Voice of Sai - Sathya Sai Baba Central Council of Malaysia

Issue No. 35
April 2009
Voice of Sai
Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Subang Jaya
Quarterly
Newsletter
(For members only)
“Politics without principles, Education without character, Science
without humanity, and Commerce without morality are not only
useless, but positively dangerous.” -Baba

Chairman’s Message 02
Past and Forthcoming 05
Service activities 06
Hospital Visit- a personal account 07
Maran Temple visit 08
Chairman’s Message
Sairam dear brothers and sisters.
Table of Contents
SSEHV Gurus Workshop 08
Saving mother nature 09
Talk on Gayatri Mantra 10
Dr Goldstein’s visit 12
Technical appreciation of Sai youths 14
Bro. Dorai
As we get into the second quarter of 2009, we should revisit the Sai Care Program. This program was
launched by the Malaysian Sai Council and involves the implementation of service, human values,
spiritual and youth projects over the next two years as our offering for Humanity and Nation Building in
conjunction with Bhagavan’s 85 th birthday.
The program will also focus on two important aspects. There are:-
Integration : The programs offered should be taken as an opportunity to build bridges with others outside
the organisation, thereby enabling our Sai Centers to blend and integrate within the community.
Internalization : To dwell on the inner significance of the projects, and the transformational experiences
one will have while engaging in these noble programs.
The SAI CARE Program Period is between 1 st September, 2008 to 31 st Aug, 2010. We have listed below the
projects and the respective targets we have set for our Centre, as well as the persons who will drive them.
Besides these, there are several other projects which will be driven at State or National level, which we will
also participate in.
A. SPIRITUAL PROJECTS
NO DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS
1 Gayatri recitations and prayers. Plan to
achieve 500,000 chants.
Coordinators:
Bro S.K.Vathanan
Sis Valli
2 Stress Management through Meditation
Coordinator:
Bro Reddy
OBJECTIVES
To create awareness of the power of prayer and
to pray for world peace.
To create awareness on the benefits and
practice of meditation.
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3 Journey to Sai
Coordinator:
Bro Reddy
B. SOCIOCARE PROJECTS
NO DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS
1 ADOPTION OF POOR COMMUNITIES/VILLAGES
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
2 School Breakfast program for poor students for
4 schools.
Coordinator:
Bro Maniam
3 Adoption of Poor Families
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
C. MEDICARE PROJECTS
1 Surgery assistance for needy patients
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
2. General Health Screening & Medical
Awareness Camps.
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
3. Blood Donation Campaigns
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
4. Organ Donation Drives
Coordinator:
Bro Raman
To encourage devotees to conduct a self
evaluation and monitoring exercise on spiritual
development. Organise a pilgrimage trip to
Puttaparthi in conjunction with Baba’s 85 th
Birthday.
OBJECTIVES
To provide relief and economic, social, health
and educational support to hardcore poor in
selected villages or slum areas. In addition,
healthy and wholesome activities will be
promoted among the young children and youth
to create unity and harmony in families.
To improve the health of poor primary students
by providing free nutritious breakfast.
To provide relief in the form of economic, social
and education support to hardcore poor
families.
To assist the hardcore poor who need referrals
and support to undergo surgery.
To provide free general medical screening and
basic medical needs and if needed,
recommendations for follow up with consulting
specialists, for surgery, etc., to poor families and
individual who normally do not undertake
routine medical screening.
To encourage everyone who is fit to donate
blood as liquid love to save lives. At the same
time, to create awareness on the benefit of
donating blood.
To encourage voluntary pledging of organs as a
service to mankind.
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D. EDUCARE PROJECTS
NO DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS
1 a) National Human Values Story Telling
Competition
State level – 4 programs
Coordinators:
Sis Anjali
Bro Murali
b) National Inter-School Human Values
Drama Competition
Coordinator:
Bro Dr. Murali Raman
c) Walk For Values
Coordinator:
Bro Jaidev
2 S.T.A.R. (Student Training In Attitude &
Responsibility)
Coordinator:
Bro Jaidev
E. ENVIRONCARE PROJECTS
No Description of Projects
1 Tree Planting Program
Coordinators:
Bro Suresh
OBJECTIVES
To promote and project Human Values among
school children (7-9 years old) through Story
Telling Competitions
To instill Human Values in the hearts of school
children, promote unity and harmony between
them, learn healthy lifestyle and reject
undesirable activities.
To increase the awareness and the importance
of Human Values through fun based Walk
activities amongst the general public including
children, teenagers, youth and adults. It will also
serve as a catalyst in community building.
To assist weak and wayward students to
develop positive attitudes, a sense of
responsibility, confidence in themselves and for
them to excel academically through a well
planned weekly program for an extended
period of time.
Coordinator
Everyone is welcome to support us and participate in these projects.
To create a better environment to live in through
educating children and adults on the
importance and benefits of trees, the actual
planting and care of trees.
You can help by:
- identifying hard core poor who need home repair, food supply, mobility aids and medical
treatment
- identifying stray animals for vaccination and rehabilitation
- participating or assisting the Organizers in Educare projects, Blood Donation Campaigns,
Organ Donation pledges and Tree Planting projects
Bhagawan’s purpose and mission is to bring about our transformation. Let us use the Sai Care program to
do this. Participate in all the planned events and activities. At the same time encourage your friends to
do so too. Contact the various Project Coordinators for further information.
A Small Step you take today can make a big difference tomorrow.
Sairam.
Bro Dorai Narayana
4

Past and Forthcoming
Regular Activities
Bhajans: every Thursday, 7.30 pm
Gita Class: every Friday, 8 pm
Veda Class : every Monday, 8 pm
Temple Visit: every Saturday, 7 am, Perumal
Temple, Subang Jaya
Study Circle: every 3 rd Thursday, after
Bhajans
Hospital Visit: every 2 nd Saturday, 4.30 pm,
Klang GH
Bhajan Practice: first & third Sunday, 5 pm
Morning prayer: every 3 rd Sunday, 5.30 am
Gayatri Chanting: every 1 st Sunday, 7 pm &
3 rd Sunday, 5.30 am
Centre exercise session: every 4 th Sunday,
6.30 pm (venue to be announced)
Batu Ampat Ladies program: every 2 nd & 4 th
Sunday, 2.30 pm
Bal Vikas / EHV Classes: at various locations
Forthcoming Events
3 Apr Sri Rama Navami
14 Apr Tamil New Year
(Centre will celebrate
on 16 Apr)
6 May Eswaramma Day
9 May Buddha Poornima
There is a creator behind this enchanting
cosmos. He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and
Omnipresent. He is worshiped as God using
many names and in many forms by various
people. Unity, brotherhood and devotion are
essential for every human being. To promote
these sacred qualities in mankind, some great
souls sought to establish different religions.
Religion is not a restrictive concept. Religion is
intended to develop the human personality and
indicate the basic guidelines for right living.
Religion brings out the humanness in man and
enables him to live in harmony with his fellow
men. It provides the link between the individual
and the Divine. It demonstrates the unity that
underlies the diversity in creation.
- BABA
“You are seeking joy and peace in far-off places. But the spring of joy is in your heart.
The haven of peace is in yourself.
- Baba
5

Service activities
Our Centre has been carrying out various service activities to help the less fortunate, while these
activities also help to instil love and care in devotees’ hearts. All devotees should try to involve
themselves in service activities. Try it once, and you will realise the joy and love that is
generated. Here are some of the service activities that are being carried out.
Contact Bro Raman (012 677 0505) for more details.
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TYPE OF SERVICE
HOSPITAL VISIT
Every 2 nd Saturday , 4.30 pm
BREAKFAST PROGRAM FOR EHV
STUDENTS
FOOD FOR THE NEEDY
FAMILY ADOPTION PROGRAM
(19 families being assisted)
EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
HOME FOR THE NEEDY
CLOTHING FOR THE NEEDY
PLACE
Klang
General Hospital
Various schools
Batu Empat Klang,
Klang and Sg.Rotan.
Batu Ampat Klang &
Sg.Rotan, Kapar
Batu Empat, Kg.Jawa
Klang and Sg.Rotan,
Kapar
Batu Ampat Klang
Batu Ampat,
Kg.Sentosa,
Kg.Bengalli,
Klang & Bukit Rotan
SERVICE RENDERED
Visit patients, talk to them and pray for
their speedy recovery
Helping to serve breakfast for poor
children
Supply of dry rations on weekly and
monthly basis.
Supply of dry rations and frequently
visit their homes. Consider other
needs.
Beds, mattresses, rice cooker, kitchen
cabinet & kitchen wares.
Supply of school uniform, shoes, bags,
initial school fees, exercise books
Home rental assistance for 2 needy
families.
Donation of new and used clothings
one to needy families
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Hospital Visit: A personal account
(Bro. Vikram)
I would like to thank God for this opportunity. When I see patients, I see them as my own family. I
get to know them better and meet their family members. When I pray for their quick recovery,
some patients are moved, and some even shed tears.
Our hospital visit starts with a small prayer at the entrance. Thereafter, we visit the general ward,
the children's ward and the orthopaedic ward at the Klang General Hospital. We try and visit
every patient and pray for their speedy recovery. We take down their names and chant the
Gayathri mantra at their bedside. You may have noticed that we also pray for these patients by
chanting the “Samastha Loka Sugino Bhavanthu” mantra in the Centre after bhajans. For
patients who were seriously ill and in need of Swami's grace, we give them Swami's photo and
some vibuthi.
The objective of me doing this is to share my love with patients. Some of these patients have
nobody to visit them. They are in loneliness and want someone to talk to. Some patients were,
however, shocked when they see us. They asked us who we were, why we visit them and why
were we praying for them. It gives me great pleasure explaining to them that we are doing this
as part of our service at no cost. I explain to them that this is not a religious movement and we
are not in the business of conversion or recruiting people for our organisation. Our aim is to pray
that they get well and return to their families soon.
Our visit gives the patients a chance to reconnect with God. Many of them have head of
Swami some years ago, but have lost touch and were surprised to "meet" Swami again. Some
patients will become emotional and begin crying that God has not helped them in any way
despite they being vegetarian, taking kavadis and praying regularly. They ask, why does God
do this and not protect them at all cost. We say that whatever happens, it is for our owngood. It
gives them a chance to reestablish their devotion for Swami and get back to their usual
livelihood. Our prayers are well accepted amongst all races.
I visit the hospital every third Saturday of the month. The visits are coordinated by Bro Raman.
On festive occasions such as Deepavali, Chinese New Year, Christmas and Hari Raya and also
during Swami's Birthday last year, special visits were organised where we presented patients
with a fruit basket and some toiletries. The patients and their families really appreciated our little
gifts of love.
A handful of devotees attend these visits regularly. However, I feel these visits should be
increased to twice a month. We have to go on a bigger scale and get more youths involved.
The visits provide me with an opportunity to bond with these families. It is not just about giving
money. It is about sharing my love with these families and I know Swami's blessings will reach the
patients and their families directly.
Who knows, hospital visits could also serve as a platform to identify poor families in need of
Swami's grace, especially dry rations?
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(Sis Mani)
Maran Temple Visit
At the last coordinators meeting, Bro Maniam said, “Why don’t we visit the Maran temple”.
Every one thought it was a good idea. So we decided to go on the 31 st January. We chartered
a 44 seater bus for our devotees to travel to Maran. We left at 6.30am after a short 15 minute
bhajan at the Centre, and reached the Temple around 11.30 am. Sis Sindhu, now a local
resident of Pahang, gave a short talk on the history and significance of the temple. She told us
how nearly 120 years ago, the British were building a road from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan, and
many trees were cut down to make way for the road.
When one particular rudraksha tree was cut, it began to bleed as if it was wounded and a Tamil
worker went on trance at the same time. The British supervisor refused to stop cutting the tree.
Suddenly a child miraculously appeared on the trunk of the tree for a second and disappeared
into this mysterious tree. The British supervisor was overcome with amazement and changed his
decision to cut down the tree. An old man who believed that the child appeared on the tree
was Lord Muruga, planted a Vel at the base of the tree. That was how the temple came to be
named as Marathandavar Temple. Maram means tree in Tamil.
During the years, many miracles happened at this tree. Many devotees come from all parts of
Malaysia and even other neighboring countries. Pannguni Uttiram which occurs in the month of
March / April is celebrated elaborately in this temple.
We had the opportunity to witness the noon Abishegam at the Temple, and we had lunch after
that. The temple provides breakfast, lunch and dinner for all visiting devotees. We left the
Temple at about 3 pm and reached Subang Jaya by 6.30pm. The trip gave the devotees a
unique chance to not only visit the famous Maran Temple, but also created a bonding and
satsang opportunity as well.
SSEHV Gurus Training / Workshop
______________________________________________________________________
(Sis. Anjali)
For continuous learning and improvement, workshops and training programs are conducted by
the Central Council for gurus and aspiring gurus several times a year.
Further to the above, a workshop was held on the 3 rd and 4 th of January 2009 at the SSB Centre
of SS3. It was well received with about 80 participants. 3 Gurus from our centre namely Bro
Jaidev, Bro Dorai and I participated and presented lesson plans. Similarly the participants from
various centres of the Central Region presented their lesson plans. It was a very good sharing
session which enabled us to observe and pick up many salient points.
To keep the participants engrossed in the sessions, the presentations were given in many
creative ways inclusive of video clips, games, etc. It was a programme worth attending as it
created an opportunity for us to evaluate and improve our teaching methods.
All gurus and aspiring gurus are advised not to miss the golden opportunity of attending future
workshops. Jai Sai Ram
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Saving Mother Nature: Tree-planting
Despite knowing that it is Saturday morning, I was wondering why I had to wake up so early. It
can’t be the Bhajan practice because it has been moved to Sunday evenings. The PDA shows
21 st March. Well, it took few seconds for me realize that I was supposed to plant trees on that
day. I quickly drove to SS3 centre, the meeting point for the environmental aspirants. I was
asked to join another friend in his MPV. This is when Bro. Vathanan wanted to transfer some
things into the MPV and for a moment I thought I was going to plant trees inside his car because
it just looked like some forest.
Continued on page13
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Talk on Gayathri Mantra
As the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra has been taking centre stage of late, a talk was
organized on Thursday, 19 th March 2009 for the devotees of the SSBC of Subang Jaya and to all
those interested in the Central Region. The purpose of the talk was to enlighten the devotees
on the following:
• On the proper pronunciation/recitation of the Mantra
• To understand the meaning of the Mantra
• To understand the history of the Mantra
• To understand the benefits of chanting the Mantra
Bro Muthu, the VP of Spiritual of the Central Council was invited to present the talk. The
devotees of the SSBC of Subang Jaya are very grateful to Bro Muthu for his love and a very
informative session which was very keenly participated by all presented.
Brother Muthu started thanking Swami for this opportunity to share the Gayatri Mantra and
introduced the significance of the Mantra and also dwelt on the meaning and the mysterious
power of the Mantra when chanted properly.
He emphasised that reciting the Gayatri is a sacred and auspicious spiritual exercise and that
the Gayatri can be chanted for all occasions (religious, spiritual, holy and social functions such
as birth, death, wedding and blessing) and that the Gayatri in a universal prayer that can be
chanted by all people regardless of race, religion, caste and gender.
Bro Muthu iterated that the Gayatri is a simple and sincere prayer to the Almighty to confer
bright and brilliant intelligence.
However he stressed that the potency of the Gayatri is in its sound and phonetic vibrations. Thus
the correct pronunciation is of paramount importance and that wrong pronunciation will
cancel its effects, benefits and desired results. All present were advised to repeat ‘shanti’ thrice
at the end of each recitation, to have peace within the three entities of body, mind and soul.
Although the Gayatri can be chanted at any time the devotees were advised not to forget to
repeat the Gayatri in multiples of three at dawn, noon and dusk.
Some of the benefits of chanting the Gayatri are listed below:
• Gayatri is the reliever of all diseases
• Gayatri wards off all miseries
• Gayatri is the fulfiller of all desires
• Gayatri destroys dirty influence of demonic forces.
• Gayatri is the Mother ‘Annapurna’, the force that animates all life.
• Gayatri promotes the acquisition of divine power and develops the power of discrimination.
A brief explanation on the Gayatri was given as follows:
Gayatri Mantra consists of three parts namely:
• praise, meditation and prayer.
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She has three names:
• Gayatri – represents the senses (Panchendrias)
• Savitri – represents life-force (Praana Shakthi)
• Saraswati – represents speech (Vaak)
The three represent purity in thought, word and deed (Tri-karana Shudhi).
Bro Muthu also touched on the five faces of Mother Gayatri as follows:
The five faces listed below are from Mother Gayatri’s far right to her far left.
• First (Pearl in colour) face: represents brilliance of intelligence
• Second (Coral in colour) face: represents the principle of still mind
• Third (Gold in colour) face: represents good quality and external charm in the aspirant
• Forth (Blue in colour) face: fosters the aspirant with all types of wealth and Divine Grace
• Fifth (White in colour) face: represents purity of mind and receiving Divine Grace from
Goddess Saraswati
The meaning of the individual words in the Gayatri Mantra is appended below:
• AUM - Sound as the basis of creation, Brahmam
• BHUR – The earth, the gross, Prakriti or nature
• BHUVAH – The atmosphere, the subtle, Prana Shakthi
• SUVAHA – Heaven, the land of God, the causal
• TAT – Paramatma, God or Brahman, (defies description)
• SAVITUR – That from which all this is born, vivifying power contained within the sun
• VARENYAM – Fit to be worshipped
• BHARGO – Radiance, Spiritual effulgence that bestows wisdom
• DEVASYA – Divine Reality
• DHEEMAHI – We meditate
• DHIYO– Buddhi, Intellect
• YO – Which
• NAH – Our
• PRACHODAYAT – Enlighten
The session ended with questions and answers, which were also very interesting and
enlightening.
Once again we would like to thank Bro Muthu for his effort to prepare and make the wonderful
presentation and we would also like to thank Swami for His Grace to allow it all to happen.
Thank you,
Bro G.Reddy
Spiritual Coordinator
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Bro. Dr. Michael Goldstein’s visit to Malaysia
Dr. Michael Goldstein, International Chairman of Prashanti Council, as part of his worldwide tour
to visit the Sai Organisations in various countries, visited Malaysia to meet and address all Sai
devotees from the 13 th of February 2009 to the 16 th of February 2009.
Dr Goldstein is an ardent and close devotee of Bhagawan Baba. He has had many unique
and inspiring experiences with Bhagawan Baba. Indeed Bhagawan had on a number of
occasions publicly praised Dr Goldstein for his devotion, dedication, discipline as well as his faith
in Swami. Dr. Goldstein is in charge of the all the overseas Sai Organizations.
He arrived on the 13 th of February 2009 and had a get together dinner with the EXCO of the
Central Council. It was indeed a very inspiring event and an opportunity to get to know Dr.
Goldstein. He was equally impressed with the EXCO and the spiritual/service activities in
Malaysia.
A public talk was held on the 14 th of February 2009 which was held at the KBU International
College, Bandar Utama. Devotees from all over Malaysia had taken the trouble to attend the
talk by Bro Dr. Goldstein. The hall was filled to the brim and all those present were indeed
blessed to have had the opportunity to listen to the inspiring talk by Dr. Goldstein. He covered a
wide spectrum of the subjects related to the Sai Organisation as well his experiences with the
Divine. At the end of his talk he spent considerable amount of time answering questions raised
by devotees.
On the following morning, Sunday, 15 th February, Dr. Goldstein spent the entire morning with
members of the Sai Council. The structure of the Council, representations from the entire
country, service, spiritual and educational activities carried out in Malaysia under the
banner of the Sathya Sai Organisation were presented to Dr. Goldstein. He answered many
questions related to the organizational structure, publications, Sai School, cross border activities,
performances in front of Swami at Prashanti, Centre activities, unity, disaster management team
etc.
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Bro Goldstein concluded the session by thanking all those who had made the session possible.
He was very happy with what he had seen and he felt that what was being done particularly
under the Sai Care program was wonderful and an attestation to the faith and earnestness of
the Malaysian Sai Devotees.
Bro Dr. Goldstein left Malaysia to Sri Lanka on Monday the 16 th of February 2009. He reiterated
on several occasions to the EXCO that he was extremely pleased with the unity that he had
observed and with the SAI work that is being carried out in Malaysia.
Saving Mother Nature: Tree-planting
Continued from page 9: Then, we had a speedy drive to North Selangor Peat Forest, the car
filled with Shanu Perunding staff, equipped with bags of homemade food and an entertainer
next to me. We immediately got into our gear and registered ourselves, where fellow Sai
‘environment-care’ devotees from various centers joined us.
Of course there were lots of other individuals and groups from various corporate sectors. After a
short briefing by the coordinator (I guess he was the coordinator, because he was in green
attire) we started to put our thoughts into action. We were allocated a sector to plant the
seedlings and we begin the task by digging holes in the soggy soil.
It was fun ; we were laughing at each other, teasing the amateur hole-diggers. As we were
about to leave the sector after completing the Sector C mission, another coordinator (I think
she was one too, because she was also in green attire) requested us to complete Sector D. With
initial hesitation, we formed a team to get the job done. Anyway, that’s why I volunteered
myself. After 30 minutes, I came out from Sector D with lots of contentment and scratches.
As we were walking out, I had a lengthy and informative chat with Unc. Prathaban on treeplanting
methods, which I am planning to introduce soon to our Sai Center.It was a fun-filled
and informative event, yet very enlightening and very satisfying too. A tree-ful day indeed.
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A Technical Appreciation of Sai Youths
Bro. Dr. Murali Raman
Sai youths are increasingly plagued with numerous challenges. Parental pressure, organizational
pressure, family commitments, societal pressure, peer pressure and the list goes on. How can Sai
youth sustain the proper momentum to survive the various challenges of modern day living?
How can Sai youth – the ‘Saiber’ youths manifest themselves into tangible outputs that
demonstrate higher order thinking and above all, a value driven lifestyle? Well, the answer
pretty much lies in the extent of input quality i.e. quality of the various datasets (vibrations,
energy, value ingredients and so on), that goes into the basic processing structure of a youth.
The human system is based on the five organs of senses/actions and 5 perceptions that process
the various inputs that come into our living system. Let us focus for the moment on the five
organs of senses, and transpose these five core elements with the notion of input structures of a
computing system. First, take the eye – the eye is a fundamental input recipient – it is a very
powerful organ that immediately interprets the various images that it comes into contact with.
Swami’ in this regard often states; “See only that is noble, and only See Good in one and all.”
This also means that what we interpret as an output based on what we see (in input form), is a
function of what we already know/perceive internally. Again, in this regard, Swami states “You is
see is s reflection and resound of your own taught”. Therefore youths, Look only at Good things,
Godly things and cultivate a ‘Dharmic’ vision – A Vision of the Divine in all, and be assured that
all other input systems will function and interpret things well.
Next, let’s examine how what we take in the form of sound and taste (input processes the ears,
and tongue). Wake up to melodious music, music that helps us calm the mind and take in
positive vibrations and energy into our system. Swami often relates this to the idea of listening to
good things (including positive vibrations) and avoiding ourselves from openly engaging in
negative talk and discussion which will obviously dilute the quality of the input structures that
becomes part of our mainstream system. The tongue is akin to a double edged sword- on one
had this input processor takes in wonderful taste of food (nasi lemak –vegetarian surely, milo ice
and such), and empowers us to enjoy natures endowment of good food and nourishment. The
same tongue however, when untapped and uncontrolled, has the potential to unleash
malicious words and intent – often more powerful than the weapons of massive destruction. In
this context, Swami says, speak of only loving things and speak when you are spoken to. Satvic
food as vital inputs via the sense of taste – will also guarantee a much more balanced lifestyle –
hence Swami propagates the ideals of vegetarianism. Our sense of smell should also crave and
long for Satvic fragrance solely. This is why we often see Hindus and even Chinese using
significant amount of incense sticks in their homes.
Lastly lets us examine our organs of action (hands and legs). These are two vital organs that
when and if used well, can even bring the other organs of input into check. This is when
engaging in positive activities such as Seva is vital – and hence Swami’s call: “Hands that Serve
are Holier than Lips that Pray”.
So youths, let us all use the various input organs that we have to only take in positive inputs into
our lives. Let us pray that Swami will guide us, in making best use of our input systems, processes,
and whatever we take into this system well, and thereby translate the our outputs into positive
outcomes.
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