On this auspicious Friday dedicated to Maha Lakhmi the group commenced the usual routine of 21 omkar and suprabhatam at 5AM. Thought of the day was read.
The group then did visualisation meditation, this involves sitting quietly without any music and creating a scene for 10 mins – for some this would be Swami coming out of Yajur Mandir, walking towards Sai Kulwant hall, occasionally stopping to speak to some lady devotee, perhaps materialising vibhuti for some devotee. Swami would then walk toward get side where student will come very close to Swami’s path to touch His feet, hands and robe like one child interacts with his mother. Swami would continue along the path occasionally taking letters from eager devotees stretching their hands for Swami to talk the letters. Swami continues walking as if floating towards where the old students will be sitting at the edge of the veranda. Finally Swami would go pass the vedam boys towards portico and finally entering interview room. We completed the morning session by doing Pranayam.
The group prepared all the vehicles in readiness to go to Sai Kulwant Hall. In Sai Kulwant Hall pradikshana takes place at 8AM. All the Grama Seva boys circle the mandir chatting Vedam. We then head towards our vehicles and chant Brahmarpanam. We partook breakfast snack provided by Swami and head towards our allocated village which was Brahmana Palli. Brahmana Palli is located near the airport in Puttaparthi. We distributed Swami’s prasadam at the beginning of the village covering approximately 100 houses. However, Swami’s students covered remaining of the village.
Today's Grama Seva activity was completed quickly and we reached Prashanthi Nilayam by 9:30AM just in time to witness yagna proceedings followed by Mangala Aarti in the Poornachandra Hall. Devotees and the group then headed toward Sai Kulwant Hall for Divya Darshan.
The group took rest in the afternoon followed by Listening to discourse by Puppet Sir on Govinda Ashtakam.
In the afternoon in Sai Kulwant Hall, the Maha Vidhawan Sabha commenced with the introductory Vedam chanting. A student from the higher secondary school, a student from the Brindavan Campus and a professor from the Mudhanhalli campus were the speakers for this afternoon's programme. This was followed by Swami’s divine discourse. Sisters from the Anantapur campus presented a musical program followed by bhajan, during which prasadam was distributed. There was an important announcement made by All India President of SSSSO urging to pray for brothers and sisters in the cyclone effected area of Orissa. Group then returned to their rooms after Aarti.
At 11PM the group visited the kitchen to see the cooking procedure for the grama seva. It is a very complex and long process to prepare food, which takes all night. This involves washing and cooking the rice in big vessels that can sit 8-9 people on open wood fire. High quality ingredients are sourced from various cities and brought to Puttaparthi for this purpose. Sisters from Swami’s institute come at night to pack the food in banana leaves and newspaper, which preserves the food.
The group then did visualisation meditation, this involves sitting quietly without any music and creating a scene for 10 mins – for some this would be Swami coming out of Yajur Mandir, walking towards Sai Kulwant hall, occasionally stopping to speak to some lady devotee, perhaps materialising vibhuti for some devotee. Swami would then walk toward get side where student will come very close to Swami’s path to touch His feet, hands and robe like one child interacts with his mother. Swami would continue along the path occasionally taking letters from eager devotees stretching their hands for Swami to talk the letters. Swami continues walking as if floating towards where the old students will be sitting at the edge of the veranda. Finally Swami would go pass the vedam boys towards portico and finally entering interview room. We completed the morning session by doing Pranayam.
The group prepared all the vehicles in readiness to go to Sai Kulwant Hall. In Sai Kulwant Hall pradikshana takes place at 8AM. All the Grama Seva boys circle the mandir chatting Vedam. We then head towards our vehicles and chant Brahmarpanam. We partook breakfast snack provided by Swami and head towards our allocated village which was Brahmana Palli. Brahmana Palli is located near the airport in Puttaparthi. We distributed Swami’s prasadam at the beginning of the village covering approximately 100 houses. However, Swami’s students covered remaining of the village.
Today's Grama Seva activity was completed quickly and we reached Prashanthi Nilayam by 9:30AM just in time to witness yagna proceedings followed by Mangala Aarti in the Poornachandra Hall. Devotees and the group then headed toward Sai Kulwant Hall for Divya Darshan.
The group took rest in the afternoon followed by Listening to discourse by Puppet Sir on Govinda Ashtakam.
In the afternoon in Sai Kulwant Hall, the Maha Vidhawan Sabha commenced with the introductory Vedam chanting. A student from the higher secondary school, a student from the Brindavan Campus and a professor from the Mudhanhalli campus were the speakers for this afternoon's programme. This was followed by Swami’s divine discourse. Sisters from the Anantapur campus presented a musical program followed by bhajan, during which prasadam was distributed. There was an important announcement made by All India President of SSSSO urging to pray for brothers and sisters in the cyclone effected area of Orissa. Group then returned to their rooms after Aarti.
At 11PM the group visited the kitchen to see the cooking procedure for the grama seva. It is a very complex and long process to prepare food, which takes all night. This involves washing and cooking the rice in big vessels that can sit 8-9 people on open wood fire. High quality ingredients are sourced from various cities and brought to Puttaparthi for this purpose. Sisters from Swami’s institute come at night to pack the food in banana leaves and newspaper, which preserves the food.
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