Saturday 11th October 2008

Morning darshan:

The final day for the UK Sadhana Camp in Prashanti Nilayam had arrived! The group waited eagerly for Swami's Darshan, however it would appear that Our dear Sai had yet more of his great Leelas to enact with the Group, similar to those played between Krishna and his Gopis!

Today Bhajans continued for about 1hour 20 minutes. Although Swami did not appear in His physical form, His presence was very much felt by one and all.

Afternoon Darshan:
The Group had the honour of sitting next to the Vedam boys for afternoon Darshan. As they eagerly waited for Swami to arrive, it soon became apparent to the boys that once also Swami was either testing the Group or had some un-enacted Leelas still to perform. Swami did not come until 5.23am.

When Swami emerge from His Divine Residence, he gave Darshan to the ladies side only. Unusually today also, Rudram was not chanted to welcome Swami's arrival, instead a different Hymn welcomed our Beloved Mother Sai.

Swami headed straight to the Mandir, where he instructed the boys to start the Bhajans. Swami did not speak to anyone on the Veranda, not even Puppet who was eagerly waiting for a chance to talk to Baba to seek His permission for the Group to depart. Instead Swami just kept looking at the ceiling when going to Mandir and interview room and back to Mandir.

Swami did not come to where the boys  sat for the performance. Swami called for the aarti and then headed towards his car. The group leader Puppet could not stand the thought of having to leave Prashanti without speaking to Swami; he therefore spoke to Swami while Swami was in the car and ready to move.

Swami said he is very happy with him and the Group and if the Group had some things to do in Bangalore then we should leave. From Swami's words it was clear Swami was upset that the Group was leaving. Puppet understood that Swami did not want us to leave until the next morning. Puppet begged Swami several times "Baba please come in the morning". The Group stayed in Prashanti until next morning; bags were loaded from the cars and hotels bookings were cancelled. Only Swami knows the reasons why he does what he does, but everyone was very happy that we will spend an extra day with Our Beloved Mother Sai.

above slide show courtesy  www.Sssbpt.org

October 9, 2008	Maha	Poornahuti	Ceremony

It was about 9:15am when Swami arrived out of Yajur mandir. The little Gita was waiting to be fed by the Lord and Swami fed apples to her. Then to slake the thirst of the eyes we talked about earlier, Swami moved towards the Kulwant hall on a magnificent "throne chair", golden in its colour and tall in its height. It became very evident that He had come only to give joy to those waiting in the hall as He took a small round and then quickly hurried towards the auditorium. Now everyone too rushed there and in a few minutes the Kulwant hall wore a deserted look with the only people there being the spillover crowd from the auditorium! Just past 9.30 Bhagawan arrived onstage, and interacting briefly with the priests, moved to the Western end of the stage. Along the way, all the teachers and students clad in orange and cream had a good darshan and formed a sort of backdrop for the Lord in orange! At the western end of the stage, Swami blessed garlands to be placed on the mound of kumkum and turmeric that represents the supreme and receives devotion during the conduct of the yajna. The water to be sprinkled on all as a sign of divine blessing and benediction too was blessed and Swami received Aarthi. The priests then sought permission to go to the mandir and fetch the necessary tools to perform the poornahuthi. Swami permitted them and moved backstage.

The priests literally rushed to the bhajan hall where the wooden tools and materials were placed. A long wooden pole with a channel through which ghee (clarified butter) would flow to feed the flames of the yajna fire was the main among them all. They returned in a procession and Swami too came onstage as soon as they arrived. He then moved to the centre, and the priests chanted mantras to complete the final offerings into the sacrificial fire. The mop of lovely hair around His head marked Swami in the group of saffron bodies that surrounded the equally saffron flame. Swami on the throne looked so magnificent and heavenly as the flames lapped up higher and higher as if attempting to look at Him in all His grandeur. An orange bundle containing all the final offerings to the fire was opened before Swami. Swami inspected it and then blessed it to be placed into the Yajnakundam. As that was done, a burst of joyful applause filled the entire auditorium. Swami then moved around the stage and blessed all there with His proximity. The priests then gathered around Him once again after a brief visit to the western end of the hall.
 

Swami blessed the priests and the wife of the chief-priest with clothes, and they all went backstage, changed into the new clothes and returned. As they gathered around, the head priest and Swami both asked for all the chantings to cease. All the priests now chanted at a very high pitch and high decibel levels as Swami sat through intensely looking at all of them. Then the head priest sang out some hymn and Swami was very touched with his rendition. After that, Swami received Aarthi at about 10:15 am and retired for the morning into Yajur Mandir.

Bhagawan arrived for darshan in the car at 5.30 this evening. The devotees have all got so much used to the chair that the car was indeed a novel experience! Once He came onstage, Swami noticed Nepalese students seated in the front with huge kumkum marks embedded with rice grains on their foreheads. Swami asked them as to what was that mark all about. The 40 odd students went up to Swami and sought His blessings for the traditional Durga Pooja practice that is common in Nepal. Swami blessed all of them and accepted letters He spoke to a few of them too A wonderful thing has to be mentioned here. The Nepalese students from the Institute, music college and school get together during the summer vacation to carry out seva activities in their region. The most impressive aspect of this service is that all the finance is obtained from the "spiritual savings" if we can call them so) of these students. They put a ceiling on desires and many of them wash their own clothes and save the dhobi fees. Such savings are directed towards the service. As Swami says, charity gets meaning when it involves sacrifice. The 100 Rs given by a millionaire pales into insignificance before the single rupee saved by hard effort! The photos of the previous years service activities were shown to Swami and Swami was appreciative of them After He blessed all those students, He heard the vedam chants for a while.

Then, Sri. T. G. Krishnamurthy, former Sai Organisation State President of Tamil Nadu, was asked to speak. After his half-hour speech, Prof. G. Venkataraman, former Vice-Chancellor of the Sai University, spoke for twenty minutes. The professor outlined as to how the world that does not root itself in Swami's teachings of Love undergoes one bust after another like the dotcom bubble and the housing bubble. Sensing that Swami wanted to deliver His divine message, the professor concluded his talk. Bhagawan then indicated that He would deliver His Vijaya Dasami message and His microphone was brought up.
 

The discourse today would become one of epic proportions in terms of its' significance in reminding humanity and rendering a wake up call to it.


Many people pass through pleasure and pain. When it is pleasure we say it is good luck and in the other case we say that it is misfortune. But it is all karma. Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi. As is the feeling, so is the experience. The whole world revolves around action. And so the actions must be sacred. What is Dusshera? It is nothing but the result of 10 days of action. The Poornahuthi can be considered as the culmination of the actions of the 10 senses. (5 karmendriyas and 5 Jnanendriyas.) In this world action is inevitable.

In the Navarathri the divine mother is worshipped. The first is Devi Shakti who gives the might to perform all the actions. Basing on this, Lakshmi confers all that is needed. And Saraswati fosters the knowledge. The worship of these three is called Navarathri. Tridalam Trigunakaram Trinetram cha Triyayudham. (three petaled, embodying the three gunas, three eyed and having the three ayudhas) applies for the Devi too. The inner significance of Navarathri is to get the Navavidha Shakti. (The nine forms of strength)

For all this Dharma is important. One has to always discriminate. The Buddhi is very important and is embodied as Vishnu. Like the current in everything, the intellect pervades the body. Whether good or bad, you have to face the consequences. It is only their actions that makes us hold people like the Pandavas in high regard. So, all must do sacred actions. Lakshmi is made out of the letters la, ksh ,ma and i. She is forever seated in Narayana's heart. Lord narayana is eternal and so is she. Sitting there she confers blessings on all humanity. Lord Narayana is not Lakshmi Narayana but Sathyanarayana.

Sathyanarayana smiles and walks in human form in our midst. Just as Lakshminarayana is Garudavahana Sathyanarayana is sarpavahana. He looks like a normal human but his power is immense. He appears as if he does not know anything. But Sathya is the essence of Sathyanarayana. He stresses on the principle of truth always. From truth comes righteousness or dharma. Sathyanarayana is the combination of sathya and dharma and he has incarnated to establish them. Vishnu himself says that Sathayanarayana raju is very important. He is no ordinary one. People may consider him so but what he says is the truth and the absolute truth. That means that he says what is in his heart and does what he speaks about. The entire creation has come from truth and to truth it will return. There is no place without truth and that is the pure truth. Man is not careful. He thinks that Sathyanarayana is telling lies or that he is joking. Sathyanarayana may speak smilingly or jokingly but it is the truth. Even those who are close also do not believe this. They neglect his words and take it in a very easy and light manner. All that Sathyanarayana says will manifest in the future. Those who are incapable of thinking of the future alone think of them as lies. You will soon see the manifestation of this truth. The age of this body is 83 years. Till today I have not forgotten anything. I may appear forgetful but there is nothing that is forgetfulness in my life. I am the eternal witness. And today that sakshi (witness) is being neglected. I have chosen to speak it today and I have never done so before. As the time is fast approaching, I have to reveal all this. People have spoken their thoughts in the past few days. That is not the truth. But nothing wrong in it since they have spoken of their thoughts and feelings. People have to recognize the truth. Truth has no hatred enmity anger or differences. I have no difference. You consider others with differences. All are equal; all the children of Sathya.

Whoever comes and speaks to me I always smile. I am never angry with anyone. Even when I appear angry, it is a pretention to correct you. The students here wonder that they get they disappointed, dejected and comment on others but how is it that swami maintains composure. All are one; the shakthi in all is the same- that is the Atma shakti. There is only Atmanarayana. There may be many names and forms but God is one. YOu see bulbs here. But all the lights go out when the current is gone. God is the Atmic current. God has been doing a lot for the bliss of his devotees. But he has no likes or dislikes; he has no desires. God has only one desire and that is "Loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu". Each one faces the consequences of one's karma. And so some will have to face sorrow and misery. I do not have even one desire. I have incarnated for your happiness. But to make anyone happy is not my desire. Bulbs are many and you see that the intensity of their lights vary- some are bright and some are dim. But the current is the same and no one can find fault with the current. The lord is the current. Joys and sorrows are of your own making.
 

Sathyanarayana has also been called Vishnu that is explained in detail in the vishnupurana. Vishnu moves in the world as Sathyanarayana. Sathya is his hallmark. Why did I not speak for 10 days? All spoke in their own ways. It is to declare the truth that I speak. I love those that love me, those that hate me, the demons - everyone. But people do not understand this. They say Swami is not talking with me. Is he angry? I have only hunger for devotees and not anger towards them. God is the embodiment of love and Navaratri is celebrated to demonstrate this principle of truth. People worship in different ways that they choose. But there is no difference for Bhagawan. All are embodiments of love and must mingle as brothers and sisters. Remember that men are more valuable than all the wealth of the world. Have faith in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Have love and treat everyone well. People stay away from you till they are able to glimpse your love once love is there they will come instantly. All those who spoke based it on their experiences and feelings. That is not wrong. But there are very few who have known the path of truth.

Be the same to all. Have no differences. All are one. Though they look different at one moment you will realize that all are brothers and sisters at the next. All are one be alike to everyone. Love all that is my message.

In a tree there are buds. Some of them flower immediately and become fruits while others take time. One must wait for that fragrance and sweetness. Today is Poornahuti. What is it? It is complete thyaga (sacrifice). Swami is complete thyaga always. Poornamadah poornamidam poornath poornam udhachyathe. This is full. That is full. And if you remove fullness from fullness it still remains full. Children are like buds and may not understand that depth now. As they grow and mature they will understand.

One more thing every child has a small cellphone today. It leads to misuse, bad thoughts of connection between boys and girls. If you do not want bad thoughts do not have bad connections. Do not use a phone much. It may look and feel nice and savvy but will lead to misuse. For 83 years I have never used a phone. The devotees may cry and die but I will not pick up a phone. I have not spoken on a phone but I have the right to advice you. You are all children and so act as children must. Be careful. If you are careless the world will be careless towards you. You may say that I am speaking well and good. But others may take the wrong meaning. So do not give scope for misinterpretation. It is okay will elders but people who are young completely misunderstand and so you miss the understanding. If given a choice throw the cellphone in the well. Do not buy them; if you do so have connections with the right people. Using the cellphone to gossip and carry tales about others is not good. If you do not use the phone and speak for a while you will think " Ayyo I have not spoken to so and so" and get worried. Be very careful and get a good name.

Swami concluded His discourse with the bhajan, "Hari bhajan Bina Sukh Shanti nahi". Needless to say everyone followed with gusto and vigour. Blessing prasadam to be distributed, Swami received Aarthi and retired at almost 7:50pm! Photos below  Read more details of Dasara celebrations & excerpts of Dasara discourse from 9th Oct. >>

above slide show courtesy  www.Sssbpt.org

nd offered the rose. This priest has the privilege of performing one pradakshina and offerings directly to Swami whenever Swami is physically present on the stage- on other occasions he does it to the Swami that is omnipresent! As the priest fell flat in full prostrations, Swami accepted his rose and blessed him. Then He moved to the ladies corner of the stage where the head priest and his wife were engaged in worship. Behind Him all the other priests also gathered and chanted out aloud. Swami received Aarthi there and as the camphor was waved He smiled at all the devotees and priests. All the ladies outside the auditorium heaped on each other and craned and strained to catch a glimpse of that sweet smiling face. Swami then returned to the gents corner of the stage.

As we wrote, those devotees who placed their bets on the auditorium had their payoff, but with Swami there is nothing like the losing side. Once you are on God's side, you are always on the winning side. Those who had held on to sitting in the Kulwant hall also won as Swami moved at bllistering pace from the auditorium into the darshan grounds. The hall was now quite empty and thus the devotees who had held on and remained too had the opportunity to get wonderful darshan blessings. Swami completed a full round and then moved into the portico via the gents side. The Union Home minister, Sri Shivaraj Patil had arrived and Swami blessed him with an interview. After the interview was complete, Swami came out and sat listening to the chanting of the Rudram that was on. He listened to one complete cycle of the Rudram and that in itself takes more than 30 minutes. The students have a tendency - to slowly move closer and closer to Swami as they sit near Him and who would not do so given the chance! As Swami wanted all the Veda-knowing students in the front, the block was literally bursting at its seams and the students were seated almost till His lotus feet! He called a few students and then asked them what they had for breakfast? He collected letters and interacted with many more students. He enquired into the well being of some of the members of the staff too. He interacted with the students some more, asked one of the students to demonstrate the Jaikar, and returned to His residence at 10.45 after some more Jaikars from the assembled devotees. It was a wonderful session which concluded with Aarti and Jaijaikars to the Lord.

The evening session was again marked by a beautiful round of darshan after which Swami commanded Mr. Ajit Popat to speak. The next 40 minutes or so was an energetic and enthusiastic outpouring of love and devotion for the Lord by Mr.Popat in his characteristic style. He urged everyone to make the best of the Lord's availability and become dear to Him not by just touching Him in the physical sense but by touching His heart! "When the Ganges is flowing by our homes, why do we choose to bathe in our narrow bathrooms?", he questioned out aloud. As he concluded his talk, Swami blessed him and asked for the bhajans to begin. The bhajans began in the bhajan hall and soon after, Swami made His way to the bhajan hall. The day concluded with the waving of the holy fire to the Lord.

The 6th morning was again another display of the wonder and beauty of His uncertainty. All the devotees assembled in the Kulwant hall and Poornachandra auditorium for the "holy sighting" or darshan as it is called in daily parlance. It was about 10:15 am when Swami arrived to Kulwant hall for darshan. Completing a full round, Swami went to the interview room. Swami was desirous of distributing sarees to some of the ladies. He did so as He moved from the Kulwant hall towards the Poornachandra auditorium and the ones thus blessed accepted the gifts of Love with joy and gratitude. Once in the auditorium, Swami sat on the stage witnessing the Yajna. It is an amazing sight to see the way Swami sits at the ceremonies. The word "witness" is so apt to describe it. He is neither elated nor down but seems to be in a state of steady serenity! And that serenity radiates to everyone in His physical ambit. Devotees seem to forget everything and everyone sits calmly and reverentially as long as He is there. The magic of His presence proves that truly it is The Presence - like one is sitting face to face with ones' innermost Self!

After a while, Swami moved to the western end of the stage and blessed all the priests there. He received Aarthi to mark the conclusion of the day's quota of the Yajnam. Having done that, He again distributed sarees to many of the priests wives and to few other ladies. Sitting on top, Swami continued to distribute as the ladies gratefully accepted the sarees and had the privilege of padanamaskar as His feet were easily accessible at their head level almost! Then Swami retired to Yajur Mandir.
 

In the evening, Swami came to the Bhajan hall just before 5.30 on completing His darshan round. As the Vedam went on, He made two rounds down the aisle, distributing more sarees. These 9 days are dedicated to the Devi and it was so apt that Swami continued to distribute sarees. The students from the Anantapur campus of the University seated in the bhajan hall were all joy as they got bonus darshan blessings and Swami accepted letters from some of them. At 5.50pm, He asked for the Bhajans to begin and sat there for half an hour before accepting Arati. But as He moved out, His eye met the eyes of the warden of the Brindavan campus, Sri. B.N.Narasimhamoorthy. With a twinkle Swami told him," I will come out soon. Be ready to speak!"

And so when the whole Kulwant hall was expecting Him to retire for the day at 6:00pm, Swami called the warden and told him to speak. The warden requested, "Swami it will be Shrama (difficulty) for you as it has already been a long day." Swami replied, "Shrama Kaadhu, Prema. (Its not difficulty, its Love!)" He had a twinkle in the eyes as He came out and asked for the mike and podium to be placed for the speaker. The speaker then for the next 35 minutes spontaneously poured out his feelings of Love and gratitude to the divine mother. The climax of his speech was an incident where Swami had told him exactly the same words as today. In the summer of 2000 when he had been rendered almost immobile due to a severe backache, Swami had walked all the way to his room in the hostel climbing the steep steps! The warden had then asked Swami as to why had He taken so much "Shrama" and pat Swami had replied the same, "Its not Shrama dear, its Prema!"

He concluded his talk and everyone seemed overcome with emotion. When the glories of the Lord are relived and related, everyone is overcome with emotion. Only those that have transcended the realms of the world and have entered the higher planes of consciousness are untouched by emotion. Even those that are heartless by nature seem to find that noble organ within them and it wells with Love and emotion! As the speaker concluded, Swami blessed him and quickly moved back to the car and retired for the evening.
 

Sai Baba October 2008
Calendar for your Computer desktop
Size: 800x600 - 1024x768
widescreen : 1440x900
Wallpaper download