1991-05-24 - Summer Course Day 5

 Main Points - 5

1. What is Shuddha Satwa?
   That from which all come, all will merge, everything is Shuddha Satwa or the ultimate truth.
2. Grandsire of mankind - Manu.
3. Man is called manuja as he is descendant of Manu.
4. Dictates of Manu regarding the truth -
   Sathyam Brooyath Priyam Brooyath Na Brooyath Sathyam Apriyam.
5. Head or Crown of Vedas - Upanishads.
6. Head or Crown of Upanishads - Esavasya Upanishad.
7. Definitions of Yoga -
   Experiencing divinity in daily life,
   Attaining the divinity that is difficult to attain,
   Experiencing the divinity that cannot be seen by the eye, heard by the ear or perceived by the mind.
8. Yogakshema is the protecting of divinity attained.
9. Antahkarana -
   Mind, Buddhi, Chitta, Ahamkara
   Thoughts, discrimination, that which reflects, body identification respectively.
10. One who eats four times a day - jeevat shava.
11. Beliefs of Bharatiyas -
    (a) Incarnations
    (b) Renunciation of fruits of actions
    (c) Cause and consequence
    (d) Sacredness of all actions.
12. Penance or Tapas is
    Unity of Thought, Word and Deed.
13. A man with dual mind is half-blind.
14. We progress from I to We as from a lesser truth to a higher truth.
    Example: Inner circle body, expands to middle circle mind,
    expands to outer circle Atma.
15. Body is a wall-clock. Action is Seconds Hand, Thoughts are Minutes Hand, Atma is Hours Hand.
16. Forget help done to others, harm done to you.
    Remember help done to you.

 

 

A dining session - from this page.

 

The Sanathana Sarathi issues of 1991 linked from the Sai Reflections site contain some descriptions of this Summer Course, reproduced below.

An inspiring call to young men and women to dedicate themselves to the service of the country and the world, in a spirit of selfless devotion, was given by Bhagavan Baba, Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, in His inaugural message to the Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality on May 20, in the magnificent auditorium of the Brindavan campus of the Institute.

This was the second year in which the Summer Course was being held in Brindavan since its revival last year after a break of ten years. The entire Brindavan campus had been tastefully decorated for the occasion and, with the face-lift it had received, wore a festive look indeed. For a fortnight, from May 20 to June 2, the atmosphere in the Brindavan campus was transformed into an ethereal realm vibrant with Bhagavan's divine discourses and the elevating addresses of numerous speakers. The Summer Course was mainly intended for the students, especially for the 200 odd new entrants for whom it served as an inspiring orientation course preparing them for the unique spiritually based system in the Sathya Sai Institute. The Summer Course was scheduled to start at 4-30 p.m. on the 20th. About an hour before the meeting a sharp shower helped to bring down the temperature. It was cool and pleasant when Bhagavan Baba arrived, together with the Governor of Karnataka, Mr. Khurshed Alam Khan, at the Auditorium for the inauguration of the Summer Course. They were received by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. S. Sampath, and led to the stage, preceded by a group of students chanting Vedic hymns. The auditorium was filled with the participating students and special invitees. A large gathering of devotees was present outside the Auditorium. Loudspeaker arrangements had been made to enable them to listen to Bhagavan's discourses and follow the proceedings.

The meeting began with a felicitous welcome address by the Vice-Chancellor, who described the uniqueness of the summer course as one in which the entire student body of the university met under one roof under the aegis of the Chancellor to receive the highest words of wisdom students anywhere could aspire for. No other university in the world had held such a concourse. He invited the Governor, as the Chief Guest, to inaugurate the course by lighting the lamps on the stage. After the Vice-Chancellor's address, Ganesh, a student of the II year MBA course, spoke on the unique character of the Sathya Sai Institute as an institution which combined academic excellence with spiritual pursuits. It was the only university where the Chancellor freely mingled with the students and took personal interest in every one of them.

Governor's address

 
The Governor then lit the lamps and delivered his inaugural address. Declaring that it was a matter of great pleasure and privilege for him to be invited "to inaugurate a new academic session in this spiritual environment", the Governor said: "I am really very happy to note that this summer school is unique to the Sai system of education in all respects. The students both boys and girls of the campuses and the teachers gather to receive the benefit of Sri Sathya Sai's divine discourses, delivered every day, and also lectures by great speakers who are scholars in their chosen fields. We are now passing through a period of great stress and strain-communal, cultural, economic, political and social. Let therefore a message of tranquillity and goodwill go out from here, which I am sure will have a very sobering effect and will help restore normalcy, peace, progress and the much-needed mutual goodwill.

Need for unity and dedication

 
"We can never forget that we belong to one country and the future of our country depends on our unity and dedicated work. Let us resist all separatist urges and help the nation to gain self-identity and self-confidence. 

 

"Our youth are our greatest assets and they are our future hope. We look to them for achieving what we failed to achieve but they should be prepared for `Agni Pariksha', as life is not likely to be a bed of roses. We have to keep politics out of religion and religion out of politics. This sound principle has to be translated into basic policy and implemented in letter and spirit and then we shall achieve the difficult and elusive national integration."

Quoting Dr. Zakir Hussain's statement, that "Education is a process that never ends and, in its essence, it is always self-education", the Governor concluded with an exhortation to the students to go "with courage and humility on the road that leads from individuality through character to personality."

Bhagavan's discourse

 
Bhagavan Baba then delivered His discourse. In the course of His address, Bhagavan said: This is the age of science and technology. On the one side astonishing progress has been made in the fields of plastics, electronics and computers. Scientists have also made wonderful discoveries in the spheres of atomic energy and space exploration. Moreover man is sending out into space artificial satellites. Enormous energy and expenses are being devoted to investigating the mysteries of the atom. But there is no comparable concern for developing human behaviour. In the competition for over-reaching each other, men are immersed in selfishness and are pursuing wrong courses. Politics and economics are bedevilled by crises. Men are riven by caste and religious conflicts. The appetite for power and position has become insatiable. These are causing the disintegration of the sacred land of Bharat. Indiscipline is rampant in the student
world.

"Scientific advance sans human values"

 
What is the reason for the divergence between scientific progress on the one side and the social and moral decline of man on the other? What the world needs today is a large number of pure-hearted boys and girls, who are utterly selfless and are prepared to offer their lives in the service of the nation. Unfortunately, men today are lost in the pursuit of fleeting sensuous pleasures and material possessions. Has this any meaning? What was the secret to Emperor Shivaji approaching Samartha Ramadas as a suppliant? Similarly, King Janaka had all the
wealth he needed. Why did he resort to the Sage Yagnavalkya? The reason is that from ancient times it was the practice of the kings to seek the advice and guidance of sages who were the repositories of spiritual wisdom. Thereby they secured peace of mind and security for their kingdoms. They realised that man can get enduring peace and happiness only by spiritual realisation and not by any other means.

Students should strive to awaken in the people a recognition of their inherent divinity the loss of which accounts for the degradation of humanity today. Students should develop social consciousness. It is not enough to acquire academic knowledge and technical skills, which are all that present-day education is concerned with. If there is no love of God, fear of sin, and practice of social ethics, how can there be peace in the world? Scientists and political leaders are teaching all kinds of things to the youth. But of what use are these teachings? Slogans on the walls, lectures on the platform and pontifications in the press are not what the students need. They need the example of leaders who stand up for integrity and morality.

Live for ideals

 
All things in the world are perishable. Mortality is the inescapable destiny of every man. But the ideals for which men live and for which they are prepared to give up their lives last for ever. Hence every student should have great ideals and try to live upto them. That is the secret of immortality. By their exemplary lives, they should transform the world. This was the role of Bharat in ancient times.

Students should realise their great responsibility to the nation. They must eschew selfishness altogether. Men today are immersed in selfishness, which is the cause of many other evils in society. Every thought, every action is prompted by self-interest. Desires multiply and peace of mind is lost. Man should be rescued from this deplorable state. Mankind's problems today cannot be solved by science and technology alone. Only a transformation in the character of man can serve to solve the present crisis. Men should strive to become human and progress towards the Divine.

Education which does not serve to develop character and foster virtues is of no use. Science and technology are undoubtedly necessary. But they should be utilised properly. Scientists are trying to discover everything about the external world. But they make no attempt to understand the truth about themselves. They have not learnt to control their senses. This was the lesson which Prahlada taught to his father, who was a master of the elements and wielded immense power. Prahlada told Hiranyakasipu "You have conquered all the worlds, but have no control over your senses." It is absence of self-control that is at the root of all the violence and conflict in society today.

Self-control implies control over desires. I have often impressed on students the importance of setting limits on desires. "Naasreyo niyamam vinaa" is an ancient saying. "Nothing ennobling can be realised without observing restraint." There is a need to acquire wealth for living. But excessive wealth is harmful. What men have to aim at is not wealth (sampada) but right conduct (samskara). Life is governed by restraints at every stage. The eye cannot tolerate the glare of blazing lights. The body cannot bear a rise in temperature. Anything in excess is a cause of trouble.

Students should seek to follow great ideals and serve as examples to the world. They should make use of their knowledge for the service of the motherland instead of going abroad to earn high incomes. Indian culture has esteemed the mother and the motherland as greater than heaven itself. Loving service to parents, reverence towards elders and respectful behaviour towards everyone are the marks of Indian culture. Students of the Sai Institute should exemplify these traits in their conduct wherever they may be. (Swami related the story of Premchand's two sons, the elder of whom was always respectful in his behaviour and became in due course a judge, while the younger son, who was lackadaisical in his conduct towards the parents, ended up in a clerical job.) Swami concluded His discourse with the bhajan "Prema Muditha Manase Kaho!"

Human Values in the Age of Science

 
While the main accent of the Summer Course was on Indian Culture and Spirituality, the underlying theme of this year's series of lectures was the relevance of human values in the age of science and technology. There were some excellent presentations on this theme by the guest-speakers. The general consensus was that scientific and technological progress, without adherence to moral and spiritual values, would be productive only of social conflict and chaos and degradation of the human personality. All of them were agreed that Bhagavan Baba's advent was the most redeeming feature in an otherwise dismal scene. Bhagavan's system of spiritual education and His mission of raising the human consciousness to the level of the Divine were the greatest transforming forces operating in the world today.

Bhagavan's discourses

 
Bhagavan's discourses in the evening were illuminating expositions of man's quest for God from the earliest times to the great period of the Sages and Rishis who explored the mystery of creation and experienced the Creator behind the creation. Swami related the profound revelations of the Upanishads to the problems of daily life and impressed on the students the duty to practise at least a fraction of what they learnt at the Summer Course.

That a great deal of the message of the course had gone home to the bulk of the students was clear from their performance in the examination held on June 1st. All the students showed in their answers how earnestly they had listened to the lectures and Swami's discourses and how far they had imbibed the message contained in them.

There were 22 guest-speakers, drawn from different walks of life, including retired Army Officers (Lt. Gen. Chibber and Maj. Gen. Mahadevan), judges (Mrs. Justice Padma Kasthagir and Mr. Justice Eradi), Vice-Chancellors (Dr. K. Hanumanthappa, Dr. (Mrs.) Selvie Dass and Prof. S.V. Chittibabu), eminent scientists (Dr. G. Venkataraman, Dr. N. S. Lakshmana Rao, Mr. N. Vittal, Dr. G. V. Subba Rao and Dr. S. Chakrabarty), leaders from the business world (Mr. V. Srinivasan, Mr. A. N. Haksar and Mr. U. R. Padmanabhan), eminent educationists (Profs. Dharani Sinba and V.B. Kaujalgi), Mr. K. R. Prasad, Advocate, and Dr. Fanibanda (Dentist). The Institute faculty was represented by Prof. Hemalatha, Prof. Anil Kumar, Dr. Jayalakshmi Gopinath and Dr. Zeba Bashiruddin.

An important aspect of the Summer Course was the participation of teachers and students in the programme. Bhagavan gave opportunities to them to speak at the afternoon sessions on their personal experiences after coming to Bhagavan. The following were the teachers who spoke at the course: Dr. Jaganmohan Rao, Dr. (Miss) Poornasri Devi, Sri Sandeepan Chatterji, Miss K.P. Saileela, Dr. T. Ravi Kumar, Dr. (Miss) Kiran Bala, Sri Ruchir Desai, Dr. Sonam Gyantso, and Sri Sanjay Sahani. The student speakers at the course were B. Ganesh, Dileep Chaudary, Gunaranjan, Vijay Krishna, K. Sai Ram, S. V. Guru Prasad, Vijaya Sai, Kumar Ramachandran, Indreshwar Singh Sirohi, M. Sainath and Ravi Mariwala.

Every day two students presented summaries of the lectures delivered in the morning session. These summaries were so well done that many who could not attend the lectures in the morning felt that what they bad missed bad been amply made good by the condensed versions.

Valedictory meeting

 
The Summer Course concluded on June 2nd, when Bhagavan conferred His benediction on the participating students and on all those who had taken part to the course in one capacity or another. Requesting the revered Chancellor to deliver the 'Valedictory Address, the Vice-Chancellor described Bhagavan Baba as: the greatest Spiritual Orchestra-Conductor of the Universe and pointed out that, on each day of the Summer Course, Swami turned the kaleidoscope to present to the participants a new pattern in which the great gems of wisdom drawn from the Upanishads were made to shed light. Prof. Sampath went on to say that Swami performs many miracles - some of these were witnessed during the Summer Course, but the great miracle was Baba.

Swami had observed that there is a symbiotic relationship between Indian Culture and Spirituality, the former being the spring-board from which we may reach out for the acquisition of Divinity in our hearts. Prof. Sampath stated that Swami had graciously responded to their prayer and made the central theme of this year's Divine discourses the ways and means by which man refines his qualities, purifies his heart and advances to a vision of the Reality and experiences the Bliss that passeth understanding. He added that the true spirit of religion cannot be grasped unless 'Seeking' is placed in the forefront. This Seeking is the chief motivating force in the Sai System of Education and the Summer Course admirably served to instil this spirit in the minds of all concerned. The Vice-Chancellor thanked the guest-speakers and the Faculty-members and students of the University for their most valuable individual contributions to the proceedings of the Course.

The whole programme was conducted in an atmosphere of service, love and devotion. Prof. Sampath mentioned that the performance of the students was outstanding and reflected great credit on the quality of the training being imparted to them. With Swami's permission, Prof. Sampath placed at His Lotus Feet a proposal for the founding, by Bhagavan's Grace and within the Sri Sathya Sai Education System, of a Centre dedicated to the promotion of Spiritual Learning. This, he said, could be located in a serene place like Muddanahalli and used to train devoted scholars, who, on completion of their training, will go out into the world and serve as enlightened messengers, disseminating knowledge and promoting understanding of the Sai Vision, Philosophy and Adhyatmic way of life.

Prof. Anil Kumar, Principal of the Brindavan campus, observed that Indian education was passing through a "summer of discontent" and the Summer Course was a "course of treatment" for the students.

Bhagavan Baba, in His valedictory address, dwelt at length on the duties of students and called upon them to make use of the lectures and discourses at the Summer Course for reforming themselves for service to the motherland. (Fuller versions of Bhagavan's discourses from May 23 to June 2 will be published in subsequent issues of "Sanathana Sarathi".)

Bhagavan blessed the prasadam which was distributed to all the participants and devotees present.

Cultural programme

By way of diversion from the exacting programme of lectures, cultural programmes had been arranged on five evenings, which combined entertainment with edification. On one evening, students of the Institute presented "Sai Katha" in songs, to the accompaniment of the Institute's orchestra. On two other evenings, Bal Vikas children from Bangalore and Madras presented delightful dance dramas. The Bangalore children in their ballet conveyed the message(greed), Moha (delusion), Mada (pride) and Matsarya (jealousy). The Tamil Nadu ballet depicted the avatars of Vishnu, starting from the Matsya Avatar and ending with the Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai avatars. The children acquitted themselves well. An interesting performance on the saxophone was given by Kadiri Gopinath (sic), from Madras, accompained on the mridangam by T. V. Gopalakrishnan. The manner in which Gopinath readered well known kritis of Thyagaraja like "Endaro Mahaanubhaavulu" and "Nagumomu ganaleni", showed his perfect mastery over the saxophone, which does not lend itself easily for the handling of Karnatic music. Students of the Institute provided an interesting programme of songs in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil in praise of Bhagavan.

Quiz programme

A lively quiz programme was conducted in the presence of Bhagavan on the evening of 2nd June, based on the theme "Sri Sathya Sai's Life and Teachings". Sri Ruchir Desai, a Faculty-member of the Brindavan campus, organised the programme in which four teams of student members from the XII Standard of the Higher Secondary School in Prasanthi Nilayam and college students from the Brindavan and Prasanthi Nilayam campuses participated. Numerous slides were projected relating to selected episodes from Bhagavan's life, His visits to places of historical and spiritual importance 'and examples of materialisation of various objects by Bhagavan. Sound recordings were played from Bhagavan's divine discourses and songs. There were quick-fire question sessions, 8 in 20 seconds, addressed to each team. All the teams exhibited good understanding of the questions posed. Occasionally, the Quiz-Master turned to the audience for an answer. He himself provided some answers. At the end of each question, he provided to the audience a complete, authentic answer.

Altogether, the Summer Course was a memorable, edifying and enjoyable experience for the thousand odd students, while it was a blissful occasion for many devotees to have darshan of Bhagavan and listen to His nectarine discourses. Not the least enjoyable part of these discourses were the bhajans with which Bhagavan concluded them. The entire gathering joined in the bhajans with spontaneous fervour.

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