27th weekly activities of Saudi Sai samitis

[Guest guest]

Sai-Satsang in 4 centers continued

(week ending 24th Aug, Friday)

 

Sairam to all Children, Sisters and Sai Brothers

in all 4 Sai SatSanghs in Dammam, Jubail, Jeddah and

Riyadh.

 

We continue with the Twenty seventh (27) posting of

the activities of all 4 centers.

 

Summary:

1) Total Attendance all over Saudi over 110 (post

vacation).

2) Note on Study circle- Gunas

3) Forthcoming program in Bahrain & Dammam in Sep

07

 

Details:

 

In Dammam the weekly satsangh was held on the evening

of Wednesday 22nd Aug at Bro. Kaladeepan’s residence.

The attendance was by 20 members starting at 7.30 pm.

Aarthi was taken by Bro. Vinodh, who is hosting the

next week’s Bhajan. The report was provided by Bro.

Prem .

 

Jubail center held the weekly Satsang on Thursday 23rd

Aug at 7.00 pm attended by about 30 members at Bro

Sunil’s residence. Aarthi was taken by Bro Sunil.

Bro. Andripalli Seetam Naidu hosted a dinner for

Samiti members as he is leaving with his family on

exit after more than 20 years in KSA and shifting to

Qatar. The report was provided by Bro. Wimal.

 

Jeddah Group held the weekly Satsang on Thursday 23rd

August 07, at 7.30pm. It was attended by 13 members at

Bro. Gopinath’s NADA residence. Aarthi was taken by

Bro Chandran. Bro Saji provided the report.

 

Riyadh group held the weekly Bhajan on Friday 24th Aug

from 9 .00 am till 11.45 pm. Before the SAI Bhajan,

Lalita Sashranamam was recited by some devotees on

Fridays. The Bhajan was attended by about 55 members.

Bro Sampath read a new chapter from life of Shirdi Sai

Baba and also took the . aarthi.

 

I would like to add a comment on the noise level

during our Bhajan sessions in Riyadh. It is again

particularly high as if we want to be heard directly

in Puttaparthi. This is a security concern for

families during Ramadan. Either we should install

sound proofing shield on the side wall or tone down

the volume. We can also consider making 2 batches

instead of one large batch to reduce overall noise

levels.

 

Study circle was held after Bhajan discussing Gunas

from previous session. Bro Ravi Chandran (SABIC) who

had returned from his vacation coordinated the

discussion attended by about 12 members. Some jokes

and humorous anecdotes were mentioned by some members.

Perhaps it indicates that Gunas are a lighter subject

compared to Atma discussed earlier.

 

The point that was brought out was that Gunas are

something inherent to humans and not divine. Thus it

is present in body and mind but not in Atma. However

when a soul (Atma) exits the body, it takes with it

the essence of the gunas as practiced by that human

in the form of coating (vasanas). These are carried

forward to next birth and that is how we get some

behavioral qualities in birth. So in theory, while the

body is from parents’ genes, the Gunas are from our

own past Karmic basket. This is why even the siblings

(brothers and sisters) of same parents have different

nature.

 

Gunas (fundamental attitude) are further split into

tendencies which are situational. Usually a set of

tendencies have some association to each other. A

person who tends to eat too much is also likely to be

less active and often greedy. Thus he may display an

overall Tamasic attitude. Hence when we start with

some Sadhana, for a change of behavior, a set of

practices are recommended such as fasting, praying,

service, study circle etc. Swami has codified them

into “9 points code of conduct”. When followed, this

leads to more Satvic Gunas and attitude in us. If you

however choose “misconduct” then you may end up with

Rajasic or Tamasic gunas and attitudes.

 

Probably our Hindu system gives us a democratic choice

of being good or otherwise with different

consequences. One may ask that in day to day life, one

observes that “bad people” get good material benefits

while those silent good people go through many

sufferings. For an answer to such queries and how to

cope with day to day life, you must attend Study

circle regularly as there is no word or one line

answer. You must know how the system works.

 

Here is an abstract from SAI official web site posting

last week:

 

“It is not that travel alone is a hassle. Life in the

office is a hassle; life at home is a hassle; school

is a hassle and even pre-school or kindergarten is a

hassle. People may shrug their shoulders and say in a

tired voice, “Sir, that is the price we have to pay

for progress.”

 

Sai devotees have a particular duty in this regard.

How many of us spend time in a serious reading of

Swami’s teachings? People say, “I know this is

important but then you see, life is so fast these

days! There is absolutely NO TIME!” Well, if we have

no time for even finding out where we are going in

this world, how are we going to figure out where we

are headed, as far as our spiritual journey is

concerned?

 

People get irritated when we raise such issues when

they drop in to greet us. What they want is for us to

give them more of “nice stories” of Swami’s miracles!

When we try to talk about what we humans ought to be

doing about the problems of the world, we are

misunderstood”.

 

Bro Raj Rajgopal has circulated a note on forthcoming

SAI parenting seminar to be held in Bahrain on 13th

(Thursday) and 14th (Friday) September. Those wishing

to attend Pl contact your center coordinator to make

arrangements. It is recommended for all those parents

with young children.

 

Dammam Samiti is organizing a Ganesha Homam on 21st

Sep morning. This is during Ramadan. Those wishing to

participate, Pl contact your Samiti coordinator.

 

With Pranams.

P.B.V.Rajan