Letter from Vidyullekha Editorial Team

Loving Sairam

All of us carry in our hearts some of the most treasured memories of our lives as Swami’s students. Some of these memories will always be special to us because they are about very personal and very unique experiences we have had with Bhagawan, feeling His boundless love, enlightened by His infinite wisdom and energized by His call to live an ideal life.

Some of these memories are special for a very different reason, because these are the memories we share with millions of others in the Sai family – students, teachers, volunteers, devotees – all drawn to Prasanthi Nilayam during the festivals. Many of these festivals came to us descending as if from heaving, allowing us to immerse ourselves in pure bliss, and concluding in a day or two. At the end, we all wished how better it would have been if it had gone on at least for a day more.

Dasara came every year as an answer to our prayers, for it stretched for a full ten days. And at the end of it it struck us that we felt pretty much the same way we would have felt at the end of a two or three day festival. We wanted more of it. The reason for us craving more, of course, is Swami Himself. The more we crave for Him, the more He gives of Himself to us, and the more He gives of Himself, the stronger our craving becomes – till we see Him in all beings, and in ourselves.

As you read this issue, dear brothers, you will find this message getting reflected in every section, every story and every page. In Bhagawan Uvacha we have an extract from a Discourse Swami gave to the students in Trayee Brindavan. Our brother CBS Mani’s experience with Bhagawan, captured in From My Diary section, starts with Trayee, moves on to Kodaikanal and then to Gujarat and Mumbai and everywhere he feels Swami’s presence and fructification of Swami’s promises. This edition’s cover story beautifully captures the jnana, bhakti, and karma margas embedded, like gems in a crown, in Dasara celebrations. In Love in Action, we get a taste of service activities undertaken by our brothers during these testing times of Covid-19. In Gratitude Corner, Prof Mukundan shares his perspectives on students, and reading it we will only feel humbled and resolve to raise up his expectations of us. In the final section, we profile two of our brothers who have integrated Swami’s teachings in their professional lives, and found great success. How do they define success? How do we, as students of Swami, define success? Let’s reflect on that during Dasara and Vijayadasami this year. And it’s our hope and prayers that this edition will help us in that path.

We dedicate this at the Lotus Feet of our most beloved Bhagawan.

Vidyullekha Editorial Team

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