Dr Narendranath Reddy, Chairman of the Prasanthi Council of the Sri Sathya Sai International organization, headquartered in India, has for the first time visited Guyana.
The Sathya Sai International Organization (SSIO) is a free, non-denominational voluntary organisation based in 126 countries. Its members come from all faiths and share a common goal: “to reach the ultimate goal of realisation of their innate divinity by practising the teachings of love and service taught by their spiritual teacher, Sathya Sai Baba.”
The Prasanthi Council handles implementation and oversight of day-to-day functioning of the Sathya Sai International Organization.
Dr Reddy along with Zone 1 Chairman, for English and Dutch speaking countries within the Western Hemisphere, Dr Philip Gosselin in an interview with this media group on Saturday, discussed the organization and its mission in Guyana.
According to Dr Reddy, “I came here to see the good work that is being done by the members of the Sri Sathya Sai organization of Guyana…the main purpose is to meet with the devotees and officers of the organization and see the progress and enjoy being in their company.”
Moreover, commenting on the trip Dr Gosselin, whose last visit to Guyana was over five years ago, said that they were pleased with how the organization is being run in Guyana and expounded that “what we would really like is if Sathy Sai Baba our teacher, if more people knew about him and the human values that he espouses, the idea being that, all people of goodwill they can agree that, there are certain characteristics, certain values that we all share such as love, peace, truth, non-violence and right conduct and if the world really became unified behind those values, this world could be quite a different place.”
Touching on Education, one of the pillars of the organization Dr Reedy explained that ” this is all started by our founder Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, he started providing education at the primary school level which has blossomed from primary school education to the doctoral education, PHD, the education is provided completely free and the emphasis is not only on academic excellence but the character development in the individual.
“He wants a well rounded personality, not just having a degree to eking out a livelihood, but to be able to serve the society. His students and people who work with him are his exemplars…even though this was started in India, we now have educational institutes all over the world and we also have Sai schools all around the world which teach this value based education” said Dr Reddy.
At the core of the organization is the individual who believes in the assumption of personal responsibility for ethical transformation through selfless love and service. The membership is free and open to all.
It was outlined that individual seekers of love and peace, drawn by the experiences of friends and family members, come to their local or regional Sathya Sai centers for participation in weekly group spiritual singing together with other devotional and spiritual activities, and also to volunteer in regular service activities such as giving food to the needy, organizing medical camps and medical services, and other forms of civic volunteerism.
The SSIO consists of about 2000 Sathya Sai Centres. Centre activities are coordinated by voluntary organizational leaders working at regional, national and international levels according to the broad guidelines and ideas envisioned by the governing bodies of the organization, the Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation and Prashanthi Council.
Sathya Sai Baba left his physical body on 24 April 2011, but his legacy continues through his teachings and work of the SSIO.
Concluding his interview with this media group Dr Reddy said remember always “God is love, love is God, live in love and the very best you can do is start the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love this is the way to God.”
