USA Update from the Divine Will Foundation Part I and II

USA Update from the Divine Will Foundation Part I October 2016 PART I Sairam to You All, We are writing this on National Gratitude day (though it probably won't reach you for some time, as so much is happening).  We are personally incredibly grateful to Swami that we are sharing this journey with you.  Swami's love and mission continue in this new form stronger than ever.  He has said that in His physical frame, He only completed 1/3 of His mission…the remaining 2/3 are happening over the next few years.  This is a bit mind blowing, considering all that Swami did in His Physical time with us.  However, as we look around the world at all that is happening, we are getting a glimpse about what He is hinting. It has been quite a whirlwind in the Subtle Sai World since we last wrote, and it's time to share what's been going on. Currently, Jennie and I just returned from a truly amazing, magical visit with Swami to the Islands of Fiji -- now known as the Sailands.  There will be much written about this trip and we will post as much as possible on the Divine Will Foundation (DWF) website soon (www.divinewillfoundation.com). With so much going on, it is quite difficult for all of us to learn all that Swami is doing.  One of the best websites we have for info has just reached it's first birthday.  Put out every few days, it is a great place to get details on Swami's mission as well as some great photos.  The address is: http://saivrinda.org/   (this link is also on the DWF website under the "Links" tab). Shortly, we will be accompanying Swami on His travels to South America.  When I mentioned to Swami the fast pace He was setting, He laughed and said it is only going to speed up!!!    Lovingly, David and Jennie PS:  This is Part I of a two part newsletter.  Look for Part II which will come in a separate email. Fiji Trip A quick view of the highlights of the Fiji trip include the dedication of the Ashram land in Fiji near Suva.  This was done with a puja conducted by Swami's pujari from Muddenahalli, the same priest who officiated at the Ati Rudra Maha Lingam Puja.  This was followed by a public meeting and a very enjoyable (read that as heavenly) retreat on the island of Musket Cove along with devotees from Singapore, Fiji, Malaysia and the three of us (Jennie, Bobby Patel and I) from the USA.  Swami was incredibly playful while at the same time giving deeply meaningful and very powerful discourses.   These will be available soon on the DWF website under the "Links" tab or athttp://www.divinebooklets.tk   All the discourses given by Swami throughout the world are also posted on this website, including the discourses from His recent visit.  This is a real gem for devotees who want to read Swami's words asap as they are published within a couple of weeks of Swami's visit to each country.  Isaac Tigrett and his team have worked tirelessly to get these posted as soon as humanly possible. Medical Swami blessed the second mobile health vehicle that His devotees in Fiji have put together to serve the villagers. He shocked us all and said He will establish a super specialty hospital in Fiji, which will be the first of the Sanjeevani Hospitals outside of India!!!  We also know that another hospital was recently inaugurated by Swami in Nigeria and another one is currently being built in Sri Lanka. He reminded us that there are other hospitals coming up in India in addition to the one in Raipur and the one to be inaugurated in Delhi on November 26th. You can read about the Sanjeevani Hospitals by clicking here. Books Many of you have asked about the availability of the Uvacha series of books which include Swami's discourses given in His Subtle Form.  Up until now these books had to be ordered directly from India, or hand carried back by devotees who visited Muddenahalli. Well, we have some great news!!!! Swami has directed us to print all the books in the USA.  A team is being formed and we hope to facilitate this by the end of the year.  In the meantime, a devotee is making the books available through her website as she has received a fairly complete shipment from India.  For further info or to order, please click here. USA Ashram/Retreat Centers First off, there will now be at least two.  One in northern California and one in southern California.  The negotiations for the one in Northern California are currently underway under the direction of a team led by Divyogi Patel.     We just got Swami's approval for a site for the center in Southern California.  We are putting together a team to deal with all the necessities involved in that project now.  With Swami's grace, this will come together very soon.  We will post updates on the website as soon as things start to happen.  Swami made a comment about the Northern California Ashram being about 'action' while the Southern California one would be more focused on 'inspiration', though the two will have both things going on. I jokingly said to one of my Northern California brothers that it is "inspiration and perspiration" combined.    Swami gave a powerful discourse about how His grace is always being there for good works but that we need to put in our very best efforts.  He told us that when things don't seem to work out it is because of a lack of effort on our part, as His grace is always with us.  This matches the teaching in the Gita of "do your best, God will do the rest" with the caveat of making sure you actually do your best.   Guru Vikas In 2015, Swami announced the launch of a program called Guru Vikas.  He said of this new global movement:   "This will be a beacon light for teachers  all around the world to transform themselves  in order to transform the nation, through education!"   As a step in the development of the Guru Vikas program in the US, Swami has instructed Ron and Suwanti Farmer, from Australia, to go to many countries and conduct workshops bringing their vast knowledge of the human values to mainstream education by teaching the teachers.  They are two psychologists with extensive experience in the clinical, educational, and training realms, who are directors of the Toogoolawa schools for troubled boys.   We are very fortunate as they will be coming to the US in January 2017 and will be conducting a one day introductory workshop on January 7th in Encinitas, CA entitled "Peaceful Mind/Open Heart: Doorway to Teacher and Student Well-Being." This workshop is open to anyone who wishes to attend (adults 18 years and older).  If you are interested, please register below. We will be sending out more information nearer the time.  If you have any questions please email us atcontact@divinewillfoundation.com.    2017 January Guru Vikas Workshop Saturday, January 7th Encinitas, California Workshop Registration If you want further information about or wish to participate in any of these projects or have any questions about the Subtle Sai Mission, please feel free to contact us at:  contact@divinewillfoundation.com

USA Update from the Divine Will Foundation Part II Corrected October 2016 PART II CORRECTED   Sai Ram to You All, We are issuing a new version of Part II since there were some communication errors in the original version. Pls disregard the earlier version. Lovingly, David and Jennie Swami's Travel Plans Swami is changing up His travel plans a bit.  He told us that He will now go only to those places that are doing the work He has given them, as well as several new places to plant the seeds of His Mission.  He made the point of "Why should I go to the same places and deliver the same message, if they don't listen to Me and put into practice what I teach?"   This is a wake-up call for all of us.  Are we really doing our best?  Are we embodying His message of Love All, Serve All?  While there is always room for improvement, do we look deeply at our own thoughts, words and deeds to see if they are aligning with the Divinity we all truly are? AND-are we doing all of this with Love and Understanding of ourselves and others or are we beating ourselves up about areas we lack in or inflating our egos when we make a small gain?   Swami is focusing on self-transformation.  He has said that He is not here to build schools, hospitals, water projects or the like.  He is not here to feed the hungry and provide the necessities to those suffering.  These are all steps in our process of self-transformation as we become more and more of the divinity we really are.  Service Projects Swami has said that the size of the project doesn't matter but the size of the heart does.  Our brother Anand Kadali who many of you met when he was traveling with Swami's entourage in the US started a small project in India called the Annapoorna breakfast program.  Let's just say it has grown a wee bit (now includes providing breakfast over 8000 children/day).  You can see more about this wonderful project by clicking here. Swami also said that Sadhana (spiritual practice) and Seva (service) must go together.  Many are following this with smaller projects with their big hearts.  One of our sisters in the Los Angeles area has started a small project putting together toiletry bags for the LA Family Housing project.  Several devotees in North county San Diego are feeding the hungry each week at the homeless shelter called Brother Bennos.  Since June and with only two people giving out 40 lunches, this project has now grown to 12 people serving 105 homemade burritos, sack lunch, fruit, socks, bath towels and canvas shopping bags. A San Diego devotee has started a project making hygiene kits for homeless in the area.  There are many, many other examples of such projects, and they are all inspirational.  Please let us know what you are doing as Swami loves to hear about them.   It's All About Love – Pins and service projects.  One of our "elder" brothers started a project distributing pins, magnets, cups and hats with the motto "It's all about Love" on them.  To date sixty thousand of these items have been distributed and have had a very interesting impact on the recipients.  We will have an article posted on the website soon about this. Satsangs/Spiritual Gatherings A grass roots effort has created Satsangs (spiritual gatherings) focused on Swami's Subtle Body and His mission all over the country. Please let us know what you are doing, so we can post them on the DWF website in order to inform like-minded devotees of where to meet in your area.  See under the "Events" tab on the Divine Will website for information. Passing of a Dear Brother, Jerry Lewinson We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family of Jerry Lewinson shown in the photo above, who passed away very suddenly in August.  He was an integral part of Swami's mission and was a very devoted and dedicated devotee, father of six children and a loving husband.  We will really miss him! Mississippi Hospital Close to going to the moon, is the idea of a free hospital in the USA.  We have met with Hilary and Bill Clinton on this one.  It was very interesting to see their response to Swami's Subtle body mission…..make that very, very interesting.  Both assured us of their support on this project but as they, or at least Hilary is a bit busy through the end of the year, we are holding off on doing much with this one till 2017.  Isaac is heading this one up.  What a wonderful instrument of God he is!!!! Young Adults Swami has given the young adults quite a lot of attention over the years.  He has now directed them towards two huge programs.  The first is Sai Ashraya -- a program focused on ending hunger.  The second is One World, One Sai (OWOS).   Sai Ashraya "The first need is to save the homeless children."     Divine Discourse, Rancho Santa Fe, California, June 24th, 2016   During Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's visit in Northern California in June 2016, the host conveyed to Swami the irony about Silicon Valley: that this area is one of the richest in the world but also has the highest homeless population in the United States.  Silence consumed the moment and after a while Our Lord replied: "You must find a permanent solution to homelessness."   Bhagawan further directed that we should focus on helping the homeless children. He said that the children are suffering for no reason, since they did not choose a life like that and are suffering due to the choices of their parents. He said the children are the future of the society. It is the responsibility of society to give them a proper education, health and proper growth and without which they will not be able to earn and feed themselves. Swami asked the youth to think beyond temporary solutions (homeless feeding, clothing, etc) and focus on providing shelter and education along with food and clothing to create a sustainable permanent solution.  He named the project "Sai Ashraya" (Sai Refuge).   To date the youth of America have met with many government officials and spoken with several ex-homeless people along with visiting and serving at many shelters just to understand the difficulties and cultural differences that a homeless person endures. They also underwent a training provided by Bill Wilson Center (local shelter) to understand how to interact with homeless kids and teens. They participated in Sevathon (a marathon event for charity) and spoke to different NGO's for partnering opportunities. Since homeless shelters, especially for children, are highly regulated in America, they are now in the process to apply and become licensed and certified by the state of California.   The divine command is to find a permanent solution to homelessness, the internal yearning is stop the crying of young hearts from seeing another day go by in corrupted, non-ethical and violent living conditions at NO fault of their own.   HOPE- Sai Ashraya  If you are interested, please contact us at team@saiashraya.com.   One World One Sai Swami mentioned the efforts to bring all the youth around the world together on one single computer platform of, "One World-One Sai", on which people can exchange ideas, information and stories of transformation.   Swami also said that once the youth around the world are on this platform they would feel connected and bonded as brothers and sisters of an extended worldwide 'Sai Family' and can be of help to each other in a foreign land. This would also help to disseminate the happenings around the world and share their views and thoughts. The platform is very exciting and poised to launch very soon.  Currently it is in Beta but the results are pretty astounding. World Youth Meet To register for the World Youth Meet in Muddenahalli from November 16 to 23 please go to http://wym.saivrinda.org/. For more information you can contact Bobby Patel at bobby@saiyouthusa.com.   If you want further information about or wish to participate in any of these projects or have any questions about the Subtle Sai Mission, please feel free to contact us at:  contact@divinewillfoundation.com