Guru Poornima 2013

The holy celebration of Guru Poornima was held on July 22, 2013 with Omkar at 5.30am.  Our prayers began with 21 Oms and was followed immediately with Suprabatham and 108 Namavalli.  A short bhajan ensued before the blissful morning came to a close.

In the same evening, at 8.00pm, Veda chanting and bhajans were conducted.  Swami's message 'The Higher Calling' was read and shared with everyone present.


(Click for more pictures :  Guru Poornima 2013)

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 4/9

Q: Swami! i wish to settle down here, at Puttaparthi, which is my Real Home.

A: The repose of the wave is in the Ocean, which is its support and sustenance. Your home is neither America nor India, neither New York nor Puttaparthi; nor, any place of pilgrimage, sanctified by saints. What matters is, not what you do, but, how; not where you are, but, how you are. As for this being your home, rest assured that I will protect you, no matter where you are. You cannot be separate from Me; you are not separate from Me.

Q: You are my Guru, Swami.

A: I Am with you and within you; here and now, there and ever. From within, I dissolve your doubts, allay your fears, stop your anguish. Is that not your experience?

Q: I am unworthy of all this compassion.

A: You say so, because the way of the world is to reward worthiness and deny even attention to those it judges unworthy. But, I know of no such limitation or distinction. Sunshine falls on all; it disinfects all, warms all, illumines all. I know you want a tangible Sadhana, suited to the equipment you now possess.

Q: I am tired of this unending round of joys and sorrows.

A: But, you have lived with them all these years and all these lives, too. Why do you talk of certain happenings as joys and certain others, as sorrows? Today's joy may well be tomorrow's sorrow; what is joy for you may well be another's sorrow. Do not judge happenings as good or bad, pleasurable or painful. What right have you to judge? Submit to the test—whether it is light or hard. Be glad, be thankful that you are tested and toughened and cleansed. Your inner consciousness must be like the sky, where no trail is left by the flight of birds or planes or rockets.

Q: What Sadhana is best for me, Swami?

A: Be like the log of wood that is tossed about by waves; but, be aware of your being on the lap of the Ocean. Be delighted that wind and water are playing with you; do not want it to be different; do not want anything; be fully content.

Q: But, Swami, I must reach the shore…

A: It is a shoreless Ocean, this Ocean of Bliss and Grace. Give up trying to go anywhere. Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached, they say. But there is nowhere to go; the goal is in you, realisable as soon as you arise and awake, as soon as you know you are the wave on the Ocean, of the Ocean.

Q: Then, I need make no effort?

A: You have to; it is a challenge to all men. Relinquish the search in the outer world; seek within, the core of happiness. Take refuge in your own Truth, in the Atma. Go to the centre of the cyclone, where calm prevails.

Q: But, that will deprive me of You…

A: I Am The Truth, the Core of your being. Bring Me, your deepest wounds, your unhealed scars, all that oppresses your being, all that hinders your progress. Look upon Me, as with form and as formless.

Q: I adore the Form and the Name.

A: The image your mind has made is of Me, in this Form and with this Name. But, this is a tiny fraction of My Reality. Your problem is `division’, this Form as different from other Forms, this Name as distinct from other Names. But, Truth is One, without a second. It admits of no partial allegiance, no part-time devotion, no half-hearted dedication.

Q: I wish to teach the West the vision of the East.

A: Let all else happen as it will. Do not try to change the ways of others. People are unteachable through words. If God wills that they learn by example, they will. But, at their own rate, in their own time. So, be an example; that is enough.

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 4/8

Once a dog came to Sri Rama bleeding from blows. Lakshmana was sent to inquire why it had to receive such blows. The dog said: "I was beaten by a brahmin with a stick." The brahmin was questioned. He said that the dog always was annoying him by coming across his path. Rama asked the dog: "Well, how do you want to punish the brahmin?" The dog said: "Make him a manager of a temple." Rama replied with wonder: "That would be a reward not a punishment." The dog said: "No, I was a manager of a temple in my previous birth. It was impossible not to mishandle or misuse or misappropriate some fraction of God's money. When he is that manager, he too will get like me this canine birth and perhaps get beaten too in his subsequent birth." In fact, not only the dog or the brahmin, but every one of (us) are lining off the property of God, for does not all this belong to Him? What do we do in return for all benefits we derive from the property of the Lord? We should not simply eat and sit quiet. We have to render service to the poor and the helpless in a manner suitable to us. * * * It was darshan time in Prasanthi Nilayam on 25th February 1990. Bhagawan was slowly walking in front of the lines of ladies. There was hushed silence. Suddenly an old Gorkha lady stood up in the back row. Oblivious to all the raised eyebrows and raised hands to make her sit down, she walked slowly towards Bhagawan as if she had all the time in the world. Swami, knowing the devotion of the old lady, paused with a flicker of a smile. She approached Him, as if she had a prior appointment. Slowly she bent down to offer a Padanamaskar and without hurry got up. Without even looking at Bhagawan she turned round in slow motion, while thousands of devotees watched in wonder and surprise. Without any sign of emotion, with steady and unhurried steps, she walked back to her place and sat down. Watching her I recalled how during World War II Rifleman Agam Bahadur Rai had won a Victoria Cross. He got out of his trench, walked unhurriedly to within 35 yards of a fire spitting Japanese tank, took a deliberate aim with his anti-tank rifle and blew it up. And then equally slowly he turned around and walked back to his trench. He had been taught that 35 yards was the best range for a guaranteed destruction of a tank! A Gorkha does what he feels is his dharma.

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 4/7

On October 23, 1963, I developed a small ulcer on the underside of my tongue, at the tip, on the right half. It spread rapidly backwards causing severe pain, shooting terribly into the right ear and the right eye. The ulcer spread quickly to the gums round my teeth, both in the upper and the lower jaws on the right side. The inside of the cheek was also ulcerated. There were blisters on the right cheek, the outer side. Within 4 days, I was shouting on account of the unbearable pain. My condition became so serious that I had to be admitted in the Bala Ram Hospital on the 27th, as an emergent case. The doctors diagnosed it as a case of Herpes Zoster, involving the second and third division of the trigeminal nerve. Medicines were administered orally and through intramuscular injections. All the while, I was praying to Bhagawan, Who had blessed me when He had come to Lucknow. He is My Lord, My Saviour. On October 29th, I became so desperate with the excruciating agony that I prayed to Baba with great anguish at about 9 pm either to relieve my pain or end the agony forever. At about 12 midnight, when I was in a half-dazed condition, I suddenly felt that Baba came to my bedside and drew a sharp knife across my tongue. No body had come in, we had bolted all doors before retiring. But, still, I saw Him clearly and the knife was drawn. I felt a sudden relief from the pain. It had gone completely! The doctors were surprised that the pain had vanished and the ulcer was well on the way to cure. Baba had responded to my prayer; He had operated over my tongue! And…not a drop of blood! He gave me relief and a fresh lease of life, to keep on praying to Him. Pray to Him ever, dear friends, for His grace!