13th May Sai darshan update-Evening:"...Buddha
poornima evening program
commenced at 4.p.m. with Swami’s grand entrance, Swami blessed and
looked at devotees waiting in the Sai Ramesh...."
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Sairam dear
members of our [SBOI-Group] sai family
HAPPY BUDDHA PURNIMA
says the huge banner at the gate of Brindavan ashram ,it has Swami s picture
blessing us on one side and on the other side there is a picture of Buddha on
it. The decorated gates are open at 6am and as we enter the ashram, our eyes
feast on the beautiful decorations inside, today its a full moon day of the holy
month of VESAKH also known as POORNIMA and because LORD BUDDHA was born
,enlightened, and attained nirvana on this day its also known as BUDDHA POORNIMA
day,,and we were very fortunate to celebrate and begin this day in the divine
presence of the living BUDDHA -BHAGAWAN SREE SATYA SAI BABA.
There are beautiful colourfull flags with the pictures of Swami, with the
syombol of lord Ganesh, the Sarvadharma syombol,Happy vesakh day, Picture of a
rose etc,.hung all along the portico saying happy vesakh day, happy Buddha
poornima day, bringing a colourful look all around. There are also banners with
swami s picture saying happy vesakh day attached to most poles in the ashram.
The gates and entrances to Sai Ramesh hall have huge green plantain tree cutouts
on either side. There is a slight breeze and we can feel the scent of fresh
flowers all around, the supporting poles of the hall outside are covered with
blue and white cloth ,with orange flowers on top ,as we enter the hall we can
see big red ball shaped lanterns adoring the roof of the hall ,the pillars
inside are decorated with red cloth and beautiful flowers on top.
Twinkling small lights are put up on the sides of the hall along with small
flags. we can see the stage is beautifully decorated with colourfull rows of
flowers even the railings are decorated with red big lanterns. On the right side
there are pictures of Shirdi sai and Swami and a statue of lord Buddha with
focus lights on them beautifully decorated. all in all the settings are great
for the celebrations to begin in this divine atmosphere, looks like a HEAVEN on
earth.
We can see lots of overseas devotees especially come here for this day going
inside with a feeling of eagerness.
the time is 7;45 and the hall is full of devotees waiting for the programme to
begin. then
at about 9 am we see the lights come on and all are seated right up, music of
Nadaswaram is heard and we hear that Swami is being escorted in a procession
from Trayee to Sai Ramesh hall by small children dressed in their traditional
colourfull red dress playing the Indonesian band, singing of sloka BUDDHAM
SARANAM GACHHAMI fills the hall till we see the band enter from the ladies side
till Ganesh statue ,lots of excitement the children are looking cute in their
dress, by now all the new big red chandeliers are switched on too ,soon we see
movement behind the curtain and Swami enters onto the stage, walks till the
railing, there are lots of VIP devotees on stage too, swami blesses them all and
is seated.
The governor is also given a chair on stage. the singing of Buddham sharanam
Gachchaami stops and soon we hear the chanting
of OM>> OM>>> OM>>>> followed by GAJANANA.......bhajan ,
Today's bhajans are sung by devotees from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia etc
Swami is enjoying thier singing .ladies singers sing alternately , they sing
very beautifully till about 9.45 am when we see swami signal to someone and
there is silence. soon we hear an address, introducing today's special guest Dr
Art Ong Jumsai of Thailand. we all are familiar with him , He holds a double PhD
,is involved in lots of international Sai activities and also runs a Satya Sai
School in Thailand. Dr Jumsai is asked to speak a few words, He takes the
permission of Swami and begins his talk. He touches on a number of activities
including how he runs Satya Sai school ,like when they started the the school,
the government was wary about the cult they had started and how soon with the
blessings of Swami it has become the best Buddhist school in the whole of
Thailand. He also said how the students and teachers practice the 5 principles
taught by Swami namely Truth, Right conduct, Peace, Love and Non violence. they
are up at 4.30 am and go for meditation too, they also serve at a nearby temple
like washing clothes ,dishes of the visitors at the temple retreat. Free
medicines are also distributed at a nearby free clinic to all. The teachers of
the school have won laurels for themselves from the government. He also cited an
example of Ashoka the great, and how he was transformed after conquering
kingdoms and once he saw a river ,suddenly he saw the river water turn red ,
shocking him and he said there will be no more bloodshed in his kingdom and thus
totally transforming him into a good king.....
At their school they try to make Good people out of their students rather than
great people. soon he ended with aum sai ram ....loud claps from all in the
hall.
the next speaker was introduced as Sir Bradman Weerakoon from Sri Lanka ,he has
won the highest award given to anyone in Sri Lanka by the president of that
country
He also spoke about how the ethnic strife torn island was getting to terms by
adopting Swamis messages .He also spoke about how in 1951,
after world war II ,Mr Jayawardene who was later the president was able to
negotiate using swamis principles with Japan for aid after the destruction in
the island and today Japan is the biggest donor of aid to Sri Lanka. he ended
his talk with Swamis sayings Help Ever Hurt Never......
the time is 10.20 am, Swami is seated in his chair and signals for aarti
,meanwhile as Aarti AUM JAI JAGDISH HARE SWAMI SATYA SAI HARE.................is
taken we see students bring huge containers of Prasadam to be distributed to all
,swami hands over some prasad -a soft fresh SON PAPDI [ a sweet made in ghee &
packed in polythene } to those standing on stage .............. Narayana
Narayana OM jai sat guru devaa.............. all those seated in the hall are
soon given the blessed prasadam.. Swami meanwhile walks back to behind the
stage....... we are happy to get prasadam and soon there is an announcement that
Swami has generously provided lunch for all the thousands of delegates visiting
for this occasion at the Kalyana mantapam hall, and all other devotees will be
provided lunch at the special counters set up in the beautifully decorated hall.
also there will be a special cultural programme by students from Singapore on
the teachings of Buddha in the evening at the Kalyanamandapam.
soon all the counters are full and as we proceed to take prasad there is a soft
breeze and now we can smell the fresh scent of Payasam(a sweet dish made of
rice) and Pillow with curd raita (a dish of rice made with vegetables and
spices) and third curd rice............. wow just a great way to begin a great
day at a divine place fully charged with powerful vibrations from the divine
master ............. hope you all can feel the taste of this divine prasadam too
............... AUM SREE SAI RAM happy Buddha Poornima Day to all
.............................Simran & Sanjana
14th May Sai darshan update:
The festivities of Buddha poornima continue today Read more
Sai Travel News: SBOI has received
information from various Sai sources that Swami might leave for His
Prasanthi Nilayam ashram in Puttaparthi next week.
Kindly note:
these are
unconfirmed reports; only Swami Himself knows His exact travel
plans
Darshan update- Brindavan Ashram. Bangalore. " the darshan
hall was packed with devotees since today Begum Praveen Sultana a
famous singer of India came to get blessings from Swami and also
presented a treat of Hindustani music programme in the presence of
Lord Shri Sathya Sai Baba..."
including the latest - up close and personal with Sai Baba
Read more
Sai Travel News: SBOI has received
information from various Sai sources that Swami might leave for His
Prasanthi Nilayam ashram in Puttaparthi next week.
Kindly note:
these are
unconfirmed reports; only Swami Himself knows His exact travel
plans
