Divine Visit – Ubud, Indonesia – August 09, 2016
Day Five – Siddhartani Ashram
Day Five in Bali witnessed the concluding session of the Asia Pacific Sai Youth Meet 2016. The day started around 9:30 am, when Bhagawan came to the packed venue. Before entering, the Lord inaugurated two mobile medical vans, which will be used for seva in Ubud and Bali. Bhagawan entered the ‘Prasanthi Hall’ in the midst of wonderful Bhajans. The morning session commenced with two youth speakers, who shared their journey of transformation. Brother Toshi Ando, an architect from Japan who has actively involved in many Seva projects, shared his experiences on how the path to Swami had been one of love and compassion. These two ingredients had also allowed him to stay focused on everything he was doing. He spoke of his own initiation into service activities when an opportunity opened up to serve in a school. He felt all doors had closed on him when Swami left His physical body. It was around this time when he came in touch with Mr Issac Tigrett and the project of building a spiritual school and self sustaining community. Brother Toshi said he felt Swami’s presence in the project and this replaced the hollowness he had felt, and thereafter he found a new purpose through the Guru Vikas teachers training programme.
The second delegate speaker was Brother Sunil Naidu, a Senior Manager at Newscorp, Australia, who continues to play an active role in Swami’s mission in Australia. He began by recollecting Swami’s instructions to the Youth Leaders in November 2015 to work on oneself, and he recalled how that had motivated the youth in the region to go deeper into one’s own self. He spoke of how Swami had saved his life during a decadent phase of his life, and he was hospitalised as his lifestyle took a toll on him. Swami appeared in the hospital and said, “Say yes to Me, and you will walk again”. This granted him a second life, and he resolved to engage himself in Sai activities and service projects. When in 2014 Swami in the subtle visited Australia, work began on the medical mission in Australia, and Swami commanded Brother Sunil to participate and work.
The much awaited divine discourse followed with Bhagawan speaking again on the theme of going within oneself, and realising one’s true identity. The highlight of the morning’s discourse was the Sanjeevini Sadhana Plan that Swami laid out to the youth as the recommended path for their spiritual growth.
Swami began by describing the three aspects of divinity – Sat, Chit, Ananda. He said the joy all the participants had experienced the past two days at the Meet was because they were in the presence of divinity, and this divinity came from within themselves. He asked “But how do you retain this joy and feeling of being one with God?” It is in this context that Bhagawan lovingly gave the Sanjeevini Nine Point Sadhana Plan and explained each of the nine steps in great detail. Starting with Satsang (keeping the company of the good) and Shravanam (listening to the glory of God) He went on to describe the significance of Namasmarana (chanting the name of the Lord) and Pranayama, to steady the mind.
1. Daily Meditation
2. Daily Prayers & Pranayam
3. Daily Reading of spiritual text
4. Once a week bhajan with family
5. Fortnightly seva
6. One selfless act a day
7. Involve yourself in major country project – ashram, hospital, etc (once a month)
8. Ceiling on Desires
9. Control of Internal and External senses and developing faith that Swami is the resident of our heart
The Lord instructed on how to purify the jnanendriyas and karmendriyas through ‘Samyak Karma’. Swami stressed on the underlying essential qualities of sincerity and dedication.
Ending His discourse Swami said that “Time is God, and we all have limited time on earth and hence should utilise it well!” Swami then opened the session for questions, which ranged from topics on personal sadhana and other doubts the delegates had on spirituality.
Finally, Swami reminded everyone on who they were and their destiny by saying “You are Sai youth, you should be like Me! Cubs of lion. You follow Me and others will follow you!”
After the discourse, there was a short break. Everyone reassembled in a brief while, and a well documented video presentation was made by the youth delegates, outlining all the Seva activities by the youth that were underway in the Asia Pacific region. Thereafter, Sister Bhuvana Santhanam outlined the plans for the World Youth Meet 2016 which will be held between November 16 and 23 at Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli.
This was followed by another musical performance by the artists who had performed the previous evening – Sri Sivamani, Sri Mandolin U Rajesh, Sri Harmeet Manseta, Sri Kunal Ganjawalla, Sri Sumeet Tappoo, Mr Dimitris Lambrianos, Sri Nishad Mishra and Sri Srinivas Viswanadha. Once again they charged the atmosphere with divine energy and their vocal and instrumental renditions exuded finesse, captivating and inspiring every single person.
After Mangala Arati and prasadam, Bhagawan partook His lunch and retired for the afternoon.
The post lunch session for the delegates commenced with a breakout exercise, with the delegates interacting with each other and discussing the Sadhana Plan. This was followed by two talks on the command of Bhagawan. During lunch, He had given further instructions on various aspects to Sister Bhuvana Santhanam and Brother Sumeet Tappoo, and He had wanted them to address the youth. Sister Bhuvana Santhanam emphatically urged the youth to play an active role in the various seva activities underway in their respective countries. She stressed on the importance of internalising and connecting with Bhagawan within, instead of seeking for answers outside, and quoted instances to drive home the point. Thereafter, Brother Sumeet Tappoo spoke about the various seva activities in Fiji and explained about the ongoing free 40 cardiac surgeries which are being performed by a team of Doctors and paramedics, who have specially flown down from the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, Raipur. He once again reiterated the nine point Sanjeevani Sadhana Plan and spoken about each of the nine aspects.
After closing remarks by Brother Hamish Ravindran, the two-day Youth Meet came to an end. Many delegates had their buses waiting to take them to the airport. The staff and students accompanying Bhagawan were taken to visit the ‘Goa Gajah’ or the ‘Elephant Cave’ temple, built in the 9th Century.
Back at the Siddharthani Ashram, Swami spoke to the core team of youth leaders for close to one and a half hours in a private interview, advising them on various aspects. He answered all their questions patiently in a simple, yet profound way. Thereafter, Swami spoke to a group of youth from Australia. The Lord was served dinner and He retired for the night.
Bhagawan’s students returned from their sight seeing, and after dinner packed their bags for an early morning start to the Airport to proceed on the final leg of the Divine Trip, to Malaysia.
