21 Jun to 27 Jun 08
Attended an excellent workshop on "Road Map to Self realisastion" in Livermore (near San Francisco) on 21st and 22 nd June,for one and a half days , which was conducted by Jack & Louise Hawley for the devotees of Northern California and Nevada Region. Almost 125 ladies and gent devotees attended. Both Jack and Louise are old devotees of Swami and they are 6 months in Prasanthi Nilayam and the remaining 6 months conducting similar workshops in Croatia,Bulgaia,Venezeula ,in fact ....all over the World.Their age may be more than 80 but look only 65 plus. Swami’s Grace!
The objectives of the Workshop for the participants were:
1. Significant spiritual growth.
2. Understand Sai Gita’s teachings in depth and apply them in life NOW.
3. Expand your Love.
4. Make a sacred connection with the Atma.
5. Begin your transformation to a God directed life.
Jack is a PhD having done his Masters from Cornell University and was a practising Management Consultant for several years, before he came to Swami and surrendered to Him. His CV will be the envy of any youngster aspiring to do well in life. Jack has done a brilliant interpretation of the Gita and has written the book " the Bhagavad Gita - a Walkthrough for Westerners”, after 40 years of research and after going through 70,000 pages of printed matter on the subject! This Book could very well be useful for us (metro dwelling westernised) Indian devotees!
From the Gita, Jack has taken out 65 core “ Gita principle based - do it exercises” which he has written in the form of a printed book "Roadmaps to Self - Realisation".Each “Gita principle based exercise” is in the form of a “Review sheet “ of just two pages each. Each Review Sheet helps you to focus on where you stand and what your priorities should be in implementing the Gita principles in your day to day life. The very concept is amazing. Both the books are available in Prasanthi Nilayam Book stall. (Also please refer http://www.gitawalkthrough.com/)
The workshop was simply out of the World as the methodology of conduct of the Workshop was very refreshing and professional .Firstly Jack and Louise elaborated upon some of the very important concepts of the Gita, interspersed profusely with their personal experiences of the Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience of Swami.
The audience was then split into sub groups of 5 to 6 members each (ladies and gents separate) .Each Group appointed a “keeper of Group memory” for itself. Then each member read his/her answers to “do it questions” on the Review sheets given to the entire audience individually. All this within a stipulated time frame which included your breakfast, coffee and lunch breaks and what Jack called “Alone time” (45 mts to one and a half hours) meant for contemplating upon your answers to the questions in the Review sheet.
A Group dialogue then ensued within the Group, so as to arrive at a commonality of approach for that Group. The Keeper of Group Memory (not the leader) of each Group then gave out the common answers of the Group in point form to Jack. After which a consensus was arrived at as to how to pursue our path of sadhana for all the participants. The next Review Sheet was then taken up for intense interaction. All done in a relaxed manner and with fun and humor thrown in.
Four out of the 65 “Review sheets of the Road map to Self Realization” were discussed during three sessions on two days. These were:
1. Worksheet 1 – “The spiritual gift in sheer anguish” based on Chapter 1, shlokas 20-47 Chapter 2, shlokas 1-10.
2. Worksheet 2 –“Knowing Atma (the true self within)”, based on Chapter 2, shlokas 12-30.
3. Worksheet 40 – “Being a most Loved Devotee”, based on Chapter 12, shlokas 13-20.
4. Worksheet 42 –Be a Knower of the Field “ , based on Chapter 13, shlokas 7-11
The interesting part of the entire workshop was that not a single shloka from the Gita was read and yet the entire road map to self realization drawn out of Gita teachings, was understood by one and all. Both husband and wife made the Gita look so simple and so less mystical, for everyone of us, whether they were Americans or the Indians.
Some of the more important concepts discussed during the Workshop were:
1. Six Landscapes of Love
Love is the greatest. There is nothing greater than Love in this World. Initially Man starts with the “desire” that he should be loved. This is the lowest form of Love.
The next form is the “emotion” – the feeling of Love .I love you, so you should also love me. Most of us are in this category. I love my wife, so she should also love me. We love Swami and so Swami should love us.
The next form is the “action” – loving the others but with ego .Those who are in the spiritual /social service path do “Seva” with the “I” the ego either prominent or raising its head in a very subtle manner.
The next form is the “giving love”- which is doing service to others, selfless service without any expectations. Many active workers of our Seva Dal are in this category.
A further superior form of love is the “giving energy” - when you give so much of selfless love to others then you yourself become a power house of energy.
The pinnacle of Love however is the “spirit” of love - example set by Swami when you yourself become the purest form of Love .This Love is limitless and is the Divine foundation on which the Universe rests.
We all must aspire to move from the lowest form of Love to the highest form and become Love incarnate just like Swami for whom nothing else matters in the World except Love, love, love …….
2. Always turn Godward
Life is a battle. Our enemies are very powerful .They are so powerful that we have no idea as to how to break away from them. These forces are stalwarts out to destroy us .They are Maya ( attachment),Desire,Anger,Greed and Egoism who have moved into strategic positions to ruin us.What do we do Swami ?How to handle this battle ?The only way is to turn Godward.In our most difficult , hardest times we can always turn to Swami. In fact it is easier to turn Godward in today’s world because things today are pretty bad, forcing us to move towards Him. The only way to peace of mind is through Spirituality. What does this imply ?
Attended an excellent workshop on "Road Map to Self realisastion" in Livermore (near San Francisco) on 21st and 22 nd June,for one and a half days , which was conducted by Jack & Louise Hawley for the devotees of Northern California and Nevada Region. Almost 125 ladies and gent devotees attended. Both Jack and Louise are old devotees of Swami and they are 6 months in Prasanthi Nilayam and the remaining 6 months conducting similar workshops in Croatia,Bulgaia,Venezeula ,in fact ....all over the World.Their age may be more than 80 but look only 65 plus. Swami’s Grace!
The objectives of the Workshop for the participants were:
1. Significant spiritual growth.
2. Understand Sai Gita’s teachings in depth and apply them in life NOW.
3. Expand your Love.
4. Make a sacred connection with the Atma.
5. Begin your transformation to a God directed life.
Jack is a PhD having done his Masters from Cornell University and was a practising Management Consultant for several years, before he came to Swami and surrendered to Him. His CV will be the envy of any youngster aspiring to do well in life. Jack has done a brilliant interpretation of the Gita and has written the book " the Bhagavad Gita - a Walkthrough for Westerners”, after 40 years of research and after going through 70,000 pages of printed matter on the subject! This Book could very well be useful for us (metro dwelling westernised) Indian devotees!
From the Gita, Jack has taken out 65 core “ Gita principle based - do it exercises” which he has written in the form of a printed book "Roadmaps to Self - Realisation".Each “Gita principle based exercise” is in the form of a “Review sheet “ of just two pages each. Each Review Sheet helps you to focus on where you stand and what your priorities should be in implementing the Gita principles in your day to day life. The very concept is amazing. Both the books are available in Prasanthi Nilayam Book stall. (Also please refer http://www.gitawalkthrough.com/)
The workshop was simply out of the World as the methodology of conduct of the Workshop was very refreshing and professional .Firstly Jack and Louise elaborated upon some of the very important concepts of the Gita, interspersed profusely with their personal experiences of the Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience of Swami.
The audience was then split into sub groups of 5 to 6 members each (ladies and gents separate) .Each Group appointed a “keeper of Group memory” for itself. Then each member read his/her answers to “do it questions” on the Review sheets given to the entire audience individually. All this within a stipulated time frame which included your breakfast, coffee and lunch breaks and what Jack called “Alone time” (45 mts to one and a half hours) meant for contemplating upon your answers to the questions in the Review sheet.
A Group dialogue then ensued within the Group, so as to arrive at a commonality of approach for that Group. The Keeper of Group Memory (not the leader) of each Group then gave out the common answers of the Group in point form to Jack. After which a consensus was arrived at as to how to pursue our path of sadhana for all the participants. The next Review Sheet was then taken up for intense interaction. All done in a relaxed manner and with fun and humor thrown in.
Four out of the 65 “Review sheets of the Road map to Self Realization” were discussed during three sessions on two days. These were:
1. Worksheet 1 – “The spiritual gift in sheer anguish” based on Chapter 1, shlokas 20-47 Chapter 2, shlokas 1-10.
2. Worksheet 2 –“Knowing Atma (the true self within)”, based on Chapter 2, shlokas 12-30.
3. Worksheet 40 – “Being a most Loved Devotee”, based on Chapter 12, shlokas 13-20.
4. Worksheet 42 –Be a Knower of the Field “ , based on Chapter 13, shlokas 7-11
The interesting part of the entire workshop was that not a single shloka from the Gita was read and yet the entire road map to self realization drawn out of Gita teachings, was understood by one and all. Both husband and wife made the Gita look so simple and so less mystical, for everyone of us, whether they were Americans or the Indians.
Some of the more important concepts discussed during the Workshop were:
1. Six Landscapes of Love
Love is the greatest. There is nothing greater than Love in this World. Initially Man starts with the “desire” that he should be loved. This is the lowest form of Love.
The next form is the “emotion” – the feeling of Love .I love you, so you should also love me. Most of us are in this category. I love my wife, so she should also love me. We love Swami and so Swami should love us.
The next form is the “action” – loving the others but with ego .Those who are in the spiritual /social service path do “Seva” with the “I” the ego either prominent or raising its head in a very subtle manner.
The next form is the “giving love”- which is doing service to others, selfless service without any expectations. Many active workers of our Seva Dal are in this category.
A further superior form of love is the “giving energy” - when you give so much of selfless love to others then you yourself become a power house of energy.
The pinnacle of Love however is the “spirit” of love - example set by Swami when you yourself become the purest form of Love .This Love is limitless and is the Divine foundation on which the Universe rests.
We all must aspire to move from the lowest form of Love to the highest form and become Love incarnate just like Swami for whom nothing else matters in the World except Love, love, love …….
2. Always turn Godward
Life is a battle. Our enemies are very powerful .They are so powerful that we have no idea as to how to break away from them. These forces are stalwarts out to destroy us .They are Maya ( attachment),Desire,Anger,Greed and Egoism who have moved into strategic positions to ruin us.What do we do Swami ?How to handle this battle ?The only way is to turn Godward.In our most difficult , hardest times we can always turn to Swami. In fact it is easier to turn Godward in today’s world because things today are pretty bad, forcing us to move towards Him. The only way to peace of mind is through Spirituality. What does this imply ?
Turning away from Untruth to Truth , Darkness to Light and Death to Immortality
Which means moving away from Ego to Atma, Fear to Love,Sadness and hurt to Happiness,Agitation /aggravation to calmness, Impurityto Purity,Noise to Quiet and Suffering to Non suffering.
3. How then do we turn Godward?
Love, love, love….Overwhelming Love for the entire humanity, solves all problems. Rather than giving Love, we seek to be loved. Just go do. Don’t wait for the feeling of Love to come. Ask Him, Love Him. Pray to Him to give it to us. “Swami help me to love you more .Make me your own.” The more we love Swami the more we will love Humanity.
That on which we place our attention grows stronger. The characteristic of the Mind is to hold on to that which is repeated. If we focus our attention on Swami the Mind will hold on to Him.
We have to detach ourselves from the media, world, politics, and everything.No attachments .No tears. We should remember that each one has come to work out his own Karma. Detachment but not aloofness and indifference.
3. How then do we turn Godward?
Love, love, love….Overwhelming Love for the entire humanity, solves all problems. Rather than giving Love, we seek to be loved. Just go do. Don’t wait for the feeling of Love to come. Ask Him, Love Him. Pray to Him to give it to us. “Swami help me to love you more .Make me your own.” The more we love Swami the more we will love Humanity.
That on which we place our attention grows stronger. The characteristic of the Mind is to hold on to that which is repeated. If we focus our attention on Swami the Mind will hold on to Him.
We have to detach ourselves from the media, world, politics, and everything.No attachments .No tears. We should remember that each one has come to work out his own Karma. Detachment but not aloofness and indifference.
Pure thoughts purify vision – purity without any “worldly” negativity.
Overriding acceptance of whatever comes our way - accept, accept, accept……..The more we accept everything in life , good,bad,ugly, with steadfast Love for Swami, expecting nothing in return then the more we become eligible to become recipients of His Grace.
Steadfast practice, practice, practice…..Constant, incessant, never ending practice. without expecting anything in return.
4. Listen to your Inner Voice ( the Q-B-A-L-T method)
Quiet
First be quiet. All methods for turning inward start with becoming still. In the stillness is the power. No quiet, no truth. Shut your eyes, shut your mouth, and shut your thoughts and senses. As you become quiet, faint signals can come, when you invite Divinity to re- enter your consciousness…
Believe
The key to inner listening is believing in it – trusting that your inner truth will indeed surface with just a little prompting…
Ask
Put the question plainly. Ask it respectfully, lovingly, as though talking to a powerful old friend who dwells within. And then, oddly, release it- let go of it and stop trying .This makes room for the answer(s) to come……
Listen Lovingly
Inner listening is far more than words or pictures, it‘s spiritual receptiveness – and it’s simpler than we make it. If you want to receive- be receptive, loving. It’s not what you do or don’t do. It is your attitude, your state……
Take action
You have to trust the signals that show up. This means not only receiving them but putting them into practice. (The T also means Trust it, Test it, Try it out)
During the workshop, each and every member of the audience was made to participate and at the end of the day, every body left immensely satisfied and happily immersed in Swami's love and his Omnipresence, even though the physical form was 10000 miles away!! All of us went out with the resolve that we would go out into the wide world (with all its distractions) and put into practice whatever we learnt during the workshop.
As Jack kept repeating “An ounce of practice is worth 1000 Kgs of theory and a philosopher who does not practice what he preaches is like a donkey carrying a wagonload of books.
I requested Jack to conduct the same workshop for our Hyderabad active workers and he readily agreed. He will be in India sometime in October. I told him that I will be there in India at that time and that I will contact him, once we decide in principle to conduct the same.
Went to Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple to book the Function Hall for Sai’s marriage We wanted the Hall on 20th Sep 08 as prescribed by the Temple priest. The Hindu marriage as per our customs would have taken place on 20th (Sat) followed by the Christian wedding on 21st Sep 08 (Sun). Our idea was that all the friends of Sai would have been able to avail of the week end – fly in on a Friday and leave on a Sunday. Also Ranju would have been able to stay back and celebrate Achyut’s birthday on 22 Sep 08.
We were very confident that we would get it. But there was a problem as the Management Committee of the Temple also wanted the Hall the same day. Started chanting Om Sri Sai Ram asking Swami to solve the problem .After a lot of deliberation they gave us permission to use the Hall from 6 to 8 in the morning as against our requirement of 9 to 1 . This meant that we should start the marriage ceremonies at 6 in the morning and finish at 8 which would have been impracticable .We came back without booking the Hall. It was obviously disappointing as we drove 66 miles one way to the Temple. Swami’s will was something else.
Spoke to Govind and later to our priest in Mumbai, Kesavan who stated that any day between 16th Sep and 16th Oct was highly inauspicious .He wanted us to conduct the marriage on 12th Sep 08 between 9 and 10.30 in the morning (US time), as it was a very good date, suiting both Sai (Uthiraththadi) and Stephanie’s (Tiruvathurai) Nakshatras.I had earlier derived Stephanie’s Nakshatra through the Computer using her date, time and place of birth details. I also did a computer horoscope matching between the two and the match was recommended, with indications of a long and happy married life.Very good news indeed .
The marriage hall for 12 Sep 08 (Fri), from 8.00 am to 1.00 p.m. was also not available as somebody had done a soft booking on that date . Spent half an hour chanting Om Sri Sai Ram and praying to Swami to resolve the issue once and for all; at the same time waiting anxiously for confirmation over the telephone. Due to Swami’s Grace ultimately the Hall booking on 12th Sep came through.
Hindu wedding on 12th Sep (Fri) , Christian wedding on 13th Sep (Sat) ,Stephanie’s birthday on 14th Sep 08 (Sun) ! All dates nicely fitting into place! All nothing else but Swami’s Grace .
Overriding acceptance of whatever comes our way - accept, accept, accept……..The more we accept everything in life , good,bad,ugly, with steadfast Love for Swami, expecting nothing in return then the more we become eligible to become recipients of His Grace.
Steadfast practice, practice, practice…..Constant, incessant, never ending practice. without expecting anything in return.
4. Listen to your Inner Voice ( the Q-B-A-L-T method)
Quiet
First be quiet. All methods for turning inward start with becoming still. In the stillness is the power. No quiet, no truth. Shut your eyes, shut your mouth, and shut your thoughts and senses. As you become quiet, faint signals can come, when you invite Divinity to re- enter your consciousness…
Believe
The key to inner listening is believing in it – trusting that your inner truth will indeed surface with just a little prompting…
Ask
Put the question plainly. Ask it respectfully, lovingly, as though talking to a powerful old friend who dwells within. And then, oddly, release it- let go of it and stop trying .This makes room for the answer(s) to come……
Listen Lovingly
Inner listening is far more than words or pictures, it‘s spiritual receptiveness – and it’s simpler than we make it. If you want to receive- be receptive, loving. It’s not what you do or don’t do. It is your attitude, your state……
Take action
You have to trust the signals that show up. This means not only receiving them but putting them into practice. (The T also means Trust it, Test it, Try it out)
During the workshop, each and every member of the audience was made to participate and at the end of the day, every body left immensely satisfied and happily immersed in Swami's love and his Omnipresence, even though the physical form was 10000 miles away!! All of us went out with the resolve that we would go out into the wide world (with all its distractions) and put into practice whatever we learnt during the workshop.
As Jack kept repeating “An ounce of practice is worth 1000 Kgs of theory and a philosopher who does not practice what he preaches is like a donkey carrying a wagonload of books.
I requested Jack to conduct the same workshop for our Hyderabad active workers and he readily agreed. He will be in India sometime in October. I told him that I will be there in India at that time and that I will contact him, once we decide in principle to conduct the same.
Went to Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple to book the Function Hall for Sai’s marriage We wanted the Hall on 20th Sep 08 as prescribed by the Temple priest. The Hindu marriage as per our customs would have taken place on 20th (Sat) followed by the Christian wedding on 21st Sep 08 (Sun). Our idea was that all the friends of Sai would have been able to avail of the week end – fly in on a Friday and leave on a Sunday. Also Ranju would have been able to stay back and celebrate Achyut’s birthday on 22 Sep 08.
We were very confident that we would get it. But there was a problem as the Management Committee of the Temple also wanted the Hall the same day. Started chanting Om Sri Sai Ram asking Swami to solve the problem .After a lot of deliberation they gave us permission to use the Hall from 6 to 8 in the morning as against our requirement of 9 to 1 . This meant that we should start the marriage ceremonies at 6 in the morning and finish at 8 which would have been impracticable .We came back without booking the Hall. It was obviously disappointing as we drove 66 miles one way to the Temple. Swami’s will was something else.
Spoke to Govind and later to our priest in Mumbai, Kesavan who stated that any day between 16th Sep and 16th Oct was highly inauspicious .He wanted us to conduct the marriage on 12th Sep 08 between 9 and 10.30 in the morning (US time), as it was a very good date, suiting both Sai (Uthiraththadi) and Stephanie’s (Tiruvathurai) Nakshatras.I had earlier derived Stephanie’s Nakshatra through the Computer using her date, time and place of birth details. I also did a computer horoscope matching between the two and the match was recommended, with indications of a long and happy married life.Very good news indeed .
The marriage hall for 12 Sep 08 (Fri), from 8.00 am to 1.00 p.m. was also not available as somebody had done a soft booking on that date . Spent half an hour chanting Om Sri Sai Ram and praying to Swami to resolve the issue once and for all; at the same time waiting anxiously for confirmation over the telephone. Due to Swami’s Grace ultimately the Hall booking on 12th Sep came through.
Hindu wedding on 12th Sep (Fri) , Christian wedding on 13th Sep (Sat) ,Stephanie’s birthday on 14th Sep 08 (Sun) ! All dates nicely fitting into place! All nothing else but Swami’s Grace .
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