Samarpan at Brindavan with Phyllis Krystal 1

Loving Sai Ram!!!

This Samarpan, we have a very, very special guest, Mrs. Phyllis Krystal, sharing her experiences with Bhagawan.

Born in London in 1914, she moved to the US, she now lives in Zurich. In the late 1950s, Mrs Krystal and a friend developed techniques to make contact with inner source of wisdom, Higher Consciousness (Hi C). For more than 25 years, Mrs. Krystal has given seminars and individual sessions in numerous countries to share the method and help people spiritually.

She went to Bhagawan in 1973, when Swami told her, ‘You…. Have come… At last’. One of her early experiences of Bhagawan was when He guided her to use the most powerful of all weapons, Love, on the hijackers of a plane. She has written several books Sai Baba - The Ultimate Experience, Taming the Monkey Mind, Re-Connecting the Love Energy, etc. At 99 years, her life is a beautiful testimony of how we can lead a truly spiritual life.

Please join us with your family and friends for an enchanting evening of Vedam chanting and soulful Bhajans by the students of the Sri Sathya Sai Educational Institutions and do partake of the loving offering of Prasadam thereafter.

With all our Prema…

God forsaken | Business Standard

I am amused to see the title, "God Forsaken"! Hence, some Random Thoughts :  

• God & forsake!! Isn't that an oxymoron ? God never forsake anyone, it is we who forsake God. We tend to swing from/to different levels of awareness or even avoid the reality, ostrich-like :) 

• One of the main teachings of Baba is 'Each one of us is God'.  We are just not 'aware' of it. That is a choice we make! Let us not blame Divinity!

• The chair occupied by one of our political leaders, is not Vikramaditya's chair ('anyone occupying it had access to the emperor's wisdom'). A businessman chose to go to Puttaparthi to set up & run his business. Just as any normal business is cyclical, his handicrafts & jewellery business is also going through same. It is his choice to stay put or pack off, in search of 'greener pastures'. 

• It is sad if a resident-businessman looked at PTP as just one of the 4P's of marketing, 'Place'.. For the seeker, PTP is a place where 'Sarva Dharma' is genuinely practiced, an important Sai teaching.

• For a spiritual seeker, what is Puttaparthi, especially after April, 2011? Check out this video, which was received early this week (no coincidence!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyaRpkz7CCU . For a serious spiritual seeker, the shops & establishments at PTP are not of much relevance. Because, for him/her the journey is within. Also, let us not forget the macro-economic situation, in rest of India & different parts of world. People are in a mood to cut corners.

• An extract of today's Sai Inspires: The lesson that all spiritual discourses wish to convey is that you must give up your pursuit of sensory objects, if you seek lasting peace and joy. Material wealth brings along with it, not only joy but grief as well. Accumulation of riches, multiplication of wants will lead only to alternation between joy and grief. Attachment is the root of both joy and grief. Detachment is the saviour.- Divine Discourse, Aug 19, 1964. -- -- -- Sai inspires is a daily message from Radio Sai, Puttaparthi (Baba said that in 1964 and He always advised 'Ceilng on Desires')

• Perhaps the average profile of the traveler has changed, over the years, not just since April, 2011. The crowd during week-ends, festival days, etc are as big as it used to be always, 'over-crowded'. With three canteens inside ( south, north Indian and western, plus few stalls, bakery, tender-coconut etc inside Ashram, less and less people are stepping out!) Many, who have a place to stay outside, prefer to buy fresh fruits & vegetables and cook at home, a holistic and simple meal. (Families that eat & pray together, stick together!) Also, during a pilgrimage, food is not a priority. I reminded of the catering staff in a train from Mumbai to Blore complaining to me few years ago, 'all these Sai Baba people are not buying much from us' !! Hospitality sector is bound to feel the pinch.

• Real estate sector has had its share of prosperity, just as in rest of India. But they have wrecked havoc on the fragile environment, including the river Chithravathi, in this drought-prone terrain. Sad the author did not step out of the comfort zone to highlight that.  (If our media was more environment-conscious, man-made disaster Uttarakhand would not have happened)

• Whether the place will become a Shirdi or Tirupathi, is last priority for any genuine seeker. We are better off with the simplicity that prevails there and lesser crowd is perhaps more preferable. Baba always looked for a quality, not 'numbers' ! One who lives by Sai Ideals of Self-less Service...

• After one of my trips to PTP, after Maha Samadhi, a doctor-friend asked me, 'how is business in Parthi, outside Ashram?' I was taken aback... He had genuine sympathy for the business community outside ashram. BS reporter has a similar outlook and genuinely cares for business community. But may be, sometime in near future, it may be prudent to take a trip back to PTP ('home' for many), wearing the hat of a spiritual seeker, not a business correspondent. Then you will understand what Puttaparthy and Sai Baba is..

• And may be, BS can actually have a column for genuine seeker, just as BS Motoring, one of my fav :) God Bless 

Pls check out this link, photograph:  Mosque at PTP


Link to the article:  God forsaken | Business Standard

Uttarakhand Floods My Karma

Ever since Uttarakhand tragedy happened, I have been thinking more of Karmic implications. Though not 'directly' impacted by the tragedy, it has left a huge impact on me, just as in many others.
The disturbing thought was - 'I was experiencing the news & the impact (though I avoided media reports to a great extend), because of my Karma...'

Got this story this morning...

Once a dog came to Sri Rama bleeding from blows. Lakshmana was sent to inquire why it had to receive such blows. The dog said: “I was beaten by a brahmin with a stick.” The brahmin was questioned. He said that the dog always was annoying him by coming across his path. Rama asked the dog: “Well, how do you want to punish the brahmin?” The dog said: “Make him a manager of a temple.” Rama replied with wonder: “That would be a reward not a punishment.” The dog said: “No, I was a manager of a temple in my previous birth. It was impossible not to mishandle or misuse or misappropriate some fraction of God’s money. When he is that manager, he too will get like me this canine birth and perhaps get beaten too in his subsequent birth.”

In fact, not only the dog or the brahmin, but every one of (us) are lining off the property of God, for does not all this belong to Him? What do we do in return for all benefits we derive from the property of the Lord? We should not simply eat and sit quiet. We have to render service to the poor and the helpless in a manner suitable to us.

 

And save environment on the basis of Doctrine of Trusteeship... An ideal we seem to have forgotten in our mad chase for comfort & wealth!