Issue 34 - August 27, 2017

Editor's Note...

Swami always tells us that we should become Him. It will be only a wasted fortune if we do not believe in what Swami is telling us. We must have faith in His words that we are God. Swami's message for the Sai youth across the world this week: "By just merely looking at the food or reading about them or talking about the items, one's stomach cannot be filled and hunger cannot be dissipated. Only when you put at least a little bit in your mouth, chew it, swallow it, digest it, then you feel the joy. Just like this law of this physical or material world, the spiritual or the metaphysical world also operates on the same basis. By merely listening to the talks by the knowledgeable ones, by simply reading books written by the people who are wise, by simply discussing in forums about all that which has been spoken earlier, is not possible for one to experience the joy which is spiritual in nature. But even if one teaching or one aspect of that message, is put into practice, it will yield the results and then you will truly understand the joy that lies within. How much are you putting into practice all that is being said? Contemplate and introspect." Yours in His Service, Bhuvana Santhanam

Service Updates

Making Souls Happy

One of the best medicines is laughter, so every Saturday, a group of young devotees visits the children wearing clown costumes to make them smile. Each of them collects clothes, nappies, toys, hygiene items and anything the children might need. This Saturday there were five babies and two children who received the care of ten medical clowns. These medical clowns try to meet the needs of the children by giving donations, gifts and balloons, playing with them, and having fun together to make their days in the hospital easier.

An Obstacle that Became an Opportunity

The proposal to give Remedial Classes at René´s Gym appealed to the teachers in the Seva group and they immediately went about acquiring the required teaching materials. At a later meeting, someone commented that if the Seva group were going to evaluate the children and teens, it might conflict with the teachers at their school who might feel that the Seva group was infringing on their duties or criticizing them. It was decided that before making the evaluation, the Seva group should go to the school and explain things to the Principal, and ask for his opinion.

Canadian Newsletter August 2017

When serving fruit juices in the hot temperatures to needy friends, the youth see a radiant and pure loving smile which truly is the smile of dear Lord Sai. When the team see hands stretched out to receive a banana or a bun, it gives a strong sense of the abundance that the youth all live in.

Northern California Homeless Seva

The youth of Northern California meet every Saturday and come together with a feeling of unity and love with only one purpose, that is to serve fellow neighbours of the society that are deprived of the basic needs like shelter and food. The volunteers cook different breakfast items like burritos, hot soup and such, then serve in the streets of San Jose. So many loving experiences happen during the  Seva , that the team realised what  Bhagawan  says “ We do not serve others, but we actually serve ourselves ”.

Feed The Need- Texas  Seva

On the auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima on July 9, 2017, the Houston youth got together once again for their monthly Seva as an offering of love to their divine Guru. The Seva activity consisted of preparing and handing out lunch bags to the needy homeless people in various downtrodden areas of the city. Each bag consisted of Tofurkey sandwiches (made with vegetarian tofu slices, mayonnaise, mustard and pickles), cheese crackers and a water bottle.

Huntsville, Alabama Homeless Seva

Tragically, NASA, its employees, and its contractors continue to face the pressures of downsizing, as interest in space exploration and scientific research, in general, has suffered several recent setbacks. It is difficult to fathom the plight of others unless Bhagawan places one in a situation where one becomes a direct witness of it. This was the case when a Sai youth in Huntsville was shocked to see a colleague who was an aerospace engineer requiring food assistance provided at Manna House.

Transformation

Transformation is Not a Destination So it was after Bhagawan commanded us to find a permanent solution for homeless children that we started to reach out local shelters in the Bay area.

Interestingly we came across the Bill Wilson Center and shared with them our vision which was to find a permanent solution for homeless kids. We met the community in-charge person there, shared our insight and surprisingly they were very receptive, we got a lot of input from her about how a shelter works...