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Christmas Eve in Prasanthi Nilayam - 24 Dec 2009 Source: sssbpt.org Posted at 01:36:12 Hrs. IST on 25 Dec 2009 Joy knows no bounds when you sing your heart in praise of His Glory. On the auspicious Christmas Eve after an hour-long singing of His Glory in His immediate Divine Presence, the International Choir had an unusual word of appreciation, from none other than The Lord on whom, to whom “they” sung. Towards the end of the session, calling one of his students, Bhagawan asked him to announce that the songs sung by the choir were touching and made Him very happy. ..And after a two hour long session, the International Choir walked out of the hall with joy in their hearts that knew no bounds! Prasanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, brings to light a diverse perspective of the festivity called Christmas. As rightly echoed by Bhagawan in one of His Christmas Divine Discourses, the festivity is celebrated in its truest sense in Prasanthi Nilayam.Bhagawan, addressing a huge concourse of devotees from around the world during the 1998 edition of the celebration, exhorted: “True Christmas is celebrated only in Prasanthi Nilayam”. "Elsewhere people drink, eat non‑vegetarian food and make merry in the name of Christmas. But Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam is celebrated in a holy atmosphere". Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam is unique not only because people of all religions join together to celebrate it, but also because it is celebrated in the true spirit of Christ in the Divine Presence of the Avatar, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. That is why people from United Nations across the globe assemble in large numbers to celebrate Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam. International Choir: Christmas Eve finds a greater mention in the Christmas legend. The Eve traditions vary from country to country and region to region. The greater anticipation of the holy birth and its preparatory run make the eve a momentous one in the history of the festivity. …and the Christmas Eve in Prasanthi Nilayam is distinctive over the years with a unique choir comprising representation of united nations singing His glory in His immediate Divine Presence. The overseas choir has been a part of the Christmas celebrations for over a decade ever since the wonderfully graceful Sylvia Alden from the United States was given the mantle by Bhagawan to conduct the show. This unique choir for this year had over 950 voices singing a spirited collection of songs on His, of His Love.... Once Sylvia Alden took over presenting the programme to Bhagawan, the choir sang 18 hymns, precisely for an hour, presenting a disciplined devotional show of Love for their Beloved Bhagawan. Singing their hearts out, the choir used all the available adjectives heralding the glory of the “Born Little Divine”. As sonorous notes from an array of musical instruments rendered the air, with hundreds singing in chorus, the sun in the western horizon slowly fading off giving way to a beautiful twilight, they sang…”Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee God of glory...” The choir sang and made it a befitting evening paying homage to the Master of masters while remembering His chosen son, anticipating yet another Divine Advent…a glorious Christmas 2009!!! The compositions sung were, Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam, Carol of the Bells, Silent Night, O Come all Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, Sanctus (Italian), Here I am the Lord, Jesus Born on this Day, Jesus What a Wonderful Child, Angels We Have Heard on High, When a Child is born, Glory Hallelujah, Turn Your Eyes, We Love You Bhagawan, Joyful, Joyful We adore Thee, Amen -Hallelujah and O Holy Night. The Choir that was conducted by Sylvia Alden from the United States was ably supported by graceful Gisela Sebastian from Germany, whose glorious voice truly inspires the ladies to reach even greater crescendo. Gisela who has composed many a song for Bhagawan, lovingly went through the pieces, note by note, chord by chord and semi-breve by semi-breve while training the choir singers. The artiste who has been involved with music in Prasanthi for the past 29 years, whose demeanour talks about her greater love for God was involved in training sopranos (refers to the female singing voice range) for ladies and tenors (refers to range of men) for gents. The choir that consisted of sopranos and altos for ladies, tenors and bass for gents was also assisted by various musical instruments, namely, harmonium, violins, saxophone, santoor, flutes, chello, guitars, box-drum, trumpet, drum-kit and accordians apart from tablas and naal and an electronic key-board. A unique instrument in the shape of a bird was used to produce typical bird-sound, that was generated while blowing “air-through”, perfectly matching the joyous occasion of His Advent, while singing the song, “Sai Baba You have come on earth....” Some of the prominent names behind the instruments were, Gisela Sebastian (Ger) on Harmonium, Stanislav (Ger) and Golbert on Violin, Peter (Den) on Key-Board, Prem on Saxophone, Martina (Ger) on Santoor, Shira Taylor (Can) on Flute, Dorothea (Swiss) on Chello, Douglas Sanders (Newzealand) on Guitar, Adam on Drum-Kit, Sergio on Box-Drum, Mano on “Bird-Sound” etc. The choristers had only ten days to familiarize themselves with 18 musical pieces – 17 of them in English and one in Italian - and many of the devotees do not have English as their first language. In addition, there were over 45 musicians and to add a final twist of complexity to this ambitious undertaking, most of the people involved were not professional singers or musicians. The troupe with their greater determination and love for Bhagawan has been practising 5-6 hours a day for ten days, skipping darshan sessions. Additional sessions for sopranos and tenors were also conducted fine tuning the entire show to make a perfect offering at His Divine Lotus Feet. A beaming Sylvia Alden had limited words to share after a most successful venture of conducting a perfect show, under most testing circumstances, wherein she had to train these vocal cords, from varied cultural and racial and linguistic backgrounds, numbering over 900 in just about ten days. She said, upon reacting to our quest about her share of experience for the evening, “Sai, You are The Light of our lives” reaffirming the credit to the Master Beloved.

...and the climax came when Bhagawan called the student to announce that the songs that were sung by the choir were touching and made Him very happy... It was kind of “Oh! Ghosh! Does He really want a student to tell us that He is happy with our singing” was the reaction many of the choir members who exclaimed that the entire show was a “Perfect Show of Love”. Indeed the appreciation that came along most unexpectedly was received with awe and greater excitement and it would take time for these choir members to sink in with this ecstatic feeling. The third block that was occupied by white clad men and women of International Choir was the reflection of this pure love, wherein their surge of emotional and devotional ecstasy was contained in their folded palms, fixed glare and glances that talked about their musings from within, Love for The Lord! The student was commanded to express grateful thanks to the International Choir on behalf of the University for their wonderful “conduct”. The student while praying for their turn on the Christmas morning for singing as well as their regular band display prayed that Bhagawan should bless them to come up with the best of their performance as was done by the International Choir. Earlier, Bhagawan arrived to a fully packed Sai Kulwant Hall just after 16:30 Hrs. Wetting many eyes, filling and fulfilling many hearts, the gracious Lord moved through the assemblage of devotees in the ladies side to take a detour to ascend the dais. Soon after ascending the dais, the Lord lighted the special candles to officially inaugurate the Christmas celebrations. The entire Sai Kulwant Hall was aesthetically decorated with a specialised group of devotees from the US, from the Atlanta centre, working meticulously on the same for many days in the run up to the festivity. Christmas Celebrations International Co-ordinator, John Behner was asked to announce the three-day Christmas Programme. While the Christmas morning programme would commence at 9 am. in His immediate Divine Presence the evening programme would be having two – three speakers including himself, who would be reading the report delivering vote of thanks to various hands involved in the entire Christmas preparations and the third day afternoon would feature an International Choir conducted by Alma Badings followed by a Drama on Life and Love of Jesus Christ, by name “Jesus comes to our Hearts” by Children from Latin American countries. After the entire show that lasted for more than two hours, members of the International Choir walked out of Sai Kulwant Hall, gracefully, with joy in their hearts that knew no bounds. Source: sssbpt.org

Wednesday, Dec 23, 2009 - Fifth anniversary of Prasanthi Dance Group Introducing a Cultural Programme commemorating the fifth anniversary of Prasanthi Dance Group, Prof. Anil Kumar exclaimed: Life with Bhagawan is celebration; Life with Bhagawan is music: Life with Bhagawan is ecstasy and dance. It was ecstatic celebration of music and dance that was in store when a group of dedicated, talented and devoted students from Sri Sathya Sai University’s Prasanthi Nilayam Campus got the Divine nod to celebrate the anniversary of the group, “Prasanthi Dance Group” in His Divine presence on the evening turned twilight of 23 Dec 2009. The programme was a dance depiction of Bhagawan’s oft quoted maxim, Daiva Preethi, Paapa Bheeti, Sangha Neeti - Love for God, Fear of Sin and Morality in Society, presented through Bhagawan’s own compositions (poems) intertwined and linked with tales of yore, picks from epics, namely, Bhagavata, Ramayana etc. Entitled “Sathya Vaani – Nrithya Baani”, the programme had picks from rich spiritual and cultural heritage of Bharat. Dancing with dexterity, sense of devotion, with a touch of aestheticism the folk danced to the compositions of Bhakta Jayadeva, Bhakta Ramdas, starting with a Vishnu Stuthi after Ganesha Vandana, through Shuklambaradharam Vishnum, sailing through the Dasavathara Stuthi, depicting the crux of the stories from the ten Avatars through steps suffused with emotive expressions. Story of Lord Sri Ramachandra through Bhakta Ramadas composition, a tillana depicting the tale Bhagavata featuring Gajendra Moksha were some of the other numbers before singing a mangalam song for Lord Sai “Sri Sai Ramanikku Jaya Mangalam, Parthi Nivasinikku Shubha Mangalam”. The inspirational story of this five year old dance troupe began dating back to year 2005 when a talented, well trained student by name Ganesh was given an opportunity to perform a solo dance during one of the cultural programmes. Impressed by the boy’s talent, Bhagawan had words of appreciation and encouragement and opined that “there is ample space; will be nice if more boys join”. Six more boys, pick of best of dancing talents from the entire Prasanthi Nilayam campus joined and they had the first group dance programme in the Divine presence. The group was slowly evolving as, in 2006, Bhagawan asked Ganesh to train pick of talents from the Prasanthi Nilayam campus. The troupe’s onward journey was inspirational. “Swami used to guide us on the kind of songs, encouraging us to practice rigorously to perfection. Often Swami would indicate us to get ready before major programmes”, says Ganesh who has done M.Sc, MBA and a Post Graduate Diploma in Indian Culture and Spirituality. The troupe would dance in white dress without any costumes in the beginning. When Swami started enquiring about costumes, the troupe had the first opportunity to have a “full-fledged” dance programme during the Ati Rudra Maha Yajna in Aug 2006. Ganesh, who has been a trained dancer in Bharat Natyam, Kuchipudi and Folk forms for the past eleven years have trained more than forty boys over the past 4-5 years. The 23rd evening programme featured 25 students of the University, ranging from under-graduate to doctoral programmes. The hype and importance of the event was very well evident, when Bhagawan asked Prof. Anil Kumar to announce the programme, detailing academic background, place each student hails from etc. After the programme the entire troupe was blessed with a coveted group photo session. Loving Mother Sai is, He asked them to go, eat and sleep well. Earlier, before the commencement of the programme Bhagawan blessed the entire contingent with “Divine pep-up talk”, bringing and building confidence in His wards. The same group had offered a huge anniversary card to Bhagawan on the previous evening while praying to stage “their” commemorative show. Bhagawan was gracious enough to bless new anklets and dandiya sticks while blessing them to stage the programme. At a time when Christmas preparations are gearing up, with a sizeable western populace camping in the holy township, the dance programme served as a pointer substantiating Bhagawan’s view on Bharat’s rich spiritual and cultural heritage.

Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 - Sri Sathya Sai University Management System Commissioned Posted at 01:09:09 Hrs. IST on 23 Dec 2009 On 22 Dec 2009, Tuesday, Sri Sathya Sai University had a special agenda with Bhagawan. The University’s newly developed ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system was blessed and commissioned by Bhagawan in a small function held in the bhajan hall in the evening at 4:30 Hrs. University Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Controller of Examinations and the Principal of Prasanthi Nilayam campus were joined by a group of faculty members who had been working on the same seeking Divine Blessings on the memorable occasion. This ERP system would help in planning and designing as well for the entire University Management System. Salient features and usefulness of the newly developed system was explained to Bhagawan with the aid of power point presentation. Prof. Anantaraman, faculty, School of Business Management, Accounting and Finance took the lead explaining the features in Kannada. Bhagawan was the keen observer in the hall, setting Himself as an ideal. An interesting episode to depict the keenness of Bhagawan while watching and listening the presentation. As various quotes of Bhagawan came up in between the presentation, the professor read out one saying, "Swami, so much of quotes (about the purpose of the university) from the Convocations have been included here." Swami retorted, "I told that, not during the convocation, but during the inauguration of Anantapur College!" The Professor was humble in accepting Bhagawan’s version. The schedule for the execution of the various modules of the UMS was also presented to Bhagawan and there was a collective submission and prayer to Bhagawan to officially inaugurate the same. As the name and password had been typed, Bhagawan hit the "Enter" key, pressing the UMS for the University into service. The University website that has been revamped was also presented to Bhagawan explaining features in short detail. Various stakeholders who were involved in the making of the system and the website were blessed by Bhagawan with Paadanamaskaar. Staff members working in the University Administrative Block were also present during the occasion. In the meanwhile Bhajans were on and upon completing the presentation Bhagawan came on to the dais, cutting across the upper verandah, blessing scores of devotees. As soon as He was seated, He pointed to a student and conveyed that He had noticed him in a photo during the presentation! The boy did not seem to understood then, but his joy knew no bounds when he realized the special Grace after the evening's Aarthi! The bhajans were on in full gusto and enthusiasm. Top During one of the bhajans, Swami told the singing student, "Sing Hanumath Sevita". (Praise the Lord as He is served by Hanuman). The next bhajan was "Kausalyatmaja Rama Charan" which indeed contained that line! As the bhajans concluded, Swami called the “Dance Troupe” (group of boys) which was holding a huge card for blessing, occasion being the 5th anniversary since the inception of the group. The elaborate and ornate card contained photos of their momentous moments when they had been blessed to put up dance programmes in the Divine presence. Bhagawan most magnanimously blessed the entire group sprinkling Akshata grains. New anklets and sticks for Dandia were also blessed by Bhagawan. Posing curious He asked the troupe as to when they would be ready with their next programme, and pat came the reply: "Whenever Swami says." "Let us see on Thursday, was His reaction. As the boys returned to their respective seats, His hands rose in “Abhaya” Posture, conferring blessing to one and all! Christmas is getting closer and the Christmas Flavour started showing up in Mandir as well. The Dais and the centre area along with the pillars were already decorated and one could see the Christmas Volunteers and Decoration team transporting decoration items to the mandir, as part of decking up His Abode and Prasanthi Mandir. The Overseas Choir is steadily progressing with their rehearsal sessions, most meticulously done, resonating the Prasanthi air, purifying the same with hymns on the arrival of Baby Jesus and so were the little wards from overseas countries getting readied with the Children Choir. As the evening was conceding to the twilight at Prasanthi, she was indeed sensing the Christmas flavour! (with inputs from Team Radio Sai) Top