Panel Discussion on All Paths Lead to God Six faiths are represented on Swami’s Sarva Dharma symbol, and to explore how all these religions lead to God, a member of each faith spoke at a panel discussion at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Sai Conference this summer. Regrettably, space limitations prevent us from reprinting their entire talks, but we hope that the following edited excerpts will convey a sense of the many paths through which God leads us to Him. “Let different faiths exist. Let them flourish; let the glory of God be sung in all languages and in a variety of forms. I have not come to defend any sect; I have not come to collect any followers. I have come to tell you about the unity of faiths… Worship Me in the symbols and images which remind you of Me.”             ~Sathya Sai Baba HINDUISM Ananth Raman The father told the son, “Bring me the fruit of the banyan tree.” The son said, “Father, here is the fruit of the banyan tree.” The father told the son, “Break the fruit.” The son said, “Father, it is broken.” The father asked the son, “What do you see?” The son replied, “Sir, I see seeds.” The father told the son, “Break the seed.” The son broke the seed. The father asked the son, “What do you see?” The son said, “Father, I see nothing.” The father said, “That subtle essence that you do not see, there is the whole essence of which the banyan tree is made. It is the Truth, it is the Self, and thou art it.” This is the first of the four basic truths on which Hinduism is built: Tat Twam Asi (Thou art that), Pragnam Brahmam (The highest wisdom is You), I am Atma Brahmam (This You is Brahmam), and Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahmam). Hinduism basically says that Brahmam alone is real; everything in the world is unreal. Every atom in a human being is a bundle of total energy expressing Divine Will. Matter and energy are indivisible, and they are all part of the Divine Will. It is this Divine Will that circulates through every pore of the human being; and the purpose of human existence is to reach that ultimate level of consciousness. In Sai, God became man so that man could become God by becoming aware of this Divinity. When Sai addresses us as Divyaatma Swaroopa (Embodiments of the Divine Soul), Prema Swaroopa (Embodiments of Love), and Ananda Swaroopa (Embodiments of Bliss), He is, in fact, reminding us of the Divinity in each of us. He brings about this process gradually. He first asks us to experience “I am in the light.” Then He raises us to the next stage, “The light is in me.” Finally, He raises us to the true non-dualistic stage, “I am the light.” A devotee once asked Baba, “Baba, I listen very carefully and intently for Your direction whenever I have a problem, but I don’t seem to hear Your voice.” Baba replied, “When you are attuned to Me, your voice is My voice.” Sai constantly addresses this problem of unity, universality, and Divinity. He says, “Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting us as one family—the entire mankind to the bond of brotherhood by offering and utilizing the Atmic Reality in each one in order to reveal the Divine, which is the basis on which the entire cosmos exists, and instructing all to recognize the common Divine heritage that binds man to man. All men are of one lineage. All … is part of one organism. Learn to live as man.” This is sadhana (spiritual practice). A few years ago, the theme of this very conference was conceptualized beautifully when Baba sang in His mellifluous voice in the Poornachandra auditorium: Sarva Roop Dharma ShantamSarva Namadharam ShivamSatchidanand Roopam AdvaitamSathyam, Shivam, Sundaram I am all Yours, ascribed to the AlmightyI am the Embodiment of Perfect PeaceI am Known by all means through whichthe Almighty is addressed…and adoredby menI am the embodiment of goodnessI am Being, AwarenessBliss, Atma, One without a secondTruth, Goodness, Beauty. Sai constantly addresses this problem of unity, universality, and Divinity. He says, “Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting us as one family—the entire mankind to the bond of brotherhood by offering and utilizing the Atmic Reality in each one in order to reveal the Divine, which is the basis on which the entire cosmos exists, and instructing all to recognize the common Divine heritage that binds man to man. All men are of one lineage. All…is part of one organism. Learn to live as man.” This is sadhana (spiritual practice). BUDDHISM Genzo Makino I had been a Buddhist monk for 16 years, going from home to home asking for alms to support my master’s family. My master became an alcoholic, and even though I had vowed to follow him all the way, I could not do so any longer. I began to study Buddhist scriptures, which, it is said, number about 84,000. The more I read, the more I wanted to know what Buddha really taught when He was alive. I prayed every night to Lord Buddha, “Please lead me to your original Truth.” Shortly after that, I came across a Sathya Sai Baba book, Bhagwatha Vahini. My master had told me that at the age of 40, I would meet an Embodiment of God, and through Him I would attain liberation. I didn’t quite believe him at the time. I said goodbye to my master and came to New York. I wasn’t sure which way I was going, but then I met a devotee who gave me Sai Baba books. Soon I found myself in Puttaparthi and was called in by Baba for an interview. “What are you doing?” He asked me. I said that I wasn’t doing anything but that I used to be a disciple of this master for 16 years. Baba said, “All paths lead to the same God.” I had a lot of questions, but that one

Young Adults Corner In addition to the knowledge derived from the sacred texts, one should gain wisdom through experience. Knowledge without personal experience is futile. Wisdom lodged within us will be of no avail if it is static. ~ Baba When we are very young, we only experience life, we do not analyze it. As we grow older, our intellect begins to gain understanding of these experiences and we begin to integrate the lessons in our lives. We offer this column as an opportunity to young adults to share their experiences, realize how life is the greatest teacher, and show how Swami’s teachings have helped them. We also hope that the process of writing will enable them to integrate these experiences into their daily life. A Journey to God Varsha Ghayal Swami has often said, “Young people should cultivate Divine feelings and qualities, participate in sacred activities and lead a life of exemplary excellence.” “Well, how does one go about doing this?”, I asked myself. As a first-year college student, living away from home and Sai center, I was feeling devoid of these Divine feelings and lacked participation in sacred activities. I felt as though I had fallen into an abyss of materialism and delusion. I did not have the energy and motivation to pull myself out of this bottomless pit and was utterly confused as to what I should do. However, Swami, Our Beloved, Merciful Bhagavan, cultivated a tremendous desire in me to see Him, to be a student of His…to attend the Summer Showers in Brindavan. This desire was so strong that I prayed fervently to Swami to allow me to attend the Summer Course, to change into a more devoted spiritual aspirant and to live as an example of His teachings. I went through the necessary application procedures for the summer course, was selected as one of the twelve privileged girls and made all the appropriate preparations for the trip, only to find out that the Dearest Swami had canceled the summer course one week prior to our departure. As I learned of this sad news, many thoughts ran through my mind. How will I survive another year of college without seeing Swami? How will I learn to conduct myself in an exemplary manner? But most upsetting was the thought that I would not have the golden opportunity to be a student of Baba. Fortunately, all the girls in the group had tremendous enthusiasm and determination to make the trip despite the cancellation. And Swami guided and helped through the entire trip. We made our own summer course which included seva in the canteen, study circles on Summer Showers 1993, lectures given by various renowned speakers and Divine discourses by our Beloved Bhagavan. Through this we learned tremendous, invaluable amounts of information on Indian Culture and Spirituality. One of the most important lessons was the Unity in Diversity. Swami had given permission to a group from Malaysia to attend the Divine discourses, but when they tried to attend that evening, they were not permitted to enter. They realized that Swami gave permission not only to them, but to us, the American girls, as well, for we had come for the same purpose. From then on, we all prayed together, as one, that Swami would allow us to listen to the Divine discourses and give us an interview. Both of these occurred, due to our unity. We began to see our two groups as one group of students, who have come for the same purpose—spiritual upliftment. Throughout the trip, Swami, by various means, kept emphasizing the power of our thoughts. 0ur whole life rests on the power of our mind. “We sow the seed of thought and reap the fruit of action; we sow the seed of action and reap the fruit of nature; we sow the seed of nature and reap the fruit of character; we sow the seed of character and reap the fruit of destiny. It is evident from this that our destiny rests on our thoughts.” But how do we control our thoughts to be pure ones, I questioned. It is so difficult to always have good thoughts. What do you do when a bad thought comes to mind? My answer came from one of the Malaysian girls. She said you must uproot any negative thought in your mind and replace it with a good one. You are the only one who can do this. No one is going to remind you to stop having bad thoughts. Then Swami, during our second interview, also demonstrated a method to keep our thoughts pure. When you are angry, say, ‘I am man, I am not dog’. When the mind wavers, say, ‘I am man, I am not monkey.’ Repeat this ten times and your mind will be free of these thoughts.” I tried this technique on several occasions and was quite successful. I learned another important lesson when reading the book Summer Showers 1993. Swami says, “Students should press forward with patience in spite of stress and strain, the trial and the tribulation which they have to undergo. It is hard in the beginning to move forward, but as you press forward, it becomes natural for you to make your journey towards God.” This passage touched me especially, since the past semester of college was full of stress. I would become nervous, impatient, instead of maintaining patience and peace of mind. Even after learning all this and trying to put it into practice, I was still left unsatisfied. I saw the Anantpur college girls and the college boys on a daily basis and desired to be Swami’s student. But without admission to a Sai Institute or the Summer Showers course this would be impossible. Then one day Swami answered my yearning through a guest speaker. He said, “Swami’s student is not one who studies in Swami’s institute, but one who is a student of spirituality …. One who puts Swami’s teachings into practice”. Jai Sai Ram

It Always Works Once a month, the Sai Baba Center of Manhattan takes responsibility for the soup kitchen at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and feeds nearly 300 people. Our fearless leader, June, manages the proceedings with great aplomb. Since I started coming a couple of years ago, there have never been any incidents or noteworthy events of any kind, except for our feeding last month. It was nearing the end of the day. Our service had gone smoothly. People at the second sitting were finishing their meal and about ready to leave when some generous donor brought additional quantities of food into the kitchen. It was chicken with rice and gravy. The quantity wasn’t enough for everybody, but we did not want it to go to Waste. We decided to pack individual servings in styrofoam containers with the intention of handing them out to some of the people as they departed. We brought the food in containers to the main exit. It soon became apparent to the people that there were just a limited number of containers and not everyone was going to get one. The crowd congregating by the door started to get angry and the atmosphere was, to say the least, tense. The tension escalated and a fight broke out between two of the men. June and I were standing and watching from the entrance to the kitchen. June, seemingly oblivious to my presence, started saying, slowly and deliberately, “Swami, disperse the crowd. Okay, Swami, disperse the crowd.” Before she had even finished the second plea, instantaneously, a thin mist of grace (a phenomenon I have often witnessed during darshan, in Puttaparthi, when Swami blesses devotees) descended on the crowd. The fight stopped, the tension disappeared and everyone Walked calmly and peacefully out the door. I turned to June, expecting to see an expression of utter amazement (and, perhaps, a little pride) but she turned and walked into the kitchen to finish her chores as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Since June has known Baba about 20 years, I thought, maybe she takes these things for granted. I am, however, still left dumbfounded by such incidents, having known Baba for only three years. And, sure enough, when I mentioned this incident to her the next time we met, she was rather amused that I was in such awe. She said, “It always works! If there is, say, a baby crying on the plane and it’s bothering me, I pray to Swami and send the child light. It always works!” ~Richard Margolin

Children Move Audience to Standing Ovation and Tears In First Regional Play “Harriet Tubman” In the grand finale, about 100 Bal Vikas students representing nearly all Sai Baba Centers in the Mid-Atlantic Region stood on the stage at Camp Akiba, clapping and singing from their hearts, “Come on up, I have a lifeline. Come on up to this train of mine.” With their arms stretched high, they concluded the song, “Come on up!” There was an electrifying silence as the energy of love poured out from the children to more than 600 people in the room. Then came a standing ovation from the audience and they cheered loudly, “Om Sai Ram! Om Sai Ram.” The joy we all felt will never be forgotten. At that moment we are all one. In February 1995, Bernice Mead, our National Bal Vikas Coordinator, sent me a letter asking that our region write and produce a play based on an American folk hero, to be presented to Swami on His 70th birthday. We Chose Harriet Tubman, a slave born in the United States in the early 1800s. She risked her life to help slaves from the South escape to the North. She had a deep and sincere love for the faith in God and her fellow men. Throughout her life, Harriet exemplified the values of courage, determination and selflessness, all values that Swami teaches us. She also acted on her conviction and belief that all men should be free, and thus she practiced unity of thought, word, and deed. The Bal Vikas students exemplified the same values in preparing the play. A core group of 23 students attended two practices prior to the retreat. Then at the retreat, they joined 77 other students and persevered through hours of work on positioning, choreography, lines, and songs. This required patience, courage, selflessness and love for Swami. Sai Baba says that children should study the lives of great people so that they too can strive for excellence. He also says, “The hearts and minds of the children are very tender, and what is taught to them at this tender age will get imprinted on their hearts and will form the foundation of their later life. These young children have certain capacities which will not be possessed by grownups. In their tender hearts and minds, there is the potentiality by which we can make them go close to God with such devotion and attachment that you will not find paralleled in grownups.” Indeed, everyone was moved by the love and devotion they felt coming from the Bal Vikas Students’ The Play was a miracle of Swami’s. It was only on the actual day of the performance that we went the entire play for the first time. The last scene was changed at the last minute. In my years of knowing Baba and serving Him, l have learned that last-minute changes are His way of taking over the directing. This change was dramatic and exactly what was needed in the play. “Why fear when I am here?” He asks us. It would be easy to get entangled in all the worries of what can go wrong. During our last practice run of the play two of our key people were lying down, not feeling well. Yet through it all, the most amazing thing was that everyone had a deep conviction that we were doing our best and that Swami would take over in the end. And He did!! Swami says, “Cooperation, not operation.” It was the cooperative effort of so many Sai devotees in the region, professionals in their own fields, that made this play so outstanding. I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the work of all Bal Vikas coordinators, organizers, and assistants who worked with children, without whom the play would not have been possible; those who helped me write the play and who gave advice and support; the artists who spent many hours making the most incredible sets our region has seen (their sets brought cheers from the audience); the guitarist and singers and trainers; those who did stage management and the stage hands who were so busy moving sets on and off the stage as the children sang; the videotaping crew; those who designed and made costumes; and the incredible work of the sound man—for the first time at a regional cultural program, people in the back of the large hall could hear the children speak. My thanks also to our regional officers who helped with publicity, and to Bal Vikas parents who gave selflessly of their time and energy to bring the children to practices and to make their costumes. The Bal Vikas students themselves are to be congratulated for a magnificent performance. It is they who brought alive the inspiring life of Harriet Tubman. They spoke and sang with such love and devotion that the audience was moved to tears. We are all grateful to our beloved Lord Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who was the true director of the play and who is also the director of the play of our lives. Sai Ram! ~Cathy DaubBal Vikas Coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Region