Chinna Katha by Swami: 23 Jul 2015 discourse

SSG news: 23 July 2015

Chinna Katha.

Told by Swami on Thursday, 23 July 2015 17:45 PM @ Prem Deep.

Once there was a rich man. He had three wives. The first one was ‘Sathi’, very loving, dedicated and faithful. She had a daughter. But she was not that beautiful and looking elderly due to her age.

The second wife was ‘Mathi’. She was very intelligent and clever. The rich man always sought her counseling on any and every issue. She was good looing. She had three children.

The third one was ‘Rathi’. She was extremely beautiful but dull and inefficient. Since she was beautiful the rich man spent so much more time with her and she had ten children.

As the time passed by the rich man become old and his time to go arrived. He was scared of loneliness. He called his most loving wife Rathi and asked her whether would accompany him. She flatly refused saying that neither she nor her children would accompany him. They have acquired lots of things during his life time and they have to take care and enjoy them. So they wouldn’t even move out of the house with him.

The rich man then went to his second wife Mathi and asked her whether she or one her children would accompany him. She generously said that she and her three children would surely accompany him but up to the burial ground only and not a step beyond that.

Totally dejected, the rich man, having no choice, went to his first wife Sathi. He had not seen her for a long time. She had grown old and not much of beauty left in her, but she looked calm and peaceful. Love and compassion radiated for every inch of her body and soul for her husband. She was so happy that he had come at last. Ever before he could say anything, she asked in what way she could serve him. He made his desire known to her. She immediately, without any hesitation said that she would surely accompany him all through his journey. Not only that her daughter would also accompany him. The rich man realized the truth and his folly. They all the three left together.

Moral:

The last wife Rathi is body and her 10 children are five karamendriyas ( sense organs) and five gyanendriya ( senses). The second Mathi is the ‘mind’ or mans and her three children are Budhi, Chitta and Ahamkara. The first wife is Sathi is the Atam and her child is Ananda.

Recognize the real partner of your life and pay attention her.

Sathya Sai Gram News - May 2015.

Sathya Sai Grama News May 2015

There were two major events in this month.

First, the Kodaikanal retreat from 11^th to 20^th.

·      You may recall that the last year Kodaikanal retreat was the first major event through with Swami made his presence known to the world at large. The event was organized in ‘Hill-top Bungalow’, Kodaikanal.

·      This years’ retreat was another example of how Swami’s ‘will’ works -when He wants, it will happen. Swami kept telling about 2015 Kodaikanal retreat right from the last year trip. He kept granting permission to whomsoever prayed sincerely for an opportunity. As the date for retreat was approaching, the event managers started having heart attacks. Because they could not secure permission from the owners of the Hilltop Bungalow to have the retreat there, as late as 1^st of May. But Swami without any concern kept going ahead with His plans and preparations, for He is the all knowing. Finally, on 5^th May, the owners came with a proposal that if Swami is willing to buy the Bungalow, they will have no objection for the retreat. Swami immediately purchased that entire place and named it as “Sai Aananda Ashramam’.  So the retreat was he held as per the schedule, and will be in future, without any hindrance or suspense.

·      After all said and done, it is a small place. It was just adequate for 150 people last year. But this year, on any given day there were 400 people. Swami made every possible arrangement to make it comfortable. Built a new dining hall. Expanded the meeting hall by merging the old dining hall. Yet it was just enough. In fact, to provide an opportunity for all, the guests and the teachers and other invitees were divided into three groups and each group had the opportunity to enjoy the bliss for three days. Swami had made all the arrangement to pick and drop back the participants of the retreat.

·  

    I am told the details of this retreat will be published in a web portal managed by the multimedia group at Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli. Once I get the url I will be happy to share it.

·      The main theme of Swami’s talks was about the three phase of ‘upliftment program’ He has for us. 

According to Swami….

·      What He did at Puttaparthi was a primary school education. The goal was “ God is”. He beckoned people form all walks of life - believers, nonbelievers, atheists - made them believe in God, showed them that God is love. Just as a primary school teacher uses various tricks and methods to keep the children engaged in learning, He also did very many things. He had been very patient with them giving them every possible opportunity to learn and pardoning every indifference. For this the body was necessary and He used it most effectively.

·      

    His mission has now reached a high school level. People have to learn that “God is within us”. That is why He has chosen the form of ‘sukshma sareera’ – a form through which we are aware of His presence / manifestation, but yet cannot experience it with senses. ‘Earlier darsan was dhyanam. Now darsan only in dhyanam’.  In primary school a child learns all lessons in the class, no home work.(!! present day schools do not go by this any way). But in high school, one has to go back home and do home work, with out which passing is difficult. So Swami says this is the time to practice and practice what He is teachings – ‘nisvartha seva (selfless service) to eliminate ahamkaram (ego) and ‘sarva karam phala thyagam ‘ (renunciation of fruits of all actions) to remove ‘mamkaram’  (attachment). An easy approach to this is to do all actions as an offering to God ( ‘sarva karama bhagavth preethyaartham’ )

·      The third phase is to experience that “I am God”; that is what Prema Sai will teach. That is a university education. Professors come once in a way give a talk, your will have to go to the library study, understand on your own and pass the exam. He will not have time (or prefer) like Swami to repeat the same again and again until we understand. Prema Sai will come and just sit and in His presence one has to experience the unity with divinity.

   

      So at present, Swami putting in every effort to take us through the high school in the next 6 to 9 years and prepare us for the university education. This is one of the major purposes of assuming the ‘Sukhshma Sareera”. Those who do not practice and follow Him will remain at primary or high school level.

                   The Second major event of May was the three-day summer course on ‘ Practical Spirituality’organized by the alumni of Swami’s institutions under His guidance from 29^th -31^st. About 800 youth from different parts of the country and abroad (Singapore,  Malaysia, Japan), who did not have an opportunity to study in Swami’s institution had the chance to participate. Swami, with all His compassion, accepted and declared them as “His Students”. Even those of us who have attend many summer courses earlier found it exhilarating and three days passed by like three hours. --- one of the participant has promised to write a summary of the summer course and post it in this blog. 

Sairam until next.

Sathya Sai Grama News, July 2015 - 2

Aum Sai Ram.

Sathya  Sai Grama,

Fri 3 Jul 2015.

Sai Ram,

To day Swami has left for Sri Lanka on a three visit. He will be returning on Sunday on 6th night.

After that Swami will be away from SSG for three days visiting Aliki and bless the staff and students of the institutions there.

Swami would be travelling to Nigeria on 13th and would stay in Lagos for a week. He is expected to return to SSG on 20th July.

Sairam.

Sathya Sai Grama News June 2015.

Sathya Sai Grama News June 2015.

The pace at which Swami making events happen is not easy to keep track of and to report. Almost every week something or other is happening.

Swami made a 16-day visit to Canada, US and Singapore. The following was the itinerary. 

		Swami's North America Visit - Itinerary
Date	Day	Plan
09/06/15	Tuesday	Bangalore to Ottawa
10/12/15		Ottawa
12, 13		Ottawa
13/06/2015	Saturday	Leave for Seattle and Reach Seattle ( Host : Sriram Srinivasan)
14		With Sriram in Seattle
15/06/2015	Monday	Leave for SF and reach SF ( Host : Pankaj and Ahladini Dugar)
16,17		SF
18/06/2015	Thursday	Leave for San Diego and reach before 3 pm
19-21		San Diego, 21st Conference.
22/06/2015	Monday	Leave for LA and then to Singapore
23, 24		In Singapore
25/06/2015	Thursday	Leave for India and reach Muddenahalli before Bhajans
16 day in all

I am told that the registration to attend these events, at the above venues, were over registered.  I do not have the contact information for the hosts. You may try through your friends to know more about the happenings there. All the best enjoy the bless.

Sri B. Narasimha Murthy (BNM) and Sri Madhusudhan Rao (Madhu) were kind enough to find and share their experience of the tour. We have upload this talk for those who sincere in know what Swami is doing and there by experience His love and glory.

Click on the following link for the audio file of BNM Sirs's talk

BNM Sirs talk on US trip

Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality

Aum Sri Sairam

Summer Course in ‘Practical Spirituality’ at Sathya Sai Gram, Muddenahalli.

29-31 May, 2015.

The Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality was envisaged and initiated by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the early nineteen seventies to awaken young men and women of India to the rich cultural traditions this country that have stood the test of time and the eternal spiritual values that have been the pillars of this great nation. 

Over the past four decades, a number of summer courses have been held in the presence of Bhagawan Baba, during which many youth from all over the country have participated and benefited.

This year Summer Course was hosted by Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust from 29 to 31 May, 2015 at Sathya Sai Gram (Muddenahalli) and organized by the Swami’s old students from different campuses, under the guidance of our beloved Swami. The theme for this year's Summer Course is "Practical Spirituality".

Excerpts from Swami’s discourses during this Summer Course:

May 31, 2015 Evening

• All the western cultures have come and gone. Indian Culture is the only permanent one.
• God’s love is only true love and permanent love.
• All wish to be near to God. If we want to be near to God, first we should be dear to God. We can be dear to God by doing what He likes.
• True devotion is not saying that “Swami is in my heart”. Swami should say that “you are in My heart”. To be in Swami’s heart, we should “Love all, Serve all”.
• Whatever we do, be brushing teeth, wearing clothes or working at the office, everything should be done for the love of God.
• Past is past. Forget past. Present is omnipresent.
• I look after your future. All your lives are secure in My hands.
• We must manifest love into silent service. Service requires no reward. We should work for our own happiness.
• Man - desires = God. God + desires = Man
• Have the confidence that God is with me and in me. He will take care of me.
• Don’t differentiate between Swami’s work and my work. All are His work.
• Marjala bhakti: Mother cat looks after the kitten completely. Kitten goes wherever it mother takes. Markata bhakti: Mother monkey moves without worrying about her child. Baby monkey clings on to the mother tightly with fear. Develop marjala bhakti and leave everything to Swami.
• Worry comes only when we have not done our duty properly.
• Do food-prayer before eating. Don’t eat food while watching television. Prayer cleanses the food of the three impurities; caused by the absence of cleanliness of the vessel, cleanliness of the food stuff, and cleanliness in the process of cooking.
• No need to come here to ask questions, do some meditation and ask at your place only, I will give the answer or be in Sathsang, answer comes from it.
• Prasanthi Nilayam is maya. Muddenahalli is maya. Don’t come here to attach to a new form. Realize that God is within you. This is the truth.

May 30 2015, Evening

• Swami has 3 vows: 

             1. To give happiness and bliss to everyone. 

             2. To give the people what they lack. 

             3. To bring all of us onto the Divine path.

• True happiness comes from our heart.
• All of you who had not got the chance to be My students, I am now making you MY Students through this summer course,
• Knowledge has to be put into practice as skill.
• Everything happens because of God’s will. Think whatever is coming our ways as Swami’s Divine Prasadam.
• Courage comes out from love. When there is love, there is faith. When there is faith there is love.
• I am ready to do anything but you must pray like Bhagiratha.
• I do not have a body,  your body shall be My body,  your hands shall be My hands, your sight shall be My sight, your words shall be My words and your song shall be My song.
• By your service, people should think that if the devotees are so good, then how much great their master must be?

May 29, 2015, Evening

• Love with no desires is the true love.
• God alone is hero and rest are all zeros. Though Kauravas are hundred in number, the only reason for their failure is Pandavas had God(Lord Krishna) with them.
• God alone is our true friend. So, first do friendship with God.
• Swami says not to give importance to physical beauty. Character is the actual beauty of person.
• Once we make friendship with God, even if we leave Him, He will never leave us.
• Heart is our master. Follow the heart not the mind. The difference between what the mind tells and what the heart says is that heart will tell us the same thing irrespective of time, place and circumstances. It will never change. Heart will tell us what is good for everybody not just for ourselves.
• Our goal is God not the world.
• All our actions should be selfless without any expectation. Sowing of seeds is our duty. Do not expect fruits.

May 29, Morning

• There is only one religion, the religion of love.
• There are three very important things. First to have human birth, second desire for liberation, third shelter at the feet of the God. God as your teacher. You are lucky. You have got all three of them.
• Love cannot be confined to words. It will never sit quietly, it will manifest itself to service. Love in thoughts is Sathya(Truth), Love in action is Dharma.(Righteousness), Love in understanding is Ahimsa(Non – violence), Love in feelings is Shanthi.(Peace).
• Practical spirituality is nothing but the practice of ”Love all Serve all “.
• Our mind is like a lock and key. If we turn it to the world(left) it will be locked and it takes us to the bondage. If we turn it to the God(right), it takes us to the liberation.
• Love should not be in only words. It should be in actions also.
• When there is unity, there is purity and when there is purity, there is Divinity.

May 28, Thursday

• Have always good company like a magnet for iron but not like air or dust for iron.
• Both animal qualities and divine qualities are inside us. We should know our divine qualities.
• Good company is the one which takes us near to God. Bad company always takes us far away from God.
• Why are we born in this world? What is the purpose of our life in this world?
• We are born again and again. We die again and again. Human beings are born to do something so that they do not have to be born again. There are 84 lakhs of species of living organisms in this universe. Among all these species of living organisms, human life is the most precious one.
•                                          ABC + ABC -----> ABC

          Avoid Bad Company + Always Be Careful ----> Always Be Cheerful

• Many people search for happiness but true happiness lies in union with God. Happiness is within us. It is not from outside.
• Our mind has both good and bad thoughts and also both selfish and selfless thoughts. Whenever a bad or selfish thought comes we should say to ourselves ,”I am NOT an animal. This is not my quality”
• We are not one, but three

             1. The one what we think we are- Body                                            

             2. The one what others think we are – Mind

            3. The one what we really are – Atma

• Three things are essential for women – kattu (dress habits), bottu (the dot on the forehead) and juttu (proper hair). Be smiling and always happy. That is only the true jewel to a woman (alankaram).
• Swami says not to keep castor oil face and says to come five minutes before the speaker arrives and also to leave only five minutes after the speaker leaves.

Interactive session for Transformation from I to We to He:

• Our life consists of many roles. Equal importance should be given to all our roles. Our life wheel should be a complete circle.
• We are all requested to draw our life circle based on our ratings for the different roles we play in our life. Most of our life cycles are not a circle but appeared in different shapes like trapezium, hexagon and so on.
• So, we are all requested to write a goal for each of our roles to make our life wheel as a complete circle.
• A goal is the only one which can be written on a paper and it should be SMART.

S - Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Relevant/Realistic

T – Time bound

• Simple steps to discipline our mind are 

            1. Before today night, list all the activities to be done next day. 

            2. Next day night, you check out how many you have done.

• To accept all others, be non-judgmental. We should always appreciate others instead of criticizing them.
• An activity to experience the happiness and joy in appreciating others: We are all requested to move around and find atleast 15 strangers and to appreciate one good quality of each of them.
• A picture of a man was shown and we were asked to find what does his face conveys? Answers were: An arrogant man, sad person and so on. Then we were asked to close our eyes and to transfer the love of Swami through us to him. Then the same question was repeated. Answers were: A man with satisfaction, A man with confidence, A man with peace. So, Love converts the negativity in us to positivity.
• So, we get what we focus in our life. Swami is always happy as His focus is always on only love.
• A beautiful and wonderful reason was said by brother Vijay Sai for us to be always happy is

“Swami says that your anandam is My aaharam. Do we want to starve our Swami by being unhappy?”

• We should show gratitude to all the persons who helps us in our life directly or indirectly. We should be a team, but not be a group in a family.
• All the participants are divided into region wise groups. Each group is requested to come with a time bounded service activity to be taken up after going to our places.

Excerpts from other speakers discourses during this Summer Course

B. N. Narasimha Murthy Sir speech

• To be with God, be innocent like a child. 
• He recollected Swami’s answer to his prayer to be always with him. 

“ I am always with you. I was with you. I will be with you. But you learn to be with Me”.

Swami Nikileswarananda of the Ram Krishna Math and Mission, Vadodara

• No need to get the power from outside, already infinite power is within us. We are the children of immortal bliss.
• He explained 4 yogas to be practised in our daily life

1. Rajya yoga – Trying to practice moral values
2. Gnana yoga – Finding out who am I
3. Bhakti yoga – Loving the Lord
4. Karma yoga – Converting every work into worship. Every work and its fruits are dedicated to God.

• True spirituality gives us courage, happiness, peace, freedom and success.
• Being always happy and smiling takes us near to God.

Swami Hamsananda of The Chinmaya Mission, Hubli

• Swami Hamsananda defined spirituality as the capacity to smile because of anything, and inspite of everything.
• He says that the following are the main things that takes us far away from happiness.

            1. Regrets of past. 

            2. Anxiety for future. 

            3. Excitement in present

• He gave a set of simple tips to be always happy:Minding our own business by not interfering with other’s work

           1. Don’t worry about past. 

           2. Be alert, awake, available and ready.

           3. Love wherever you are and whatever you are.

Sri Dinesh Godke of Art of Living

• Practical spirituality means having calmness inside and dynamism outside.
• Our brain consists of both pleasing centre and craving centre. Generally a person will have both centres active. But, meditation makes only the pleasing centre to be active in our mind.
• He showed us the importance of meditation by conducting a meditation activity and also the importance of being to be alert and relaxed always through practical games.

Swami (Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) has promised the following projects during this Summer Course:

• Drinking Water Project and a solar energy project for the district of Chikkballapur
• Sri Sathya Sai Sarla Memorial Hospital in Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli
• A Music College in Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli
• A general hospital in Kolkata in the next 2 years
• A super specialty hospital in Kolkata in the next 5 years
• A mobile Medical-bus with mini operation theatre to Kolkata youth by this November
• A small medical van for Muddenahalli youths to undertake Medical camp
• Ground breaking ceremony for a new Super specialty hospital in Noida near Delhi in November this year.

                        sSs