November 20, 2010 – World Conference Session of Sai Organisation

The First World Conference of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation was held on May 16, 1968. Ever since then, the organisation has grown in its reach and impact. November 20 marked the beginning of the 9th World Conference. The plenary session was held in the morning that day at the Poorna Chandra Auditorium. The purpose of the conference was based on Swami’s statement, “Why are we in this organisation? What is the purpose? You must have firm belief that the aim of this Organization is to remove the obstacles that keep man away from God, that separate humanity from Divinity.”

The opening ceremony and prayer was followed by an introductory talk by Dr. Michael Goldstein. The second speaker was Prof. David Gries and he was followed by Dr. Narendra Reddy. All three of them spoke succinctly and briefly on the goal of the Organisation and how one must conduct oneself in order to be a contributor towards that goal. These talks were followed by intense study circle sessions where all the delegates of a particular region literally formed circles to discuss issues and come up with ideas.

The evening session was the one which was looked forward to with great enthusiasm simply because Swami would be present! The Mandir had a new look and a huge decorative cloud hung at its centre. Everyday is a different celebration and like wearing new clothes for different occasions, the Mandir seems to change its vesture! Swami arrived for darshan and took a complete round. All the delegates were eagerly handing Him their letters and Swami seemed to be obliging all. The members of the Sathya Sai Symphony Orchestra had assembled in the centre and were awaiting their chance to perform in the Divine Presence.

Life is an orchestra and God, the Orchestrator. When we go as per His wishes, we hear music and when we think we know better and go our way, we face the music! It is best to trust in His wisdom and be happy at that. As a famous saying goes, “God has a plan for me and that is all I need to know.” Swami arrived on the stage and the bhajans were on. He saw all the members of the orchestra on chairs right opposite to Him. He mimicked the action of a violin player and asked whether they were ready. They were in fact all set. The Divine Orchestrator had decided to conduct something different that day. He looked at the boys and asked them to continue bhajans.

The bhajans now stepped up a few notches and fast numbers were dished out. Swami Himself began to keep rhythm and this increased the enthusiasm and motivation of the devotees. The claps got louder and everyone rejoiced in singing out the divine name in unison. It was a wonderful bhajan session. And every now and then, Swami would begin to knit His eyebrows and sway His hands fast as if asking, “Why is the enthusiasm dipping?” That would raise the bhajan volume by another level! This game went on for a while and everyone was completely involved in singing aloud the glory of His name. After about an hour of bhajans, Swami called a student and told him, “The Prime Minister is arriving the day after. All the students must be ready and receive him. Tomorrow is drama and the day after, the Prime Minister arrives.” The student replied, “Yes Swami. But the most important day is after that. Everyone has come here to witness the grandeur of Your birthday. Our prayer is that Swami be radiant in health and happiness always.”

Swami smiled. He received aarthi, blessed prasadam for distribution and retired for the day.

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