Mar - Kirpal Singh

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The Master's Birthday 1973Karen Proctor shares withthe recent celebrationsHANGES WERE GOING ON at SawanC Ashram as the days of celebrationdrew near. Fifty to sixty women satcleaning wheat to be ground for thethousands of chapatis that would beneeded in the coming days. Carpenterswere busy building extra bed frames andmen could be seen carrying loads ofbricks on their heads for the constructionof enclosures for the rows of waterfaucets that had just been installed.12us her vivid description ofEverywhere work was going on to makeready the accommodation and feeding ofso many thousands of devoted souls.The grand occasion of our Master'seightieth birthday* and the twenty-fifth':'The reader will note that the Master's recentbirthday is referred to as his "eightieth"throughout this account; this is by the Orientaireckoning, which counts the actual day ofbirth as the first birthday. The Master wasborn in 1894, consequently was 79 years oldon Feb. 6, 1973.SAT SANDESH
anniversary of His Mission here onearth as Sant Satguru, or True Master,was rapidly approaching.By the third of February, peoplestarted filtering in. They came from allover India, Europe and the States. ManyWestern devotees were already stayingat the Ashram, having come sooner inorder to bathe in Master's wondrousdarshan a little longer.All the following day and night peoplepoured in. Large tents had been set upin the courtyard, and the incompletedbuilding that will someday be a Satsanghall with a capacity of 3,000 had beenenclosed with colorful drops and strawwas spread over the entire floor. Thisbuilding now has a roof thanks to Master'sGrace and the selfless efforts oflocal Satsangis who worked day andnight so that the dear ones would havea sheltered place to sleep during theirshort visit with Maharaj Ji. As it turnedout, the weather was beautiful, thedays sparkling and warm, and the nightsmilder than usual. But the Master takesno chances with His dear ones. Hetakes such good care of us all.By the fifth close to 50,000 peoplehad gathered. It was simply incredible! Ahuge canteen had been set up just outsidethe Ashram; there was a free medicaldispensary, and there were standswith pictures of Master and Baba Sawan<strong>Singh</strong> available. Meals were served inthe Ashram itself, and were truly a sightto behold. Imagine shifts of 10,000people, lined up on long mats whichwere spread on the ground, being serveddelicious meals of vegetables, lentilsand chapatis on plates made of leaves.The food just kept coming. No onewent hungry and everyone had secondsand more if they chose. I helped toserve chapatis to these beautiful peopleand really enjoyed this little bit of per-<strong>Mar</strong>ch 1973sonal contact. Of course, we couldn'tspeak to each other, except regardinghow many chapatis they wanted--ek ordo (one or two)-as that is about theextent of my Hindi. But love was everywhereand shined on everyone's faces.Occasionally someone who spoke a littleEnglish would come up and say, "Hellosister, we're glad to see you here"; andthe full meaning of Master's words,"We're all brothers and sisters underGod," came to me.The first big Satsang began at about9 a.m. An old friend of Master's whois now in charge of education at ManavKendra, Pundit Parmanand, spoke fora long time of the need of missionariesto save this world from self destruction.He said that partial commitment wouldnot do. It seems he spent 32 years inprison as a result of his freedom fightingactivities before India had won herfreedom from the British. He said theneed is even greater now, as we mustlaunch a spiritual revolution. At theend of his speech, Master asked howmany of us were ready to be missionaries.Most of the audience raised theirhands in silent acceptance of the serioustask that lies ahead.In the evening there was another Satsang,this time at a park just a fewminutes' walk from the Ashram. Therewere dozens of speakers, all of themardent followers of the Master. Unfortunately,we who spoke only Englishwere unable to understand them, but wecould not help but be impressed by theirpoise and the ease with which theyspoke, by Master's Grace. Some sangbeautiful verses from the Sikh and Hinduscriptures. The love and devotionthat each one of them felt for their Masterwas communicated in spite of thebarrier of language.The occasion which most touched me13
Page 2: The Master is reaching out and givi
Page 5 and 6: q ''-m+ F ks\ ,Sat "+sa naes k a,,~
Page 7 and 8: Guru Nanak went to Mecca. At nighth
Page 9 and 10: us. This is the crest jewel, the pe
Page 11 and 12: ating all creation; and further, th
Page 16 and 17: was on the day of our Beloved's bir
Page 18 and 19: THE TOUCH OF THEMASTER'S HANDIngebo
Page 20 and 21: AN ISRAELI'S VIEWPOINT 1Dr. Asher E
Page 22 and 23: Abhinandan Patrapresented toHIS HOL
Page 24 and 25: I +THE MASTER'S TALK(Continued from
Page 26 and 27: spots, can you see any light? So th
Page 28 and 29: Diredory of Ruhani Satsang CentersD
Page 30 and 31: VENICE 1st Saturday of month, med I
Page 32 and 33: OREGONGOLD HILL Sundays, 11 am, 253
Page 34 and 35: ENGLANDLONDON Inner London: 2nd Sun

Mar - Kirpal Singh

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