Whitefield Experience - Buddha Purnima

[Guest guest]

Jai Sri Sai Krishna

 

Sai Ram Brothers & Sisters,

 

i was in Swami's Divine presence in Whitefield for 4 + 3 days. Here

are just some of my experiences while in the Divine presence of my

Sai Krishna.

 

On 20 May morning was my 1st darshan of Swami. i had the

opportunity of sitting in the 1st block in the VIP (very

insignificant person) row. i did not know if Swami would come in

the wheelchair to Sai Ramesh hall or straight onto the dais. After

a long wait to see my Sai Krishna, i heard the short darshan music

which was then followed by bhajans. Swami arrived on the stage. He

was in a cream coloured sofa which was wheeled from His residence in

Trayee to the stage. Swami was enjoying the bhajans and at times

glancing at His students and at times at the ladies side. Many

times my ego told me that He was looking straight at me; numerous

times i had to remind myself that Swami sees all in the hall and

outside the hall. Swami's lotus feet were resting on the slightly

raised footrest of the sofa and we were able to gaze at His feet to

our hearts' content. i was sad to see that His feet were both

looking dark and swollen. But, His face was radiant, clear and so

sweet looking. He looked so majestic! i then knew that He was

well. i was just happy to be in His presence and was thankful that

Swami had rescued me from the mad chaos that was happening back

home at that very moment. Before i knew it aarathi was being done

and Swami's sofa was being pushed off the dais to Trayee.

 

After Darshan we received news that Buddha Purnima would be

celebrated on 23 and 24 May. i was a little sad as i was flying off

on 23 night. By Swami's immense grace i was sharing a room with

bhajan singers who were practising to sing on Buddha Purnima in His

Divine Presence. Thus, daily after morning and evening darshan, we

would rush for bhajan practice at Gokulam. Bhajan practice usually

lasted a good 2+ hours. Uncle Chaplani of Japan with the help of

Bro Sainath of Puttaparthi were co-ordinating the bhajans for Buddha

Purnima. It was a wonderful experience to be attending bhajan

practices and being part of the chorus. Uncle Chaplani and Bro

Sainath would everyday remind the bhajan singers that Swami

appreciates bhajans rendered from the heart and not the lips. This

aspect was never compromised. There were

2 groups that were to sings bhajans for Buddha Purnima - Devotees

from Sri Lanka and the international bhajan group (devotees from

Asian countries).

 

On 22nd May evening after Darshan, male devotees from Asian

countries, Sevadals and Swami's students were busy decorating Sai

Ramesh Hall for Buddha Purnima. This went on till the early hours

of the morning. The Western canteen was buzzing with sisters from

the Asian countries who were cutting, peeling, washing, cooking,

etc. as they were cooking the Buddha Purnima lunch for 23 May -

Asian menu. This also went on till the 23 May morning. It is

amazing how much energy Swami gifts us with when we serve Him and

serve His children!

 

On 23 May morning, ladies were dressed in their best silk saress for

the Lord. Every inch of Sai Ramesh Hall looked beautiful and the

dais was decorated with so much fresh flowers that the fragrance

just filled the whole hall. The Krishna bronze statue on stage was

decorated with flowers and He looked so handsome and beautiful. He

had beautiful garlands of orange, red, white and green round His

neck to His feet. It did not look like a garland. It looked like

He was wearing an Angavastram. The Sri Lankan devotees were all

getting ready to usher in Buddha Purnima and sing bhajans in front

of Sai Buddha. i was sitted in the 1st block and was looking

forward to having an excellent view of my Sai Krishna as it was my

2nd last darshan before flying off.

 

At exactly 8am (as announced on 22 May by Uncle Narasimamoorthy),

Swami was ushered from Trayee to Sai Ramesh Hall by brothers from

the Ravibandu Vidyapathi troupe who played on Sri Lankan and Indian

drums and who perfomed the tradional Sri Lankan dance. It was so

vibrant and dynamic that we all felt so high! Swami was pushed onto

the dais on his cream sofa. He looked so happy, radiant and pleased

with all the decoartion. He was a sight to behold that morning. i

just could not take my eyes off Him. i also had good darshan of his

lotus feet which was now not swollen. His feet were just as radiant

as His face. Bhajans started and our Sai Buddha in all His mercy

and compassion sat through 22 bhajans - wow!. This must be a

record! 16 bhajans were planned and 6 bhajans were impromptu.

During bhajans Swami kept His eyes closed for a long time and He

looked like He was in the astral plane. He just looked Divine!

 

During the 15th bhajan - Chitha Chora Muraliwala sung by Bro Colonel

Jayantha Jayasinghe, Lord Krishna (bronze statue) on the dais

decided to shed some of His outer clothing. During the

line "Nandalala Nandalala", a white jasmine garland worn round the

crown of Lord Krishna twirled beautifully for a few seconds, as

though it was dancing to the tune of the bhajans and fell

beautifully onto the stage floor. We were thrilled and awe struck.

Krishna was listening to the bhajans. i guess that's why Swami says

do not treat God as stone, but stone as God. Krishna was responding

to the bhajans sung with so much love. One of the 6 impromptu

bhajans was Govinda Krishna Jai Gopala Krishna Jai which was sung

with such immense love and energy that we were all transported to

the Dwapara Yuga. Aunty Amara of Sri Lanka who sang the bhajan has

been singing bhajans for 30 years and she very creatively ended the

bhajans with "Sai Jai Sai Jai Sai Jai Sai Jai Sai Sai Sai Sathya Sai

Jai". Sai Ramesh Hall was vibrating with Sai Jai and our Dearest

Swami was so happy and thrilled with a sweet smile on His face.

After 22 bhajans, aarathi was shown and Swami graced us with 2

prasadams - laddu and almond/pista burfi. How sweet of Him! What a

morning! It was then announced that the afternoon program would

commence at 4pm. We all rushed for bhajan practice, as would be

singing that afternoon.

 

At bhajan practice, Bro Colonel Jayantha Jayasinghe told us that he

had sung the 15th bhajan and that the Sri Lankan devotees knew that

Swami loves him a lot and that Swami would wait till he sung and

that's why they placed his song as the 2nd last bhajan. And Swami

actually sat through 22 bhajans. After aarathi, a sevadal somehow

identified him and passed him the white jasmine garland that had

fallen during his rendition. Many devotees took jasmine petals from

that garland and lastly a young american sister came up to him and

told him that she had prayed to Swami when the garland fell that she

would be cured of her breast cancer if she received that garland

from Krishna. Bro Colonel Jayantha Jayasinghe very willingly gave

that sister that white jasmine garland. As Sai devotees we have to

learn to give willingly what we receive from Swami.

 

22 may, 4pm exactly the Lord arrives from Trayee. For a guy who

doesn't wear a watch, He sure does know how to be on time! What an

example He is to us. The program starts off with Aunty Amara of Sri

Lanka singing the tradional Buddhist prayers. Then 3 speakers from

Sri Lanka give their talks. It was so funny during the 3rd talk by

a sister - Swami actually yawned and He very cutely tried to hide it

by placing His left hand over His mouth. Too late - we all saw it,

as we were sitted in the 1st block. He looked so cute, just like a

newborn baby. It was hilarious and i could not help laughing. i

have never seen Swami yawn. After the 3 talks, Uncle Michael

Goldstein spoke to Swami and it was announced that Swami was going

to give His Divine Discourse. i was going to hear His sweet voice

before i left for the airport. To our utter shock, Swami with the

help of 2 students actually stood up. i could see the pain He was

going through and it was too much for us to bear. But, he still

smiled and calmed us down and He with great pain and discomfort

stood for 10 minutes with the support of His students before sitting

down to continue the 1 hour Discourse. The things our Sai Maa will

do in order to emlighten and teach Her children! Some of the

salient points of the Discourse are:-

 

Swami will visit Sri Lanka (He repeated this twice)

Sri Lanka will be safe and prosperous (He repeated this twice)

We are all Divine; we should remember that we are Divine

One with no self-confidence is not a devotees; One with self-

confidence is a devotee of Swami

God is present around us, behind us, above us, below us and within

us

God can be called by any name - all names are His

Swami blessed all in the hall with "Eternal Bliss".

We all love Swami; but Swami loves us 100 times more than we love Him

Swami ended off the Discourse by asking if He was disturbing us and

we all in one voice said "No Swami". Swami ended off the Discourse

by singing Prema Muditha Mansa Kaho Rama Rama Ram.

 

After the Discourse, there was a tradional Sri Lankan dance cum

cultural program depicting the Kandy Esala Perahera (the arrival of

the sacred tooth relic of Buddha from Kalinga to Sri Lanka in the

4th Century AD which is celebrated till today). Swami attended this

program in the Sai Krishan Kalyana Mandapam.

 

23 May evening after 4 days in the Divine presence, i departed

Whitefield and left for the airport. With Swami's Grace, i had the

darshan of the Bangalore airport and the airport staff and security

before my plane took off without me! i returned to a very wet,

silent and lonely Whitefield late in the night. i managed to get

into the ashram and accomodation though it was very late. Now, i

would have another 3 days with Swami before my next flight! i

wondered what Swami had in store for me and was also wondering what

i had done to deserve this immense Grace.

 

24 May morning, the international bhajan singers were to sing

bhajans before Swami, but Swami was resting in His residence. He

never turned up for Darshan and i had to very happily learn the art

of appreciating Swami's omnipresence. We started bhajans at 9am in

the omnipresence of our Sai. It was soul rendering and heart

warming bhajans by the bhajan singers. i guess this is what Swami

calls devotion. To sing out loud to the Lord when He is before us

is easy, but to sing with all our hearts when we are in His house

and when He is not before us, but inside us takes lots of love and

His grace. Bhajans ended at 9.30am with the showing of aarathi.

After aarathi, all Buddha Purnima devotees were invited to brunch by

Swami at the Sai Krishan Kalyana Mandapam. We had banana leaf

brunch where we were served with vegetable biryani, vadai, mysore

paks, payasam, curd rice, vegetables, papadams, pickles, white rice,

sambar, rasam, banana, etc. What a feast we were served by our

Sai. Our hearts and stomach were filled.

 

24 May afternoon, Swami in order to make up for His

morning "absence" came for Darshan and sat through about 7 bhajans

by Sri Lankan and international devotees. He then proceeded to Sai

Krishan Kalyana Mandapam to watch the Bal Vikas children of Sri

Lanka perform "Life with the Divine." The children danced

beautifully and they were so perfect in their movements. Swami was

pleased with them. That night most of the Sri Lankan and Asian

devotees had left Whitefield for home.

 

In all His mercy and love for His devotees, Swami continued to come

for morninh and evening Darshan on 25 and 26 May. On 26 May evening

after Darshan, Swami went to the Sai Krishan Kalyana Mandapam to

watch a traditional dance program by a local Indian group. The

dancer, a male played a female role and he acted out scenes from the

Ramayana and Mahabaratha. Swami was so pleased with the performance

that He actually stood up towards the end of the performance and

called the dancer, singers and musicians towards Him and blessed all

of them. Swami very sweetly also distributed sweets to all devotees

at the end of the dance program. i got my sweet just before heading

off to Bangalore airport and this time i got onto the plane. It was

a wonderful 7 days with my Sai Krishna in Brindavan.

 

 

in Krishna always,

saras