Bal Vikas Guru's Conference-Details from Prasanthi Nilayam

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Bal Vikas Guru's Conference

"….Let the Beacons never fade; Let the Lamps be ever bright" was the

inspirational message given by Bhagawan addressing the Balvikas Gurus when the

Movement was set in motion way back in 1962. This was not a mere message, but a

huge responsibility, Divinely ordained…to nurture the little hearts…to blossom

them to ideal citizens.

Eversince, the Balvikas Movement has been on a roll. Lakhs and lakhs of children

have been blossomed into youth of character over the years and there are

thousands of teachers, known as Bal Vikas gurus guiding these young aspiring

minds to a better tomorrow based on the divine teachings and guidelines of

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Leading up to the coveted 80th Birthday Celebrations of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai

Baba, Prasanthi Nilayam has witnessed a unique congregation of ‘Balvikas

Family’ from all over India at His Divine Lotus Feet, rejuvenating their minds

and pledging their hearts in unison at the Feet of the Eternal Being in human

frame…Sadguru…Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

It was ‘Children’s Festival of Joy’ that set about the tone for the celebrations

on 22nd October with children from all parts of India participated in a rare

display of outpouring of love and gratitude to Bhagawan for entering and

transforming their lives, and through them, the lives of their family members

and others around them. Over the three days, the children basked in the love of

Bhagawan, presenting a variety of programmes in the Divine presence on the

lessons they have imbibed as students of the Bal Vikas Programme. There was a

significant presence of students from the far off North Eastern states like

Assam, Manipur and Sikkim, their faces beaming with the joy of being with

Bhagawan on this wonderful occasion.

At the backdrop of this wonderful ‘Festival of Joy’ came the All India Sri

Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Guru’s Conference inaugurated by the Divine Hands on the

morning of 25th October. Delivering the key-note address Smt. Sarla Shah,

National Bal Vikas coordinator highlighted the evolution of the Sri Sathya Sai

Bal Vikas Movement from its humble beginning in the year 1969 into the much

talked about and highly valued Sri Sathya Sai Educare and the significance of

its application in day-to-day life. She said, the Movement is aimed at creating

Sai Energy Globules in the hearts of children and parents so that instead of

Atomic Energy, Atmic Energy will be generated resulting in world peace at

large. She further reiterated on the need to make this Movement more effective

for the spiritual regeneration of mankind. Love alone is the essence of

education and where this Love prevailed, it resulted in transformation which

would lead to the manifestation of 5 D’s: purity, unity of thought, word and

deed and experiencing one’s own Divinity. Sai Education is the only solution

for today and the Mission of the Sai Avatar coupled with our action could alone

change the world into a better place, concluded Smt. Sarla Shah.

The next speaker, Sri Nimish Pandya with his rhetoric excellence regaled the

audience on the Glory of Sri Sathya Sai Avatar. Leela of Pure Love is the

essence of the glory of the Avatar, said Mr. Pandya. While profusely thanking

Bhagawan for removing the myth that God was complicated and that God could be

achieved by simplicity and Love through the means of Bal Vikas, he emphasised

that Bal Vikas is the simplest means for achieving the much talked about World

Peace. Highlighting Bhagawan’s teaching that it is important to change the

individuals and their attitudes before changing the world into a better one,

Sri Nimish Pandya concluded with an optimistic note that this alone would

herald the dawn of the Golden Age.

Bhagawan in His short but sweet address to the Bal Vikas Gurus reiterated that,

that which protects Dharma is Real Knowledge and Real Knowledge is nothing but,

Educare which is coming from Atma.

The first exclusive session of the Conference was held in the Poorna Chandra

Auditorium in the afternoon, in the immediate Divine Presence. The first one to

address the Gurus was Smt. Kamala Pandya on the subject, “Sri Sathya Sai Bal

Vikas – Milestones in the Divine Mission”. Bal Vikas in its 36th Years of

sojourn is at the prime of its life, in full bloom and it is time to take a

perspective view of the Divine Mission; We have to think, reflect and

understand as to what Bhagawan is expecting from us, advised Mrs. Pandya to Bal

Vikas Gurus. The next speaker Dr. Anand Mohan elucidating on the subject, ‘Sri

Sathya Sai Bal Vikas –A Way of Life”, referring to Bhagawan’s famous dictum:

If there is Righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character If

there is Beauty in Character, there will be Harmony in the HomeIf there is

Harmony in the Home, there will be Order in the NationIf there is Order in the

Nation, there will be Peace in the World

If there is Order in the Nation, there will be Peace in the World, said,

individual transformation alone can bring about transformation in the world and

this individual transformation should start at the right time…right age…should

be a continual process…that should culminate in attaining world peace. In her

inspiring speech, Ms. Deepali Changkaoti exhorted the Gurus to be exemplary

role models while talking on the subject “Be, Do and Tell”. The last speaker

for the session was Ms. Jayashree Bajaj who stressed on Bhagawan’s Message of

Purity and Unity to enable the gurus to experience Divinity.

The second exclusive session was on the 26th morning in the Poornachandra

Auditorium. Dr. Ms. Neeta Khanna in her eloquent exposition on the importance

of Thought Management said that our destiny rests on our thoughts and hence the

seed of good thoughts should be implanted right from the conception in monther’s

womb. Smt. Parul Sachdeva in her emotional rhetoric stressed the importance of

inculcating good habits which she said makes our destiny and when one follows

those good habits he or she is closer to God and when one is closer to God he

or she is at Peace. She posed the questions herself: Am I of good character? Do

I have all those values which a guru is ought to have? Giving full credit to the

Bal Vikas training, she said transformation started from the very day she has

become a Bal Vikas Guru. The next speaker Ms. Sashibala from A.P. stressed the

need for integration of the five techniques while imparting the course content.

Dr. Mrs. Devi Rajagopal in her lucid presentation gave deep insight on the

benchmarks of an ideal Bal Vikas student. Explaining about the 5 D’s, namely,

Duty, Discipline, Devotion, Discrimination and Determination in details she

said these five D’s are not given to the child altogether, but in gradual doses

according to age.

The third and final exclusive session commenced with the analysis of the role of

a Bal Vikas guru by Ms. Radhika Trasi. Explaining in detail the techniques

involved in training children in moulding into future citizens she has a word

of caution to fellow Bal Vikas gurus: “plunging deep into the tumultuous waters

of samsara we have emerged heroic with the rare pearl in our hand and this rare

peal is the Divine Grace of Swami because of which we have become Bal Vikas

gurus. So, we must be very careful and not allow this pearl to slip through our

fingers and fall down to the depths again, because only as Bal Vikas gurus we

will be able to render service and make our lives fruitful”. This was followed

by Ms. Binoti Thakore’s guidelines for parenting and the crucial role of

parents in moulding the children in to ideal sons and daughters. She stressed

that families are to be dwelling places of right conduct. She concluded her

inspiring speech with few beautiful lines on parenting:

Parenting is both Love and LawParenting is both Sowing seed and

fructificationParenting is Mutable yet ConstantParenting is music both Gazal

and ClassicalParenting is Mystic yet very SystematicParenting is Parenthetic

and ParagonicParenting is both Practical and Tactical

Smt. Vidya Srinivasan emphasized the need for co-ordination of the different

wings of the organization in promoting Bal Vikas.

The Valedictory function was held in Sai Kulwant Hall in the Divine Presence of

Bhagawan. Mr. Nimish Pandya summarizing the whole proceedings of the conference

in a nutshell thanked Bhagawan for the great realization that “we are all

perched at a moment in the history of mankind when the entire world is due to

become a Sathya Sai Organisation, every family is due to become a Sai family,

every mother is due to become a Bal Vikas guru and every child is due and

deserves to be a Bal Vikas student”.

The first speaker, Mrs. Usha Nair spoke about Bal Vikas Movement in rural India.

Narrating various inspiring incidents happened across various villages in Madhya

Pradesh wherein Bal Vikas children were involved, she concluded her inspiring

emotional rhetoric with a prayer to Bhagawan, with a positive note to shower

His Blessings to make their endeavour a success so that the health, wealth and

prosperity of these villages which constitute the real wealth of our nation

would richly contribute to the well being of our country. The next speaker,

Smt. Nimmi Kanwar while profusely thanking Bhagawan for His bounteous blessings

enlightened on the recommendations of the Conference that all active workers and

office bearers should make it a point to attend the Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas

classes so as to make it a way of their lives.

Dr. Anil Vinayak Gokak, Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher

Learning exhorted the teachers to be transmitters of impulses to the children

and detectors of their talents. Smt. Jayalakshmi Bajaj who was specially called

upon the dais by Bhagawan said that love should encompass everything under

creation and love is expansion.

The programme concluded with the presentation of the recommendations of the

Conference and vote of thanks by Shri Nimish Pandya.

Richly inspiring for thousands of hearts and minds of Gurus across the length

and breadth of India, rejuvenated in the Divine Presence and inspired at the

Divine Hands to carry the torch to nurture and guide the little minds to make

them ideal future citizens of our culturally enriched Mother India - the

noblest of the tasks divinely ordained by the Avatar of Age.

Jai Sai Ram