Grama Seva 2012- Wednesday 24th October

A loving Sai Ram to our Brothers & Sisters.

Tomorrow our Musical Programme will be live on Radio Sai (http://media.radiosai.org/www/index.html).

Grama Seva 2012- Tuesday 23rd October


23/10/12

Today was the last day of Grama Seva and Navarati festival. At 4.40am twenty one Omkars and Sri Sathya Sai Suprabhatum was offered to the Lord. This was followed by Jyoti mediation, Baba’s thought of the day and yoga.

At 7.30am, the UK Grama Seva Group was part of the Vedic procession around Swami’s Maha-Samadhi Mandir in Sai Kulwant hall. Vedams decipher the mystery of creation as well as the acknowledgement that the world is impermanent. Before making our way to the vehicles we offered our prayers to Swami’s lotus feet. We then made our way to Janakampalli village (Puttaparthi district), located just a few miles from Prasanthi Nilayam and next to the Chitaravi river. The population of the village was 5000. Baba’s prasadam was delivered to 1500 houses. The group also gave pencils, sweets and pocket-sized calendar pictures of Swami. The small children were so happy on receiving these items as well as prasadam.
At the centre of the village, once grama seva was complet, the group sang Bhajans along with the villagers. Everybody felt spiritually uplifted and blissful.  


Maha Lakshami Sukrum
In addition to Grama Seva Popat Sir would narrate to the group in detail the Mahalakshmi Stotram. Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual. This invaluable Satsang took place just before afternoon Darshan. Sir would initially recite the individual verses before explaining in detail with examples Mahalakshmi’s divine attributes, physical form (e.g. significance of her four hands, lotus buds and gold coins and elephants), knowledge, how to acquire her grace, and how to be content in life.

Afternoon Darshan
Afternoon Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall began everyday at 4.30pm with Vedams recited by Baba’s students. As we are celebrating the festival of Dasara 2-3 keynote speakers would be invited to address the devotees. They ranged from highly respected Sri Sathya Sai Institute students/staff to regional spiritual scholars. The talks were focused on Baba’s teachings and how his life’s message is an inspiration for all of us. Following this devotees were blessed with archive footage of Baba’s divine discourses on large projector screens. Baba’s discourse would be followed by a musical programme and/or drama. Dramas have been performed by the Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Drama College, and Deena Janoddharana Pathakam (DJP) boys. The dramas were clearly performed from the heart for Swami. A musical offering was also given by the Sri Sathya Sai Music College.
Afternoon Darshan would be brought to a close with Bhajans, Mangala Aarathi, Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu and Baba’s prasadam.     

Evening and morning talks
During Grama Seva pilgrimage a number of highly respected and experienced speakers gave talks to the group in private after the evening meal and during morning Suprabhatam. Sri K. Chakravarthi discussed with the group openly their professional work and the current status of the Central Trust and its future obligations. Dr Sara Pavan held a question and answers session with the group and also discussed the book ‘No Country No Name’. Prof. G. Venkataraman gave a talk on science and conscious awareness. Finally, Dr. Anil Kumar gave an enlightened talk on de-attachment with examples from the Ramayana.
   










Grama Seva 2012- Monday 22nd October


22-10-12

Jai Sai Ram. Today’s Sri Sathya Sai Suprabhatum and twenty one Omkars were recited at 5.15am. Being a Monday prayers were offered to Lord Shiva. This was naturally followed by Jyoti mediation, Baba’s ‘thought of the day’ and yoga. The significance of reciting Omkars is that it is the primordial sound of creation and so one feels unity with all.

The group then made their way to Sai Kulwant hall for morning Darshan as always in their specially designed Grama Seva tee-shirt and cap uniform as given by Baba. Given that today is the ceremony of Vaahan Puja salutations and offerings were made to Swami’s vehicles and chariot, as an act of gratitude. The group was in awe of Baba’s magnificent golden chariot.

Following the ceremony the group made their way to Brahmaupalli Tunda for Grama Seva. The village was located in Puttaparthi district and close to Baba’s airport. The UK Grama Seva boys distributed prasadam to mainly the surroundings of the village. A few of the 970 houses were located on rough grassland terrain therefore adding a spice of adventure. Prasadam was also distributed to beautifully designed houses built and purchased by mainly foreign devotees. During Grama Seva the divine mother has shown in all cases her unconditional love and that all are one. With Grama Seva duties complete for the day and in keeping with Grama Seva tradition, a UK group photo was later taken in the morning at the Sri Sathya Sai Speciality Hospital.




Grama Seva 2012- Sunday 21st October


21-10-12
At 4.40am twenty one Omkars and Sri Sathya Sai Suprabhatum was offered to the Divine Mother. This was followed by Baba’s ‘thought of the day’, jyoti mediation, and yoga. Jyoti mediation is helping the group contemplate on God and control their senses. During Jyoti mediation the official audio is played to provide a peaceful and tranquil back-drop.

At 7.30am the group chanted Vedams in Sai Kulwant hall before making their way to Pedapalli village in Puttaparthi District. The village was located approximately 35km from Prashanti Nilayam.
Every Grama Seva day a breakfast meal is provided and taken along during the journey prior to the arrival. The meal typically includes fruit, snack bars, savoury bites, and buttermilk. On arrival following Bhajans and Vedic procession through the village, Swami’s prasadam was distributed to the villagers. Today the group’s attitude particularly with respect to gratitude and spiritual awareness was enhanced having witnessed the process by which the pulihora rice prasadam is prepared for Grama Seva (20/10/2012).

The number of households served totalled 1000. The total population of the village was 6400. The distribution of prasadam was complete within 2 hours.




Grama Seva 2012- Saturday 20th October


With the divine grace of Bhagawan Baba the group at 4.40am gathered and recited twenty one Omkars and Sri Sathya Sai Suprabatham. This was followed by meditation, Baba’s thought for the day, and yoga. On this Grama Seva pilgrimage the group has been slowly improving their yoga skills with the overall aim of improving their long term well-being both mentally and physically.
At 7.30am the group made their way from the Sai Kulwant hall to the village of K.Locheral, Kothacheru District. The journey took approximately 30mins drive from Prasanthi Nilayam. Some UK boys actually joined some of Swami’s boys who were also partaking in Grama Seva in a medium sized transport lorry containing food and clothing supplies.

On arrival the group chanted Vedams through the streets of the village before distributing Baba’s prasadam to the villagers. Baba’s prasadam was also delivered to homes located well into the surrounding countryside of the village. With Baba’s grace and love all were served. The population of this village was approximately 3200. The total number of houses covered was 750.   
At 10pm the UK Grama Seva group had the opportunity to see firsthand the canteen used to prepare Baba’s Grama Seva pulihora rice prasadam. The group was astonished by the industrial scale of the project and the mechanism by which the food was prepared. None of the group will ever forget or fail to appreciate the heat intensity used to boil water. It takes approximately 20mins to cook the rice in the large stove used, measuring at least 1 meter in diameter. When the cooked rice is removed via large 20 litre buckets the cooks/sevadals have to be sprayed with cold water to dissipate the surrounding heat that has engulfed them on transfer. The cooked rice is then meticulously cooled and seasoned with traditional Indian ingredients as proposed by Swami. Finally, Sri Sathya Sai Institute girls and sevadals help to pack rice into a bundle using banana leaves and newspaper, ready for distribution. This operation starts daily at 5.30pm and finishes at 3.00am the next day. Bhajans and prayers are also recited continuously during this period so that the food is sanctified. The overall Grama Seva operation is a truly amazing feat constructed and engineered by the Lord so that man serves and feeds with love his fellow man.