Recent Updates from Prashanti Nilayam, sent by a Devotee

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Recent Updates from Prashanti Nilayam, sent by a Devotee 31st August Update For the past two days, a banner heralding the Conference of all the office bearers of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations in India has been fluttering in the mandir premises. Half a dozen plasma Tvs have been set up to act as add ons for the presentations to be made. But somehow, the conference has not yet been held at the Mandir in Swami's presence though the office bearers have met and achieved some constructive and fruitful ends. Today afternoon, once again, Swami came out on the wheel sofa. But He was not accepting any letters. To any person who

stretched out a letter, Swami just signaled for them to keep it. He was a picture of contentment just looking at everyone. He completed the ladies side and as He was among the boys, there were many eager beavers trying to give letters. Swami continued with the gentle signals and gentler smiles. For once, let us trade places with Swami and occupy the wheel sofa!! As we come out every morning and every afternoon, there are a thousands of people waiting to relate their psychological problems, medical ailments, financial difficulties, relationship mismatches and yes, some are present even to offer their gratitude for favours received, to express their Love for Him. We are in that position where, by just reading all the correspondence received daily, we would have read almost every word that exists in a dictionary, and that too not the English one alone but many other languages too! And then, we are expected to smile as we receive yet another letter!!

But wait a minute, God is not supposed to be affected by the fatigue and ennui that affect us mere mortals right? Correct, but then God does not need to be informed of everything like mere mortals right? He knows everything. Well the problem arises if we make someone God for some reasons and mortal for others!! And as the famous episode goes, Swami told the genial Prof.Anil Kumar, "So many want to give letters to me." The professor replied, "Swami maybe they have some emergency and so they want to give letters to you." Swami quipped, "Once anyone comes to me, will they ever have an emergency?" When we write to Him, it is only for our satisfaction that He receives the correspondence and not out of His need to stay informed and there is no theorem or axiom that says that problems presented to Him on paper are faster resolved than those presented via prayer! Swami completed the gents side too and then went into the Mandir portico. He took a round there also

granting darshan. Then He came out and sat on the gents side of the stage. None had guessed that Swami had planned something grand. He called the co-ordinators of the Office Bearers' Meet and presented them with His robes. So many devotees the world over send robes to Swami as offerings of their Love and gratitude. Swami was now offering them back to His devotees as a sign of His Love and Grace. What happened next was truly special. Swami said that He would personally give robes to all the 500+ devotees who had gathered for the conference! There was so much excitement and joy! All of them began coming to Swami in an orderly line. Up front, Swami continued to present them with robes. Many offered letters (!) to Swami which He now accepted. A few of them broke down in gratefulness and made no secret of their dedication and Love for Him. Swami sat thus distributing robes from 4:10pm when He sat outside, till about 5:00pm. Midway through, the organisers felt that they

were tiring Swami and they even suggested that Swami could stop and just direct the distribution. But Swami continued. He appeared tiring, but the smile never faded. How does 50 minutes of continuously giving affect someone who has been doing it for the last 80 years!! After the distribution, Swami went into the interview room. Bhajans began as scheduled and at about 5:35pm, Swami received Aarthi and left. Sunday 2nd September 2007 In the morning all the students who have been students of Swami and presently serving in various capacities in His institutions were assembled in the Prayer Hall. There was an atmosphere of Joy and every face was shining. Swami came for darshan at 7.55 and came inside the bhajan hall. He asked why were all seated

inside when the programme was outside. A teacher said "Swami the programme outside is in the evening. Elders will be speaking. Swami should please speak to us." Swami then went on the wheel chair to where the lamp was and lit it. He also cut the cake. He then came and sat and asked,"What news?". and calling the co ordinator asked what the program was. There were some songs that had been prepared and Swami listened to them. One could see that He was very relaxed and enjoying the songs. One person from those who had assembled would come at the beginning of each song and give Swami a flower and a sheet of paper on which the songs were written. Swami received these and went through the lyrics as they were sung or closed His eyes enjoying the song and the full throated singing. Swami asked it to be announced that there would be a public meeting at 4pm in the Sai Kulwant Hall in connection with the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust's 35th anniversary in the Divine presence of

Bhagavan. The announcement was repeated in Telugu also by a member of the Book Trust and Swami smiled when the announcement was completed. He asked, "Did you not eat any breakfast? So weak voice!!" Swami then asked what was next. Two speakers were to speak. And so Mr.Ruchir Desai, a lecturer at Brindavan campus, came forward and spoke. He spoke of our gratitude to Swami and said "Why is one grateful to the Sun?..is it because it rises everyday bringing light and joy to the world ? or because of it the bees and birds sing or we get the warmth .. these and many more and so then what to speak of the one who has put the sun in place- our Lord?" The speech was very apt and at the end Swami rewarded him with a smile and a pat on the head. It was next the turn of Mr.Satish Babu to speak. He spoke his heart out and narrated incidents . One of these was about a

student who was sick and so he gave him a set of instructions like - be careful about what you eat. Do not go out and play and many such things. The student agreed to follow all these instructions except the one in which he was asked to pray to Swami. No I will not do that as He will cure me instantly but He will Himself suffer the illness. Such pure thoughts can only come even to such small children by the blessings of Swami. Another incident was about how one day he was told of a sick boy and being busy went off for darshan forgetting to attend to the boy. Waiting for the darshan he suddenly remembered the student and was torn between his desire for darshan and the call of duty but convincing himself that it was the lord who was actually looking after everyone he sent a prayer to Swami to look after the small student. When he returned from darshan the small boy came up to him and thanked him as he had given him medicine on time and he was now fine ..

revealing that it was indeed the Lord who is the doer. Swami was also very touched with his speech. He blessed him with a Padanamaskar and a pat. After this Swami reminded us that there were two songs and asked us to sing them. So they sang 'O maa, O maa' and "why fear when I am here." Swami then asked how many boys were there and when the reply came as 155 boys, He smiled and said "anthe na." (Is that all?). Swami then asked Subramaniam ( research scholar) what he was doing. Swami then asked Praveen "Nuve kada America Poyindi?" (Was it not you who went to America?) "Yes Swami" was the reply. Swami: What did you do? Praveen: I did hospital management swami S: What are you doing now? P: Administration work in bangalore hospital swami people are not able to believe that we are doing free surgeries in our hospital swami S: We are not doing for them to believe...we are doing it for our happiness P: In our hospital we are able to do operations which even big hospiatals are not able to do swami.Even hospitals like Nimhans send patients to us. S: They don't send for that sake.they send because we are doing free operations P: We do all kinds of complicated surgeries swami S: How many doctors are there? P: 60 doctors swami.Doctors who are less qualified than Dr.Hegde himself are offered 5 crores outside swami.even Dr.Hegde got so many offers.he rejected all of them saying he wants to work in swamis hospital. S: Money has no value…. P: Yes swami money has no value S: Money has value but the people who take it lose their value P: Swami in our hospital we perform 8 brain surgeries each day S: How many heart surgeries? P: 6-8 swami.Angioplasty etc are 20 per day swami S: Those are small.Who does them? P: Dr.Das swami S: Oh Orissa man P: He is also getting so many offers swami. But he also tells that he is born to do only swamis service. In one of the fields of brain surgeries called Aneurisms our hospital is world no 1. One of the boys doing P.hd in our hospiatl also got all india gold medal swami. S: chaala manchidi (Very good) P: People who study here and go out are taking care of patients very well Swami. From our hospital one Mr. Keshava Murthy joined Apollo hospital.they were ready to pay him a huge amount.but he said to give that to poor patients S: That is not Apollo hospital it is appulu(debts) hospital..If you get admitted there you have to incur debt. P: Many foreign doctors are also are wanting to come and join here Swami. S: If they are good give permission. If they are not good and then they spoil our name, don't give the permission. P: Seeing that the facilities in our hospital are good, they want us to start courses so that they can learn here

and earn outside. Outside each MRI costs 10000 Rs and X-Ray 500 Rs. And we do 20 MRIs per day Swami. S: Money earned like that wont stay P: Both our hospitals in Parthi are doing so much work Swami. Swami is doing what govts are not able to do. S: Government does not do any work Student: Politicians just come for votes and promise that we will give gasstove, tv etc. S: They give only GAS (we all laugh) P: Because of Swami's water project so many could benefit. S: Yes in

Chennai small children were drinking dirty water and spoiling their health(there were tears in Swamis eyes). Now they are getting good drinking water. In Redhills there is lot of wastage due to the mud there. We told Karunanidhi to tell us when it is dry and that we would do desilting. We have put polymer there in order to curb wastage. You may believe it or not every Monday I sign cheques for distribution towards various projects. Kondal Rao and L & T Ramakrishna take good care and do these works without bothering about rain and sun.Thats why I gave each of them one car. I gave Chakravarthy also one car so that he can go round and see that every thing is alright. P: Swami all our students

are getting a good name outside S: Yes before it was not like this but now they are good. They all came with their wives and children in aeroplane. They say that they get peace only here. When the conversation turned to the music college and it was mentioned that " Swami our music college boys sing well…Swami interrupted and said "they sing well but are always scared as to when they may fall!" provoking laughter. (It was a lovely pun reminding all of us that we need to not only ensure class in our talents.. singing or whatever it is but also our behaviour). Aravind of Super Hospital Bangalore asked "Swami

please give us all a message on this occasion." Swami said "Chese pani tho trupti padandi.. atla unte ne repu thanni baga cheyyochu." (Be happy with whatever work you are doing and don't think that you are doing for some one else then only you can be happy.) Mamaivaamso jeeva loke jeeve boothasanathanaha. They expressed our gratitude to Swami that He had blessed us with the opportunity to serve Him.. Swami said smiling," Meerandaru cheyyagalaru. thani valla ne meeku ee avakasam icchanu… andariki istunaana?" (I know that you are all capable of discharging your responsibilities. That is why I gave you this opportunity. Do I give it to everyone?) It was already about to be 10 o clock and Swami asked for the Aarathi. He Himself lit the camphor, and blessed the basins of sweet prasadam which boys showed to Him. When boys asked for group photos and paada namaskar, Swami

said,"I will give it to you in the evening." In the afternoon, Swami came out at 4:00 pm. He had said in the morning that 4:30 onwards would be the Rahukaalam. All the students working in various places in the Central Trust(CT) had assembled by 2:30 pm itself. Swami went directly on stage and took His seat in the centre. Four respected seniors working for Swami were part of the panel to discuss on the role of Sai Institutions in transforming lives. They were, the All India President, Mr.V.Srinivasan, the Secretary of the CT, Mr.Chakravarthi, the former vice chancellors, Mr.S.V.Giri and Mr.G.Venkatraman. First there was an introductory speech by Mr.Rameshwar Prusty. He gave a brief outline of the formation and functioning of the CT. There were two

speeches by Mr.Sudheendran and Dr.T.Ravikumar. Sudheendran with the aid of the vedic lore narrated experiences as to how Swami had come to become God for him and how he had slowly but surely shaped and moulded him.The second speaker said that though he had lost his mother at a very tender age, he never felt the lack of a mother's love in his life. He narrated his experiences where Swami had shown him that Loving him meant more to Him than anything else. Being deeply touched by His love, he spoke with that conviction and his emotions slowly percolated the fibre of every listener till the whole of the third block seemed to be in deep emotion of gratitude. The for elder speakers spoke on the various ways in which Swami was inspiring every Trust and every member with His Love and His example. After them, though it was 5:35pm, Swami rose to speak. The Divine Discourse-Embodiments of

Love, Our students have sacred hearts, pure minds, selflessness and innocence. A few of them may commit mistakes but they correct it on their own. Therefore students are our Central Trust. They do all the work. The elders are there as elders alone and the students take care of everything. Sometimes however, elders commit mistakes due to the students. Students are not to be considered as small children. In fact, I stood up not to talk to you but to describe the glory of their selflessness. The work done by them is really wonderful and unique. These students are the future support of the Central Trust(CT) also. The CT fully depends on them. There are students working day in and day out. One cannot single out who are those and specifically name them. All work very hard. None can describe their abilities. So

students, you should put the CT on the proper path and show the ideal to the world by being leaders. The Ct will progress because of you; the future depends on you. Not only the money here but all the Pani (work) too is yours. Outside everywhere it is only money, money and money. Money comes and goes, morality comes and grows. Your morality makes your status high. So uphold the morality. Being human, we have our imaginations and expectations. But these are all to be considered as illusions. They are not permanent but like passing clouds. Do not submit to them and be victims of your imagination. For the purpose of keeping up the character, all other forces must be resisted and all other things be cast aside. Dear students, your effulgence, your future and your work must all be ideal and then alone will the world emulate you. Science has advanced into "Trick Knowledge" instead of Technology these days. Only the feelings that arise from your heart are True and

Permanent. Discriminate between Truth and Untruth. All the unnecessary things must be cast aside. Spend all time in sacred duties. How many students are there working in CT? (Answer comes as 155.) All come and sit in the front.(Swami tells the boys behind Him to go in and get watches for all) Sanctify the time, utilize it properly and achieve a good name. not only the CT, other Trusts too depend on you. But do not depend on any Trust. Have Self-Dependence. Atmashakti must be the basis for that. Have self confidence and that will confer everything on you. Faith gives you power. It is responsible for the flow of Love. No Faith- No Love. Only out of Love can anything be achieved, big or small. Faith and Love are the two eyes without which one is blinded. Truth is God. Love is God. Live in Love. Truth and Love are the two feet on which I walk on. I achieve everything with this confidence. The British promised drinking water to Madras but faltered on it.

I sanctioned it immediately. You may not believe it, but every Monday, I sign cheques . Chakravarthi knows about this. It is his job to distribute it. Swami can do everything but some help is needed. I have kept some as Trust members and through them I send the cheques. For Madras, the Godavari water was not enough. So water from the Krishna was diverted via Bhadrachalam and through taps has reached every hut. Every child says there, "Sai Baba has given us nectar!" But for that I never extended my hand even for a naya paisa. You all know that if Swami asks, so many are ready to give. But I never desire for anything from anyone. My Will is the power. Never worry about money. It is the virtues that are more important. Have Love and with that anything can be attained. Never expect anything from anyone. Love will supply everything like a current. Dont worry for anything. That Love will give everything. Never tread the wrong path. Do not utter untruth. Don't resort to

injustice. Don't be intolerant. Sahana (Tolerance) is of utmost importance. Bharatitas have everything but only lack in Unity. Unity leads to Purity and then to Divinity. When that Unity Love exists, all desires are automatically satiated.Never feel bad that Swami is not talking to you or spending time with you. My mind is always on you children. Without you I cannot exist. when you exist I exist and when I exist you exist. I and you are one. With that feeling, do your work happily. Swami then out of supreme Love personally gave each of the 155 students a beautiful wrist watch. It was a beautiful sight to see the Mother blessing her children in spite of the time being so late. Till about 6:15 Swami distributed watches. He also personally gave prasadam to many of the students. After that, Mr. Harishankar delivered the vote of thanks. Swami then received Aarthi and left.