Om Sri Sai Ram

Thank You for giving Your attention to the all purifying Yajna.

Swami was presiding over the Yajna which was finished yesterday morning (23.10.04).


In the evening on 23rd a Divine Discourse was granted by Bhagavan. He told that we should sacrifice and share with others what ever we have.

So we are very happy to do so without any restriction of copy rights :-)

The following letter from a Devotee was coming likewise as prasadam is coming to us: silent, sweet and soft. We will take it. Humble and thankful.


Jay Sai Ma
 

Dear Ones,

Oct 18, 2004

An interesting thing happened this morning during the yajnas in the Poornachandra auditorium.  The priest who was doing the circumambulation around the sun prostrated himself at the feet of the real sun (i.e. Baba) and then walked slowly around Him.  Before doing so Baba blessed him.  When he came around he continued his usual routine around the symbolic sun.

A short while later another priest, one who was sitting with a group of four others doing chanting, got up and walked to Baba.  He too was blessed by Swami before he returned to his task.

Still later another priest, this one engaged in reading out of one of the holy Indian texts got up and went to Baba.  Baba extended His left hand and the priest took it in his two hands.  Baba placed His other hand over those of the priest.  They conversed for some time.  Occasionally Swami's right hand came up slightly at which the priest lowered his head and received a blessing on the top of his head.  Baba blessed him three times before he returned to his given task.

At about 9:45 Swami stood up with the aid of an assistant.  They disappeared slowly behind the curtain at the back of the stage.  Shortly after that the Grama Seva crew was given the OK to leave for distribution.  At about 1 p.m. the Grama Seva trucks returned to the ashram.

The residential compound of Baba is nearing completion.  Rumor has it that it will be inaugurated at the end of Dasara, on the 23rd.  Three days ago there were cement blocks being constructed outside the compound wall. Yesterday those blocks were dry enough to be painted and on top were placed stone statues of devis (goddesses), the names of which written on paper temporarily grace the foot of each. Yesterday too there was a large truck stopped at the corner of the walled compound where the railing was yet to be installed.  Workers  were passing sod (layers of grass to be transplanted for the new lawn) over the wall.

Oct 19, 2004

This morning Swami came in at about 7:15.  He went directly to His chair and sat down.  Prasad (laddu as well as a pre-packaged spun sugar and pistachio sweet) was distributed to everyone in the hall.  At about 8 am I could smell the fire and could faintly hear chanting  coming from the direction of Poornachandra auditorium.  The poojas must have begun.  At about 8:10 Swami got up and walked slowly to the interview room.  At about 8:45 I could hear coming from the main street of the ashram shouts of "Jai!"  The Grama Seva workers (30 trucks strong) were leaving for today's distribution.  At about 9:10 Swami came out of the interview room and briefly went into the mandir. He returned to the interview room and in another minute came out and departed the hall.

The devotees and students remaining in the hall followed him to Poornachandra.  I waited in line for 10 minutes.  Since we were given Prasad this morning I had no excuse to leave to go the breakfast. When I finally got in I found that it was not nearly as crowded as last year.  The last tier of the hall is being used for storing supplies and is not available for sitting.  Still there was room to sit even for latecomers.  Last year many people stood at the doors and may more waited outside.  Swami was already seated when at about 9:30 several priests, including the married couple, came to Him. A few took padanamaskar.  Soon most of the priests were on their feet and stopped what they were doing.  They moved to the right side off the stage and from there began to chant in alternation with the vedam group.  The energy was beginning to rise.  Only the priest doing the sun pooja and the one off to the far right doing the lingam pooja remained busy with their allotted tasks.  Swami then got up and, with the aid of an attendant, slowly walked across the stage.  He stopped ever so briefly in front of the vedam chanters, before proceeding to the group of priests on the right.  He came finally to the married couple and stood there.  And there He stayed for more than five minutes.  Wow!  What deep inner significance that must have had: the Lord of the universe in front of them for so long.  Soon Swami instructed the couple to garland the statue they had been worshipping.  Swami then turned around and returned the way He came.  As He passed the priests, some took the opportunity for padanamaskar. He continued onto the stage at which point He departed behind the curtains on the right.  The chanting continued, the pitch now ever increasing, the energy coming to a climax.  So ended this morning with Baba.

This afternoon's highlight was the discourse.  During around the middle of it Swami began talking about the lingam and how it is formless.  Shortly thereafter he circled His right hand and raised it to reveal a golden lingam that shined even to as far back as where I was sitting.  He continued the discourse for maybe ten more minutes.  Suddenly while Prof. Kumar was still translating the last sentence He sat back down.  The discourse was finished. Bhajans began, but during the third song the mandir priest moved forwards closer to where Baba was seated.  At the end of the bhajan he stood up and began to circle the arati lamp and arati was sung.

Oct 20, 2004

This morning Swami came in at about 7:20.  He went to His chair and sat for nearly one hour.  Prasad was again distributed to everyone in the hall.  By around 8:10 He got up and went into the interview room.  Several people were called into the interview room.  By about 8:15 I could hear the chanting going on in the Poornachandra; the yajnas were already in full swing.  At 8:30 "Jai's" could be heard from the main street of the ashram; the Grama Seva trucks were now   departing.  Swami left the hall at about 8:50.  The hall emptied and people moved to the Poornachandra auditorium.

Oct 20, 2004

64 years ago today Swami left His family after telling them that His devotees are waiting for Him.  It was on this day that He first sung "Manasa Bhajara Guru Charanam".

Oct 21, 2004

Today is Durga Ashtami.  Instruments (i.e. tools of the trade, vehicles, etc used in daily life) are worshipped.  This morning the crowd was unusually rowdy.  Many stood up or got up on their knees and blocked the view of those behind.  Swami came in as usual and descended the golf cart on the veranda. But He stood only briefly before getting back in the cart.  From there He went to the garages on the men's side.  The garage doors were opened to reveal luxury vehicles behind the regular-sized doors and the golden chariot behind the tall door.  The two cars (both Mercedes, one silver, the other white) on the left were brought out.  Swami sat in the rear seat of each as a blessing.  I could not see from my vantage point what happened with the other vehicles or the chariot.  At any rate, He did not spend as much time there as last year.  From there He got back in the golf cart and returned to
the veranda.  Soon He went into the interview room.

This afternoon's darshan lasted from 3:40 to 6:15.  Swami was on the veranda the entire time.  He gave a discourse which lasted about 90 minutes. It was humorous and very interesting, covering His personal habits and childhood experiences.  Don't miss it. Baba talked about His child hood and even about His daily routine  ... .  It really was interesting to listen to Swami talk about His daily routine

Today I was fortunate to be invited to join the Grama Seva  distribution. There were several groups, each designated a different village.  We drove 1hour to get to our village.  The boys and teachers were all in good spirits and worked very hard.  They worked very efficiently going to every doorstep distributing food packets, prasad (laddus) for each family member and one sari and one dhoti for (the elders) of each household.  It was very touching to see the impact this seva had on some of the recipients.  It was also touching how so many villagers from far away greeted us with "Sai Ram" and how they all wanted a photo of Baba.  What a special blessing from Swami this Grama Seva is for them; what a great opportunity it is for the participants.

There was one touching example of Swami's omniscience and omnipresence.  The distribution was finished and we had left the village when a few kilometers outside the village proper we were stopped by a lone man.  He is a farmer who lives with his family of four in a small farm compound along the road leading to the village. He had once been very prosperous as a result of the plentiful yield of sugar cane from his 70 acre plot of land.  Several years of drought however brought hard times.  Now instead of giving to the needy he himself has to extend his hand and ask help of others.  He had not received any prasad nor clothes.  We had overlooked him.  My companion and I, however, had nothing to give him.  But behind us soon came the last truck of the convoy.  They happened to have some laddus left over which we gave to the farmer.  Earlier on the road there was a pair of young men from our group who had taken a brief break at the side of the road to cool their feet from the fresh water being pumped up from the ground.  This pair now arrived on their motorcycle.  Lo and behold, they had in the side bag of their cycle extra saris and dhotis.  A package of each we gave to the man.  The farmer then told us about his farm.  He had to change his crop from sugar cane to something more drought-tolerant: peanuts.  Also at regular intervals in the field of peanuts were single rows of dal  (lentils).  And there were also some beans.  He showed us also the deep wide well which used to be filled by the nearby river.  It was now completely dry.  We said our goodbyes and departed.  About a kilometer further we found another of the convoy vehicles. The boys had stopped to take refreshments at the roadside.  They had extra food packets.  We took four of these and returned to the farmer. Swami had not forgotten him.  He got his full share, not as we had expected, but got it he did.  Such are the mysteries of the Lord.  

Jai Sai Ram.

Posted on 24.1.2004 by Jay Sai Ram