Report on Guru Poornima Celebrations 2004

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Report on Guru Poornima Celebrations 2004

“Acharya Devo Bhava” declare the Upanishads, “Respect your preceptor as God”. It

is our great fortune that we have the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Himself as our Sadguru in our midst, to guide us on the spiritual path. Guru

Poornima, also known as Vyasa Poornima, is an occasion to remember the ancient

sages who have given us the legacy of the Vedas and other scriptures, and laid

down spiritual guidelines to help us on our journey towards God. Though Guru

Poornima was on the 2nd of July, the festivities began much earlier, on the

evening of 30th June.30th June, Evening programme

The Bal-Vikas children of Rajasthan staged a dance-drama on the theme –

‘Dashavatar,’ the glorious story of the ten Avatars (incarnations) of Lord

Vishnu who protected the world from the clutches of the evil forces and

directed it on the path of Dharma (righteousness). The drama held the audience

captivated for close to an hour’s duration with its pleasing music and

excellent dance choreography. The evening came to a close with mangalarati

offered to the Avatar of the Age, our dear Lord Sai.

30th June, Evening : Bhagawan granting photographs to the participants of the play - Dashavatar

1st July, Evening programme

The Bal-Vikas children from Haryana and Chandigarh presented a play – ‘The Power

of Devotion.’ The play brilliantly captured the power of steady devotion to God

as exemplified in the lives of Dhruva, Markandeya and Prahlada. Though very

young of age, by dint of their earnestness, they won the everlasting Grace and

Love of the Lord. The presentation concluded on the note that in this modern

age when evil is so rampant in the world, the Sri Sathya Sai Bal-Vikas movement

will produce many such true devotees of the Lord who can restore the practice of

the fundamental values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence.

1st July, Evening : A scene from the play - The Power of Devotion

2nd July, Morning programme

On the day of Guru Purnima, Bhagawan arrived in the Sai Kulwant Hall at 6:50

a.m., welcomed by Vedic chants and Panchavadyam music. After Bhagawan was

seated, the students of Bhagawan’s institutions sang stotrams (prayers) and

songs offering their obeisance to Bhagawan, their Lord, God and Master. After

the programme, Bhagawan graciously presented 22 physically-challenged persons

with specially-made tricycles and shawls. These fortunate recipients of His

grace from the Anantapur district can now pursue their studies or vocations

without having to depend on others.

2nd July, Morning : Physically-challenged persons receiving tricycles in the Divine Presence

Two eminent devotees were blessed to address the gathering before Bhagawan’s

Discourse- Sri Indulal Shah and Dr. Michael Goldstein. The first speaker

reminded the audience of their great fortune of being in the presence of

Divinity in human form, which is indeed a rare blessing. Quoting from

Vishwamitra nadi and Suka Nadi granths (ancient prophetic writings by the sages

Vishwamitra and Suka), he said that human minds can grasp only a fraction of His

glory and hence, rather than attempting to understand or explain the Avatar, we

should seek to benefit from His teachings and redeem our lives. The second

speaker began his talk by narrating an incident. Once the speaker saw Bhagawan

looking out of the window and innocently he asked, “Swami, can I see the world

through your eyes?” Bhagawan smiled at him and replied “If you do so, you will

not want your job, your family or even your body!” Bhagawan sees only Divinity

in everything. Hence, we should

follow Bhagawan’s example and realize that we are not the body, but the Atma, he

said.Following this, Bhagawan rose up to deliver the much awaited ‘Guru Poornima

Sandesh.’ He began by exhorting everyone to cultivate Sahanam (forbearance),

adherence to Truth and Love in their hearts. While physical love and

attachments are aplenty in this world, true selfless Love is available only

with the Divine. This love is not physical in nature, but ‘heart to heart’ and

it this Love alone that protects us at all times. Bhagawan then declared that

on this holy occasion of Guru Poornima, He was giving the most precious gift to

everyone - the gift of His Divine Love. Without love, everything is but nought.

Bhagawan concluded the discourse with the Bhajan - ‘Prema muditha manase kaho…’

Thereafter, Bhagawan had it announced that we must pray to Him only for His Love

and not seek any other boons, for all other blessings are subsumed in the

supreme gift of Love.Bhagawan then accepted

arati and the morning programme came to a happy conclusion.2nd July, Evening programme

Bhagawan arrived in the Sai Kulwant Hall at 3.30 p.m. and the first programme

was a play ‘God resides in all’ presented by the Bal-Vikas children from Nepal.

The play depicted how two children were ostracized in the name of casteism by

the village elders and how everybody is transformed when Lord Buddha appears

before them and teaches them the lessons of love and equality. The play

highlighted the main cause for unrest in today’s world - the inability of

humans to see divinity in all living and non-living things. The Nepalese

programme concluded with a dance entitled ‘Unity in Diversity’ that conveyed

Bhagawan’s teachings through lilting music, graceful movements and colourful

costumes.

2nd July, Evening : God resides in All by Bal-Vikas children of Nepal

Next to follow was a musical presentation by the Bal-Vikas children and members

of Sai Study Group from Indonesia entitled ‘From Humanness to Divinity.’ The

presentation sought to recapitulate Bhagawan’s teachings of Namasmarana

(Chanting God’s name), Sense-control, Right-conduct, Love, Service and Unity.

The efficacy of Namasmarana was beautifully depicted through a role play where

Sage Narada seeks to understand the power of reciting God’s name, and Lord

Vishnu directs him to go and ask a parrot, a cow, and a new-born prince to

chant the holy name. When the parrot chants the holy name, it gives up its body

and progressively takes higher births as a cow and then as a noble prince. The

prince then narrates this truth to Narada and thus demonstrates the power of

Namasmarana. Then, through dance and dialogue, the children portrayed how the

message of Bhagawan comes as a lifeline at a time when the world is being

tossed about by the stormy forces

of evil. At the end of their presentation, Bhagawan granted photographs to the

participants and blessed them. The evening programme concluded with arati.3rd

July, Evening programme

The Bal-Vikas children of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh presented

a programme entitled “Madhur Bhakti” based on an episode from the life of Lord

Krishna. The Gopikas, his companions during his childhood at Brindavan, are

unable to bear the long separation from him when He departs to the city of

Mathura. So, Krishna sends Uddhava, his close friend, who is learned in the

path of Jnana (Wisdom), to placate them. But, Uddhava who had set out to teach

the Gopikas to go beyond the attachment to the Form, returns defeated when he

sees their selfless love and one-pointed devotion towards Krishna. The

programme ended with a prayer entreating Lord Sai Krishna to instill such pure

love and devotion towards Him in our hearts too.

3rd July, Evening : Madhur Bhakthi - a play by Bal-Vikas children of Madhya

Pradesh & Chattisgarh

The students of the Anantapur campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher

Learning presented a music programme of Krithis (compositions) of Saint

Thyagaraja that were sung by Bhagawan and also some of Bhagawan’s own

compositions. They reminisced those olden days during the 1960s, when Bhagawan

used to sing Bhajans and krithis in the mandir and immerse the devotees in

ecstasy with His divinely sweet voice. The students also sang some

scintillating ‘thillanas’ in various ragas.4th July, Morning programme

The students of the Brindavan campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher

Learning presented, “Sai Katha” depicting some significant instances from

Bhagawan’s childhood. They started with the incident when Sri Kondama Raju, the

grandfather of Bhagawan’s physical frame, gets a dream in which Sathyabhama, the

consort of Lord Sri Krishna, asks him to build a shelter for her. Thus, the

Sathyamma temple came to be constructed in the village of Puttaparthi and

stands there even to this day. In the next hour or so, the students enacted

many episodes that demonstrated how Bhagawan, even from a very young age, was

engaged in the task of protecting His devotees and conferring Ananda (Bliss) on

them.4th July, Evening programme

The Bal-Vikas children from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal staged a

dance-drama on the theme – ‘Ganga Avataran,’ the enchanting mythological story

of the descent of the River Ganga from the heavens through the herculean

efforts of King Bhagiratha. The story drove home the important lessons of the

‘3Ps’ that Bhagawan always stresses on – Purity, Patience and Perseverance and

also the need to preserve and maintain the cleanliness and sanctity of the

life-giving waters of the Ganges.

4th July, Evening : A scene from the play - Ganga Avataran

5th July, Evening programme

The Bal-Vikas children from Region-9 of USA presented a play – ‘Bloom where you

are planted’ that depicted the lives of three great American personalities who

lived their lives in accordance with the five human values of Truth,

Right-conduct, Peace, Love and Non-violence. Their hearts were filled with

compassion towards the suffering, which took the form of selfless service to

their fellow-beings. The first of them was a lady named Sojourner Truth who was

born a slave, but freed herself and later worked for the redemption of other

slaves. The next episode was from the life of Abraham Lincoln who, though born

in a poor family, rose to become the President of the United States of America

by sheer hard work and self-confidence. He was exceptionally known for his

honesty and for abolishing slavery in America. The third person was Eleanor

Roosevelt who worked tirelessly to better the living conditions of the working

class, especially during the Great Depression. The programme concluded with a

song praying to Bhagawan for constant guidance. Bhagawan graciously granted

photographs to the participants and distributed prasadam to them. After

accepting arati, Bhagawan retired to His residence.

5th July, Evening : A scene from the play - Bloom where you are planted

Thus, the six day-long Guru Poornima celebrations came to a conclusion leaving

everyone richer in love, devotion and wisdom. Jai Sai Ram!

Source: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/Gurupurnima_04_report.htm

 

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