Sunday, Nov 24 2024  

JOURNEY TOWARDS DIVINITY - 15 DECEMBER 2003

My humble pranams at the Lotus Feet of our dearest Swami. Sai Ram uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters. My name is Jasmine and I am a Group 2 EHV student. I would like to share with you my "Journey Towards Divinity".

I was one of the fortunate EHV students of Singapore who had been given the precious opportunity to perform the drama entitled "Journey towards Divinity". This drama was performed in the Divine presence of our dearest Swami in Puttaparthi on 20 November 2003 . I knew it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

This was my first time to visit Parthi and believe it or not, it was also the first time I visited my motherland, India . Indeed, when I first arrived in Bangalore , I was shocked. I always thought it would look like the scenes from the Bollywood movies I have seen - the high rise and cosmopolitan look.

As we were approaching Parthi, I was asking myself - how would the ashram look like? How would the rooms look like? What kind of food would we get there? Would Swami like our drama?

I must admit when I saw the room in which my dad, my cousin and I had to stay in, I was worried as it was very basic. However, my dad removed my fear from within and explained to me that I would definitely be able to adjust to the environment in Parthi and to just remember these 5 letters - S W A M I - Swami and all will be well.

A lot of drama practices were conducted during the days prior to the actual performance. It was so exciting being there and my fear of the living conditions were soon washed away. In fact, I enjoyed myself tremendously. The only difficult part was to wake up very early in the morning to attend the morning Darshans but it was all for the best as I was able to see Swami several times sitting in a very prominent area in Sai Kulwant hall.

On one of the days during the afternoon Darshan, I was able to sit in a very good location in Sai Kulwant hall. It was still too early - 2:00pm to be exact, and suddenly someone said "Swami is coming". I was surprised, and then suddenly Swami's car appeared at the entrance and stopped close to where we were seated. Then He told his driver to reverse to where we were seated and He smiled in our direction.

Another incident happened when I started to feel unwell one day before the actual performance. At night, I suddenly got a high fever. My dad was extremely worried and did not sleep the entire night. My fever went higher despite having taken the medication. Just then, I saw my dad sitting and chanting the Gayatri Mantra, whilst looking at Swami's photo. After several minutes, my dad rubbed vibuthi on my forehead and it was almost instantly - my temperature went down in about 10 minutes. Who cured me? SWAMI.

The day of the performance came. That morning, all of us were busy running up and down dressing up, putting on make-up and the very beautiful costumes. Whilst walking towards Sai Kulwant hall, I was worried - would my fever come up again? As the performance was about to start, Swami was sitting on His chair, my Dad prayed to Him to bless me and keep me well. Just then, Swami looked at Him and then looked at me and blessed me with His hand. He knew what my Dad asked Him, of course, He is God.

This was a very breath-taking experience for me. I was very fortunate to be in the presence of Swami and at a close distance. I will never forget this experience my entire life. What I had learnt the most is "Love is God and God is Love" so love is Divinity, as in this song.

(to be sung by me)

Love it was that made us
And it was love! that saved us
Love was God's plan when he made man. God's divine nature is love

Born of God's love, we must love him
That's why he made us, to love him
But only when, we love all men, can we partake of God's Love

Love! is a wonderful thing
Joy! in our hearts it will bring

Where there is Love, there is God and where is God, there is Love
Where is God, there is Love!

Jai Sai Ram

Sis Jasmine
SSEHV Group 2