SRI SATHYA SAI INSTITUTE OF HIGHER LEARNING (Deemed to be University) SUMMER COURSE in Indian Culture and Spirituality Dedicated with Love to our Beloved Revered Founder Chancellor Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Dedicated with Love to our Beloved Revered Founder Chancellor Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Vidyagiri,Copyright Prasanthi © 2016 Nilayam by – Sri 515134, Sathya Anantapur Sai Institute District, Andhra of Higher Pradesh, IndiaLearning All Rights Reserved. The copyright and the rights of translation in any language are reserved by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed to be University). No part, paragraph, passage, text, photograph or artwork of this book should be reproduced, transmitted or utilised, in original language or by translation, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information, storage and retrieval system, except with prior permission in writing from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Vidyagiri, Prasanthi Nilayam - 515134, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India. First Edition: April 2016 SUMMER COURSE IN Content, Editing & Desktop Publishing by: INDIAN CULTURE & SPIRITUALITY Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning www.sssihl.edu.in Printed at: 12-14 June 2015 | Prasanthi Nilayam Vagartha, NR Colony, Bangalore – 560019 +91 80 22427677 | [email protected] SUMMER COURSE IN INDIAN CULTURE & SPIRITUALITY 12-14 June 2015 | Prasanthi Nilayam Preface The Summer Course in Indian Culture & Spirituality serves as an induction programmeme to all students and teachers of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning with an objective to expose students of the university to the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Bharat. It orients students into Bhagawan Baba’s educational philosophy and gives them deep, first hand insights into how they can directly benefit from this unique institution. At universities across the world, induction programmemes go beyond the academic and practical requirements of university life and include social elements that (more often than not) disperse the focus, time and energies of students. At Sai educational institutions, integral education (which includes the focus on a connection with the Higher Self ) is a close confidant to the academic curriculum. It is in line with the vision of the Founder Chancellor, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, that spiritual and empirical education must go hand in hand. In fact, He had initiated the series of Summer Courses as early as the 1970s. It was and still is an effective way to inspire young minds to follow a life of good values and character. The event—which took place from the 12 June to 14 June 2015 at Prasanthi Nilayam—marked the beginning of the academic year for students and teachers of all the four campuses of the university, as well as Sathya Sai Mirpuri College of Music, Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, Prasanthi Nilayam (Class XI and Class XII) and Sri Sathya Sai Gurukulam English Medium School, Rajahmundry. Over 2500 students and 200 teachers participated. The Format Each day is typically split into the morning, afternoon and evening sessions. The morning sessions consist of talks by teachers and research scholars of 6 the university. Typically, they entail key insights and lessons from the ancient Indian scriptures, spiritual personalities and concepts. The sessions also Preface feature a short video show on Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In the afternoons, students and teachers from all four campuses have breakout sessions where they discuss teachings and lessons from Bhagawan Baba’s discourses. This year, the main theme (from Baba’s discourses) were Mysteries of the Mind and Message of the Vedas. Key moral messages from these are creatively presented on the final day before the valediction. The evening sessions on the first two days of the event consist of a music programmeme by students of individual campuses, along with veda chanting and bhajans at the Sai Kulwant Hall. Perhaps the highlight of the day for students are the post-dinner Parayanam sessions. They consist of 2-3 talks by alumni or teachers of the Institute who share personal experiences with Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the profound impact they have had in shaping their lives. The valuable and profound life lessons and the sheer love that Baba had for His students and devotees is vividly communicated through these intimate sessions. The Book This book chronologically represents the entire programmeme of the Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality 2015. This includes all the speeches, interactive sessions such as the Parayanam sessions (experiences with Bhagawan Baba), panel discussions and situational analyses. Every effort has been made to keep the first person narrative intact, so that the reader can appreciate the personality of the speaker and the purport of his or her talk. The reason for publishing the proceedings of the Summer Course in the form of a book is threefold. First, it functions as a valuable reference publication for the staff, students and visitors of the university. Secondly—for the public at large—it serves as a wonderful introduction to Indian culture and spirituality. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the book is glittered with personal incidents that the speakers have had with Bhagawan Baba and in many instances highlights Bhagawan’s teachings on several spiritual topics. 7 CONTENTS SSSIHL Summer Course 2015 PREFACE | 06 DAY 1 - 12 June 2015 WELCOME NOTE Dr. Pallav Kumar Baruah | 10 INAUGURAL ADDRESS Prof. K B R Varma | 13 FACULTY PANEL DISCUSSION – Lessons from the Mahabharata for Modern Society | 17 ALUMNI PANEL DISCUSSION – Ideal Sai Students and their role in society | 29 THE DILEMMA OF THE GREATER GOOD 40 Sri V Sai Raam | PARANAYAM SESSIONS TYAGAINAIKE AMRUTHATWA MA- Campus-wise evening sessions - NASHUHU Sharing of Experiences with Sri Seemesh Bhaskar | 45 Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba DAY 2 - 13 June 2015 Anantapur Campus FACULTY PANEL DISCUSSION – Dr. Neelam B Desai | 112 Lessons from the Ramayana for Modern 118 Society 49 Ms. Vimla Singh | | Ms. Anantha Lakshmi | 123 | 127 BHAJAN WORKSHOP | 64 Kum. K Uma MESSAGE OF VEDAS FOR PRACTICAL DAILY LIVING Prasanthi Nilayam Campus Dr. Sekhar Boddupalli | 74 Sri Shyam Kumar Sundarakumar | 135 THE ESSENCE OF BHARATIYA CULTURE Sri Tribhuvan Sachdev | 152 Sri Sanjay Sahni | 84 Brindavan Campus DAY 3 - 14 June 2015 Dr. Piyush Kumar Shrivastava | 179 INTERACTIVE SESSION: Sri Prem Anosh | 189 CHINNA KATHA ANALYSIS | 93 QUIZ ON THE LIFE OF BHAGAWAN Muddenahalli Campus SRI SATHYA SAI BABA | 106 VALEDICTORY ADDRESS Dr. N Niranjan | 209 211 Dr. (Miss) S Kanaka Durga | 108 Dr. Jagadish Chandra | Day 1 | 12 June 2015 Welcome Note Dr. Pallav Kumar Baruah Head, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL When we talk about Summer Course, it reminds us of how much importance Bhagawan gives to spiritual education. For this reason, in the beginning of every academic session, we all gather at His lotus feet to remind and rededicate ourselves to this cause of higher education and His mission. To understand spirituality, the three important components are body, mind and soul. Life is an interplay of these three components. Many scholars tell us- get rid of the mind, kill the mind and it confuses us because the mind is a very important component and you are trying to take it out. Bhagawan Baba clarifies and emphasizes the importance of the mind. He says, “In this model of body, mind and soul, body is the means for action, mind is the means for realization and soul is the eternal witness.” Mind has to be used for fathoming the depth of spiritual understanding and body is just a vehicle for action. Bhagawan repeatedly says: Manayeva manushyanam karanam bandha mokshayoh Mind is the key for both bondage and liberation. It is up to us to use the lock of samsara. If we have a big lock without a key, the lock is useless. In the same way, the key is the mind and if you turn the key Godward you realize the truth of life; and if you turn it towards the world, you are caught into the web of samsara. This is such a simple elucidation as to how to use the mind to dissect the different complexities of life and see through the veil of maya. If the mind needs to be trained, it needs the process of disciplining. When this institute was established, He declared, “This is not one of those institutions which will produce degree holders like others. It has higher goals.” And to achieve that He declared that discipline is the medium of instruction in all His institutions. This is because discipline is foremost to train the mind to learn secular and spiritual knowledge. As a young man, I had lot of confusion in understanding the idea of atman. 10 Day 1 | 12 June 2015 Welcome Note Dr. Pallav Kumar Baruah In one of His Summer Showers discourses which I read, He clarifies it Head, Dept. of Mathematics & Computer Science, SSSIHL beautifully, “Atma is all pervasive. How to use the mind to comprehend this atman? Let us take an example of the inflated balloon. The air inside and outside the balloon are same, the balloon is the cause of this distinction. When you burst the balloon, the distinction ceases to exist.” This strikes a chord and motivates you to take up a spiritual path. This is what He does to all of us. This is the result of studying His discourses and discussing them so that we understand what are we here for. I welcome all of you to this unique experience of the Summer Course. It is very important for us to understand our individual objectives. In the deliberation of the next three days, we should pick up a few teachings of Bhagawan and try and practice them throughout this academic year.