God’s Own Children – Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Thirty year old ChinnaNagamma of Jagrajpalli had darkness staring into her. Future seemed bleak. Her husband had recently passed away. She had four young children. No land of her own. No house to stay in. And like a majority of the rural women in India, she was illiterate. To provide her children with one square meal a day was a daunting challenge. With none of her so called kith and kin coming forward to bail her out of this pathetic situation, she silently, cried out for help in her heart in the hope that if there was a God somewhere, may be He would respond. Her prayers were not in vain. After a few months of her suffering, she heard from someone that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was starting a project that would rehabilitate destitutes like her and that anyone deserving could come and register themselves. Immediately, she came with her children to Puttaparthi and met the people concerned with the project. When she told them her story, they melted. They registered her and sent her back to her village with the assurance that she would be called soon after verification. Chinna Nagamma spent about a week full of anticipation. Yet, no word came from Puttaparthi. Was this project too one of those nonstarters, as with the many government schemes? Or was she found not deserving ? Whose life could be more disastrous than hers? she thought. A few days later, when she was returning from the forest after taking the cattle for grazing, a policeman accosted her. Upon enquiring her name, the policeman broke the news to a trembling Nagamma : You have been called by Bhagavan to stay in Puttaparthi, along with your children. Nagamma could not believe her ears. She was convinced that if at all there was a God, it had to be Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Today, Nagamma, along with eighty others is a happy resident, of Sathya Sai Nagar at Kammmavaripalli behind the ashram complex. Each of them has a story to tell about how compassionate Swami has been to them. The Sathya Sai Nagar is the result of The Sathya Sai Deenajanoddharana project taken up by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust in the year 2001. The project had its genesis in 2001, when Bhagavan, made a declaration that He would take up the cause of as many destitutes as possible and rehabilitate them. He recounted how he was moved by the news of a mother who committed suicide by consuming poison after poisoning her three children as she could not combat the abject poverty they found themselves in. He declared that he would provide food, shelter and clothing to as many destitute children as possible, besides educating them to be self-reliant. Sai Sankalpa (resolve) is Vajra sankalpa. Action followed with lightning speed. To begin with, construction began for two room tenements to house the first come orphans and destitutes, converting His own orchard into a housing colony. Swami himself laid the foundation stone for the project. Sixty boys from such families were selected from Bukkapatnam, Kothacheruvu and Puttaparthi mandals. Some among them had no mother. Some had no father. Some had none. But as soon as they came to Prasanthi Nilayam, they found a loving mother in Swami. Swami would give them clothes, suitcases, blankets and would bless them with His kind words. During the period of construction of Sai Nagar, the boys and their widowed mothers were housed in specially allocated sheds and given some orientation. Volunteers started taking informal classes according to the age of the boys, until they were formally accepted in the upcoming school at Sai Nagar. There were in total 58 boys, the age ranging from 4 to 14 years. The mothers were ten in number Meanwhile, the construction was progressing fast under the able execution of Nagarjuna Construction Company , a reputed firm in Andhra Pradesh. Bhagavan was involved at every stage of the project, offering practical advice on all aspects. On June 19th 2002,the festival of Gurupurnima, Swami inaugurated the fully completed Sathya Sai Nagar . The grateful boys sang songs of gratitude while the mothers watched them from a distance with tears in their eyes. Bhagwan himself was totally lost in the innocent love of those young children. He listened to their songs with rapt attention, patted them and blessed them profusely. ater in the year, on 22nd November 2002, the annual convocation of SSSIHL, Bhagwan handed over a cheque of sixty lakhs to Sri Paramahansa , the project in charge, in the presence of the president of India Shri A P J Abdul Kalam. The money was to be used, Bhagavan declared, for making a fixed deposit of one lakh rupees in the name of each boy! Today, the Sathya Sai Nagar is an ideal of community living. It is more or less an example of a self-sustained, self-sufficient village. When the idea of making a cover story came to H2H, we contacted Sathya Sai Nagar over the telephone, saying we wanted to come there. Within minutes, there was a car in front our office with Sri Prakash , the caretaker of the village and a young driver who must be no more than 14 years of age. When asked about it, Sri Prakash replied that they train their boys in all skills, including driving! Believe us, He was a pretty good driver!

God is Love, Live in Love In one of the His Divine discourses, Bhagavan declared that He is the richest person in the world, nay, in the universe itself, richer than Kubera, the Lord of wealth. Swami further clarified that His richness does not consist of money or materials; the most valuable asset of Baba is Love. He is the embodiment of Love itself. The whole world is an expanse of love enveloping all the living beings, one-way or the other. Even the most dry hearted human being or for that sake even any wild animal exhibit sparks of love in their own way. Such love may be of selfish nature with attachment or bondage to their kith and kin or to outside people who are admired or revered. It is only the consistent spiritual sadhana which slowly and steadily leads us up to a level in which we are able to transcend the narrow frontiers of selfish love into the vast expanse of divine love enveloping the whole of humanity. ‘Premaswarupullara’ addresses Swami very often, while delivering Divine discourses to the gathering. Because, this is the real nature of mankind. Swarm’s advent of this present Avatar hood is to regenerate the mankind, with the human values informing both our view and way of life. As all of us know, what these values are viz.,, Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and Ahimsa. If only the prime value of universal Prema is fostered and developed in our life, it will be very easy and almost automatic to develop the other values. How do we go about it ? According to Bhagavan it is very simple; it only requires a degree of earnestness in our efforts. Man is by very nature love personified. But the self and the desires of the self have come to grip our thoughts and actions in our lives, past and present. Our efforts, therefore, should be, to purify our chitha by removing the accumulated dirt slowly so that the ever present quality of love surfac es in all our thoughts and deeds. Swami is, in fact, making us aware of the inherent LOVE in us by subtle methods of spiritual sadhanas inculcating in us. To develop universal love, we have to first realize that the universe is only a manifestation of Divinity, and that Divinity is inherent in all living beings, what Swami call as Resident Divinity We should extend our love to every living beings as a manifestation of the same divinity, and in the same way, as we love God Swami also invariably emphasizes the need to have expansion of love and not contraction of love which means that love should be selfless and with not selfish motive. We love our family members, because they happen to be our wife/husband, son, daughter, father or mother. The love extended to all these relatives is only selfish in nature. Our love is conditional based on our relationships. We even find variations in the intensity of love towards different relatives, depending upon the degree of attachment with each one of them. But the divine love is not conditional It is selfless. Our love to God should also be selfless. “Love is selflessness and self is lovelessness. Love is a mutual feeling. Love generates Love. When you love somebody it is always reciprocated. Even a person of very hard nature responds to love. I remember a story narrated by a senior devotee in Madras, during one of his discourses,. in a study circle meeting. It was said that during period of His boyhood, Sri Krishna was undergoing Gurukula Vaasam (living in the hermitage of the Guru) with Guru Sandeepini Maharshi along with Balarama and Sudhama. In the performance of the chores all the three used to go to the forest to fetch firewood for the Ashram. One day it was too late in the night, they were still in the forest and they had to camp there. They decided to take turns so that one could be awake, while the other two could sleep under the tree. First it was the turn of Sudhama to keep vigil. While doing so, he noticed that a gang of tribal men were passing by, closely where they were resting. Sudhama thought that they might cause harm to them and tried to scare them away, by angry gestures. The tribal folk did not mean any harm to Krishna and company. And yet when Sudhama tried to threaten them by gestures, they also reacted likewise. Luckily, without much ado they moved away. Next, it was the turn of Balarama, to take over from Sudhama. He also noticed the tribal folks moving about in the area. Balarama too tired to scare them away by angry gestures to which they responded angrily. Balarama did not leave them at that. He gestured that he would attack them if they did not move away from that place. The tribal folk responded in the same manner and measure. They got nearer to Balarama and beat him brutally and then moved away. Balarama took it quietly and retired for the night after his time was over. Last it was for Sri Krishna to take over. The other two could not forget their respective encounters and were not able to sleep. To their horror, they found that the tribal people were once again passing through the place. They were very eager to watch how Krishna was going to tackle them. On seeing the tribal folk, Krishna waved His hands towards them smilingly conveying His good wishes. They also responded smilingly. Krishna then, by His gestures, invited them to come nearer. They came nearer and were all in smiles. They hugged each other reflecting warmth and friendship. After a while, they went their way. The devotee, in his talk, was further trying to explain to us, how our own feelings get reflected in others. When you show hatred to any one, the other party also responds with hatred. When you show love,

God, Deities and you In this article I wish to respond to a letter we have recently received from a devotee. It is all about deities and the God who is supposed to rule over them. The devotee’s problem is basically the following: It is said there is only one God. But there is also talk of deities, description that particular deities deal with particular issues/departments, that prayers for worldly needs do not necessarily reach God, etc. The writer wants to know if all this means that certain prayers of his to Swami get delivered to deities instead of to Swami, and that his request does not receive attention from Swami but rather from some lesser deity? What precisely is the protocol followed in the Upper World? Why can’t Swami personally handle these matters, and why does He need assistants? The devotee ends his letter with the query: “I have been under the impression Sai handles everything – and now this new found info complicates my understanding regarding prayers and their answers!” This is an interesting letter. Many people have similar doubts, and in fact, long ago when I had not made an in-depth study of Swami’s teachings, I too struggled with all kinds of doubts of a similar nature. Let us examine our devotee’s difficulty in some detail. I would like to start by considering what the statement that there is only One God means. Swami makes this point even more explicitly. He says: “There is only God and nothing but God.” That shall be our starting point. The first thing that logically follows from the above is that if there is only God and nothing but God then clearly there cannot be any deities! At this point, I can hear the listener say, “But listen, authorities greater than you have talked about deities. Are you telling me they all are fools?” Good point and I shall take that up next. If we go back in history we would find that in pre-historic times, people in all communities without exception, were overawed by the forces of Nature. I mean, who wouldn’t be? The power of a typhoon is not to be sneered at. As Swami sometimes reminds us, “Has man made a fan that can blow wind more powerfully than a cyclone?” So, these ancients intuitively recognised that there was a power superior to them and started not only giving names to the deities they thought were responsible for these forces of Nature but also propitiating these “Spirits” as they often were referred to. In fact, they devised various ways to propitiate these deities. Thus, in this manner, the Greeks had a god for rain, a god for fire, and so on; so did the ancient Hindus. Indeed, tribes everywhere from Africa to America did the same. I mean there was hardly any place where they did not worship deities representing the forces of Nature in ancient times. The names might have been different and the procedures of worship might have varied, but all without exception did acknowledge in their own respective ways the existence of superior powers to which they all bowed. That is point number one. Let me now move on to point number two. Many societies were content to rest matters there. That is, they were quite happy to keep themselves busy propitiating the deities and asking for all kinds of favours from them. But the more intensive seekers in ancient India decided to probe further and concluded, in the first instance, that there must be an overlord for these deities. The deities were like Viceroys, and there must be a Rex or a King who ruled over them. Thus it is that they convinced themselves about a Power superior to the deities. That power was called God. Now arose an issue. Whom to worship? Some said, “Worship the deities for particular favours, and worship the God who ruled them when the deities were unable to deliver the goods.” Thus in ancient India, many started worshipping Varuna the God of Rain when the monsoon failed but prayed to the God who ruled Varuna when they wanted progeny or cure from illness and things like that. This is like going to different counters in a bank when one needs different kinds of service. At this stage, some thinkers said, “Hey wait a minute. Let’s examine this business in some more detail.” They did and came up with an answer that is best illustrated by using the Bank analogy I just mentioned. In fact, this analogy can be seen in action all the time here in Prashantinilayam. Just go to, say, the main office of the State Bank of India during the working hours. You will find that many customers are seated with the Manager. Often, these are people from overseas who have big deposits in the Bank. They may have things they want to do like withdrawing some money, getting some foreign currency cashed, making new deposits and so forth. For every such activity, there is an assigned person and a counter for conducting the transaction; yet the VIP customer gets all his jobs done simply by sitting with the Manager. In the same way, these profound thinkers in ancient India came to the important conclusion that indeed all the favours one wants can be granted directly by God and that there was no need to separately take these issues up with the deities. Doubts will not cease and some may protest saying, “Mister, is this not short-circuiting the structure inherent in Creation? If deities exist, it means that God created them. And having created them, God also presumably gave them jobs to do. What then is the big deal in by-passing them? Is this showing respect to God?” A good point, and so let us examine further. Here I shall lean upon an illustration given by Swami. Let us say there is a lady. She is married, has children, and looks after the house. Now to her husband, this

God and the Ice Cream One day many years ago, Swami distributed ice cream to the boys. The brand name was JOY ice cream, and it was gifted by a devotee who owned the company. While boys were enjoying the ice cream, Baba went round as usual, asking the boys how they liked the ice cream. And then suddenly He asked a boy, “Boy what do you think God is like?” The boy was taken aback. He was fully immersed in enjoying ice cream, and God was, at least at that moment, far from his mind! Swami asked another boy the same question, and he too blinked. After drawing a blank response a few more times, Swami smiled and slowly said,”God is SWEET like ice cream!” The boys became attentive. Swami continued, “God is SOFT like ice cream!” By now, the boys had stopped eating, while Swami went on, “God is COOL like ice cream!” And then the punch line: “He gives JOY like ice cream!” What a delightful play on words! Sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once declared, “God alone can make complicated things simple, so simple in fact that even a child can understand.” How very true!

Fitting memento from a great man July 31, 2005 By Thrusha Maharaj While on a flight to India in 2000, Minister of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Narend Singh, who was on an official agricultural visit to the country, met a rather eccentric man aboard the plane. The man, who was completely covered in a blanket, came over to the minister to have a chat. “He asked me if I was going to Bhagwan Shree Satya Sai Baba’s Ashram (a Hindu religious retreat), and I thought it quite strange that he would ask such a question,” Singh said. When the minister said it was not part of his itinerary to visit the ashram, the man insisted that the minister do so. Strangely enough, when the minister arrived in Delhi, he was told his flights had been changed so he could now go to the ashram. The minister complied and went to Bangalore where the ashram is. He was also sent a car to be taken to his “planned” destination quite early in the morning. When he reached the ashram, he sat waiting with hundreds of others for the revered Indian saint, Sai Baba, to appear. He was quite shocked when the highly revered Swami approached him. “I was overwhelmed that someone of Swami’s stature could come over to talk to me, and so when I was asked a few questions by him, I was unable to reply,” he said. After the satsangh (prayer service) Sai Baba invited Singh and his wife, Manitha, along with about 20 other people, to a private meeting. During the meeting the swami started talking about South Africa, which he seemed to know much about. He also knew everything about Singh. An elated Singh and his wife were then given vibuthi (sacred ashes) and were asked if they would like anything else, and Singh jokingly replied that he would like to take home something “material”. Miraculous In a somewhat miraculous gesture Baba took out a ring “out of nowhere”, recalls Singh. “He placed the ring on my finger and it was a perfect fit.” The ring is a wonderful sentimental item, according to Singh, because it reminds him of the swami and his teachings of loving and serving humanity. Singh wears his ring at all times and says this is an item that he rarely parts with – except when he feels a need to, like when a close friend’s daughter was involved in an accident and was severely injured, he lent her the ring to keep, as a token of comfort, and he says she is well today. Singh also mentions that his ring, which is in perfect condition, has been worn consistently – except, of course, “when I put on weight,” he chuckles, “then I kept my ring in my wallet until I lose the weight.” The ring appears to be made of gold with a few white stones, but Singh says although he is not really sure what it is made of, he is sure of where and who he got it from and this is what makes it precious to him. Singh also carries a picture of Sai Baba in his wallet, and has done so for the past 16 years. He says he is an ardent follower of the Swami’s teachings.He was introduced to the teachings of Sai Baba through a friend called Prem Singh.

Faith – All the Spiritual Strength That One Needs! Invoking the Blessings of Mother Divine, Sri Sai Saraswathi, upon all gathered here. Loving and Humble Salutations, oh Mother Divine, at Your Lotus Feet. Esteemed elders, dear brothers and sisters, Sai Ram to all of you. In a clearing in a forest there stood a huge banyan tree. It had a gigantic trunk and mighty knolled prop roots, and sturdy branches. And on one such sturdy branch there was a lean twig on which sat a tiny sparrow. A slight breeze set the twig into a harmonic oscillation, and the sparrow chirped in with rhythm. The breeze slowly turned into a wind and the sparrow’s seat shook violently. But the sparrow just continued chirping with none to listen to its melody. The wind turned fierce and roared; the sparrow only twittered. And in the asymmetric battle that continued, the twig snapped, unable to bear the onslaught. What happened to the tiny sparrow? It was September 28, 1995 . I was in my eighth standard. Bhagavan had given our entire class an interview with Him. I was fortunate enough to be sitting right at His feet and looked up and asked Him (mentally): “What happened to the sparrow?” At this point in time, Bhagavan was narrating the very same incident. He looked into my eyes and gleefully added, “It spread its wings and flew away.” The answered reached home. Bhagavan then continued to explain, “Man lives in this world and builds for himself a home, housing in it all that he has acquired in life. And he sits in this house and twitters to the tune of life. But when the winds are not in favor and the world comes crashing around him, he hops about lamenting his plight.” The tiny sparrow on that branch did not depend upon the twig, or on the branch, or on the gigantic trunk of the mighty banyan tree. It depended on its wings! So too in life, let us depend not upon mere twigs of passion and fashion, of pain and gain, of wealth and glory. Let us rather depend upon wings of Faith. Faith in His Name, in His Love, in His Glory, in His Benevolence, and in His Benediction! Give us, Lord, the ability that we develop these wings of Faith, for when the tempest becomes more stormy than we can bear, we can spread these wings of Faith and glide effortlessly to our destinations. A mother loves a child for she has Faith that it is her own. A child loves his parents for he has Faith that they are his own. I stand here to speak for I have the Faith that what I speak is what I feel. And on a lighter note, many of us would have unkempt hair if we did not have the Faith that the barber in the salon would cut our hair and not our neck. Why go so far? You would not eat if you knew the food you eat would not be digested. You would not sleep if you had no Faith that you would wake up. You would not dare breathe if you did not have the Faith that the breath of air you’ve taken would ever come out. Life is verily Faith. And in this Life, man tends to move towards happiness. And Bhagavan puts both of them so close together when He says:

Dr. Harvey and Dr. Goldstein Region 5 Visit Visit to North Central Region by Dr. Harvey and Dr. Goldstein, Chicago, Illinois, 2/20/2000 What an auspicious date, 2/20/2000! Although we had some heavy snow on Friday, the highways were dry and clear by Saturday so our young adults could safely travel to Chicago for their retreat, which was held in conjunction with the visits of Dr. Michael Goldstein, our world zonal coordinator, and Dr. William Harvey, our United States coordinator. Sunday was warm, sunny, and full of Sai-spiration. We extend special thanks and appreciation from the region to the Metro Chicago Center for hosting these two wonderful Sai Organization leaders and providing a delicious and nutritious lunch, with lovely table settings, for us all. The Young Adults led a rousing and inspirational devotional singing program in the morning with many new bhajans and many bhajans sung half in English and half in Hindi, which is an excellent way to introduce English into center bhajans. The Southeast Chicago Center was so kind to provide sack lunches for out of town travelers to take home with them. The Milwaukee Center spearheaded a child care effort that was very much appreciated by the families with younger children. Most of all, thank you to everyone who took the time from their very busy lives to come to Chicago to hear these two wonderful Sai Organization leaders and to represent their centers. First hand experience is best and my notes may be lacking in places, so I hope you will be understanding. I know in a region as spread out as ours, many who would have liked to attend could not due to distance or other commitments. I will highlight the main points of these talks from my notes (we were not allowed to audio tape). If anyone would like to add to these points or if I made any errors, please correct or add anything as appropriate. I hope this at least gives a flavor of this fine day. Dr. William Harvey lives in St. Louis and has been Coordinator of the United States for well over ten years. We are very fortunate to have him close at hand. He is usually the first one I turn to with questions and concerns and as do many others, too, I suspect. He is unfailingly cheerful, upbeat and gives wise counsel. Dr. Harvey began his talk by discussing how the Sathya Sai Organization is a significant presence in over 150 countries. The purpose for our birth and the reason we are all here is to recognize the Divinity within us. We need to boost our stamina on our spiritual journey and not fall into the trap of being distracted by worldly events like the news, rumors, or squabbles at work, etc. That is all back drop. We should take just a few minutes three times each day to contemplate our good fortune in knowing Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in this lifetime. The Young Adult Program’s unfoldment is more glorious as we flow along. Embrace the young adults as they are the leaders of tomorrow. Involve them in the planning and implementation of projects. They are part and parcel of the Sai Organization and not separate from it. Each region has a Young Adult Male and Female representative and advisor. Phyllis Crystal, Hal Honig and Dr. Harvey are the United States Coordinators. At the 2nd World Youth Conference, Swami gave several discourses and His main focus was that we need faith and courage. Faith and courage are the two wings that can carry us the rest of the way. Society can shake us up, depress us, and make us nervous, at the very least, but Swami is there personally for each of us. He has a way of making us aware He is aware of us. We can never get too far from that personal heart to heart contact with the Lord. We need faith and courage. We should pray to Swami to give us more and more courage to do what we have to do. Our tendency to worry and try to figure things out is dangerous. Too much thinking is not good for us. Worrying doesn’t help. We must contain and curb the Monkey Mind. As we are digging the well deeper and deeper, we are piling up a mound of dirt, that gets higher and higher. Some people focus on the pile of dirt when they should be focusing on the well. Remember, Faith and Courage are Extremely Important! Dr. Michael Goldstein was introduced by Dr. Harvey. (Dr. Goldstein was Swami’s Chief Guest on the occasion of the 18th Convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and Swami had many kind things to say about him in His discourse given in Sai Kulwant Hall on 22nd November 1999: “Since he is a familiar figure here, do not take him for granted. He is not ordinary person….Goldstein does not bother about grandness or greatness, he is concerned only with goodness….Goldstein does everything according to the commands of Bhagavan. He is a good, devoted and disciplined worker. As a loyal member of the Sai Organization, he has the three sacred qualities–duty, discipline, and devotion. Emulate him and follow these three qualities and become ideal models in your lives.”) The themes of Dr. Goldstein’s talk were the importance of time, the nature of God and man, our purpose and plan, and time, time, time. He urged us to transcend beyond the illusions of Maya (this reality of day to day life) to the realization of our innate Divinity. Dr. Goldstein shared an incident he experienced at Prashanthi. Swami usually preselects those who speak prior to Him. One day, Swami said, without warning, to Goldstein, “Will you be speaking?” Goldstein replied “If You wish me to speak, I will speak.” Swami then asked, “Are you ready?” and Goldstein replied “If it is Your Will, I will be ready.” All the while, Goldstein was feeling

Divine Words – Excerpts from Divine Interviews Sairam brothers,Its nice to share with all our brothers excerpts from the many interviews that our group has had with Swami over the past many years. These interactions have been collected from our senior brothers who were extremely fortunate to have had opportunities with the Lord. Most of them are in Telugu since I believe that the originality conveys the exact message more accurately. Kindly forgive any commissions and omissions. 1. Swami once asked the group, “What is the difference between God and Man?” All of us answered many different things. Finally Swami said, “Bhagavantudi ki anni telisina emi teliyanattu vuntaadu kaani manavudiki emi teliyakapoyina anni telisinattu pose kodtadu. Ade ra God ki man ki unna bhedamu.” In this manner Swami enlightened us as to how ignorant we were that we thought that we know something although what we think we know is not even the tip of the iceberg. 2. During one of the group interviews, Swami suddenly became serious and said “ Ee chetilo enta power undo telusa. Nenu ee chetini ila tippite bhoomini aakasamu ga maarchagalanu. Chetini ala tippite aakasanni bhoomiga maarchagalanu. Sarva shaktulu naalone vunnayi ra.” It was such a revelation for all those present. 3. Once, one of the brothers present in a group interview asked Swami, “ Swami, memu ikkada Prashanti Nilayam lo vunnapudu baagane untaamu. Kaani malli Hyderabad pote malli paata friends, alavatlu malli vacchestaayi. Emi cheyyalo cheppandi Swami. Swami replied, “ meeranta matti kundala laanti vaaru ra, aa kundalalo nenu prema ane neeru nimputunna. Meeru malli Hyderabad poyaka aa kundalanu bad company ane yendalo pedite andulo unna neeru anta evaporate ayipotaayi. Aa kundanu teesuku velli meeru satsangamu ane neella tank lo pedite avi eppatiki ninde vuntaayi. Kaabatti meeru ikkada Swami cheppina vishayalani vini akkadiki poyi malli deenini gurtu chesukuntu satsangamulo melagali bangaru.” This was how we understood the value of sharing each other’s experiences and meeting often to talk about Swami and the activity. 4. One of our brothers once asked Swami, “ Swami meeru maakandariki inni gifts, nagalu istaaru kaani meeru mee vontimeeda etuvanti nagalu, aabharanaalu vesukorenduku Swami.” Swami replied, “ Bangaru, ee rendu gold buttons vunnaye(pointing to His robe), ave ekkuvara naaku. Sai Baba ivvatanike vacchadu, alankaaralu chesukodaaniki kaadu.” Wow. 5. During one of the group interviews, Swami had called along an elderly devotee who was reading poems to Swami. He said , “ Swami, mimmalane Ramudantini.” Sw: antivi, Devotee:mimmalane Krishnudantini. Sw: antivi Dev: mimmalane Shivudanti Sw: antivi Dev: mimmalane Daivambanti Sw: antivi. Innantivi kaani okka saaraina vintiva?” That day we understood how much more important it is to practice His teachings than simply sing praises. 6. Swami once said to the group, “naaku darshanlo etuvanti mukhaalu choodatamu ishtamo telusa. Naaku navvutu aanandamu ga vunde mohaalu ishtam. Andaru castor oil face to vastaaru. Bhagavantude mee vaddaku vacchi mee madhyalo nadustunte antakanna aanandamu inkemi vundi. Kabatti navvutu aanandamuga vundaali.” 7.Once Swami had called 60 of us for an interview. The group had done a 6 day grama seva camp and come to Prashanti Nilayam. The interview room was jam packed with some of our brothers having to stand against the walls so that all could fit in. After the interview was over, there was some water on the floor, probably because of sweat. Our brothers immediately started taking out their kerchiefs to wipe. Swami saw this and said, “Vaddu bangaru, danini tudchavaddu. Pavitramaina gangajalamu ra adi. Seva chesi vacchina vaariki anta viluva.” That day we understood how God values even the sweat of someone who has rendered service. 8. Swami usually ends an interview by distributing vibhuti packets to all those present. At the end of one such group interview, Swami got up and took the basket of vibhuti packets. One of the brothers remarked, “Swami, nenu pattukuntanu Swami vibhuti basket.” Immediately Swami said, “Mee andari bhaaraanni mostunnanu kadaa, daanikante idi telika ye. Nene pattukuntaanu le bangaru.” What a profound statement. 9. Swami once asked us during a group interview, “What is the difference between and a bad man. Manchi vaadiki chedda vaadiki unna vetyaasamu emito telusa.” Many tried to give different answers but Swami was not happy. Finally He said, “Emi ledu ra, chaala simple. Manchi vaadu yedati vaadi baadha choosi baadha padutaadu. Yedati vaadi aanandamu choosi aananda padutaadu. Chedda vaadu yedati vaani baadha choosi aananda padutaadu. Yedati vaani aanandaanni choosi baadha padutaadu. Ante difference.” What a simple way of putting it.

Divine Advice On 13th March 1995, Bhagawan called the IInd year undergraduate students. It was Bhagawan who asked the first few questions. He gave the answers too. Importance of education – many boys study only to empty their heads in the examination. This is like Polaroid camera. But in the other type of camera, you can get negatives. Your studies ahould be like that. Whatever you study should be imprinted in your mind. Whenever you need, you should be able to use it. Memory Power – Don’t think too much. It may cause a decline in memory power. You should have purity, patience and perseverance. Wastage of energy diminishes memory power. Examinations – You should welcome tests. Everything in life is a test. Test gives you rest and rest is the taste of God. Writing – You read at home but write in examination hall. This is not good. You should practice writing the answers too. Manana – You must read two pages at a time and think over what you have read. When you read twenty pages at a stretch, it is like a Polaroid camera. When you read two pages at a time, it will be like a photo negative; whenever you want, you can take copies out of it. When you study this way, the pustaka (book) and your mastaka (head) become one and the same. Sleep – It is not right to study all through the night. It will diminish your memory power. Boys need 7 to 8 hours sleep. Go to bed early. Think of what you studied, till you get sleep. This is manana. Get up early – at 4:30a.m. But  do not sleep during daytime. Also, don’t rush to the Institute immediately after lunch. Sit on a chair, close your eyes and take rest for five minutes. Anxiety – When you get deep into work, you get enthusiasm, not anxiety. So, get involved in your work. But…. – When you have no interest, don’t sit in front of the book. Go for a short walk. Sing Bhajans. Come back with enthusiasm and interest. Then study. What else… – Faith in yourself and faith in God, this is the secret of success.

Light and Love The Sanathana Sai Sanjeevinis is the complex healing system where the prayers connected with Sanjeevini Healing Cards, vegetarian diet, lifestyle and Ayurvedic wisdom. Swami has explained and completed this system, especially the part, what concern to diet, sathwic food and lifestyle. Sai Sanjeevinis has paid a significant attention to vegetarian diet. Without the vegetarian diet and lifestyle this system of treatment is not productive. Some advices and explanations concerning vegetarian diet has submitted. By Sai Sanjeevinis wrong diet and lifestyle are often the cause of many ailments. Humans’ food habits are guided by sense of taste and instinct. Habits humans have received in childhood also play an essential role.The large role has consumer-society advertisements directly from media or by different ‘studies’ about good for health products full of different artificial additions. Often even the medical profession serves commercial interests.There is a lack of awareness about the harmful effects of such foods – but what is most disturbing and unfortunate is that even those who are aware continue to serve these indigestible foods. Humans taste as all other senses are provided by God to be used for receiving balanced food what is easily ingested and gifted health and harmony with nature. However, today’s general tendency is that senses are out of control and all balance has been lost. Humans are as slaves to their five senses and tongue has lost the discrimination – that instinct – to eat only what is good food for health and what may firmly dedicate to God. There are no doctors among wild animals. The instinct tells them what to eat and how to cure the diseases. Human beings have the same instinct, but it has hidden under the layer of delusive senses.When human beings are not in harmony with nature, when they are violating God’s bounty at every step, when the mother Earth, the animals, the underprivileged, are all crying out at the abuse heaped on them by humans’ for their own selfish ends. In such conditions instincts slowly die. “Vegetarian food helps to human beings to return to harmony with nature and with themselves.“Sathwic (pure, health promoting) diet does not mean simply the food we take through our mouth but also means the pure air we breathe through our nose, the pure vision we see through our eyes, the pure sounds we hear through our ears and the pure objects we touch through our feet and hands. All that we take in through the doors of our five sense organs may be described as diet. Listening to bad sounds, looking at bad sights, touching bad things do not constitute sathwic diet.” The consequent parts are about strange for human body properties of non-vegetarian food by Sanatana Sai Sanjeevinis and own insights. This theme has properly studied in our teacher’s environmental scholarship, as vegetarian food is a base for spiritual enlightenment and ecological consciousness. Several points of view of modern science what reached nearly to the same standpoints. Seven parts of mails are the explanations why vegetarian food is healthy mainly by Sanatana Sai Sanjeevinis, but not only. (This site is very large and includes the healing methods. The compilation from this site by additional notes seems to be more clear explanation for the benefit of vegetarian food). The other parts include Swami’s quotations and recommendations about the quality the food and personal experiences how in conditions of long cold winters to prefer vegetarian food. The last part would be about standpoints of modern science concern to vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. (By the way, from history is known that many worldwide famous persons were vegetarian. In italy Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) would often buy caged animals at the market just to set them free. George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) turned vegetarian at age 25. About them in the last part). Non-vegetarian foods including meat, fish, eggs putrefy within a few hours and so the putrefaction takes place within human body, what carrying around decaying corpses and toxins from them. Eggs too rot as fast as meat and fish. Eggs provide the largest quantity of cholesterol. Besides, the eggs are full of chemicals. The hens are kept in the most shocking conditions – never allowed to roam free in the sun, always sitting in one position to produce “assembly line” eggs. They are fed hormones (for better produce) and artificial yellow colour (which is one of the worst offenders in children’s behavioral disorders) to make the eggs look more appetising. (Those eggs are “nuggets of concentrated nutrition” is a myth. One egg contains almost zero iron, 1200 IU of Vitamin A, a large quantity of Vitamin D and is loaded with Cholesterol. Compare that to 6000 IU of Vitamin A in a small bunch of drumstick leaves and 10,000 IU in an even smaller bunch of coriander leaves. Both these are also very rich sources of iron as are all green leafy vegetables. Vitamin D is available from the sun – it is formed directly on the skin by the action of the sun). Countries where meat and other non-vegetarian food is consumed in large quantities have the highest rates of colon cancer. The animals are fed all sorts of hormones and drugs to fatten them up – these are also recycled to humans and result in severe hormonal disturbances in men and women. Antibiotics are a routine part of their diet. Ingesting these will make us immune to their action should we ever need to use them. Human’s stomach has to produce a lot more acid to digest non-vegetarian foods. They themselves contain of uric acid. It is one of the causes of suffering from ulcers, arthritis, psoriasis and other skin problems, etc. The adrenal glands or stress glands become very active in the animal during captivity and during the butchering process. The adrenal so produced is recycled to humans thus causing unnecessary panic, stress and fears.