Loving Hand Turns Burning Sand To Water

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               (__  _   *     |__ )   _
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             A human being is a part of the whole,
             called by us `Universe-, a part limited
             in time and space. He experiences
             himself, his thoughts and feelings as
             something separated from the rest- a
             kind of optical delusion of his
             consciousness. This delusion is a kind
             of prison, restricting us to our
             personal desires and to affection for a
             few persons nearest to us. Our task
             must be to free ourselves from this prison
             by widening our circle of compassion to
             embrace all living creatures and the
             whole of nature in its beauty.
                                    -Albert Einstein

Dear One,

This details a recently given discourse in Geneva by Ryuko Hira on the
SATHYA SAI DIVINE GRACE WATER PROJECT, on June 10, 1995

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R. Hira Speaks:

Sisters and Brothers!

In the preparation for Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 70th birthday I have
been given much work and little time.  That’s Baba’s way!  The lesson from
this is that “in other’s welfare lies our gain”.  The title of this
project, the Sathya Sai Divine Grace Water Project, was given by a poet
from Thailand who has written poems on Baba in Thai and in English.  Here
is one example:

   “Sai Baba has set the norm
    For worship at its highest form.
    To remove the misery of others
    And to treat all beings as brothers.”

Water for 700 villages

The area called Rayalaseema, in which Puttaparthi is located, lies in the
State of Andhra Pradesh.  Although this area is the birthplace of Sri
Sathya Sai Baba Himself, it has year after year been stricken by drought,
with continuous serious shortages of water.  This scarcity has caused
unbearable suffering to many people who are our sisters and brothers
living there.  With their children they walk barefooted in the hot sun, an
average of 4.6 km every day, carrying heavy pots of water on their heads.
There is also a high arsenic content in the wells due to contamination
from the soil, and this has produced serious lesions on the feet and hands
of the people.  The Central Government of India and the State Government
have been trying their best to alleviate this water shortage, which
affects not only India but other countries also in Asia. The United
Nations has said that water will be the world’s most critical resource by
the year 2000.  Recently the Far Eastern Economic Review had a special
article on water shortage.

Baba has come for the whole universe but He will answer first those who
pray sincerely.  To remove the suffering and the sickness of these people
He announced on 23 November 1994 that within one year He will supply
potable drinking-water to 700 villages with a total population of about
1.3 million (500-3000 in each village).  On 23 November 1995 we shall
celebrate Baba’s 70th birthday and all these 700 villages, because of His
Divine Will, will receive water.  There are many more needy villages
which, hopefully, the Sai Organisation will be encouraged to take up in a
second and third phase.