A Report
Few months ago I returned from a three-month trip to Prasanthi Nilayam and it was an inspiring, uplifting, and a very blessed stay. I was able to experience the celebrations of Swami’s 80th birthday, Christmas, Sports festival, Makara Sankranti [celebration of the commencement of the Sun’s journey to the Northern Hemisphere], Chinese New Year, and Mahashivaratri [night of Lord Shiva]. This was the first time I was present for both Swami’s birthday and Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam. As usual, on both occasions there were multitudes of adoring devotees.
Birthday celebrations were held in Hill View Stadium. In the morning, Swami graced us with a Divine discourse, and the evening program was filled with fireworks, music, and singing. Despite the mega crowds, it was a momentous occasion that was very well organized.
Christmas in Prasanthi was absolutely celestial. The whole ashram was beautifully decorated. There was even an exquisite display of the nativity scene right outside the North Indian canteen.
Swami allowed the children from Region 3 (including our center group) to perform a shortened version of the play, “The Spirit of Christmas.” It was such a joy and a huge blessing to watching them perform in front of the Avatar of the Kali Yuga [the age of unrighteousness]. Swami watched them intensely, infusing them with His Divine shakti [power, energy].
I participated in the Christmas choir, which was a unique and a rewarding experience. I cannot describe the bliss we all felt when we sang for our Lord. Later, we heard that Swami had said in an interview that He particularly liked the third song we sang for Him: “Deep within my heart and soul, I find the being without form the nameless One, the eternal truth, I am I.”
On sports day, the students demonstrated their athletic skills in the Hill View Stadium, performing various athletic exercises in colorful uniforms.
Makara Sankranti is celebrated as the day when the Sun takes the northern path—the higher path. Swami blessed us with a Divine discourse in which He said, “Today is Sankranti, which marks the commencement of Uttarayana [the northern solstice], an auspicious and sacred time. At least from today onward develop noble feelings. Follow the sacred path. Then your future will certainly be safe and secure.”
We celebrated Chinese New Year in Swami’s Whitefield ashram, in Bangalore. The Asian devotees put on a special program offering Swami various gifts symbolic of health, prosperity, and happiness. The SSE [Sathya Sai Education] children also performed a short play.
The trip culminated in the awesome Mahashivaratri festival. We all stayed up through the night in the mandir [temple] singing bhajans. Mahashivaratri is a very sacred night. Sai Baba says, “Shivaratri is observed every month on the 14th night of the dark half, for the moon—the presiding deity of the human mind—has only one night to be a nonentity, with no influence on the agitations of the mind. In the month of Magha [around February], the 14th night is named Maha (great) Shivaratri. It is sacred for it is the day on which Shiva [Lord of destruction in the Hindu trilogy] takes the linga form [oval-shaped symbol of creation, in which all names and forms merge] form for the benefit of the seekers. Shiva is revered as the form that is to be adored for the acquisition of wisdom. Contemplate this day and night on the atma-linga, the jyoti-linga, the symbol of the supreme light of wisdom, and be convinced that Shiva is in every one of you.”
Swami came into the mandir around 6 a.m. He sat at His table. Soon, signs that He would be manifesting the lingam began to appear. He started drinking lots of water. After some time His body seemed to be under a lot of stress, there was some shaking and trembling. Our eyes and mind were focused on His face, not wanting to miss the emergence of the lingam. Suddenly the lingam flew out of His mouth as a flash of golden light. He held it up for all to see. It looked like He had a piece of the Sun in His hand—it was so brilliant. Then Swami moved through the whole mandir displaying the golden Hiranyagarbha lingam to the astonished devotees. We were all in an indescribable bliss.
In His Shivaratri discourse in 1974 Swami explained that the linga is a symbol, and udbhava is birth or creation. So the word lingodbhava actually means the symbol of creation. As the lingam manifests in Baba through His power of creation, He grants a vision of His divinity to the millions of His devotees present there.
Leaving the ashram is always a heart-wrenching event. It’s so hard to leave Swami. I, too, left with a heavy heart but filled with love.
In conclusion, the main message I got from this trip is that if we concentrate on God with all our heart and soul, He will always be with us. The moment we think of Him, He is with us. But it takes sincere effort, concentration, and devotion to always keep Him in our vision—just like the one-pointed concentration we had on Swami’s face during Maha-shivaratri so that we did not lose the opportunity of a lifetime to witness the emergence of the lingam.
~Sonya Ki Tomlinson, U.S.A.
