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JOURNEY THUS FAR

2011 - 2016

MAMA DHARMA

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Yoga of ActionAs a Source of Love

Yoga of DevotionOn the Path of Love

Yoga of WisdomExperiencing the Goal of Love

MALA (Impurities)Working on the “dirt” that accumulates inside us

VIKSHEPA (Waywardness)Addressing the internal Waywardness

AVARANA (Shroud of Ignorance)

Thinning the Veil of Attachment

ShraddavanLabhatey Jnanam

One with Faith attains Wisdom

SamshayatmaVinashyati

One with doubts will perish

BE HAPPYANANDSWARUPA

2015

2011 – 12MAHASAMADHIIntrospectionReconciliation

2012 – 13 B.A.B.A.Be Alert Be Aware

2013 – 14

2014 – 15 LOVE

SOURCE, PATH, GOAL

2016 – 172015 – 16

Mama Dharma

My Duty

Time To Take Stock

• Last several years have been focused on externals of Sadhana

• Everything until now has been a building block towards inspiring / inculcating a focus and taste for SPIRITUAL INQUIRY– External & Internal Discipline – Be Aware Be Alert

– Immortality attained only thru Sacrifice – Sai Into Action

– Love Is My Form – Love: the Source, the Path and the Goal

– Bliss Is My Nature, Realize It – My Duty

• The focus always has been, is and in the future should be SPIRITUAL JOURNEY, but now we look Inward– We focus on how and why Sadhana

– We focus on spiritual hunger

Taking Stock …

YEAR 2016 – 17

Spiritual Inquiry – An Inward Path

Prepare, Practice, Persevere

(Sadhana – An Inward Path)

Important Questions

• Why Spiritual Inquiry?

• What are the qualifications to unravel the Truth?

• Is this relevant to my station in Life?

• What has Swami said about these topics?

Who Am I?What Is The Purpose Of Life?

• In Sutra Vahini, Swami expounded on 12 aphorisms from the Brahma Sutras (by sage Vyasa)

• The first aphorism is: atha-athah-Brahma-jijnaasa -Thereafter, for that reason, the yearning to understand the nature of Brahman

• After what?: After the yearning to understand the nature of Brahman dawns

• When does this dawn?: After equipping oneself with the required qualifications/attainments

• For what reason?: For the reason that the awareness of the Supreme, the Brahman, can be attained only through personal spiritual inquiry– Not by the examination of the texts of the scriptures

– Not by the performance of rites and rituals

– Not through the study of material objects

– Not by the process of learning from the examples of other people

-- compiled/paraphrased from Sutra Vahini

Why Spiritual Inquiry?

Why Spiritual Inquiry?

• Acquisition of higher knowledge (Atma Jnana) alone can fulfill the main purpose of life

• Such knowledge makes one aware that one is not the inert insentient body, etc., but one is consciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment of Being Awareness-Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda)

• The Cosmic Self (Brahman) is the basis on which all else is imposed and one's reality is Bliss (Ananda) itself

-- Sutra Vahini

Qualifications to unravel the Truth• The scriptures lay down four spiritual disciplines (Sadhanas:

Sadhana Chatushtaya) that have to be earned as preliminary for knowing the truth of oneself

• Attainments/Qualifications for “the yearning to know” to dawn– discrimination between transitory & eternal (Viveka)

– renunciation of the desire to enjoy the fruits of one’s actions; non-attachment (Vairagya)

– six primary virtues (Shat Sampatti)

– longing for liberation through conquest of ignorance (Mumukshatva)

• We are ALL pre-programmed with these necessary attributes and hence qualified … it is time to actively develop these and put into daily practice

-- Sutra Vahini

-- paraphrased based on Sutra Vahini

Is this relevant to my station in Life?

• Non-attachment (Vairagya) does not involve giving up hearth and home, wife and children, and taking refuge in forests.

• It involves only the awareness/discrimination (Viveka) of the world (jagath) as transitory and, as a consequence of this awareness, discarding the feelings “I” and “mine”

• The six primary virtues are tools that allow us to prepare, practice and persevere on the path of spiritual inquiry and are relevant to any station in Life

-- Sutra Vahini

Sadhana – An Inward Path

Sama(Mind control)

Dama(Body & Sense control)

Uparathi(Withdrawal from sensory

objects)

Thithiksha(Forebearance)

Shraddha(Unshakable Faith)

Samadhana(Equanimity)

Viveka(Discrimination between the

transitory and eternal)

Vairagya(Renunciation of the desire to

enjoy the fruit of one’s actions; non-attachment)

Shat Sampatti(Six primary virtues)

Mumukshatva(Longing for liberation through

conquest of ignorance)

Sadhana Chatushtaya(Four Spiritual

Disciplines)

Prepare

Sama (Mind control)

Dama (Body & Sense control)

Practice

Uparathi (Withdrawal from sensory objects)

Thithiksha (Forebearance)

Persevere

Shraddha (Unshakable Faith)

Samadhana (Equanimity)

Six Primary Virtues – Shat Sampatti

Swami has said and explained ALL THAT needs to be heard and understood …

… it is for us to pick up pace and put this treasure into practice

The Eternal Charioteer - Swami

REGIONAL CALENDAR 2016-17(FOR CONSIDERATION)

September 2015Sama (Mind control)

October 2015

Dama (Body & Sense control)November 2015

December 2015 Uparathi (Withdrawal from sensory objects)

January 2016

Thithiksha (Forebearance)February 2016

March 2016

Shraddha (Unshakable Faith)

April 2016

Samadhana (Equanimity)May 2016

Sadhana – An Inward Path• LOCAL CENTERS:

– Every Month – All Centers – Study / Work on Same Topic. – MINDSET of a Sadhaka is a SUPERSET and VEHICLES of Sadhana are a SUBSET– Focus more on the MINDSET: approach and attitude towards Sadhana– Mode of Study is “totally up to each Center”– Practice at individual, family, Sai-center, work/college/school, community,

world level

• INTENTION: – Consciously Living – Practice some/any Sadhana through-out the 9-months– What/Which Sadhana is purely is personal and left to individuals– Theme should provide opportunities for communities to come together and

practice various Vehicles of Sadhana eg: Jyoti Meditation, Namasmarana, Bhajans, Silent Sitting, Silent Days etc

• COLLECTIVE WISDOM: – At the end of every month, Sai Centers to share reports from Members

REGION 1, USA, ZONE 1

FAMILY

WORLD

SAI CENTER

COMMUNITY

INDIVIDUAL

WORK PLACE / COLLEGE / SCHOOL

Put Six Virtues Into Daily Practice - Sadhana

Prepare

Sama (Mind control)

Dama (Body & Sense control)

Practice

Uparathi (Withdrawal from sensory objects)

Thithiksha (Forebearance)

Persevere

Shraddha (Unshakable Faith)

Samadhana (Equanimity)

Sadhana – An Inward Path

FOR CENTER CONSIDERATION• Region 1 Theme – Sadhana – An Inward Path

• Period: September 2016 to April 2017

• MAY 2017 – Culmination at Regional Retreat 2017

• OPEN:

– Condition to sufficient interest, a possible pilgrimage to Prashanthi Nilayam in Summer of 2017

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