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Prashanthi Bulletin
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.
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