A Special Report from Swami's Abode in Brindavan - Part III of IV

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PRASHANTI DIARY

CHRONICLES OF HEAVEN ON EARTH

A SPECIAL REPORT FROM SWAMI’S ABODE IN BRINDAVAN

PART III - May 13th-16th, 2006

 

MAY 13 & 14th VESAK 2006 - BUDDHA POORNIMA CELEBRATIONS IN BRINDAVAN

The First Day

Vesak Day, 2006, the 2550th anniversary of the triple-event of the Birth, the Enlightenment and the Death of Siddhartha - also known as Gautama Buddha, was celebrated in millions of homes in all the lands where Buddhism is practised with the lighting of lamps and elaborately sculpted decorative lanterns, both in homes and in the public streets, the erection of colourful depictions of events from the life of the Holy One and the offering of dana - charity – and of course going to the temples to offer obeisance and seek the Buddha’s Blessing on this the most auspicious of days for the practising Buddhist.

This important Buddhist festival has also been celebrated in Whitefield for more than 10 years for Swami is usually resident in Brindavan when the Buddha Poornima or the full moon night in the month of May rolls around.

 

The decorated altar at Sai Ramesh Hall

Every year one of the Buddhist countries acts as the chief host for this event of great significance to Buddhists. Last year Sri Lanka was the host and this year it was the turn of Region 41 South East Asia comprising the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.

Planning for this mega event started right after the Maha-Sivarathri festival when Bhagavan approved and blessed the proposed Buddha Poornima Programme. A total of 14 countries responded and came to Brindavan – Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and many Buddhists also came from the countries of UK, USA and South Africa (in addition to the devotees from the 4 host countries) – as early as the 8th of May. In addition 8 Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka and Indonesia also participated in this memorable event.

Some of the Buddhist monks who attended the celebration

The Chinese lanterns on the ceiling

By the 11th, the devotees started to put up the decorations inside the Ashram premises, including Sai Ramesh Hall, the Kalyana Mantapam and of course – Trayee Brindavan, Bhagavan’s residence. Some speciality decorative items – like the red Chinese lanterns from Taiwan which added a touch of grandeur when hung from the ceiling - were brought from their own countries by the devotees, but in most cases items were bought locally. When the lights were fully lit it was a sight for the Gods to see. The wonderful decorations and the entire campus looked like it had been transformed into a Buddhist country with its many banners displaying the teachings of the Buddha and Swami, the different flags, and the Chinese lanterns. In a corner of the dais an elaborate and intricately decorated altar was set up along with pictures of Shirdi Baba and Sathya Baba.

The Nanyang School Procession

A view of the dignitaries on the stage

On the morning of the 13th, Bhagavan was led by 12 children from the Nanyang School of Medan, Indonesia in their beautiful red attire and playing beautiful music for the Lord, from His residence to the dais of Sai Ramesh Hall. A lot of dignitaries attended the day’s festivities. Seated on the dais along with Swami were the Sri Lankan Opposition leader Sri Kuru Jayasuriya, the Governor of the State of Karnataka Sri T. N. Chaturvedi and the Governor of the State of Maharashtra Sri S.M Krishna. Also gracing the occasion by their presence were – Sri Rohitha Bogollagama, Sri Lankan Minister for Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to India, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Sri Lanka, heads of several industrial groups and prominent citizens of Bangalore who are long time devotees of Swami.

Swami was welcomed with bouquets by the leaders of all the countries hosting the program. Swami then inaugurated this great event by pressing a switch which lit up the entire podium and the Buddhist altars to clapping from the assembled crowd. The celebrations were set on its way by a beautiful rendering of a few bhajans by singers from the host countries. Both the ladies and the gents sang very well and Bhagavan kept beat with the songs. After the bhajans had uplifted the entire congregation, there were a couple of speeches by well-known Buddhist devotees to round off the morning program.

Inaugurating the function by pressing the switch

Dr. Art Ong Jumsai speaking

First was an inspiring address by Dr. Art Ong Jumsai, an eminent educationist, a former Member of Parliament and an eminent scientist having worked for the space Agency NASA during the heady days of the moon landing. Dr Jumsai stressed on the loving kindness, the ahimsa and the compassion of Lord Buddha. To the delight of the crowd he also related the story of the Sathya Sai School in Thailand, where 95% of the students are Buddhists and which was recently acknowledged as the “best Buddhist school” in Thailand. Dr Jumsai said that the reason for this achievement was that the students did a lot of seva at the Buddhist temple next door –serving food during festivals, washing plates, cleaning the temple and also arranging discussions on the various aspects of human values. They also had a water project to supply clean water to the community around the school and provided free medical treatment for the nearby villagers at the school’s clinic. Terming ‘educare’ as the

discovery of the Buddha within; he outlined 3 steps in Buddhism to achieve this. The first step is Sila or control of the senses. The second step is Meditation and the students wake up at 4:30 AM to do the Jyothi meditation as laid down by Bhagavan. And the third step in Buddhism is Panya - inner wisdom or understanding of the truth of the true nature of man being the Atma, using the human values of Love and Non-Violence.

Next to speak was Sir Bradman Weerakom from Sri Lanka who was the Secretary to the Government and served 7 Prime ministers in Sri Lanka. Sri Weerakom chose to speak on the contribution of Buddhism towards Global Peace. [Moderator's Note. See:

saibabanews/message/16463]

He said, “The road to peace as expressed in Buddhism needs to have two pathways. The first is the cultivation of the right mental attitudes. The second is the resolution through right effort of the underlying material conditions which give rise to conflict; whether of poverty, or under-development or alienation or exclusion. Improving the human condition so that the poor and the deprived in our societies are provided with the basic necessities of life – like food, drinking water, health facilities and education for the children, which Bhagavan has engaged in so resolutely, is in total fulfilment of this second pathway, so complementary and so essential to building, sustaining and strengthening global peace."

 

Sir Bradman obtaining Swami’s blessings

After the arathi, all the delegates were directed to the Kalyana Mantap where a sumptuous lunch was arranged for all the 1100 Buddhist delegates by Bhagavan.

Reciting the brahmarpanam

A luncheon picture partaking Swami's prasadam

All the delegates were seated (ladies on one side and the gents on the other) for the luncheon which was served in the traditional manner on banana leaves. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the lunch which was lovingly served by the seva dals and some of Swami’s students. This concluded the morning programme.

The ladies who sang for Swami

The singers on the gents side

The evening programme started around 4 PM. Welcoming Swami everyday to Sai Ramesh hall were the bhajan singers drawn from the host countries who sang a number of Sanskrit bhajans singing the praise of the Lord. We need to commend these bhajan singers. They had practised a wide repertoire of Indian bhajans just for Swami’s sake. Both the ladies and the gents sang very well and at times Swami sat for as much as a half-hour listening attentively to the bhajans before He would bless the day’s programme to start. And a listener would not have been able to tell the difference from the usual bhajan rendition, such was their level of practise and a reflection of their level of dedication.

After a short while of bhajan singing, Swami blessed the programme to start. The first to speak in the evening was Dr. Narendra Reddy from Los Angeles, California. Dr. Reddy serves as a member of the Prashanti Council and co-ordinates its medical programmes (like medical camps in different countries or the sending of medical teams and supplies to areas affected by natural disasters like the recent tsunami in the region).

Dr Reddy touched upon and amplified the views expressed by the two speakers in the morning and especially addressed the devotees on the significance of this joyous day. He also mentioned the catholicity of the teachings of the Buddha and its relevance to all of us.

 

Dr Reddy talking to the audience

Speaking next was Brother Phoa Krishnaputra, of Medan, Indonesia, who chose to talk about how with His Grace we can achieve anything. Fortunate in having a loving wife and healthy successful children, he followed a prosperous career with plantation companies and reached the highest level of management. Still there was something niggling deep inside his mind, and he was searching for a cure for his aching heart. He next recounted the story of his life and how he happened to come to India on a pilgrimage to the Buddhist holy places and was lead to Swami; he also recounted Swami’s help and guidance in helping him establish a Sai Centre and a school in Indonesia.

Sri Krishnaputra getting Swami’s blessing before addressing the crowd

Swami blesses the book before release

After these two speeches, Swami graciously blessed a book entitled “Personal Interactions with Baba My Father’ by Dr (Mrs) Vasantha Jayasuriya, wife of Sri Jayasuriya, a former Minister of Sri Lanka. Swami was also kind enough to release a copy of the Buddha Poornima issue of the Sai Marga magazine. Sri Jayasuriya also extended an invitation to Swami to visit Sri Lanka. After this Swami got up slowly to give His Divine Discourse, while the students scurried hurriedly to set up the discourse table and mike for Him.

Swami started His divine discourse by delineating in detail on the life of the Buddha. He mentioned how the Buddha’s parents – Shudhodhana and Mayadevi – performed penance for many years to have an heir to rule the kingdom.

As soon as the son Siddhartha was born, the mother Mayadevi gave up the body and the boy was brought up by the King’s second wife Goutami. At the time of birth, the King’s astrologers predicted that the boy would not rule the kingdom. To prevent this untoward happening, the king shielded the boy by keeping him in the palace itself and isolating him from outside influences. At the age of 20, Siddhartha was married to Yashodhara and they in turn had a son.

The Divine Discourse

One night there was a sudden transformation in the mind of Siddhartha and he left the palace after caressing his son, Rahul. Siddhartha went to the forest to contemplate and had to undergo a lot of hardship and difficulties. His parents were also suffering from a sense of separation. Swami also added that Siddhartha’s anguish came in the way of his self-realization.

In one town a person gave him a talisman for protection, telling Siddhartha that the anguish actually is from within. (Swami waved His hand and materialised the talisman to the astonished gasps of the audience). The person put the talisman on Siddhartha’s neck and all the anguish vanishes (Swami later in His Discourse also added that the talisman disappeared when the Buddha died).

Siddhartha started doing penance, very long penance. He started questioning – Who am I? Am I the body? Am I the mind? Finally he reached the conclusion that “I am I”. This is also the principle of Aham Brahmasmi – I AM God; and Tat Twam Asi – Thou Art That. Thus, said Swami, Buddha went on enquiring into the truth and reached the true realization that I AM I.

 

Manifesting the protective talisman

Swami further said that today’s meditation, penance, japa, or yoga gives only momentary satisfaction and is a waste of time. The primary duty of man is to find fulfilment in life. “Without wasting time in meditation, do social work”, said Swami, “and recognise the divinity in everyone. That is true meditation”. He further said, “Every man therefore has to recognise the Truth that I am God, I am God. Every man identifies himself with the Atma. Buddha was the person who had recognised the unity in multiplicity and there was a total transformation in his life when he recognised the unity”.

“What did the Buddha teach?” asked Swami. Answering the question He said that he went on teaching that there is only one principle in everyone. The truth is one, though it may be called by different names. Similarly Krishna also declared - Everybody is part and parcel of Myself. You are My Own reflection. You are not different from Me, said Swami. He further added that every reaction, reflection and resound is one and the same. The Buddha also taught that we should not get angry with anyone. We should not harm others. We should not find fault with others. There is only one principle – eternal, pure and wise. And all of you are Buddhas. And when you understand this truth you see unity everywhere. And so we have to unite our hearts and recognise the spirit of unity. When mind finds and experiences this unity, then man’s life finds fulfilment.

After this arathi was taken; and the devotees were asked to assemble in the Ramesh Krishan Kalyana Mantap for the cultural programme to follow.

The Kwan Yin Dance Front View

...And Side View

First the 12 children from the Nanyang School of Medan, Indonesia presented a unique dance called “The Thousand Hand Kwan Yin” dance. The Nanyang Modern Indonesian School of Medan, Indonesia, is one of the educational institutions where the ‘Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values’ is being implemented in the teaching curricula.

Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and is revered in Indonesia. The small children dressed in their gold suits gave a very well co-ordinated dance that won loud applause from the crowd. When they stood in a line and moved their heads and hands it looked like they had moulded into one single body. The message conveyed by these synchronised dance movements was that as human beings we are obliged to spread the loving kindness (metta) and helping hands in order to attain global peace and harmony. Following this short dance programme was a drama by the youth of Singapore.

The courtroom Scene from the drama

A scene from the Buddha's life

The drama was based on the life and teachings of the Lord Shakyamuni Buddha whose teachings emphasized the need for all of us to realize the divinity within and to follow the path of Truth and Righteousness by mastering our five senses. The opening scene was set in the Supreme Court where all had gathered to hear the case of the Government against the Inter-Faith council on the charge that God does not exist. If the Government proves its case without a doubt all references to God in schools and Government policies have to be removed. In an action packed sequence sparking with hard-hitting and well rendered dialogues, the defence attorney wins the case when he proves that the mere presence of evil in the world does not imply that God does not exist.

He made the argument that just as darkness is the absence of light, so too evil reflects the absence of goodness and is a human foible. God is something that can only be experienced and cannot be perceived by the five senses; just as the fact that though we cannot see and feel Oxygen we still continue to breathe. The drama also depicted a scene from the life of the Buddha (wherein He accepted a pomegranate from a poor woman but did not accept gold and precious stones from a king - looking just to the motivation behind the gift rather than its worldly value) to emphasize that we need to purify our minds and hearts if we are to attain Nirvana - the final goal of life according to Buddhism. Swami talked with all the youth who had put up the play before He retired for the night.

The Second Day

On the second day Swami came out of Trayee at 9:10 AM and gave darshan to the assembled devotees at Sai Ramesh Hall.

After a few bhajans, the Bala Vikas children of Indonesia presented a traditional Indonesian dance, called the “Welcome dance”, a custom in the area of North Sumatra, Indonesia – in welcoming distinguished guests during festive occasions by the young Sumatran ladies.

The Bala Vikas students aged between 9 to 14 years performed the dance to the delight of the crowd. Following this was a repeat of the Kwan Yin dance from the previous day but now before the larger Sai Ramesh Hall audience. Again the young ladies won the applause of the crowd with their synchronised movements.

Welcome Dance

This was followed by an entertaining and absorbing Chinese choir presented by Malaysia. All the songs were in Chinese - joyful songs sung in praise of God; songs that expressed that we should experience the joy, love and grace of Bhagavan Baba. The songs were vibrant, expressive, and full of love.

Chinese choir - Ladies side

Chinese Choir - Gents side

Though the tunes were unfamiliar and the words incomprehensible - everyone found empathy and unity with the sentiments that were joyfully expressed by the energetic choir.

At the close of the presentation, Swami called Bro. Stanley Cherry, a vocal teacher in Malaysia and the choir conductor and motivator, up to the dais and materialised a golden chain much to the joy of all the members of the choir and the devotees present.

 

A Chain For the Conductor

Following this Swami blessed the food and the clothes that would be distributed by the Buddhist devotees as part of Narayan Seva and vastra danam. The poor people were all seated in orderly rows and the overseas devotees enthusiastically distributed food to all. In all about 800 people were given food and clothing to conclude the morning programme.

Swami blessing the food

Narayan Seva by the Buddhists

In the evening the darshan started at 4:20 PM and Swami was again greeted by an inspiring rendition of bhajans by the singers from the overseas devotees. After a few bhajans, Swami gave His blessings for the evening programme to start. The first item was a short rendition by 2 gents on what was termed as ‘Sri Lankan Drums’. These 2 percussionists gave a short but resounding and controlled display that picked up pace very fast so that at times it seemed that their fingers were just a blur playing fast staccato music on the rawhide skin.

Sri Lankan Drums

The final dance item

The finale item of the two day celebration was a dance put up by the Bal Vikas of Indonesia to the tune of the bhajan “Sai Bhajan Bina Sukh Shanti Nahi”. This traditional Indonesian dance form is called “Mainang Kuala Deli”. It is an entertainment dance performed by the youth in North Sumatra, to share their joy and happiness. Certainly their joy was contagious and everyone went home uplifted and happy at the conclusion of this two day festival of Buddha Poornima.

MAY 16TH: A SITAR CONCERT

When we all came to Sai Ramesh Hall in the afternoon, we noticed that a plush carpet had been laid out in the first block right in front of the dais. All of us immediately suspected that a musical concert was in the offing and we were not disappointed. Slated to play this day was Sri Prabeer Bhattachary, a noted sitar exponent from Kolkata.

Sri Prabeer Bhattacharya is a disciple of the great Pandit Deepak Choudhary (Pt. Deepak Choudhary himself is a disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar). Sri Prabeer had about 17 years of training under his teacher and his playing style is notable for its range of emotions and speed. A rigorous daily practise regimen of 12 hours had made him a maestro of the sitar. Accompanying him this evening were accomplished artists Sri Rajendra Nakoe on the tabla and Sri Srinivas on the mridangam.

Sri Prabeer started his concert with Raag Megh or a raga celebrating the rainy season. (A raag is a combination of certain swaras or notes. In Hindustani music we have seven swaras – Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni analogous to the Western Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti). Thus Raag Megh has the swaras Sa Re Ma Pa Ni Sa on the ascending and the swaras Sa Ni Pa Ma Re Sa on the descending.

Sri Prabeer Bhattacharya on the sitar

He followed the Raag Megh with Raag Hamsadhwani Malika (or the raga that creates a happy mood) that had the raga Bahar admixed with it. This Raag has on the ascending the swaras Sa Re Ga Pa Ni Sa and on the descending it has the swaras Sa Ni Pa Ga Re Sa.

The last item was the raag Bhairavi that had a jugalbandhi (i.e. The tabla and the mridangam played in turn). This raag has on the ascending: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dh Ni Sa; and on the descending: Sa Ni Dh Pa Ma Ga Re Sa.

The concert in progress

Our readers might also be pleased to know that this young artiste Sri Prabheer Bhattacharya is also a Visiting Professor at the Sai Mirpuri College of Music and spends a couple of months every year sharing his immense talent and skill with the young and eager students.

 

 

 

- Heart2Heart Team.

 

 

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine June 2006

http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_04/01JUN06/Prasanthi-Diary.htm