Issue 232 - June 13, 2021 |
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Sairam dear brothers and sisters,
As we go about engaging ourselves in the various seva activities, we will begin to notice that every time we serve, our heart begins to expand a little bit more. There is a surge of love in the heart; there are no inhibitions and there are no excuses. Every time we step out for a seva activity, we feel like doing more, we want to spend more time, while slowly realising the fact that we always receive more love than the amount of love we give. Like Swami always says, this is the business we are in....the business of love. This revelation dawns on us, sooner or later.
Swami puts this point across so beautifully when He says, “If love is the theory, service is the practicals. And when you engage in seva selflessly, you truly understand what God must be like. You get a taste, a glimpse, a little vision, a peep into God's heart when you serve selflessly! It is so redeeming that never again you want to go back to your old ways. Having tasted that love of God in the love of people, you don't want to go back and taste again the worldly love which is full of expectations and desires. So, be that. And that is what is important!”
Sairam
Bhuvana Santhanam
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ātmano mokshārtam
(Emancipation of one’s self)
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Excerpt from Divine Discourse |
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In our scriptures, the attainment of proximity to God or sannidhi of God is elaborated in four ways: sālokya, sārupyā, sāmepyā and sāyujyā. Only when you develop this kind of satsaṅga wherever you are, can you really develop detachment from worldly cravings. nissangatva or detachment means you practice this principle of ‘Head in the forest, Hands in society’. It is to get away from the company of people who always think of worldly desires and worldly pleasures, and get into the company of good people who are on the spiritual path thinking of God and have the urge to know and experience God.
True nearness is about getting close to God in your own mind. If you want to get nearer to God, first become dear to God. Turning the mind which always goes outside, inward to enter your own hearts is sālokya, entering the world of God. Involving yourselves in activities, which make you dearer to God is sāmepyā or getting closer to God. When you get closer to God, you will get the vision of God: that is sārupyā. For attaining those wisdom eyes, shraddha (sincerity) is very important. With that kind of shraddha if you persist on the spiritual path, you will be able to have the vision of God within ourselves. Once you get this sārupyā within yourself, you merge in God that is sāyujyā. And that is also called jivanmukti or liberation.
Spirituality is not a path of intricacies. It is a very simple path. Only by practicing the principle ‘Love all and serve all’ can you attain spiritual growth and peace of mind. Internally, in your mind, chant the name of God; not externally. On one side, think of God and on the other, offer service to God.
When you keep God at the centre stage of your life, everything will go well. Wherever there is selflessness, you can achieve anything and everything. There is no power higher than selflessness. Love is that selflessness. When you are prompted by selfishness, it is only attachment and not love. Wherever there is pure love, there is Sai; wherever there is Sai, there is success. That is SAI – ‘S’ stands for service, ‘A’ means adoration or devotion, ‘I’ is illumination or wisdom.
An excerpt from Divine discourse delivered on February 25, 2016
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My Story
Accepting Change
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By Anandi Hemanth Kumar
Homemaker, UAE
Change can come in many forms in our lives. Some changes are small with minimal consequences, and others can be big which put our life into a rollercoaster before we can even accept the change. I was up for one such big change, when my husband got a job offer in a different country and proposed moving as a family. It was a challenge for all of us. We had settled into own comfort zone, in a luxurious house, two cars, and my children going to a good school and having their set of good friends. Moving out to a different country was simply unacceptable in our minds. To top it all, we had to move during the COVID pandemic. I resisted this change and was very fearful. I even feared not having opportunities to serve Swami even in the small way that I could.
As the saying goes, “When in doubt, choose change.” Swami’s divine guidance came to me in many ways. He made me realise that I have to respect and value my husband’s job prospects and his decision-making for the family’s future. I soon realised that accomplishing anything great in life requires us to make significant changes that push us beyond our comfort zones. Swami says, “when you change, your whole reality changes.” I accepted the situation and took it in a good stride. We, as a family, welcomed the change and were ready to move to a new country happily leaving all our past behind.
We moved to Dubai, UAE. It was as though Swami had everything planned for me. He had lined up several opportunities for me. I plunged into activities related to balvikas, youth activities, editorial activities and many more under the guidance of members in Sai Hrudayam, who welcomed me with much love and warmth. Now, I am enjoying the seva, I am able to participate and serve even while staying at home during the pandemic. I have realised that even though change can be difficult, but it’s also for our best. I know that embracing change is for good.
I have a more profound and deeper understanding, when I look back in my past. I pray to Swami to guide me in a similar manner and to give me strength to accept every situation which comes my way and overcome my fears and face the challenges boldly. For all the challenges are divinely ordained for our growth.
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To help reach Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s human values-based education to the world, and to resuscitate the humanness of humanity, the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence launched a unique, first-of-its-kind Institute of Human Values, to offer tailor-made courses totally free of any charges, curated by experts from around the world. The Vision of the Institute is to make better humans in their personal and professional spheres, by making them more sensitive towards society’s needs and exploring ways of their contribution to society in a meaningful and selfless manner, thereby creating a sense of global citizenship and responsibility.
The courses will help an individual balance the inside and outside, while progressively being a better human being, that will ultimately help him or her unravel the true meaning and purpose in life.
Learning from the heart is spiritual awakening, Baba would say. The Institute of Human Values is the first step to help lead the world into the beautiful awareness of its heart – a heart that operates from the universal human values of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa.
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kaṭhopaniṣad is a legendary story of a brave little boy, Nachiketa, son of Sage Vajasravasa, who meets Yama (the Hindu deity of death), and seeks spiritual wisdom from him. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, ātman (Soul, Self) and mokṣā (liberation).
kaṭhopaniṣad is a legendary story of a brave little boy, Nachiketa, son of Sage Vajasravasa, who meets Yama (the Hindu deity of death), and seeks spiritual wisdom from him. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, ātman (Soul, Self) and mokṣā (liberation).
The ātman (Self) is the pure consciousness which can be known only through relentless perseverance. One must divert the mind from its obsession with its natural habitat, the objective world, and maintain it in a state of unwavering equanimity. This triumph alone can remove one’s grief, once for all! The feeling that you (the jivi) are separate from that ‘One’ (the ātman) is the root cause of the cycle of birth and death.
Initially, Yama tested the sincerity and determination of Nachiketa by refusing and denying answering, by luring him with the riches of the world and distracting him with sensual pleasures. But Nachiketa, being a true aspirant on the spiritual path, discriminated between being a true aspirant on the spiritual path, discriminated between 'sreyas' (the good) and 'preyas' (the pleasant) remained unmoved and pined only to know the truth. Thus, he earned the deservedness to attain the supreme knowledge, brahmajnana (the knowledge of Brahman) from Yamadeva himself. Anyone who perseveres like Nachiketa is guaranteed to attain and experience Brahman.
The episode 25 featured this week further explains about jivātma and paramātma. Under the guidance of our Divine Master, let us learn these profound teachings of vedanta and follow Him in the path of Self-Realisation.
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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE FOR THE WEEK |
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“Action with a desire produces samsārā, desire even without action produces samsārā, but action without desire does not produce samsārā, it leads to emacipation.”
- Tapovan Maharaj
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jagat hitāya
(Welfare of the World)
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Ereko Methodist School
Ereko Methodist School is a government-based school situated in Lagos island. The students are from under privileged backgrounds, mostly from the rural parts. In addition to regular primary students, Ereko Methodist School also caters for children with special needs of students with learning disability, hearing impaired and intellectual challenged ones.
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Sri Sathya Sai Foundation has been formally approved by the Lagos State Education body to carry out the breakfast distribution service. The Sai youth of Lagos serve breakfast packages which include biscuits, muffins, bread loaf, margarine spread, cheese balls and yogurt/flavoured milk. A total of 900 breakfast packs were distributed recently. |
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The Sai youth were able to continue providing refreshments for the disposal truck workers once in two days. As they come under the category of essential workers, even during the island-wide lockdown, they were demanded to report to work. This, however, did not dampen their spirits as they arrived with great energy and greeted the youth with much enthusiasm, every single day. Various refreshments or food parcels containing home-made Sri Lankan rice and curry were served through-out the month. The refreshments ranged from savoury and sweet sandwiches, a variety of biscuits and fresh fruits such as bananas and papaya were provided. These interactions are truly humbling and the genuine smiles that light up their faces have never failed to touch the hearts of the Sai youth in Sri Lanka. |
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