Sathya sai center austin

Understand - Who am I. Break birth and death cycle. We are like mercury balls that are shattered. We need to merge with the One. Ho hum to So hum. Purpose is to serve everyone. Origin is the same. Life is a snake and ladders game. What is Moksha? What is beyond happiness and pain. Date: April 14 Topic: Go Green Initiative. Facilitator: Bro. Sreenivas Gangadhar. As part of go-green, recycle initiative at sai center was the scope of this study circle.

Several question were discussed and answered,. Do we recycle correctly. How does recycle affect. How to collect for recycle. Can we simplify the recycle model. Several daily used items are going into trash because they will not be recycled as part of curb-side recycling.

To facilitate this, at sai center we will have a drive to collect the following. Starting from Aradhana day, Every week during center time we will have 4 cans for the following. Transparent plastic covers. Chip wrappers. The ONLY request from us is to please make sure that there is no food inside the wrappers. We will collect it and will send them to appropriate recycling centers.

For a quick reference attached is the PDF that will summarize instructions for curbside recycling and also recycle drive at Sai Center. Words cannot express the love and joy shared. The people who we share our time with do not care about the church or group we belong to. They just celebrate our presence. We also learn life lessons from them. Finally it is for our own personal transformation. Topic : CIE Week 3.

Jay Solankee. What is the essential purpose of a Sathya Sai Center? People do not seem to be aware of their true nature. Only those who understand their true selves can help to elevate others. The Upanishads have given the clarion call to mankind to wake up from their ignorance and go forward towards their supreme divine destiny of self-realization. Spiritual Principle:. To deepen our understanding. To realize its value through practice.

To let visitors from all faiths and cultures can know that we are all One. I am God. I am an exemplar in fulfilling the true purpose of a Sathya Sai Center, which is to recognize the same inner Divinity in one and all. What is Devotion? Path towards God. Individual transformation. There is devotion in service etc. Everything is important - Service, Devotion and Education Illumination.

Make Swami not part of your life - but center of your life. We cannot fully describe why we are here. We cannot understand Divinity. We cannot put Swami in a box. We do it because we love it. We are here to be a better - Christian, Hindu or Muslim. We are not here to change our faith. Questions to think about:. How do you explain Sai center to a colleague?

Is it a cult? What are you selling? Do you practice what you say? How do you run without collecting money? Date : March 24th, Facilitator : Sis. General Progression:. Self-confidence: The firm and steady conviction that you are the Atma Self or love. This leads to Self-satisfaction. Self-satisfaction: Being satisfied with the bliss of your divine Self and no longer being tempted by what appear to be sources of joy in the external world. This prepares you for self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice: The loving sacrifice of all sense of ego and separateness to the Lord.

This leads to Self-realisation. Self-realisation: Constantly experiencing your true nature as infinite, selfless love pervading all of creation.

In this experience of oneness, there is only love. Date : March 17th, Sai center is about SAI. S for Service. A for Adoration. I for Illumination. We discussed about the story of a boat man who ferries people across the river. A pandit gets into the boat and asks the boatman what the time is?

The boatman responds that he does not know what the time is. The pandit now asks for the newspaper. The boatman responds that he does not need to know about what is happening in the world. The pandit keeps picking on the boatman while they cross the river. When they reach the middle of the river, the boatman notices a storm coming.

He then asks the pandit if he knows how to swim. The pandit responds by saying that he does not. The boatman responds that the storm will sink the boat and the pandit is going to lose his life since he does not know how to swim. Another story we talked about was a story of a couple from USA visiting Puttaparthi for Lingodhbhavam. The husband and wife were provided with entry passes to be able to see Swami by sitting at the front.

The wife lost her pass and was not able to sit in the front. But the husband was able to use the pass to sit closer to Swami. But he was not able to witness the event as there was pillar in between him and Swami. The wife was able to witness the event even when she was sitting at the back.

Swami has His own plan for everyone. This was also true in the case of a devotee from Austin Sai center visiting Puttaparthi. She got an opportunity to be part of a play for Swami. She got multiple opportunities to see Swami - due this wonderful opportunity that she got at the last minute.

What is divinity? What is Sat-Chit-Anandha? Sat: truth, absolute being or existence-- that which is enduring and unchanging.

Chit: consciousness, understanding and comprehension. Ananda: bliss, a state of pure happiness. Samathvam is Oneness. Do our center activities reflect, project and inspire the message of oneness and our inner divinity to all? How and How not? Date: Mar 10 We started the study circle by sharing some experiences with Swami on the topic of Cultural Inclusion and Expansion.

We discussed some common themes that stood out on this subject. What is the Purpose of Sai Center? Swami's Quote. The Sathya Sai Organisation must recognise and reestablish this Truth - that the Aathma Divine Self is the Reality of everyone, however, distinct they may appear in physical form and mental equipment.

So, your duty is to emphasize the One, to experience the One in all you do and speak. Do not give any importance to differences of religion, sect, status, or color. Have the feeling of Oneness permeate all your acts. Only those who do so have a place in this Organization; the rest can withdraw. Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 13 - We discussed about the quote and the questions that came to our mind.

Divinity is purity in thoughts, words and deed. What does Sai Literature say about it? Could be a study circle topic. We had a break out session. We then shared our discussions with the entire group. What does Sai say is the purpose of a Sai Center? Please elaborate. Date: Mar 03 Ketan Kharod. We recapped what we learnt in the previous Sai Parenting study circles. Swami changed the way devotees should perceive God - from fearing God to loving God.

Love God is about Love. Fear Sins is about Discipline. What is Sin? Different definitions of sins was discussed? We can have a study circle on this topic later. Guard Human values - The human values are non negotiable.. While everything else can be. Then we talked about 3 types of love. Svaartha Prema selfish love , Anyonya Prema love for oneself, family and friends , Paraartha Prema love of entire world.

Group discussed about how we apply Paraartha Prema in real life. What can we learn from young children who are very comfortable with the concept of Paraartha Prema. Participating and involving children in service activities is a way to practice. What is self examination and why it is important? If you point 1 finger at others, we should remember other 3 fingers are pointing at you. How do we practice Truth and Right conduct: We read a passage and discussed on what stood out..

Date: Feb 17 Facilitator: Bindhu Sivakumar. What is Leadership? Ideal leader would be the one who follows the above axiom. What is Self Confidence? Where from Self Confidence is born and what does it lead to? This fortitude is derived from Love of the Lord, and it endows one with self confidence.

Self Confidence generates an immense internal power. Where there is confidence, there is love. Where there is love, there is peace.

Where there is peace, there is truth. We will have a series of study circles on this topic of Leadership and we hope to find answers to all the questions above. Radio Sai - "Questions to Me" audio. Date: Feb 10 What is the point of a spiritual habit? Do we need it? Some felt it was necessary for having peace in life.

Others for clarity of intellect and personal improvement. Some others for anchoring our lives in times of troubles. If you agree that practicing spirituality daily is a must for our well being, how are you practicing, how can we practice?

Some chant Gayatri times every night and keep 10 swami's books next to the bed so they can read something from these books every night. Some shared they chant prayers every day and others thank Swami for the day every night and chant Gayatri immediately after waking. What are the challenges in making spirituality a habit? We did not get time to discuss the challenges but a couple of them were mentioned, distractions while chanting, how they bring back the mind is by using something physical like a japa mala.

Others mentioned anchoring spiritual habit to an existing habit, do prayer right before you eat, do gayatri right after you wake up, chant gayatri right before hitting the bed etc, these anchors help make spiritual habit easier instead of trying to create new behaviors.

What is the sign of spiritual progress forward? We discussed briefly the idea of Equanimity, swami says proof of rain is in the wetness of the soil. Similarly, proof of spirituality in ones life is by having equanimity to profit or loss, cold or heat, success or failure. The practice of spiritual habit helps one get better at equanimity to events in life.

Swami says "Removing animal qualities is spirituality", what are the animal qualities and how can we remove them. Swami gives us the animal qualities we should remove from our lives:. To remove animal qualities, first step Swami says is to cleanse our speech, speak truth, speak softly, speak less, speak lovingly and sweetly. Some Antidote we discussed for animal qualities -. This is not going to happen overnight, Swami wants us to practice spirituality not like the Monkey or the Eagle but like the Ant - steadily, firmly, takes tiny steps of conviction towards a chosen goal.

Ask God for help. Practise silence. See only the good in others. Be in good company. Attach to God Seesaw of God and World. No Hurry, Worry, Curry. Develop compassion, kindness, love, and forbearance. Bad company. Desires - Our heart is not a love seat, not musical chairs. It's a single sofa, we cannot have desire for God and desire for the world both, it can only be one.

Talking Much. Speaking bad of others, especially in their absence. Date: Feb 03 Facilitator: Brother Balaji.

We started by reviewing last week's topics. What is toothbrush test? Why do we brush our teeth? Why is flossing harder than brushing? What is a spiritual habit? Are singing bhajans, meditation spiritual habits? We divided into 4 groups and had discussions about the following 4 questions. Some people keep awake the whole night of Sivarathri by playing cards.

The SSIO is a spiritual and humanitarian organization, active over 50 years, carrying out the mission of love, selfless service and self-transformation inspired by Sathya Sai Baba. Its members come from all faiths and share a common goal: to reach the ultimate goal of realisation of their innate divinity by practising the teachings of love and service taught by their spiritual teacher, Sathya Sai Baba.

Sathya Sai Center of Austin provides a space for a spiritual meeting of like-minded individuals, a communion of good-desiring people of all faiths. In such a space, sincere seekers, students of spirituality, and service-minded volunteers gather for spiritual singing, devotional spiritual activities and to study the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba. For members of the SSIO, service is not a mere gesture, but something that is rendered voluntarily, wholeheartedly and with the greatest of joy and love.

The Organization helps sustain, in thoughts, words, and actions, the legacy of love created by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Search Clear. Sort Start Date. Percent Full. Log in to post a message. Add Impact. Shiva Vankamamidi. Share With Friends. Copied to clipboard. A few people you will meet