Issue 235 - July 04, 2021 | | Sairam dear brothers and sisters, With another new month ahead of us, and as we take a look at the last six months of 2021 which has slipped past swiftly, our brothers and sisters embracing more needy individuals has certainly been the highlight; it is nothing short of a miracle. Swami has often reminded us that the primary purpose of our birth is to serve. As each one of us volunteer our time, effort or any other resource for that matter, the reason to engage in seva should spring forth from within. Swami says, "Engaging in seva and helping the needy should come naturally; it must emanate from the source. When you do it by force, it becomes a burden. When you do it from source, it becomes a joy! Ask yourself the question, 'How am I going to be of use to someone today?' The mere thought of being able to help someone should bring you joy. The answer lies in the quality of joy! This joy must pass through each limb of your body. The joy which emanates from the mere thought of giving and sharing must consume your entire self."
Sairam Bhuvana Santhanam | | ātmano mokshārtam (Emancipation of one's self) | | A Schoolboy's Proof for the Existence of God | | As a young boy studying at school, I had difficulty initially to believe in the existence of God. Though faith was inherent in my heart, my head questioned it incessantly. This struggle between head and heart led me to find a scientific and rational proof for the existence of God. It was so simple a proof that even a schoolboy could discover it. I was not aware of the Unified Field Theory at that time. But my common sense told me that one power or energy should be at the source of all physical forces at play in the universe. That was obvious due to the existence of harmony and orderliness in the universe. But my head asked a pertinent question, "What if that energy is only a mechanical and unconscious energy?" I lost sleep over this question for many days and nights. But God was very kind to me in providing a logical answer to this question. In this universe, apart from innumerable unconscious material bodies, there is also a lot of consciousness that manifests in countless beings, beginning from little worms and insects to man. It is simple logic that if the energy which is the source of the universe is unconscious, there could not have been any conscious beings in the universe. It is a simple law of science that something cannot come out of nothing! Therefore, there should be a conscious energy as the source and basis of the universe. That conscious energy is God! This simple proof confirmed my faith in God for ever, and after that I never ever doubted the existence of God. Also, it is elementary logic that any conscious being responds to our feelings and appeals. Even a dog returns the little love and affection showered on it. Then why will God not do it? Thus, in the initial years of my quest, I started praying to God as an impersonal conscious power. Later it spontaneously dawned upon me that God is much bigger and greater than what our puny minds can imagine, and hence He can be both personal and impersonal at the same time; He could be formless and also take upon Himself many forms! Of course, for a spiritually evolved person, no proof is required for the existence of God. However, God is kind and wise enough to provide many proofs, only if we observe His ways in the laws that govern His creation. Maybe this was what prompted Einstein to exclaim, "God may be mysterious, but He is not malicious!" An excerpt from the book 'sanātana dharma' authored by Sri B N Narasimha Murthy, Pg no. 108-109. | | My Spiritual Calling From Swami
By Deneshwaren Sundram Product Specialist Malaysia
I have known Sri Sathya Sai Baba since my childhood, as my entire family were devoted to Him. Although I grew up knowing Swami, I never really got involved in any seva activity or practiced any kind of sadhana in my entire life. I've always seen Swami as God and out of my ignorance, just believed and prayed to Him only for my worldly needs. The real turning point in my life came in the year 2014 when for the first time I had my spiritual calling from Swami, within. At this point of time, I was facing a lot of issues in my life, mainly due to my studies and relationship. I used to be stressed, worried, anxious most of the time and never kept it hidden from the notice of others. Without my realisation I started confessing all my issues to Swami during my prayers. As time went by, I could see that Swami began responding to my questions subtly which in turn solved my problems, one at a time. Moving forward, I could see more and more clearly that Swami was subtly communicating with me and helping me out. This made me realise that God is not merely an idol or a photograph, but is actually very close to oneself, constantly available to help and guide, just like that of a mother. From then onwards, I slowly started getting involved in Swami's seva activities. In 2015, I got to know about Swami's continuing mission in Muddenahalli and during the Navaratri Celebrations 2016, I visited the ashram in Muddenahalli for the very first time. I stayed back for three months until His birthday celebrations in the month of November. I experienced divinity first hand, through Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai during my entire stay, and it was simply a life-changing experience for me. Today, when I look back at my life before 2014, I was a very different person compared to what I am today. My understanding and perspective of life has completely changed. I may not be entirely perfect and as I still tend to fall out of track at times, but I definitely know that I'm being constantly guided through Sadguru's teachings from the 'Master the Mind' series, which puts me back on track and guides me on my progress towards the ultimate goal of self-realisation. | | 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.
| | The indriyas (senses), manas (mind), buddhi (intellect) and ātman (self) are connected to each other and reside within the chariot of body. This body proceeds on the path, where the senses run behind the sense objects. To satiate itself the senses run behind the sense objects and this is the only motivation for them to keep working. In this chariot, senses are the horses for the chariot of body, mind is the reins, intellect is the charioteer and ātman is the passenger.
buddhi, the charioteer is of three kinds viz sātvik, rājasik and tāmasik. People with tāmasik buddhi are lazy and work only to please their senses. People with rājasik buddhi are ambitious in nature. They are focused on getting the results, totally unbothered whether it is achieved with dharma or adharma. Whereas the people with sātvik buddhi act with a feeling of offering every action to God which makes their actions purer. They always try indulge themselves in actions which pleases God. Due to this they won't end up doing wrong doings.
Mind has to be strong to control the senses which tends to run hither ad tither. It can be attained only by developing a good, sātvik buddhi.
Episode 27 featured this week, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai explains the wisdom from chapter one, vallī three of kaṭhopaniṣad.
Come and receive the highest of the truths taught by Sadguru in the most simplest way! | | INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE FOR THE WEEK | | "Do not pretend – be; Do not promise – act; Do not dream – realise."
- Mother Mirra | | jagat hitāya (Welfare of the World) | | In the city of Melbourne, the Sai youth run weekly values programme for children, and also a programme on parenting for parents.
Early Childhood Development
The values programme in early childhood development focuses on children from the age group of five to thirteen years, split into three groups, and provides weekly interactive sessions based on the core human values through a range of fun activities | | Mindful Parenting
The Sai youth also conducted the weekly online parenting sessions, which focussed on mindful parenting. The parents found these sessions, which focussed on strategies through COVID lockdowns, an avenue to share and grow. Toys and Clothes for families in need
During the month of June, the Sai youth collected and co-ordinated the collection of clothes, blankets and toys for needy families with young and new-born children. | | On the beautiful morning of 27 June 2021, the Sai youth from Sai Ananda conducted their monthly provision camp. The volunteers began preparing for the provision camp right from the early hours of the day. About 80 dry ration packs were prepared, which included rice, oil, sugar, milk powder, noodles, biscuits, tea leaves and curry powder. Delicious food items were also cooked and packed which were later distributed to 250 needy individuals along with the monthly provisional packs. | | | | | | |
