Sai Spiritual Education Quarterly e-Magazine North Central Region, USA

Third Quarter, 2017

Editorial Sairam Everyone! Welcome to the 2017 Q3 edition of Sai Blossoms! We would like to thank all those whose contributions (and patient rework) resulted in this beautiful issue. For those who have never submitted to Sai Blossoms, we would like to clear up some misconceptions that may have prevented you from doing so, and to hopefully encourage you to submit for the next quarter and beyond. COMMON MYTHS/WORRIES ABOUT SUBMITTING: Am I Boasting by Having My Work in Sai Blossoms? – No! By submitting to Sai Blossoms, you are sharing your talents, ideas, devotion, and experiences with others and enriching and inspiring the readers. You are providing a service to the community and to our beloved Baba Himself. Can I Make It Anonymous? – Not, really! If there are no names on the articles, the readers might think that editorial staff copy and paste material from other sources. If they like a piece, they want to congratulate or thank the person behind it. Also, if they have a question or suggestion on the article, they want to ask the person concerned. In other words, a name is needed to claim responsibility for each piece of work. What if My Article is Unusual? – No problem! Please submit anyways. We encourage new and unique articles with different perspectives, themes, and ideas. Distinctive styles and content for poetry, stories, songs, plays, memoirs, pictures, drawings, digital art, puzzles, and more are very welcome. Sai Blossoms thrives on creativity so anything that is non-traditional is welcome. Different types of submissions open our minds, spread good blessings, and inspire new ideas. Please read this issue as well as some of our past issues from our website, preferably after downloading on your computer. We encourage you to ask questions and send submissions without undue reservations. May Lord Sai, to whom we offer all our work, bless the magazine and all of us. RAJ PRAKASH (Editor)

SHAILY FOZDAR (Student Editor)

SARANYA NISTALA (Student Editor)

ANUSHRI RADHA (Student Editor)

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BABA, THE SUPREME

He is the One, Fair and Supreme

He is there for me and you

He is the inner light of you and me

His Name is Baba and He will make evil cease

SHRIYA MALLELA Group 2 SSE Student Chicago West Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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Sai Experiences AMAZING GRACE TO TURN MY LIFE AROUND This is the year 2017 AD; my name is Warren E. Bailey and I will be sixty-nine years old this November. I was born on a sweltering day in the summer of 1988. If this sounds a bit contradictory, it’s because I was gifted with a new life in 1988, while visiting the abode of the highest peace (Prasanthi Nilayam). My parents and family had spared no efforts to expose me to a life of high morals and disciplined hard work. In 1967, my father, James Bailey, passed away. A year later, a man who I had come to admire nearly as much as my father, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was brutally assassinated. Dr. King championed equality of all people and the philosophy that love should be our guide. These were the very principles that my parents had emphasized throughout my life. The loss of my father and my adopted subsequent exemplar, Dr. King, combined with the sudden death of my mother 6 years later, initiated my descent into the abyss of despair. Unfortunately, I embarked on a path which led me to the gutters of society. I began what would become a 20-year engagement in the world of illicit drugs. I met Sathya Sai Baba in the summer of 1988. The following story details how I came to meet Him and the miraculous transformation that took place in my life, as a result of that meeting. To begin with, I lived close to my two sisters, Audrey and April Bailey, since the death of our parents. Audrey took on the added responsibility of raising our younger sister, April, who was only ten years old when our mother died. This was an arduous task because Audrey was already raising one son, and expecting the birth of another. Her husband was not up to the task and abandoned them. My depression began when my father was diagnosed with cancer and it was magnified by his death in 1967, Dr. King’s death in 1968, and my mother’s death in 1973. However, even in my state of depression, I attempted to help Audrey as often and as much as I could. We worked interdependently to overcome myriad economic and social crises that threatened our ability to survive. My employment did not pay enough to meet the family’s needs. I knew that I was underemployed and undereducated in a demanding society. I, unfortunately, continued to the downward spiral into severe depression. By this time, I was in such despair that it was impossible to feel the inspiration to do anything. I felt completely hopeless. Somehow, in all of my hopelessness, I could still feel compassion for others, and I recognized that some other relatives needed financial help and emotional support, even more so than I. Failing to advance my own career aspirations, I decided to help my relatives, besides the sisters. This service allowed me to become more active, even though my depression continued. It was just an overwhelmingly challenging time and my

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depression mixed with the frustration of not finding employment adequate to meet financial needs of the extended family, just brewed constant rage in me. I was battling depression and also was doing drugs heavily, being in bad company of some “friends”. Here is a glimpse of the severity of my addiction. I was living with a lady friend and we were using all types of illicit drugs. One night, I got into a threatening health situation and ambulance had to be called. Thankfully, the situation got resolved but the next night, I went ahead and bought the drugs worth over $100 to start all over again. Thus explained was my dismal life of 20 years starting from 1967. In the first part of 1988, my sisters and I secured respectable, well-paying employment that allowed us to turn our economic conditions around. However, my involvement in the illusionary world created through my drug usage continued and intensified. I must also add that I had been suffering from pain in my stomach and lower abdomen, which was severe at times, for nearly a year and half. I did not go to see a doctor about it due to the fears that he could uncover my illicit drug usage and also that it may be a terminal disease. It was apparent that my body and mind were in a sad state of affairs. In the summer of this same year, my sisters wanted to travel to India to meet a guru (Sathya Sai Baba) that they had been reading about, for some time. I was not thrilled with the idea but I relented and agreed to go only because I feared for their safety on a trip to a foreign land. Our improved financial condition had allowed us to take time off and pay for the trip. When we arrived in India, I was quite disturbed by the third world poverty that I observed. I resented going to darshan, twice a day, only to sit and worship at the feet of a man who I thought to be a charlatan. On the second day of darshan, while sitting in the sand amid a crowd of thousands, Sai Baba came close to me, about 5’ away. He stopped, looked at me, and called me gently, “You, come here.” I must admit that at the time he addressed me, I had been thinking that I should hit and beat him, and expose him for the charlatan that I thought he was. I got up and stood right next to him. He looked at me squarely and said, “You have many evil thoughts”. I was shocked but suddenly I felt the anger in my heart begin to melt. I wondered, “How on earth could he read my thoughts?” Then he motioned me to go in for an interview. The interview was with a group of about half a dozen others. During the interview, Swami spoke to me of some facts from my life that only I knew about and nobody else, not even my sisters. He waved his hand right in front of my face and created a wrist watch for someone. That truly amazed me. Near the end of the interview, he led me to an inner interview room. While inside, he asked me to raise my shirt. With a simple circular wave of his hand, he created an oily substance which he applied on my abdomen, exactly where I had been experiencing pain. He did not say anything about the liquid or the application.

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I came out of the interview with a feeling of renewal. One immediate observation was that the pain in the stomach and lower abdomen had vanished. The full purpose of the miracle performed that day for me only became apparent in the ensuing weeks, after returning home. After the time of this interview with Baba, I lost all desire for the illicit drugs that I had been using for the previous 20 years. When I got back home, my socalled friends called me for a party that they had planned especially for me. I showed up but found that I had absolutely no desire to take the drugs so I didn’t touch anything at all. Moreover, since that interview, my bouts of depression, from which I suffered for more than 20 years, were gone. My stomach pain was gone as well. At no point in time, has there been any desire to return to the life I’d engaged in for those 20 years. Now 29 years later, I am completely free from not only addiction, but also from depression and the stomach disorder that I had. What a miracle! It is generally known that drugs create a serious chemical dependency. Most people find it virtually impossible to stop the usage without one or more programs of assistance which can even be life-long necessities. I wonder, how on earth could my addiction completely disappear without any effort? How could it disappear, even without leaving a trace, when I was not even trying to give it up? Indeed, such was the Divine healing of Sathya Sai Baba in Summer of 1988 that gave me a new life. He made a new person out of me. He took a life that was resigned to death and desolation and made it new and purposeful. The new life has been lived with the knowledge of and faith in Sathya Sai as God in human form. I have, since that time, been able to positively impact the lives of thousands of young people, through my Karate school and while teaching for the New York City Board of Education. I have truly learned the importance of starting each day with love, spending each day with love and, ending living each day with love; as it is the pathway to God.

Warren (far right bottom) in a darshan.

Warren (far right) with sisters (far left) singing for Swami.

“Grace can burn the burden of past karma in a flash.” – Baba (Ref: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. IV, P 356)

WARREN E. BAILEY Poconos, PA Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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GOD’S LOVE Only God's Love is complete love Infinite and immeasurably sweet Tainted with no claims of the ego It makes you want to fall at His Feet He is locked deep within your heart A place that is an island rare You cry to Him, you sing to Him You show Him all your emotions bare He is solely yours in this space And yet He is available to all This Love brings you no envy It lifts you up and stands you up tall

It does not disappoint, it does not measure It does not push, it does not pull It gives and gives till the cup overflows And then drenches you in its nectar full God's Love is everything that you need All you must do is open your arms wide Receive the Grace and follow His heed And He will take you back inside Former SSE Teacher Chicago West Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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Sai Values HOW TO HANDLE A DIFFICULT PERSON “This is Advaita in practice. Treat all as Swami and yourself too as Swami. The difficulty is when the other Swami is behaving badly. At that time, you remain the good Swami.” - Baba

This photograph of “Two Swamis” was published in an article in the March 2016 edition of Sanathana Sarathi written by an alumnus of Sathya Sai University, C. Gopal Rao. In the article, the author states that Swami had materialized the photo for him when he was a student. I learned that Swami had actually materialized 30 of these photos for not only this student alone, but for all of His students in the “group”. In fact, His love was such that He materialized one of this photo for a student who was not present due to illness. So, we can surmise that this photo is intended for all of Swami’s students, young and old alike, around the whole world, and thus is very important. A Chinese saying states, “A picture says a thousand words.” This picture is a visual demonstration of how to communicate lovingly with whomever we come in contact with. We can communicate lovingly with all by visualizing Swami (Who we love in our heart of hearts) as the other person. Our words can actually become a form of service, as Swami has lovingly reminded us to “speak soft and sweet words to all.” The challenge, of course, for us to do this, is when the other “Swami” we are communicating with is misbehaving. We all have had interactions with people at one time or the other behaving inappropriately. There are often these kinds of challenges in our families, school, work, and even our Sai Centers. While it is tempting to respond by impulse and sink to the other person’s level of misbehavior, we can instead take this as a test of our resolution to stick to our values, and choose instead to respond from our “Swami Self,” that is, with Pure Love. This “Advaita in practice” is the simple, day-to-day method of bringing us deeper and deeper into Oneness with Sai, the Path we are all on. It will take daily spiritual practice until it gradually becomes natural instinct. The quote on the top was what Swami said when handing the materialized picture. We never know how our behavior will ultimately impact others in the long run. One loving communication from us can have a “ripple effect” and possibly change a whole day for an individual or a family member who is struggling with a turbulent inner life of unspoken despair, grief, stress, sadness, fear, or anxiety. Let’s all remember the tale of the “two Swamis” as we go forward communicating with others in our day to day lives!

Sai Blossoms – Third Quarter, 2017

JEFF LUCAS President North Central Region Chicago West Sai center Email us your Feedback

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Beloved soul: Retain thy true God-given originality Not imitating Maya laden humanity Do not lose your special identity Confusing the Creator's creativity Unique are your innate noble qualities Standing apart with supreme realities Enjoy the gift of entrusted personality Bestowed on you by Sai with generosity Blessed are you with strength potent Silently spreading our Swami's intent Perfectly chosen to be an instrument With melodious music to His content

Finish your mission with concentration Leaving aside dangerous diversion Wearing the shield of Namasmarana Sowing the seeds for eternal nirvana

SSE Group 1 Teacher

Detroit Metro Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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EFFECTIVE LISTENING SKILLS ON THE PART OF PARENTS The quality of communication plays an important role in determining relationships between any two individuals. Listening is a major part of communication. Parent group’s workshop sessions held at Detroit Metro Sai Center in April 2017 focused on the subject of effective listening. Presented herewith is a summary of the outcome of the sessions. We quote below selected information from two books on the importance of “Active Listening”. “Sathya Sai Parenting” by Rita Bruce: Many teenagers or young adults complain that their parents are not listening to them. The “quality” of listening certainly contributes to this predicament. Our youth are extremely sensitive; they need recognition during this phase of life to establish their own identity and to be comfortable at school, society, and at home. Our Swami Himself is a great example in listening. When a student or adult talks to Swami in darshan, Swami gives all His attention to the person. He sometimes leans closer to hear, if necessary. “Sai Baba’s Mahavakya on Leadership” Lt. Gen. M. L. Chibber: Watching our listen/talk ratio is sound advice to become a good listener. Listen with ears and observe body language with eyes. Even nature has a design in the listen-talk ratio; it gives two ears to a person, but only one mouth! Listening has three ingredients: The physical process of hearing what the other person is saying. Comprehending what the person is saying; it demands undivided attention. Remembering what you listen to; it’s only possible if the previous two steps have happened. The individual groups in the breakout sessions came up with DO’s and DON’Ts of active listening. Following is a consolidation of the points under the two categories. DO’s OF ACTIVE LISTENING: 1. Make eye contact with the child. 2. Listen with the intent to understand, rather than focusing on how to reply. 3. Listen with full attention. 4. Pay special attention to the emotional content of the conversation and try to understand their feelings.

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5. Listen with ears and observe body language with eyes (since communication is generally 20% words, 30% tone and 50% body language). 6. Let the child complete first. 7. Repeat back (rephrase) what was said. 8. Comprehend what was said. 9. The parent needs to have the ability to admit his/her mistake when called for. 10. Listen with an open mind. 11. Ask clarifying questions, when necessary. 12. Listen without prejudice or being critical. 13. Listen with love, sincerity, and sympathy. Show compassion and understanding. 14. Listen patiently with your heart and put yourself in their shoes. 15. Hear, understand, and then reply. Try to be sympathetic. 16. Acknowledge the issue(s) and try to come up with a solution, perhaps involving the child. 17. First calm them down if they are very upset about something, comfort them with kind words and a hug so that they feel the warmth and feel valued. 18. Give them ample time. 19. Seek permission from them to finish what you are doing, so that you can give them undivided attention. This gives both of you time to calm your emotions. 20. Find a quiet place for the conversation, as needed. 21. Remember to give your 100% while listening, only then you can give the best of yours. 22. Take time and effort for follow-up as necessary or promised. 23. Take some notes, if needed.

DON’TS OF ACTIVE LISTENING: 1. Don’t be looking at your cell phone while listening. Put it away. Stop whatever you are doing and focus. 2. Don’t interrupt or try to finish your children’s sentences. 3. Don’t brush them off. Do not dismiss what they are saying. Do not make assumptions or have pre-conceived notions.

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4. Don’t think that parent is always smarter and knows more than the child. Do not pretend to be a know-it-all. (There are new/unfamiliar issues for their age group/country/culture, etc.) 5. Don’t be judgmental or critical. 6. Don’t lose temper when hearing things that you don’t agree with. 7. Don’t give advice in between or jump to conclusions. 8. Don’t be rushed for time. 9. Don’t be distracted between kids. 10. Don’t have your mind already made up to say “NO!”. 11. Don’t be overly parental and answer with advice, when not warranted. SOME BENEFITS OF ACTIVE LISTENING (AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION): It boosts children’s confidence and trust in parents and makes children share their thoughts and feelings. It helps to develop mutual respect between parents and children. Active listening is an opportunity to tend love to the children. It makes for good bonding. It helps to reduce stress in the relationship between parents and children. By practicing active listening, parents set good example for children to follow. Good listening skills will be good for them at home, school, and everywhere. In conclusion, each parent should take an inventory of their habits in an honest manner by going over Do’s and Don’ts listed in this article. We need to check those undesirable listening habits that we are sometimes consciously or unconsciously committing when communicating with our children. By consciously practicing effective listening and communication in the family, love and peace will result and our precious children will blossom into healthy, happy, and successful individuals.

NARASIMHAM NISTALA SSE Coordinator & Teacher Detroit Metro Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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Let me practice spirituality with power and humility I belong to the mighty Ocean of Love, yet I am a tiny wave I emanate from the most brilliant Star, yet I am a single ray I am part of the Universal Consciousness, yet I am a miniscule cell In Him I am infinite, alone infinitesimal I have all His qualities to remain powerful

And yet have reasons to always be humble. Let me practice spirituality with power and humility Power over my own thoughts, words and actions

Power over my own attitude and perceptions Power to remain calm amidst violent storms Humility with the divine in all human forms Humility in thoughts, governing my personal laws Humility in admitting others’ strengths and my own flaws. Let me practice spirituality with power and humility I see the core of every person with clarity Pure and divine, part of the same Supreme Reality Every soul deserves love, respect and acceptance Irrespective of acquired layers of imperfections For there is a diamond to be emerged within each one With power, humility and effort from self, and blessings from the Higher One.

Former SSE Teacher Detroit Metro Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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Mind & Spirit

“I AM GOD” – MY FAVORITE SONG During the Christmas celebration in 2005, devotees from Region 8 (Southern California & Hawaii) made a pilgrimage to Prasanthi Nilayam. We had a professional choir director, Maryalice Jessup, so we contacted our best singers from the Region and took a program to be presented to the Lord. He invited us to sing on December 26th and after we presented the program, we were asked to lead bhajans. I had the privilege to lead "I Am God" bhajan. (The photos below have me singing and Swami listening).

I am God, I am God, I am no different from God I am the Infinite Supreme, the One Reality I am Sachchidananda Swarupa I am Om Tat Sat Om I am Love, I am Truth, I am Peace eternally I am ever pure delight, I am always full and free Fear or grief can never touch me I am Om Tat Sat Om

Swami enjoyed watching us sing. He lifted His hand in rhythm, and smiled at me so very sweetly. After the program, when we went to the Western Canteen for dinner, I was greeted at the door by a lady and she said to me seriously, "I liked your bhajan, but you really had your nerve to sing 'I Am God' in front of God." We laughed and went on our way.

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But think about that statement. Our dear Lord has told us many times to repeat "I Am God, I Am God". And, in this sweet bhajan, we are repeating the thought over and over, "I Am God, I Am God". So, let us not be ashamed to sing this bhajan over and over, but, most importantly, to believe it and experience it. Let’s see what Swami says on this subject, with some elaboration:

“You are Brahma, the Creator; you are Vishnu; you are Shiva; you are Guru; Guru is not separate from you. You are everything. Let your concentration not waver. Let it be steadily fixed on your goal. Be one a student, a celibate, a householder, or a renunciant, the goal is one and the same for all. Contemplate on the principle of “So-hum” that your inner voice teaches. Say “Aham Brahmaasmi” (I am God). There is nothing wrong in this statement. Some people have a mistaken notion that to say so is a sign of ahamkara (egoism). Consider yourself as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. That is not ego at all. It is your right. With the right of divinity within you, what is the point of feeling that you are simply a human? To think that you are a mere human being amounts to demeaning yourself. You are the embodiments of God. Develop such faith and become God.” -Baba (Reference: Guru Poornima Discourse, July 24, 2002) BERNIECE MEAD Former National SSE Coordinator Mission Viejo, CA Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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Precious Health RAW GARLIC -- A POWERFUL HERB A garlic clove a day keeps the doctor away! Amidst our busy schedules, what we don’t want is to go down with cough or cold, or anything worse. We are supposed to use prudence in food choices and have an active life that includes exercise. Whether all that happens or not quite well, we ask, are there certain things that can be done to keep immune system in good shape? Mother Nature has made herbs that provide our body with extra power to fight foreign organisms (virus, bacteria, etc.) and also assist in various other functions. In this article, we focus on a simple and an extremely powerful herb, GARLIC, that is very much present in every kitchen. Garlic is called a natural antibiotic, antiviral, and antifungal and carries with it some amazing healing properties. You might say that we do use garlic in cooking but please be informed that its power is much diminished because of cooking. Here we are talking about using garlic in raw form for the astounding health benefits. Garlic contains a compound called allicin that carries with it great health benefits but cooking garlic destroys allicin and thus disables great medicinal properties of it.

Garlic bulb and separated, peeled cloves

The taste and smell issues of raw garlic have reasonable solutions. The best things in life are usually not straightforward and require certain amount of disciplined effort; consumption of raw garlic is no exception.

Selected health benefits of raw garlic are as follows:  Garlic gives more power to the immune system for the wide-ranging benefits, such as: o Preventing cold and other infections o Helping to come out of infections, including cold, rather quickly o Reducing the likelihood of cancers  Garlic reduces blood pressure in people who have high blood pressure (hypertension).  Garlic reduces LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.  Garlic helps detoxify heavy metals from the body.

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And now described below are methods of consuming raw garlic: Chop one clove and take it down with water. There is no need to chew it. Crush one clove and drink it down with water. Make a chutney with it, optionally including other ingredients, such as cilantro or ginger. Consume along with a meal. Add honey to chopped/crushed garlic and eat it. Make garlic pickles at home and consume with meals. Consume chopped/crushed garlic mixed with curd. Soak some chopped garlic in boiled milk (and then remove from stove). Add some raw sugar to it. Drink this “garlic milk” at bedtime. An average sized clove taken daily (or on alternate days) suffices for prevention. However, curing an ailment requires consumption three times a day, each time one or two average sized clove(s). Some other forms of consumption of garlic with reduced benefit, yet recommended as alternatives, are: ▪

Taking garlic capsules or tablets.

▪

Taking garlic powder with water or in other ways.

▪

Consuming “Aged Garlic Extract” which can also be purchased from stores.

If garlic is taken at bedtime or along with dinner, then the breath issue next day should be absent. There is a notion that garlic is a rajasic food and not good for spiritual aspirants. When asked that question, Swami simply said, “Do consume garlic and onion for their medicinal properties.” We can also think along the following lines in this regard:  What meaning there is in spiritual progress if we carry around a sick body? Health is first.  Instead of removing garlic and onion, we should minimize harmful rajasic and tamasic foods such as fried foods, old foods, and any average food in excessive quantity.  We should consume satvic foods for the most part.  We should do spiritual sadhanas promoting satvic qualities in us such as Namasmarana, singing bhajans, doing meditation, etc. In the past, I have advised numerous adults and children to consume raw garlic and results have been truly extraordinary in removing infections and other health issues. My personal experience also testifies the benefits.

RAJ PRAKASH Editor Detroit Metro Sai Center Email us your Feedback

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THE DIVINE CREATOR Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the Divine Creator And no power in the universe is greater Adorning His Head is a golden halo He’s the Source of all light and glow The entire world is in His Divine Hand Everything we do is only by His command With love infinite, He looks after His Creation And looks upon His devotees with admiration (Poem by) SARANYA NISTALA Student Editor Detroit Metro Sai Center Email us your Feedback

CAPTION CONTEST FROM THE PREVIOUS ISSUE The winning entry as a caption to the above picture is: THE WORLD IS A TOY IN THE PALM OF SWAMI'S HAND. EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS ON IT IS PURELY A PART OF HIS GAME. This winning caption was sent by:

ANVESHA GURU SSE Group 2 Student Milwaukee, WI Sai Center

EDITORIAL STAFF Email us your Feedback

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Sai Trivia “SAI-DOKU” (A Sudoku Puzzle) Four ingredients for a good life are God, love, joy, and peace. They can exist in any order and can enter an individual’s life in any way, but they are necessary to live life to its fullest. For now, instead of attaining them, let’s just do a Sudoku with them. The rules are the same as any other Sudoku puzzle, but instead of working with numbers, this puzzle works with words. Solve the puzzle so that each of the four blocks in the solid square (“box”) contains all four of the words: GOD, LOVE, JOY, and PEACE. Each word must appear once and only once in each box, row, column, and diagonal. Do not simply guess, but use logic to solve this Sudoku-like puzzle. The solution to this puzzle along with the names of those who got it correct will be published in the next issue.

Please scan or take a photo of the completed Sai-doku puzzle and send to Sai Blossoms email address. SSE

SHAILY FOZDAR

students, YAs, and adults -- all are requested to take part.

Student Editor

Names of the participants providing the correct solution

Editor

will be published in the next issue. The deadline for receiving the solution is Wednesday, October 25.

Detroit Metro Sai Center

Sai Blossoms – Third Quarter, 2017

RAJ PRAKASH

Email us your Feedback

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SAI TRIVIA FROM THE PREVIOUS ISSUE Crossword of Swami’s Quotes Down God is all Names and all forms. 1. _______ W words , and deeds will shape WO R L 2. Your thoughts, ________ R others and theirs will shape you. D I S Patience is all the strength that man needs. 3. __________ S S D Immortality is the fruit of sacrifice. 7. ____________ S E R V E C Self . 8. The wise are those who know the _____ L S destiny in his own hands. 9. Each man carries his _______ F T E A C H food I 13. Too much ______ results in dullness of mind. F P I I N N O O love , the end of 14. The end of knowledge is _______ O Y M education is character. A P H D man is the only means by 16. The service of ______ N which you can serve GOD. J simple and sincere. 18. Be ________

Across world next; myself last. 4. GOD first; the ________ 5. The beauty of life depends upon our good Sai habits . _________ Discipline is the mark of intelligent living. 6. ___________ serve all. 10. Love all, _______ company is important, it helps to 11. Good __________ cultivate good qualities. teachers of tomorrow are the students 12. The _________ of today. opinion and 15. Always respect another’s _______ another’s point of view. happiness lies within you. 17. Real ___________ joy that we cause in the heart of 19. The ____ GOD is the only worthwhile achievement.

G O D

P H A B I T S T C I P L I N E E M P A M N Y O O C E R S E T L A O V L P I N E S S I T M O Y P L E

Names of those who provided correct solution follow: Sarita Kachroo (SSE Teacher, Minneapolis South Sai Center) Varalakshmi Kanduru (SSE Teacher, Detroit Metro Sai Center) Narasimham Nistala (SSE Coordinator, Detroit Metro Sai Center) Note: Unfortunately, no responses were received from SSE students. EDITORIAL STAFF Email us your Feedback

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A Small Story

Buds Corner

A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands. Her mum came in and softly asked her daughter with a smile, “My sweetie, could you give your mum one of your two apples?” The girl looked up at her mum for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other. The mum felt the smile on her face freeze. She tried hard not to reveal her disappointment. Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apples to her mum, and said, “Mummy, here you are. This is the sweeter one.” We invite mothers of SSE Group 1 students to take part in an Article Contest on the topic of moral for this story. The due date for making a submission to the editors is Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Articles, in prose or poetry form, should be between 100 and 500 words in length. You may include a real-life story of yours in the article.

– Editorial Staff

(Artwork by) AASHIKA EK Grade 9 Student Troy, MI Email us your Feedback

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Gentle Lord, We Crave the Bliss of Your Darshan

SWAMI COME! Let Your Radiance Surround Us, Touching Everyone.

We pray to be blessed with the Darshan of Divine Face And to continue to spread the Glory, by Your loving Grace. Digital Art by Sreejith Narayan, Bridgewater Sai Center, NJ

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