Love Express TO BE. SSO Zone 6 Youth Wing Year 3, Issue 13: May June 2009

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1 SSO Zone 6 Youth Wing Year 3, Issue 13: May June 2009 Dear Reader, Trust you started well into the summer, enjoying the weather, the sea, the mountains, the whole Divine creation and maybe also holidays. The thirteenth issue is signing the beginning of the third year of the youth newsletter, another year passed by very quickly and another one is starting to share and expand our blissful shining energy. You will discover more about the second SSLTP meeting, this time in Dubrovnik and many other topics discussed during retreats and service activities in our countries. Enjoy, expand unity, happiness and love everywhere! TO BE Dear Divine Souls, You are nothing but Love, You are nothing but Peace, You are nothing but Truth, You are nothing but Yourself. You are none of what you think you are, of what you show you are, of what you behave like you are. You have always been and always are and always will be just your very own self. Nothing more and nothing less. You don't need to achieve anything, follow anyone, do anything or be anything. You already are everything you will ever be because you are an eternal fully realized being living in the only moment existing in time, which is now. Never think of yourself any less than what you are, God herself, creator of all temporary reality. Know that all other beings are equal in this quality in their full right. Know that you are all those beings. 1

2 You need not seek self-realization. All you need is remove the false identification with everything that is not your true self. Just be, without limit, without hesitation, without judgment, without fear. Just be as you are, love, peace, truth. Be all you have ever imagined to be. Just be. Ivan Bavcevic Zone 6 Youth Coordinator CROATIA Dear All, as far as Croatia is concerned we don't have much to contribute for this issue of, but let's hope what we give to you would be enough to satisfy your thirst for inspirational stories. Then again, can we ask for more to write about than such an inspirational weekend we had from 12th till 14th of June in Dubrovnik? Another SSLTP weekend, second in a row, for some of us started already on Thursday, but the official program was introduced late in the evening, on Friday, when we all gathered in 3-star Hotel "Villa Rasica" on Beverly Hilly-like part of Dubrovnik. After short introduction and welcome speech, Ivan didn't want to waste time (time waste - life waste) so he opened the SSLTP weekend with short workshop on...love (what else could an embodiment of love like Ivan talk than about Love!) and in return he received a LOVEly birthday celebration cake (with firework candle in the middle!) on behalf all of us. What a way to start! Saturday morning we got on board of M/V" Blue wave" on our way to nearby island Lopud. Program started with morning swim on local beach, followed by workshop and lunch, to be concluded with another swim after the afternoon workshop. I bet you'll get the workshops' reviews from others, so no need to bother you more. 2

3 Sunday morning workshop, farewell lunch and by the three o'clock the number of participants was cut half. That's just brief review so you can get the picture what was going on that weekend. Some were in Dubrovnik for the first time, some were in SSLTP for the first time, some were swimming, some were walking, some were thinking, some were talking, some were enjoying, some were annoying:-), some were somewhere in summer, some were there, some were not there(and we missed you!), some were and still are. But some are not anymore...in a way. Saturday afternoon workshop started with announcement that our revered brother Thorbjorn Meyer was no longer with us. As all, who knew him well, felt deep regret for his passing, we all remembered him and his work once again, in silence. Silence was stressed out to be the most important tool we are in need today, on that very same Saturday afternoon workshop. And as we all agreed on that one, the idea of silent sitting was introduced, as one of the optional methods we could use in our everyday life to improve it while on earth. That's for sure. What else should I tell you? I hear you say: Like all this is not enough!?" :-) Hope you all will forgive me for extending this contribution from Croatia for the current issue of Zonal Newsletter. Let me tell you, I have an excuse :-) And what an excuse!!! Actually, it's more of an announcement than excuse. I took freedom to write more than usual for this issue of as it seems I won't write anymore. The new Croatian NYC from this issue on, is Tonka Zujic. You will hear (and read) from Tonka soon. In the meantime, I would like to give praise to all the beautiful people I worked with these 2 years, but you would have to wait for a special Issue and that's not likely to happen. Since I still feel urge to give thanks to all of you, let me leave you, instead, with an excerpt from a great book as a farewell message that might be of help to all of you. Everyone is the Self, indeed infinite. Yet each one mistakes the body for the Self. To know anything, illumination is necessary. Such illuminating agency can only be in the form of light which is however lighting the physical light and darkness. So then that other Light lies beyond the apparent light and darkness. It is itself neither light nor darkness but is said to be Light 3

4 because It illumines both. It is also Infinite and remains as Consciousness. Consciousness is the Self of which everyone is aware. No one is away from the Self. So each one is Selfrealised. Yet what a mystery that no one knows this fundamental fact and desires to realise Self? This ignorance is due to the mistaking of the body for the Self. Realisations now consist in getting rid of this false idea that one is not realised. Realisation is not anything newly got. It must be already there in order that it may be permanent. Otherwise Realisation is not worth attempting. After the false notion I-am-the-body or I have not realised is removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone is left over, which is however called Realisation in the present state of knowledge. However, the Truth is that Realisation is eternal and already there, here and now. Finally, Realisation amounts to elimination of ignorance and nothing more or less. Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk.482, 29th of April, 1938, Ramana Maharshi. Love. Antonio Bratos Ex NYC Croatia FRANCE Sai Ram Dearest All, There are so many things to express about these last two months that logic wants me to start with the beginning. Without being obsessed with Leadership, really, May and June were so full of it... that I cannot avoid some small reports on the different experiences that we lived. Let's go back to the first one: the workshop on Module 1 of SSLTP that my Sisters Magali and Mélanie had organised with me on the 9 th of May in order to share with the French youth what we received in March in Mother Sai. During that day, we insisted on the importance of Knowing Thyself, thanks to the development of Self- 4

5 Confidence and Presence in every moment of life. While presenting the different slides, some ideas and some past experiences about which I hadn't thought while preparing the workshop rose to the surface. These remembrances enabled me to answer to the youth's questions and to feel how much fundamental it is to be Self-Confident since external elements are always here to wake up some fears and make us doubt on our way of living and, in a way, on our Mission... overall when we are on this Journey to our Self and really willing to develop Faith! Sure it is not always easy, and I experiment it a lot in this period. But remembering to stop and breath, in order to refocus on my Self, observing all the external elements and the negative thoughts which appear and considering them as temporary, I know I can change my state of being and clarify myself. Simply because I create my reality from my mere thoughts. After this great experience, I had the opportunity to visit my Brothers Luciano and Giorgio in Rome. Life is so well organised and we are so connected that on the 23 rd of May, in the time I was over there, they had already planned to share the Module 1 with the devotees of Rome, Pescara and Latina. I am so glad about this chance which enabled me to feel more and more the Unity underlying in the Universe. Moreover, listening to them and watching the PowerPoint presentation that they had prepared, which was very different from the one we had realised in France, I learnt a lot and was enriched. Even being shorter than ours, the presentation was very well made. Especially, it contained very powerful teachings like excerpts from the film Matrix and from a documentary concerning quantum physics, and so, all linked to what Bhagavan says in His Discourses. Another manifestation of Unity!... which were also very present during the third stage of this story on Leadership, in Dubrovnik. A Divine Journey, imbued with the great energies of Life and Love, was waiting for all the participants, because everything was simply and perfectly organised. We had come for Modules 2 and 3 of 5

6 SSLTP, and had the unexpected opportunity, thanks to Ivan, to receive a part of its content on the terrace of a hotel situated in front of the sea that the sun made all day long sparkle like a carpet of diamonds. The report? Just imagine... days during which you spend joyful time with people who follow the same spiritual path, sharing with them the Teachings of Bhagawan on the way to be a Leader and continuing so your self-transformation thanks to very inspiring sharing of experiences -notably on the fact that we create all our reality-, spend the evenings in front of indescribable sunsets and sleep in a calm place surrounded by the trees... and lastly go back to your daily life recharged for so long and your heart full of Grace. All these opportunities, which broaden our field of vision, can only benefit others and are to be exported. Therefore, all the possible is done in order to put this into practice in France when we meet for our activities which continue, at a cruising speed. With Love. Aude Gachet NYC France ITALY Sai Youth Strikes again! Youth from all around our beautiful country joined together in Marostica on the last weekend of March with all their joy and happiness. The day of Saturday was dedicated to the discussion about the group and the projects we will be involved in the very next future, with the pleasure of being together once again and the desire to pass to action as two very protagonists of these hours. The local responsible for the Spiritual activity, Pia Plumari, opened the meeting enlightening our minds with some thoughts from Swami. After that, the Youth National Coordinator,Eugenio Casadio, started the discussion about our group suggesting some paths to walk for the future. Everyone was so excited when we learned we would be able to be active help in the Abruzzo region, recently damaged from a great earthquake. Soon many of us will leave for that area and be a part of our favorite game, the "love in action" game. The second great aim is about the effective actuation of the LASA project. LASA will be our business card, the tool by which we introduce ourselves to people while doing Seva, 6

7 our songs and dances will fill everyone's heart with joy. After talking about our plans we had a study circle about the concept of Seva and Unity. It was so nice to understand how each one of us is living this special way of joining with God with service. We than ended the day with a great Italian pizza and a walk in the special city of Bassano. The alarm rang so early on Sunday morning, and we jumped off from the bed ready for the great day with the girls from the Santa Chiara institute, the Cartigliano Zoo was waiting for us all! We were all together, with the VIP girls and many people from the organization, under a hot sun and everyone was smiling as if it was the greatest day. The guitar, a good picnic and many walks around the park, looking for the strangest animals were our companions on this beautiful Sunday. At the end of the day we were all completely tired, but with the hearts filled with the highest joy: the joy that just service can bring. We have many thanks to say. Thank you VIP for giving us the opportunity to experience Pure Love. Thank you Sai Youth for your presence, which makes every meeting a special one. Thank you Eugenio, our coordinator, and Jessica, that helped from the background, with your time and devotion you lead us and make us grow day by day. Thank you people from the Sai organization and a special thank to Loris Pertile that is always there. Thank you Swami, for inspiring our work, and our lives. Youth from Italy SLOVENIA Om Sai Ram! The Slovenian Sai youth is now completely absorbed in the several months workshop titled "The Power of Thoughts" which is still in process. As usually we meet every Tuesday and discussed about certain themes as follows: As you think so you become; all is but reaction, reflection and resound; take the responsibility for the world you experience; the art of communication; see good, be good, do good; the Power of Thoughts and Health,... We also decided to take advantage of the summer weather and sometimes go together for a walk into the nearby forest. 7

8 Breathing the pure air and hiking helps a great deal in maintaining the mind and body pure and therefore healthy. Unfortunately we always forget to take pictures, but we promise to take care of that for the next issue :) I hope... We wish you all happy and healthy summer and just the right amount of sun and rain. And remember to fill the atmosphere with pure and holy thoughts and feelings! This is all for now from Sai'n'Love. Tina Hribar Trifunović NYC Slovenia SWITZERLAND The Youth Retreat got a bit of Italian dressing this year. The retreat was held on the first weekend of June, 6-7th in beautiful village of Contra in the Swiss- Italian part in a wonderful holiday house. It was a small and sweet group of 5 participants - Katrin, Kurt, Nicole G., Anthony and Rama. On the first morning, the sky was covered in thick clouds and it was heavily raining, perfect to begin our program at 7 a.m. with the chanting of Omkar, Gayatri mantra followed by Bhajans. After an hour, it was breakfast time. This year the kitchen was completely managed by the youth for all three meals of the day. After breakfast, everyone got down into serious business with the study circle. The topic of discussion was a Special Talk given by Prof. Anil Kumar (Swami's translator) to the youth of Orlando, Florida, USA. As we read through the talk, it became more and more interesting and the discussion got more intense. The talk highlighted the high hopes that Swami has for the youth and how He expects us to cultivate the 6 virtues - Noble character, Noble Mind (with discrimination), adherence to Truth, devotion, discipline and duty. Swami expects an Integrated Personality Development in Youth with a good balance in secular and spiritual aspects. The talk had plenty of experiences of the Sai students in Puttaparthi of they are putting Swami's teachings in practice in day-to-day life. Some of them were very amusing and made everyone laugh. In the evening, when the weather God took a break from rain, we stepped out into the green mountains to breathe some fresh air and re-vitalize our lungs. We visited the Verzasca dam and enjoyed 8

9 looking down the 220 meter high wall of the dam. In the evening, we watched a very touching drama - written by Swami himself - titled 'Education for Liberation' that was enacted in Swami's presence in It was excellent. On 7th, the day started with chanting followed by Bhajans and breakfast. We started with the Special Talk from where we had left off. After nearly 2 hours of discussion with lots of personal thoughts and many useful insights it was time to pack our bags and leave. The retreat was an energetic, contemplative and fun-filled weekend. Everyone took back good memories and enough food for thought. Vutty Ramachandra NYC Switzerland AGENDA The agenda is thought to inform the Sai Youth about the future Sai activities of our zone and t give the opportunity to whoever is interested to participate in any of the following events a/o to visit the Sai family in any other country of our zone. Please contact your National Youth Coordinator for further information. 18 th July 2009: National Youth Meeting, Paris France (National Event) 1-8 August 2009: Summer Youth Camp, Tredozio Italy (National Event) 22 nd August 2009: National Youth Meeting, Zürich Switzerland (National Event) October-November 2009: SSLTP, date and location to be confirmed (Zonal Event) 9

10 Prasanthi Nilayam, 6 th July Sath-Chith-Ananda (being-awareness-bliss) is the very nature of man. But man has forgotten his true nature and is wasting his time in the vain pursuit of fleeting pleasures. He is not able to realise the value of his innate nature. Once he realises its value and experiences it, he can reach an exalted state. In fact, he becomes verily God. Man can accomplish any mighty task when he realises his innate divinity. But man is not making any effort in this direction. He has become a slave to his senses, and is wasting his time on trivial matters. The primary duty of man therefore is to understand his true nature and put it into practice. BABA SSO Zone 6 Youth Newsletter is the only zonal youth publication of the Zone 6 Sathya Sai Organisation updated every two months. These pages may be reproduced, distributed, and transmitted in any form, by any means, provided that: (1) no text or photographs are altered; (2) the copyright and website information are included with every set of pages; (3) it is not sold for a profit; (4) no fees are charged for distribution. Publisher: SSO Zone 6 Youth Wing Zone 6 Youth Coordinator: Ivan Bavcevic z6youthcoordinator@sathyasai-zone6.org Zone 6 website: International website: We offer, at the Lotus Feet of Our Beloved Bhagavan With humility, love and gratitude. May we discover ourselves, who we really are and Experience Unity in Divinity with Divine love and eternal bliss. Jay Sai Ram. 10