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| 25th Dec. 2008:
Christmas morning is something very very special in terms of the schedule too in
Puttaparthi. Till a few years back, the Lord clad in pure and pristine white would
grant darshan to all the eagerly awaiting devotees from the shiny silver door
leading to the balcony in the mandir premises. Its been a few years since those
days, but the lovely taste and feelings of those beautiful mornings linger in the
hearts of the thronging thousands as they encircle the hallowed mandir premises
singing carols. M |
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The way the Christmas processions have progressed with each passing year has been
symbolic of a spiritual revolution happening the world over with His presence. Those
were the days when Swami would physically come up in the balcony to bless the
devotees. That has stopped now. The devotees would carry candles and sing hymns
glorifying the Father and His blessed Son Jesus. Today, the candles are absent and
carols are no longer restricted to "Christian" themes as they embrace all being sung
in the glory of the single God. The whole experience represents a movement from the
religious to the spiritual, a movement just like that of the procession that has
happened so gently and willingly. |
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| ore joy awaits the watching ones…this is the way to express the beautiful morning of 25th December. True to the feeling entailed in the expression, the Christamas morn indeed was brought forward from the previous evening wherein the spirit of the festivity was very much ringing in….and the beautiful morning had men and women clad in white singing His glory in the waking hours rounding the ashram and at the culmination they sang Christmas Carols for the Lord in the Mandir. Two screens that had been put up in the mandir played clips of the times when Swami would bless the thousands with candles and people rejoiced in that memory and the joy of the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. | ||
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Cakes The celebrations in the Divine
Presence got underway at 8:30 am with Swami's arrival from Yajur Mandir. There was a
procession by the members of the Nativity scene as Swami watched on. A few tiny tots
moved up to Swami offering Him flowers and Love. Swami smiled and blessed them.
Swami was in shiny white and the moment the hem of His robe was visible to the vast
gathering, a rapturous applause of glee moved through the entire Kulwant hall. The
Heavenly Father that He is, He was seated on a lovely golden throne and He entered
the hall forming the tail as well as the heart of the procession. Soon the
procession moved on and Swami was left back, moving slowly through the joyous
devotees. The Veda chanting was on and it was such a harmonious commingling of the
instrumental carols on the PA system and the Veda chanting by the students. We can
say with surety that such a Christamas will never be witnessed anywhere else in the
world. |
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| Swami completed the darshan rounds and then arrived in the portico. Several cakes and their makers awaited the Lord's attention. Swami smilingly moved from one cake to another, lighting the candles on them and gracing them with a gentle cut from the knives. Blessing all the cakes thus, Swami arrived on the dais. The whole hall was so beautifully decorated and lit up. Swami blessed the programnme to begin. The University brass band was the first to perform. It turned out to be a scintillating band display by the University boys. Some of the popular Christmas numbers namely, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reinder, Noel etc. were rendered to perfection by these well trained students. Swami kept tapping His hands in rhythm to the playing band. The audience too clapped in unison to some of the lively numbers. After about 5 pieces, Swami said that it was time now for the Primary school violins to take over. | ||
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Acknowledgement -
Source: photos, text etc. Our humble
thanks to all Sai friends for Sai Baba photos & textual matter,
particularly to www. sssbpt.org - www. sairadio.org for darshans & photo
material and all the other official
& public domain sources - Also, Various Sai
Baba groups ,Forums & individuals etc. In addition, submitted articles,
Darshan account, photos & Sai news by respective Sai devotees from all
over the globe & SBOI group members to Group Saibabaofindia &
www.Saibabaofindia.com website. |
Christmas 2008 Divine Discourse
