Birthday to the Birthless Energy - 23rd Nov 21

 

Aum Sri Sai Ram.  What a day. By his sheer sankalpa , my work was manageable so that I could take a day-off today , on the glorious occasion of the birthday of the Sathya Sai Physical form of the Parabhrama. My Mother co-operated with me , as I got up in the wee hours of the day to take part in the NagarSankeerthanam planned in the Chitlapakam Samithi , Chromepet at 5.00 am. The unpredictable rains were temporary sent to the sheds by swami , as he was well aware of kids rolling over to him on this day at all places. Like ants surrounding a piece of sugar candy, as the seva dals started the rangoli , decoration and other tasks to be ready for the occasion devotees ( Samithi members) started getting pulled into the ambit of the Samithi , as mother Sai was expanding her love to accommodate all of her children who came running into her lap. The Ashtothram and Sai Gayathri chanting , the Jyoti meditation and other preliminary agendas were duly executed as a group of 20 , almost equal number of gents and ladies took to the streets , singing out their hearts with clash-cymbals and hand beats.  

Youtube Link : NagarSankeerthanam Part 1

But the highlight before all this is , as I entered , near the gate of the Samithi , the bhajan that most affects me for its tune and rendition was being played . Bhajan Link : Gopala Giridhara Bala .This particular bhajan always moves me into tears and when I heard it being played in the mobile phone by a member , I just couldn't think of anything else other than feeling grateful of how individually , distinctly , he welcomed me for the day. I literally read it as : " come vignesh , ra ."  Best feeling . Many drops of tears slowly found their way down my chin, unnoticed by others as bhajans ensued.

The nagarsankeerthanam ended on a blissful note as prasad and swami's pictures were distributed and we all dispersed.  We also got a chance to circumambulate the Shiridi Sai Mandir opposite to the samithi , which was not opened fully to public due to the pandemic . My sentiments with Swami's previous avatar are as deep and as high as my love for swami. What I enjoy with the Sai Avatar is a Blessed Amalgamation of Avataric Love and when people ask me are you Shiridi Sai devotee, Sathya Sai devotee , my first reaction will be a smile. I try to read if the person is asking out of idle curiosity or real interest and respond accordingly.  

The next interaction was at 10.00 am,  for physical bhajans.  So , 3 hours forward , devotees and members thronged the premises of the Samithi as resounding , pining , blissful bhajans were going on. I had taken my own self made copy of my favorite bhajans , which rang a deep note on my system.  I wasn't technically prepared or rehearsed for a bhajan , but I noticed one gent and one lady sairam were alternatively singing bhajans in a packed Samithi. One elder Sairam then prompted me to sing an Anjaneya bhajan and somehow I sought Bhagwan's assurance to sing without messing up the rising up spirit of the gathered souls.  I opened my note and selected Jaya Vijayi Bhava song and it came out well. I mentally made a note that , for such impromptu occasions , I should practice well a bhajan of all deities for all occasions. If possible, 2 for each god as well , when there is a bhajan requirement at any context. Ah , as I lead the bhajan and the chorus of the audience followed , I felt so blessed for his involvement of me. 

Senior devotees offered their presence inspite of their challenges and working folks too parked their personal - professional work to not miss this opportunity to be with swami at his function. The Bhajans were so intoxicating , sairams distributed sweets , udi with the udi manthra.  Cake cutting was performed with kids of sairams and it was a combination of physical and mental satisfaction of senses of sorts. I think , among the 1000 + thoughts that we get while on service / seva / Samithi duty , at least a couple of them should only be ones of gratitude for having been enrolled in a Satsang such as the Sai Fraternity . Looking at each one of us , with our individual karmic journeys , we should mentally at least wish each other the very best , in our journey towards Swami and bow in gratitude for offering each other company.  Due to the long gap , fellow Sairams exchanged pleasantries , enquiries on each other and embraced each other.  The next and final interaction on the joyous occasion of Swamivaru's Birthday will be at 6 pm evening , where the traditional Online bhajans will be done , slowly ending the day on a note of nothing but Swami , our everything .

Constant Integrated Awareness - A Spiritual Cardio

 

One might wonder , how can one stay connected with swami all the time, doing the things we do - Can living with swami be an achievable ethic ? This was a question that came into my being when one old devotee casually remarked one day to me over a conversation of how familial life kept her busy and she was not able to be full time in samithi activities and it got me worried . Does that mean, if I want to be with swami, practice swami way of life, does it mean zero family life ? Swami was quick to pick up this line of thought in me and etched the answer for this over many days of my everyday routine, deeply affirming me that , nothing here can be done without the Sai element in it, whether we apply a label it or not. All are his work. How ? Read on . 

Gyan 1 - Group Bhajan's Effect on Swami

So, I picked up a few pounds , thanks to the lockdown and self acquired lazy habits and I wanted to reverse that , which got me taking to the streets for a good old hour long walk everyday around the neighborhood. Over days, I have chosen a route , designed just for me , in such a way that I get to see people with swami's logos / tiles / portraits / pictures hung in their homes or compound . I also get to see around 5 temples of Lord Ganesh , Devi etc , giving me some good on the go darshans of our deities. I have a habit of feeding our other narayana friends from the animal world. One day, when I had some biscuit crumbs with me, and I didn't want to throw them in vain, I was scouring the roads for some ants. I didn't find one for a long time until I saw a cluster and I was immediately prompted to drop the biscuit pieces on the ant cluster , to find them dash on to the piece giving me such peace. Instantly, a voice in me spelled it out. So this is why swami calls for bhajans , communal prayer. If we pray from the comfort of our homes, he gets to visit us one by one and it might take some time for the Santa sai to drop our gifts. But when we do group prayer, out of love and devotion, he has no chance but to rush to our bhajan meet and unload a barrage of blessings on us . 

Gyan 2 - To be in touch with the Name - even when you don't see a purpose. 

Many times, when my mind used to wander here and there , especially on days when I choose to skip the headphone and walk without music, I used to throw a Sairam here and there , just to be attuned to his naama. Once, I had put in a Sairam into my thought stream, when I was very close to stepping on a slow moving black worm on the road. I again gave out a Thanks Sairam ! . With your mercy, I didn't kill the poor worm, unintentional, but I was still saved from a sin. Often, this happens in the air as well. Sometimes, a "Before Sairam" will push me amazingly away from some hanging worms from trees, especially the ones in green color which are tough to see in thin air and a "Thanks Sairam" will follow suit. 

Gyan 3 - Focus on Swami, Not on How he blesses others

The other day, I was prompted from within to feed some Bhairava Narayanas ( doggies ) and I was left with 2 more biscuits. I usually break them in 2 , to increase number and help it eat easier . Once there were 2 dogs in front of a flat, and I instinctively, threw one half for one dog and I another a bit far to prevent a fight between the two. But the 2nd dog missed the biscuit , so I threw again , this time also it didn't see my intent . Reason - ? It kept watching the  1st dog and where I threw the biscuit for the 1st dog. Often, we find ourselves being disturbed by seeing someone's success or sudden upswing in life, not just in a bad way through jealousy , but also , in a sense of evaluating our own self worth - are we being successful at all, etc . All this nonsense thoughts can be eschewed if we did one simple sadhana. Focus on Swami.  To some, he blesses , to some he tests. He does what he does. Why should we be concerned what goes on with others, when we can solely focus on him and pick up our own blessings that he rolls our way ?

Gyan 4 - Counting our Blessings from his point of view

A similar incident of misplaced attention can be connected to another Swami ideal . One day when I noticed the crows and the Pigeons came to snack at the same time on the neighbor's compound , I decided to throw some wheat for the pigeons and biscuit pieces for the crows , based on their nature and appetite.  The pigeons were obviously attracted to the wheat grains, because that's what they eat - grains. But the crows missed the biscuits I had laid too , as they felt they should also "get" the same grains as pigeons ate and they were more in number. The grains were quickly exhausted and the pigeons now came for the biscuit pieces and started nibbling at the biscuit pieces and soon that was also wiped out. The crows missed an easy treat in front of them because, they didn't see what was there out for them and missed out on their lot completely. Similarly, sometimes , when we see someone in our life being blessed with abundance or a promotion or a praise , and we are simply being ourselves, no movement upwards or downwards,  we tend to think - why nothing for me swami. Am I also not dear to you. Do we really know what swami had done for us truly ? Probably we were to attract some losses or get sick or something and Swami absorbed our karma into him , while it was time for the other person to taste the result of his/her own good karma . Never judge the flavor of blessings that we each get to experience. We should remember to count our blessings , thank him and try to understand from his point of view - we may not even know what he had done for us , but we must not look up to him in disgrace. Rather, we must consistently muster courage and love to always think off ourselves as very dear to him and allow him to do whatever he wants to do with us. 

Gyan 5 - Nirgun Bhrama Sagun Bhrama

I had another startling revelation on the road , which is one of the deepest tenets of advaita philosophy that stunned me in it's simplicity and profundity. Like aforementioned, I tend to look up photos in houses in my route to steal photo darshans of swami as I walk and one day I walked too close to one house who used to hang the portrait of Swami in their 1st floor balcony. I then moved to the left to move farther away from the house to get a glance when it instantly struck me. As long as I longed for the physical form of Swami , I am still far from him. The moment I know he is encompassing me at all times , at all places , at all planes , I lose sight of the physical tangible form of sai and get very close to him in his actual true form - the Formless Jyoti. 

One God - One soul

I hope you enjoyed reading these candid experiences of mine. Truth be told, I even conceived the core idea of this piece in one of my walks. I again intend to circle back to the premise of this work. Living with sai means not just doing bhajans, attending samithi work, being in the organization or doing things under the Sai banner , omitting all our personal life. Living with Sai , is simply we living our Given life, doing the things we are meant to do at our station, practicing the ideals and ethics he has called out and being in touch with him at all times. No need for complications or score checking with other devotees to see how much you are doing etc. There is only one player. It is you. There is only one judge . It is him.  There is only one game and that is your life. Keep playing until the game, the judge and the player all converge unto him !

Loving Sairams to all of you !!!

A Day in the Patha Mandir - As narrated by Bombay Srinivasan

 

( Compiled Article - Felt I can hold this beautiful piece in my Blog to the delight of the audience )

During those days there were no rituals like omkaram,suprabhatam or nagarasankirtan. Swami was everything for devotees. At 3 AM one could hear farmers going to their fields, singing folk songs. That was the Omkaram for devotees those days. At 5 AM one could hear milk vendors saying ,"Please buy my curd, milk and flowers". This was the suprabhatam for devotees. In any case they had to get up by daybreak.At dawn, Swami would rise, wash himself and drink the hot beverage devotees offered to him, and move happily with them and talk to them also. At 9 Am after Swami had taken his bath, devotees would offer him the breakfast they would have prepared. Swami would taste a bit from each, joke a bit and offer the same as prasadam for everyone.

After breakfast, anyone could do padapuja to Swami. There was a old cane-chair in the Old Mandir which would be placed in the hall. Requesting Swami to place his lotus feet on a plate, devotees would wash the feet with scented water, wipe with kumkum. Then they would offer Swami naivedhyam which he would partake a little. Devotees would then offer harathi to Swami and everyone would do padanamaskar. While doing padapuja, Swami would ask devotees to sing with devotion, instead of mechanically. Bhajans would start at 11 AM. There was no regular bhajans those days.....just long songs. Any person could sing during bhajans. Swami would sit on that red stone and also sing. His sister, Venkamma would also sing with him. The hall was very small and men and women sat on either side. Some men sat behind Swami fanning him. Despite that, Swami's robe would be soaked wet due to the scorching heat. At the end of the session, Swami himself would do harathi to please his devotees and then distribute prasadam to everyone.

At 1 pm, everyone would assemble for lunch. Swami would take a little food from everybody, mix it, eat a little and distribute the rest as prasadam. Later he would rest for a while. Even in those days Swami never took sweets, ghee, milk or curds. When pressed for a reason, Swami said he had had enough during Krishnavatar.

In the evening at 4 pm came the most awaited phase for the day. He would take devotees to the Chitravathi riverbed. There, he would sing and ask the devotees to sing as well. He would materialize from the sand - idols, photos, fruits etc and give them to the devotees. He would also talk about spiritual matters and give the devotees great joy. On one occasion he took out and apple from the sands and cut it into 4 slices. He started giving them to almost 50 devotees seated there. As he gave them,the slices multiplied on their own and everyone got a slice. Swami would say, "I am sankalpasiddha, not siddhasankalpa".While returning to the mandir, Swami would walk in front and advice the devotees to follow him singing songs. There would be bhajans for a while in the mandir and after harathi everyone would have dinner. In the night Swami would walk around the mandir with a torch. Puttaparthi was full of snakes and scorpions. They sometimes lived with devotees. No one was bitten by them, thanks to his grace. Even dogs and cats were allowed to move freely inside the Mandir!

Oh Sai Rama - A Heartfelt Poem

 

Oh Sai Rama , Let your name be my Sahasranamaa

Let my devotion to you be consistent , 

Whether or Not , Challenges are insistent 

Let my Love for you be my highest Gain , 

Whether or Not , I am tested by biggest Pain , 

Let my Hands forever Hold your feet ,

And Let that be my biggest Treat , 

Let my Legs motion Towards All Things Sai Approved , 

And If not, Let my Intentions to move be Removed ,

Let my Mind hold your sight open or closed ,

And if not, let my eyes never Open or Close ,

Let my Breath inhale the Incense in your Presence, 

And let that be my breath's Essence ,

Let my Sleep be filled with your Dreams ,

And Let that bring me to Blissful tears in Streams  , 

Let my vocal Chords Vibrate on Your Name ,

And Let that alone Reverberate in all my Time Frame ,

Let your Mental awareness be my only Force of Living ,

And if not , let your nearness be my only Source of Living ,

Oh Sai Rama , Let your name be my Sahasranama ,

Oh Sai Rama , Let your name be my Sahasranama,

Oh Sai Rama , Let your name be my Sahasranama

samastha lokah sukhino bhavanthu

A Self-Audit Checklist for Behavioral Performance as a Swami Devotee

The following checklist samples out some of the questions a devotee should ask themselves when they want to assess how well they are doing as a Swami follower. Sometimes, we notice an invisible spiritual ego rising in us, making our bosom swell with the feeling that we are doing many things like Swami counselled us and inflate our pride. In-order to diffuse and deflate any such invalid thoughts, once in a while we need to take such self-audits to keep us grounded. We can also try associating ourselves with other people who we notice, are doing more good deeds than we do, so that we don't feel spiritually pompous. 

1. Do you sing your Bhajans and chant mantras from your heart and not mechanically repeat 

or sing for the sake of doing ?

2. Are you able to be at your polite most behavior with your closed ones when they do

something that normally will make you angry ?

3. Are you able to think of Swami at all times in every work you do ?

4. Are you chanting the Sai Gayathri regularly ?

5. Are you talking sweetly and with all humility , to your parents at all times ?

6. Do you see difference between people of different religions ?

7. Do you thank Swami at least once a day from your heart for the blessings you already have ?

8. Have you forgiven at least one person for the hurt they have done and surrendered the hurt, 

the pain , the anger and regret and all emotion to the feet of Swami ?

9. Do you chant Bhramarpanam everytime before you eat something or atleast think of swami

before you eat/drink something ?

10. Do you talk to people obligingly even though you don’t like what they tell ?

11. Do you chant the Gayathri mantra at least 9 times every day , 3 each morning, noon and 

night ?

12. Are you able to help someone without looking for any benefits of Good Karma in return ?

13. Have you lost any bad habits which you were suffering from , post Swami’s involvement?

14. Do you respect other gurus, religious heads and saints ?

15. Are you able to maintain equilibrium during happy and tough times with belief in swami 

that he is aware of everything and that he will take care of everything completely ?

16. Have you inspired in cultivating good habits by behaving well and not explicitly asking 

them to change their bad habits ?

17. Have you read the Sai Sathcharithra at least once respectfully with faith ?

18. Do you visit temples and offer worship to the Gods once in a while, in an effort to recharge

your energies ?

19. Do you take part in charity for feeding poor people and not merely sending donations as

monetary gifts ?

20. Do you feed animals, birds once in a while to prove that you have understood that swami is

there in animals and birds as well and you realize his omnipresence ?

21. Do you pine for swami like with earnest sincerity and pure love or simply doing things what 

he said mechanically ?’

22. Do you practice proper use money, food , time and water and take all efforts and care to

not waste them at any cost and only use them as required ?

23. Do you chant Rama Nama as much as possible ?

24. Have you gone through any of the Vahini books of Swami and understood the contents ?

25. Do you feel the presence of Swami at every second, talk with him , involve him in everything

you do to show him you understand that he is watching you always ?

26. Do you divert the praise coming your way for the good deeds you do/did towards Swami , 

in word and reality and not claim the credit of having done a sathkarma ?

27. Have you been able to distract yourself when an uncontrollable feeling of physical lust or 

mental jealousy or physical anger overtook you , by some one or something , and immediately 

remind yourself that "all are god, love all serve all , help ever , hurt never" , thereby disabling 

the bad thought immediately or gradually? 

samastha lokah sukhino bhavanthu

Terms of a Sathya Sai Insurance Policy

 

This is to certify that Sri Sathya Sai Insurance has been awarded to the reader of this contract after waiver of the most biggest sins that have been removed by the Insurer , known as Swami from now on under the Divine Karma Leela Act of Eternity. The policy holder will be a required to pay a premium in any of the following agreed upon terms as called out by the Insurer, Swami after taking into account the Sins and Fortunes Score of the policy holder. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The policy holder is expected to opt for any of the following modes of payment:

• 24*7 Nama Smarana or 6*6*6*6 Nama Smarana 
• Narayana Seva at regular intervals 
• Bhajan and Seva participation
• Reading SSS Scriptures 
• Watching SSS Devotees experiences and Relearning newer aspects
• Support through financial donations
• 24*7*365 contact with various aspects of Insurer's teachings
• Enrolling in Love-All-Serve-All Program 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note that the terms and conditions , the benefits, risks and deductibles are not transferrable to any other person . If a person wishes to enroll someone else with the insurer, they can submit an application in any of the mediums available , viz : Heart-to-Heart prayer, Bhajan Prayer meet, Letter of Recommendation etc and the Insurer reserves the sole right to accept , reject or postpone the application. Should the application for insuring new client be accepted, information will be privately communicated through available channels such as dreams, physical manifestations or human contact at most unplanned circumstances . Should the application be rejected, the insured should not re-apply unless explicitly communicated to , as the reason for rejection might differ and is known only to the insurer , Swami. If a client is already insured by another Insurer, please think twice before submitting applications as it is not justifiable for the insured to take 2 paths to same destination . Should an application be identified as Postponed, please do not revoke your application, rather wait for the cooling period as communicated by the Insurer. 

Benefits of the Policy :

1. 24*7*365 coverage from all known perils relating to Mind, Body and Athma in dream or waking states at mental physical or spiritual planes . The insurer , Swami , will be in constant touch with the insured provided the insured pays the Bhakthi-Prema premiums as applicable. 
2. In times of trouble, if the Thought-Word-Action score of the insured be high, no need to make a call to the Insurer as the Insurer automatically removes the trouble causing agent and transfers the risk onto themselves. There will be suggestions offered at regular intervals through different channels to protect the insured from future perils that may or may not come. 
3. Full Indemnity will be provided should the peril be identified as a Mandatory Karma Phenomenon and the issuing agent be any of the Nine council ministers headed by Saturn Enterprises . If the performance of the insured is good, measured by efforts taken to not violate the terms and conditions of the Contract of Sri Sathya Sai Insurance Policy , then there is a high chance that the Insurer , Swami may choose to transfer full and complete  Results of Mandatory Karma Phenomenon onto themselves. This is a special clause under the Guru Anugraha -Navagraha Act of Universe. 
4. The insured is expected to have enough supplies of coupons issued by the Insurer, called the UDI Coupons , which can be used for amplifying Blessings and diminishing Sin Score and healing diseases and washing away bad thoughts , actions etc . The quantity of Udi coupon offered is subject to the Discretion of the Insurer, Swami  and it is required that the insured treats these coupons with absolute respect and reverence.   

I , the Insured hereby confirm that I adhere to the full terms and conditions as applicable to my profile as called out by the Insurer, Swami and vow to make the Bhakthi premium payments at regular intervals without lapses and be in constant touch with the Insurer, Swami, who has graciously offered and bestowed upon me this Life Term Policy after analyzing all my scores and has agreed to provide Full Coverage to me and my stakeholders as identified and accepted in the Dependents Section of the contract. .

                                                                                            Approved By ( Insurer )  

 Sri Sathya Sai

Love All Serve All - Sri Sathya Sai Insurance