erstwile kingdom just for one day in the year, is welcomed by his grateful subjects. The Lord had </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">trampled him down into the nether regions, as a punishment for his egoistic expansive programme of conquest; but, He melted a little when he pleaded for mercy, and allowed him to return to earth for just one day out of three hundred and sixty-five days. On that day his subjects could welcome him, with illumination and fire-works.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Discard worn-out prejudices on Deepavali Day</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The most widely current among the legends refers to the demon Naraka whom Lord Krishna, accompanied by His Consort, Satyabhama or Satya, destroyed in battle, this day. Naraka was the son of Mother Earth, as the story goes, of Bhoo Mata. She asked for a boon from the Lord, that the Day should be observed, in his memory, as a day of light or joy and the sharing of joy by </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">one and all. Therefore, hundreds of tiny lamps are lit this evening and kept in rows before and within every home in India; but, few are the lamps that are lit in the cavity of the heart to destroy the darkness that lies thick within. Deepavali is the day when old clothes are discarded and new ones worn; when. the home and its precincts are swept clean, given a new look, and made to appear fresh and fine. Flowers are arranged in lovely designs in each room and in the courtyard; festoons of green add charm to every door. But, even while doing all this, attention has to be paid to the discarding of worn-out prejudices, the adoption of new habits of love and mutual respect, the freshening of one's attitude towards one's kith and kin, brothers and sisters of all creeds and castes, the hanging of festoons of friendship and fraternity over the door sill of the heart. This will make the Festival really meaningful and fruitful; it will be saved from the calumny of being an occasion for only pomp and barren hilarity.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Profound meaning of Narakasura Legend</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Who exactly is this Naraka, the demon Naraka-Asura, let us inquire. He is described as a tyrant, who had no reverence towards elders and saints, who was afflicted with a severe type of landhunger, who looted and plundered unchecked, who carried away princesses and damsels by the hundred and threw them into prison without any compunction, and who never repented for any </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">of his crimes and sins. When the good men of the world appealed to Lord Krishna for succour, He invaded his kingdom, laid siege to his capital City, and overwhelming his forces, allowed His </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Queen, Satya, to slay him on the battlefield.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_5vwP92N6RuozZQWeyxI5lMz2l8CFIIFYce3mT21zFD9ZW8gN0rRZcLn6IztZy0cy88rhx-PUsQomyhgeVx_D5e9i-WuDv-G9kPt2tIwUHT_jfMTzLCZgCtNC8ggVe6dXN-jNBrcuAO9/s856/Narakasura.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="685" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_5vwP92N6RuozZQWeyxI5lMz2l8CFIIFYce3mT21zFD9ZW8gN0rRZcLn6IztZy0cy88rhx-PUsQomyhgeVx_D5e9i-WuDv-G9kPt2tIwUHT_jfMTzLCZgCtNC8ggVe6dXN-jNBrcuAO9/w512-h640/Narakasura.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This legend has a profound under-current of meaning, which you should not miss. Naraka is an A-sura (a demonic person). His city is named, Praak-Jyotisha-Pura - Praak means the previous, Jyoti means light, and Sha means forgetting and ignoring. So the city's name means: the city of those who have laid aside the previous or ancient light. That is to say, the city of those </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">who are ignorant of Atmic splendour. No wonder they are demons. No wonder they were lustful, full of hatred, greed, envy and egotism. They had become so lost in their sins that Lord </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Krishna did not vouchsafe to give them the honour of being killed by his Hands. He directed Satya to destroy them. Yes. Ignorance so fundamental and so deep can be destroyed only by the </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">sword of Satya (Truth).</span></p></span><p></p></span></span><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><b>The lamp is also the symbol of the Atma</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Egoism is of earth, earthy; not of heaven, heavenly. So Naraka is the son of Earth. And, he is called Naraka, Nara means, man, who knows his manas (mind), who practises manana (discrimination of reflection on what he has heard and what he has been taught). But Naraka which means hell, is the name appropriate to one who believes he is the body and toils to cater to its needs and its clamour. When man grows in physical strength, economic power, mental alacrity, intellectual scholarship and political authority and does not grow in spiritual riches, he becomes a danger to society and a calamity to himself. He is a Naraka to his neighbours and his kin. He sees only the many, not the One; he is drawn by the scintillating manifold into the downward path of perdition.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A-suras (demons) have another name in Sanskrit Nakthancharas - those who move about in the dark. This is a fair description of their pathetic condition. They have no light to guide them; </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">they do not recognise that they are in the dark; they do not call out for light; they are unaware of the light. Their intellect has become the bondslave of their passions and their senses, instead of establishing itself as their master. When at last, truth appears before them and overwhelms them, they recognise the One and merge happily in it.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0QtCg9RtwqM0vmDnqK6VYbNM5QQebMOtLazDBFpeogXzrBA6pf4Q7-xzf78pcbP2ZWu64X2DzlNbdk5q5wdBlnQrTKUba0buuOgAA43VxMiYkHdCXcWgGmdxo7Bk9gYGBohrTQV6yU2_/s1600/light.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0QtCg9RtwqM0vmDnqK6VYbNM5QQebMOtLazDBFpeogXzrBA6pf4Q7-xzf78pcbP2ZWu64X2DzlNbdk5q5wdBlnQrTKUba0buuOgAA43VxMiYkHdCXcWgGmdxo7Bk9gYGBohrTQV6yU2_/w640-h360/light.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The lamp is not merely the symbol of the knowledge to Truth. It is also the symbol of the One, the Atma that shines in and through all this multiplicity. Just as with one lamp, a thousand </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">lamps can be lit and the One is as bright as ever in spite of the thousands deriving light from it, so too, the Atma (soul-spirit) illumines the jeeva (individual self) and shines in and through them, without undergoing any diminution in its splendour. The Atma is the cause; all else are effects.</span></p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">The Lesson that Deepavali teaches man</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Naraka sought to act freely, as his emotions and passions dictated. But the Sanskrit word used for this kind of license has another and deeper meaning: Sva-Ichha, one's desire, means, the desire, if at all, only for merger absorbing the sparks that have emanated from it, the waves that play upon its surface. The Upanishads call upon man to roam about in the jungle of life as the King of Beasts, the Lion, and not as panic-stricken cowardly sheep ashamed to lift its head. Face the six foes that are ferociously gnawing the heart of man - lust, anger, attachment, pride, hatred, greed - and be Man, Nara, not Naraka, who cringes before these foes and tries to propitiate them by yielding to their demands, That is the lesson that Deepavali teaches. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwI0Hfb2v_nDMumDfl5z8XXPH7B4lgbO5sONy_Bi6PtMblGnZSx5DE1eX4pIA9kpgbWUta8r6lHWEkWpGCXKiVkzmz-V7y8ffeIDIN0DKQWJVADKyAYIj3oQjb5M_RZ4Xll6-SjynzaIH/s1427/TDTA+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1427" data-original-width="1020" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwI0Hfb2v_nDMumDfl5z8XXPH7B4lgbO5sONy_Bi6PtMblGnZSx5DE1eX4pIA9kpgbWUta8r6lHWEkWpGCXKiVkzmz-V7y8ffeIDIN0DKQWJVADKyAYIj3oQjb5M_RZ4Xll6-SjynzaIH/w458-h640/TDTA+1.jpg" width="458" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Vedic Prayer is, "Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya," (From darkness lead me, O Lord, into light.) Lead me from the blindness of ignorance into the vision of the truth. Cleanse the mind and </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the Truth will be reflected therein. This is not as difficult as some people imagine. The tiny ant can travel hundred miles, if only it puts its legs forward and starts. Faith and steadiness will achieve the rest of the journey. But, if an aeroplane that can fly faster than sound does not rise from the tarmac, it can only be where it is. Each one must first decide on what is worth living for and striving for. For this, one has to meet and converse with elders who have travelled along the same route; one has to taste the bliss of realisation that their lives express. And, inspired by their example, one must practise what they prescribe, with single-minded confidence. </span></p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Lesson taught by careers of Naraka and Bali</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When man fails to use his attainments for the welfare of others he becomes a narakaasura (hellish demon). But, when in a competitive race for individual glory, he spends billions on </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">getting to the Moon and bringing rocks from its crust, instead of feeding millions who starve down below and promoting the prosperity of backward nations, he is only condemning himself.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Even the best of things can be misused by men. Ravana, Shisupala, Kamsa, and other demonish persons mentioned in the Indian Puranas and epics had vast scholarship, enormous economic and military power and even immense yogic and occult skills won by years of austerity, and disciplined living. But, they could not earn one skill, the skill to suppress the ego, and so, they became too obstinate, too obstructive and too dangerous to be allowed to live and prosper. The lesson taught by the careers of Naraka and of Bali is that man should be master of his ego if he is to succeed in the art of successful living. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFcz3L1pl7uX9Ck1n3gqPMOHSCC6ky91v2XJhNZrx9CdOR1wt5Z1Kx3nQOKrDdkVZ25c1jXRkIu2UH88vWFBkRsY6k7hfKC1polq9rXMi88MsX7sJgoSWf43z2jO2DiVQmFWengcF-TTT/s636/Dhanalakshmi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="442" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFcz3L1pl7uX9Ck1n3gqPMOHSCC6ky91v2XJhNZrx9CdOR1wt5Z1Kx3nQOKrDdkVZ25c1jXRkIu2UH88vWFBkRsY6k7hfKC1polq9rXMi88MsX7sJgoSWf43z2jO2DiVQmFWengcF-TTT/w444-h640/Dhanalakshmi.jpg" width="444" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Deepavali is also a Day dedicated to the Goddess of Riches, called, Dhanalakshmi. They celebrate the day as Dhanalakshmi Pooja day in many States of India. Newspapers highlight the </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">celebrations with big headlines. But, riches when one comes by them, have to be revered as something given on trust, and must be used for the amelioration of the wants of society, and not </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">for personal aggrandizement. When people use it for parading their wealth, they become ludicrous specimens of humanity. How can wealth and scholarship shine, except against the background of virtue and humility? Riches may come or riches may go; scholarship may be acquired or may not be acquired; even joy may come and go. Whatever happens, man must be unmoved, he must not swerve from the path that he has chosen towards the goal.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Sri Sathya Sai Message on Festival of Lights</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There was a merchant once, who, while walking through the streets of Varanasi, was suddenly confronted by two sisters who were frantically quarelling over the issue, who was fairer. They </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">were none other than Dhanalakshmi and her famous sister Daridralakshmi, the Goddess of poverty. They stopped the merchant and compelled hint to agree to be the judge; they pressed him to pronounce who was the fairer of the two. The merchant feared to say that Dhanalakshmi was fairer, for then, the Goddess of Poverty might inflict her boons on him; he feared to declare that Dhanalakshmi was the fairer, for then her sister, Dhanalakshmi might deprive him of her favour. So he devised a strategem, to save his skin. He asked that the sisters walk a few steps, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">forward and backward, in front of him; he stood silent for a while watching their slow deliberate comings and goings, and then, he asked them to come near him, in order to hear his judgement. He said, "Dhanalakshmi is fairer when she comes towards me; </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Daridralakshmi</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> looks fairer when she goes away from me; How then can I give a definite verdict?" This was a clever reply, framed to escape punishment. But you should not change the face of truth to please people; utter what you have in mind, act according to the words you utter. That is the safest, the easiest and the most correct procedure. That is how a self-respecting man should behave. Nothing is more right than truth. Do not play false to the God in your being and led into evil through fear or greed. March along, straight, never deviating towards falsehood or trickery. </span></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;">Do not be attached by the glamour of name and form; seek the Atma, with one-pointed zeal. This is the Message I give you on this festival of lights.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Divine Discourse ar Prasanthi Nilayam on October 25, 1973</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-75529530661595505692021-10-29T18:37:00.004+05:302021-10-29T18:37:53.172+05:30What is the Spiritual Significance of the Prashanti Flag?<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtjAjgTFhWOtNxa3KAGbZkHR5Jk6DP-lG1OeQIzO_odJwSIMfd39l4F__m2vFsZkSuNQ7wtNF6DLxmQMD5NDPhK38TfnLtBPbE0a1M8aBX6o86WLG1bESN60LOBxqEG3qKxb4CUAcq4Gu/s634/Flag+Hoisting+at+Prasanthi+Nilayam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtjAjgTFhWOtNxa3KAGbZkHR5Jk6DP-lG1OeQIzO_odJwSIMfd39l4F__m2vFsZkSuNQ7wtNF6DLxmQMD5NDPhK38TfnLtBPbE0a1M8aBX6o86WLG1bESN60LOBxqEG3qKxb4CUAcq4Gu/w484-h640/Flag+Hoisting+at+Prasanthi+Nilayam.jpg" width="484" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Sri Sathya Sai with the Prashanti Flag</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The hoisting of Prashanti Flag on the Prashanti Mandir is the Inaugural Function of all festivals celebrated at the Prashanti Nilayam. This has become an event, looked forward to with eager expectation and enthusiasm by the thousands of devotees who gather here. But, most people do not know that the hoisting of the Flag is a meaningful signal of victory, and, even, those who know, do not often recall to their minds what the victory is, that is indicated by the hoisting of this particular flag.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of course, as all of you have realised, the Dasara Festival marks the triumph of the forces of good over the forces of evil, of Para Shakti (Supreme Divine Energy) in Her three Forms of </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Mahadurga, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati, subduing and destroying the asuric - (demonic) embodiments of lust, greed, hate and other Raajasic (quality of pride and passion) and Tamasic (quality of inaction and ignorance) vices. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">But, what is your share in this struggle and this victory? What is the impact this ceremony should have on you? This Prashanti Flag symbolises the victory that each of you has to achieve over the demonic urges that infect and torment you. The triumph that deserves to be celebrated here by you is the one accomplished over the forces of ignorance and delusion, that, by their subtle and sinister influence veil your true nature and reality and lead you into the desert wastes of the sensory world.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXB7rp0J_OaBjgfc87KcC3NAFRjAy7MVvrZEaDSJaEg-nF1IKCPwo4h0m_FcMGA9EltAnGuIDqbBnb73RxntPe7x8SeVTwkYnW35wt1fsiDQU2TtUGqu0RnrpB9Oh6JCI3aUD6NwdaJs0/s2048/Prashanti+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1756" data-original-width="2048" height="548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXB7rp0J_OaBjgfc87KcC3NAFRjAy7MVvrZEaDSJaEg-nF1IKCPwo4h0m_FcMGA9EltAnGuIDqbBnb73RxntPe7x8SeVTwkYnW35wt1fsiDQU2TtUGqu0RnrpB9Oh6JCI3aUD6NwdaJs0/w640-h548/Prashanti+Flag.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The Prashanti Flag</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">All that are created undergo a process of change</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Of what benefit is it, to know everything about the 'object,' while knowing nothing about the 'subject'? Such incomplete knowledge is of no avail at all; to boast of it is tantamount to making oneself the target of ridicule!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Examine any object of Nature; examine anything, alive or inert, in Creation. You will observe that they all undergo a process of disintegration, of transformation, of transmutation; they are never one moment what they were the previous moment! It is a flowing river, you cannot dip in the same water more than once! A seed fallen on the ground soon becomes different: a sprout! It fast becomes a sapling, a tree, with a variegated equipment of trunk, branch, twig, leaf, bud, bloom and fruit! Each of these manifestations has a distinct colour, got evidently from nowhere; it has a distinct feel, form, taste, and name, and so, it has a unique purpose and use. The seed itself disappears from the ground, but, is found, multiplied a thousand-fold in identical forms, encased in each of the thousand fruits! What a grand mystery is this!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">The same heap of day is transformed by the deft hands of the potter into a vast variety of plates and pans. The one nugget of gold is transformed by the artistry of the smith into a fascinating array of beautiful jewels. These facts are within the experience of every one. The fruit, the pot and the jewel are 'effects'; there can be no effect without a 'cause.' The seed, the heap of clay and the nugget are the material causes, the gardener, the potter and the goldsmith are the instrumental causes; the manipulative causes. So far as the creation of the manifoldness of the Universe is concerned we call Him, God.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When the Cosmos manifested through the Will of God, who is the Universal Absolute, It arose from the Absolute only, since there was then, only ONE, just as even now there is only One, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">inspite of all this seeming variety. That Will which' emanated from the Absolute persuaded us to see and experience Many; that is all that has happened. The One Reality is still the One, it has not undergone any change. We have super-imposed on the One, the illusion of the Many!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">Nature is God's Body, Cosmos is His Will</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">God, therefore, is the material cause as well as the instrumental cause, the gold and the goldsmith, the potter and the clay, the seed as well as the tree.. "Beejam Maam Sarva Bhootaanaam," Krishna says in the Geeta: "I am the seed of all the elements and all beings." Nature is His Body; the Cosmos is His Will; the Vedas are His Breath. The Sankhya School of thinkers declare that the objective world arose out of the conglomeration and conjunction of disparate atoms; but, they do not pursue the matter and explain what induced the atoms to join with their kind in particular designs and groups. How does this urge arise? How does this awaken, within the minute atom? Who has planted this desire in the tiny heart of the atom? These questions are by-passed.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most philosophers especially in the West, ignore the problem of identifying the cause of all the effects we find every moment all around us. The Upanishads </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">declare, Ekoham Bahusyam - "I am one, let Me become many," willed God; and God became all this, in response to that divine desire, the primal urge. He became all this. He is therefore the Antar-Atma (the Inner Reality); and the Antar-yaami (the Inner Motivator). The Vedas declare Vaasudevah Sarvamidham - "All this is Vasudeva, God." They all say, Neha Naanaasti, Kinchana - "There is not the slightest trace of many-ness here." Ekam Eva - There is only ONE; Adviteeyam - without a second. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuBU_wm42G74cTGX9fbOVTAbZ8s-2PBxBX4-k-lqmq1Oq3z43WKluMZxqxgUBDjAYv433KWuJ7deJ7EEi52km1Qr3XECj8c4HiWY5BE_uSstTkGbmVr6FpJvzcKL-dAisSVDtGvTmZrb0/s2048/ATMA+TATTVA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuBU_wm42G74cTGX9fbOVTAbZ8s-2PBxBX4-k-lqmq1Oq3z43WKluMZxqxgUBDjAYv433KWuJ7deJ7EEi52km1Qr3XECj8c4HiWY5BE_uSstTkGbmVr6FpJvzcKL-dAisSVDtGvTmZrb0/w640-h452/ATMA+TATTVA.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Realising and experiencing this basic Truth, becoming blissful and aware of one's native Divinity is the victory that this Prashanti Flag denotes. Have you won that victory? No. Why then. am I hoisting it for your exhilaration, on this Festival Day? I am only hoisting it to instruct you, to inspire you, and to remind you of the precious heritage of Upanishadic wisdom, that your forefathers have earned and left for you. You are basking today in the sunshine of their glory; you have the chance to live on the fortune they have left behind for their children and children's children. This Flag invites you all to share in that immeasurable treasure.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: Divine Discourse delivered on October 16, 1974 at Prasanthi Nilayam</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-17107761196171807632021-10-15T05:48:00.001+05:302021-10-15T06:14:50.565+05:30What is the Spiritual Significance of the Poornahuti in Yajna?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;"><b> October 2 to 8, 1981</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kPZ_7qyfLKwI3ApTcCW-98Ogzdik35mf9oEOZylE_P2zwpnJmIlHpAD_oktZiT5ngLO52wvEOby75Xn0-WRFeNj2_Beu6ngh1uEYdbEbVMvPTy-iGgTnPRvikGhDxrbW5tbScTVeWJFu/s795/TDTA+1+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="795" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kPZ_7qyfLKwI3ApTcCW-98Ogzdik35mf9oEOZylE_P2zwpnJmIlHpAD_oktZiT5ngLO52wvEOby75Xn0-WRFeNj2_Beu6ngh1uEYdbEbVMvPTy-iGgTnPRvikGhDxrbW5tbScTVeWJFu/w640-h418/TDTA+1+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e69138;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bhagavan seated in a splendorous epic chariot, proceeded in a procession to the auditorium from the Mandir amidst Vedic chants. The ‘Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna’ was inaugurated at Poornachandra Auditorium at 9 am on 2nd October. He blessed the vast gathering with a Discourse revealing the inner mystery of the Yajna. Bhagavan rejoiced the devotees with His Discourses on all evenings of the festival.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">The Bal Vikas students of Madras staged a drama on the 7th, depicting the childhood ‘Leelas’ of Bhagavan. He inaugurated two medical camps in the Vidyagiri Campus organised by the students of Sri Sathya Sai Colleges at Prashanti Nilayam. Bhagavan blessed the patients of the camps at Poornachandra Auditorium on Vijaya Dashami day, the 8th of October. In His Discourse Swami said:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKyGIz4Q2J68yYKqG8-495RhSmUn7tN0960F8VG6VSy2NjdO4is-BY1EkaO9IxSg2E16ASekA1i1PLlMua0GeplgDU0noGKxBdHWT62q63buzb8wvgW-GBJRHtYl1c43ATPhyPjPvMTPn/s943/TDTA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="638" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKyGIz4Q2J68yYKqG8-495RhSmUn7tN0960F8VG6VSy2NjdO4is-BY1EkaO9IxSg2E16ASekA1i1PLlMua0GeplgDU0noGKxBdHWT62q63buzb8wvgW-GBJRHtYl1c43ATPhyPjPvMTPn/w434-h640/TDTA.jpg" width="434" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“On Vijayadashami day, the seven-day long Vedic ritual, performed for the promotion of peace and prosperity among all men in all lands and called Veda Purusha Yajna, (sacrifice dedicated of Vedic divinity) concludes with the valedictory offering to the Gods who preside over various facets of nature. This is called Poornahuti (the fullest Invocation) and usually a number of valuable things are poured and placed in the sacrificial fire, adored and fed during the entire week. The closing ritual is named Samapti, a word usually translated as the End. But its real meaning is Samapti, or the attainment of Sama and Brahma (Brahmic vision). The final offering is of one's self, which is the culmination of the sacrifices rendered all along. The significance of Poornahuti is fulfilling one's earthly life by dedicating one's self to the Omni-Will or Brahman. This is also known as surrender or Sharanagati.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What exactly is Poornahuti or Sharanagati? The meaning that is most current is to declare: “My body, my mind, my possessions, my all, I offer to you." This is an incorrect interpretation. This interpretation is a sign of total ignorance. It concedes that you and God are distinct entities, But that is not true. God is not separate from you, for God is in all, everywhere, at all times. "Ishwarassarva-Bhootaanaam. "How then can you be apart? How can God be separate entity? Water, wave and foam are only apparently distinct. All three are the same; only their names and forms create the illusion of diversity.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaARKQ2uyVumkD-ig1269j6H9hjTaDxMdRDwr5IgOTU0CVzgYwFkzH7WTVJyDNnXI8eCU0Wg11ht6pAkh67z-QJIRD2qhsRgbv_gsqAIJsrXVIlu9Bjf4VfdHiNVwgpLNPEfEilyyctj5a/s1395/TDTA+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1285" data-original-width="1395" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaARKQ2uyVumkD-ig1269j6H9hjTaDxMdRDwr5IgOTU0CVzgYwFkzH7WTVJyDNnXI8eCU0Wg11ht6pAkh67z-QJIRD2qhsRgbv_gsqAIJsrXVIlu9Bjf4VfdHiNVwgpLNPEfEilyyctj5a/w640-h590/TDTA+3.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><b style="color: #e69138;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">You cannot give what you do not own</span></b></p></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, you can and do announce, "I surrender my mind, my thoughts, my feelings and imaginings, to God" But your monkey-mind escapes from your hold; how, then, can you capture it and claim it and surrender it to God? What authority do you possess to offer something you are not master of?. The whole process reminds one of the Telugu proverb about gift by son-in-law of the property owned by the mother-in-law. How can anyone give another what he does not own? Is your body under full control? When blood starts flowing out of a vein on your hand, you cannot stop the flow. You rush to a hospital and call out, "Doctor! Doctor! Tie a bandage!" When you suffer from a stroke and limbs on one side are paralysed, you are helplessly unable to repair them. How can you dedicate your body, which you cannot rule over?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Such statements like surrendering body, mind and heart are only rhetoric sanctioned by tradition and long usage. The act of surrender is often highlighted as Atma-arpana. The expression is even more ridiculous. When you are Atma in essence, how can Atma (Self) offer it to itself? The body is a composite of the five elements; it cannot avoid disintegration, but the dweller within the body has no birth or death, no desire or despair, no attachment or bondage. In truth, that dweller is the God of Gods who resides as Atma in you. This is what the seers have experienced. So Atma-arpana is a meaningless expression. You have nothing in you or belonging to you that you can claim as yours to offer to God.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then, what does surrender of the self signify or imply? To experience God as Omnipresent, to be aware of nothing other than God – this is true surrender. To see God in everything, everywhere, at all times, is true Sharanagati. He gives, He enjoys, He experiences. If you offer, and God accepts, you become superior; how can God be all-powerful? You should not reduce the glory of God through such high-sounding statements.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You may be an erudite scholar who can interpret the scriptures. You may read or recite the Bhagavad Geeta scores of times. Of course, these are good attainments and practices. But, one has to carry out one's duty with devotion and discipline. It is not devotion to parade the ochre robe; sins won't fade away when Mantras (holy formulae) roll out of the tongue; spiritual merit cannot accrue in heaps when the Geetha is held in the hand and loudly acclaimed in speech. The real Sadhu is he whose deeds are in accordance with the words of advice he utters. Devotion cannot tolerate in the devotee the slightest trace of envy or jealousy. Make your daily life holy and pure. Render your life worth-while through service to man and service to society. That is the most important aspect of surrendering the self.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76qzyqO0ZYMd-9T67yD043wzsfpNSdk7LKNqKcpyP9lYSBZ0jLXXKq17di0UPQX6TG6LChdzdvVekxWPLeUQwAHET162wH1NpFY6mmReGNSNwjOq3YGsrgwq9ToCvxfWGz6hq604SZOVE/s982/TDTA+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="678" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76qzyqO0ZYMd-9T67yD043wzsfpNSdk7LKNqKcpyP9lYSBZ0jLXXKq17di0UPQX6TG6LChdzdvVekxWPLeUQwAHET162wH1NpFY6mmReGNSNwjOq3YGsrgwq9ToCvxfWGz6hq604SZOVE/w442-h640/TDTA+1.jpg" width="442" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e69138;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bhagavan gave Darshan reclining on the Jhoola that evening. Smt P. Suseela, Sri Rajeswara Rao, Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Adinarayana, offered devotional songs.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926-1985)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-27948246582597148022021-10-06T20:46:00.003+05:302021-10-06T20:46:40.083+05:30First All India Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Dal at Prasanthi Nilayam<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;"><b>October 3-4, 1970</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1st All India Conference of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Dal was held at the Prayer Hall on 3rd October morning with Sri Nakul Sen as the Chairman. Sri N. Kasturi, and other elders addressed the gathering. Sri Sen then delivered his presidential address. In the Valedictory meeting of the conference, Swami gave His Divine Message to the delegates. He said:</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLqh6Qz4pxcSvi67kgobPX-53WnWQv9Tt4sB466gnonwyFUWFuSsf7uNrBeTkzmhU9B18UFTlGfVRjFG9-TTOKYwF6UIzs3wQrgWFDNw_PLofHIlnWd8yByrl8K-yxq1WxQy5Lpkj0A98/s843/TDTA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="843" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLqh6Qz4pxcSvi67kgobPX-53WnWQv9Tt4sB466gnonwyFUWFuSsf7uNrBeTkzmhU9B18UFTlGfVRjFG9-TTOKYwF6UIzs3wQrgWFDNw_PLofHIlnWd8yByrl8K-yxq1WxQy5Lpkj0A98/w640-h474/TDTA.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The mind is just a pattern of desires, a composite of the warp and woof of plans and resolutions. It has immense potentiality to create manifold images, and so is also called imagination, Imagination hides the Truth. It fogs the intellect, perverts the vision, deviates the straight path of the aspirant. Desire creates a mirage where there was none before. Desire imposes beauty where there was none before; it clothes things with desirability. To escape from the clutches of desire, which gives birth to the brood of anger, hatred, malice, greed, envy, faction, falsehood, etc., one has to cleanse his consciousness by prayer and Satkarma (good activity, selfless, desireless activity). Seva is the best Sadhana for eliminating the nefarious pull of the mind towards desires.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Take up the attitude of servant with God as Master</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rama asked Hanuman how he was related to Him. Hanuman replied, "When I feel I am this body, I am related to you as a Servant to his Master; when I feel I am the individualised soul, Jeevatma, I am related to you as the reflection in the mirror is to the Original that is before it. When I know that I am the Universal Soul, and that all other appearances are futile fancy, I am related to you, no, I am You, You are I." So long as you are bound to the superstition that you are the Body, with the Name given to it as your name and the Form in which it appears to others as your Form, you must take up the attitude of Servant, with God as Master, with all others as Master, and wipe out the ego, by constant denial of its demands. That is the reason why I called together the All India Conference of Sathya Sai Seva Dals, so that they may know from Me the basic principle of Service.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When a rich man employs an attendant on Rs. 30 a month, he accepts the attention and the other offers the attention, with the recompense always in view; there can be no Sevak-Sevya (servant-served) bond between them. It is a cash nexus that binds them. But when there is no compulsion on the side and no compensation required on the other, then, it is really Seva. Offer what service you can with no thought of the reward--that is real Seva. This is the secret of Karma Yoga, as defined in the Geeta, which Nakul Sen explained so clearly to you now.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Various service activities were mentioned here, as part of Seva Dal programmes - friendly visits to hospital wards, Bhajans in Jails and Reformatories and Remand Homes, helping the poor among arrivals at Bus Terminals and Railway Stations, etc. All these are good acts, no doubt; but whatever is done, however useful or demonstrative, it is the spirit behind the service that matters.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">It is your nature to give and forgive</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Treat the person served as your own brother or sister, as children of Bharat Mata, who is your own mother. Your sisters and brothers have different bodies, separate from yours, like these others, haven't they? But, yet, you feel a special attachment to them. Why? It is the consequence of Love. Have the same Love to these others, too. You love Me and adore Me, don't you? Well; see Me in all beings, for I am there, in all beings. Like the current that illumines every bulb, however weak or strong, your God is in every living being. Win Grace by worshipping Me who is moving in and through them.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You need not be wearing the uniform or parading the badge; he need not wear the uniform of supplication, or parade the badge of pain. Sit by him, as you will sit with your brother. Hold the patient by the hand, look into his eyes with compassion, fill his palms with Prasadam, inquire how you can help him and let tears of gratitude flow from his freshened eyes. That is the reward which must sustain you. Even if there is no expression of thanks, even if you are received with cold silence or shrug of dislike, carry on, for it is your nature to be giving and forgiving.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have a silver image of Ganapati and you desire instead an image of Krishna, it is foolish to cover the image with a piece of cloth and pray that it might get transformed into Krishna! You have to break it into pieces, melt the silver and pour it into a new mould, the mould of Krishna. So too, if you seek to transform yourself into Madhava, you have to pour the mind melted in the fire of Jnana (spiritual wisdom); the mind can be melted only after it has been hewn into pieces by means of various acts like seva, Sankeertan, Japa, Dhyana (service, singing, chanting and meditating), all sharp with the edge of renunciation.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Love is born in the womb of Seva</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Human lives are now passing on and on, filth over filth, bent, broken, diseased, distressed, disheartened. To ennoble these lives and to make the human heritage worthwhile, I have come. I am evincing all this enthusiasm to teach you the proper attitude to Seva, for, Love expresses itself as Seva; Love grows through Seva; Love is born in the womb of Seva. And God is Love. The Avatar is a Child to the children, a Boy to the boys, a Man among men, a Woman among women, so that the Avatar's message might reach each heart and receive enthusiastic response, as Ananda (bliss). It is the compassion of the Avatar that prompts His every activity.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Birds, beasts and trees have not deviated from their Nature; they are still holding it valid. Man alone has disfigured it, in his crude attempt to improve upon it. So, the Avatar has to come as man among men, and move as friend, well-wisher, kinsman, guide, teacher, healer and participant among men. He has come to restore Dharma, and so when man follows Dharma, He is pleased and content. Act so that your career as a man is not degraded, desecrated. With hands on chest, assert, "I am man; I am human; I am saturated with shining humanity, humanness." God does not draw you near or keep you far, you near Him or keep away from Him. God has no likes or dislikes. You live according to the highest demands of your nature and you are near Him. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Make every work as Divine worship</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Learn lessons from the Sun, Moon, the clouds, the sea - all are teachers of the prime importance of discharging one's duty, without complaint. Trees distribute their fruits and their shade to everyone, even those who lay the axe with intention to destroy them! Mountains suffer heat, rain and storm without demur, and are plunged in meditation for ages. Birds do not hoard for years together the wherewithal for food or shelter; they do not lament for they do not lavish affection on their progeny, more than absolutely necessary for their survival.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nature (Prakriti) is your school, your laboratory, the gateway to liberation, and the panorama of God's manifold majesty. Seek to know the lessons it is ready to teach; all things in Nature are as Brahman as you are. So, any act is Divine; any work is Divine worship; build the mansion of your life on the strong foundation of the faith that all this is Brahman. Monks, Sanyasins, Heads of Mutts and Monastic Organisations preach in an atmosphere surcharged with pomp, pedantry and publicity, "the Vedas insist on the dissolution of the ego, the Quran insists on surrender, the Bible emphasises humility and charity;" but, they wallow in the low desires for pelf, power, name and fame. They aspire for transient trinkets, tawdry fame, and cheap tinsel glories. What they have to teach is simply this: When you feel you are a Jeeva (individual being), you are separated from God; when you feel you are Deva (Divine), you are one with Him. Seeing the rope as a snake makes you shiver; seeing it as the rope you lose fear and start playing with it; it is yours, for the grasping! The snake did not arrive or depart; the rope did not arrive or depart. Light appeared and darkness disappeared. Ignorance fled, knowledge dawned - all in a trice.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Be true to your own Truth</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do not imagine that God is residing in Kashi or Rameshwaram or Puttaparthi. Know that He is in your own heart; evoke Him from there, invoke Him there, and He grants you the Vision, immediately. I am in your heart and so, your tricks cannot mislead the God you are. You are Sathya Swaroopa - the embodiments of Truth. That is why I do not address you as, 'O ye Disciples!' 'O ye Devotees!' That will be crediting you with a status you do not have. I call you as Atma Swaroopulaara (O ye Embodiments of the Atma), which is a correct statement of fact. No experiment can prove this untrue. You must also be made aware of this.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C-4LhleioNcP8uQ_ev6l8kJZSNgjztDs4fy-6aRT8Whr7XUTDlp7hQSQaNc-WpAQGIx_mHtPb8ExkIhodMii3WOjCjBxMCA0utaMIRw5A6PagapkxE9gHJAKIjhZvKkbQr1AcDxThH2R/s2000/BODY+AND+ATMA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="2000" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C-4LhleioNcP8uQ_ev6l8kJZSNgjztDs4fy-6aRT8Whr7XUTDlp7hQSQaNc-WpAQGIx_mHtPb8ExkIhodMii3WOjCjBxMCA0utaMIRw5A6PagapkxE9gHJAKIjhZvKkbQr1AcDxThH2R/w640-h452/BODY+AND+ATMA.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You are not Yelliah, Malliah or Pulliah; you are the immortal eternal ever-pure Atma! Gandhi, replied, when Karunyaananda asked for his blessings, "My blessings will not help you at all; win the blessings of the Truth that is your very core! That alone will stand by you, in times of need!" You are Sathya Swaroopa (embodiments of Truth); be true to your own Truth.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Prashanti Vidwan Mahasabha is propagating the tonic teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads; many hear but few nurture and nourish. There are some who come to Me and ask for Upadesha (instruction), some Mantra which they can repeat and through the vibrations the Mantra produces, they hope to break the shackles that seemingly bind them! They tell Me they have read the Geetha scores of times, with all its commentaries; they can repeat the shlokas, all the 700, upside down, and interpret them, in any of the three ways---Dualistic, Qualified, Monistic. I tell them, "If you have not developed faith in the words of God that you have read, recited, learnt by rote and revered for years, how are you confident you will use my Upadesh with confidence that it will save you! I have neither Swadesh, Desh or Upadesh - this or that type of instruction!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">The best Guru is the Divine in you</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The secret of liberation lies, not in the mystic formula that is whispered in the ear and rotated on the rosary, it lies in the stepping out into action, the walking forward in practice, the pious pilgrim route and the triumphant reaching of the Goal. The best Guru is the Divine in you; yearn for hearing His Voice, His Upadesh. If you seek worldly Gurus, you will have to run from one to another, like a rat caught inside a drum, which flees to the right when the drummer beats on the left and to the left when he beats the right!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be aware of God and His overpowering Love, whatever you do or say. That is the best advice I can give to the members of the Seva Dal. The young persons of this ancient land blindly pursue the ideals and fashions of other lands, which have no depth of culture, who are amateurs in the art of successful living. Their dress, talk, behaviour, conduct and attitude appear outlandish, strange and absurd, in the background of the culture of Bharat. They cause grief and pain to those who know the worth of the ways they desert. Love of country or culture springs from the love of parents; it is the love you bear them, their language, their religion, their modes that later blossom into love of the family, the community, the village, the religion, the language, and the soil of the entire country Which sustains all these.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Keep away from bad company and pray to God</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The age period, from 16 to 30 years, is a crucial stage, when man achieves best and struggles hardest to achieve. Once frittered, these years of life can never be regained) Take no devious path, but move in the footsteps of God and the godly during this period of your life. The body is but a lump of clay we carry about with us, between birth and death. We were Atma before birth and we shall be Atma again, after this sojourn on earth. Devote the body while you have it, with all its furnishings of intellect and imagination, skill and knowledge, for the purposes I indicate and win Grace.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEJHIRBMSpO3SrueT5J2pLbZ-E32ObOlcXd6Rb9pNhfzbg16I6oOZNMYTfER8W4P_zAZCHJSgZyAV3AoJk_GehA_vUGKG5aZTW1p7UoaHnPgVdZ88jNRNDYUSnZVpfzaHej_NizYQZOuL/s2048/BAD+COMPANY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEJHIRBMSpO3SrueT5J2pLbZ-E32ObOlcXd6Rb9pNhfzbg16I6oOZNMYTfER8W4P_zAZCHJSgZyAV3AoJk_GehA_vUGKG5aZTW1p7UoaHnPgVdZ88jNRNDYUSnZVpfzaHej_NizYQZOuL/w640-h452/BAD+COMPANY.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When you get, in spite of best efforts, ugly, harmful ideas of hatred or anger, or animalism, you must infer that they are due to faults in food habits, or in the company you keep, either with friends or books or films or other forms of entertainment. Keep away from such and pray to God, your guardian to save you from the fall, towards which you are heading. Ideas of suicide, let me tell you, are born out of the most despicable form of cowardice. Do not allow them to affect you; be bold, so bold that you are determined to brave out any calamity that may assail you. When you have God installed in your heart, who can lead you to destruction?</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">When you are agitated by anger or hatred or agony, drink cold water; lie down quietly; sing a few Bhajan songs. Or, walk some long distance alone, pretty fast, so that pestering thoughts are driven into silence and the solitude; blood circulates faster and movement dulls the sharpness of the thought. You may be worried, because you have promised Me something and later, you are tempted to break your word. Now, do not hesitate. When you promise that you will not smoke, or will not attend films, the promise must be clear, firm and complete. I do not gain by your promise nor do I lose, if you break it. You gain self-confidence, you gain strength, you gain moral fibre, you gain Ananda. Yes; your Ananda is My Food. So, I gain, too!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Wisdom wipes out all differences</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The snows on the mountain peaks soften during day, as a result of the Sun; they harden during the night, since the Sun is absent. So too, your hard heart hardens Me; your soft hearts soften Me. Understand this: Each of you knows the Love of a single mother only. But My affection, My Love towards every one of you is that of a thousand Mothers! Do not deny yourself that affection, that Love, by denying Me your Love!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The need to surrender was mentioned by someone. Who offers? Who receives? You are yourself God, to whom then are you offering? Yet, you use the word, Arpana, Atmaarpitam (Offering of oneself). The problem is epochal; the solution is dismissed by the use of a word! When you discover that you are God, there is no Arpana, no Atmaarpitam. Wisdom wipes out all; God alone remains. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once there was a long fight between Wealth (Dhana) and Wisdom (Jnana), to decide who was more praiseworthy. Wealth said that it is wanted if you must travel from your place to Puttaparthi, for example; it is essential to spend some money for attending a cinema; for having a meal. The world cannot spin even a second, without the spin of a coin! Wisdom said, no one can distinguish between a tenner or a single rupee note, unless he has intelligence; no one can discriminate between ruinous ways of spending money, or beneficial ways. Like the two cats that chose a monkey to arbitrate, they approached a Guru and laid before him their problem. The Guru said, both are good, equally good, provided each is used for a good purpose. It is the use that decides the good and bad of the two. Being a man, is itself the great wealth you have. Use it to the best advantage. Have wisdom enough to recognise, not only that you are a man, but also that you are no longer an animal, a beast or brute. That makes Wisdom complete; or else, it is only partial.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">It is imperative to have strict discipline</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A word about the Rules and Restrictions for Seva Dals. You must implicitly follow the directions of the State President and the District President, who nominate the Convenors. When you are tempted to question them, remind yourself that their words have come through the Grace and Blessings of Bhagavan, who has nominated them. Be polite, humble and sweet in your responses to the commands you receive. It is imperative to have strict discipline; no exception or concession can be tolerated, One word, one road---that should be the motto.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAhvT4cLKQc9-3ErhokG6u_0AYRpO8Io0UufxJdFcza_RImYTjNMk2QKmt5aPcsbAbV4B9UpjSlYg4VwaDUV5CdrxHHRC6aHY3lE05sppkjcoGQKjSiX-d1yU1i2AMRJoWnQ1dMMghBh0/s1037/Swami+with+Seva+Dal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1037" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAhvT4cLKQc9-3ErhokG6u_0AYRpO8Io0UufxJdFcza_RImYTjNMk2QKmt5aPcsbAbV4B9UpjSlYg4VwaDUV5CdrxHHRC6aHY3lE05sppkjcoGQKjSiX-d1yU1i2AMRJoWnQ1dMMghBh0/w640-h418/Swami+with+Seva+Dal.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In some Sanghs and Samitis (societies and organisations), as a result of the ambition of one individual or the greed of one group, factions have sprouted and the spiritual atmosphere has been fouled. The infection of politics has infiltrated into these Organisations. This is because some people have started the Samitis for their own aggrandizement. These will soon be eliminated, do not worry. </span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You must carry on your service, regardless of what the elders are doing to earn name or fame. Serve, because you must, because your inner impulse asks you to do it, because you get Ananda out of it. When you find that a patient can be cured by a drug that he is too poor to purchase, if the Doctor says that it is urgent and essential to save his life, do not hesitate to borrow or lend the money. Ask a member of the Samiti, or anyone else; for, the life is more precious. Service at the time when it is most needed is most beneficial. Try to get milk powder and supply milk and fruits to the poor who are suffering neglect in hospitals. God likes to be worshipped with the flower of Compassion. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Scatter the seeds of Love in dreary desert hearts; then, sprouts of Love will make the wastes green with joy, blossoms of Love will make the air flagrant, rivers of Love will murmur along the valleys and every bird, beast and child will sing the song of Love. Now, we have Seva Dals only in some villages and towns. We must have them in all villages and all towns, so that the service of man by man can lead to the discovery by man of the God that is his reality.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Soure: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 - 1985)</a></span></div>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-50007399666245696692021-09-30T16:49:00.001+05:302021-09-30T16:49:31.555+05:30The Silver Jubilee of Sri Sathya Sai Hospital at Puttaparthi<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">September 30, 1981</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSxAcQItp7SFsE1ISfrhmIntRGysEhrYoBRRA16z4OIwtkmxkV4PcQXgLrg6R8jJhpHwNEIAkZpBauZQj2tAHSpigix07SthjIuEJzZ0WITCPbvyNAMw-HiI_F4V5hTiGMenrIZbJAR-b/s771/Untitled-011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="771" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSxAcQItp7SFsE1ISfrhmIntRGysEhrYoBRRA16z4OIwtkmxkV4PcQXgLrg6R8jJhpHwNEIAkZpBauZQj2tAHSpigix07SthjIuEJzZ0WITCPbvyNAMw-HiI_F4V5hTiGMenrIZbJAR-b/w640-h410/Untitled-011.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Silver Jubilee of Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital was held at Poornachandra Auditorium on 30th September. Bhagavan in His Discourse on this occasion explained the importance of cooking food in the right perspective. He described the ill effects of anger and conceit on our nervous and digestive systems. He said:</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">"Health is the essential pre-requisite for success in all aspects of life, for realising the four ideals that should guide humans namely, moral living, prosperity, fulfilling beneficial desires and liberation from grief. Everywhere man seeks to live happily and peacefully but happiness and peace are not won from worldly activities. The body that yearns to be happy and secure, is subject to disease, decay and death. The Dweller, the self, within the body, is however not born, nor does it die. It is the Aathma, God. The body is the temple of God. Hence it is the duty of man to keep the temple in good condition.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">Health is necessary for gaining this world and the next, for earning worldly and other worldly progress, to realise the very purpose for which the Self has embodied itself in this human form, namely, to become aware of its source, the Paramaathma. In order to attain this goal, the ideals of righteousness, prosperity, moral desire and release from grief have to be practised with the help of a sound mind in a sound body.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">What are the main causes of ill-health? Millions of living beings grouped as species dwell on the earth; they sustain themselves by means of food secured from Nature, as provided by Nature. It is only man that is an exception. In order to cater to his palate and other senses, he changes the composition and characteristics of the things provided by nature and prepares, through the process of boiling, frying and mixing, concoctions which have no vitality in them. Birds and beasts do not adopt such destructive methods. They eat things raw and consume the strengthgiving vital essence. So, they do not fall victim to the many ills that man brings on himself.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Evil thoughts cause ill-health</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">Plant a boiled pulse in the soil; it won't sprout. How, then, can it contribute life to the living? The vitamins and proteins that are valuable ingredients are destroyed while it is cooked to please the palate! The billions of cells in the body are so inter-dependent that when one is weakened or damaged, all of them suffer. There is a limit and a balance which every limb and organ has to maintain. Insufficient or improper food will endanger this balance. An occasional cough helps to strengthen the lungs and to clear them of extraneous matter, but fits of coughing are signs of positive illness.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">'Eat in moderation and live long.' This is the advice handed down through the ages by the seers of the past. This advice is seldom heeded. People fill themselves with such large quantities of food that they find it hard to rise from the eating plate. Ruining their digestive system by consuming heavy, rich foods, the affluent are proud when they host costly banquets. Those who know that physical health is the greatest treasure take great care to eat only saathwik food. Uncooked food, nuts and fruits, germinating pulses are the best. Use these at least at one meal, say, for the dinner at night; this will ensure long life. And, long life is to be striven for in order that the years may be utilised for serving one's fellow-beings.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifzEfoE0-XOylvjZFwPq-bMjwd3NBF__471HnxOyHcKwCgYxfx-aGfUVi7jcLVMfkzbZ0icf7xDaUtS6UWWC6dFwWAKiRMc6aupwxRfjr4_FXla8b-wwW2s_2JOIUrpL5BIX_yHjilw8a/s2048/HEALTH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifzEfoE0-XOylvjZFwPq-bMjwd3NBF__471HnxOyHcKwCgYxfx-aGfUVi7jcLVMfkzbZ0icf7xDaUtS6UWWC6dFwWAKiRMc6aupwxRfjr4_FXla8b-wwW2s_2JOIUrpL5BIX_yHjilw8a/w640-h452/HEALTH.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Evil thoughts cause ill-health. Anxiety, fear and tension also contribute their share. All these result from greed, greed to have more of things, of power and of fame. Greed results in sorrow and despair. Contentment can come only from a spiritual outlook. The desire for worldly goods has to be given up. One should not distinguish between "my work" and "work for God." All work should be worship. Whatever the reward, it is the gift of God. It is for our lasting good. If this attitude is developed, suffering and pain can toughen us and help us to progress towards Divinity.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">It is through pain that pleasure is gained. Darkness enables us to appreciate light. Death teaches us to love life. Diseases which torment man are many in number; of these, hatred, envy and egoism are the worst. Even doctors cannot cure them, for most of them suffer from these. One should develop equanimity and serenity, if one desires to be free from these diseases. Do not seek to listen to vile and vicious stories. This tendency reveals a diseased mind. What is heard is imprinted, like a carbon copy, through the ear, on the heart. One is injuring oneself through indulgence in this evil habit.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Be vigilant about food habits</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifE2P6axHge_XCfT7JVj_JrFewXM8FcZG9RPY8xW9iC-n9sWoB4Oyv3Q6MQDTjCxgB6Y6w9nnBqu4G3zB5e0JOCzZsiGaraLdx_zwTw0elbRYAVqlH_KQ18M3z4jK1aklE-YNwmchCU6a_/s742/Untitled-010_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="505" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifE2P6axHge_XCfT7JVj_JrFewXM8FcZG9RPY8xW9iC-n9sWoB4Oyv3Q6MQDTjCxgB6Y6w9nnBqu4G3zB5e0JOCzZsiGaraLdx_zwTw0elbRYAVqlH_KQ18M3z4jK1aklE-YNwmchCU6a_/w436-h640/Untitled-010_2.jpg" width="436" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Anger is another enemy of health. It injects poison into the blood stream and brings about profound transformation which damages it. Two women, who were neighbours turned into bitter enemies on account of a dispute over a very trivial incident. The cow belonging to one woman while going on the road dropped its dung in front of the other woman's house. The owner of the cow ran to collect the dung, while the other woman claimed that it belonged to her since it lay on her doorstep. From words they very nearly came to blows. Just then the other woman's little baby wailed from the cradle. She rushed in to feed the baby and while the child was drawing in its food, she shouted most ferociously at her neighbour. Her anger poisoned her blood so much that the child died while drinking her milk! Another cause of ill-health is vice and vile conduct. People believe that a wicked person need not be a diseased person but most diseases are mental illness, fundamentally. Doctors, too, have to deal with patients sweetly and softly and consider their profession as one calling for dedication to their fellowmen. It is best to preserve one's health by good thoughts and good deeds. It is best to be vigilant about food habits. Coconut kernel, coconut water, sprouting pulses, uncooked or half cooked vegetables, and greens are good for health. </p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">Try earnestly to live long, without falling into the hands of medical practitioners. When they give you one injection, they keep another ready to counteract its reactions! While trying to cure one disease, they cause a dozen more. Moreover, the drugs they recommend are mostly spurious, since manufacturers want to amass a fortune by hook or by crook. Most illnesses can be cured by simple living, simple exercises and by intelligent control of the tongue. Live long so that you witness the career of the Avatar for years and years."</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Bhagavan served sweets during ‘Narayana Seva’ on 1st October, where 5,000 less fortunate people enjoyed a feast.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_1.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 - 1985)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-587309435195551362021-09-28T16:47:00.000+05:302021-09-28T16:47:18.485+05:30 “Cinema exam tomorrow?”<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">September 30, 1997</span></b></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : What is the exam tomorrow?</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : CMA, Swami.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Swami : What, cinema? Cinema exam tomorrow?</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUvNJJrpiXya52SOJt0Kw5ZxhFlf5iKfdD_fiIHRBBO181QyoY7ZsQamIV56aat6Mp4rS8q-W1F0EV2uwJXEIkK8qq9SIjiz6e61rbQG2_55AlNMtF2ScQUXS7deXxSNahDxJUnrRcqqE/s529/29%253D7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="529" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUvNJJrpiXya52SOJt0Kw5ZxhFlf5iKfdD_fiIHRBBO181QyoY7ZsQamIV56aat6Mp4rS8q-W1F0EV2uwJXEIkK8qq9SIjiz6e61rbQG2_55AlNMtF2ScQUXS7deXxSNahDxJUnrRcqqE/w640-h452/29%253D7.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #a64d79;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Student : Cost and Management Accounting.</span></p></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : Kyon Abbreviations Mein Bolta Hai? Theek Se Bolo (Why use abbreviations? Tell it correctly) Cost Management. What is cost?</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : What ever we spend.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : What is CA?</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : Chartered Accountant.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : Another CA.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : Cost Accountant.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : What exam do the second year students have?</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : Management Information Systems.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Swami : Integrated Rural Development? (Referring to the previous exam) What is the </span><span style="color: #a64d79;">meaning of Integrated?</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, total.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : It is always changing, but Constant Integrated Awareness is always the same.</span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991 - 2000)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-54843418341579798922021-09-22T17:26:00.003+05:302021-09-22T17:30:10.863+05:30What is the Purpose of Life?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;"><b> September 21, 1991</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">The boys were pleading with Swami to come to the hostel.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (To the elders in the Portico) Good boys, good voice! Very good music. It sounds like a Qawwali, does it not? (To students) Daily same song. Why do you not change it? It is so hurting to the ears. (To a boy) What is the purpose of life?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdDR7yQqjoehnAMhhu8Ekepx8iXytdu-2t0sxHtkt3aNc6v5SWMv0KLq-NAgug4pNZzW1YoL-mCWZdoNoN6W6uoem45f5ItEW603jCGZ9_ZSovOxeIvB3E9GrU7C8ztvhYi88c7gxvfEH/s770/Conversation+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="599" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdDR7yQqjoehnAMhhu8Ekepx8iXytdu-2t0sxHtkt3aNc6v5SWMv0KLq-NAgug4pNZzW1YoL-mCWZdoNoN6W6uoem45f5ItEW603jCGZ9_ZSovOxeIvB3E9GrU7C8ztvhYi88c7gxvfEH/w498-h640/Conversation+%25282%2529.jpg" width="498" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #45818e;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, to love all and serve all.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : No! The only way to reach God is to love all and serve all. What is the purpose of life?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, help always.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Swami : Just help ever. You must help ever, hurt never. Even in the Bible, compassion is stressed upon a lot. Many a time we hurt others by the way of our thought, word and deed. Controlling the three and abstaining from the misuse of them is the real purpose of life – also called Trikaranashuddhi . Our thought, word and deed must all be equally pure. In the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation they have a programme called EHV- Education in Human Values. But it must be 3HV - education in human values of the head, heart and hand. This is called as - The proper study of mankind is man. Man is the one who has complete mastery over his head, heart and hand, i.e., he speaks what he thinks and does what he says, hence achieving a unity of </span><span style="color: #45818e;">thought, word and deed. This is unity in diversity. </span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Beings are many, breath is one.<br /></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Jewels are many, gold is one.<br /></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Nations are many, earth is one.<br /></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Stars are many, sky is one.</span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">(To a primary school boy) How many brothers?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : All are brothers, Swami.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (To the Primary School boy) Good! Difference is in bodies only, but the Atma is one – unity in diversity. How many sisters?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami all are sisters.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (Turning to the Institute boys) See! Compare this boy's answers with our big boy's answers. In the Primary school, all of these small boys are pure. At the Higher Secondary school, the balance is slightly upset. By the time they come to Institute the balance is completely gone. You see each of these boys give correct answers but not our big boys!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (To the Primary School boy) What do you want? Why did you come here? Where are the other boys? Why special for you?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, I came because I want Your Darshan and to talk to You.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : What do you want?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, I want You.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Come on! Take Me! I am ready.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">(At once the boy jumped up, much to the amazement of everyone and bent down to take Padanamaskar.)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Swami : (Looking at the Institute boys) See, that is how you must be. </span><span style="color: #45818e;">(To the Primary School boy) What is your father doing?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, you are my mother and father</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Good boy. What is your father doing?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, he is a neurosurgeon. He wants to come here and serve at Your hospital. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Swami : It is OUR hospital. I do not need any hospitals for Myself. I never fall sick. What is </span><span style="color: #45818e;">your mother doing?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : She is a retired scientist, Swami.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Retired so soon?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, after marriage, she retired.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (Laughed and said) Then it means she has stopped after marriage. You must not say retired. Retired is after 28 years of service. Our boys must learn to use the correct words. They do not even know what words to use when writing letters also. (To an Institute boy) How many marks?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, I got an A grade.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Why not O grade? Our boys must get O grades.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, I will try this time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Don't try. Try, Try, Try then it will become dry. You must do it! Will you do it?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : (To the Institute students) Boys must all study well. Studying is the duty of all students. You must do your duty. Duty is God. Work is worship. Study well, respect your elders and listen to what your parents say. That is your duty. Today students want to be fed by their parents, clothed by them and want their money. But they do not want to respect them. Our students must not be like that. What you do now to your parents, tomorrow your children will do to you. We must live in the present, the Omnipresent. The fruits of the past are in the present. The seeds of the future are also in the present. We must learn to live in this Omnipresence. (To a visiting company Managing Director) How are our MBA boys?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">M.D : Swami, they are very good</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Swami : Compared to outside boys, they are much better. But still, this age is like that. Sometimes, they do get bad thoughts. Yet, they are good. Outside boys cannot be compared to our boys. If holidays come, for example, our boys cry not to go home. They want to stay with Swami. But, outside boys in other hostels keep counting how many days are left to go home. My boys are all happy here. (To the boys) Not just here! You must be happy everywhere. Good boys!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991-2000)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-46537014496109046472021-09-19T17:19:00.001+05:302021-09-19T17:22:35.830+05:30Sri Sathya Sai shares Stories and Insights on Decisions of Rama and Krishna<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">Before the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna went to Krishna to seek His help. Duryodhana also went to Krishna. Krishna saw both of them coming. He closed his eyes and acted as if He was sleeping. He wanted to teach the world the difference between the two. When He was awakened He found Arjuna sitting at His feet. Duryodhana was full of ego. He thought, “I am a king. How can I sit at the feet of Krishna?” He took his seat behind the head of Krishna. On opening His eyes, Krishna saw Arjuna, who was sitting at his feet. Krishna asked, “Brother-in-law, why have you come?” Duryodhana was filled with jealousy. He reflected, “As soon as Krishna got up, he started talking to Arjuna and not to me.” He did not realise that it was only natural for Krishna to see Arjuna first because he was sitting at Krishna's feet. Arjuna got up and offered Namaskar. Krishna knew that Duryodhana was sitting behind. He asked Arjuna, “What do you want?” Duryodhana came closer and said, “Krishna I have also come.” Krishna said, “So both of you have come. I have two things to offer. On one side I am alone. On the other side there is My entire army. Do you want My army or Myself?” Being apprehensive that Arjuna might ask for the Army, Duryodhana came forward and said, “Krishna, I want your army.” He said, “Duryodhana, I give you My army, you can go.” Arjuna told Krishna, “Swami, I do not want anything except You. I will be happy if I have You alone.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAkewsAHnoFV0-KsY0IOwgN5DwjKvI4WPj7ZgeUskRgTjfuaUDNC8G-Je4rjLO06r_pdOkGBQNtlcIwYBk1RCMlUQGshBJaRVX21Ce1yN90A4V4yrjST7KwiQcrezkvDvSStGuaVkcu18/s500/Arjuna+and+Duryodhana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="500" height="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAkewsAHnoFV0-KsY0IOwgN5DwjKvI4WPj7ZgeUskRgTjfuaUDNC8G-Je4rjLO06r_pdOkGBQNtlcIwYBk1RCMlUQGshBJaRVX21Ce1yN90A4V4yrjST7KwiQcrezkvDvSStGuaVkcu18/w640-h556/Arjuna+and+Duryodhana.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Arjun and Duryodhan with Krishna</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">Right from the beginning the Pandavas believed in ‘God first, the world next and self last.’ The belief of the Kauravas was - ‘I first, the world next and God last’. So, for them God was last</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Lord Krishna as an Envoy in Hastinapura</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">In order to prevent a war between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Krishna played the role of an envoy. Duryodhana felt that the Pandavas were successful because of the support of Krishna and hatched a number of plans to get hold of Krishna and do away with Him when He came to Hastinapura. Vidura was aware of these plans. Krishna entered the assembly of the Kauravas along with Vidura. The blind king Dhritarashtra addressed Krishna and said, “The Pandavas and the Kauravas are cousins. When they are children of two brothers, You should have the same attitude towards them. Why are You prejudiced against the Kauravas? Why do You love the Pandavas?” Krishna replied, “Dhritarashtra! You are not merely suffering from physical blindness, mentally also you are blind. I shower My grace on those who take refuge in Me. The one who is close to a fire gets both warmth and light. The Pandavas have been close to the fire. They are getting the wisdom and the grace in the form of light and fire. The Kauravas are staying far from the fire.” Here fire refers to Jnanaagni, the fire of wisdom. The Pandavas were near and dear to Krishna. To whom can you compare them? In our body the head is very important; next the shoulder, the stomach and the legs. The body consists of these four parts, but it is useless without the heart. Krishna told Dhritarashtra, “Oh blind king, I am giving the analogy of a body with reference to the Pandavas. In this body, Dharmaraja may be compared to the head, Arjuna to the shoulders, Bheema to the stomach and Nakula and Sahadeva to the legs. In it, Krishna is the heart. Without Krishna, there are no Pandavas. Without the Pandavas there is no Krishna. That is the kind of mutual relationship between them. They are mutually interdependent.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">Krishna made this declaration in the open court. So dear were the Pandavas to the Lord. As there was protection for the Pandavas from Krishna, though they had lost the kingdom and everything else, Krishna was able to get back the kingdom and everything else and confer joy on them. Success comes to those who have the protection of God. When Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya who would win the war, Sanjaya answered, “Where there is Krishna, the Yogeshwara, and Partha with bow and arrow, there justice will prevail and there will be victory. This is my firm conviction.” </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J7PMu7qvT4h0-_9WMwPyLDAd4oF0sV3HFnp1uvulNPxWX3uDQVRhyphenhyphenhmUDiz8aE3YqboluKLo8nQle0Yn0HS-OTgj9e9GCDJkFXsv3CDwAvoOw9_DdTwJZiGnQ-rG1hCgT8-Myo-yyvo1/s800/Dhritarashtra+and+Sanjaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="594" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J7PMu7qvT4h0-_9WMwPyLDAd4oF0sV3HFnp1uvulNPxWX3uDQVRhyphenhyphenhmUDiz8aE3YqboluKLo8nQle0Yn0HS-OTgj9e9GCDJkFXsv3CDwAvoOw9_DdTwJZiGnQ-rG1hCgT8-Myo-yyvo1/w476-h640/Dhritarashtra+and+Sanjaya.jpg" width="476" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Dhritarashtra and Sanjay</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">The Pandavas firmly believed in Dharma and God. The Kauravas went and prostrated at the feet of their mother, Gandhari, before the start of the war. She had blindfolded her eyes and was not able to see them. She caressed Duryodhana and blessed him. She observed, “Yatho Dharmah Tatho Jayah” (where there is Dharma, there is victory). But they had no righteousness on their side. Even their mother blessed them in that manner. Their wickedness was responsible for this. They went to their preceptor Dronacharya, and offered Namaskar. Dronacharya declared, “Where there is Dharma, there is Krishna: where there is Krishna, there is victory.” Thus both their mother and their preceptor blessed in these terms. Neither the mother nor the preceptor blessed them with success. The Kauravas relied on their wealth and the power of their arms. But, there is need for God's grace. Along with God's grace, there could be wealth, position, power and knowledge. </span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Earn God’s Grace</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">My Dear Students! Pursue your studies. But, together with education, earn the blessings of your parents. In addition, earn the grace of God. Despite all his knowledge, authority, power and prowess, what happened to a warrior like Karna? He lacked God's grace. Earn God's grace. That is true spiritual education. Along with spiritual education, you may pursue worldly education. A basic requirement for all this is good character. Morality alone helps one in a number of ways. If your conduct is not good, society will not respect you. As long as one is in power, society may respect one. Once power goes, the man will be an object of derision. You may not have any power, but morality will confer on you honour and respect. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">The Power of Lord Rama</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFrBPybX81EG8nJFp8NPnn7PGCEV8_fDMrUK7INbWsub_y4Uox9dE70z9PQqgzFXSYQ7dSCDNjBFtO_mvf3xyzrhtd1TtIXbPLgFaQu-ud-7xeRkZiRBosryqruAFN2FMIYmMiSkXKanm/s905/Rama+protects+Vishwamitra+Yajna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="905" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFrBPybX81EG8nJFp8NPnn7PGCEV8_fDMrUK7INbWsub_y4Uox9dE70z9PQqgzFXSYQ7dSCDNjBFtO_mvf3xyzrhtd1TtIXbPLgFaQu-ud-7xeRkZiRBosryqruAFN2FMIYmMiSkXKanm/w640-h628/Rama+protects+Vishwamitra+Yajna.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rama and Lakshmana protect the Yaga of Vishwamitra</b></td></tr></tbody></table></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">To recognise the power of the Divine, here is an illustration from the Ramayana. Rama and Lakshmana went to protect the Yaga performed by Sage Vishwamitra. There were demons who wanted to undo the Yaga performed by Vishwamitra. Mareecha was one of them. He was the son of the ogress Tataki. As soon as Rama espied Mareecha, with one arrow He despatched him far away. Mareecha recognised then the power of Rama. He firmly believed that Rama had the power of Divinity. From that moment he gave up his demonic quality. When he was in this state, Ravana came to him to seek his help for kidnapping Sita. Ravana said, “I want to kidnap Sita. Rama and Lakshmana are there. Become a golden deer and divert their attention”. Folding his palms, Mareecha told Ravana, “Oh King of Demons! You are having so much confidence in your physical power. Rama is not an ordinary man. I have experienced His prowess. You have lost your senses. Do not embark on this enterprise. You can never achieve victory over Rama.” In a number of ways Mareecha sought to advise Ravana. There is a saying, ‘When destruction is impending, one's intelligence will be perverted’ (Vinasha Kale Vipareeta Buddhi). Ravana was in a rage. He said, “Mareecha will you obey my command or shall I sever your head?” Mareecha thought within himself, “When I become a golden deer Rama may kill me. If I go against Ravana, he will kill me. Death is certain either way. Instead of meeting with death at the hands of Ravana, it is better I die at the hands of Rama”. Mareecha did not like to be killed by the wicked King Ravana. That is why Mareecha took the form of the golden deer. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKO23nx-IrxVRfA2SRuU-GNgjZayL2O1kSVu26c1S5nbeA35gklENughy2r-uqA0A7MRKPqLa7ZL1Wpyy9E-60AA93uZ65P8MHDdlSX5AAdeap-TIueuM0em5R_S0p9YjHdXBfZnfPW4R/s683/Rama+and+Sita+in+Forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="625" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKO23nx-IrxVRfA2SRuU-GNgjZayL2O1kSVu26c1S5nbeA35gklENughy2r-uqA0A7MRKPqLa7ZL1Wpyy9E-60AA93uZ65P8MHDdlSX5AAdeap-TIueuM0em5R_S0p9YjHdXBfZnfPW4R/w586-h640/Rama+and+Sita+in+Forest.jpg" width="586" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Seeta pointing at the Golden Deer in the forest</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">My Dear Students! The Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavatam teach the lesson that desire, anger and greed cause destruction. Fix your faith on God and not on the things of the world. When you have faith in God, your discrimination will be perfect. You will be guided by your conscience, which will always lead you properly. In Vedantic parlance, this conscience is called ‘Chit’. God is ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’. ‘Sat’ means Being, ‘Chit’ means Awareness. Where the two are combined, there is Bliss. That is the meaning of BABA: Being + Awareness + Bliss + Atma. </p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">My Dear Students! You are all aspirants of bliss. You should enjoy bliss. You have to combine Sat and Chit to realise Ananda. Without Sat, there can be no Divinity. Without Divinity there is no bliss. So, always think of God. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">Source: Discourse 17, <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b002_my_dear_students_vol_2.html">My Dear Students Volume 2</a>; Divine Discourse delivered on September 17, 1992, at Sri Sathya Sai Hostel, Prasanthi Nilayam</span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-86219521201960468022021-09-17T16:36:00.001+05:302021-09-17T16:36:31.514+05:30 Sri Sathya Sai gives Medicine for Excessive Sweating!<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-size: medium;">September 11, 1997</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Referring to the heavy rain in the morning…</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-wGrMqHnQLYYsr1Tbhk3Slzkk9v9bB7SY0h_UBq_oSqhn2tw4VevuUvXPV1Yk4AL7uvYJ_JqZfqv923lcx6q6OdfubidBx-4UaUKxi880tXxv-CBD3hg_V7m43Uky8VlAoe2PumyBjZF/s1688/Conversations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="1272" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-wGrMqHnQLYYsr1Tbhk3Slzkk9v9bB7SY0h_UBq_oSqhn2tw4VevuUvXPV1Yk4AL7uvYJ_JqZfqv923lcx6q6OdfubidBx-4UaUKxi880tXxv-CBD3hg_V7m43Uky8VlAoe2PumyBjZF/w482-h640/Conversations.jpg" width="482" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : There was a lot of mud behind the hostel dining hall but someone removed it. So </span>the water entered the dining hall. Boys took their beds and ran. No Suprabhatam today. You know, what the foreigners say for Suprabhatam ― 'Super-bottom', because their pronunciation is different from ours. I came behind the hostel today. Nobody rang up to Me. Still I came. When I came to the stadium, the whole place was flooded. Today the first period was not there, isn't it?</p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : Yes, Swami.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : The tiffin was not enough today. First they prepared Pongal. It got over. Then they </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">prepared Upma. They should make more and more. How is the kerchief (Referring </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">to the sweet, which was papery)? The sweet is prepared specially by one family, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and that too only in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. It is very good.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, my hands sweat very often. (Swami touched his fingers one by one.)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : Sweating? During examinations the paper also gets wet, isn't it? Take this </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">medicine.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">(Swami materialised a medicine, pale yellow in colour and powdery like Vibhuti).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991-2000)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-1752179459088909562021-09-13T17:11:00.004+05:302021-09-13T17:11:25.711+05:30 “I do not want anything from you, get good name. Do your duty…”<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">September 7,1997</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Seeing three MBA/MFM students, Swami asked, “What did your Director say?” The students did not reply to Swami’s question. Swami then called their director.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQgaQku4SX8wLwb4I-RETPf9-kNv6H5oWq0X7m2KMm5Oet-U42skgHcdyXMxpfcZzY0tdvMNDPpBO5umkU8xZq4VvFpYkyBgdqRyMDFa40TJD248namdg0Jigb7yGouySPBtstiGbkQMY/s1007/Conversations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1007" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQgaQku4SX8wLwb4I-RETPf9-kNv6H5oWq0X7m2KMm5Oet-U42skgHcdyXMxpfcZzY0tdvMNDPpBO5umkU8xZq4VvFpYkyBgdqRyMDFa40TJD248namdg0Jigb7yGouySPBtstiGbkQMY/w640-h490/Conversations.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><p style="text-align: justify;">Swami : (Introducing the Director to the students) He is our boy. He has done all his education here from primary to MBA. Now he is the director of Sai Lakshmi Mills. It has the latest modern technology. It has machines where, if you put cotton at one place, cloth comes out from the other end. (To the three students) How is the technology there?</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Students : Swami, it is very good.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : (To the Director) What are your future plans?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Director : Swami, I need some more MBA/MFM boys.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : What about these three boys?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Director : They will be sent to Jakarta.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">Swami : Indonesia, good, go. Go and work hard there. You must not mix with girls there. Duty Is God, Do Your Duty. Work Is Worship. I know My Boys do not mix with bad things. (To the Director) Put them all in a single room. (To the three students) You are getting a starting salary of Rs 8000/-. Nowhere does this happen. Of course, even expenses are more, taxes, etc. In Prashanti Nilayam, expenses are very less. (Then Swami granted Padanamaskar to the three students) (To the students) You give what I want and I will give you want you want. I do not want anything from you, get good name. Do your duty.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991-2000)</a></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-32303240342185192852021-09-04T16:20:00.000+05:302021-09-04T16:20:18.565+05:30"Today is Teachers Day..."<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">September 4, 1997</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : (After the sweets were distributed, to a student) What do you call this sweet? </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(Himself answering) - Bobbatu‖. In Malayalam it is called - Boli‖.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKmlumNG3zUKd74wh1rXSr_VvhKoA9bZa2nc_6gBjAkNGfIs6QQtdA6KVIEGmPr5-ZTgKZNYpSj7Kp_TF4dy_FdX0rRLUYBHNzqW41qcOGMMqhK54coBwh_HVitXgCcznW1KKlVsUmbFW/s560/11-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="560" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKmlumNG3zUKd74wh1rXSr_VvhKoA9bZa2nc_6gBjAkNGfIs6QQtdA6KVIEGmPr5-ZTgKZNYpSj7Kp_TF4dy_FdX0rRLUYBHNzqW41qcOGMMqhK54coBwh_HVitXgCcznW1KKlVsUmbFW/w640-h558/11-12.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Students : Swami, please come to hostel.</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : Where is the hostel? Give me the address, I will come. In a letter you have the 'To' </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">address and the 'From' address. Even if the 'From' address is not there, 'To' address </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">is important. Without the 'To' address, the letter will go to the dead letter box.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students : Come to hostel.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : What is a hostel? Tell Me, what is a hostel? This (Mandir) is your hostel. Here you </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">get so many chances. I can also talk to you, walk amidst you. In hostel your </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">mother-in-law (referring to the Warden) will keep so many restrictions.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">September 5, 1997</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : (To the students) Kaiko castor oil face? (To a particular Student) Kaiko castor oil </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">face? (Why are you having a castor oil face?)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : I did not study well.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : Did not study! Why? Bolo, marriage sickness (Jokingly)? (After interview) Castor </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">oil face. Why Fear When I Am Here. All passing clouds… Aata Hai Jaata Hai…</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students : Swami, please come to hostel.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : Hostel! Where is hostel? Tell, I will come. Pahele Ek Hostel Tha (Earlier there was </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">one hostel) Ab Chaar, Chaar Hostel Hain. (Now there are four hostels)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Students : Swami come to all hostels.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Swami : All hostels come here. I will talk here. Today is Teachers Day. Dr.Sarvepalli </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Radhakrishnan's birthday. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9PmQZ-RQKLbfI_nMiIp8N7vWgfuRy3xSrc-X9Yf2wHxLoVf_zan_kX5zI7RBtm0bmahxWcoJiC-p6blmv97mR40MpGafPgPnzVXKtWdK9GoAGwa0_FIZB_U3QcEwTsGq7cxcSNBPgUc4/s1200/Sarvepalli+Radhakrishnan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1200" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9PmQZ-RQKLbfI_nMiIp8N7vWgfuRy3xSrc-X9Yf2wHxLoVf_zan_kX5zI7RBtm0bmahxWcoJiC-p6blmv97mR40MpGafPgPnzVXKtWdK9GoAGwa0_FIZB_U3QcEwTsGq7cxcSNBPgUc4/w640-h356/Sarvepalli+Radhakrishnan.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">(The second President of India, a teacher by profession, this day is celebrated as 'Teachers Day' to commemorate his birthday in India)</span></p></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student2 : Please come to hostel.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : This is your hostel, this is your home, this is your college.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991-2000)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-4927065848025383112021-09-03T15:30:00.005+05:302021-09-03T15:58:39.352+05:30 Why did Parashurama not kill Janaka and Dasharatha?<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">September 2, 1998</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJvGq7gpD15uYcE5yCW1WvUKU4sa6hEXimBCYwLOJcBp34ktyKcuheHkUJ8ubyV8qaR9-JAreiOm343ujAMK1i3n_bVnpW_pZBRF5sCHlYSnJJfZG3X7ji2TxXmBproKn_PYEkr24XFFb/s1836/Parashurama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="1624" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJvGq7gpD15uYcE5yCW1WvUKU4sa6hEXimBCYwLOJcBp34ktyKcuheHkUJ8ubyV8qaR9-JAreiOm343ujAMK1i3n_bVnpW_pZBRF5sCHlYSnJJfZG3X7ji2TxXmBproKn_PYEkr24XFFb/w566-h640/Parashurama.jpg" width="566" /></span></a></div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : Who is Parashuram?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : Son of Jamadagni.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : (Pointing to one boy) Your brother Parashuram came to Kodaikanal.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : Yes, Swami.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : What is the meaning of Parashu ? (Boys kept quiet) Parashu means axe. Parashurama means one who bears axe. What oath has he taken?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Student : Swami, to kill all Kshatriyas.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6ea632; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Swami : Why? A king killed his father. He took an oath to kill all Kshatriyas. Then why did he not kill Dasharatha and Janaka? They are also Kshatriyas. There were two conditions. He would not kill a king who is performing a Yagna or a person who is just married. When Parashurama arrived, Janaka was performing a Yagna and when he came Dasharatha he had just married Kaikeyi. So they were not killed.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b014_Students_with_sai_conversations_1991_2000.html">Students with Sai: Conversations (1991-2000)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5798284702978563677.post-82237807036196364722021-08-31T15:52:00.002+05:302021-08-31T15:52:28.156+05:30Celebrations Galore at Prasanthi Nilayam - August 1995<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #e69138;"> </span><b><span style="color: #666666;">Tuesday, August 15, 1995 to Wednesday, August 23, 1995</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">From 15th August 1995 onwards, many special programmes were organised by different groups of devotees as their special offering to Bhagavan for His 70th Birthday due in November. The first of these events was a superb dramatic presentation by a group of Bal Vikas students from Germany. On August 16th and 17th, two Telugu films ‘Bhakta Ramdas’ and ‘Satya Harishchandra,’ were screened in the Divine Presence.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wozAUFjcLSsQJdzMijhBVoHzvBmLH-gTggjtTrDYXW8HSGt6VzyijFZ9J7Dv2BHhlYHZQhIWWMKZQXmDPRE04jy9NzPR2_mPURRTVaTxCUQyvS4rOztPdX3weC1gMOoPaMZjcsYnB77a/s882/TDTA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="882" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wozAUFjcLSsQJdzMijhBVoHzvBmLH-gTggjtTrDYXW8HSGt6VzyijFZ9J7Dv2BHhlYHZQhIWWMKZQXmDPRE04jy9NzPR2_mPURRTVaTxCUQyvS4rOztPdX3weC1gMOoPaMZjcsYnB77a/w640-h510/TDTA.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><p style="text-align: justify;">On Krishnashtami morning, 18th August 1995, Bhagavan gave Darshan clad in a yellow robe. All the cows of Gokulam proceeded to Sai Kulwant Hall led by the majestic Sai Geeta. Swami fed them with fruits. Bhagavan, in the course of His Discourse at Sai Kulwant Hall in the afternoon explained the nature of devotion to God and how the Gopikas were perfect examples of total devotion.</p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">On 20th August, a mass marriage ceremony of 120 couples was arranged in the Divine Presence by the alumni of Anantapur campus. Bhagavan deeply appreciated the initiative of the ‘Messengers’ and He personally arranged for the other necessities required for the celebration. On 19th, He distributed the wedding clothes to the brides and the grooms. At 7 am on 20th morning, the priest conducted the marriage ceremony at Sai Kulwant Hall. After the ceremony Bhagavan went around the long rows of the couples and sprinkled Akshata (rice grains) on them. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">On 21st August 1995, the wives of the staff of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute, and the Lady teachers of the Secondary School, arranged for a Shashtiabhdapoorti (completion of 60 years of age considered auspicious in Indian culture) function of 70 poor and aged couples from Puttaparthi and the neighbouring villages. On 21st morning, Bhagavan blessed the couples individually after the function was over.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">On 22nd August, a traditional Kanya Puja was performed for 150 young, unmarried girls in Sai Kulwant Hall. After the Puja, Bhagavan blessed the girls individually.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">On the 23rd August, a ‘Divya Upanayana Mahotsavam’ for 560 boys was arranged in Sai Kulwant Hall by the Mahila Vibhag of Hyderabad Sathya Sai Samiti. After the main ritual of Gayatri Mantra initiation and the thread ceremony, Bhagavan went around the entire hall showering consecrated rice on them and blessing the vatus and their parents. The functions lasted nearly 3 hours and Bhagavan was on His feet throughout. In the Discourse, He said:</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">“Man today spends his life fully preoccupied with worldly concerns. Owing to attachment to the body; he forgets his true nature, is immersed in the affairs of the body as permanent and. makes bodily comforts his goal in life. These are the things which every individual experiences in daily life. If anybody accosts a person and asks him, "Who are you?", out of his identification with the body he gives his name in reply. In answer to further questions he introduces himself as a doctor, a farmer, or student, or the like. When the enquiry goes further, he identifies himself with his nationality as an American, an Indian, a Pakistani or so on. When you examine these answers deeply, you will find that none of them gives the truth. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">He got his name from his parents. It did not belong to him at birth. His identification with one or other of his professions is not true because he is not the profession. What, then, is the truth about him? "I am the Atma. That is my true Self." That is the truth. But people identify themselves with their names, professions and nationality and do not base their lives on the Atma. No driver of a car identifies with the car. Likewise the body is a car and the Atma is the driver. Forgetting one's true role as a driver, one is identifying one's self with the body, which is only a vehicle. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">This truth is emphatically brought out by the Gayatri Mantra. "Deha Budhyaat Daasoham" (From the standpoint of the body, I am your instrument, your servant). "Jeeva Budhyaat Tvadamshah" (In the context of the Jeeva, the individual soul, I am a spark of the Divine Thou). "Atma Budhyaat Tvameva-Aham" (In terms of the Atma I am yourself). When one views one's self from the Atmic standpoint, one is identical with the Divine. "I am you and you are me." </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Our life is a three-storeyed mansion</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Every man has thus three aspects. Our life itself is a three-storeyed mansion. The Brahmacharya (celibate) stage is the foundation of this mansion. After that, the stage of Grihastha (householder) is the first floor. Then you have the Vaanaprastha (retirement from the life of a householder) stage as the second floor. Finally, there is the stage of the Sanyasa (renunciant), consisting-the third floor. Thus, Brahmacharya is the foundation for the other three stages of life. The safety and security of the other three floors depend on the strength of the foundation, vis, Brahmacharya. Hence, Brahmacharya is the basic foundation. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppgDMXVTouoj3_Fu9pk8a1cv9fa0pFAjhCsMDRt-A0RjPsoMeB3Eg7brClP0o-_ET4DfTJy_IXhnsCiBlZsGzoK2cQU6C445u0WxpnYCj_CaQLoJ0cEuUg_MW-bvYMsPLoKqIhjZrisxJ/s2048/ASHRAMAS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppgDMXVTouoj3_Fu9pk8a1cv9fa0pFAjhCsMDRt-A0RjPsoMeB3Eg7brClP0o-_ET4DfTJy_IXhnsCiBlZsGzoK2cQU6C445u0WxpnYCj_CaQLoJ0cEuUg_MW-bvYMsPLoKqIhjZrisxJ/w640-h452/ASHRAMAS.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><p style="text-align: justify;">But, unfortunately this vital fact has been forgotten by people. They feel happy on seeing the super-structure. But the whole edifice may collapse at any time if the foundation is weak. When you feel happy at the sight of a tree and its flowers and fruits, you must be concerned about its roots. The unseen foundation is the basis for the visible mansion. The invisible roots are the basis for the visible tree. Likewise, the invisible Praana (Life-Breath or Force) is the basis for the visible body. Praana has no form, while the body has a form. There is, however, the Atmic principle which confers all the potencies for the Praana (Life Force). It is because of the power imparted by the Atma that the Life Force is able to activate the body. The body inherently is inert. It is made up of different kinds of material substances. </p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Three potencies in every Human </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">In the Gayatri Mantra the first line is: ‘Om Bhur Bhuva Suvah’. This Mantra is assumed to refer to three worlds, the earth, the middle world and Heaven - Swarga, the land of the gods. Bhu refers to the body. It is made up of Pancha Bhutas (five great, elements). These five elements constitute Prakriti (Nature). There is an intimate relationship between the body and Nature. The same five elements that are in the nature are also in the body. Bhuvah is the Praana Shakti (Life Force) that animates the body. Even if the Life Force exists, without Jnana (Awareness) the body will be of no use. It is on this account that the Vedas declared: "Prajnaanam Brahma" (Constant Integrated Awareness is Brahman). It is by the presence of Prajnaana that the Life Force is able to animate the body. The body represents inert matter. The Life Force operates in the body as a vibration. This Vibration derives its power from Prajnaana, which finds expression in radiation. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Therefore, the body, the Life Force and the Prajnana are all within man. The entire cosmos is present in miniature within man. It is because of these three constituents that we are able to see the cosmos and experience many other things. Every potency is within us. The external is a reflection of the inner being. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">It follows from this that true Manavatvam (humanness) is Daivatvam (Divinity) itself. Hence, the Vedas declared that the divine appears in human form. Every human being is inherently Divine, but owing to his attachment to the body he' considers himself a mere man. How did this human body get animated by the Life Force? Whence has this Life Force come? It is from the Atma-Shakti (the power of the Self). Making use of this power of the Sell the Life Force carries out all activities. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Triple Aspects of Gayatri </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Who is Gayatri? Gayatri is not a goddess. "Gayatri Chandasaam Mata" (Gayatri is the mother of the Vedhas) "Gaayantam Traayate Iti Gayatri" (Gayatri is that which redeems the chanter of the Mantra). Gayatri is present wherever the Mantra is chanted. Gayatri, however, has three names' Gayatri, Savitri, Saraswati. These three are present in everyone. Gayatri represents the senses. It is the master of the senses. Savitri is the master of Praana (Life Force). Many Bharatiyas are familiar with the story of Savitri who brought back to life her dead husband, Satyavaan. Savitri signifies truth. Saraswati is the presiding deity of Vaak (Speech). The three represent Trikarana Shuddhi (purity in thought, word and deed). Although Gayatri has three names, all the three are in each of us as the senses (Gayatri), the power of speech (Saraswati) and the Life Force (Savitri). </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Gayatri is said to have five faces and hence is called Pancha Mukhi. Is there anybody in the world with five faces? No. In the Ramayana, Ravana is said to have ten heads. If really he had ten heads, how would he be able to lie in his bed or move about? This is not the inner meaning of this description. He is said to be ten-headed because he was the master of the four Vedas and the six Shastras. Likewise, Gayatri is described as five-faced. The five faces are as follows. Om (the Pranava) is the first face. The Pranava Principle represents the Ashta-Aishvarya (eight different forms of wealth). The second face is: "Bhur Bhuva Suvah." The third is: "Tat-Savitur-Varenyam." The fourth is "Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi". The fifth face is: "Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayaat." When the Gayatri Mantra is understood in this way, it will be realised that all the five aspects of Gayatri are within each of us. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Power of Gayatri Mantra</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsg8cmGPgJdJ34iGoE4a7jb9gIsTasfinCZfRXwqZVK53bCJk9Ryxu0eLfrZUMalG5CtVQsAK0uTitSBuzLGFqWbvoAV6-lTCf4DixZnQ5aVnxX9roQMgmMdV8gIfEO3l9qAsXD1s8InOG/s778/Gayatri+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="584" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsg8cmGPgJdJ34iGoE4a7jb9gIsTasfinCZfRXwqZVK53bCJk9Ryxu0eLfrZUMalG5CtVQsAK0uTitSBuzLGFqWbvoAV6-lTCf4DixZnQ5aVnxX9roQMgmMdV8gIfEO3l9qAsXD1s8InOG/w480-h640/Gayatri+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><p style="text-align: justify;">The Gayatri Mantra has all the three elements which figure in the adoration of God description, meditation and prayer. The first nine words of the Mantra - "Om-Bhur-BhuvasSuvah-Tat-Savitur-Varenyam-Bhargo-Devasya" – represent the attributes of the Divine. Dheemahi pertains to Dhyana (meditation). "Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayaat" is the prayer to the Lord. The Mantra is thus a prayer to God to confer all powers and talents. "Sarva Roga Nivaarini Gayatri" (Gayatri is the reliever of all diseases). "Sarva Dukha Parihaarini Gayatri" (Gayatri wards off all misery). "Sarva Vaancha Phala Siddhi Gayatri" (Gayatri is the fulfiller of all desires). Gayatri is the bestower of all that is beneficial. If the Mantra is chanted, various kinds of powers will emerge in one. </p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Hence the Gayatri Mantra should not be treated casually. In our respiration process the sound of Gayatri is embedded. That sound is a reminder of our true form. In the breathing process, there is inhalation and exhalation. In the Yoga-Shastra, inhalation is termed Poorakam and the exhalation is called Rechakam. Holding the breath is called Kumbhakam. When air is inhaled, the sound that is produced' is 'So-o-o.' When it is exhaled, the sound is 'Ham-m-m.' 'So-ham, Soham.' (Bhagavan demonstrated how this happens while breathing in and out). 'So' is "that." 'Ham' is "I". "I am That," "I am Divine." Every breath proclaims this. The Vedas declared the same thing in the pronouncements: "Tat Tvam Asi" (That thou art), "Aham Brahmaasmi" (I am Brahman), "Ayam Atma Brahma" (This Self is Brahman). </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">Gayatri is the Indweller</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Don't imagine God is somewhere remote from you. He is within you. You are God. People want to see God. "Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma", say the scriptures. Truth. is God. Wisdom is God. Both these are present everywhere. They transcend the categories of time and place. Truth is that which is valid at all times – past, present and future. That truth is Gayatri.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Gayatri is thus the indweller in the Hridaya (heart). Hridaya contains the word Daya meaning compassion. There is compassion in every heart. But to what extent is it shown in real life? Very little. All the while only anger, jealousy, pride and hatred are displayed. These evil qualities are not natural to man. They are opposed to human nature. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">It has been declared that one who bases himself entirely on the mind is a demon. One who bases himself on the body is an animal. One who follows the Atma (the Self) is divinely endowed. One who relies on the body, the mind and the Atma is a human being. Humanness is the combination of the body; mind and Atma. Man should strive to ascend to the divine and not descend to the demonic or animal nature. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">How to remove insecurity and secure security? </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">From today onwards parents should teach their children stories with morals. You all know in what a chaotic condition the world is today. Disorder and violence are rampant everywhere. Peace and security are not to be found anywhere. Where is peace to be found? It is within us. Security is also within us. How is insecurity to be removed and security secured? It is by giving up desires. In the language of the ancient Bhaaratheeyas this was termed Vairaagya (giving up attachment). This does not mean giving up home and family and retiring into the forest. It is reduction of wants. As a householder limit your desires to the needs of the family. As a student, stick to your studies. As a professional, adhere to the duties of your profession. Do not indulge in excesses of any kind. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">In the practice of the Gayatri Mantra, one should realise that everything is within one and thereby develop confidence in the Self. Man today is racked by numerous troubles because he has no confidence in the Sell The aspirant on the spiritual path is bound to face the troubles caused by the six enemies, lust, anger, greed, infatuation, pride and envy. He has to overcome them. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Students! On an auspicious occasion like this, you should consider how you can lead an ideal life. Through faith in God, you have to sanctify the body. Without the body, you cannot experience the mind and the intellect. To achieve your ideals, the body is the instrument. It should be kept in proper condition. While the body is an instrument, the user of the instrument is the Self. All senses function because of the Aathma. The Aathma is the Witness to everything. It is also known as Conscious Self. It derives its sanction from the Divine. It is a fragment of the Divine. Every human being is a spark of the Divine, as declared in the Geetha. The human being is essentially Divine, but tends to forget his Divine origin. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">The Gayatri Mantra is enough to protect the person who chants it, because Gayatri embodies all the Divine potencies. It is an essential requisite for the young because it ensures a bright and auspicious future for them. The young students are the citizens and leaders of tomorrow. Hence, they should develop pure and noble thoughts. The parents also should foster such a development. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: medium;">The Meaning of Upanayanam</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">The Upanayanam ceremony is just over. The Gayatri Mantra has been imparted to you. You are wearing the sacred thread with three strands tied in one knot. The three strands represent Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara. They also represent the .past, the present and future. Upanayanam means being near to God. Nearness to God will enable you to get rid of your bad qualities and acquire virtues. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">The Vedas have emphasized three duties. Esteem the mother as God, the father as God and the preceptor as God. Bear this injunction in mind. Gratitude to your parents is your foremost duty. This is the lesson taught by Shri Rama. Love your parents and remember God. When you please your parents and make them happy, your entire life will be filled with happiness. Chant the Gayatri as often as possible. If you chant it while you take a bath, your bath gets sanctified. Likewise chant it before taking your food. The food becomes an offering to the Divine. Develop heartfelt devotion to God.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Source: <a href="https://www.saipublications.com/b010_Sai_Digvijayam_2.html">Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1986 – 2005)</a></span></p>Sathya Sai with Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01249459682430050587noreply@blogger.com0