Issue 108 - January 27, 2019
Inspirational Note ...
In 2015 a Satsang held in the divine presence at California, USA. A devotee seeks guidance on bringing back the balance and harmony between man and nature.

And here is what Swami said:

When your inner nature changes, the outer nature will also change. If you reduce your wants and use less – only as much as you need – then nature will always provide enough for that. It is only when we use more than what we need, that we hurt Nature. Nature is selfless, it keeps giving and giving without any expectation. However, when we become too selfish, we cannot live with Nature in harmony. Whatever you need, you may use from Nature, there is plenty for you, but the greed has to be reduced. Start with yourself, your circle of friends, your circle of acquaintances, and slowly it will spread to many, many people. There are thousands right now thinking about it, and the moment they first put it into practice, it will spread to friends, family, and relatives, and it will grow from there. You begin, and slowly more will join, and this revolution will happen everywhere, all around the world. Now, man has understood that he has crossed the limit, and is hurting Nature beyond repair. Therefore, Nature is also reacting to man’s own actions. It is only reflection, reaction and resound. People are becoming careful now. You begin with yourself, your family, and your friends, and it will spread to everyone.
Service Updates
A New Opportunity to Serve
December is a very special month since Christmas and the New Year are celebrated.
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Young people, in addition to distributing food to their most needy brothers, put on a campaign to gather new / used toys in good condition, to distribute to the children in the picnic areas. They shared moments filled with games and a lot of joy when celebrating this festivity.
Food For The Hungry
Tarahumara Communities
The Chihuahua Mexico Seva group has been working with Rene`s Gym and the young people he has been helping since October 2016. Twice monthly the group goes to give Human Values and Yoga classes. The Seva group quickly got involved in extending this help to medical consultations, technical workshops and orienting Rene and his family so that they could start a shop to make and sell tortillas and become a sustainable Non-Governmental Organisation. The group continues to serve as consultants for that business and every new initiative they add to their service.
Bay Area Service
The Sai Ashraya volunteers have been serving dinner regularly now, they are becoming friendlier and conversing personally with the homeless people well. The homeless friends recognize the volunteers and talk in a more relaxed manner sharing many personal stories. Now that they see the regular faces they are more comfortable opening up. While serving food the volunteers also sit with them and talk to them, in one of the recent heart to heart conversations a homeless friend who is 34 years old was sharing about his past.
Bhagawan is also sending us more volunteers to expand HIS work. The organization (http://www.sahajmarg.org/smww/featured-centre/fremont) which primary focuses in meditation where about 200 people attend every time. They were exploring doing service activities in the Bay Area and through a friend who was also a Sai Ashraya volunteer came to know about our service projects. They participated in a service activity with Sai Ashraya volunteers at Oakland that really touched their hearts.
Alabama Seva at Manna House
On January 17, 2019, between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM, Sai youth along with two other groups, served 25 disabled and disadvantaged persons by carrying large boxes and bags of groceries and several milk cartons at the Manna House, an Organisation of the Huntsville Dream Centre.

Amidst the cold winter rain, volunteers from the General Electric Company joined Sai youth and the dedicated flock of The Rock Evangelical Church to serve those individuals needing assistance over the upcoming five days, as the long weekend honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. approached.
Fresh Start to a New Year in Kansas City
As the Sai Youth of Kansas and their journey of transformation turned the corner into the New Year, they set their sights higher - more meals served, more communities impacted, more souls transformed. Bhagawan’s goal for each region - to serve 1 million meals - rang clear in their minds and it was not long before the work began.

While serving a particularly downtrodden community during the Christmas "Spread the Warmth" activity, some of the youth came across a building, which happened to host three different church groups and also provide housing for volunteers who helped the church with maintenance and upkeep.
Houston ‘Feed The Need’ Seva
On the auspicious occasion of the Makar Sankranti festival, the youth of Houston came together to begin their New Year with an offering of Seva to their beloved Bhagawan . Following the Divine Command given to the youth of USA at the World Youth Meet, 2018 in Muddenahalli , the youth were inspired to take on this Seva of feeding the needy with full force.
 
The group of six youth prepared 108 lunch bags which would be handed to the homeless people living in the downtown areas of Houston. The lunch bags consisted of mayo-pickle tofurkey (vegetarian tofu) sandwiches, crackers and juice.