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Christmas in Prashanti
Nilayam
PRASHANTI
DIARY
After
the hectic events leading to the
celebration of the 80th Birthday, it
was just His Grace that events in
Prashanti Nilayam slowed down in its
wake.
This gave the
myriad staff, seva dal,
devotees and students time to catch
their breath and complete the more
mundane chores of life (like paying
the bills), chores which had been
brushed aside and put on the
back-burner in anticipation and
preparation for the Big B-Day.
But
life in the Ashram cannot remain
still too long. Soon it came abuzz
with a lot of devotees coming from
overseas to celebrate Christmas and
wind down the year-long 80th
Birthday celebrations.
The
Vidya Giri stadium also rang with
the excited shouts of students who
were participating in their intra
mural games which lead up to the
celebrations of the Sports Day on
January 11 every year.
In
this issue we bring a detailed
report of the Christmas festival,
one of the most joyful in the
Prashanti calendar, as people from
all over the world gather here for
many days, living and practising
together, in true brotherly love and
harmony, so that they can present
their best programmes in front of
the Lord. |
This year too
devotees from overseas, estimated at
3,000 to 3,500 people, gathered here to
celebrate the birth of Christ and ring
out the old year and usher in the new.
Traditionally in the
Western world, the nuclear families that
live apart the whole year come home for
a full family reunion at Thanksgiving
and Christmas.
So Christmas is a
cherished time of the year that everyone
looks forward to, in order to see and be
with their loved ones. But these
devotees had come to their real home -
to be with their divine Father and
Mother and their brothers and sisters
from all over the world.
They all
come quite early and some bring their
musical instruments with them. Christmas
organising committees are then formed -
with a decoration committee, an adult
choir and a children's choir committee
and so on and they even have their own
seva dal to help wherever
needed. |
ORGANISING THE ADULT CHOIR
What
motivates the hundreds of devotees that
form part of the adult choir to come
here year after year? What drives them
to put up with great personal
difficulties and inconvenience? What
inspires them that they spend long
arduous hours in practise? Let us hear a
first hand account from one devotee:
"Christmas
in the Divine Presence
is an incredibly
thrilling, learning and
loving experience. Swami
brings us from all parts
of the world, with
different languages,
cultures and past
experiences, and shows
us how to be as one.
Many come with
expectations of just how
Christmas must be
celebrated. Others,
having arrived for the
first time, come with no
experience of being in
the Divine physical
Presence of our Beloved
Swami. The love energy
that emanates from Him
fills us all with awe
and the yearning to do
that which will please
Him. Emotions and
devotion are both very
much in evidence. For
many, the feeling can be
one of remembering past
Christmases with
fondness and for others
there is healing of
memories that had caused
pain.
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With
so many from differing areas
of the world coming together
to sing as one, one must be
ready for the very real
experience of practising the
Human Values, as taught by
dear Swami. There are
challenges enough to allow
all to practise patience,
perseverance and, by His
Grace, purity. Perhaps one
of the most difficult for
many from the West, is
sitting for hours on the
floor. Western knees and
backs are not used to the
floor.
Further, by necessity, the
seating has to be close.
Both of these challenges
give the opportunity to
overcome the noisy
complaining of the body.
Many of us are used to much
space and the need to pull
oneself together, as it
were, is new to many. Much
patience is needed. Language
becomes an opportunity to
overcome shyness. We learn
to talk with hands, smiles,
nods and singing.
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The Staff at the Ashram
are ready and willing to
give us all the help and
cooperation that one
could wish for. By
Swami's Grace, we are
always given a venue in
which to practise. These
practices comprise about
4 hours a day (2 in the
morning and 2 hours in
the afternoon) for the
singers. The musicians
add three more hours to
this time. Beyond the
time spent in actual
practice, are the times
spent learning the texts
and melodies. It is
indeed a full schedule.
There are occasions when
either darshan and/or
bhajans must be missed
due to the duty of
attending practice. The
attempt is made to make
these times as
infrequent as possible.
For the musicians,
however, the many hours
spent rehearsing means
Swami must be
experienced on the
inside. Fortunately,
Swami makes His loving
Presence felt with
unmistakable clarity.
These are the times when
tears of joy and
gratitude flow freely.
His love is what makes
all of this possible.
For some, the
combination of music and
text that extol our love
for Swami, bring tears
of relief and healing.
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Does everything move
easily and without any
bumps and jumps? Of
course not! How could we
learn to adjust and
humble ourselves if all
went smoothly? By
Swami's Grace, we are
provided with plenty of
opportunities to learn
and grow spiritually.
There are the times when
people are very tired
and communication breaks
down. We have the chance
to use our words with
loving care and if we
fail, there will be
another time when, by
His Grace, we will
listen carefully and
speak lovingly. Often
the program for
Christmas Eve, which
contains Praise and
Worship songs for Swami,
is worked on all year.
Many people keep their
ears and hearts open to
the words and melodies
that express their love
for our Beloved
Bhagavan. However, when
we arrive at Prashanti
Nilayam, the time line
is shortened.
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Many
projects need to be
completed in a very short
period of time. It has been
my experience that Swami
will send the perfect person
at the perfect time. For
example, the choir may be
working on music that cries
for a flute. With no effort
on our part, someone will
show up and ask if we could
use a flute player. The
quality of the musical
talent is incredible.
Professional musicians from
throughout the world come
bringing their instruments
so that they can have the
blessing of playing before
Swami.
It is
when these challenges arise
that the Human Values really
come into play. Someone may
come with a song that they
have composed out of their
love for Swami. This person
will want to have their love
sung for Swami. However, the
music may not be
appropriate, the words may
not fit the theme, or,
frankly, it may be beautiful
to the composer, but not to
others. Here is where truth,
spoken with love and
compassion, must be uttered.
When this happens it is
amazing to see how speaking
with love and from a place
of dharma, people are able
to accept that this song
might be better used as a
devotional song in their Sai
Centre. Anger is rarely seen
or heard. The occasional
grumble is voiced, heard and
dealt with. So many come
wanting only to sing for
Swami on this Holy occasion,
that the challenges are
dealt with in a spirit of
cooperation.
My
personal experience of the
Christmas Choir for these
past years, is one of great
joy and humility. To be
allowed to participate with
hundreds of brothers and
sisters in singing our love
for Swami is the highlight
of my year. The feeling of
oneness is palpable. Are
there little glitches along
the way? Certainly, but the
Love and Grace of Swami so
completely permeates the
environment that they become
little nothings compared to
the joy of serving Him.
Also
on a personal level, but one
that has been expressed to
me by several choir members,
is that the rehearsals
become the focal point of
Christmas. One becomes
totally involved in giving
and the feeling is one of
focusing completely on Swami
and pleasing Him. When
focused upon singing His
praises, we are raised above
the petty level of everyday
challenges. The experience
then truly becomes a Holy
Christmas to remember."
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This year around 564
ladies and 230 gents hailing from nearly
38 countries were part of the adult
choir. Co-ordinating this choir was Ms.
Silvia Olden an energetic, exuberant
lady with deep devotion who was able to
hold this motley crowd together and
mould them into one team, one voice. As
Vijay Vengetas, an Australian devotee
said,
"With
nearly a 1000 voices
raised in 'Unity',
melodious notes pouring
out in absolute
'Purity', how could we
not feel the Divine
Presence ('Divinity')
around us. Christmas
2005, is truly a
fantastic experience
being in the choir. I
have been in the
Christmas choirs
previously but this time
seems different. The
group is not only much
larger but also very
enthusiastic. I think,
NO - I KNOW that much of
our enthusiasm comes
from our Director,
Sylvia, who puts so much
energy and love into
everything she does. The
stories she tells
touches our hearts and
teaches so many lessons.
On the day of the
narration the message
comes out loud and clear
as though it was meant
specifically for you.
Attending the practice
sessions have brought
great joy to many of us
and it is no wonder that
we convey that joy in
our singing. I shall
take away many wonderful
memories but most of all
I shall remember the joy
of living each day as
though it were my last.
Swami's message is very
clear - Be Happy".
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THE
DECORATION COMMITTEE AT WORK
What most
people do not realize is the sheer
amount of work that goes in to deck up
and decorate the Ashram for every
festival, and Christmas 2005 was no
exception. The core decoration committee
members, about 30 in number, arrived in
Prashanti Nilayam about 3-4 weeks prior
to Christmas to do the preliminary
preparation work. Devotees come from all
over the world to work in harmony, unity
and love. So much love! The barriers of
culture and language dissolve in Shed 36
where most of the decoration prep work
is done.
The first
thing that the core team does is get all
the stored boxes of Christmases past
from the storage warehouse near the
Ashram Post-Office, which requires the
tractor trailer to make 5 trips to get
all the boxes. Additional material (the
delicate items) are in the basement of
North 5 and have to be carefully moved
to shed 36. All these boxes are unloaded
and unpacked.
Shed
36 is divided into seven designated
decoration prep areas (the Mandir,
buildings in the Poornachandra complex,
pillars and fences of Sai Kulwant Hall,
SKH gates, the canteens and deities like
Ganesha, Gayathri, Buddha, and Jesus in
the Ashram).
Wires are then strung
for all these designated areas in a
uniform manner so that bunting
preparation work can be carried out
unhampered and in an unobtrusive manner
and later hung from these wires, till
they are ready to be installed.
The front
part of the shed has 3 main work areas.
On one side is the Glitter Work, where
devotees put glue over cardboard and
wooden stars and then dip and sprinkle
gold and silver glitter over them, then
hanging them up to dry. |
The
second area is a work bench for Hot Glue
Guns. These 4 hot glue guns are operated
for sticking mirrors, sequins, and other
items onto cardboard, timber and cloth.
The third area is for the fabrication of
longer items where operations like
drilling and sawing are required.
Materials
are brought from overseas, whatever
devotees can fit into their luggage. But
a lot of items including consumables
like glue, paints, timber, foam boards
etc. are purchased locally.
95% of the
items are made from scratch and are
re-used or recycled the next year. A
good example of this is the number of
earth globes left over from the youth
conference conducted earlier. They were
covered with gold glitter and had red
ribbons tied to them with small mirrors,
and they became the Christmas ornaments
hanging from the Poornachandra balcony.
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Every year the
Christmas festival has a different
theme. Unity of Faith being the theme
for this year, the banner that was
prepared and put up on the Mandir
balcony stated "There is only one
Religion - The Religion of Love". Across
the Poornachandra gate another banner
was put up that read "King of Kings".
Devotees
work 3 shifts in a day
(morn/afternoon/evening) completing 6-8
hours in a day, apart from attending
darshan. This goes on till the
decoration preparation work is complete
and it is time to put it up. Teams are
formed to cover all the different areas
where the decorations have to be put up.
When Swami gives His blessing at the
most auspicious time, the devotees work
through the night, till the wee hours of
the morning putting up the decorations
(for that is when the Hall is vacant).
Ashram seva dals also assist,
especially in tasks like the hanging of
large items from the ceiling of Sai
Kulwant Hall.
The
cynosure of all, the centre-piece of the
decoration, is the manger on the gents'
side with statues of Mother Mary and
Joseph with the baby Jesus in a crib. On
the ladies' side we have a statue of the
three wise men who came to visit the
Baby Jesus in the manger. These
beautiful mock-ups were made and donated
by devotees from Italy . We give an
explanation of the importance of these
statues for Christians in the box below.
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THE NATIVITY SCENE
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The diorama of the
Nativity scene is a very traditional
part of the Christmas decoration, though
it is now caught up in controversy in
the West. However in the Ashram, where
all the festivals of the world are
freely celebrated, this realistic
mock-up of Joseph, Mary and the baby
Jesus is very much appreciated by the
people of all religions who come here to
celebrate Christmas and all the other
festivals in the Parthi calendar.
Mrs. Milena
Kunz-Bijno from Italy contributed the
following explanation for the origin of
the importance of the Nativity scene:
It was a chilly night in the year 1203
A.D. St. Francis had invited the
citizens and the peasants of Greppio, a
small hamlet near Assisi, to come for
the midnight mass. It was Christmas Eve
and the "poor monk" as the people called
him, wanted to make a real
reconstruction of the event that had
brought the son of God down on earth.
So, Francis decided to dress a boy and a
girl as Joseph and Mary, the parents of
Jesus, and put them along with a cow and
a donkey in a cave in the hills. The
people of the village came through the
fields bearing candles and bringing
lambs and sheep, singing carols.
They reached the cave with Joseph and
Mary and St. Francis started offering
the mass. And then the miracle happened:
an effulgent light enveloped the cave
and everybody could see the newborn
Jesus in the manger. The air was full of
softness and everybody felt the emotion
of witnessing the birth of Christ. The
devotion of St. Francis was so great
that Jesus had appeared! |
Since then the
habit of preparing a cr?che is a
dear tradition for the Christians.
Several items, sometimes the full
scene of the birth of Christ, are
arranged ahead of Christmas and on
the 24th of December at midnight the
figure of Jesus will be put in the
manger by the smallest child of the
family.
THE THREE WISE MEN
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The 3 Wise men, or magi as they are
called, also occupy a treasured place in
Christian lore as they are intimately
linked with the birth of Christ.
The traditional view of the three wise
men is that they came from Persia to pay
homage to the baby Jesus, guided by a
star. Their names were Caspar, Melchior
and Balthasar and were also reputed to
be kings. They brought costly gifts of
frankincense, gold and myrrh.
The frankincense, an incense used in
temple worship, speaks of Jesus'
priesthood. The gold speaks of Jesus'
kingship. The myrrh, a spice or balm
used in preparing bodies for burial,
speaks of Jesus' atoning death.
Swami has often asked the primary school
boys (while pointing to the statues of
the three wise men) if they know who
these figures are and He has also spoken
about them on a few occasions, such as
during Christmas 1998.
When Jesus
was born, three Arabian kings came
to see Him. They were overjoyed on
seeing the new-born babe. While
returning, the first king said to
Mother Mary, ?Mother, you have given
birth to a child who loves God.?
The second king said, ?Mother, you
have given birth to a child who will
be loved by God.? The third king
said, ?Mother Mary, your child is
not different from God; both are one
and the same.?
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Once we
understand the inner meaning of
these three statements, we will know
the truth. The one who loves God is
the Messenger of God. The one whom
God loves is the Son of God. The one
who understands the principle of
unity becomes one with God.
- Divine Discourse
Christmas 1998. |
A total of
70 devotees took part in the decoration
team this year from different parts of
the world. But the work is not over
after the programme is done. When Swami
gives the command, all the decorations
have to be taken down, packed and put
away in storage for the next year.
ORGANISING FOR THE CHILDREN'S CHOIR
This year the
Children's Choir consisted of 90
children, restricted to the ages 6-l4
years from 20 countries. Eighteen adults
in the roles of organizing, childcare,
and musicians brought the number to 108.
By giving
the opportunity to prepare their songs
over a number of days, Swami allowed the
children to experience the depth of His
boundless love, mixed with the clear
discipline and structure as maintained
in the ashram. This created an enormous
building of character in a very short
period of time. In this way, Swami
planted the seeds of understanding how
Swami?s children can live as an example
of His teachings.
All the children
showed their love for Swami by giving
100% of their effort in learning the
songs and practising steadfastly. They
also meditated and put on a little piece
of paper a gift they wanted to offer to
Swami in the form of replacing a
negative habit with a positive one.
These little papers were put on the
Christmas tree, which was posted in
front of the Poornachandra Hall (Swami's
residence).
The
children's choir was guided by Ms. Alma
Badings, a long-time Swami devotee from
the Netherlands. Great was her patience
at playing Mother Hen to all these young
and eager children for 4 hours of
practice every day (9:00 to 11:00 AM in
the morning and 4:00 to 6:00 PM in the
evening), gently coaxing and cajoling,
praising and giving tough love in turn,
till all the children moulded into one
unit, till they all sang in unison in
one voice.
And as the
days rolled by, the hard work seems to
have paid off, for those of us who could
listen as we passed by their practice,
in the ground floor of the
"double-decker" building. And as
Christmas day came closer and closer
they were all ready, willing, able and
eager to go!
The
Christmas Committee had a problem to
place the children who could not sing in
the choir because they were either too
small or came too late to learn the
songs. Then they had the idea to make
them Swami's greeters. About 12 girls
and 20 boys were given small flower
bouquets and waited close to the car
path to welcome Him as Swami passed by.
When Swami looked at each greeter as He
went by, one little girl was so overcome
with emotion that she stayed in her room
the entire next day crying with
happiness!
We are
immensely grateful to Swami for giving
this profound experience of coming close
to Divinity for all the children. The
memory of it will give them strength and
guidance throughout their life.
THE
CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER
There
are three canteens in the Ashram
catering to different tastes - a North
Indian (NIC), a South Indian Canteen
(SIC) and a Western or Foreigner's
Canteen (FC). While the Indian canteens
play a major role during the Birthday
celebrations by catering to the hundreds
of thousands of people coming in streams
to partake of Swami's prasadam,
the Western canteen now plays the major
role during the Christmas Holiday
season, with the traditional Christmas
Eve dinner being served to the devotees.
The
canteen wears a festive look decorated
with holly and twinkling stars and other
Christmas decorations.
A huge
picture of Swami adorns the back of the
Hall. A Christmas tree with all
ornaments and a sleigh with a cushion
seat for Swami completed the decoration.
All the tables are also well laid out
and ready for the candle-lit dinner.
The
gents and the ladies side both have a
big queue right after the evening
bhajan. The myriad volunteers and
the canteen staff have been toiling the
entire day to get the meal ready in time
for the 7 PM service.
The
eclectic menu this year consisted of
asparagus soup, lasagne, mashed potatoes
with cheese, spinach with corn and
potato, Russian salad, white rice, dhal,
chocolate and walnut ice-cream for
dessert and herbal tea. And all this for
just 30 rupees (or 67 cents)!
The doors
open at 7 PM. The crowd comes enters in
an orderly fashion. The Brahmarpanam
Thanksgiving prayer is first
recited in front of Swami's picture and
the dinner is then served. The good food
and the festive ambience on Christmas
Eve set the tone for the grand Christmas
celebrations in the morrow. |
THE
CHRISTMAS MORNING PROGRAMME BY THE
SATHYA SAI STUDENTS
Christmas
morning dawns with a little nip in the
air and more than a little excitement.
All the devotees are dressed in their
best and eagerly waiting for the Father
who had sent Jesus to Earth, to now come
and bless them also.
After
Swami got down from the car, in a
departure from the norm, He cut the
Christmas cakes first. There were cakes
by the Overseas Devotees, the Hospital
Staff, the Institute and Easwaramma
School students.
After
cutting the cakes, Swami sat down in His
customary position on the veranda after
profusely blessing all the devotees with
His abhaya hasta (hand raised
in blessing).
Christmas
morning belonged to the students of the
Sri Sathya Sai Institutions, as Swami
had blessed music programmes by the
Primary School violin boys and the
Institute Brass Band.
After
Swami had taken His seat, the Primary
School boys take their place for the
first item of the day. They are neatly
dressed in white pants and a full-arm
white shirt and a red vest that lends a
neat festive touch.
The
Primary School Violin Boys' Orchestra is
made up of 17 violin boys, one cello,
and 13 recorder boys. The programme
consisted of the energetic Vigoroso,
Dong Dong Merrily on High, Canon in D,
and a jazzy version of Jingle
Bells that is very well received by
the crowd and warms them up for the next
item.
Swami then
gave permission for the Institute Band
to begin its programme. The 36 musicians
joyfully raised their music stands and
stood in position as its conductor
returned after speaking with Swami on
the portico.
The
instruments in the band include 2
flutes, 1 Piccolo, 6 Clarinets, 6
Trumpets, 3 Alto Sax, 1 Tenor Sax, 1
Baritone Sax, 4 Trombones, 3 baritones,
1 Band Leader, 6 Percussion instruments,
1 Tuba and 1 Sousaphone. The varied
programme opened with the Christmas
Carol Ring Christmas Bells,
which the band played as a rendition of
the Asatoma prayer. Other works
included The First Noel, Christmas
Candle, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,
Hark the Herald Angels, O Little Town of
Bethlehem , Rocking Around the Christmas
Tree, and Jingle Bells.
The
Institute choir accompanied by the
students of the Sri Sathya Sai Higher
Secondary School next presented a
bouquet of 10 carols before Swami as a
grand finale to the morning's programme. |
Two students, one as
Uncle Sam and the other as Little Jack
gave an introductory commentary before
the start of each carol. The instruments
accompanying the singers were 4
keyboards, 2 guitars (base and rhythm)
and a saxophone.
The
percussion instruments consisted of the
jazz drums, the digital drums and other
special effects instruments. While there
were some core singers to lead everyone
through the microphone, the entire
student body joined in the singing
accompanied by the devotees to make it a
full participatory and a memorable
experience for everyone.
Extolling
the charm, grace and joy Christmas
brings, the students started with the
carol Oh the joy of Christmas Day
which talks of how people the world over
have gathered in Parthi to offer their
love and prayers. The birth of Christ
was heralded next in Ding Dong
merrily on high, In Heavens the bells
are ringing?
A
beautiful piece on the guitar lead the
crowd into All Night Long I shall
burn my Christmas candle, leading
next to a Deck the Halls Medley
consisting of 4 songs (Deck the
halls with boughs of Holly Fa la la,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
You better watch out and the
crowd favourite Jingle Bells). |
While the strains of Jingle Bells
filled the air, a student dressed as
Santa Claus comes bounding in and seeks
Bhagavan's blessings, and then goes
around throwing chocolates into the
crowd.
A
beautiful piece on the saxophone was the
lead to the song Let Your Glory Fall,
an inspired song filled with yearning
for the Lord's touch.
The
students then got everyone rocking with
Aye ye ye Christmas Day,
followed by Hallelujah Hallelujah?..
The next carol talks of the prophecy
that Jesus made of His father's coming
("?a crown of hair upon His frame, a
blood red robe just like a flame?") with
the carol One day before He left His
frame He showed His future name.
Accompanied with a
beautiful violin solo, a prayer to the
Lord (Who is all goodness) to take
control of our lives and pardon us our
misgivings was next with the carol
God is Good All The Time.
The boys
ended the morning programme on a very
cheery note with With Love and Joy
we wish you all a Very Very Merry and
Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Distribution of prasadam
followed by arathi brought to a
close a warm and cheery Christmas
morning programme. |
THE
AFTERNOON CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME BY THE
OVERSEAS DEVOTEES
The
afternoon was exclusively reserved for
the overseas devotees and brought to a
fulfilling climax the arduous
preparation and the hard work of the
past few weeks.
A Short
Christmas Skit
A small
skit both at the beginning and at the
very end of the programme (after the
children's and the adult choir) brought
to light the commercialization rampant
in the celebration of Christmas today.
The small kids also brought out the true
spirit and message behind the birth of
Jesus. While a full length skit had been
originally planned and prepared, it was
scaled down at the last minute due to
the exigencies of time. The young
children took it very well and it was an
abject lesson for everyone else in faith
and love. Listen to what a 12 year old
devotee, Master Dhruvan Dellibabu from
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA had to say:
"One important incident that
happened during my play was that I had
somehow damaged my arm. I wasn't able to
lift my arm at all and that was the
week-end of the recording so I prayed to
Swami and I managed to do my part well
with my hurt arm. The next day we went
to the doctor to check my arm. The
doctor said that it wasn't broken so I
didn't need an X-Ray, but a voice in me
told me to have an X-Ray and it turned
out that I had a broken arm. It was one
month before the final performance so I
prayed to Swami with all my heart and
soul and when I got to Parthi my arm was
better." |
The
Children's Choir
Two boys
and two girls from the children's choir
first welcomed Swami with a rose and
sought His blessings. Then Ms. Alma
Badings, the children's choir conductor,
sought His blessings also before the
kids went into their routine. They sang
a total of 13 songs before our dear
Lord.
Starting
first with a prayer Ganesha Ganesha
to Lord Ganesha to guide their way, the
children next sang a Telugu song called
Antaa Okkate manamantaa okkate.
The gist of the song is - 'All are one,
we are all one. Living under different
flags we are all one.There is only one
land, one language. If you are a Hindu
or Christian, all are children of Mother
Sai. If you are rich or poor, you are
all eligible for Sai's love. We are all
citizens of universal peace, all one.'
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The children then
sang Jesus Christ Tender Child,
followed by All my little children
do come unto me. Then they sang a
joyous song called Bells are ringing
Christmas morn; Tidings bringing, Christ
is born. This was followed by
Have a Holy Christmas and Noel
Noel. Then they sang the
quintessential Christmas song called
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Launching next to The Little Drummer
Boy which had the crowd humming
along.
This was
followed by 2 songs singing a paean of
praise to Swami called - Ev'ryone
loves Sathya Sai Baba, He is God
incarnate, followed by Sai Baba
Sai Baba Sathya Sai Baba jai. The
children then sang All night all day
angels watching over us my Lord and
then the perennial favourite Jingle
Bells brought their thoroughly
enjoyable programme to a close. |
The Adult Choir
The Adult
Choir was next and like the children's
choir, they also sang 13 songs. Lead by
Choir conductor Sylvia, the huge choir
sang a Sanskrit prayer first Om
Ekadhanthaya Vidmahe, Vakrathundaya
Dhimahi, Thanno Dantih Prachodayath.
(An Invocation to Lord Ganesha praying:
Oh Lord Ganesha! The one-tusked
elephant-headed Lord! Bless us with
auspiciousness)
Then they
launched with gusto into their Christmas
routine for which they had been
practising for so long. They began first
with Turn Your Eyes Upon Swami, Look
Full In His Glorious Face, and next
they sang two songs of praise to Swami -
Dark Clouds can't O'er Take Me, Fear
Dare Not Invade?and Light is
Your Form, Light Is Your Being.
A Spanish
song Un Solo Dios Eres Tu Eres Tu Mi
Senor was next. This was followed
by Deep Within My Heart and Soul I
find the Being Without Form and
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, He Is The Light Of
The World.
The
melancholy My Lord And My God, Take
Away From Me All That Parts Me from Thee
was followed by an equally
wrenching Where Are You My Krishna,
Whither Have You Gone?
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Turning more
joyful with What's Love? It's
The Voice Of A Dear One was
followed by a Sanskrit song Tvam
Adidevah Purusha Purana, Tvam Asya
Visvasya Param Nidhanam.
The rousing
Feliz Navidad was next and
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
was the last group song for the
evening.Swami then instructed Sylvia
that the choir could sing
bhajans. The choir sang
bhajans with aplomb and lead
everyone to great heights of
devotional ecstasy.
While the
bhajan singing was going on,
prasadam was brought to be
blessed by Swami and then
distributed.
Swami held a
peppermint candy cane and after some
time called Mr. Rafael Ferrero, a
saxophone player from Argentina
sitting in the front row, and
lovingly gave it to him. Rafael
beamed at this unexpected blessing
and took his seat.
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After a
few minutes, Swami again called Rafael
and started talking to him. A personal
interview in full view of the Christmas
crowd! After discussing some personal
matters and giving Rafael the most
valuable divine guidance, Swami waved
His hand and made the most beautiful
pendant for him. It was a circular gold
framed pendant inlaid with precious
stones. More discussion and instructions
followed while the crowd sat up agog
with excitement. Finally after
fulfilling all his wishes completely the
Lord blessed Rafael again and permitted
him to resume his seat. |
But a
visibly happy Lord had to express His
happiness some more. He called Michael,
a guitar and drum player from the United
States sitting next to Rafael and made
for him an exquisite golden chain. He
lovingly undid the clasp and personally
tied the chain around Michael's neck.
Michael buried his face deep in Mother
Sai's lap suffused with His love that
flowed not only to him but also engulfed
all of us sitting in the crowd. Swami
then asked Michael "Are you happy?"-
perhaps because Michael had been quite
anxious all evening worrying if their
music would please the Lord. What
glorious words of assurance from the
Lord - soothing and allaying fears and
pouring bliss, unending bliss in
everyone's heart.
But the
"fireworks" were not over yet. Roger
Dietrich, a flute player sitting next to
these two who had already been honoured,
was the next one to be called. Swami
made a ring for him which He personally
slipped onto a finger of Roger's right
hand. Roger was overcome with emotion
and speechless. Swami graciously
permitted him to take the much sought
padanamaskar before returning
to his seat. |
After that Swami
signalled for the bhajan to
stop and wanted that the arathi
be taken.
Three of the people
who had toiled hard for the past three
weeks to bring Christmas 2005 to a
successful conclusion were honoured by
being selected to do the
mangalarathi to Swami.
After the
arathi was taken, Swami turned
to the choir again and asked everyone in
the front row "Are you happy?" and then
blessed them profusely.
While
there was no formal divine discourse
this Christmas, by His repeated emphasis
on being happy, the Christmas message
was quite explicit and clear - Don't
Worry, Be Happy - for on the road to
happiness, happiness itself is the road!
DOUBLE
HEADER: TWO MUSICAL PROGRAMMES BY THE
SHALOM GROUP FROM AUSTRALIA AND THE
SATHYA SAI SINGERS OF S. CALIFORNIA AND
HAWAII ON DEC 26th
On
December 26th, two musical programmes
were on offer: first was a group of
Jewish singers from Australia called the
Shalom Group who sang spiritual songs
for Swami in Hebrew and the next
programme was by a group of musicians
from Southern California and Hawaii who
also presented a musical programme for
our beloved Swami entitled Life is a
Song Sing it! |
The Shalom Group
The Shalom Group is a
group of Sai Jewish devotees who have
come to the Lotus feet of Swami about 20
years ago, and are now living in Perth,
Australia. The Shalom Group consists of
a total of 21 people and 11 of them had
come to Prashanti Nilayam as part of an
Australian youth group to attend the
Christmas celebrations. The Shalom group
have been singing Jewish spiritual songs
for the last 8 years. These spiritual
songs praise the glory and love of God
and pray for peace and love in the
entire world and for all humanity.
The Shalom
Group had been trying to come and sing
in His divine presence for over 5 years
and they were given the lifetime
opportunity on Dec 26th, 2005.
Auspiciously, it was also the Jewish
festival of Chanukah ("The
festival of Lights"), which this year
coincided with Christmas and the New
Year since it is celebrated over 8 days.
Chanukah is celebrated to
symbolise one of the great miracles of
God wherein he kept filling a jar of oil
that should have lasted only 1 day to
light the menorah (Candlelabra)
in the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem
for a full 8 days!
The songs
that they sang in the Hebrew language
for Swami were Shalom and
Adonolam. Shalom is a song to call
the angels to participate in our prayers
and goes on to praise the righteous man
that follows in the path of God with
right action. Adonolam calls on
the Master of the Universe, Who is and
always will be; Who ruled before any
creature existed and Who with His will
created everything. |
The Sathya Sai Singers Group
In 2005
the devotees of Southern California were
given the opportunity to travel together
as a group on a pilgrimage to see
Bhagavan for Christmas in December. The
devotees were given the opportunity to
choose one of four special sadhanas:
a choir group, a bhajan group,
a play group or a service group. Each of
these groups met separately one or more
times a week to practise their offering
to Bhagavan.
The choir
group, called the Sathya Sai Singers,
met twice a week for six months in order
to rehearse and make the final song
selections that they wanted to perform
for the Lord during the Christmas
celebrations in Prashanti Nilayam. They
performed at several of the monthly
group meetings near Los Angeles as well
as at the December Southern California
public meeting and at a church near San
Diego in order to perfect their
presentation for Swami. The bhajan
group and the play group also met weekly
to organize and rehearse their offering
for Bhagavan. Everyone prayed that Swami
would allow the groups to perform in His
divine presence.
On
December 26th, the prayers of the
Southern California devotees were
answered as Bhagavan graciously
consented to have the choir sing in Sai
Kulwant Hall. Ms. Maryalice Jessup, the
choir director, came forward to give
Swami a special handcrafted programme
and a red rose on a silver tray.
Bhagavan (who was seated) stood up to
greet her and smiled lovingly at her,
saying "Very happy, very happy!"
This group
of singers from Southern California and
Hawaii presented a bouquet of 7
beautiful songs to bring to a finish one
of the most exciting and beautiful
Christmas celebrations in Prashanti
Nilayam in recent times. They started
with a beautiful song "For The
Children" which pleaded with
everyone to save the trees, the rocks,
hills and valleys, the seas and the
planet for the children. Moving on to a
prayerful song called "Lord Of Love",
they prayed to Swami that O Lord of
Love, I come to You and give You my
life. I Surrender all, and I make You
one with my life.
The next song - "You Raise Me Up"
- talked about how Swami's support helps
all to get over weary and troubled
times. This was followed by a song from
Walt Disney's "Pocahontas" called
"Colours Of The Wind", and is a
song depicting the era in United States'
history when England was sending people
to explore this "new" land. In this
song, Pocahontas, a Native American
woman, is chiding John Smith, an
Englishman, for his narrow views about
nature.
"In
This Very Room" - the next song
expresses hope that in this very room
there is love, joy for all of us; for
Baba, Sai Baba, is in this very room.
The words of the song, "How
Beautiful Your Songs Of Praise" -
How true and steadfast your ways.
Let all that is within me rise and sing.
How beautiful Your Holy name. How
marvellous Your saving grace, that You
would call me as Your own?how
beautiful?beautiful, left everyone
moved to silent tears overcome by the
surging emotions of love for Swami.
The last song called "Here I Am
Lord" sang of the glory of God and
His promise to tend to the poor and the
lame.
Swami
was immensely pleased with the heart
touching lyrics and the soulful music.
He called the conductor, Ms. Maryalice
Jessup, and manifested a beautiful gold
chain with a gold cross encrusted with
blue sapphires and asked her to slip it
around her head.
It was a little tight
and would not easily go over and the
conductor turned to the audience and
humorously remarked, "I have a big
head". Swami was touched at this
innocent and pure humour flowing
spontaneously as love from the heart.
Swami also blessed Maryalice with a
personal audience the next day.
Swami then
asked the group to sing bhajans
and the group obliged magnificently
singing both English and Sanskrit
bhajans. Swami sat for nearly an
hour enjoying the music, before
arathi was offered - by one gent
each from both the groups (the Shalom
Singers and the group from Southern
California) and likewise by two ladies
together - one from each group.
An
entire year has gone speedily by. We are
now in the New Year - 2006, a year of
new challenges and new opportunities.
While we mistakenly tend to view time as
discrete independent intervals, we do
not always consciously realize that time
is a continuum and thoughts and actions
from the past (samskaras)
continue to influence and shape our
present circumstances and thoughts (prarabdha
karma). And these samskaras
are not just limited to our present
lifetime but go back to many prior
lifetimes also.
The Vedas
also tell us that there are 8.4 million
different species on earth. Though we
have since time immemorial been
travelling and taking birth with
different bodies in all these 84 lakh
species, this time around we have been
blessed with a human body. Thus
obtaining a human body itself is a very
rare occurrence, but to obtain a human
body at the same time the Avatar is also
present on earth is the rarest and most
fortunate of circumstances. And of the
billions of people on earth, we are the
most blessed to come in the divine
presence of the Avatar and have His
Darshan, Sparshan and
Sambhashan.
This
opportunity must not be missed for who
knows how many millions of lives will
have to go by before such a rare
opportunity comes our way again. So let
us resolve in this New Year to grasp
this opportunity and realize the aim of
our life; let us resolve to love Him,
pray to Him and listen to whatever He
says. And His message for 2006 seems to
be "Always Be Happy!"
Jai Sai
Ram. |
- Heart2Heart Team
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Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, January 2006 Issue
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_04/01JAN06/prashanthi-diary.htm
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