News from Prasanthi Nilayam - Sai Kingdom Yatra, Day 3 to 7

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Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 3: 28th July 2005 AMEager hearts were once again praying

hard to have Beloved Bhagawan’s Darshan. At 8.10am the Vedam Chanting

commenced, and the devotees knew our Beloved Lord was on His way. The car

travelled from the sisters’ side to the brothers’ side and then onto the

Veranda. Sai Baba instructed the driver to manoeuvre the car around the entire

Verdana. The Lord was then taken into the interview room in his mobile chair

and the Bhajans commenced at exactly 9:00am.His students sang the very

melodious Bhajans. Although our Beloved Lord left at 9:50am, the Bhajans

continued until 10:10am followed by Mangal Aarti. Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 3:

28th July 2005 PMAt 3.30pm Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba once again gave

Darshan. He gave beautiful looks to the sisters seated in the Sai Kingdom

(U.K.) pilgrimage group. Swami’s car drove from the

sisters’ side to the brothers’ side, where He acknowledge the brothers from the

group with a gentle node and a smile.A touching event to show His infinite Love

and Care was enacted at the door to the interview room. The Lord called

Professor Gokak, the Vice-Chancellor of the Sathya Sai Institutes, and placed

one of His hands on the Professor’s shoulder while straightening the

Professor’s hair with His other hand, just like a loving mother. The Lord

granted an interview to a few devotees, and was then brought out into the

middle of the Veranda. Swami gave a wonderful Darshan to one and all for almost

20 minutes whilst Vedic Chanting was recited in the Sai Kulwant Hall. Bhagawan

also showered pure Love and Care for all His devotees by instructing His

students to distribute Prasadam in the form of an apple to every person in the

Sai Kulwant Hall.Whilst the Lord was in the Mandir, Bhajans started promptly at

5:00pm.

Bhagawan took Mangal Aarti and left for the Divine abode at 5:30pm

 

Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 4: 29th July 2005 AMOur Beloved Bhagawan arrived for

Morning Darshan at approximately 8:20 am and Vedic recitals began. The Lord was

sat in the front passenger seat of His car and gave Darshan both to the sisters

and the brothers. His car stopped on the sisters? side and He called a sister

devotee. He spoke to her for a short while and then His car drove onto the

Veranda and stopped for a short while. He then went into the interview room.

Bhajans began at 9am. Some of the sisters from the Sai Kingdom (United Kingdom)

Group had the Grace of sitting in the Mandir while the melodious Bhajans were

being sung. After many days, Mangal Aarti was performed in His divine presence

in the Mandir. The Lord departed for His divine abode at approximately 9:20am.

Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 4: 29th July 2005 PMThe Lord arrived at approximately

3:15pm for the Afternoon Darshan. The Lord’s car went past the sisters’ side

and straight onto the Veranda. The Lord sat in His car for a short while and

nobody knew whether He wanted to come out of the car or not because His car

door was open. Suddenly Swami asked to be driven to the other side of the

Veranda.To the delight of the devotees, The Lord left the car in His Chair and

sat at His usual place at the front of the Veranda. The Lord spoke to Professor

Gokak, the Vice-Chancellor of the Sai Institutes, who then announced that

several of the Lord’s students would share with the devotees gathered in Sai

Kulwant Hall their personal transformation as a result of Bhagavan’s teachings.

Professor Gokak introduced the speakers, as they came on stage, one after the

other. The first brother spoke about Swami’s Divine Nature as

Sat-Chit-Ananda. He is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss. In relation to

Consciousness, this brother related how one student had said to Bhagawan that

he could not feel His presence in New Delhi. The Lord asked him if he could

feel his own presence. The student said that he could. The Lord then reminded

the student that The Lord was that very same presence. The first brother

talked about a personal matter that The Lord was aware about, even though he

was not aware that He knew. When asked about this, The Lord replied, “I know. I

am Watching, Always.”In relation to Bliss, another student had asked Swami if He

was happier in one place more than any other. He replied, “I am the Same,

Everywhere.”In relation to truth, the first brother also gave a small example

of how important it is to convey the truth because The Lord is always watching

and knows everything.These statements should remind all that

The Beloved Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is not just his physical body but in

reality He is the One Supreme Consciousness and He is continually reminding us

that that is also our True identity. Finally he then reminded the devotees of

Brother Goldstein’s comment upon the fact that all the Faiths of the World

convey the same message, that is, to encourage the devotee to realise their

true nature and reality, which is One with the Divine. To do this, humans must

look beyond sensual desired and discover the True Bliss that only lies

within.The next speaker (currently an MBA student) spoke about Shraddha &

Saburi (Faith & Patience). He talked about how he overcame various obstacles

in applying for his MBA at the Sathya Sai Instutite in Puttaparthi, by his

Faith and Patience. In relation to Patience, he gave an example of how he was

ultimately accepted into the Institute, not at the time of his choosing,

but at the time of The Lord’s choosing. In relation to Faith, he told the

devotees something that he had never previously told anybody. At the time of

his examinations he fell and fractured his spine. The doctors told him that

there was nothing that they could do and that the X-Ray reports showed that his

spine was badly damaged. However, our brother did not give up his Faith. His

mother gave him some Vibhutti and when he was X-rayed for a second time,

everyone was amazed to see that the injury had now miraculously healed. This

last story was also a reminder on the nature of the Love of our own mothers.

Bhagawan has always said that unless and until you can understand and sincerely

appreciate the love of your own mother, the Love of the Divine Mother cannot be

understood.Finally he told how he had asked The Lord if he could give a

discourse on Guru Poornima (the 21st July). He prepared a discourse but, such

is The

Lord’s Leela, he was not given the opportunity on that day. However, as all in

the Sai Kulwant Hall could see with their own eyes, he had on this day been

given that blessing. Thus our brother exhorted the devotees never to give up

Faith and always to have patience. If we dedicate our lives in this way,

everyday will be a Guru Poornima in which our own actions are a celebration of

the teachings of our Master. Our lives will then truly become His message. The

sooner this can happen, the sooner The Golden Age will arrive. At the end of

his beautiful talk, The Lord materialised a ring for our brother.The third

speaker enchanted everyone with his personal experiences and told how The Lord

is proud of His devotees by their character, when they all their actions are in

adherence to His Teachings. Then, their lives become His Message. This can only

happen with practise, but the only when people start doing this will the Golden

Age arrive. As Bhagawan has quoted on many occasions, if you want to experience

Divinity, one has to act in that manner. The fourth speaker related how he

speaks to The Lord all the time and this reminds him of His Universal presence.

This all began when our brother wrote a letter to Bhagawan but this was not

taken for four days in a row. He then resolved not to communicate with the

Lord. However, in his dream The Lord asked our brother to go to the park with

Him. As they crossed the road, some traffic was coming from the opposite side

so The Lord asked him to take a different route. When they were walking down

the road they saw some devotees. The Lord asked him to take a different route

otherwise our brother would not be able to speak with Him because there would

be too many people. When he awoke, these events took place in his waking state

and from that moment he realised that the Lord is constantly with him and he

regularly talks to him. This deepens his experience of The Lord’s

omnipresence.At 4.55pm as the programme concluded and The Lord’s students

rushed to the Mandir to get their musical instruments to commence the afternoon

Bhajans. Whilst the instruments were being set up, Ganesh Bhajan had already

commenced. During this time, Swami demonstrated his tender Care and Love for

one and all by asking the students to distribute Prasadam to all the devotees

seated in Sai Kulwant Hall.Mangal Aarti was performed to Bhagawan in His Divine

Presence and, to the sheer delight of all the devotees gathered, performed in

their presence as well. The Lord left for His Divine Abode at 5.25pm

 

Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 5: Saturday 30th JulyMorning DarshanSwami arrived in His

car into the Sai Kulwant Hall at 8:15 am. Vedic Recitals commenced and Swami

gave Darshan to the sisters’ side and brothers’ side.Swami went onto the

Veranda and then turned His car so that the driver’s side was on the brothers’

side. Swami then went into the Mandir and Bhajans commenced at 9:00 am and

concluded at 9:30 am, followed by Mangal Aarti.Afternoon DarshanSwami arrived

after 3:00 pm and gave Darshan to the sisters’ side and brothers’ side. He then

went onto the Veranda and then stopped for a short while. Swami’s car then

reversed and went back past the brothers’ side and out through the Middle

Entrance.Swami later returned through the Middle Entrance and went past the

brothers’ side again and up onto the Veranda. He then went into the Mandir.

Bhajans

commenced a while later and then Swami left for His Divine Abode at approximately 5:30pm

 

Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 6: Sunday 31st July 2005Morning DarshanSwami glided in His

car at 8:30 am. He gave Darshan to the sisters and to the brothers and then went

onto the Veranda. The Vedic Recitals continued in the background. Swami left the

Veranda via the brothers’ area and departed from the Sai Kulwant Hall through

the Middle Entrance. Devotees ran after His car.At 9:00 am Bhajans commenced

and then Swami returned in His car through the Middle Entrance and then around

the brothers’ side and onto the Veranda.He then went into the Mandir.Swami left

at 9:20 am and the Bhajans were followed by Mangal Aarti.Afternoon DarshanSwami

came into the Sai Kulwant Hall at 3:20 pm in His car. He took a letter from a

sister and then went past the brothers’ side. He then went past the students’

area and out through the Middle Entrance. Once again devotees ran after His

car.Swami returned through the Middle Entrance at 3:50 pm and went up onto the

Veranda. He came out of His car on His chair and sat in His usual place at the

front of the Veranda and gave Darshan to one and all.Professor Gokak came to

speak to Swami upon Swami’s instructions. Both Professor Gokak and the Ex-Vice

Chancellor were seated behind Swami’s chair.Suddenly Swami’s students dressed in

drama clothes came to Him asked Him something, most likely getting His blessings

to allow them to perform their drama. Swami gave His blessing and the Ganesh

Mantra was sung, which commenced the programme.The theme of the performance was

Seva (Service) and there was first of all a beautiful dance by 6 students. Then

several short plays were performed in Telugu, English and Hindi.The plays

included a scene from Shridi Sai Baba’s Avartar Hood. The theme of this play

was that in order to obtain Parahmagyan, one

needs forgo material comforts, especially money. In the scene, Ganpat Rai came

to get Brahmagyana but could not give even 5 Rupees when he had 500 Rupees in

his pocket.The message of Seva came from the quotations of various sages

including Khaleel Kibran, Swami Vivekananda. The essential message was that the

body is given to us for the service of others (Paropkraya Idam Sariram) and that

we should feel grateful for being given the opportunity to serve. When we serve

others, it is in reality our own self that we are serving. We should not serve

for the sake of show or ego but rather out of compassion to alleviate the

suffering of others. The Lord could relieve the suffering of all in an instant

but He with His precious grace has given us the opportunity to make our lives

worthwhile and to realise the purpose of our lives by doing Seva. Most

importantly sacrifice is central to Seva.The Beautiful messages were depicted

including: “Hands that Serve are Holier than Lips that Pray,” “Service should be

of Quality not Quantity,” “Social Service not Showcial Service, nor Slowcial

Service.”The play ended with Bhajans and Mangal Aarti in the presence of Swami.

 

 

Sai Kingdom Yatra Day 7: Monday 1st August 2005Morning DarshanSwami came in His

car at 8:20 am. Vedic Recitals began and He passed the sisters’ side and spoke

to one lady from Italy (Western Canteen Group) and accepted a small offering

from her (small red bag). He went by the brothers’ side and then onto the

Veranda. After a brief stop His car turned around and went back past the

brothers’ side and down through the middle entrance. When He returned He went

straight to the Mandir. Bhajans commenced at 9 am and Swami left at 9:25 am

whilst Bhajans continued. Whilst leaving Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami blessed from

His car a 9 week old baby who was on the front row of the Sai Kingdom (United

Kingdom) Group. Aarti was concluded at 9:40 amAfternoon DarshanSwami arrived at

3:20 pm. Vedic Recitals and beautiful background music serenaded Sai Maa’s

entrance. He went

past the brothers’ side and up onto the Veranda. His car stopped and then a lot

of discussion went on between Sri Chakravarthi and Swami. Swami then gave the

opportunity to the North-East Region, USA to perform their program of summer

songs. There was then a 30-minute wait whilst the group gathered their

instruments and their team into the appropriate seating area in front of the

Veranda. All this time, Swami showed beautiful patience as He awaited His

children’s performance. Swami was then brought on His chair to the front of the

Veranda.The sister conductor began the programme by introducing two of the

youngest brothers and sisters to Swami who each presented Him with a gift.The

programme then began which consisted of 13 songs which included Hum Ko Tumse,

There is Only One Caste, Start the Day and others. The music was simple yet

profound and full of love. With some of the songs, other devotees joined in

the singing and clapping.After the U.S. group programme was concluded, Swami’s

students continued the evening cultural programme. During this melodious time

Swami called the sister conductor up to His chair. He materialised a beautiful

necklace and pendant for her and placed it around her neck. After a few

minutes, He called the brother from the U.S. group, had a conversation with

him. He then materialised a beautiful 13 stone ring. Mangal Aarti was started

in front of Swami and He left for His Divine Abode at about 5:20 pm.

 

Lovingly sent to www.saibabalinks.org by Mahendra and SaiHarmony

 

Link to previous report (Day 1 and 2):http://www.saibabalinks.org/news/others/2005/july27.htm