Prasanthi Bulletin News

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Prasanthi Bulletin News

 

July 31st, 2005

 

On Sunday evening - 31st July, 2005, the students of the 1st year

Post graduate classes, the MBA, MBA(Finance), MSc and MTech classes

presented a programme on the Theme of Seva entitled 'Sevanjali'. The

programme very well brought out the inner significance of the ideal

of Service as explained by Bhagavan on a number of occasions. It was

a combination of dance, songs, story depiction and sharing of

experiences on the concept of Seva. The two stories which were used

to depict this were the story of Abu Ben Adhem and an incident in the

life of Shirdi Sai Baba.

 

The story of Abu Ben Adhem -- Abu whose only desire in life is to

serve his fellow men does not find his name in the list of angels of

people who love God. But he is astonished to find his name at the top

of the list of those whom God loves. This stresses the fact that God

loves those who serve others and thus through them serve Him. The

Shirdi Baba incident was the one where a merchant comes to Baba and

prays for Brahmajnana but he is not ready to part with five rupees

required by Baba. Baba tells him that it is only through sacrifice

that one can attain immortality. How can the one who cannot part with

five rupees control the five indriyas (senses) and the five bhootas

(elements). Nature is the best example of selfless servive. The river

flows for the sake of others. The trees bear fruit for the sake of

others. The cow gives milk for the sake of others. The body is verily

for the sake of serving others. The drama concluded with the

song 'Deen Dukhiyon Se Prem Karo mera Sai Prasanna Hoga'. Bhagavan

was very pleased with the presentation and spoke with a few

participants after the presentation concluded.

 

July 27th, 2005

 

Nowadays, Bhagawan has not been sitting onstage for long - He has

been going inside the interview room after sitting outside for a few

minutes, or going on rounds in His car. But on the afternoon of

Friday, the 27th of July, Bhagavan blessed 4 speakers from the

Prashanti Nilayam Campus of the Institute to address the gathering in

His divine Presence. The first speaker was Sri Sanjay Mahalingam - a

Research Scholar from the School of Business management of the

Institute. He emphasized the declaration of Bhagavan as the Teacher

of Truth - 'Aham Satyabodhaka' and narrated a few experiences to

highlight this statement.

 

The second speaker was Sri Karthik Ramesh - a student of the 1st MBA

class of the Institute. Karthik spoke about how he had pined and

prayed to be a student of Bhagavan over the past several years and

after five unsuccessful attempts for some reason or the other, he was

able to get an admission to the MBA programme this year. But the one

truth was that during all this period of turmoil Bhagavan had been

guiding him through. Bhagavan blessed the speaker by materializing a

three diamond ring for him.

 

The third speaker was Sri B. Arvind - 1st year MBA Class of the

Institute. He spoke on the great good fortune we have of studying and

being in the Divine Presence of the very Avatar Himself. He too

shared a few experiences to highlight this truth. The last speaker

was Sri Dinesh Talreja - 2nd year student of the MBA (Finance) class

of the Institute. Sri Dinesh elucidated on the fact that Love and

Service were the two wings of the bird of life and it was necessary

to fructify our lives by living these two ideals. To conclude the

Vice Chancellor Sri Anil Gokak expressed his gratitude to Bhagavan

for giving the students an opportunity to express their feelings in

His Divine Presence.

 

July 24th, 2005

 

As a befitting conclusion to the grand Guru Poornima celebrations at

Prashanti Nilayam, on Sunday morning - 24th July, 2005; the staff and

students from the Anantapur campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of

Higher Learning organized the distribution of sewing machines and wet

grinders for 84 women from many villages of the Anantapur District.

These women were from different backgrounds and religions. This was

done after a careful survey undertaken by them based on the needs of

the women and their abilities. These were distributed to empower them

and make them independent enough to earn their own livelihood. Those

women who were not physically capable of undertaking sewing jobs,

were given wet grinders so that they can earn their living through

that means. This distribution was done in the Divine Presence. Each

of the 84 women offered a rose at the Lotus Feet. They were all given

new saris also.

 

After the distribution was completed, sisters from the Anantapur

Campus rendered a musical offering - the Sai Katha. It was perfectly

complementary to the Rama Katha presented by the brothers from the

Prashanti Nilayam Campus of the Institute. Thus the glory of both the

Avatars - the Treta Avatar and the Kali Avatar were sung during the

Guru Poornima Celebrations in the Divine Presence.

 

July 22nd, 2005

 

This day saw the proceedings of an Inter-faith conference at the Sai

Kulwant Hall. The proceedings began in the morning after Swami

arrived at the Sai Kulwant Hall, at 8.35 am. Dr. Michael Goldstein,

Chairman of the Prashanthi Council of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva

Organisation, introduced the speakers. The speakers for the morning

were from Islam and Buddhism; representatives of Christianity,

Judaism and Hinduism were slated to speak in the afternoon. The first

speaker was Maulana Wahid Uddin Khan - Islamic Scholar founder

President of the Islamic Centre in Delhi. The theme of his talk

was 'Islam and the Concept of Love & Peace'. He quoted many passages

from the Koran and the Hadis to illustrate how Islam is a religion of

Love. The second speaker was Dr. A. T. Aryaratna - founder of

Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka and former President of World

Parliament of Religions. He opined that the more you study Religion

in depth, the more you discover that it is nothing but Love.

 

The afternoon proceedings started at 4 pm. Representing Christianity

was Father Henry Faren who expounds the universal tenets of Love of

all religions on TV and radio. After Father Henry was Rabbi David

Zeller for Judaism, who has released the healing CD "Let go, let

God". The Rabbi wove several songs also into his talk. The final

speaker was P. S. J. Rama Shastrigal, Sanskrit pundit and scholar,

Asthana Vidwan of Padhuga Trust Madurai and Asthana Vidwan of

Rajarajeswari Alayam Ramnad Samsthanam. He spoke in Tamil, with a

translator simultaneously translating his talk into English.

 

 

With Love & Light

 

sourced from Prasanthi Bulletin

 

Deepak

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