The goal of one’s life is not to continue existing as the bubble and deluding oneself with all the reflections that do not really exist, but ultimately realise that he or she is not separate from God. - Baba
With the Blessings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we are delighted to present our One Hundred and Sixty Fifthissue of Ananda Vahini. The weekly newsletter includes interesting musings and short excerpts from the week's events.
In this issue, we present you the updates of Ashadi Ekadashi celebrations held on July 12, 2019 and Guru Purnima celebrations held from July 14 to July 17, 2019 at Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli.
Also, reports on Bhagawan's visit to Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Pre-University College at Muddenhalli on July 20, 2019 and DRDO Community Hall at C V Raman Nagar, Bangalore on July 21, 2019 has been presented.
In this week's INNER VIEW, Sadhguru Sri Madhusudan Sai shares an interesting moment between Him and Seva Volunteers of Spain.
- Sathya Sai Grama Communications Team.
INNER VIEW
By Sri Madhusudan Sai
All about Seva?
Speaking to Seva volunteers in Spain, Swami asked if they knew what Seva truly construed of. This unexpected question drew an intelligent blank from the audience and thus created an opportunity for Swami to elaborate.
Swami remarked, ”When should Seva be done? Where should it be done? How it should be done? What should be done as Seva? And why should one do Seva? All these should be known about Seva by the Seva volunteers.”
And He Himself went on to answer the When, where, how, what and why of Seva as He said,
“When should Seva be done? All the time.
Where should it be done? Everywhere.
What Seva should be done? Whatever is needed.
How it should be done? With humility and no ego.
Why should it be done? For once own self improvement.”
Thus, Swami summarised all that one needed to know about Seva.
ASHADI EKADASHI CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 12, 2019
As Muddenahalli prepared for the auspicious Guru Purnima proceedings, the celebrations began with the auspicious Ashadi Ekadashi programme. A festival dedicated to Lord Vishnu, this Ekadashi marks the beginning of the Chaturmasam. During this time, devotees of Lord Vishnu in Maharashtra called the Vatkaris go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur to worship Lord Vishnu in the form of Vitthala and his consort Rakkumai. All the devotees, with no distinctions of caste or creed, sing Abhangs and Bhajans all along the way, revelling in the joy of music and devotion.
The programme began with the chanting of the Ganesha Suktam by the grade ten students of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva High School. It was followed by an uplifting musical programme which rightfully celebrated music replete with devotion on account of this festival. Presented by various students and staff of the organisation, the programme included compositions be various devotees of Swami, Purandaradasa Keertanas, Kritis...
Music programme by the students and staff of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Group of Institutions
GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 14, 2019
The grand Guru Purnima celebrations at Muddenahalli began on the July 14, 2019 in the divine of presence of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Said Baba. With God Himself as the Guru, every devotee gathered here was bestowed with the abundant grace of the Lord.
The programme for the day began with three book launches. The first was the Kannada translation of ‘Sri Sathya Sai Divya Anandam’ by Sri B N Narasimha Murthy. This book narrates his experiences with Bhagawan and is a sequel to his autobiography ‘Sri Sathya Sai Divya Kripashraya’. It was presented by Sri Ananta Murthy, Chairman of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva High School and his wife Smt Chaya Murthy. This was the couple’s 20th work of translation. The second book was ‘Inner View’, Volume 3 by Sri Madhusudan, which is a compilation of 100 short conversations with Swami and this was presented by Sister Usha Kotta and Brother Girish Katti from Sri Sathya Sai Premamrutha Prakashna – Books and Publications division. The last book was ‘Sai Hrudayam – In the Heart of Sai’ by devotees from Dubai, who were lovingly christened ‘Sai Hrudayam’ by Swami Himself. Swami has highlighted....
Launch of Kannada translation of ‘Sri Sathya Sai Divya Anandam’, authoured by Sri B N Narasimha Murthy
Launch of ‘Inner View - Volume 3', authoured by Sri Madhusudan Sai
Launch of ‘Sai Hrudayam – In the Heart of Sai’, a book which encapsulates the stories of devotees from Dubai
Cultural dance programme by Mrs Tanushree Shankar and troupe
GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 15, 2019
Guru Purnima celebrations at Muddenahalli continued on the 15th of July with several more enchanting cultural performances. The programme began with the chanting of the Vishnu Suktam by students of grade 6, 7 and 8 of the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Kendra (CBSE) School, Muddenahalli.
The Kannada translation of the book ‘Inner View – Volume 2’ written by Sri Madhusudan with snippets of experiences between Bhagawan and His dear devotees, was presented to Bhagawan by two senior alumni of the Alike campus – Sri Kana Sundar Bhat, Head Master of the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva High School (SSSLHS) and Sri Kabir Adkastala, Kannada teacher at SSSLHS.
Thereafter, the evening’s cultural programme was rendered by Smt Gayatri Ganjawala along with staff and students of various institutions of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Group of Institutions. Smt Gayatri is an exponent in Carnatic and Hindustan styles of Music. They performed Marathi Abhangs, which are devotional.....
Musical rendition by Smt Gayatri Ganjawala with staff and students of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Group of Institutions
GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 16, 2019 (MORNING)
On the morning of the auspicious Guru Purnima celebrations, as melodious Bhajans were in progress, Bhagawan entered the Premamrutham hall and granted Darshan from the balcony above the stage. Clad in effulgent yellow, Brother Sri Madhusudan proceeded to enter the hall escorted by a procession of students chanting Vedas. One could only imagine how Swami must have looked…radiant, and glorious, as He has always, during every Guru Purnima day!
Gliding amidst all those who had gathered, Bhagawan granted Darshan to everyone, cutting cakes to mark the occasion before ascending the dais to take His seat on the throne. The morning’s celebrations began with a rendering of the Guru Paduka Stotram which was then followed by the Guru Mahima Stotram, which describes how a human can become elevated to the status of the Divine by the grace of the Guru.
The second-year students of the Pre-University college at Muddenahalli, then began the proceedings with an invocatory chant of the Atma Suktam, after which Bhagawan released a number of books and CDs offered by various devotees from all over the globe.
The first release was, ‘Tannah Sarvah Prachodayaat’, an audio CD of twenty-one chants of Sai Gayatri by Brother Sumeet Tappoo and Mr Dimitris Lambrianos. This was followed by the offering of twenty-three publications in seventeen world languages, by the Sri Sathya Sai Premamrutha Prakashna, Books and Publications division. Different volumes of Sri Sathya Sai Uvacha and The Story Divine were released by Bhagawan in the various languages of: Chinese, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Sinhalese, Slovenian, Spanish, Turkish, Telugu and Tamil. Mr Isaac Tigrett then offered the tenth volume of the Sri Sathya Sai Uvacha series in English, after which Bhagawan blessed the team of translators...
Launch of 'Tannah Sarvah Prachodayaat', an audio CD comprising of twenty-one chants of 'Sai Gayatri' in the mellifluous voice by Brother Sumeet Tappoo. Music composed and arranged by Mr Dimitris Lambrianos.
Launch of tenth volume of Sri Sathya Sai Uvacha in English
The Global team of Sri Sathya Sai Uvacha books
Launch of eighth volume of 'Love Beyond Boundaries', authoured by Ms Bhuvana Santhanam
Talk by Mr Isaac Tigrett
Sri B N Narasimha Murthy addressing the gathering
Divine Discourse
GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 16, 2019 (EVENING)
After a memorable and historic morning session, the evening’s celebrations began as Bhagawan entered the Premamrutham hall and glided amidst all who had gathered, showering His love and blessings on everyone. Senior students from the Nallakadirenahalli girls’ campus chanted the Narayana Suktam to begin the evening’s programme.
Bhagawan then released a book for the Growing to be God programme which is a programme of education for child development. Initiated by Bhagawan in 2017, this programme has now spread to many European countries, with Australia, Singapore and New Zealand preparing to launch the programme as well.
This was followed by a musical presentation by Sri Mandolin U Rajesh and Mr Dimitris Lambrianos. The duo offered a selection of beautiful compositions. Beginning with an offering to Lord Ganesha, they played various pieces such as Amrita Varshini Sudhamayi and Deep End. They also offered melodious renditions of well-known Bhajans and were skilfully accompanied by, Bangalore Dr V Praveen on the Mridangam, Bangalore Rajashekhar...
Evening: Inauguration of 'Sai Sri', Accounts and Finance division
Inauguration of 'Sai Ashraya - J Block'
Evening Satsang in progress
Sri Rajsingham from the United Kingdom during the launch of the book 'Growing to be God' .
Musical presentation by Mr Dimitris Lambrianos and Sri Mandolin U Rajesh accompanied by various artists
GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 17, 2019
The culmination event of the Guru Purnima celebrations 2019 saw yet another divine musical performance by Sri Sumeet Tappoo and troupe.
The evening began with the chanting of the Shikshavali by girls of Grade 9 and 10 of Prashanti Balamandira School.
Then began the mesmerising performance by Sri Sumeet Tappoo who was accompanied by Sri Rishi Singh on the Guitar, Sri Kiran Vinkar on the Flute, Sri Mukesh Chaudhary on the Keyboard, Sri Lokesh Gandharv on the Tabla, Sri Manoj Kumar on the Dholak and Sri Ajay Dande on the Percussions.
Sri Sumeet Tappoo belongs to a family of devotees of Bhagawan and has been serving the Lord through various activities in Fiji and across the world. He has received several awards in Fiji and India. Despite not being formally trained in music, his musical performances are a divine treat to listeners. It is a classic example of how offering one’s God gifted talent back at His lotus feet can elevate it to greater heights.
Swami blessed the musicians profusely, after which Mangala Arati was offered, and the Lord retired for the night.
Musical Performance by Sri Sumeet Tappoo and troupe
DIVINE VISIT TO SRI SATHYA SAI LOKA SEVA PRE-UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
SATHYA SAI GRAMA, MUDDENAHALLI
JULY 20, 2019
On the morning of 20th July 2019, Swami visited Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Pre-University College of Muddenahalli Campus, to bless the students and staff. He was welcomed at Prem Kutir with Poorna Kumbham, amidst Vedic chants by the students. Swami blessed them by accepting letters and flowers, guiding and counselling them on various matters, signing cards and books, showering Akshatas on their heads, all the while radiating joy and love upon their pining hearts.
As Bhajans were in progress, Swami sat on His chair and went through all the letters that He had accepted, granting great joy and satisfaction to all the students, reminding them of His utmost love and concern for every minute detail of their lives.
After few more Bhajans, Swami signalled Brother Manjrekar Reddy, Warden of the Pre-University College to speak. He spoke about how Swami has fulfilled the heartfelt desire of many other alumni, bringing them to stay closer to Him and serve in His Mission. He encouraged the boys to feel Swami’s presence everywhere and to make good use of the golden opportunity bestowed only upon a chosen few.
Sri R K Subramanya spoke next and very candidly narrated his own life story, as to how he had to work very hard to get good marks in his studies during his pre-university years. He stressed on the point that hard work always pays and that Swami’s only expectation from us is that we should serve society.
Thereafter, Swami interacted with the students, detailing the incidents between Radha and Krishna. He described how Radha’s Bhakti was different from the other Gopikas of Vrindavan, how Krishna would wait for Radha before playing His flute and how one day Krishna even bent down on His knees, saying that He was blessed...
Sri Manjrekar Reddy, Warden addressing the gathering
Talk by Sri R K Subramanya
Divine Discourse
Lunch with Students and Staff
PUBLIC SATSANG AT DRDO COMMUNITY HALL
C V RAMAN NAGAR, BANGALORE
JULY 21, 2019
July 21, 2019 marked the fourth Satsang with Bhagawan at the DRDO Community Hall in the C V Raman Nagar area of Bangalore and the morning’s proceedings commenced with the chanting of Sai Gayatri. As Bhajans were underway, Bhagawan arrived into the hall and blessed the gathering, showering His love and benedictions, charging each and every one present in the Hall with His grace. After Bhagawan had ascended the dais, Sri S A Vasudev welcomed the gathering. He fondly welcomed Bhagawan and conveyed gratitude to Him on behalf of all who were present. He also welcomed Sri B N Narasimha Murthy, Chancellor and Chief Mentor for the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Group of Institutions and Retd. Major General VPS Bhakuni. Sri Vasudev then prayed to Bhagawan for His guidance and said that to be in His presence was indeed a blessing. He spoke about how during this year’s Guru Purnima celebrations, Brother Sri Madhusudan had also transitioned, just like Lord Buddha, who went from being Gautam Siddharth to Gautam Buddha. He showed by example that it is possible for each and every one to attain God-realisation. Sri Vasudev then prayed to Bhagawan to speak to the gathering and elaborate on the way in which we can empty ourselves in order to become self-realised. This was followed by an offering of a bouquet of songs by the youth music group. They presented a selection of mellifluous songs by Sri Purandara Dasa and a few Hindi numbers, as well as Bhajans.
Thereafter, Sri B N Narasimha Murthy addressed the gathering and described how Bhagawan is completely manifesting Himself in Jeevan Mukta Swarupa, Sri Madhusudan Sai. He spoke about how there is no more Sri Madhusudan and in his ascension from Madhusudan to Sri Madhusudan Sai, his family has lost their beloved son and brother. He declared that Sri Madhusudan Sai is the most amazing miracle of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, as He has raised a man to the level of God. Sri Narasimha Murthy spoke....
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