From Team Venugaanam’s Desk

We are delighted to bring to you the May 2013 edition of Venugaanam. This edition begins with Swami’s Divine exhortation to all to revere one’s parents. Swami also points out the importance of chanting the Divine name and how it should be done.  Read this discourse of Swami and know His message in His own words.

In Atmajyothi, we complete the final portion of deliberation on realizing our inner nature and true potential. This edition discusses the application and utility of Vedanta.

Bhargav shares a thought provoking experience in Puttaparthi involving teaching and learning Vedam in the lawns of Parthi. He leaves us with the important message that preaching is easy but practicing takes much effort.

 “There is a Divine providence in whose eyes we are all precious and who values an Afghanistan child killed by an American drone just as much as it does those who died in the collapse of the Twin Towers. Since death is not the end of life, all has meaning”, opines Don Mascon. “The sequel to The Soldier’s story” continues from the previous edition to discuss the hypothetical after-death experience of a few victims of war.

Belief in God is much more than a matter of style or convenience. In the article entitled “Why I would not Like to be an Athiest”, Prakash highlights his rationale behind his belief in a super power.

Lalita Rao opines that “We specialize in building walls around ourselves and finding the differences among each other rather than the similarities”. In her article illustrating this statement she shares an interesting experience from her neighborhood in Bangalore.

Swami would often say: “Would I put you in the crucible of fire, if it were not for the fact that you will come out brighter than before. Examinations help you to know where you stand and how you can improve”. In the article- “Test is to His taste”, Vinod shares an experience from his student days when Swami put them through the crucible of fire.

There have been some significant developments last month.  By Swami’s grace the civil work, flooring and tiling work, bathroom fixtures work and 1^st coat of wall painting for the building for Phase 1 of Sai Krushna Mandir is now complete. The next few weeks will involve the installation of solar fans/ lights for all the floors, final coat of interior and exterior wall painting and other small cleaning and fixing jobs to have it ready in time for operations in June. Solar hot water facility is also being considered subject to availability of funds. The members of the SKM construction team are also making frequent site visits to monitor the quality and quantum of progress. Read more and see some recent photos in the construction update.
A boundary wall for the entire campus also requires to be constructed urgently from the perspective of safety and security for the children and inmates. Interested people may contact the SKM team.

We also invite applications for suitable volunteer families who will be willing to live with and take care of the children.  Volunteer families would be provided suitable accommodation and their children would be given appropriate educational facilities also.

Currently, there is a requirement for 2 English medium teachers for the proposed English medium education for the children. Candidates with appropriate background and experience may apply. We are also looking out for a cook for the children’s home once it starts functioning from June.

We are happy to have your feedback on how to make ‘Venugaanam’ a better communication tool. You may kindly mail us at contactus@saikrushnamandir.org . Do feel free to share with us your experiences in following Swami’s teachings or on any other theme of your choice.

May 6^th is Easwaramma day, dedicated to the remembrance of the Divine Mother who brought the Lord amidst us. Swami has laid strong emphasis on pleasing our parents. The festivity in this summer month is a reminder to express our gratitude and offer the warmth of our love and respects to our parents.

May Swami turn our lives into a celebration of His message of love, sharing and caring.

With All our Prema,

Team Venugaanam

Sai Krushna Charitable Trust

Swami's Discourse- Revere and Love Your Parents

There is a subtle difference between caste and culture. You belong to the caste of humanity, for, there is only one caste - the caste of humanity. It is an inborn gift from your parents. On the other hand, the culture is something that is adopted in your life.

Culture teaches you what is to be done and how. It is based upon certain traditions. None can change your caste which is humanity. Based upon your inborn  caste of humanity, you can follow a culture. Another important point to be noted in this context is that caste and culture devoid of discrimination are not only useless, but harmful too. Your knowledge and sharp intellect are not that important. Discrimination is of utmost importance. You must be able to choose that which is useful and necessary for you. You have to switch on a light when you are in darkness. It is not proper to switch on a light when there is already light in the room.

Atmajyoti

 

 Sri Laxmi Narayana Aithal

 The  Self  neither  goes  nor  comes  from  anywhere;  neither  He  grasps  nor  He  gives  up  anything.  In  the  sky,  coming  and  going  of  the  clouds  don’t  change  the  pure  and  unpolluted  form  of  the  space.  Similarly, the egotism, etc.  appear  and  disappear   due  to  delusion  in  the  Self;  and  He  remains  eternally  changeless  in  the  extremely  Pure  Form  of  Awareness ( Nitya-Chaitanya-Roopah ).  We  have  told,  time  and  again,  that  the  states  and  the  egotism,  etc.  That appear in them- are not real.  If  we  remember  this,  the  doer-ship,  etc,  whatsoever  don’t   appear  in  the  Self.

THEREFORE, I AM THE AUSPICIOUS ONE.

    Thus,  if  we  have  the  agreement   of  the  three:  the  illustration  of  rope  and  snake,  that  of  the  dream  and  that  of  the  reflection  in  the  mirror;  and  if  we  construe  with  the  Self,  we  observe  clearly  that  there  is  neither  any  selfhood  nor  the  world  in  us.  As  the  awareness  becomes  firm,  the  Awareness  that: ‘ I  am  verily  the  Supreme  Auspiciousness ( Parama-Shiva )  who  is  Eternally  Pure  and  Totally  Consummate ( Nitya-Shuddha-Paripurna )  and  who  is  the  Unique  Form  of  Existence-Awareness-Bliss’  becomes  rooted  in  us.

    Those  who  have  the  backing  of  this  Awareness,  their  ignorance  is  got  rid  of  and  they  rise  in  courage;  their  licentious  behavior  is  avoided  and  they  naturally  have  a  religiously  righteous  behavior;  they  will  get  rid  of  indiscrimination  and  they  will  double  their  discrimination;  sense  of  injustice,  injury,  theft,  etc.  will  disappear  and  instead,  sense  of  justice,  compassion  and  interest  in  the  welfare  of  all  living  beings  will  be  got  rooted  in  their  heart;  idleness  will  give  way  to  steady  habit  of  worrying  for  others  benefit;  and  nowhere  grief  is  noticed.  But,  they  will   witness  the  sport  of   the  Supreme  Brahman  who  is  of  the  Form  of  Existence-Awareness-Bliss.  Therefore,  everyone  should  attain  this  Auspicious  Knowledge:  “ I  am  verily  the   Auspiciousness ( Shivoham )”.  And,  even  if  we  don’t  obtain  this  Knowledge  immediately,  at  least,  we  must  try  to  acquire  the  proper  qualification  for  the  Self-Knowledge.

 (With this edition, we conclude this series of discussion on Entrance to Vedanta. We shall take up a new topic of discussion from the next edition of Atmajyothi).

The making of Sai Krushna Mandir- Construction Updates

With the Divine Blessings and grace of our Beloved Swami, the Phase 1 of the children’s home – Sai Krushna Mandir – will be operational soon. While there are numerous challenges, the SKM construction team is working to ensure that the construction and funding are all moving along expected lines.

It is expected that Sai Krushna Mandir will be functional as a children’s home from June 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 caretakers/ volunteer families who will be willing to live with and take care of the children.  The caretakers would also be paid suitable as per their experience and ability. The ideal volunteer would be one dedicated to Swami’s work. We are open to families coming and joining who feel the inclination to participate and involve in Swami’s project. Volunteer families would be provided suitable accommodation and their children would be given appropriate educational facilities also.

Teaching Vedam Learning Life

KVRK Bhargav


It was the sylvan surroundings of the Institute lawns next to the humanities block, with verdant grass, circumvented by tall coconut trees and beautiful marigolds and dahlias in full bloom. Felt that I have been transported to an ancient gurukula. I was quite excited to take a formal Vedam class in this serene ambiance. The students started trickling in and by 6 pm the class had full attendance. I suggested we sit on the ground in conformance with the Vedic traditions. One of the pupils was skeptical and with some trepidation said, "Sir, the grass is wet here and we will have a lot of distractions due to mosquitoes".  I prevailed over them with a small pep talk on one pointedness, perseverance and importance of austerity.

The Soldier's Story( Contd..)

                                                                          

John Mason

(Continuation of the Soldier's story from last month)

As the soldier and his new muslim friend walked towards the group in the distance they discussed their recent experience. “I can see how Nahal's action brought us together”, said the soldier. “After all we were not evil people, just very foolish and misguided, but there are people who are truly evil, those who torture and murder children for example. What about them? ” The soldier was sorry to raise this problem and thereby disturb the peace and harmony that surrounded the two of them, but he felt that he had to know. He wished that he had asked Mike and Nahal when they were all together. He had forgotten that Mike and he were in telepathic communication but was reminded of this fact when he found that Mike was now walking with the two friends. “ Your question does you credit” said Mike. “The answer is not simple. First you must realise that those who do evil deeds with apparently mindless cruelty are never themselves happy. Happiness follows acts of loving kindness as you are aware, but those who are cruel have lost sight of this truth or have never experienced it in their own childhood. Instead they inflict pain on others in a vain attempt to reduce all to the same level of misery that they themselves experience. You will realise that this is a vicious downward spiral. However, when an evil person dies they enter this discarnate world where physical pain and bodily death have no meaning. Now they can have no victims and they feel the full pain of the evil that possesses them. As the Buddhists say, hell exists only in the mind, but of course, it is no less real for that. In this dark state they cannot share the pain by the evil acts that they performed while on earth. They undergo a gradual disintegration of the ego until all that remains is the divine spark that all living things possess. This spark returns to the ocean of unmade souls which is the source from which new beings emerge.”Mike now looked very serious. “ Now.” he said” you know the meaning of the death of the soul. Mike had gone some way to answering the soldier's question but there was much more he would like to know. Mike responded to the unasked questions. “ Yes” he said. “there is much more for you to learn, but this is not the time.”By now they had reached the group of those waiting to welcome them and the soldier started to introduce his muslim friend to his relatives. As he did so he realised that he had been introducing to his loving relations the suicide bomber who had killed him. He laughed.

Why I would not like to be an Atheist

 

Prakash Srinivasan

I have always been surprised as to how atheists lead their life. It is not that they are not successful and they do not have a prosperous life (finally it depends on destiny) but I would like to focus more on the emotional aspect of it. I feel that atheists are missing a lot of things by not believing in God. It is not that they are bad people, there are so many honest and committed people who I have read are atheists but this is the one last thing that I feel anybody must not do!

I would like to confess at the start that I am not a very religious person but at the same time I have a lot of faith in the concept of God. One motto which I am trying to practice is that I must just not pray when I am in trouble but pray and thank God daily and as frequently as possible. To be selfish towards God is one of the worst things I could do and hence this thought.

Experiencing Oneness

 

Lalita Rao

Swami often tells us that we are all one; that we may assume various physical forms, but we are all from the same divine source. Although we have heard this from Him continuously, we don’t experience this oneness too often during our humdrum everyday life.  We specialize in building walls around ourselves and finding the differences among each other rather than the similarities. The walls we build are double-bricked, well cemented and hard to knock down!

Test is to His Taste

-

K. Vinod Cartic

It is said that every spiritual Master puts his devotees through the crucible of test of faith before He blesses them with His benediction.  As Swami says, these tests play the same role in a devotee’s life that the goldsmith’s hammering, melting, annealing and shaping do to the gold. Both the processes result in the emergence of a shining jewel at the end- one that is a valuable metal, the other an invaluable character. Both processes are no doubt associated with tribulations and trials from the perspective of the receiver- but then who better than the Master goldsmith would know how to form a jewel better. No wonder then that Swami says “Test is to My taste”.

I recall an incident of severe testing that we underwent during the period of our stay as waiting boys in Parthi. For those to whom the term is new, waiting is a period after the official completion of an academic course during which some students would stay back to be with Swami. For some this would be a period of living and staying in the Avatar’s presence, for some, it was a period of waiting to get His guidance, while others wanted to serve Him directly at Prashanthi Nilayam and awaited work orders from the Master. The reasons for such waiting were in fact as numerous as the number of waiting students itself. Most often Swami Himself would tell the students to wait as He would guide them at a suitable time.