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20th July 2008 - An Update
of World Education Conference
In the evening, the opening
ceremony of the Sri Sathya Sai education conference was scheduled. Swami arrived in
the chair and took a detour to the stage between the seated ladies and gents
delegates. A very interesting episode occurred. All the delegate letters had been
bundled into a huge package and the devotee sitting right in the front offered it to
Swami. Swami looked at it and it appeared as if He wanted to take it. But at the
last minute, He blessed it and the package remained in the devotees hands. however
as Swami came on the stage, He told the student beside HIm, "Go down, take that
package and keep it" There was an applause of joy and thrill at this act of Grace.
Swami lit the lamp to mark the inauguration of the conference Then there were
opening addresses by DrMichael Goldstein and Mr.VSrinivasan. After their speeches,
Swami asked for His mikes and began His divine discourse.
"Today the education has become physical. There are millions who have studied but of
what use are they to the society. They are all achieving their own selfish needs and
none are there who think of others or realize the condition of the society. In
public, they declare that they help the poor but do nothing. You know the plight of
the world today. There is misery everywhere and there is no trace of bliss. Every
region or country speaks highly in self praise but the suffering continues. Who are
rich? 'Manas ekam, Vachas ekam, karmanyekam Mahaatmanam.' They are great who have
unity in thought, word and deed. Big countries like USA and Russia are doing a lot
of harm to other countries. They are unmindful of the poverty and do not even feel
repentance at what they are doing. The suffering of the people in Iran is immense.
(At this point Swami broke down just thinking of the plight of those people.). Every
country helps only the rich You must all stand by the poor and for this Prema(Love)
and Daya (Compassion) are essential. Only those with Thyaga(sacrifice) get bliss.
Never those with feelings of I and mine.
Today Paapa BHeeti(fear of sin) and Daiva Preeti(Love for God) are both missing.
These two can get you everything. The selfishness is on the rise and the largeness
of the world is reducing. The rich sit in palatial houses while the poor toil.
Everything is God's gift. How can it be denied to anyone? Serve and be served by the
poor. Today 100% of the educated are selfish. They are responsible for cheap
behaviours. The Iranians have suffered so much because of the Americans. They
attacked that country for the sake of their selfish petrol and oil interests. People
fight on selfish grounds. A human is one who has human values. You cannot be happy
when your fellowman is suffering. If you give pain to any child of God, that pain
will come back to you. Today, the spirit of unity and equality is needed. Unity
leads to purity of heart and finally to divinity in experience. Do not be
indifferent to suffering. God resides in all heart- even in ants and mosquitoes. So
do not kill them by using Flit (an insecticide). If you want to protect yourself,
use a mosquito net.
Show a little humanity. Today there is no compassion, only "come- fashion". Anger,
lust, greed, hatred and jealousy are all demonic qualities. What is the use of a
human form if you have these qualities. For everything, there is reaction,
reflection and resound. If you make a country suffer, it will make you suffer later.
Go to any of our schools and ask any kid what is meant by human values and they will
tell you. A time will come when we have to learn from the children.
Truth comes from the heart. Go deep within and enquire. The Truth will be revealed.
Truth with right action gives Love and peace. Love and peace will lead to non
violence. All these human values are within us. Man is indeed God. Ask God, "Who are
you?" and He will respond, Aham Branhmasmi. Names are different and given by the
parents. Ek Atma Sarva Bhootantaratm - the same soul resides in all beings. You see
ants moving in a row Whenever they meet another ant, they kiss and consult and then
move on. A calf keeps crying out to its mother when born. When a hunter shot the
male of a pair of birds, the female cried and died. That episode lead to the
composition of the Ramayana itself. When animals exhibit such sentiments, man has to
learn from them. No amount of speaking and listening will help Only when you follow,
you will understand. You feel bad when others shout at you, then what about when you
shout at others? Consider everything as God's will as it is good for you.
Today people have lost Self- confidence- Atma Vishwasam. When you say that this is
my kerchief, the kerchief is different from you. So too when you say that this is my
body, my mind, my intellect, you are different from them. You are not understanding
your true nature.Know your true nature and identity. God is with you, in you, around
you and above you. In fact, you are God. Education is not merely learning. You learn
the meaning of words and not their significance. Ask who you are and get the answer
for that question. It is not enough if you keep reading books One student came to me
saying that he had read the entire Shirdi Sai Satcharitra. I asked him as to what he
had practised from it. He said that he hadn't practised anything!
When you open your eyes, you see thousands around. But close your eyes and you see
only yourself. I am I. That is the answer Names are only for practical purposes
Examine and recognise your heart. Goldstein and Srinivasan spoke so much about
education but educare is not related to the world. It relates to you. Then only will
you be able to proclaim I am I. Once you clearly understand this, you will realize
divinity Remember, literacy is not knowledge. Truth is God, Love is God.
You cannot be the sole possessor of Love. God is the only owner of Love. Educare is
to bring that Love out from within. In just 25-30 years, there will be harmony and
peace in the world. Tomorrow, I will clear all the doubts you have. Now its late. We
will have the music."
So, as Swami went for a short break into the interview room, the stage was set for
the Sai Symphony orchestra. As all the members of the orchestra were ready, Swami
arrived and asked it to begin. Conducted by Michael Koehler from Germany, the
orchestra consisted of violins, violas, cellos, bass, clarinets, saxophones, oboes,
bassoons, flutes, trumpets, trombones, French horns, percussions alongside, a tube,
a timpani and a keyboard- a wide array indeed! Representing 21 countries, the
musicians just let themselves to be ruled by their heartfelt feelings. The program
consisted of Romantic music pieces of the great western classical masters. They
played Shostakovich festive overture, Ottorino Respighi, Felix Mendelssohn and some
more pieces. As they completed, Swami blessed them and asked for tetrapaks of mango
juice to be given to all. He also blessed prasadam to be distributed. He then
received Aarthi and left.
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Also:
Read an eye
witness account submitted by devotee to SBOI
