Darshan News: July 23, 2008 - Sai Students

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July 23, 2008 Devotees from Italy had filled up the marble block as they had been granted permission to perform in the divine presence. The whole choir was seated on the floor. There were two violins, a flute and a clarinet players on the ladies side on chairs. Mirroring them in position on the gents side were a violin, an accordion, a guitar and tambourine players. Swami arrived for darshan at about 5:20 pm. And when He came, there were gasps! He had come on the special golden chair that He had used for Guru Poornima. Since it is at a nice height, all the devotees benefit from a wonderful darshan. Swami moved to the stage and asked for the programme to begin. The programme was presented as an offering of devotional songs from Italy. As Swami sat, the offerings were made to Him. A little boy took and gave Him the

Italian flag. Swami blessed the conductor of the programme and asked them to start. There was that little boy, maybe 8-9 years of age, who began the programme with Vedic chanting. As he completed it, Swami was all smiles. He called the boy and asked him as to whom had he learnt the chanting from. He blessed him and sent him back The next item also was by this boy who played a solo guitar piece. It was followed by a short piano recital and then the singing began. It started with a rapid "Om Sri Ganesha", followed by an emotional song addressing Swami as the mother. A soulful song entitled, "Oh My Sun" was next and it gave way to a high pitched and quickly changing song entitled, "Flying with God". The "Tarantella Divina" or the divine dance was ushered in next and "Longing for Sathya Sai" gave them an opportunity to pour out their feelings for Him. Swami noticed that the gentleman sitting right in front had no mike before him. He asked, "Won't he

sing?" There was merriment and that devotee was immensely touched. He needed no mike after that encouraging statement! Two more songs later, they concluded. But Swami wanted them to continue. He asked for one more song which they sang whole heartedly and full throatedly. They seemed to be in a sort of pleasurable trouble when Swami asked them to sing another. They began to repeat a song and as they concluded, Swami asked, "One more?" They continued with the encore and then finally they told Swami that they were done! He then told them to sing bhajans. They began to sing and Swami blessed chocolates to be distributed among them. The conductor put aside her stand and took a harmonium and began playing it. Today also happened to be the 13th anniversary of the Sri Sathya Sai Junior Boys Hostel. So the children had brought a model of the school hostel to be blessed by Swami. Swami, however, did not seem to notice them. He concluded the bhajans,

received Aarthi and went into the interview room. Whenever God "denies" something, it is only because He has something greater and grander to gift us. The children appeared a little downcast but a lot more determined. They sat with the model at the Lord's door awaiting His arrival. What happened next is something that will remain etched in the memories of all present for a long time to come. Swami came out of the interview room and seeing the boys, called them. They went to Him with the model and trays of chocolates and goodies. Swami was impressed with the model. But the perfectionist that He is, He asked them, "Turn the model around...". He examined all the sides and, His students that they are, they had made it very well. Atleast Swami seemed to be very happy with the model being perfect on all the six sides, yes top and bottom included! Then He blessed the trays of chocolates and goodies. And in that instant, it seemed HE DECIDED. He took a

few "gold coins" chocolates and began distributing them to the VIPs there. Then, He moved to the ladies side and began distributing coins one by one to the devotees. He saw the ladies sitting on wheelchairs. He moved towards them and began to give each of them "golden" coins with His own hand. He moved along the lines distributing coins. He moved back to the shutters area also where there were ladies on wheel chairs. He gave coins to all of them on priority basis. Their joy knew no bounds. They would not have imagined in their wildest dreams of this happening to them. But thats the way with God. He may not give you what you expect at times, but at other times, He gives that which we don't even dare to imagine! Some of the women raised up their babies for Swami to bless. Swami gently touched the babies on their foreheads. He went around this way distributing among the ladies till the gold coins ran out! He stretched out His hand and the tray was

empty. A satisfied smile blossomed on His face and there were thrilled faces all around He slowly came back to the center where the Italian group was seated. He called and had a set of photographs taken with the youngest member of their group who had recited Vedam and played a guitar solo, and asked the students to sing Bhajans. The bhajans began and none need to say that they sang with gusto. Swami blessed all the birthday boys and boys with trays too. He threw some chocolates to the members of the Italian choir. He just sat there smiling so blissfully and there was just joy and joy everywhere. AT about 7:15 pm, Swami received Aarthi for the second time and then retired to the Yajur Mandir. Click here to see pictures of the event.July 22, 2008 There was the next scheduled session of the conference

in the morning. This morning, the Bhajans began in Sai Kulwant Hall at 9 o'clock, and Swami arrived in His chair at 9.50 am. He took a small darshan round and then came onstage. He saw that the delgates had all collected their letters into bundles and the lead gent and lady were holding them. Swami called two students and told them to take the huge bundles of letters and place them on the stage. Then, He called out for the Thailand school boys who had played the violin concert a few days ago. Dr. Jhum Sai gathered and got some of them onstage. Swami distributed watches to them and they were thrilled and overjoyed. As Swami had promised, they asked Swami, "Swami photographs." At this time, one photographer immediately went up to Swami and handed over all the copies of the photos. They were all happy to receive them from the divine hands. Then, Swami sat onstage for a few minutes and interacted with the conference organisers. Then He moved to the

interview room and called in a few lady delegates for an interview. Once He emerged from the interview, He came onstage and accepted Arati before returning to His residence at 11 o'clock. The final session of the conference got underway in the evening when Swami came onstage just before five o'clock. The three speakers for the session were Dr. Narendra Reddy, Sri Nimish Pandya and Dr. Michael Goldstein. Once the speakers summed up the conference proceedings and outlined the course of future action, Bhagawan delivered His benedictory message, which is available here. At the end of His Discourse, He went to the interview room briefly, and returned with Dr. Goldstein in tow. Swami took the lingam that He had given to Dr. Goldstein last evening and displayed it to everyone. He then created vibhuti and sprinkled it on the lingam, and it was the perfect

Abhishekam. He again created some more of the holy Vibhuti and asked Dr. Goldstein to immediately put all of it into his mouth. He announced that He's giving the lingam to Dr. Goldstein for him to distribute the water from washing the lingam to those who are unwell. There was thunderous claps and joyous shouts of Jaijaikars as Swami said that. He then asked for the evening's cultural programme to begin. Children from the Sri Sai Vidya Vihar, Alwaye, Kerala, presented an hour-long dance drama on Bhaktha Jayadeva. The drama began with a wonderful ballet between Krishna and Radha. Then a teacher arrives on the scene and starts narrating to the children, the story of Jayadeva. The Lord literally composes the verses for Jayadeva who is lost in His glory alone. When the ruler of the land, Lakshmana Sena tries to harass the poet, the Lord is always present, rescuing and glorifying the devotee. There was also a scene of the great devotion of Padmavathi

towards her husband Jayadeva. When the queen fools her telling that Jayadeva is dead, she immediately drops down dead in sorrow. Jayadeva's sorrowful, yet devotional hymn rushes to the very gates of heaven and drags the Lord down to shower mercy and resurrect Padmavathi. The final scene was about how the Lord comes down as a scholar to subject Jayadeva to the final test. But the all humble saint submits completely and the Lord Krishna is lost in his love. The drama concluded with a final song. Swami's face was covered in smiles watching the small children make their presentation. During the scene when the wife dies, all the ladies in the front were in tears at the nobility of the woman. The pleadings to Lord Krishna, were all directed to Sai Krishna and Swami too reflected the same sentiments. As they concluded, He got up from the stage and walked down to take group photographs with them. He walked down the steps and all the children came

towards Him to receive Him. After a while, He also sat on the chair and posed for photographs with them. He called the actor who played the role of Jayadeva and gifted her a clock embedded in a laminated photograph. He later gave one of that to each of the participants as they came up one by one, while prasadam was distributed to all the devotees. He also threw a couple of sweets to some of the drama participants. It was 8 o'clock when Swami accepted Arati, blessed everyone and returned to His residence. Click here to see pictures of the event.July 21, 2008 In the morning, all the delegates were seated in the Kulwant hall and all were eager as Swami's discourse had been scheduled. Swami arrived for darshan at 10:45 am. Very quickly, He came to the stage and wanted the proceedings to begin. There were

four speeches scheduled before His discourse. The first to speak was Dr. Tom Scovill. After a 15 minute speech, there was a very interesting talk by Dr. B.G. Pitre. He spoke on the techniques and impact of Sathya Sai Education, with illustrative anecdotes. The next was Dr. Dalton de Souza Amorim. Finally, Mr. Srirangarajan from the Sri Sathya Sai University delivered his talk which revolved around the four E's of educare - experience, example, empowerment and ennoblement. After the talks, Swami said that He would deliver His discourse in the evening. Swami thus accepted Aarthi and retired to Yajur Mandir at noon. The delegates for the conference gathered at various venues in the Ashram for their respective post-lunch sessions and returned to the Sai Kulwant Hall for the afternoon plenary session. Swami arrived in His chair and moved to the interview room after four o'clock. At 4.30 pm, the speeches for the afternoon commenced. Mr. Victor Krishna

Kanu, who arrived on stage in a wheel chair, was the first to be invited to speak. He roared like an African lion that he is, saying that it is time to move ahead into action. He powerfully impressed on all that being born in a time with the Avatar was no little thing. Swami was visibly moved with his "roars". He blessed him at the end of his short speech. Then, Mr. Jeremy Hoffer, spoke on his experiences as a teacher in the SSE programme. Mr. M. K. Kaw spoke on the functioning procedures at the Sri Sathya Sai International Centre at Delhi and finally, Sri Sanjay Mahalingam spoke on how the goal of educare is to gift one with absolute silence within. Bhagawan then graciously consented to speak to the delegates. A list of questions was handed over to him and He asked for the mikes and began His discourse, which is available here. The students sang Bhajans for

10 minutes after Swami's Discourse while the delegates moved out from the centre of Sai Kulwant Hall to make way for the devotees from the CIS (former USSR) who were to make a musical presentation.Bhagawan returned to the stage after a brief visit to the interview room and the music program began with a brief introduction. Songs from Russia, Georgia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and so on kept the packed hall enthralled with their catchy tunes and lively beat. The joy and enthusiasm radiating from the faces of these devotees was very infectious. Everyone had a smile and some of them were even almost laughing aloud! It was really a very divine atmosphere and the joy radiating from the Lord and devotees combined to spread a thrill everywhere. After their half-hour programme, Swami asked them to sing one more song, so they sang the popular "Kalinka" and had the audience clapping all through. Then as all the organisers came around Swami, He spoke to

them. All of a sudden, waving His hand, Swami materialised a huge golden Lingam. The lingam was awesome by its sheer size alone! He handed it over to Dr. Goldstein with some instructions. He asked for a cover and wrapped the lingam in the cover. He told him to perform the Abhishekam or the holy bath for the diety. Promising further instructions later, Swami displayed the lingam for all the eager devotees to have a look at. There were gasps and shrieks.It is true that in highest happiness, man does not know how to react. The mixture of spontaneous reactions was something that must have been seen and heard to be truly experienced! Blessing all the devotees, Swami accepted Aarati and returned to His residence at 7.30 pm while prasadam was distributed.Click here to see pictures of the event.July 20, 2008 At

about 11 am there was a sudden hustle outside Yajur Mandir. Swami was going to the Poornachandra auditorium to inaugurate the Vidya Jyoti exhibition that had been erected there. A dash of Rangolis (symmetric drawings with colour powder on the floor) adorned a large portion of the auditorium floor and children from various nationalities held flowers to welcome the Lord. Swami entered the grand entrance and lit the lamp to mark the opening. He went around the various sections of the exhibition. There was an elaborate and well made documentary on the various facets of Educare and Swami sat through the entire video of about 20 mins. Then the different sections made were based on the different regions of the world and the Sai system of education that was being run and propagated there. Swami spent about 40 minutes in the exhibition and blessing all the participants and watching brief clips at different points, He went back to Yajur Mandir at about 11:50 am.

In the evening, the opening ceremony of the Sri Sathya Sai education conference was scheduled. Swami arrived in the chair and took a detour to the stage between the seated ladies and gents delegates. A very interesting episode occurred. All the delegate letters had been bundled into a huge package and the devotee sitting right in the front offered it to Swami. Swami looked at it and it appeared as if He wanted to take it. But at the last minute, He blessed it and the package remained in the devotees hands. however as Swami came on the stage, He told the student beside HIm, "Go down, take that package and keep it" There was an applause of joy and thrill at this act of Grace. Swami lit the lamp to mark the inauguration of the conference Then there were opening addresses by Dr. Michael Goldstein and Mr. V. Srinivasan. After their speeches, Swami asked for His mikes and began His Divine Discourse which is available here. After His Discourse, as Swami went for a short break into the interview room, the stage was set for the Sai Symphony orchestra. As all the members of the orchestra were ready, Swami arrived and asked it to begin. Conducted by Michael Koehler from Germany, the orchestra consisted of violins, violas, cellos, bass, clarinets, saxophones, oboes, bassoons, flutes, trumpets, trombones, French horns, percussions alongside a tuba, a timpani and a keyboard - a wide array indeed! Representing 21 countries, the musicians just let themselves to be ruled by their heartfelt feelings. The program consisted of Romantic music pieces of the great western classical masters. They played Shostakovich festive overture, Ottorino Respighi, Felix Mendelssohn and some more pieces. As they completed, Swami blessed them and asked for tetrapaks of mango juice to be given to all. He

also blessed prasadam to be distributed. He then received Aarthi and left. Click here to see pictures of the event.July 19, 2008 This evening, the devotees from Austria had been permitted to present a choral programme. Swami came for darshan at 5 pm, and He took a round of the Sai Kulwant Hall in His chair before coming to the verandah. Before the programme commenced, He once again took a round of the ladies' side in His chair. He granted the bonus darshan and then slowly moved up the centre of Sai Kulwant Hall. He came onstage to start the proceedings at 5.25 pm. The Austrian devotees must have felt very special at these acts of love and grace. They had a conductor who would sit down and speak into the mike after each song and explain the significance of the upcoming song. The feeling of joy of

sitting and singing in the immediate presence of the Lord in the Physical was apparent on the beaming faces of the choir members, both men and women and it was a torrential outpouring of devotion in the form of music during the twilight session. Starting the programme with the song Dass Du mich einstimmen lasst, expressing gratitude to Bhagawan for the opportunity granted to them, the troupe sang the second song Wenn wir erklimme, expressing the meaning that together we are climbing the mountain of life with full desire to reach the goal of merging with God, facing all challenges, enjoying the wonderful beauty of nature, which is the ornaments of our Supreme Lord. The next to come was from the composition of Austria's illustrious composer W. A. Mozart, and the song was "Hallelujah", the song in praise of The Lord which was followed by a song on Sathya Sai, Gurudev Gurudev composed by a devotee from Austria. The sixth song was an exclusive

song, Werte de Lebens, on five Human Values followed by Atme in uns, a song, a speedy prayer to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment, love and transformation. Andachtsjodler was the next to come, a devotional yodeller for praising the Lord at midnight mass. An old famous Austrian folk song about the splendour of nature, In die Berg bin I gern was the eighth piece that was followed by Lob and Preis, yet another invitation to one and all to come and sing in praise of the Lord, and the last piece was Vater unser acknowledging that with the Lord's Prayer, which is the most common prayer in the Christian tradition, the troupe got the unique opportunity and immense grace to praise the Lord in their mother tongue. Sitting through the entire session watching the graceful artistes, singing their hearts out, Swami asked them to continue for two more songs. They repeated the songs. Swami was also very concerned that

the speaker be given a standing mike so that he would not have to exert sitting and standing alternatively. Expressing happiness, "Very Happy" in so many words, simultaneously gesticulating with His typical hand movement, and with His face beaming in complete satisfaction, He showed His greater concern and love asking the conductor, who was apparently appeared to have tired after his physically demanding conductor show, whether he wanted water and lo! He replied through the mike, "Yes, Swami, a lot of water has come out and its time some water went in!". The students got glasses of water for the members of the choir, followed by Prasadam distribution while Bhajans were sung for half an hour with Arati at seven o'clock. Click here to see pictures of the event.

 

Source: http://www.saistudents.org