From Team Venugaanam’s Desk

We are delighted to bring to you the November 2012 edition of Venugaanam. This edition begins with Swami’s Divine call to His devotees and students to have firm faith in Divinity and this will be sufficient strength to achieve any task.

In Atmajyothi, we continue the deliberation on realizing our inner nature and true potential. Bhargav shares his insights on the secrets of a healthy living from the perspective of the world’s oldest medical science- Ayurveda.  Even the so called inanimate objects have life; Sriram outlines this in the series entitled “A Journey Within”.

SowmyaRoopa shares her experiences as a student of the Anantapur campus. In the series called Golden moments , she narrates incidents that happened during those precious years and specific instructions from Swami to improve our lives. Prakash speaks on motivational aspects that every teacher should be aware of. What counts is not the amount drilled into a student but the effort to create an environment that generates interest in every child to learn, he opines.

Swami's Discourse-Anything in Life can be Achieved with Firm Faith

Embodiments of Love!

IT is lack of love that is responsible for all the differences, arguments and conflicts in the world, especially in the present times. Many people say that the world is afflicted today with sorrow, losses and difficulties. I do not subscribe to this view. I tell you, they are all our illusion only. In fact, there is no unrest or sorrow in this world. I just see peace, peace and peace only everywhere. When there is peace in our heart, we will be able to witness peace all round. Unrest, sorrow, anger, etc., are the reaction, reflection and resound of the state of our inner being. Sorrows and difficulties, anger and unrest are of our own making and creation. They are not natural phenomena in the world.

First and foremost, develop faith. There can be no life without faith. Sometimes faith is also termed ‘Self’. Without Self, you cannot help others. Only when there is faith can you achieve anything in life.

Atmajyoti

By  Shri Lakshminarayan Aithal

(Shri Lakshminarayan Aithal has served for over 3 decades in Swami’s institution and is the former Principal of the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Institutions at Muddenahalli. Inspired by Swami’s direct message to study the Upanishads, he first learnt Sanskrit and then studied the direct works of Adi Shankaracharya and Swami. Sincere perseverance led him to the reality of Aham Brahmasmi and He realized and experienced Swami’s words: “I am God and so are you”. He shares the import of the Upanishadic teachings with us in this series of articles.)

Now,  let  us  enquire  into  the  third  and  the  fourth  objections.  A rope is different from the snake.  The latter object may be imagined in the former one.  But,  does  the  one self  delude  that  he  is  of  other  form?  How  do  we  believe  that  many  living  beings  and  inert  objects  are  imagined  in  the  Sole  Auspicious  Form  of  the  Self?  How  do  we  believe  that,  in  front  of  the  Self,  the  non-self-world  is  imagined,  apart  from  Him?  None of these two suitably befit to the rope-snake-illustration.  This,  in  a  nutshell,  is  the  purport  of  the  two  objections.  If  the  Self  is  of  the  Form  of  Existence-Awareness-Bliss,  how  does  the  non-existent-inert-sorrowful-world  appear  in  Him?  This is also included in the doubt of the objector.

Construction Update

THE MAKING OF SAI KRUSHNA MANDIR- CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Sai Krushna Mandir after Phase 1 and 2

With the Divine Blessings and grace of our Beloved Swami, the ground floor of Phase 1 of the children’s home – Sai Krushna Mandir – will be inaugurated on 23^rd November, 2012. While there are numerous challenges, the SKM construction team is working to ensure that the foundation, construction and funding are all moving along expected timelines.

As you are all aware, owing to our stance of non-corruption with government authorities, the construction work began only on Gurupoornima-3^rd July. We are grateful to Swami that He has allowed us to complete the ground floor of the building in time to celebrate the inauguration of the ground floor on His birthday It is entirely a reflection of His grace on the project that in a short duration of about 4 months the ground floor of Phase 1 would be complete and the civil structure of the first and second floors would be done by November. The entire building would be finished by February/ March. It is expected that Sai Krushna Mandir will be functional as a children’s home from April/May 2013. That way, the children who will be coming will also be able to join during the change of academic session. We also invite applications for suitable volunteer families who will be willing to to live with and take care of the children.

Sharavati School Update- Teacher's Workshop

Even as the students took a break for the Navarathri vacations after their examinations, the teachers were kept busy with their corrections. All the students have performed well and the areas of improvement have been identified.

From 25-28 October, we had a workshop fpor the teachers on diverse topics ranging from Educare, Methods to improve teaching, Teaching aids, Games, to Personality Development and Appraisal.

Astrology and Spirituality- Ayurveda-Secret of Healthy Living 2

By KVRK Bhargav

(Bhargav is a student of Swami who after completing his B.Tech graduated with an MBA from the the Sri Sathya Sai University in 2001. Ever since, he has had the great fortune of waiting for Swami’s direct guidance. He pursues astrology as a hobby to understand how it complements and dovetails spirituality. He shares his insights on how the planets are not causes of fear; rather they all serve the common goal of prodding man towards his spiritual destiny of Self Realization)

I hope all are ready with their scores of Vata Pitta and Kapha  of their constitution based on the previous article on Ayurveda- Nature's secret for healthy living-1 . Let us understand in depth these three humours (types) and how they affect a person's overall health.

A Journey Within

-By Sriram S.
(Sri Ram. S is an MSc (Math) and MBA grad from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He was also the University Brass band leader, a mandir bhajan singer and one of the founders of the alumni Band Group known as Rhythmic Energy. Post studies he worked in the IT industry for over 6 years after which he moved on and is currently a practising Clinical Integrated Hypnotherapist working out of Bangalore. He has founded Sunshine Wellness Studio (www.SunshineStudio.in) that aims at using various modalities of hypnotherapy for healing. Feel free to write in on your experiences and also if you have any further queries at info@SunshineStudio.in )

Forging a Relationship with the “Inert”

I wonder if there is anything at all that could be termed ‘inert’. As a child I grew up believing that all objects that I get in touch with have ‘feelings’. So if my pen would not write well and if I cursed it, I would immediately retract my harsh statements. I believed that the pen could actually hear me and would ‘feel bad’. I had amazing parents who listened with open mindedness and never derided my belief systems. If anything they strengthened it. So what I wrote below is something very natural to me. I am not unaware of the raised eyebrows and mildly skeptical looks when I talk about this to others. Nevertheless, try to read through with an open mind and try out the steps and please do get back to me with your experience.

Motivational Techniques for Teachers

Prakash Srinivasan

(Prakash is a student of Swami who did his B.Com(Hons) in Brindavan campus and then his MBA and PG Diploma in Indian Culture and Philosophy in Prashanthi Nilayam. During his student days, Prakash had the good fortune of being a Mandir bhajan singer and has enjoyed singing for our Lord many times. A passionate lover of music, food and nature- Prakash is currently heading the European system operations for Hewlett Packard(HP) from the Bangalore office. His enthusiasm, humour and cheerfulness are contagious. In this article, Prakash shares his insights on cinema and how movies can deeply affect our daily life).

Teachers play a very important role in the growth of a child and they need to motivate the children continuously to ensure the children enjoy the learning process. A mechanical teaching process serves no purpose at all. Here are some pointers which can help teachers to teach with all the motivation so that they can make teaching an interactive process:

Golden Moments-1

Sowmya Roopa

(Sowmya Roopa completed her B.A in 1987 and B.Ed in 1988. She received her gold medal for distinction in B.Ed from the Sri Sathya Sai University. She taught at the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar Ootacamund from 1989 till 1991. From 1991 till 2000, she taught at the Sai Sathya Sai Primary school, Puttaparthi. Sowmya Roopa was invited to the Sai Sathya Sai Schools, Rishikesh and Kathmandu in 2000 and 2001. There she shared her knowledge about value-oriented education with the teachers and students through talks, poems, songs, charts and demonstration. Currently, she writes value-based skits and paints quotation boards. She attempts to spread Bhagwan’s teachings and the wisdom of different religions through her brainchild ‘Project Suvichar’.)

The Shri Guru Gita say’s “Salutations to Shri Guru, by whose joy people are joyous”, Bhagawan, the source of joy gave each of us joyous Golden moments. It is our pleasure to share those memories with each other. In these series of articles entitled ‘Golden Moments’ I share some joy- filled memories with all of you. The joy came when Bliss incarnate Bhagawan, answered a question, alloyed a fear, showed His unseen presence, wiped a tear, taught a profound truth…endless are His ways of giving joy.

     It was 1984, I had just joined the Sri Sathya Sai college for women at Ananthpur and was in first year B.A, It was a Thursday, we were assembled for prayer in the college auditorium, as we finished praying, there was a sudden hush, then a few whispers “Bhagwan has come”, we turned in amazement to see Bhagwan walking into the auditorium. Then Bhagwan gave a discourse. He told this chinna katha- little story.