Prashanthi Bulletin & SAI SCHOOL WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

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Educare: SAI SCHOOL WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Prashanthi BulletinSource: Radiosai.orgJuly 31st, 2005 On Sunday evening - 31st

July, 2005, the students of the 1st year Post graduate classes, the MBA,

MBA(Finance), MSc and MTech classes presented a programme on the Theme of Seva

entitled 'Sevanjali'. The programme very well brought out the inner

significance of the ideal of Service as explained by Bhagavan on a number of

occasions. It was a combination of dance, songs, story depiction and sharing of

experiences on the concept of Seva. The two stories which were used to depict

this were the story of Abu Ben Adhem and an incident in the life of Shirdi Sai

Baba. The story of Abu Ben Adhem -- Abu whose only desire in life is to serve

his fellow men does not find his name in the list of angels of people who love

God. But he is astonished to find his name at the top of the list of those whom

God loves. This stresses the fact that God loves those who serve others and thus

through them serve Him. The Shirdi Baba incident was the one where a merchant

comes to Baba and prays for Brahmajnana but he is not ready to part with five

rupees required by Baba. Baba tells him that it is only through sacrifice that

one can attain immortality. How can the one who cannot part with five rupees

control the five indriyas (senses) and the five bhootas (elements). Nature is

the best example of selfless servive. The river flows for the sake of others.

The trees bear fruit for the sake of others. The cow gives milk for the sake of

others. The body is verily for the sake of serving others. The drama concluded

with the song 'Deen Dukhiyon Se Prem Karo mera Sai Prasanna Hoga'. Bhagavan was

very pleased with the presentation and spoke with a few participants after the

presentation concluded. July 27th, 2005 Nowadays, Bhagawan has not been sitting

onstage for long - He has been going inside the interview room after sitting

outside for a few minutes, or going on rounds in His car. But on the afternoon

of Friday, the 27th of July, Bhagavan blessed 4 speakers from the Prashanti

Nilayam Campus of the Institute to address the gathering in His divine

Presence. The first speaker was Sri Sanjay Mahalingam - a Research Scholar from

the School of Business management of the Institute. He emphasized the

declaration of Bhagavan as the Teacher of Truth - 'Aham Satyabodhaka' and

narrated a few experiences to highlight this statement. The second speaker was

Sri Karthik Ramesh - a student of the 1st MBA class of the Institute. Karthik

spoke about how he had pined and prayed to be a student of Bhagavan over the

past several years and after five unsuccessful attempts for some reason or the

other, he was able to get an admission to the MBA programme this year. But the

one truth was that during all this period of turmoil Bhagavan had been guiding

him through. Bhagavan blessed the speaker by materializing a three diamond ring

for him. The third speaker was Sri B. Arvind - 1st year MBA Class of the

Institute. He spoke on the great good fortune we have of studying and being in

the Divine Presence of the very Avatar Himself. He too shared a few experiences

to highlight this truth. The last speaker was Sri Dinesh Talreja - 2nd year

student of the MBA (Finance) class of the Institute. Sri Dinesh elucidated on

the fact that Love and Service were the two wings of the bird of life and it

was necessary to fructify our lives by living these two ideals. To conclude the

Vice Chancellor Sri Anil Gokak expressed his gratitude to Bhagavan for giving

the students an opportunity to express their feelings in His Divine Presence.

July 24th, 2005 As a befitting conclusion to the grand Guru Poornima

celebrations at Prashanti Nilayam, on Sunday morning - 24th July, 2005; the

staff and students from the Anantapur campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of

Higher Learning organized the distribution of sewing machines and wet grinders

for 84 women from many villages of the Anantapur District. These women were

from different backgrounds and religions. This was done after a careful survey

undertaken by them based on the needs of the women and their abilities. These

were distributed to empower them and make them independent enough to earn their

own livelihood. Those women who were not physically capable of undertaking

sewing jobs, were given wet grinders so that they can earn their living through

that means. This distribution was done in the Divine Presence. Each of the 84

women offered a rose at the Lotus Feet. They were all given new saris also.

After the distribution was completed, sisters from the Anantapur Campus

rendered a musical offering - the Sai Katha. It was perfectly complementary to

the Rama Katha presented by the brothers from the Prashanti Nilayam Campus of

the Institute. Thus the glory of both the Avatars - the Treta Avatar and the

Kali Avatar were sung during the Guru Poornima Celebrations in the Divine

Presence. July 22nd, 2005 This day saw the proceedings of an Inter-faith

conference at the Sai Kulwant Hall. The proceedings began in the morning after

Swami arrived at the Sai Kulwant Hall, at 8.35 am. Dr. Michael Goldstein,

Chairman of the Prashanthi Council of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation,

introduced the speakers. The speakers for the morning were from Islam and

Buddhism; representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism were slated to

speak in the afternoon. The first speaker was Maulana Wahid Uddin Khan -

Islamic Scholar founder President of the Islamic Centre in Delhi. The theme of

his talk was 'Islam and the Concept of Love & Peace'. He quoted many passages

from the Koran and the Hadis to illustrate how Islam is a religion of Love. The

second speaker was Dr. A. T. Aryaratna - founder of Sarvodaya movement in Sri

Lanka and former President of World Parliament of Religions. He opined that the

more you study Religion in depth, the more you discover that it is nothing but

Love. The afternoon proceedings started at 4 pm. Representing Christianity was

Father Henry Faren who expounds the universal tenets of Love of all religions

on TV and radio. After Father Henry was Rabbi David Zeller for Judaism, who has

released the healing CD "Let go, let God". The Rabbi wove several songs also

into his talk. The final speaker was P. S. J. Rama Shastrigal, Sanskrit pundit

and scholar, Asthana Vidwan of Padhuga Trust Madurai and Asthana Vidwan of

Rajarajeswari Alayam Ramnad Samsthanam. He spoke in Tamil, with a translator

simultaneously translating his talk into English. Source: Radiosai.org

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