Summer course on Indian culture and Spirituality at the Brindavan campus of Sri Sathya Institute of Higher Learning was inaugurated on 16^th April, 2012 at 10 am, resonating with Vedic chants and soul stirring Bhajans. The event started by lighting of the lamps by Justice  Shivraj Patil, former Judge of Supreme Court of India, Prof. Shashidhara Prasad, Vice Chancellor of Sri Satya Institute of Higher Learning, Sri V. Srinivasan, All India President of Sri. Sathya Sai Seva Organization and Sri Sanjay Sahani, Director, Brindavan Campus, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. Sri. Dhakkappa, State President of Karnataka, and Sri. Gangadhar Setty, Convenor, Sathya Sai Trust, Karnataka.

In his inaugural address Shri. V Srinivasan, said ‘Culture’ is a way of life. Bharathiya culture has survived for thousands of years and will continue to propagate all that is good in human existence. He noted that Bharathiya way of life include respect for elders, love, faith and tolerance. Bharath has taken in many races and religions into its fold. He said that the organization will attempt to collaborate with colleges and universities across the country to create awareness and share these core human values across the nation. He advocated ceiling of desires as a way of life for the youth attending the Summer Course.

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Delivering the Key Note address Justice Shri. Shivaraj V. Patil stressed the importance of Time Management in the life of Youth. The learned speaker highlighted Time is the only element available to all without any discrimination. While advising to ‘BUDGET the time in the morning and AUDITING at night, he expressed ‘Youngistan’ can make a better ‘Hindustan’.  He emphasized on the importance of ceiling on desires and stated that ‘Luxury is an artificial poverty and Contentment is a natural wealth’. He also advocated that Youth with proper Competence, Character and Commitment with Compassion can help counter societal ills such as Crime and Corruption. The speaker highlighted the huge importance of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings such as Love All, Serve All and Help Ever, Hurt Never as panacea for addressing all modern day ills affecting world at large. The speaker kept the youth spellbound with some inimitable quotes – ‘If your eyes are positive, you will like the world, if your tongue is positive, and the world will like you’. He mentioned that a recent research done by the University of Chicago has brought about a paradigm shift in Organizational thinking from just Profits to Profit, Planet and People.

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Presiding over the event Prof. Shashidhara Prasad said Darkness represents ignorance, Light presents Knowledge. He said energy can be created from matter but only divinity can create matter from energy.

Before the inaugural function concluded, Bhagawan Baba’s message to the students was played that kept the entire gathering enthralled.

Handling the first technical session, Shri. S. Ranganath, Director of RV Institute of Sanskrit Studies explained to the youth that importance of Guru while also stressing on the essentials of Truth and ‘Samskara’ to spiritualize one’s life. He urged the youth to be an ACE in devotion, RACE towards the LORD to earn HIS GRACE.

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The next speaker, Professor Prof. Pujya Prema Panduranga gave a scholarly treatise on the salient facets of ‘Bhagavatham’ while elaborating on the Dasaavatharas. She also advised the youth on Time Management and spiritualizing the life.

The last speaker for the day Shri, Ruchir Desai emphasized the significance of the period of youth when the senses are strong and how to utilize this strength for transformation.

The Summer Course has attracted almost 1000 youth from across Karnataka and large number of devotees and general public

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The day’s events ended with scintillating musical performance by Ustad Faiyaz Khan, disciple of the great Sarangi exponent Pandit Ram Narayan.

Day – 2

On the second day of the ongoing summer course on Indian Culture and Spirituality held in Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Brindavan campus, 1000 students after attending their daily schedule of vedic chants, yoga, pranayama and Bhajans were addressed by Dr. Krishna Mikkilineni Senior VP, Honeywell Inc. on the topic ‘Spirituality and Business’. He stressed the importance of spirituality in today’s working environment and insisted that Business has to be conducted with values of spirituality

Smt. Kamala Pandya, a senior Advocate, spoke on MEDITATION AND YOGA. She highlighted that the key to control thoughts lie in applying the 3Hs advised by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba -

1)  Head -  to Pause and think

2)  Heart – for approval

3)  Hands – to perform the act

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Shri. Nimish Pandya, a senior Legal practitioner, spoke on ‘Spirituality in daily life’. He highlighted that the problem in India lies in the crisis of character and we need to put Thought, Word and Deed together in order to overcome this.

Dr. Sivakumar, faculty of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, impressed upon the audience on Human values through the acronym MANAGER – The Mind of Man, Awareness of Atma, Nature of Nations, Aspects of Environment, Guidelines for Goodness, Enquiry of Ethos and Role of Rules.

Sri. Shikaripur Krishnamurthy, Sansrit scholar, advised the students through excerpts from Upanishads.

Sri. B.N. Narasimha Murthy, senior devotee of Bhagawan Baba, shared his experiences with the students.

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The day ended with a scintillating musical program by noted playback singer in Tamil and Telugu industry, Vidhwan Sriram Parthasarathy and party.

Day – 3

The Third day of the Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality commenced after all the 1000  students completed their morning spiritual routine of Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation and Bhajans.

Sri. B.G. Pitre, Founder Principal Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Jaipur, educated the audience on the significance of ‘Indian Traditions and Indian civilization’ in World context.  He emphasized that knowing about Indian culture should be through experiential learning like how in a pilgrimage the journey is more beneficial than the destination itself. Dr. Pitre kept the audience enthralled through his insights on the significance of various symbols of Indian culture like the Lotus, Indian Flag and the National Anthem.

Mr. Vijay Sai, Director of Call Ready, addressing the gathering on Adishankara’s Bhaja Govindam. He brought about beautiful comparison of Bhaja Govindam with many other prominent poems composed by various popular Saints of India. He emphasized on the significance of ‘Nama Smarana’ and ‘Satsang’. He summarized his talk by saying “The only Emotion that can take care of all negative emotions is DEVOTION.”

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Sri. Sai Giridhar Sairam, a research scholar in Chemistry, educated the audience by touching upon the most important aspects of Ramayana. The speaker impressed upon the delegates the true meaning and purpose of sacrifice, righteousness, true friendship and service by quoting relevant examples from prominent characters of the epic.

Group Capt Yasas (Retd), the last speaker of the day, shared his thoughts on the Power of Faith. He stressed that Faith makes one fearless. Quoting the example of Mother Teresa, he said though she was a simple school teacher, it was only due to her implicit Faith and self confidence that she achieved so much success in her noble deeds.

The day ended with soulful music rendition by Vidwan Tippu, a Nandi awardee, and Vidushi Harini. Vidwan Tippu has sung in many south Indian languages.

Day – 4

On the fourth day of the Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality, all the spiritual routine of Vedam, Yoga, Pranayama and Bhajans continued with the same vigour as the last three days.

The first speaker of the day was Dr. Dwarakarani Rao, Director Women’s College, Ananthapur campus. Women’s Virtures in Today’s Virtual World. Extolling the significance of women’s virtues, she spoke on the Responsibilities, Virtues that the Modern women should carry.   Emphasizing the role of women in our society, she said ‘Just like how fragrance is important to a flower, in the same way modesty for women is important . She concluded stating that Character is the End of Education.

Mr. Venkatesh, Sanskrit teacher of Brindavan campus, extolled the glory of Saints of Karnataka and clarified that the deplorable characteristics of Tamas and Rajas can be done away through ‘Haridasa Sahitya’. He spoke in detail about saints like Purandaradasa, Vijayadasa, Gopaladasa.

The next session was on ‘Dharma – as propounded in Mahabharatha’ Sri Jayendra Puri Swamiji stressed upon the importance and significance of Dharma sighting examples from the Gita and the Mahabharatha and its relevance is apt even in today in our daily life

The evening ended with a scintillating music program by Mr. Akash a child prodigy and an emerging flutist.

Day – 5

The final day of the Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality continued with the same vigour in all daily Spiritual practices like Vedam, Yoga, Meditation and Bhajans.

Swami Chidrupananda extolled the practical aspects of Bhagavad Gita. Explaining the profound concepts of the epic in very simple terms he said Spiritual maturity is the ultimate requirement of man. Stressing on the universality of Bhagavadgita, he said the epic is not constrained only to a Hindu, but will act as a torch-light for all religions. He finally demonstrated to the audience on how Happiness is not something found outside or inside, but we ourselves are Happiness (Sat-Chit-Ananda)

Mr. K. Jairaj, Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. Of Karnataka, skilfully educated the audience on practical challenges of following ethics and morality in working life. Drawing similarities from his vast public service experience, he pointed out that Ethical dilemmas arise when Judgement is required in decision making involving personal beliefs. He said ethical practices are generally compromised when people become victims of the system. Terming Anxiety as a disease, he said it takes away peace from an individual. He insisted that the youth should not adopt the ‘policy of least resistance’ and urged them to take difficult decisions wherever required to uphold morality. He ended his talk by stating a vital message to all that we need to adhere to ‘Right’ things not because it would benefit someone, but it is because it is the ONLY conduct we must uphold; that in essence is ‘Bhakthi’

Sri V Menon, the next speaker, enthralled the audience with his powerful speech on the topic ‘Service to Man is service to God’. In his energetic talk, he firmly urged the youth to see Spirituality and daily work as the same. Quoting multiple examples of socially accomplished people he said we should realise that life is for a greater purpose. He said understanding the ‘Atma’ of India is the key to understand the significance of Indian Culture and Spirituality. Ending his talk with the request, he asked the audience to give up Alcohol, Tobacco and Non Vegetarian food.

Mr. Amey Deshpande, a research scholar, spoke on the significance of ‘Namasmaranam’.  He stressed that consistency and intensity is the key to achieve any spiritual progress. He finally concluded the talk by mentioned that ‘We become what we think’.

The day ended with a Question and Answer session with the speakers.

Radiosai today, has 6 different streams – Asia, Africa, Ameri, Discourse, Bhajan and Telugu,  that offer a variety of programs that bring out the message of pure love given by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, to the entire humanity. Under the able guidance of Padmashree Dr. G. Venkataraman,  eminent scientist and former Vice Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning , the Radiosai team offers spiritual programs that enable every human being to follow the path of Dharma and spread the joy of love, peace and harmony.

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In February 2011, Baba gave His Divine consent and blessings to start a 24 hr radio channel that would broadcast programs specifically telugu. This Radiosai Telugu channel was launched on July 15^th 2011, on the auspicious Gurupoornima day and is now growing at a rapid pace.

In order to involve as many people as possible in this sacred mission, Radiosai has conducted selections in 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh. The participation has been very encouraging as more than 2500 people had participated in these selections, and Radiosai has identified close to 500 talented people who would enable the generation of creative content for this 24 hr. radio channel,  purely as a service to the Lord and to humanity at large.

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To enable better functioning and faster processing, Radiosai is establishing small studios in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh. The first of those was  inaugurated on the 29^th of March 2012, in the temple town of Tirupati. Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization, Tirupati, Chitoor district is delighted to open this studio and serve the humanity by spreading the message of pure love.

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The Programme started with Omkaram and Veda Chanting at 1730hrs. Sri L.V.Subramanyam, I.A.S, executive officer of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams and an alumni of Bhagawan’s Institutions, inaugurated the recording studio. Sri K.V.S.K. Ganesh gave the welcome address followed by a video of Bhagawan’s Discourse. Sri Subash Chandra Bose, District President and Sri S.G.Chalam, State President of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations, A.P. spoke next.Sri. Subramanyam then gave the inaugural address while Sri V.S.R.Murthy gave a guest lecture.

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Sri Deepak Mazumdar Ji, a dedicated Bharata Natyam exponent and Bhagawan’s former Balvikas Student, gave a special Dance Presentation. A music presentation by staff of Bhagawan’s institutions in Prasanthi Nilayam including the Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri College of Music performed to an enthralled audience.

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Sri Dwaram A.V.Swamy, State Coordinator, Radio Sai Telugu Stream, Sri Sathya Sai Organisation, A.P, offered his gratitude to Bhagawan and thanked the chief guest and the gathering.

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[Currently Radiosai can be heard through Internet by logging on to www.radiosai.org and through various applications on mobile phones and through Airtel service. Radiosai is heard in 125 countries all over the world and continues to spread this joy, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.]

In his inaugural address, Dr. Keki Mistry laid great stress on Atma Vishwas, confidence in one self. Recounting beautiful memories with Bhagawan, he walked the delegates through the history of Bal Vikas. His succinct talk was well suited for the occasion. Sri Nikhil Koushik, a Balvikas alumnus, spoke next on the purpose and objectives of the meet.

Thereafter, two melodius group theme songs with good background scores, Akhanda Jyot Jalao and Sai Kiran Jalate Chal, were presented by the delegates. Around 11.30 am Sri Sanjay Sahani, Director, Sri Sathya Sai Institute Of Higher Learning, addressed the delegates and spoke on the importance of the 5 D’s. His talk was full of personal experiences with Bhagawan and it was a treat for all those who were present.

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Sweet orations by children and Alumni and some wonderful music lit up the evening. The programme compered by Sri Nikhil Kaushik began at 1700hrs. There were group songs and theme talks by delegates of Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Group III and Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Alumni. The speakers for the evening Ms. Samarpita Bannerjee, Sri. Parikshit Kohli and  Ms. Radhika Mathur gave wonderful talks making it very clear the values that Bal Vikas has developed in these young men and women.

Delegates from Kerala presented an innovative Fusion Instrumental Music entitled Naada Laya while alumni delegates from Karnataka and Maharashtra presented a vocal concert titled “Sri Sathya Sai Mahima”. Ms. Jyoti who has sung before Bhagawan earlier sang a few classical melodious Bhajans.

The second day of the conference of the All India Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Group III and Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Alumni programme, commenced at 10:23 am at Poornachandra Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam. After the inspiring address by Sri Keki Mistry, Ms. Yunita Pandey and Ms. Shrunkala narrated to the assembled delegates how Bal Vikas helped them in their lives.

Thereafter, two melodius group theme songs, antar jyoti jalao man me and Sai the Lord of our heart, were presented by the delegates. Dr. Shashank Shah of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning spoke about ten-point  programme for spiritual growth, and was very well received by the delegates.   His topics highlighted mainly on Karma, Janma, Dharma and Brahma. Alumni student Master Bhaskar played “chitta chora yashoda ke bal…” on the flute while Kum. Madhavi narrated a Hindi poetry. Sri Nimish Pandya gave the concluding address and reminded all the delegates that Bhagawan was their only True Friend. Arati was offered at 12:45 pm.

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The evening programme compered by Sri Anush Mohan started at 1700hrs with two group songs. This was followed by talks by delegates, sister Mandevi from Madhya Pradesh and brother Arjun Suresh from Tamil Nadu. A Compendium of articles by Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Alumni titled “Blossoming Human Excellence” containing 17 articles from Bal Vikas students from different parts of India, was released and offered at the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Outstanding Alumni of Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas were felicitated with achievement awards followed by the unveiling of Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas Logo. Sri Nimish Pandya introduced Sri Satyajit, a Balvikas Prodigy from Kerala who gave a confident oration followed by Veda Chanting and Bhajan Singing. The performance earned a thundering applause for the tiny tot which lasted for several minutes.

A recording from Bhagawan’s discourse inspiring the Balvikas children to practice incessantly the values learnt inspired the delegates. The programme concluded with an impressive instrumental presentation by delegates from Chennai. Bhagawan singing “Hari bhajana bina sukha santhi nahi…” brought down the curtain on the immensely successful two day convention. Mementos were distributed to all the delegates with special gifts for the performers. It was indeed an event to remember for all.

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With the state of Kerala celebrating its most colourful festival Onam, with gaiety and fervour commemorating mythical past, peace and equanimity as practised by its erstwhile Emperor Mahabali, a miniscule of Kerala camping in Prasanthi celebrated the festivity commemorating the golden past of Onam in the immediate Divine presence.

Legend has it that Kerala was once ruled by the ‘Asura’ king Mahabali, under whose reign everyone were happy and lived in an Utopia where falsehood and deception were unknown. The ‘Devas’, however, grew jealous of the popular king and had him banished down to the netherworld by Lord Vishnu, who incarnated as Vamana, the dwarf, for the purpose. Before going down, Mahabali secured a boon from Vishnu that he would visit his subjects on ‘Thiruvonam’ day every year.

Sept 6, 2011

Hrudaya Sangamam – a unique get-together of post operative patients under Sai Rehabilitaion Programme

This evening, marking Onam celebrations 2011, there was a programme commemorating the inception Sai Rehabilitation Programme for medical care. ,

The Sai Rehabilitation Project, a noble scheme that takes care of post operative patients from the twin Super Speciality Hospitals in Prasanthigram and Whitefield, is entering in its third year of inception with the advent of Onam 2011. The project that began with Bhagawan’s explicit blessings in 2008 has been an epochal one, touching many lives, serving thousands upon thousands in the past three years in the field of medicare.

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Under the project, a first post operative check up of patients is be done after 15 days that is followed by two more checkups in the next three month gap. A get-together, aptly named ‘Hrudaya Sangamam’ follows sharing the joy and awareness of entire ‘family’ of benefitted patients. Last year Prasanthi had witnessed the first ever Hrudaya Sanghamam in the immediate Divine Presence, when a sizeable number of ‘patients’, including many of muslim origin, had come from selective districts of Kerala, during the holy month of Ramadan, celebrating the final festive day in His immediate Divine Presence.

The programme commenced with the State President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, Prof. Mukundan giving an introductory talk briefing the unique programme.

Two speakers followed, beneficiaries of the unique medical service, Ms. Zeenath Ashraf from Kondodi, Malappuram District and Mr. Chandran from Kozhikode.

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Invoking the Divine in traditional Islamic style, Ms. Zeenath spoke about the miraculous, all conquering touch of Bhagawan, that she, as a distressed mother experienced outside the gates of Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, Whitefield, under the scorching sun. With tears of gratitude for the yeomen service being rendered by the hospital, Ms. Zeenath called the hospital one of its kind in the entire world. The Malabari muslim woman concluded saying that Bhagawan’s presence is being felt in her family throughout.

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Mr. Chandran, an atheist who often compared Bhagawan with petty magicians expressed gratitude saying His life has been touched and adopted by Swami. Bhagawan’s hospital is unique, concluded the grateful speaker.

Dr. Anand Mohan, the State co-ordinator for the Rehabilitation Programme who spoke next, narrated the two malayalam speeches preceded in short before divulging in to some essential details about the programme. He also had a word of appreciation for the counseling departments at both the hospitals that assist the project immensely. Ninety-five percentage of total patients operated have been covered by the project, said Dr. Anand Mohan concluding his speech with grateful thanks at His Divine Lotus Feet.

Bhajans continued and Arathi was offered at 1800 hrs. Prasadam was distributed to the entire audience.

Sept 7, 2011

Sampradaya Bhajans by Vinaya Chandra Menon

Bhajans that has been an integral part of every day Prasanthi sessions took a slight detour today presenting an innovative style of bhajan singing known as ‘Sampradaya Bhajans’ as the ongoing Onam celebrations 2011 entered in its second day here in Prasanthi Nilayam this evening.

The programme for the evening was Sampradaya Bhajans by Sri Vinaya Chandra Menon. Sampradaya Bhajan is a traditional bhajan singing, more popular in South India, a tradition, as the name suggests, is handed down by one’s ancestors and is considered to be the forerunner of modern day Carnatic music concerts, as it has a harmonious blending of the divine, art and music elements.

Beginning with invocation of the prime deities, with his rich and melodious voice echoing the Sai Kulwant Hall, Sri Menon invoked next The Supreme Lord Presiding Over the session, Beloved Bhagawan, with a ‘dhyana sloka’ Sada Sadswaroopam Sadgurum Sainatham…before commencing the programme with the song Jaya Jaya Sai Namo…Jaya Jaya Jagadisha Namo…

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Adjusting the tune within the fabric of Carnatic rules, almost following a medley pattern, the versatile singer sung with elan another 12 compositions, regaling Prasanthi to greater devotional heights, while remaining himself completely engrossed in singing. His mixture of songs included vernacular songs in Malayalam and Tamil and some of Prasanthi’s Own bhajans, namely, Vande Uma Nandanam…, Amba Mandahasa Vadhani…, Subramaniam Subramaniam etc…

Sri Vinaya Chandra Menon is a trained artiste in this mode of singing, trained under the expertise of various Bhagavatars, and has been performing this particular form of bhajan in various temples, namely Tirupathi and Shabari Mala etc…Sri Menon was accompanied by Natesan, Gururaj Murthy, Rajesh Menon, Hari Menon and Parvathi Menon in vocal, Ramakrisnna in Harmonium, Swaminathan in Mridangam and Shankar Vinayak in Dolki.

At the end of the 50 mts. session, the artistes and accompanists were felicitated with clothes. Bhajans by students continued for the next ten minutes before Mangala Arathi at 1800 hrs. Blessed laddu prasadam was distributed for the entire audience.

This evening as usual Vedam and Bhajans continued and Mangala Arathi was offered at 1800 hrs.

Sept 8, 2011

Musical Offering by Child Prodigy S. Mahadevan

This evening, on the eve of Thiruvonam, there was a musical offering by Child Prodigy S. Mahadevan, a 12 year old from Kerala, who was fortunate to perform in many stages across the India. Beginning with the invocatory song Ekadantam Bhaje, the little artiste went on singing for the next 45 minutes, presenting six carnatic pieces.

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Some of the other compositions rendered were Paripalayamam…, Sri Sathya Narayanam…, Peetambharam… etc. all sung with interludes of aalaaps presented with aplombl. The blooming artiste did excel bursting into lengthy aalaaps as interludes, in his tender voice, with great dexterity infusing life into the session.

The 45 minute session was followed by another rendering, a solo, by the familar artiste during many an Onam celebration over the decade, Music Director from Kerala Sri TS Radhakrishnan.

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The artistes were accompanied by Ananda Padmanabhan in violin, Uduppi Sri Krishna in Mridangam, Shankar Vinayakam in Harmonium, Sahayak on Tabla etc.

Bhajans continued for the next ten minutes that ended with Subramaniam…Subramaniam in Bhagawan’s Own Golden Voice.

Artistes were felicitated with clothes and prasadam was distributed to the entire assemblage before Mangala Arathi offering at 1800 hrs.

Sept 9, Thiruvonam

The evening programme commenced with Veda chanting by Balvikas children from the state at 1700 hrs. after the regular stint of Vedam. Prof. Mukundan, President, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisatons, Kerala introduced the evening briefing about the scaled up activities in the state. He introduced the distinguished speaker for the evening, Sri K. Jayakumar, IAS, who is currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala.

In an illuminating and inspiring speech, Jayakumar, an accomplished poet by himself, burst into a spell of poetic imagination, ruminating over the current phase of physical absence of Bhagawan. Talking about the futility of grieving, the speaker conceded that emotional frame of our heart does miss the Beloved form. He compared his mind of the day with that of a clouded sun, while thinking of Bhagawan physical passing over.

Defining Bhagawan as Eternal Truth personified, running into infinity, Sri Jayakumar said, Bhagawan showed what could be possible with a human birth by following His own dictum, My Life is My Message. By looking into His actions we should be able to understand what and how we can reciprocate for all that Bhagawan has bestowed upon us, most selflessly; we need to focus on two things, that Bhagawan has left on us to complete and these are: Purification of Heart and Love All Serve All. The speaker spoke with confidence calling Prasanthi Nilayam to become a Worldwide Revolution of Love. He exhorted the gathering on the importance of being united while pursuing most selflessly rendering greater service to humanity to bring the meaning of “Samastha Lokaaha…” in action.

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Annual winners of Essay Writing Competition held at college and school level were felicitated next with Sri Sathya Sai Gold Medal. All India President of SSSSO, Sri V Srinivasan gave away the medals to Ms. Manju Krishna and Thara Elizebath (was not present).

Sweet immortal stories of enchanting Lord Krishna took precedence at the final phase of Onam 2011 celebrations as students from Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Aluva along with Balvikas children from the state presented a colourful dance drama entitled ‘Krishna Kripa Sagaram’. The drama was based on the stories of Krishna as recounted by Bhagawan in Summer Showers in Brindavan 1978.

The drama entwined with colourful episodes of Little Krishna stories had interludes of melodious songs adding flavour to the programme. Some of the episodes were, Krishna’s inimitable style of teaching Sandeepani His true form, how the fruit vendor lady at Brindavan was blessed by Lil Krishna abundantly, when a handful of rice grains turned into glittering diamonds, the water pot story, where Krishna initially refuses to ‘put the burden’ on to the woman who requested the Little One to help her, but later volunteered Himself to carry the burden, Radharani’s travail to enter into Brindavan as Krishna forbidden any woman to enter into, Krishna’s gurudakshina to Sandeepani etc.

The drama ended with a group song of prayer to Bhagawan. All the children participants were felicitated with clothes and prasadam was distributed to the entire gathering. Bhajans continued for sometime and Mangala Arathi was offered at 1900 hrs.

Earlier, the auspicious morning dawned wearing a Kerala garb, with many from the state, coming out in the early hours participating in the early morning schedules of the Ashram. Men and women came out in typcial Kerala costume and with them, many others, belonging to other states also took a cue from the state, joined wearing the traditional Kerala costume and what one could hear was ‘Happy Onam’ Greetings.

Mandir had aesthetic decorations in place, with plantain leaves, coconut leaves along with colourful parasols adoring the hall bringing in an added flavour.

In the morning, bhajan troup from the state rendered soul-filling bhajans, presenting some new compositions as well.

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Soul of Education is Education of the Soul!

He spoke about the presence of Bhagawan felt more than ever before in every aspect of the institute’s functioning. The utmost duty of the alumni, he emphasised was being Shining Examples for the society to emulate. The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning is a unique university which never needs to compare itself with any other varsity. He concluded his talk with the way forward on how the Alumni can contribute to the University.

After the Mandir Session on the 30th, Prof. G. Venkataraman addressed the Alumni and their family with an attempt to understand the concept of Premabandham, what it actually means and what the responsibilities associated with it are.

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The next morning contained interactive sessions with Sri. S.V. Giri, Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and Prof. Anantharaman, Media Coordinator and Faculty of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. The role of 25000 Alumni of the University spread across the world was discussed. Their talks was followed by a presentation and interaction on the Sri Sathya Sai Vidhya Vahini Project by Sri Satyajit and other members of the team. Enemy of innovation is to work in isolation and hence the Alumni was urged to work together on this noble task.

At 1700hrs in the evening, the Alumni put up a programme of thanksgiving to their Lord, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The programme started with speeches from Sri. SBSS Madhav and Sri. G V Ravi Shankar. This was followed by a music programme which suffused the ambience with nostalgia. Arati was offered at 1800hrs.

Highly reputed leaders and teachers in trauma surgery participated in the conference as faculty which was attended by delegates from India and abroad.

Chairman of Orthoapedics, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Dr. R.Varadachari welcomed  the gathering.

Inaugurating the conference the Director of SSSIHMS, Dr. A.N. Safaya, said that the idea behind Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba setting up the hospital was to set up a model, which will show that high-tech health care can be given completely free of charge to all.“…And the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, has been doing it for the past 20 years,” he said. Casting a forlorn glance at the rampant commercialization of medical profession, Dr. Safaya said that today the insurance companies, technical instrument syndicates and other such organization have the medical profession in their clutches. For humanity to have faith in medical science as a treating profession, it is essential for this model to be replicated elsewhere in the world, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Trustee of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Sri. V.Srinivasan said that the hospital was conceptualized by Bhagawan Baba was really a temple. “It is a temple of healing…where we have hope to the hopeless and love to the loveless,” he said. He further affirmed that the hospital was no longer just an experiment but stands as a model to show that hi-tech medical care can be provided totally free of cost to all.

Dr. Narendranath Reddy Director of Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation, in his talk described the evolution of the Sri Sathya Sai Global Health Mission from a two bedded hospital set up Bhagawan Baba in Puttaparthi way back in 1954 to the super-speciality hospitals and the global reach of the Bhagawan Baba’s health mission.

The talks were followed by scientific medical sessions by orthopaedic experts in the field of pelvis and lower extremity trauma.

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The second day of the conference began with a two-hour hands-on workshop on Pelvis Fractures in the conference hall annex. In the workshop the delegates had a practical training of performing difficult and complex pelvis surgeries on bone models, guided by experts, thereby gaining valuable experience.

After the workshop delegates then assembled in the main conference hall for other sessions of the day. The sessions included lectures on “Complications of Acetabular Fracture Surgery,” “DVT Prophylaxis in Fracture of Pelvis and Lower Extremity”, Post-traumatic Extension Contracture of the Knee”, Femoral Head Fractures — Long Term Follow Up”, among others.

The Sri Sathya Sai International Orthopaedic Conference on Pelvis and Lower Extremity Trauma concluded at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences(SSSIHMS), Prasanthigram on Sunday, July 24. Some of the topics discussed on the concluding day included “Arthoplasty for Acetabular Fracture in Elderly Patients”, “Open Fractures in Children”, “Current Status of Orthopaedics in India”, amongst others.

The purpose of the conference was to make aware all the delegates attending the conference of all the aspects of trauma, complications and treatment. The conference also brought in the latest technology and treatment available for treating complex injuries.

The Head of Department of Orthopaedics, SSSIHMS, Dr. Kailash Rao in his closing remarks thanked Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for his kind benevolence for the successful completion of the conference.  Dr. Rao also thanked the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust for their kind support and co-operation in the organization of the conference. Further, he thanked all the faculty members for their time and for sharing their expertise. All the faculty members were felicitated by the Department of Orthopaedics for participating in the conference.

As a curtain raiser to the Guru Purnima festival, on the morning of 14th July, the programme commenced with Veda chanting at 8.00 a.m. Sai Kulwant Hall was filled to capacity. The Hall was tastefully decorated with Chinese lanterns and buntings which added aesthetic value to the ambience. The altar with Bhagawan’s photographs was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers. Malladi brothers, Sriram Prasad and Sri Ravi Kumar, the famous Carnatic music duo enthralled the audience with their performance for the sixth time. They were accompanied by artistes on violin, Ghatam, Mridagam and Tanpura. The singers and artistes sat facing Swami’s majestic throne and the photographs. The Malladi brothers began their rendition with a song in Hamsadhwani Raga. The songs extolled Bhagawan as The Mother Divine, as the One who chose to be born in the Ratnakara clan and the mother of the Avatar, Easwaramma. The concluding songs raised the tempo to a crescendo, namely, Janula Madhya Tirugade Jagapati (the Master of the universe who moves amidst people), Sai Namasmaranam Sai Rupa Dhyanam (Chanting the Name of Sai and meditating on the form of Sai). At the end, Prof. Anil Kumar showered praises on the singers and compared them to the singers Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana who sang along with Bhagawan in Venkatagiri during those earlier days. Sri V. Srinivasan, All India President, Sri Sathya Sai Organisations honoured the singers and artistes with silk Angavastrams, after which the singers paid their obeisance to Bhagawan. A few Bhajans followed and the morning programme concluded with Arati at 10.15 am.

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The second day of the conference began with opening prayers at the Poornachandra Auditorium. The first speaker for the day was a young adult speaker Aparna Murali, a member of the International Youth Council from Zone 1 comprising the countries – U.S.A., Canada, West Indies and Israel. The second young adult speaker was Mathias Seital, again a member of the International Youth Council from Zone 7, comprising countries from Northern Europe. The third and fourth young adult speakers were Anatoli Dikunov from Zone 8 Russia and Alvin Leo from Zone 3 comprising the countries – Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Both were members from the International Youth Council. Then they dispersed into study circle groups and deliberated on the topic “Sai Young Adults – Sai Ideal Leaders of the Future.” After the lunch recess, the reports on the deliberations of all the study circles were presented by the group facilitators. The day’s proceedings ended with concluding remarks by Sri Shitu Chudasama, International Youth Coordinator and closing prayers.

Evening Programme
The evening programme commenced with Veda chanting at 4.30 pm followed by speeches by two youth from the International Sathya Sai Organisation. The first speaker was Sri Shitu Chudasama, International Youth Coordinator. Offering his humble salutations to Bhagawan, Sri Chudasama opined that though Bhagawan was no longer physically with us, He continues to guide and inspire us. We should not forget that the work He has started through us should continue. It is therefore important that we utilise our capabilities to the utmost. Continuing his speech, the learned speaker said that Bhagawan always gave the onus to youth by saying that the future of any nation depends on youth. Those who were present during the youth conference in 2007 were witness to Bhagawan distributing robes to the delegates. One should not underestimate the power of robe. He referred to an incident in the bible where a mere touch of the hem of robe of Jesus could cure a person. Bhagawan even told the delegates to keep the robe under their pillow while sleeping. Such is the value of the robe.

Sri Chudasama said that Bhagawan had granted permission for this youth conference in last November to Dr. Michael Goldstein. This youth conference is “of the youth, for the youth and by the youth.” There are 440 youth leaders. Many of them are active participants in international youth programmes. Sri Chudasama took a pledge that they would continue to serve till their last breath. Since the last youth conference, we have been trying to build a solid youth foundation. Our Sai Organisation bears the name of Divinity; we should safeguard it, said Sri Chudasama. In many countries, youth have been given greater responsibilities, especially the senior youth. Our youth have played a major part in allaying the suffering of people in natural calamities: Tsunami in Sri Lanka, earthquake in Haiti, etc. They have also undertaken a drinking water project in Nepal. Zonal youth conferences have been held across 9 zones. In Zone 2 – Latin America, 21 countries held a conference on the topic “The Moment is Now.” The depth of understanding of Youth of Latin America is phenomenal, told Sri Chudasama. Russian youth though financially poor, travel long distance through trains to attend conferences. The service activities done by Russian youth is noteworthy. Similar conferences were held in far east and other parts of the world. Reiterating further, Sri Chudasama said, “We must remember that Bhagawan is always with us to guide us. God has no beginning or end. He is eternal.” We have promised to offer ourselves to Bhagawan so that our life becomes His message. With these words, Sri Shitu Chudasama concluded his speech.

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The next young adult speaker was Sri Daniel Strauss, Member of the International Youth Council. Offering his humble salutations at the Divine Lotus Feet and paying his respects to the Sri Sathya Sai Trust members, Sri Strauss said that 440 youth leaders brought together youth from 17 countries in unison for this conference. Right from registration to arranging chairs and Prasadam were done by the youth. Speaking on the deliberations of the conference, Sri Strauss said that delegates examined on the ways to improve the organisation. In addition to new guidelines, delegates were asked to structure the old ones. An important deliberation was to make Sai leaders for the future. Young leaders are important for the Sai Organisation. Delegates were asked to do spiritual enquiry to find answers to probing questions. The mission of the Sai Organisation is to awaken the inner divinity. Sai Organisation is founded on spirituality. These will help spiritually mature young adults. Spiritual leadership is the focus of our young adults. Finally, the key factor is that we have to become master of ourselves. With Swami’s grace, we want to practice the maxim “Heads in the forest, hands in society.” The speaker ended his speech by saying, “Swami is the refuge and comforter to millions.” The gospel of love will perpetuate forever.

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After the speech of Sri Strauss, youth from 16 countries from the regions 1,6,7 and 8 presented a choir in unison. The group was christened LASA (Love All Serve All). The voices of the youth, both gents and ladies gelled well with the musical instruments. The international choir enthralled the audience for about an hour. At the end, the leader of the group expressed his gratitude to Swami for the opportunity. The students from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning sang a few Bhajans, and then Arati was offered at 6 p.m.

The proceedings of the third and final day of the summer course in Indian Culture and Spirituality began with Veda chanting from the Holy Scriptures by a group of staff and students of the Institute at 8.30 a.m. in the Poornachandra auditorium in Prasanthi Nilayam.

Dr. Naren Ramji, the fourth Registrar of the institute and an alumnus of the institute was the first speaker of the day who spoke on the topic, “Vision and Mission of SSSIHL”. The learned speaker quoted expansively from the defining discourses of Bhagawan that laid the Vision of the Institute as bestowing both worldly knowledge as well as knowledge of the Self. He said that if the educated have to fruitfully play their role in the upliftment and betterment of the society, then they should first become better human beings, as true transformation only comes through a personal example.

Expressing his views on the way Bhagawan Baba built the ethos of the Institute that today stands as the ideal to the whole world, he said that the Lord never overwhelmed the administrators with the complete idea of the masterpiece that He wanted to built, but held their hand to paint one stroke at a time. In the process, the Lord made it very clear that His medium of instruction is discipline, which is nothing but practice of doing the right thing at the right time in the right way. But this self-discipline cannot be forced from outside, but has to come from within to be rewarding in the way envisaged.

To substantiate how Bhagawan sometimes forced His students to develop an inner connection with Him, he narrated a personal experience wherein the Lord when He withdrew Himself from them to teach them the efficacy of prayer. He encouraged the students to introspect in a spirit of enquiry as to why a ritual or a discipline has been espoused by Bhagawan for His students, to make best use of the same and make it a stepping stone for reaching Him. In this journey, the learned speaker asserted, we should have Saburi, i.e. patience with the right attitude, which is life-changing. This transformation, he affirmed was true freedom, where our inner peace and happiness does not depend on any externality.

He concluded by saying that in the eyes of Bhagawan, there is a difference between a student of the Institute and His student and that we should all endeavour to become His students by putting into practice the teaching He so lovingly bestowed upon us.

The second speaker of the day, Ms. Rajeshwari Patel, HoD, Department of English, Anantapur campus of the Institute, spoke on the topic, “Blending Science & Spirituality at SSSIHL”. The eloquent speaker started on an emotional note, saying that as in the 20th Century the upheavals of the times brought out the best in poetry, we the devotees of Bhagawan should offer our best, in our respective capacities as an offering to our omnipresent Lord.

She reiterated that it was impossible to achieve happiness for humanity unless there was a concomitant increase in its wisdom, in harmony with its increase in knowledge. Referring to the moral and Spiritual challenges of the 20th Century, she held that unfortunately material progress has been conjoint with moral and Spiritual regression, resulting in net loss for humanity.

She called upon the scientific community to take in its ambit the exploration of the universe within man to understand himself more holistically. In this respect she called upon the education fraternity to take the Vedanta as the benchmark of such a standpoint, exploring not only the kshetra, the outer world which is like a field, but also the kshetragya, the tiller of that field – God Himself.

She congratulated the students of the hallowed institute to be in a system of education where values were diffused in the teaching of each subject, by the inspiration of Bhagawan Baba. She said that this is diagrammatically opposite to the strife between the Church and the scientific community in the 20th century, where the scientific community lacked a fundamental knowledge of the spiritual world and vice versa.

The erudite speaker, quoting extensively from the doyens of English literature alleged that if we have to bridge the two worlds into a wholesome one, we have to steadily progress from the realm of the food – the annamaya kosha to the realm of Bliss – the Anandamaya kosha at the core of our being. This she said was the nature of Atma, defined by Bhagawan as the most fundamental, most elemental core of our beings.

The next speaker for the day was Dr. T. Ravi Kumar, the newly appointed warden of the Brindavan campus of the Institute. In his eloquent speech on “Life sketch of Bhagawan – His role as an ideal Student and an ideal Master “, he shared from some of his beautiful moments spent with Bhagawan at Ooty. He reiterated to the student community that one must practice before teaching others, as was exemplified by Bhagawan in His life.

He then recollected the incident where Bhagawan materialized a medallion with 100 Sanskrit shlokas embossed on it, depicting the future 18 centres, where His students would be the guiding forces. He said that the life of Swami has always been an open book and recalled how next year Swami had shared very personal experiences of His life with His students.

He called upon the student community to never miss any opportunity to serve the Lord and His institutions to find fulfilment in their lives.

The talk was followed by a an excellent video film titled, “Living with God is True education” on the Kodaikanal visits of Bhagawan Baba with an entourage of selected students was produced by the Radio Sai team of the Digital Studio. It brought together some of the finest moments spent by Bhagawan with His students in the picturesque hill station. The presentation contained an interview of a student in whose presence the Lord had revealed that it was not the merit of past lives that had given them the qualification of being in His presence, but it was only a manifestation of His Divine grace that had made it possible.

The presentation also showed some moments from the earlier summer course programmes which were organised in the presence of Bhagawan, first in Brindavan and thereafter in Ooty. It showed students going into the town for a cleaning drive, much to the surprise of others. It depicted very clearly as how service to others has become the second nature of students and how well they continue to serve the society even after passing out of the institute. This was reaffirmed through interviews of some of the employers of the students who heaped praises on the performance of the students due to their positive attitude, desire to learn and a sense of purpose in life.

The last speaker of the day was an alumnus of the Anantapur campus of the institute, Mrs. Nirmala Shekhar, who spoke on the topic “An Ideal Sai Student and her/his Role in Society”. She asked the students as to what was the first step in doing anything? A student replied that it was self confidence. Quoting Swami, she said that Bhagawan had said that it was ‘wanting to do something’. She felt that the essence of the summer course was awakening of the awareness of Lord’s presence in our life. She called upon everyone to watch coincidences as the handicraft of God – moments when God chose to be anonymous. She ended her interesting talk with an experience of how once Swami saved her life.

Towards the end, some of the veterans, outgoing officials were felicitated by the new incumbents. This includes Prof. Jayalakshmi Gopinath, formerly Principal of Anantapur Campus, Prof. Ramamoorthy, formerly head of SBMAF – Prasanthi Nilayam, Sri BN Narasimhamurthy, outgoing Warden of Brindavan Campus, Prof. US Rao, outgoing Principal of Prasanthi Nilayam Campus and Dr. Siva Shankar Sai, outgoing Warden of Prasanthi Nilayam Campus.

Fifth and final volume of “My Dear Students” has been released by the former Controller of Examinations, Prof. Nanjundaiah on the auspicious occasion. These volumes contain compilations of Divine Discourses by Bhagawan delivered over the past three decades, specially meant for student folk.

The programme ended with a presentation by some students on the lessons learnt. In the end, Arathi was offered to Bhagawan and Prasadam distributed.

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The first speaker, Prof. G. Venkataraman, eminent scientist, and former Vice Chancellor of Sai University, and the Director of Radio Sai spoke on the topic, “Relevance of Sai Education Philosophy in Contemporary World”..

Combining effortlessly and sensitively his reminiscences of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba with his own experiences of the secular world, and citing cogently from Sai Discourses, he elucidated on the topic. To believe, as some do, that there is no connection between spirituality and society is a big mistake. Before we discharge our duty to the world around us we must realize the universality of the Divine.

In order to carry out our duties, we must develop two qualities in ourselves: sensitivity and Integrity. Sensitivity is compassion; and we will be able to carry out this task when we keep in mind the possibility that today’s rich can become tomorrow’s poor. And sensitivity is needed in our dealing with the world at every level.

Integrity is absolute honesty; it also translates into steadfastness. It is practised in daily life in our one-to-one dealings or one-to-many dealings. For example, in business, Sai has exhorted us to keep in mind that ‘Customer is God.’ The evil we do will rebound on us.

We must look for God within—see the same God in everyone around you. Then we can never hurt others. Spirituality and our social obligations go together. Character and integrity are synonymous. Development of individual character leads to burgeoning of national character.

The second speaker was Prof. Viswanath Pandit, eminent economist, and former Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He spoke on ‘Role of Values and Ethics in Education.’

He reiterated Sai’s objective in establishing the University that SSSIHL must produce role models. He defined Education as the process which brings out the inherent divinity in each of us. Thus, Education is Educare.

Today, however, everywhere in the world outside, education has become a business; and education has become synonymous with the development of mere skills. Virtue and wisdom are replaced by folly and worse. Quoting from Swami Ranganathananda’s wry prescription of the Eleventh Command for the modern man—‘after violating the Ten Commandments, make sure you escape from the hands of law’.

The learned scholar traced the ills of the modern world to the failure of its education system. The recent recession in the West is a direct consequence; as well as the nexus between the government and the corporate world and rampant consumerism; Prof. Pandit quoted statistics to show how all this has resulted in unprecedented inequalities among the upper classes and the poorer classes. The rich have become richer, the poor poorer.

The only way out is Sai’s prescription: practise ‘Ceiling on Desires.’ Quoting from the Yajurveda, Prof. Pandit stressed on the urgent need expand the concept of Ethics to Dharma; and take Dharma to the level of Sathya—God. He mentioned that the so-called Rationality and Reason have only resulted in selfishness and happiness is not related to economic success. There is a need to develop a ‘binocular’ vision—secular as well as spiritual awareness. Sai’s Golden Triangle of God, Man and Society must be our goal, the goal of education. Skill formation must go with development of spirituality.

The speech was followed by the second part of the video, ‘Living with God is True Education’.

The third speaker of the morning’s programme Sri K. Chakravarti, the first Registrar of the University and for the secretary of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, delivered an erudite talk on ‘Innovation in the Head, Passion in the Belly and Compassion in the Heart ’:

Quoting from a wide range of poets and writers, the learned speaker focused on the need for compassion; and the training of the minds of students. As someone closely following all Sai’s programmes and especially the progress of the Sai University, Sri Chakravarti expressed satisfaction that Sai students are among the top 1% of the country. Even the quality our research is better than the national average.

However, there is need to improve, and how do we do it? The learned speaker has a complete prescription: learn to learn. In other words, the teachers of SSSIHL must teach their students on how to learn. Classroom learning should inspire students to read the classics from their respective fields. The extracts in textbooks will be understood more in context only when the entire original text is studied, he emphasised. Even for relaxation, instead of fiction, students should resort to poetry since it is not only relaxing but also elevating.

Sai students, Sri Chakravarti emphasized, must practise Swami’s ideals: especially sharing and caring: sharing with others what we have and caring for others with a sense of equality and compassion. Thus a Sai student must foster his or her higher self. Above all the value to nurture and practise is compassion, mercy. Let the noble and sublime side of our personality play its role. A responsive heart is what matters. At the same time Sai students and teachers must aim at pushing the frontiers of knowledge.

Sri V. Srinivasan, the All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization, was the fourth speaker of the morning and he spoke on “Guidelines for the Institute“. He recalled Bhagavan’s definitive statement: ‘I am God, you are also God, and the difference is that I know it and you don’t.’ He went on to allude to the various festivals celebrated in Prasanthi Nilayam, attended by thousands of devotees from all over the world, all brought here by Swami’s love acting as a Divine Magnet.

Sri Srinivasan went on to elucidate the guidelines laid by Swami for the University.
The first is, “Service to Society, where service to society is service to God”.
The second is, “Cultivate love in your heart because only when you cultivate love in your heart you begin your journey Godwards”.
The third is, “Truth is 3-H—harmony between head, heart and hands: thought, word and deed”.

He recalled a meeting with Swami: when Swami asked them what the meaning of Swaraj is; they all said ‘complete freedom’. Then Swami commented that no one in the universe has attained complete Swaraj only He, God, has because he alone enjoys Free Will.

Another guideline emphasizes that our mind should pursue not just information, but wisdom. Here he alludes to an episode from Ramakrishna’s life: when the Paramhamsa said that in order to attain God you should pine for him. He added that, true freedom is self-regulation. This ought to be the goal of every Sai student. He concluded by quoting Swami, “I give you what you want, in the hope that one day you will ask me what I have come to give you.’

Before the last speech there was an interesting Quiz based on the life and message of Bhagavan Baba, where teams from all the campuses participated enthusiastically. The quiz master, Sri Shashank Shah, a post doctoral fellow in Management, admirably brought the entire life and mission of the Avatar of the Age in front of the audience through insightful questions and slideshows of rare photographs bringing the moments to life. Even elders enthusiastically participated in the event answering questions passed by the participating students. Fittingly, the quiz ended in a tie with all three teams scoring exactly 80 points.

After the lunch break, the campuses met separately for further discussion on the selected discourses by Bhagavan Baba on Indian Culture and Spirituality, with the teachers acting as facilitators. These discussions prodded the students to introspect on the finer aspects of a spiritual life in harmony with the rich Indian heritage. Select Representatives from the groups presented the learnings.

Students assembled in the Sai Kulwant Hall by 04:30 pm. After Vedam Chanting, there was a summary presentation by students after which, there was a music programme by the students of Ananatpur campus of the University.

After Dinner, the three campuses met seperately and continued the much sought after Satsanga talking about individual experiences with Bhagawan.

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DAY 1 (10th June 2011):

The Programme started at 08:30 am with Invocatory Vedic Chanting and Universal Prayer by the students. This was followed by a Welcome Note by the Registrar of the University, Dr. Naren Ramji. Prof. J. Shashidhara Prasad, the Vice-Chancellor of the University gave the inaugural address.

After the welcome note and the inaugural address, the first speaker of the session was Sri. A.V. Gokak, the seventh Vice Chancellor of the Institute. The learned speaker presented a historical review of Indian culture and Spirituality and Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s role in it. In his erudite exposition on the salient features of Indian Culture and Spirituality, Shri Gokak stressed that it is the Culture and Spirituality of a nation that determines the character and conduct of each individual, ultimately defining the direction and pace of its progress.

Quoting extensively from renowned philosophers and thinkers like Shelley and Victor Hugo, Sri Gokak opined that man is not merely an evolved animal, but, as declared by Bhagawan, is potentially Divine, if only he can come out of Maya that deludes him from his own reality.

In the age of globalization what is important to us is that we should merge Spirituality of the East with the materialism of the West for the development of the world at large, yet not lose our national identity. At the same time we should also recognise the fact as Bhagawan says,
There is only one caste: the caste of humanity
There is only one religion, the religion of love,
There is only one language, the language of the heart,
There is only one God, He is omnipresent.

Sri Gokak concluded by saying that evolution cannot happen unless there is a revolution in the human Consciousness and this is where Bhagawan should be our Divine Flame igniting Spirituality in our daily life.

Sri S.V Giri, the sixth Vice Chancellor, Sri Sathya Sai institute of Higher Learning, was the next speaker. The learned speaker spoke on “the Philosophy and Concepts of ancient Gurukula system”. Sri Giri observed that Swami’s philosophy of Integral Education, on which is founded Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, can be understood only by combining the ancient Gurukula system with the modern system of education.

The speaker emphasized the fact that only when the mind is concentrated and pure, students can lead happy lives and attain their goals. To cultivate a focused mind, he emphasised on the role of discipline and also drew analogies from the scriptures, talking at length about Nachiketa and Satyakama. The erudite speaker went on to say how teachers should conduct themselves; and stressed their impact on the lives of students.

The speaker defined character from a practical standpoint and also highlighted the important dimensions of character, namely wisdom, heroic will, compassion and universal love, competence and untiring labour towards perfection.

In his concluding remarks Sri Giri recollected from his career as the Central Vigilance Commissioner that even a small compromise on one’s values would eventually lead to a catastrophe in one’s life. He believed that education of today should emulate the Gurukula system and always teach students to discriminate between right and wrong, making them able citizens to serve the society.

Thereafter a video, ‘Living with God is True Education’ was screened. The video, specially produced by the faculty and students of SSSIHL, with inputs from Radio Sai, showed Swami’s educational system closely cultivating the values already emphasized by Sri Giri in his talk on the ancient Gurukula system.

Sri B N Narasimhamurthy, Warden, Muddenahalli Campus of the Institute spoke on the theme ‘Ideal Masters and Disciples from Ancient India’. Sri Narasimhamurthy said that the SSSIHL is the dream University of all sages and saints of ancient India and the renaissance period as it provides an ideal blend of the physical and metaphysical.

He recollected Bhagavan’s emphasis on the dictum, ‘The Soul of Education is the Education of the Soul’.
Dwelling on the core of his topic he gave examples of many master-disciple duos from different periods of time, starting with Yajnavalkya and Janaka from the Upanishadic times, Krishna and Arjuna from the Itihasas, all the way to AdiShankaracharya and Padmapada of the Historic times.

He elucidated the ABCD of life as:
A – Awareness of God within as bliss and as beauty without
B – Balance of Mind
C – Control of Senses
D – Dedication to the welfare of mankind

Sri Sanjay Sahni, Director, Brindavan Campus spoke on the topic. ‘Educational Philosophy of Bhagavan Baba’
Sri Sanjay Sahni stated that the educational philosophy at SSSIHL is rooted in the Indian culture and heritage. He classified his talk into 5 dicta highlighted by Bhagavan as the core values for human life. These include:
At the individual level: Satyam Vada; Dharmam Chara
At the family level: Matru Devo Bhavan; Pitru Devo Bhava
At the society level: Paropkaraya Punyaya; Paapaya Parapeedanam
At the national level: Janani Janmabhumischa Swargadapi Gareeyasi
At the universal level: Samasta Lokaha Sukhino Bhavantu
He laced each of these examples with very touching incidents from Bhagavan’s life which he was a personal witness to.

After a lunch break, the students broke into small teams of 20 and discussed on select Summer Course Discourses by Bhagawan and His other Discourses on Educare. There was one anchor discourse which was studied by all and six auxillary discourses of which one was read by smaller groups.

Students assembled in the Sai Kulwant Hall by 04:30pm. After Vedam Chanting, there was a summary presentation by students after which, there was a music programme by the students of Brindavan and Prasanthi Nilayam campuses of the University.

After Dinner, the three campuses met seperately and shared their experiences with Bhagawan with Love and Devotion.

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