Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publication Trust

In the vast infinity of eternal bliss, The One without a second, formless and attributeless, He from whom all this has emanated and in whom all this resides and in whom all this will return, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, has descended into our conscious perception. Sages of yore had yearned even for a glimpse of the eternal principle absolute. Thus how fortunate are we, the youth who are born in the time of, have been in the presence of, and have the opportunity to serve Him, The One for whom the stars offer their sparkle and for whom the roses dedicate their fragrance.

What fragrance of ours are we to offer our Beloved Bhagawan? It is the blossoming of our human values of truth, right conduct, love, peace and non-violence that we can offer Him. It is the surrender of our ego, the sublimation of all our desires in one all consuming desire to attain Him, that we should have the humility to offer. He is calling us to His eternal Kingdom – Sat, Chit, Ananda – the Paramathma. He is here to safely ferry us across the ocean of worldly existence. Are we heeding His call?

When before has God walked across the sands of time, leaving His fragrant footprints for us to follow, in such a loving and caring way for all His children across the Earth? The world is at cross-roads, with the climatic effects of global warming gathering pace and war and hatred bringing tears to our Mother Earth. It is at this critical juncture in the history of the planet that the Supreme Absolute is calling His children to His Lotus Feet to receive His love and grace.

The Sri Sathya Sai World Youth Conference is the third World Youth Conference (the first two having taken place in 1997 and 1999). Swami always asks His students – are you ready? We, as the youth of the world, must ask ourselves are we ready to become the beacons of light and love for whom the world has awaited? History is HIS-Story and His life is His message. But, do the example of our lives, of our character and conduct truly and sincerely match up to the message of our Divine Mother and Father, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba?

The youth have been preparing for the Conference by adhering to an intensive Sadhana programme resplendent with 9 spiritual disciplines:

Daily practice of Namasmarana
Reading Swami’s discourses/books and conducting weekly study circles
Engaging in Selfless Service activity as a group;
Practice of dietary discipline
Learning to speak softly and to speak less
Taking active part in Sai centres
Improving communication and interacting respectfully with parents
Practising ceiling on desires by not wasting food, money, energy and time
Practising daily meditation and prayer.Also for the Conference, an Exhibition has been organised by youth from all over the world, including those unable to physically attend the Conference. The theme of the Exhibition is the sadhana programme that the youth have been following. Countries have been working together to create an artistic representation of each of the spiritual disciplines to inspire the youth as to how Swami’s teachings are being practised by different cultures around the globe. What is unique about this Exhibition is that youth from around the world have been working in harmony and unity – transcending geography, culture and religious faith – in a labour of love and as an offering to Bhagawan.

As part of the conference several workshops will be held during which a panel of distinguished speakers has been selected to speak and inspire the youth. The workshop themes that will be discussed during the conference are:

The Divine Presence of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba during our lifetime (source, sustenance and goal, His life, His message; His Works; Living in His Presence Always);

Spiritual Transformation (Transformation not Information, Selfless Service for Self-Realisation, Educare – Transformation, Control of senses and the mind);

Youth – the Spiritual Significance (attributes of youth – Ideal Sai youth, balancing career and personal lives for men and women, understanding and living with Human Values, Understanding and Living with Devotion, Discipline, Dedication, Determination and Discrimination);

Sri Sathya Sai Organisation and Youth (True Satsang and the importance of Company, programmes of Sai Organisation and Youth participation – devotion, service and educational, leadership in a spiritual organisation, youth recommendations to the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation on how to improve content, execution and administration of all programmes).

In the same way that the vanaras (monkeys) got to apparently help Rama by constructing a bridge to rescue Sita, the Sai youth of today need to follow the stepping stones of Bhagawan’s teachings in order to save the planet from the chaos that our monkey minds have created.

Our goal is to become Ideal Sai Youth, Messengers of Sai Love to help light the lamp of love in the heart of humanity, to help awaken the Divinity inherent in humankind and to bring the world together as one family under the Fatherhood of God.

What we are learning through the process of getting ready for this Conference is that we all need to work together in harmony, to have full faith in Bhagawan to meet all challenges that we have to face, and to offer all our love to Him. We are here to inspire each other to raise our consciousness from the human to the Divine by shifting our focus away from identification with our body and mind to our true reality as the eternal atma, embodiments of Divine Love.

On behalf of the youth of the world, we pray to Bhagawan that He blesses us in this Conference with His Love and Grace and guide our intellect along the correct path so that we may dedicate our lives in selfless service to Him so as to ensure that Dharma is restored and the world is transformed into a paradise of peace and love. Only then will our lives be sanctified as His unimaginable glory and magnificence becomes revealed to one and all.

Sri Sathya Sai World Youth Conference 2007

A Curtain Raiser