Thursday meeting of Sathya Sai Baba devotees at SIUE open to all denominations

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Article published in: The TelegraphApril 9, 2007URL: http://www.thetelegraph.com/onset?id=399 & template=article.html Hindu swami offers ‘love all serve all’ philosophy: Thursday meeting of Sathya Sai Baba devotees at SIUE open to all denominations By JILL MOON April 9, 2007 - 8:35AM Sai Baba EDWARDSVILLE - The Sri Sathya Sai Baba Center of Southern Illinois transforms the Religious Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville into a temple of love. Every Thursday evening Sai Baba devotees congregate at the Religious Center to practice Hinduism - the third largest religion in the world. “Although Hinduism is the name of a religion, it is a way of living,” said Dr. T.K. Parthasarathy, an SIUE professor of audiology and president of the Sathya Sai Baba Center of Southern Illinois sponsored by the United Campus Ministry at the Religious Center. Hindu services in the nature of the Sai Baba Center are usually

in someone’s home or a place such as the Religious Center, which sponsors many faith-related events. “Once you build something (like a church) that big, it gets so bureaucratic,” Parthasarathy said. “You wonder how to pay for it. (Gathering) has to be unsolicited.” The Sai Baba Center is named for Hindus’ swami or spiritual leader Sai Baba. Sai Baba, born in India in 1926, is revered by many Hindus much like the Pope is revered by Catholics, yet Sai Baba is neither a politicized figure nor runs a hierarchy of church leaders. The Sai Baba Center wants to promote a part of the Hindu philosophy that respects all religions. The Sai Baba devotees celebrate Christian holidays with the same vigor they celebrate Hindu festivals. Parthasarathy said Hindus believe in one God but that God comes in many forms. Because of the caste system in India, different castes may call God different names but it is a manifestation of the same God. “We don’t want to

promote Hinduism as the only way to divinity but to respect all religions,” Parthasarathy explained. The five universal values of The Sathya Sai Baba Central Council of the United States of America are truth, right action or righteousness, inner peace, divine love and nonviolence. “The main objective of the Sathya Sai organization is to help one recognize the divinity that is inherent within. It is established to translate the principles of love and nonviolence into daily practice,” says Sathya Sai Baba. Devotees at Thursday’s service sang devotional songs in Sanskrit, India’s classical language of which more than 30 Indian languages are derived, and in English. Devotees sang the popular Christian hymn “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty” near the end of the service that started at 7:30 and ended at 9:30 p.m. The service always begins with a study session. Thursday’s was about the great things swami Sai Baba has done for humanity. Sai Baba

lives in Puttaparthi, a small remote village in South India, teaching the love of God. About 10 devotees sat on the floor under the dome of the Religious Center and sang devotional songs in front of a portable alter dedicated to Sai Baba. The study session pointed out there are many arid regions of the world where there is no access to fresh drinking water. In 1997, Sai Baba provided pure water to more than 1,000 villages in India covering a population of 2 million that included the poorest of the poor and the forgotten. The water project involved laying more than 2,500 kilometers of pipes each about 20 inches in diameter. Also, water was brought from the northern and southern parts of the Indian state, Andra Pradesh, against a gradient of nearly 500 feet, which required many pumping stations to be built along the way. At a cost of $70 million, the water project one of the single largest social benefit projects undertaken by a private

organization in the world. Recently the drinking water project has been extended to other villages and is ongoing. In 2000, Sai Baba’s students delivered 300 pounds of food to the poor, and in 2001 students delivered food door-to-door in remote villages. Sai Baba also has built two state-of-the-art Superspecialty hospitals in India in 1991 and 2001 respectively. Together the hospitals have provided more than 23,000 cardiac surgeries, 6,500 laser eye surgeries and 6,500 neuro surgeries all done at no charge to the patient. Sai Baba also has built schools from primary to secondary to colleges and universities all free of charge to students. Doctors all over the world volunteer their time and expertise in these hospitals providing selfless service, a principle of Hinduism and Sai Baba in particular. Some of Sai Baba’s sayings are “character is the essence of education,” “we have an obligation to love,” and “love all serve all.” The Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Center of Southern Illinois’ Thursday programs consist of a study circle, devotional singing and service projects on Saturdays and Sundays. The Illinois center joins with the St. Louis and West County Sai Centers for service projects and festivals. The Thursday evening service at the Religious Center is open to all faiths and denominations. For more information call Parthasarathy at (618) 650-3676. The Telegraph, 2007.