SATURDAY 21ST APRIL 2012

FROM 7.00 TO 8.00PM

At the Sikh Temple – Muranga Rd, Pangani

SEHAJ PAATH BHOG CEREMONY including:

• Reading the final verses of Guru Granth Sahib.
• Kirtan, divine hymns.
• Serving Mahaprasad

TUESDAY 24TH APRIL 2012

FROM 7.00PM TO 8.00PM

At Sri Sathya Sai Centre – Waiyaki Way

SPECIAL BHAJANS

Followed by Mahaprasad

You can download a poster of the events here.

Sai Ram to all.

Please download this document with all the details of the conference to get more information.

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We wish to express our gratitude and appreciation for all the support that we have received from devotees of Bhagawan throughout the world during the difficult period of the ailment of Baba’s physical body and thereafter. The messages of faith in Bhagawan that were received and the experience of His continued presence fortified us in facing the challenges that confronted us.

Bhagawan has always said that He is not the body but the manifestation of the Supreme Consciousness that pervades all creation and beyond. He also impressed upon us that we were also the images of the Divine. His Mission on this earth was mainly to enable humanity to realise its inherent Divinity.

The Supreme Consciousness that Bhagawan personified is eternal. Bhagawan is therefore with us, now and forever. Prasanthi Nilayam is the place which the Divine chose to be His abode and it will continue to be so.

It is therefore obligatory on us to ensure that all programmes and events that used to take place at Prasanthi Nilayam are continued just as before. Starting from Guru Purnima this year, all festivals as per the normal calendar of events will continue. These will also include programmes like the Grama Seva, Dasara, University Convocation, Birthday Celebrations, Sports, etc.

Other events like the Prasanthi Seva, Parthi Yatra, pilgrimage programmes, various conferences and training programmes, Bal Vikas and cultural programmes, etc., will also continue as before.

The daily Darshan schedule has also been set in place and is being faithfully observed.

Bhagawan is with us and will always be with us, not only at Prasanthi Nilayam, but everywhere, every moment of our life. We have to live our life under His unbounded love and protection and continued guidance. He has shown us the path and we have to faithfully tread it to ultimately achieve union with Him.

Jai Sai Ram!

- The Trustees and the Council of Management of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust

There is a slight change to the Special Prayers for April 27th. Special Prayers at the Sri Sathya Sai Centre will be held between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM.

A special prayer for Swami at the Sri Gurdwara Pangani Sikh Temple had been requested by the Centre last week. We were informed by the Temple (before Swami took Samadhi) that the Bhog (Completion of Path) would be on Wednesday 27th April from 7.00 PM followed by Langar (Mahaprasad). Therefore, we request that all devotees attend this Bhog at the Pangani Sikh Temple on the 27th, after the prayers at the Centre between 5.00 PM and 6.00 PM.

You can also view all the latest events and functions on the Centre’s Calendar.

“In regard to every matter, my thoughts are always sublime and exemplary. You must note that Swami’s life is in His own hands and not in those of anyone else. If I will it, I can live for as long as I please. I can also terminate it at will. It is my will that decides and not any other person. The reason is My purity, selflessness, and divinity. What other testimony is called for? The life of the pure hearted is in their own hands and not in those of others.”

– Discourse, 3 July 1993

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is no more with us physically. He left His earthly body on 24th April, 2011, at 7:40 a.m. due to cardio-respiratory failure.

Bhagawan Baba’s Body will lie in state at Sai Kulwant Hall for two days (Monday and Tuesday). Arrangements will be made for Darshan after 6:00 p.m. today, at Sai Kulwant Hall.

We appeal to all not to rush to the hospital, but to remain calm and have Darshan in an orderly manner.

Signed by

Dr. A. N. Safaya

Director, SSSIHMS-PG.

The official announcement can be found here.

Prayers will be held at the Sri Sathya Sai Centre, Nairobi, Kenya as follows:

April 24, 2011

9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

April 25, 2011

9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

April 26, 2011 onwards until further notice

7:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Our prayers at the Kenyan center ever since the disaster had struck Japan, were dedicated to the memory of the helpless lives lost and praying to Swami to alleviate the suffering of those who managed to survive only to realize that their loved ones, livelihood and hard earned personal belongings have all perished in the natural disaster.

At this moment of national crisis, we submit our prayers to Swami for bestowing His Grace with the people and authorities in Japan who are still trying to identify the dead and working tirelessly to help those who survived, yet, suffering from the impact of the disaster. We pray to Swami for His Grace in restoring to the people in Japan, normal life with renewed determination to face the future.

The Speaker: Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati

Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati is currently living in Nairobi and works as the Chief of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Biodiversity, Land and Governance Programme. Previously he worked as the Head of Biodiplomacy Programme at United Nations University in Japan and Head of Asia Programme for the World Conservation Union in Sri Lanka. He has advised several governments and organisations on human development including to UNDP, UNESCO and others. He has published more than 30 books and over 85 articles on a range of issues ranging from education for development, environmental policy to poverty reduction.

This will be an ideal opportunity for parents and teachers to participate and get benefited. Tea will be served at the conclusion of the event.

PART A – BRIEF REPORT

The Pre-world Conference of Africa Region 93 was held in Lagos Nigeria for the first time on 23^rd and 24^th October, 2010. Devotees from different parts of Africa converged in Lagos for the two-day conference which was hugely successful having been blessed by Baba.

The theme of the conference, “God Is”, “I Am I” and “Love All, Serve All” was exhaustively deliberated on by 180 delegates who were divided into sizeable groups. Thereafter, the following submissions were made on the key subjects:

“GOD IS”

It was unanimously declared that one cannot simplify what God Is. God is Absolute, beyond definition, changeless, beyond any form, attribute or trait. Nevertheless, we know that God Is, and Man exists because God exists.

It was also concluded that faith, a belief system, is an integral and irrevocable part of God realisation. Faith is a belief, in not only the seen, but also in the unseen. Just as we ‘know’, without a doubt, that the earth is surrounded by an atmosphere that has the perfect and precise combination of gases necessary to our survival, but we cannot see it. So we ‘know’ intuitively that God Is. Denial of God is denial of our own existence.

We have to develop steadfast faith in the knowledge that God is love, that God is the spark of Divinity that is in you and me, firstly through self-introspection and through selflessly serving others. Our actions, our lives, must demonstrate our faith. Even Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Our dear Lord has given us all the tools and guidelines which we can use to strengthen our faith in God that we know Is. And it was also concluded that to realize God, the Divinity that is in each one of us, we must put into practice and live our lives in accordance with Human Values. We must serve, serve and serve selflessly, love unconditionally, strive to become non-judgemental in all our interactions with our fellow human beings at all levels, for we know that God Is in you and in me.

“I AM I”

1. The four-lettered manthra, “I AM I” tells us that our true identity is God, the Atma.
2. Swami emphasises this manthra and maxim when he tells us “I am God, you are also God. The difference is that I know that I am God, but you do not know it.”
3. To overcome the problems we encounter in realising this truth we must do the following:

3.1  Have full faith in God and be devoted to Him.

3.2  Engage in selfless service without ego and expectation of reward.

3.3  Practice ceiling on desires.

3.4  Surrender totally to God.

3.5  Doing the above, we will earn the grace of God and march towards self-realisation.

4.  For devotees in Africa Region 93, there is the exceptional challenge of achieving self-development, self-reliance and self-discipline so as to be able to contribute to the growth of the Sathya Sai Seva Organisation in the region.

5.   The discussants further made the following submissions:

5.1  Africa is currently bedevilled with a lot of crises and problems of underdevelopment.

5.2  To solve these problems, we need to take the teaching of educare down to the grassroots – to touch the children, women and men at the village levels.

5.3  Take Swami’s educare to the education system in Africa.

5.4  We need to take educare to the government institutions to reform and change the attitude to work of the civil servants in Africa.

5.5  To take educare to professional associations to impact upon their ethics and conduct of members e.g. in medicine, law and many other professions.

5.6  It is our conviction that the practice of the Sai Education in Human Values is the panacea to the social ills affecting Africa.

6. We hand over all these convictions and evaluation of the devotees’ situations in Africa to Swami and pray to Him to help us.

“LOVE ALL SERVE ALL”

When we remove the ‘duality’, it becomes very easy for us to love all and serve all. We can then see service as an act of worship and serving ourselves. When this realisation dawns on us, we can serve all of God’s creation as serving the manifestations of God in one and all forms. When we serve, we should serve with all humility and regard ourselves highly privileged to serve.

We should take good opportunity of the grace of God to serve like ideal seva dals or volunteers do. An ideal volunteer is one who is ready to serve in any capacity at all times, and without any form of ego or attachment to the fruit of service. The mind is tamed by constant chanting of the name of God even while engaged in service.

PART B – RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SAI WORLD CONFERENCE IX NOVEMBER, 2010 AND BEYOND.

1. Africa is a large continent consisting of 54 countries. It is the considered opinion of this great gathering that Africa should be made a Zone in the Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation Sructure. This will make way for a more effective management of the affairs of the organisation in Africa with attendant growth as desired. This will also promote the realisation of the theme of this conference: “God Is”, “I Am I”, “Love All Serve All” now and in the future. More Regions will be created with more Central Coordinators and Deputy Central Coordinators charged with specific duties to bring the desired results.
2. An All African Conference for Sathya Sai Mission in Africa is proposed for next year, 2011. This should be held in Africa whilst details shall be worked out.

3.   To encourage the setting up of more Sathya Sai Schools in our Region and strengthen the existing ones.

We surrender the report and recommendations at the Lotus Feet of our Lord, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba whilst praying and asking Him to bless the recommendations to further unfold His plan for Africa.

JAI SAI RAM

Compiled by the host country Nigeria and submitted to the Central Coordinator for onward transmission to higher authorities.