“Sanctify your life by chanting Gayatri Mantra” – Study Circle / 95 Sadhana (95 Sai Gayatri), Center Meeting, Sunday, June 7th 2020 

As usual we will have our regular Bhajans from 2 PM followed by Study Cirlce “Sanctify Your Life By Chanting Gayatri Mantra” from 2:30 PM .

The International Sai Organization is hosting “Akhanda Gayatri Chanting” for 24 hrs on weekend of June 13th and 14th. Details will be sent on a separate email. On the occasion of the upcoming chanting, we will be focusing on the importance of chanting Gayatri mantra by Bhagawan as part of our this weekend study circle.

Sanctify Your Life By Chanting Gayatri Mantra

This is the most auspicious moment of your life. Human life can be compared to a four storeyed mansion. The four storeys correspond to four stages of man’s life, namely, Brahmacharya, Grihastha,Vanaprastha and Sanyasa (celibate, householder,recluse and renunciant). Today you are laying the foundation of the mansion of your life. The safety and security of the mansion is assured once you make the foundation strong and sturdy. Man has four births. His first birth takes place from his mother’s womb. He gets a second life when he is initiated into the Gayatri mantra. His third birth occurs when he studies the Vedas. He becomes a Brahmin when he recongnises the principle of Brahman. This is his fourth birth. One becomes a Brahmin not merely by birth, but by knowing the nature of Brahman. For this, chanting of Gayatri Mantra is very essential. Man is the embodiment of all gods. In fact, the gross form of the food that man consumes refers to the principle of Brahma. On this basis, it is said, “Annam Brahma, Raso Vishnu” (food is Brahma and the essence is Vishnu). The subtle form of the food denotes the principle of Vishnu. The subtlest form symbolizes the principle of Easwara. The gross part of the food strengthens the body. The subtle part of the food strengthens the mind; the subtlest part of the food purifies the speech. So, food plays a vital role in strengthening and purifying the body, mind and speech.

Gayatri Is The Mother Of The Vedas

Gayatri is sarvadevata swarupini and sarva-mantra swarupini (embodiment of all gods and all mantras). It is said, Gayatri Chhandasam Matha, meaning Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas. There is no need to chant any other mantra if you chant the Gayatri mantra. Gayatri has three names: Gayatri,Savitri and Saraswati. Gayantham Trayate ithi Gaya-tri (Gayatri protects the one who recites it). Gayatri is the master of the senses. Savitri is the presiding deity of the life principle. When Gayatri acts as the protector of life force, she is known as Savitri. You might have heard the story of Savitri, a woman of chastity, who brought her dead husband, Sathyavan, back to life with the power of her prayer. Savitri protects those who lead a life of Sathya(truth). This is the inner meaning. Saraswathi is the presiding deity of speech. Man has to earn the grace of Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati to sanctify his life. First and foremost, man has to purify his speech. Only then will his life be safe and secure. If you slip and fall, the injury can be cured, but the injury caused by the slip of the tongue is incurable. It will make your life miserable. So, you should have control over your speech. Excessive talk will lead to untruth and unpleasantness. That is why the ancient saints and seers used to observe silence. You can uphold truth and attain fame only by talking less. Limited talk will confer happiness. Excessive talk will put to grave dangers. Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati are latent in everybody. Bhur,  Bhuvah and Suvah in the Gayatri mantra refer to body (materialization), life-force(vibration) and soul (radiation). Bhur means Bhuloka(the earth), which is nothing but the combination of materials. This denotes the human body, which is also a combination of materials. Bhuvah refers to the life-force, which makes the body vibrate. Suvah refers to Prajnana Shakti, which sustains the life-force. This Prajnana Shaktiis known as Constant Integrated Awareness.  This is also termed as radiation. All the three, namely,  materialization, vibration and radiation are present in man.  I tell you often, you are not one, but three—the one you think you are (physical body), the one others think you are (mental body) and the one you really are (Atma). – SSS, Vol 33
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Please join the session.

Note: Daily Prayers common conference call is scheduled daily at 8 PM. For those who wish to join daily at 8 PM please see the details.
Dial-in number: (712) 775-7465 | Participant Code: 209737

Note: While joining if it prompts for entering password please enter 10081008

Where can we be seated?
1. Please ensure that you and your family members appropriately assemble at your own home altar.
2. Ensure that your laptop (see below requirements) is also visible to all of you.
3. Ensure that you all are seated at the altar comfortably and also joined into the meeting.
4. Ensure NO background noise of any kind is present as much as possible. If not, please kindly mute your phone or go to a silent room where the noise is near zero.

How do we log in?
1. Please log in by clicking the links above.
2. If all of your family members are together then we suggest to limit to one login and one laptop to join the meeting.
3. If you are assigned singer, then please ensure you log in separately using either another laptop or your phone or ipad.
4. If one of your family member is not with you, then have them log in by themselves separately.
5. Ideally one login per house, excluding singer logins.

When can I turn on my Video Cam?
1. Only by lead singers when they are leading a bhajan (optional)
2. Only when Arathi is being done.
3. We are requesting to hide your video cam for the rest of the time in order to ensure that we all have a better experience in terms of audio quality and reduced latency (lag).

When to Mute and When Not to Mute my Audio?
1. During 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM – Please mute your self
2. During assigned bhajans 2:00 – 2:40 pm: All will be muted by default only the lead singers will be un-muted as needed when they lead bhajans.
3. During Closing Prayers 2:40 – 3:00 PM: You can un-mute and you will follow with others. Some we will play recorded chanting and you can provide chorus along.
4. During Bhajan Workshop 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM: Please mute your audio and when needed you can un-mute as it will be a bit interactive session.

How will the bhajans be rendered? (Note: After various options finally we will have the lead singer to render the first line and as well render the chorus by themselves or their family members while all of us will join during the chorus (this is done to reduce the latency (lag). At the same time we will have harmonium / tabla played).

1. We will pre-assign bhajan singers and the order will be known.
2. Lead singers are expected to join separately by themselves using cell phones or land line.
3. We will try to have limited instruments where possible to maintain the beat, if not we will just use clapping.
4. We will follow regular sunday pattern of slides, that will be shared on the screen.
5. Since to make it more touching, we can request lead singers to enable video cam so they can be seen while singing bhajan (optional).
6. Closing Prayers will be lead by assigned singer while all of us will render together..
7. Vibhuthi Mantram is lead by designated singer, please ensure you have vibhuthi at your altar and ensure that your family members get the same.

By Who and How will Arathi be given?
1. When we start arathi, we request all devotees to do arathi at their altars.
2. We will have arathi’s offered by all devotees at their homes at the same time. So please be ready with deepam / or others.
3. During this time you can all show your video camera so we can all see all arathi’s that are done at the same time.

NOTE: Please kindly forgive and excuse us if this does not meet with your standards. We know this cannot mimic the real time bhajans session or center meeting but this ensures that we all are wired at the same time to the divine. We will take feed back and continue to improvise for next meetings.