Guru Poornima is a sacred festival for Hindus all over the world. It is celebrated during the full moon in the Hindu month of Ashadha; according to the western calendar, this year, the festival falls on July16, 2000. On this day, special worship is offered to all gurus.

But what exactly is a guru? "Gu" means ignorance and "Ru" means destruction, and thus, the true meaning of guru is one who removes the darkness of ignorance. True gurus are known for their infinite compassion, supreme grace, and knowledge of the absolute. God is the Ultimate guru, but also, a guru is manifested God in a temporary body, much like regular humans. What makes gurus different is that their mission is to help their disciples and teach them to put their full faith in God. Of the gurus we encounter throughout our lives, the most prominent are the many teachers who enlighten our spiritual minds. 

Guru Poornima is celebrated by offering prayers of thanks at home or at public pooja. People often pray: "Oh Guru, you are father, mother, brother, friend, knowledge, and wealth. You are to me everything, and God of all Gods." Our Beloved Baba describes the importance of the guru in the following quote: "The father, the mother, and the teacher are the three primarily responsible for moulding the future of the country. Of these, the teacher plays the most important role. He is specially trained for the job and teaches us to the best of his ability." Thus, Guru Poornima provides with the ideal opportunity to show our thanks to those who give us the intelligence, spiritual knowledge, and compassion our inner soul requires. But we as students should not forget that this is just not something that should be done on just one day of the year. Everyday, just as we are taught to respect our parents, we must also remember to respect our gurus, and show our thanks. Even simple, everyday things like being kind and proper children, listening and understanding what our gurus tell us, and appreciating the effort they put into everything they do, will serve to reflect the love and reverence we have for them. 

Today, in this modern world where material objects have more importance than spirituality, it is becoming increasingly difficult for children to find the gurus that they badly need. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to find so-called gurus who covet the worldly wealth they attain by teaching all worldly subjects, and thus, they themselves are in darkness. However, there are gurus out there, whose main purpose is to spread the word of God by giving Divine Love to all those who wish to learn. Spiritual classes, like the Sathya Sai Balvikas programs that are run throughout the world, help bring together these true gurus and the children who need to learn the human values necessary for proper spiritual growth. As Balvikas students, we should think of ourselves as being extremely lucky to be able to come, every Sunday, to a place where we know that we will lovingly receive the education that we need to develop not only our intellectual minds, but also our spiritual and emotional minds. 

We would like to take the opportunity to thank all our Balvikas gurus for taking the time and effort to spread the message of Sai to the future leaders of tomorrow. Even with their busy lives, they take the time to come and teach us things that we wouldn't be able to learn elsewhere. We, the Group Three Girls would especially like to thank our guru Ramani Aunty, who is sadly leaving us this year. As we came to class each Sunday, she would provide us with Baba's teachings through her stories, devotional songs, and personal anecdotes. Her lessons were always very interesting, informative, and fun. She always encouraged us to follow our dreams, and she told us that we should be satisfied with ourselves as long as we always do our best. Most importantly, she always practiced what she preached, setting a good example to all of us. We hope that Ramani Aunty will go on to teach more children the importance of leading a good life - we will certainly never forget what she has taught us! We wish her the best of luck in all her future endeavours. 

"Education must include the education of the minds, of man, of his impulses to hate, to hoard, to fight, to defame. It should open his inner eyes, more than his outer; the outer must reveal the glory of God, the inner must reveal the God within." - Baba 

- SSE Group 3 Girls 
 

"Riches of various kinds, possessions and power, name and fame - these are not of much worth; the richness of Love, the precious possession called Love, this is the very breath of life for man. A heart devoid of Love is an altar plunged into darkness. The bats of evil passions will make it their home. They will render it a dirty stinking seat of chaos. The Light of Love can illumine the heart and drive away these vicious inhabitants." 

                                                                      - Sathya Sai Baba
 

Students! 

Youth is very sacred. Do not misuse it by indulging in limitless desires and building castles in the air. Pursue your education keeping God uppermost in your mind. Do not get entangled in unnecessary activities and bondages, which will cause restlessness. Today people are in search of peace. But peace cannot be found in the external world. You find only pieces! Peace is in you. You are the embodiment of peace, you are the embodiment of truth and you are the embodiment of love. So first of all know thyself. Only then you can be blissful always. Modern students are acquiring various degrees. But what is the use? 

In spite of his education and intelligence, a foolish man will not know his true self and a mean-minded person will not give up his wicked qualities. Modern education leads only to argumentation, not to total wisdom. What is the use of acquiring worldly education if it cannot lead you to immortality? Acquire the knowledge that will make you immortal. (Telegu Poem). 

Embodiments of Love! 

Love all, do not hate anybody. This is the teaching of our ancient culture. Sage Vyasa gave the essence of 18 Puranas thus: "Help ever, Hurt never." It is enough if you put this into practice. Along with worldly education, spiritual education is also essential. It is said, "Adhyatma Vidya Vidyanaam." Spiritual education is the true education. That alone can confer the knowledge of Brahman, which transcends dualities and the three attributes, namely, Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas. Only God is permanent. Everything else is temporary. Today people have faith in the world, but not in God. Do not take pride in your youth and physical beauty. "What will happen to you when you become a decrepit old man, when your body becomes weak, legs stagger and vision fails and you are no better than a leather puppet and the children laugh at you calling you an old monkey?" 
(Telegu Poem) 

How long will the youth last? Just as bright lightning is followed by pitch darkness, likewise, youth is followed by old age. The flower that blossoms in the morning fades in the evening. Such is the nature of human body. Have control over your body and mind. Do not depend on others. Will your hunger be satiated if someone else partakes of food? No. Self effort is very essential in order to progress in the path of spirituality. 

If you want to remain young always, you should have control over your senses. Swami is the direct proof of this. I have all powers in Me. There is absolutely no weakness whatsoever in Me. Even now I can run fast. Can anyone imagine that Swami is seventy-five years old? What is the secret behind Bhagavan's youthful look? Purity, patience and perseverance are mainly responsible for this. Swami's feelings are always pure and steady. Try to emulate Swami in this regard. You claim yourself to be Swami's devotees. Then is it not your duty to cultivate at least a fraction of Swami's purity? You do not have the patience to give a proper answer if someone were to ask you for some information. But I talk to thousands and yet remain peaceful and blissful always. I am engaged in multifarious activities.

None can describe the job I do. I do the work of all departments. All departments are Mine. But, I am never restless. I am always blissful. During the birthday celebrations, some devotees wish Me Happy Birthday, but I tell them, "You do not need to wish Me Happy Birthday because I am always happy. Give happiness to those who are not happy." Happiness is union with God. If you have the firm conviction that God is in you, with you and around you, you will never face any hardship or misery in your life. People talk of worries and misery. But, I do not know what they are. They do not come near Me because of My purity. Only those with bad thoughts and bad character are affected by misery and worry.  So, 

See no evil, see what is good
Hear no evil, hear what is good
Think no evil, think what is good
Do no evil, do what is good
That is the way to God.

When you are faced with difficulties do not get disheartened. Consider that they are for your own good. 

You would have noticed Swami talking to a devotee on this platform a few minutes back. His name is Narayana. He is from Madras. Last week he developed heart problem. His son, who is a student our college telephoned to his father asking him to come to Puttaparthi immediately. He came here and doctors who examined him told Me that the four valves of his heart were blocked and it was difficult to perform operation on him. Three doctors who have come from America examined him. In fact, they were surprised to find him alive with such a serious heart problem. Narayana told them that he had no pain and he was very happy as Swami was with him always. But the doctors were not satisfied. They performed open heart surgery on him for five hours. Four bypasses were done. This operation was performed day before yesterday and today he has come to Mandir. 

In the normal course, after a bypass surgery, a patient has to be on the bed for at least ten days. But Narayana walked three hundred steps yesterday itself. This is incredible. Doctors served him idlis also. Today he has come here wearing pant and shirt, looking like a college boy. I told him your faith is responsible for this. Right from the beginning, he has been saying that Swami is with him and that He will take care of him. He feels the heart problem, which he had was good for him in the sense that it brought him to the Abode of Swami. He said our hospital is not just a hospital, but a temple of healing. His operation was performed day before yesterday. Yesterday he had food and today he has come to Mandir for Swami's darshan. Is it humanly possible? Ask any doctor; they will give an emphatic 'No' as an answer. Such is the nature of human body, but God can change even the nature of the body and grant a bright future. God can transform earth into sky and sky into earth but you should have firm faith in Him. 

Today man has become blind, losing the eyes of faith in himself. He does not have faith in himself, then how can he have faith in God? How can he who does not know himself, know Divinity? First know thyself, then you can easily understand Divinity. Have faith in God. There is nothing that God cannot do. One with proper eyesight can see even the small glow-worm. But a blind man cannot see even the resplendent Sun. Likewise, one without the spiritual eye will find only darkness all around him. 

The Age of Kali has become the Age of Kalaha (quarrels). Students should resolve to eradicate hatred and restlessness. I love everybody. Everybody love Me. But sometimes students feel that Swami is not talking to them because He is upset with them. I am never angry with anybody. But in order to correct you, sometimes I may feign to be angry. When one falls sick, one needs to be given medicine. Also one has to follow dietary regulations. Only then sickness can be cured. Similarly, to cure your mental diseases, Swami gives you 'medicine' in his own inimitable way. In order to bring about transformation in you. I remain quiet and do not talk to you. Otherwise, you will become uncontrollable. Do not give scope for hatred, greed and jealousy. You know what happened to Hiranyakasipu, Ravana and Duryodhana who developed hatred towards God. The Pandavas led a happy life as they had immense love for God. They were subjected to innumerable difficulties, yet their love for God did not diminish. So develop love for God. The more you develop love, the more you experience happiness and the closer you go to ultimate Bliss. 

Bhagavan concluded the discourse with the bhajan, "Prema Mudita Manasa Kaho….." 

“I came to these classes because my parents forced me to. They didn’t even tell me that they were signing me up! But ever since I came here I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed writing essays, singing bhajans, doing art and learning slokas. I also made lot of new friends.”

“I am very thankful to my parents for sending me to the SSE classes. I learned the five human values, which are Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. We learned about God in all of us and in everything. I learnt to respect my Guru, who taught us the values through stories and parables. This way we understood it and remembered it.”

“Before I came to SSE classes I only knew five prayers. Now I know about 15 prayers. My parents told me to go to these classes, so I came. I think these classes are cool!”

“When I was enrolled in these classes for the first time, I came with apprehension. I was determined not to like it. But my Guru changed all that. She made the classes interesting and taught us all the slokas from the beginning, since all the students were teens who have never attended SSE before. I like this class because it is fun and spiritual. It taught me things even my parents don’t know!”

“First time I came to class I was scared. Everything was new to me. My Dad always told me that if  I pray to God , God will be with me. I did not understand what he meant by this until I came to SSE classes.”

“ I will tell you the truth about why I came to SSE classes. My parents forced me. But now that  I am here I am learning a lot and enjoying it at the same time. We do lot of fun things like going to the Retreat. I learnt lot of sayings form Sai Baba and Slokas and Bhajans. We also learnt the meanings for all of them”

“ I came to this class because I believe in Sai Baba. Also my friends said it was a good class. I learnt a lot about respect for others. I had a great teacher and a great youth assistant, and I hope to come back next year” 

These were excerpts from the actual responses written by some brand new students to SSE. The age group of these children ranged from 12 to 15 years. 
- SSE Coordinator

With Swami's blessings, we have successfully completed the first session of Sri Sathya Sai Math Tutorials
program, sponsored by Sri Sathya Sai Baba Center of Scarborough. The first batch of students enrolled in the math tutorial program were awarded certificate of participation on June 14, 2000 at Woburn Collegiate Institute. Parents and guardians of the students, former and present presidents of the Scarborough Sai Center as well as most of the volunteers, participating in the tutorial program, attended the certificate presentation ceremony. 

Tutorial sessions in mathematics commenced in Ocober 1999 on Wednesday evenings each week from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Woburn Collegiate Institute (Markham/Ellesmere). We started with seven students enrolled in the grade six mathematics tutorial program. Over time, as people became aware of the program, we experienced increasing demand to enroll more students. Towards the end of the session in June, 2000, we ended the year with 17 students enrolled in grade six, 5 students in grade five, 3 students in grade four, 9 students in grade three, and 2 students in grade seven, bringing the total to 36. Somehow, we were able to tutor such a large number of students with Swami's grace. 

What is unique about the Sai Math Tutorial program is the manner is which we deliver the tutorials, combining the learning of mathematics with human values. Needless to say that there were numerous challenges facing the volunteers in preparing and delivering the material to a diverse group of students. It was a learning experience for everyone involved. We will take what we learned this past session and use it to tailor our future tutorials even better to meet the needs and requirements of our students. We have received some very positive and encouraging feedback from students and their parents regarding the unique nature of our program. 

We had a number of Sai youth from the Scarborough Sai Centre as well as qualified teachers who volunteered a great deal of their time and effort towards making the math tutorial program a success. 

Volunteers :
Youth Ahalya Senthil, Anu Surendra, Gyathri Navaratnam, Lerin Jones, Sathya Kugarajah, Tasha Jeyanathan, Ratheishan Rajesan, Dharsiga Mohanachandran and Suji Anandagopal
Teachers John George, Manoj Choudhary, Janani Pathy and V. Subramaniam

We are targeting 75 students to be enrolled in time for next session starting in September, 2000. We are always looking for qualified volunteers with the requisite teaching experience to assist with the program. If anybody is interested in teaching or tutoring or would like to know more about the program, please contact the information desk during bhajan sessions.

The human body has been given to you for a grand purpose realizing the Lord within. If you have a fully equipped car in good condition, would you keep it in the garage? The car is primarily meant for going on a journey; get into it and go. Then only it is worthwhile to own it. So too, with the body. Proceed, go forward to the goal. Learn how to use the faculties of the body, the senses, the intellect, the mind, for achieving the goal and march on.- Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Sri Sathya Sai School in Toronto will offer Junior KG, Senior KG and Grade 1 in September 2000. For more information visit www.sathyasaischool.com  Phone: (416) 297-7970

Last year, we the youth boys of the Scarborough Sai Centre decided to start volunteering on a regular basis.  After weeks of phone calls and discussions, we finally decided on a  particular project. The Toronto Association for Community Living (T.A.C.L.) needed volunteers to assist them in holding sporting activities for mentally disabled individuals. From October ‘99 onwards we go every Tuesday for two hours to Agincourt Collegiate, where the activities are held. 

With some doubt and pre-conceived ideas we went to our first volunteering session. Expecting to see "crazy" people playing with sporting equipment, we cautiously entered the gym. To our amazement, we saw a well-organized group of people laughing and smiling as they ran and tossed basketballs into their hoops. Suddenly our qualms and misgivings disappeared completely. We briefly introduced ourselves to everyone and began pairing off with these individuals. We soon came to comprehend that despite their mental incapacities, these people were just like us. They enjoyed company, they liked to laugh, they liked to learn, and they certainly loved to play basketball.

After a couple of months, our presence at the T.A.C.L. seemed to be making a difference in our new friends' lives and a difference in our own lives as Sai youth. We were able to improve their skills in co-ordination by playing games of basketball and soccer with them. They in turn reciprocated by teaching us to be more patient and understanding. In essence, we were learning and enjoying ourselves as much as they were. 

Currently, we are still going to the center and hope to continue doing so, as we strongly believe that with Swami's grace we can keep on putting smiles on the faces of our brothers and sisters at the T.A.C.L. This singular experience has helped us to internalize Swami’s message of unity in diversity. We all may have diverse physical and mental make-up but essentially we are all the same. In the happiness of others lies our own. Jai Sai Ram. 

July
  9 Regular Bhajan
 16 Special Bhajan (Guru Poornima Day)
 21 Regular Bhajan (Friday)
 29 Narayana Seva

August
 6 Regular Bhajan
 20 Regular Bhajan (Krishna Jayanthi)

September
 3 Regular Bhajan 
 4 SSE Orientation at the Chambers - Civic Centre at 3:30pm
 17 Regular Bhajan
 23 Blood Donors' Day
 30 Narayana Seva