Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Vaari Aasheessulu Teesukoni…. Naa mundu unde Ee Sai Bhaktha Saamraajyam, Naa Kanulaku Kanipinchakunda Sarva Lokamulandu Unna Sai Bhaktha Saamraajyam… Andaraku Na Vandanaalu.

Bhagawan ni nenu Suryudu Ani Bhaavistaanu. Suryudiki udayam ledu, asthamayam ledu. Adi Nirantaramaina Prakruthi. Atlaane, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba vaariki kooda udayam ledu, asthamayam ledu. Aayanadi nirantharamaina Prakruthi.

Suryudu Oka Samayamlo okachota, Inkoka samayamlo inkokachota kanipistaadu. Sarva Prakrutilo Andariki Samtosham Ichchevadu Suryudu. Atlaane, Ee lokamlo unna sarava janulaku samtoshaanni Ichche Mahaanubhaavudu Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

“Aadithya Hrudayam Punyam Sarva Shatru Vinaashanam” ani Cheputaaru. Bhagawanto Sambandham pettukunna vaarilo unna satruvulanu naashanam chese shakthi aayanaki unnadi.

Mana Manasulalo unna satruvulu evaru? Kaamam, krodham. Madam, lobham. Ee naalugintini aayana teeyaledu, mana manasulone pettinaaru. Kaani ee negative gunaalani positive ga maarchinaaru.

With the blessings of Bhagawan I convey my salutations to all those who are part of Baba’s empire of devotees, not only this vast gathering in front of my eyes here, but the denizens of this empire of devotees all over the world – my salutations once again. I consider Bhagawan verily as the Sun. There is no rising or setting for the sun; It is eternal. Baba is also an Eternal Being with no arising or setting.

The Sun shines at some time in one part of the world and at some other, at some other time. He confers his benefits and blessings to all at all times. Similarly, for all beings of this world, Sri Sathya Sai Baba confers blessings all the time.

“Aditya Hrudayam Punyam Sarva Shatru Vinaasanam” is the statement in the Aditya Hrudya strotram. The same powers of destroying enemies are there replete in Baba.

Who are these internal enemies in us? Baba did not destroy them but retained and transformed them from negative tendencies to positive traits, for instance, Kama (desire/passion), Krodha (anger), Madha (pride), Lobha (greed). He changed each of these highly negative traits by reversing the direction and turned them into a passion for service, krodha as anger against one’s self for failing in being service-minded, lobha as prayer to God for more and more opportunities for service of society, etc. In this manner, He taught us to reverse the negative tendencies to positive ones.

Well, Sri Venkataraman was kind enough to prove his devotion to Sri Sathya Sai Baba, when he made the statement that Bhagawan conceived this book, that Bhagawan guided this book, that Bhagawan wrote this book, that Bhagawan published this book but I find fault with Mr.Venkataraman for only one thing, that I would like to say, that Bhagawan released this book today in your midst.

Bhagawan may not be in our physical presence today, you may say so but I don’t agree with you.

Because, Bhagawan is somebody Whom you experience, you don’t see.

You have to experience the presence of Bhagawan and not see it.

Right now sitting here you cannot see the Sun, can you say there is no Sun?  You cannot.

You are experiencing the effects of and the impacts of Sun, so also while Bhagawan may not be here with us in our presence here today, probably He is in some other part of the globe giving that Sun and light and illumination to another group of Sai Bhakta Samrajyam.

So that is the importance of Bhagawan.

Though exactly a year back, on this very day, at 7 am, when we got the message in Hyderabad, saying the light has gone out of our lives, my first reaction was, it is a wrong way, light has not gone out of our lives, light has in fact come into our lives.

Because,  Bhagawan’s this act (act of shedding His mortal frame) was, I am shedding My form, My physical form, but My Atma, I am putting into everyone of you.

And that is what He did, so I felt that He provided us the light, He provided us the Atma, into everyone of us, and He did not leave us at all.

He only made us stronger by putting in us this determination that we will abide by His direction and by following His teachings to all of us.

What is so unique about Baba that we keep on talking about?

Some call Him Baba, namely Father, some address Him as Swami, a Master or a Guru and some address Him as Bhagawan, that is God.

I would say that Swamiji was Three in One, He was a Baba, He was a Swami, He was Bhagawan. It was all these three put together in One.

As Baba, He would adopt a different approach in every role that He played, as far as little that I know of Swamiji.

As a Baba, that is a Father, when we go to Him, as His children or Pilallu, He would say Bangaram; He would never address you by name, He would always say Banagram.

He saw in you a golden spec as a child; He saw that you are gold, the almighty gold.

And when you looked at Him as a Swami or a Master or a Guru, He would command you to do a job and that job was done.

In fact, last time, during one of the visits, when I was told about the hostel that was being built and asked them what was the time limit, they said, so and so many days.

I asked, will you complete it? and the person said, this is the command of Swami; we have no choice; It will be completed by Him because He has given the command and He will also complete it, we have nothing to do without Him.

And when we look at Him as Bhagawan, of course we called Him as the revered Avatar,  we look at Him with reverence.

So, I see Swamiji in all the three avatars, as a Baba, as a Swami  and as Bhagawan, all in different times.

Actually we are aware of this concept, MatruDevoBhava, PitruDevoBhava, ArcharyaDevoBhava, AthitiDevoBhava.  To me, Swamiji, I think, had all these four filled in Him. Matha, Pitha, of course as I told you, when He meets, looks to us as a child, and called you Bangaram. Guru, when He commands us to do a certain job and Athithi; why do I call Him an Athithi, because Swamiji never waited for you to come to Him, He would come to your doorstep.

Here is a Person Who came to His disciples to tell them that He was there with them, in them, by them, for them.

He never waited for us to come to Prasanthi Nilayam to pay our salutations to Him, so He was an Athithi in that sense, to our place,  so I consider Him as, MatruDevoBhava, PitruDevoBhava, ArcharyaDevoBhava, AthitiDevoBhava, all the four manifestations in one single person.

In fact, when you look at the spread of the Sai Bhakta Samrajyam, throughout the world, one can only say, Swamiji was like sahasra shirsha purushaha… sahasrakshas sahasrapat…

He was there everywhere, He was present everywhere.

Sahasraha, in this sense does not mean a thousand, it is infinite, it is what it really means, and that was the true greatness of Baba, and that it is why today we have Swamiji’s disciples, Swamiji’s followers, Swamiji’s devotees all over the world and it is not restricted only to Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi.

That is the uniqueness of this Avatar.

He was One Who did not believe in one particular religion or one particular God.

For Him it was EkamSathVipraBahudaVadanti.

You may call Him Allah, you may call Him Ram, you may call Him Rahim but for Him, everybody was One .

For Him God essentially was service, seva and love.

That was God for Him.

Like the song that goes VaishnavajanathoThenekahhi Ye Jo PeedaParayiJaneRe.

Here when they say Vaishnavajan, Vaishanavajan is one, who is “God’s own person”

He is only God’s own person who recognizes, who realizes the pain and suffering of others, and Swamiji was exactly that.

He was a Man who could see the pain and suffering of people all around Him and run to their rescue and say what can I do for him, with a smile

This was the true greatness of Swamiji.

As put by one of my earlier speakers, He understood the fundamentals of life so well.

In His view, education, healthcare and drinking water or food or means of sustenance was the most critical element for anybody’s life.

If you gave anybody all these three bhakthi would automatically follow.

Of the various forms of yoga, you call it bhakthi yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, but many of us are not capable of many of these things, but Swamiji, of course was a Karma Yogi.

For Him it was Karmanyevadhikaraste, Ma phaleshu… Action is thy duty, fruit is not thy concern.

But every one of us cannot be a karma yogi, it’s an extremely difficult thing, all of us are still human beings.

So there is a certain attachment or a certain expectation, there’s a certain belief in all of us but Swamiji was above all of that, that is why He was being called Bhagawan, He is an Avatar.

And for Him, He thought, by giving all these basic minimum, at least people will get bhakti into them, the devotion into them and that would make them true citizens and their march to mukthi would be much easier.

So, He really promoted Bhakthi yoga in all of us by providing the basics, namely, education, healthcare and the means of sustenance of life.

How crucial it is, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, you may ask, I mean education today?… that I think is the key to life.

If you don’t have proper health there is nothing you can do, if you are going to be lying sick in hospital all the time.

If you don’t have the basic minimum means of sustenance, I may give you great lectures, theoretical postulations, etc.  but ultimately, at the end of the day, I want that morsel of food to fill my stomach. I want that drop of water, Sagar Ka Ek Boond Mujhe Chahiye.

Without that morsel of food or drop of water, what is it you are going to do?

That is the greatness of Swamiji, that He recognized these three essential elements and emphasised on this and today, we have institutions which He has built up with such great care.

In fact, I think, I am very unpopular as far as my state is concerned, when I keep on saying this, if one Swamiji could do this, why is it that we as a government are not able to do this?

This is a question that has been agitating me over the last two years; I keep raising this to my friend Raghuveera Reddy, Gita Reddy and others.

How can one person lay down a time-table and build institutions of this world class, top of the shelf culture and why is it that we can’t do that?

What is so great about this one Swamiji who could do this and not all of us put together?

That is because here is a  Person Who felt for others, Who said He did not want to do this to have a university named after Him, Sri Sathya Baba Institute of Technology; No, that was not His purpose; His purpose was service to humanity.

So this is the lesson all of us have to learn, from Swamiji.

Whatever we do, let us do with this simple thought in us, that we are doing this to serve humanity.

This will improve the lives of our people and our whole concept of life should be‘how can I help my brother?”

All of us may not be in the same position. For instance, when Rama was crossing and going over to Lanka, near Rameshwaram, where the vanarasena was building the bridge for Him, the vanarasena would hold huge boulders and keep going, there was a small squirrel that was nibbling in the mud. So the vanarasena came and asked: “oh you little squirrel, we are carrying big boulders, what are you doing smearing mud on yourself? Do you think you can carry this thing?”

Rama took the squirrel in His hand and said, however small you are, you can still help me. Every man can help his fellow man, it is not that you need to have a lot of money, you should have the intention to help.

But the very feeling to help, is wealth for me.

I may not be in a position to help many people but if I can feel or have the sense to say that I need to help this gentleman, I think I have done a great job, and that is what Swamiji really taught us.

So, we don’t have to say, I don’t have the money Swamiji ,I don’t have the time Swamiji, I don’t have the capability Swamiji, but if you can spread this thought, around all of us, there will be some people who be able to invest on it, there will be some people who be able to undertake this, but the thought, I think,  is something that must pervade all of us.

Swamiji’s message was making every creation of God, into a human being.

His concept of human being was different.

His concept of human being was not just to create a graduate, post graduate, or a doctor or an engineer. That was not His concept.

A human being, is somebody who lives for others.

And that is what Swamiji was very particular about.

And this is a concept we need to really talk about.

I am only saying… people like me probably can only talk about it, but I am happy that I am at least, I am able to talk about it because if I can talk about it to hundred or thousand people here, at least one of them probably can take up the thought and follow it up and I would have achieved my success.

I will rate it as my success if one among the thousand people have taken up this thought and can say we must do something for the people.

As Swami rightly said, it is not only for the poor, it is for humanity as such that we need to do.

We need not think of only the poor, poor, poor…we can do it for all deserving persons.

Anybody who is deprived, anybody who requires it, anybody who is going to feel the need for it, we need to do that and that is what Swamiji really taught us.

When we come to Prasanthi Ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam, here is something I really look forward to, because it gives you both PRASANNATHA (joy, pleasant attitude) and SHANTI, both of which are something which people like me, many others miss in our day-to-day living.

It is these few minutes or few hours that one spends in Prasanti Nilayam, of course, I am not as fortunate as all of you who have had the privilege of being resident of Prasanthi Nilayam,  the privilege of listening to Swamiji,, the privilege  of having the darshan of Swamiji on a regular basis,  but as and when Bhagawan ordains that I should come here to Prasanthi Nilayam, I have felt that great peace and satisfaction and I go back charged with extra energy, with a determination that I must try and do something,  in my life, if it is worth a life….that is how I look at it.

Well, passing on to a few personal remarks, not that I am saying this out of a sense of pride or a sense of joy or a sense of achievement, I would only like to share a few of my experiences with Swamiji.

During my first visit to Prasanthi Nilayam when I rang up Mr. Chakravarti and had fixed up  a date and scheduled  to come to Puttaparthi to pay my obeisance to Swamiji, the previous night Mr. Chakravathi rang up, and said” Sir, Swamiji feels that the visit can be postponed”.

I was really, really upset.

Not because I felt I had been insulted as a Governor, but I said why is this Swamiji denying me a darshan tomorrow, when everything had been fixed.

I do not know why and I asked Mr. Chakravathi, why? Is there anything He is angry about? Why has He refused me this darshan? He said, Sir, I have absolutely no idea; He only told me: Let him wait; I will see.

So what was that intent, that was a signal saying that trust and faith is the most important thing.

I did not lose my faith or trust in Swamiji.

I said, I will meet this Swamiji, I will definitely, come what may… I will definitely have my day…and I will get my darshan of this Swamiji.

I went on and I did get it, next time a month later, Chakravarthi now said: “Swamiji now feels that the Governor should come, he should come.”

And here I was seated in that corner. (between the bhajan hall and the stage).

The Swamiji went around giving darshanam to everybody, bhjajans was over, the arathi was over.

He had met various people and thereafter, He went past me and went into His chambers.

I am sure there was shock wave that went through many of my friends here.

Oh God! what happened, first time this man comes, he is refused an entry to Prasanthi Nilayam;  second time he comes,  he spends his whole time here through the bhajan, still the Swamiji doesn’t look at him and He goes away.

Then He goes into the chamber, sends for me and my wife.

We go there.

And you will not believe that was my first real encounter or meeting with Bhagawan.

I had only heard of His miracles, I heard of His greatness, I heard of His preachings, but when saw Him, tears filled my eyes, I do not know why. 

I have no reason to explain that, I have absolutely no reason to explain this.

And because of the softness of His voice, I went as near as I could to Him, almost putting my ear in His mouth, which I would think, I would say, was the biggest privilege that anybody could get.

I don’t know how many of you could have had this privilege.

But it was there for me and the two words which still strikes me, which acts as a guiding force, for my life…I am not trying to tell you this as a first person, but because this is something I feel out of my heart and I think I have to say it in the presence of Swamiji today.

He said: “Neevu emi thappu pani cheyavu”

(You will never indulge in any wrong doing)

He said “Go ahead, you have My blessings”

And He placed His hands on our heads, both of us.

And you do not know what it meant to me, to me today, that is probably my biggest strength.

I may be doing a lot of wrongs but here is Bhagawan telling me you will never do a wrong, so I probably feel that is how it is destined and that is how it is happening.

So I have almost surrendered my deeds.

Like it is said KayenavachaManasendiya Va …..

So I have surrendered myself and said ok, if I am doing something, it is being ordained by someone else.

It is not in my hands to do this job and I am doing this, and in that sense probably I have turned into a fatalist or somebody who has just accepted in life that is coming through.

I think it was one of the best moments of my life getting that blessing from Swamiji.

On a second occasion when I came to Him, I had come here to seek His blessings for a very close relation of mine who had a serious health problem.

We are all human beings, we come to seek.

We don’t give up, because I am still a human being, a raw human being…so you might understand why is this man talking so much, ultimately he is here to seek and not to give.

But seeking blessings is also something which has to come from your heart.

Because everyone of us has that Aham in us…AHAM BRAHMASMI, is what we all think, but giving up that Aham (ego) and coming to a sage like Him and saying I seek Your blessings, I think in itself, is God’s Own Will.

So all that I came to Him was with folded hands, I said “Swamiji I seek Your blessings, I hope nothing serious will happen.”

He just put His hand on my head  and said “NOTHING WILL HAPPEN”

He said Life is secure; you don’t worry about that.

And today that person is alive.

This is something I can hardly believe but I have gone through this.

I am sorry I have become a little emotional but this is a fact.

That it took me a few minutes to come out, because He kept His hand on me and kept saying it.

I know many people were very angry and saying why is this man sitting at His feet and touching His feet and standing like that, but I could not control myself, but here is a Person Who says about the health of the person, who is somewhere else…and here is a man who does not know what it is all about.

I am only seeking His blessings and prayers.

And here He is, saying nothing will happen.

And He gave that life to that individual, I believe.

On the third occasion when I came here, I was out there sitting in the corner doing the bhajan that it was… He was here sitting on His throne.

He told somebody, “Ask him to come forward”

I do not know how He knew, I don’t think He saw me at all but He said,  “ask him to come forward.”

So somebody came and said:  “Sir, come forward.”

So I then moved into that corner and sat there.

Then again He beckoned, and said, “Ask that man to come and sit next to Me”

So I said Swamiji I can’t sit next to You, I will sit behind You, but next to You I cannot because,  I don’t think I am worthy of that, I cannot.

You are on the throne and i am on the floor.

But still I cannot sit next to You and I shall sit behind You.

I said I do not know why He is doing it.

So this same Swamiji Who at one stage felt why I should wait for His darshan, this is the transformation He brought in me, as a great Man.

And that is the faith and belief in Swamiji that I have today.

If I come today, I have not come as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, I have come here as somebody who has adored Him, as somebody who worships Him, as somebody Who has given me a life.

I have great faith.

I have told you in these two personal incidents, I am seeing the impact even today.

And that is what, Faith is built over experiences.

So that is why when I said that Swamiji has to be experienced, He is not to be seen, you have to experience what Swamiji’s presence means and it is there, everywhere.

It may be in your house, it might be in your drawing room, it might be in your office, it might be there, it might be here.

You don’t necessarily need to come here and do it.

Can you imagine any other place where thousands of people would come and sit in such a disciplined fashion.

I have been telling my colleagues in the police force, look at this discipline, there is nobody controlling these crowds, they are going in the queue on their own.

Nobody is pushing, nobody is shoving and all of them are going.

How does this happen?

It is not that Swamiji has told you must not do this.

I don’t know it comes on its own, all of you are there in the line, queues are going over miles, people are walking quietly, many of you may probably not even get a glimpse of Him.

You may probably feel that Swamiji is somewhere around and you go back happily, saying that I have come to Prasnathi Nilayam today,  happily saying I had a darshan of the Swamiji, even if you have not had the darshan.

That is the greatness of Swamiji.

The essential expectation of His was Seva.

The concept of selfless seva, seva for the needy, need not necessarily be for poor.

If you can preach even if you can’t do that, I think we would have achieved a great milestone in our lives.

Our lives are not like Bhagawan’s life….Ours is not Ananta Yatra; ours is Anta Yatra.

We have an end in our yatra whereas He’s is an Ananta Yatra, His journey goes on.

So,  in that short period that life has been given to us, it will be very useful if only we could follow Swamiji’s teachings.

If only we could convey His teachings to others, for mundane people like me, who cannot probably  carry out the task He would like us to  do.

Even if we could just convey this to others, we would have done a great job.

To me Swamiji represented the ultimate source from where one can seek,  AsathoMaaSadgamaya, ThamasoMaaJyothirGamaya, MrithyorMaaAmrithamGamaya, He is that Goal.

From darkness unto light, from ignorance into knowledge, from death into immortality…that is what Swamiji ultimately represented.

I know that you people are Swami bhakthas.

It gives me great confidence when I attend gatherings like this because it gives me the confidence that we are on the right track.

We will not lose.

A day will come when again, we will win the situation.

It might take some time, but the very fact that if I can see thousands and thousands of Sai devotees here, and all over the world who have such dedication, and who have such discipline, and who have such commitment to do seva and to work and to do, carry out His Will, I think this country, this globe has a great future.

The other day for example, when I was inaugurating the hospital mobile vans of the Sathya Sai Institute in Hyderabad, I was exalted, I was struck,  at the sight of the type of equipment that was there, the type of doctors that were willing to do…I said who is going to man these vans, they said, the best of top of the shelf doctors.

Everything is there.

And I just mentioned to Raghuveera Reddy this morning, if these people can run vans in every district, if Swamiji can say I am going to provide drinking water for Chennai city and Swamiji does it, if Swamiji says I am going to provide drinking water for Ananatapur district, why can’t we do it?

We (the government) will do it, is what I am trying to tell this audience.

I, today, tell you, brothers and sisters, that this government will do definitely something for the people as ordained by Swamiji.

We will carry forth Swamiji’s blessings and we will carry out this task.

I would thank Swamiji, for giving me this great opportunity today to be in Your midst once again, and to receive your blessings, once again.

I feel the impact, I experience Your presence.

…And I give you my word, to the best of my ability, I will try to serve society and the people.

II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

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Sri Ashok Sakhrani, national coordinator of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations, Hong Kong welcomed the gathering for the Buddha Purnima celebrations. He spoke on the four sublime qualities of the mind that have taught by the Buddha, namely Maitri (Loving Kindness), Karuna (Compassion), Mudita (Sympathetic Joy) and Upeksha (Equanimity). The Chairman of Zone 5 of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisations, Worldwide, Sri Nari Chugani spoke on the similarity between the connection that millions felt towards Lord Buddha and Sri Sathya Sai Baba and their teachings of Peace, Love and Purity.

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Dr Sunanda, a Professor from Sri Lanka and a consultant of various United Nations and World Bank Projects, spoke next on his initial confusions on following Bhagawan’s path, since he felt he would be deserting Buddhism. However Bhagawan’s Love helped him to see the similarity between the teachings of the Great Masters. He mentioned now his spiritual progress accelerated once his Sadhana was suffused with his love for Bhagawan. He also quoted an alumni of Bhagawan’s university in Sri Lanka who on questioning what is the Sadhana one has to do, pointed to Bhagawan’s photo and said, sing His name and Love Him. That will suffice.

Bhagawan has given us a challenge, he said and that is to continue to Love Him when His physical form is not available to our senses. ‘Let us Love Bhagawan until our love also becomes perfect with His Divine Grace. This day is the Buddha Purnima of Prince Siddartha. One day when we perfect our Love to the level of Love of Buddha or Sri Sathya Sai, that is our day of Buddha Purnima!’, he concluded. The talks were followed by international Bhajans by the devotees.

The evening session of Buddha Purnima Celebrations commenced with Vedas by devotees from Zone 5 led by the Japanese delegation who have impressed Bhagawan on various occasions with their diligent learning of the Vedas.

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Sri Ashok Sakhrani then provided the highlights of the various activities undertaken by Zones 4 and 5 of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisations, Worldwide in the last one year. It included Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values training to 50 schools in China and Hong Kong along with the translation and new materials published in the said topic, regular Narayana Seva to the homeless and the needy, building of 3 mosques, 323 water tanks and 86 homes in Indonesia, health care centre, old age home, orphanage drinking water projects in Nepal, medical camps and schooling in Sri Lanka for the children affected by the civil war, HOPE (Honour our Parents everyday) programmes in Malaysia, SSSEHV training in Thailand apart from what the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation has developed a reputation for worldwide, Crisis Management. The help rendered by the devotees in Thailand, Indonesia and Japan instilled confidence in mankind among the beneficiaries.

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Sri Sakhrani then introduced the Dance programme by Children from Thailand. The beautiful presentation was on the theme ‘Know Thyself: Life is Bliss when Truth is Realised.’ The children where dressed in traditional costumes of China and India and danced in Chinese style to an Indian song, bringing out the harmony in diversity.

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This presentation was followed by a choir by Zone 5 devotees on the theme ‘Bhajans and its use in daily life’. The choir consisted of various Bhajan medleys in English and Japanese. The conductor speaking in Japanese conveyed her gratitude to Bhagawan. Gifts were distributed to the participants and prasadam was shared with the assembly even as the international Bhajans were in progress. Arati was offered at 1840hrs.

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After the conclusion of Darshan, the devotees arranged an Abhishekam to Lord Buddha which is believed to ward away bad karma. All the members of the pilgrimage participated in the same.

The next evening, Sri Ashok Sakhrani welcoming everyone for the concluding session of the two day programme thanked the organisers and office bearers for their support in the successful completion of the programme especially for the Naryana Seva held yesterday. He then introduced the speaker for the evening, Dr. Periera.

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Dr. Periera focused on the similarities of the teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Sri Sakyamuni Buddha. He stressed on the immense compassion shown by the Avatars with many examples. The talk was followed by a drama on the great eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami titled ‘Adrishtam’. Visuals from Japan were played in the backdrop (See top of page) even as actors performed in front of the screen. The skit contained various incidents of Love of mutual help, Compassionate Love, Love through Vedas, Love melting closed minds and Water God’s Love. It was indeed a moving presentation.

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Sri V. Srinivasan, the all India president of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisations congratulated the participants on even converting a disaster into an opportunity for Seva. He said how he was humbled by the great work of the Japanese Volunteers. Speaking with conviction, he reminded everyone of Bhagawan’s assurance that He is with us during our joy and sorrow but above all He is with us when we are doing selfless service.

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With Bhagawan’s blessings all the pilgrims were given special tokens of Love. Prasadam was distributed to the assembly. Arati was offered at 1830hrs.

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Pandit Shivkumar Sharma set the trend with his faultless rendering. He was followed by Smt. Devaki Pandit, Sri Geet Sagar, Sri Udit Narayan, and  Smt. Anuradha  Paudwal.  There was also a group of students from Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri College of Music,Prasanthi Nilayam who had come  for  participating in this great function. These students enthralled the audience with music sung with great devotion.  Sri Hariharan’s soul stirring performance was the climax of the great evening. Mangala Arathi and singing of National Anthem marked the end.  It was almost midnight when the curtains were drawn.

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Among the large distinguished gathering were also present Sri K V Kamath, Chairman, Infosys and former Chairman, ICICI Bank Ltd.,Sri Rana Kapoor, Chairman, Yes bank Ltd., Sri Aditya Puri, CEO, HDFC Bank Ltd., Sri Vivek Jain of Western India Royal Turf Club,Sri Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Group of Companies, Smt.Indu Sahani, Sheriff of Mumbai, Smt. Shaina N C, Fashion Designer , Sri Gopinath Munde, BJP Leader, Smt.Jaywantibahen Mehta, Former MP, Sri Mohit Shah, Chief Justice, Mumbai High Court, Smt Geeta Reddy, Minister AP Government.

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There was a large presence of the representatives from Print and Electronic Media with Live Webcast on Indiatimes, Sanskar, Television Channels in India and 90 other countries.

It may be recalled that Chennai witnessed a similar congregation of artistes who paid a musical tribute to Baba titled”Sangeetha Deeparadhana” on the 17th of March.Dana Gillespie,the famous Blues Singer  has already performed in several European locations this past year.Mumbai has enlarged on that tradition setting the stage now for a global phenomenon of such  tributes to this true Legend of Pure Love.

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The main programme for the Vishu evening was a musical concert by noted Carnatic vocalist Padmasri Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram & Party.

The programme commenced with State President of SSSSO Prof. E. Mukundan delivering his introductory talk. Prof. Mukundan spoke of Bhagawan’s immense grace, blessing the state with the opportunity to celebrate the festivity in Prasanthi Nilayam for many years.

The guest speaker for the evening was Sri Jyothilal, IAS, Secretary, General Administration to Govt. of Kerala. In a short speech Sri Jyothilal elucidated on Bhagawan and His Divine Glory.

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Next to come was the mucical presentation. Beginning with a slow-tuned invocation, Gurur Brahma, the singer set the ball rolling with a Ganesh Stuthi followed by an array of keertans that included some on the spot compositions.

Teaming well with the violinist Chethalai Sathyamoorthy and accompanied by Valamkaiman Thyagarajan on Mridangam, Thiruvalur Sai Krishna on Ganjira, Chennai Ramdas on Ghatam, Chidambaram Rajendran on Mukha Sang, Mardavali Mahesh on Tambura, Sri Sivachidambaram sang for the next one hour, singing all Tamil, except for one Telugu number on Lord Venkatesha, “Sri Venkatesha…”. Some of the other numbers were, “Chittirai Sri Vishukkani..”, “Sharanam Sri Guruvayoorappa…”etc… The concluding song was to the tune of …there are many Names of God…there are many places of worship…but the One presiding deity is Sri Guruvayoorappan…Sri Sathya Sai Bhagawan… The singer concluded with a recital of Tamil version of Samastha Lokaaha…Ulagam Vazhga… “Ulagam Vazhga…”.

At the end of the session, the artist and accompanists were felicitated by senior officials from SSSSO – Kerala. Bhajans continued for sometime and Prasadam was distributed to the entire assembly. Mangala Arathi was offered at 1900 hrs.

Vishukkani, auspicious sight, symbolical with reference to the prospect of the year ahead, was arranged with aesthetic touch facing the Sanctum Sanctorum.

II Samasta Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavantu II

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The celebrations began early in the morning with auspicious music on the Nadaswaram. At 0800hrs, the Sundaram Bhajan group performed Veda Chanting and Bhajans in the Sai Kulwant Hall even as delicious sweets were distributed to the assembly. In the evening Professor Anil Kumar introduced the programme in English and Telugu after which the state president of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Tamil Nadu, Sri N. Ramani addressed the gathering in Tamil.

Sri Venkata Krishnan, Alumni Coordinator, then explained about the school and the alumni association with it. Vela Special School, Villupuram was started in 1992 as a means of Seva and today caters to the needs of about 214 special children. All the teachers who teach at this school have demonstrated enormous amounts of dedication, patience and commitment to better the lives of these children. On the 26th February 2011, during the Tamil Nadu Alumni meet, Bhagawan had blessed the association of the alumni with this project and had Himself instructed to bring these children to Prasanthi Nilayam.

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The first song of the program was a solo performance by Janiswari, a child who is speech and hearing impaired from birth. The song was an offering to Lord Ganesha. The songs were played only for our benefit. These children cannot hear the song or match their steps with the beats of the song. Yet, they have been taught these dance steps by their teachers using only hand sign language, eyes and facial expressions. The dance was orchestrated live by their teachers seated in front of them using this noble communication. In the second song ‘Kayyil deepam endhi vandom’, the little ones pray to Bhagawan to light up their lives and help them overcome their challenges.

As a prelude to the third song, a patriotic number entitled ‘Vande Mataram‘, the master of ceremonies prayed to Bhagawan to bless these children to be able to lead a normal life. An interesting incident happened after that. There appeared to be a loose connection in the audio system and the song did not play correctly. Any other group of dancers who had actually danced based on the music of the recording would have got disoriented and missed a step but these children, special as they are, danced on perfectly, least affected unlike their auditorically sound neighbours. It was as if Bhagawan replied that He did not make them special so that they could wish to be normal. He made them special because they are meant to achieve extraordinary things.

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The fourth song, ‘Kannuku Oli Kodduppom‘ was written by former President of India, Bharat Ratna Prof. APJ Abdul Kalam. In this song, he extols the value of vision and the importance of eye donation to the citizens of India. This was a solo performance by Chitra, a truly gifted child. The dance programme ended in a celebratory note with ‘Mukunda Mukunda‘.

This cultural presentation was followed by seven melodious songs in various languages by youth from Tamil Nadu indicating how all distinctions melt away and amplify harmoniously in His Divine Presence. Invoking Lord Ganesha with ‘Raja Gajanana‘, the youngsters then sang the praise of great devotees of Lord Shiva in Tamil with the song, ‘Eppadi Paadinaro‘ before linguistically travelling the length and breath of India. A highlight of the programme was an instrumental presentation to the tunes of ‘Raghuvamsa Sudha‘. As if handing over the stage to their brothers and sisters from Kerala for the Vishu Celebrations the next day, the youth fittingly concluded with a Malayalam number, ‘Valam Kannu Sooryanum‘.

Even as the Sundaram Bhajan Group commenced Bhajans, all participants were honoured with clothes. Also special gifts with Baba’s blessings was distributed to the children from the Vela special school. With the beginning of the Tamil New Year, let us recount the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan on this auspicious occasion in 2008.

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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.]

On the 25th morning after the regular Vedic chanting by the students, Panchanga Shravanam (recitation of religious almanac pertaining to the coming year) was conducted by noted vedic scholar Sri Kuppa Siva Subrahmanya Avadhani. As the festivity marks the beginning of a new Panchanga, it is significant to conduct Panchanga Shravanam, hearing of the annual forecast as predicated in the Panchanga.

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After the Panchanga Shravanam, students from the Institute sang a couple of Telugu songs that was followed by reminscence of Divine Voice Of Wisdom Of Bhagawan, listening to one of His Divine Discourse delivered during Ugadi celebrations in the past.

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At the end of the function, the vedic scholar was felicitated by the Trust Secretary and Prasadam was distributed to the entire assemblage.

The venue  was tasterully decorated with symbolic festive greenish tinge – “Pachchathoranam” – parading all over. “Pachchathoranam”is a sign of prosperity and auspiciousness.

Bhajans continued for fifteen minutes and Mangala Arathi was offered at 0945 hrs.

The evening function was marked b a spritual talk by Sri V Sriramachandra Murthy, an erudite scholar and businessman from Hyderabad. Sri Murthy dwelled deep into the significance of the festivity talking from a Sai perspective. Speaking in Telugu, Sri Murthy explained the subtle significance of the festivity keeping Bhagawan and His teachings to the fore.

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A string of devotional numbers followed, sung by popular playback singer Ms. Nithya Santoshini. She sang a mix of mainly Telugu and Hindi numbers followed by solos in Tamil and Gujarathi in a concert that lasted an hour. Her Hindi numbers included “Allah Tero Naam…” and “Sai Baba Bolo…” and the solo in Gujarathi was “Vaishnava Jana To…”, the 15th century composition of Poet Narsinh Mehta.

After initial offerings and introduction they began with a song “we always call You our God…we always call You our friend…we always call You our Mother…Whose Love Never Ever Ends…”. A poem followed reminiscing His glory, all that happened with Bhagawan’s physical disappearance and how Bhagwawan guided the boy in the darkest hour, loving him and guiding him in an unfathomable way. Different tongues spoke, in varied vernacular, but essentially in the language of hearts. Interspersed with songs in Hindi, Telugu and English, some of which were composed specially for the occasion, the group burst into singing expressing tears of love n’ gratitude for all that Bhagawan has been for them defining their lives in the most sanctified way.

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A muslim student narrated his story as to how he got to adjust to the situation in Prasanthi Nilayam. When he joined the higher secondary school he was puzzled as he was a loner, only muslim boy, and thus had an apprehension about the viability of practising his religion. Soon his fear and apprehension vanished as fellow students and teachers were quite cooperative and encouraged him to follow his religion with earnestness. During the years 2010 and 2011, celebrating the month long Ramadan fasting, some of the fellow students who were non-muslims also joined the holy fast, encouraging him to follow his religious practice. He concluded reciting two verses from Holy Quran reiterating that during his stay with Bhagawan he learnt that Islam religion and Sanathana Dharma are one and same.

Another narration followed that was centred around Bhagawan’s omnipresence and love of Bhagawan. As an eleven year old boy when the narrator was playing a vertical tug of war with his elder brother, owing to the powerful pull from the opposite end, the boy who was in the 1st floor at 15 ft height, slipped and fell hurtling down only to land safe, withoug any major injuries. The lesson learnt was – when mortal aid is not there, if one is surrendered, Divine intervention takes place.

A scintillating Jhugalbandhi followed consisting of nine musical instruments, Veena, Violin, Tabla, Mrudangam, Pakhawaj, Khanjeera, Ghatam, Octopad, Keyboard etc. It was an apt finale came as an apt offering of gratitude, for these talented children learnt all these instruments in the Prasanthi portals as blessed by Bhagawan.

A group song in Hindi followed that summed up the feelings in the hearts passing out this year.

Various offerings at the Divine Lotus Feet followed. All the participating students were felicitated with special mementos. Bhajans continued for sometime that was concluded by the Thursday Special in Bhagawan’s voice, “Rama Kodanda Rama…”.Prasadam was distributed to the entire assemblage of devotees that was followed with Mangala Arathi at 1845 hrs.

II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

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On the 22nd Feb evening, two passing out batches from Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, 10th and 12th standards, offered their gratitude at Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet, bursting into stories galore of the Bond of Love between Mother Sai and His children.

Beginning with a qawwali, soon the presentation got into interactive mode, sharing life saving and savouring miracles, from their own lives and that from others, declaring in no uncertain terms their greater love for Mother Sai.

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Referring to the big void of Beloved Bhagawan’s physical absence, students took consolation from some of their experiences wherein Bhagawan showed through dream sequences that He is ever present in Prasanthi Nilayam. One of the boys narrated an experience wherein he dreamt off Swami sitting and watching a drama programme on the previous night leading to Makara Sankranthi 2012.

Another interesting incident was narrated by Sai Krishna wherein his father who had a damaged iota valve and thus was crushed to Parthi experienced a dream wherein Bhagawan incised his chest region to take out the damaged heart only to replace the same with a brand new heart, materialized instantly, in presence of doctors in the Sai Kulwant Hall. Upon medical inspection on the very next morning it was confirmed that the heart in place was a brand new one.

Narratives ranged from His touch in deciding the career to Bhagawan teaching a primary kid, who was new to South Indian dosa and thus confused the same with burnt black chappathis , the difference between a Dosa and Chappathi… to an encore of a drama presentation at Bhagawan’s own instance satisfying the crying souls of Primary School who missed out His physical presence during a drama presentation, as Bhagawan had moved into the interview room in between.

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A student who had a peculiar habit of erasing Vibhuti mark, that escaped teacher’s attention, had Swami in his dream advising not to continue with the habit. Another  boy who had boils on his body once wondered why an empty throne, big in size, kept in such a small room in the hostel. The same night the boy had a dream wherein He found Bhagawan sitting on the throne and as the boy was playing harmonium He threw the back-cushion unto the boy telling him to keep the same with him and he would be cured. To his utter amazement ,the next morning the student woke up completely cleared of all boils.

How Jyothi meditation helped one of the boys to recover lost jewellery back home, how a crippled baby inside the womb came out complete after incessant prayers, how Vibhuti with incessant sincere prayers helped another boy curing hot burns without any operation and how a baby born, blue and lifeless, was turned into a normal one with Swami appearing and patting the lifeless body was narrated by the students to an assembly that sat soaking in His miracle stories.

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The students concluded offering gratitude to Bhagawan for all that He is for them, teaching them and training them to live His axiom – Brotherhood of Man and Fatherhood  of God – in a world that is torn asunder into various compartments as per man’s whims and fancies.

Pledging to continue the journey, claiming themselves to be Sai Legacy, the children ended the presentation with a group song of Love and Gratitude to Beloved Bhagawan.

At the end of the presentation students sought Divine Blessings for their ensuing board examination. Sri Sivaramakrishnaiah, Principal, Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School offered the hall tickets at Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet seeking Divine Blessings. Students followed with group offerings. Bhajans continued for the next 20 minutes before Mangala Arathi offering at 1820 hrs.

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Entire batch of students was presented with special mementos as a token of love from Beloved Bhagawan.

Prasadam was distributed to the entire assembly of devotees.

II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

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Chinese New Year 2012 began on the 23^rd January and would last fifteen days. This New Year is identified as year of Dragon that symbolizes activity, great vitality, luck and prosperity.

The theme chosen for this year’s celebration was “Love and Gratitude”.

The programme commenced at 1700 hrs. with Lighting of Chinese Candle by Dr. VK Ravindran and Bro. Billy Fong, senior officials of SSSO from Zone 4, organizers of the event.

The first item was a traditional Chinese prayer participated by elderly women devotees from Malaysia in traditional Chinese prayer attire. Melodious prayer song of Kuan Yin calling out the Chinese Goddess of Mercy was played setting backdrop for the prayer.

Next to come was offerings of traditional Chinese items like mandarin oranges, ‘nian gou’ (a traditional Chinese cake), red dates and other delicacies etc. by children from Indonesia and Malaysia.

This was followed by a traditional Chinese prayer ceremony. A priest dressed in ancient Chinese costume offered pranams to Bhagawan in ancient Chinese poetic style.  The priest continued with expressing gratitude on behalf of the four categories of people namely the Government officials, the farmers, the workers and the business communities and prayed for continual blessings and prosperity for the common people.

The next item was a performance by the “Pa Shen” – the ancient Chinese immortals. These Immortals, eight in number, represent the transformation of man to God.   They represent the 8 Chinese values of discipline, detachment, compassion, love, non-violence, sacrifice, humility and gratitude. These eight immortals sang traditional Chinese New Year song on the significance of the holy occasion.

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Bro. Billy Fong, the Zonal 4 Coordinator for Chinese New Year in his welcome address elaborated on the importance of the value of Love and Gratitude to Parents which is the cornerstone of Chinese civilization as well as the core of Swami’s teachings.  Many Chinese had transformed their lives as a result of having known Swami and practised His teachings, said the speaker emphasizing on the need to have constant self-introspection.  The need to surrender negative qualities to Swami with a prayer to help overcome all negative qualities is important, said the speaker reiterating that Bhagawan wanted all to transform.

The highlight of the evening was a drama presentation on the Legend of Miao Shan, a princess who renounced worldly comforts in pursuit of the Ultimate Goal finally to emerge as a Bodhisattva. The presentation staged by the youth and children from Sai Study Group, Medan, Indonesia was based on an adaptation of an ancient Chinese folklore. Presenting the story, the drama highlighted man’s evolution from human to Divine.

Mio Shan, the third born of the King was a special child, embodying great human values, treating all alike with great compassion. Completely detached to the royal comforts and affluence, Miao sets out to seclusion, seeking a life of renunciation.

As years rolled by, the aged King was afflicted by a strange disease.  The wise medicine man of the palace who was summoned pronounced that one of his children should sacrifice both her eyes and arms to save the King from peril.  Two elder daughters found excuses to escape the situation citing various reasons. No one remembered Miao Shan, the third child, who had left home for good.

With the two elderly princesses giving lame excuses to escape the situation, the medicine man advised the royal court to seek the advice of a nun residing in the Fragrant Mountains.  Hearing the plea, the nun immediately agreed to do the sacrifice, citing that the King was suffering from his own Karmic deeds. The nun was none other than Miao Shan.  With Miao’s sacrifice the King instantly recovered.

Out of this great sacrifice emerged a Bodhisattva, effulgent with thousand eyes and thousand arms, the Avalokiteswara whose gaze is always turned down with Love and Compassion to help all those who look up to Her – Goddess Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy who is worshipped by one and all for eternity.

At the end of the presentation all the participating children were felicitated with special gifts. Bhajans, both traditional Prasanthi style and adaptation of Chinese version, by devotees from various contries, continued in full devotional fervor and Mangala Arathi was offered at 1830 hrs. Prasadam was distributed to the entire audience.

Earlier on the 23^rd February, on the first day of Chinese New Year, 36 High Lamas of Tibetan Order from Sera Jhe Monastery in Mysore joined by hundreds of devotees from various countries, including westerners, presented a Buddhist devotional evening engulfing Prasanthi with holy chants.

The proceeding began with initial offerings by Capt. Ong and family, organisers of the day’s presentation. This was followed by offering of Tibetan Khatas by the High Lamas, amulets and Naivedyam by devotees from Singapore.

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Purificatory rites continued next, in the backdrop of Buddhist chantings followed group chantings of Buddhist verses and Mantras from holy scriptures coupled with rites by High Lamas.

The second part of the programme commenced with the chanting of various Buddhist Mantras, namely, Om Mani Padme Hung, Medicine Buddha Mantra, Green Tara Mantra, Special Eternal Prayers composed on Bhagawan, Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha Mantra, Mantra of the Heart of The Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom, The Long Dharani of Chenrezig, Gayathri Mantra followed by another round of Om Mani Padme Hung to concluded with a recital of dedication of Tibetan Buddhist Chants For Universal Peace 2012.

Master Of Ceremonies, Ong Sai Keet, elaborated the significance of the Mantras, Rites and other proceedings. The whole programme lasted for an hour and forty minutes.

At the end of the day’s events, all the High Lamas were felicitated with special presenatations before Mangala Arathi offering.

II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

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