General Guidelines USA Group Pilgrimages 2010
Group 1: June 23 to July 2
Group 2: July 5 to July 14
Please plan to arrive in Prasanthi Nilayam the day before the group schedule. Devotees, officially sit together as a group from June 23 to July 2 morning darshan or July 5 to 14 morning darshan.
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Quick References:
USA Guide Darshan Guidelines Medical Guidelines
With His Divine Grace, all of us in the USA have engaged in the study of Sai Ideal Human Life. We have come to understand through this study that spiritual practice leads us to the realization that we are all divine. If that is the case, then why worship God externally? Swami lovingly explains:
“Even as you realize you are divine, you have to do certain things as part of your duty. According to the tradition of Bharath, you have to do things to please God, or in other words transform work into worship. When you practice this, it becomes easier to realize God. Everything you learn by practice only. Walking, talking, eating, singing, and serving need practice. Practice service dedicating all activities to God.”
– July 19, 1997, SSS 30:17, ‘Cultivate character: lead an ideal life’.
Also, we know from our study that every one of us has to undertake spiritual practices (sadhana) at some point in our lives. Our beloved Lord repeatedly explained the need for this. For instance:
“The journey of every man is towards the cemetery; every day brings you nearer to the moment of death. So, do not delay the duty you must carry out for your own lasting good. Recognize that you are Shiva (God), before you become a shava (corpse); that will save you from further deaths.” -- November 23, 1960, SSS 1:33. ‘Foundation for vidhya’
With Swami’s loving guidance and blessings, we earnestly began the Sai Ideal Human Life study and spiritual practices. In order to sustain its momentum and catalyze it with His darshan during our physical pilgrimage, let’s reverentially and collectively undertake the following worship toward liberation.
During the period of Memorial Day Retreats until Guru Purnima, all devotees are encouraged to sustain their personal momentum by participating in this “collective surrender sadhana”.
- 21 Gayathri and/or Sai-Gayathri recitation (at one sitting, morning and/or evening, or some intervals of sets of three) and/or
- Silent sitting or meditation
Let this collective surrender sadhana help us all to Unite in His LOVE and to completely and unconditionally offer ourselves to HIM to experience further His grace and bliss.
“Yearn to fill your heart with Him, not with 'you'. Your yearning must be warm, so warm that it can be called thapas (heat). Become hot earnest! Now it is only lukewarm longing, a surface activity. Examine yourselves how far you have filled your heart with Him. Measure the heights you have reached with the yardstick of virtue, serenity, fortitude, and equanimity.”-- July 23, 1971, 11:29, ‘Constant Divine Communion’
“You see corpses proceeding one after the other to the graveyard, but you move about unconcerned. You feel you are eternal. In fact, you are. That is the real you, I mean. Just as the water you drink is eliminated as perspiration, the karma that you accumulate is eliminated through karma, gladly borne. So, bear both 'mirth and moan' with equal calm. Like the akasa (space) in the pot merging with the akasa outside the pot, silently, fully, with no trace of separation or distinctness, merge with the Universal. That is real saranagathi (surrender, salvation, liberation).” -- February 6, 1963, SSS 3:5, ‘Sweeten and lighten life’
