SaiRam Dear Members. Please find below the latest Sri Sathya Sai Center of Loudoun Newsletter.
Please join us with family and friends in offering our Mother's Day Devotional Offerings and SSSE Classes at Swami's Lotus feet on May 12 2024 Sunday @ Hovatter Elementary School in Aldie – 41135 Collaboration Dr, Aldie, VA 20105. Please see detailed program schedule in Devotional Section.
Registration is still open for Region 2 Memorial Day Retreat with 10$ late fee till May 17 2024. Camp stay is full. Registration link available below.
More Details about Devotional, SSSE, and Seva Activities below.
SRI SATHYA SAI GLOBAL COUNCIL – ZONE1 (USA- REGION 2)
A Warm and Loving Sai Ram Dear Members,
Hope you all had a divine and wonderful week with Swami's Grace!
With the divine blessing of Swami, our SSSE children offered an awesome program on the occasion of Easwaramma Day at the Center last Sunday May 5th! The program titled 'EMBRACE & IMMERSE & REJOICE in His Teachings' was all about the Human Values that Swami taught (“Being Truthful”, “Discriminate”, “Compassion”, “Love All Serve All”) and theme went well with the Mother's Day coming up this weekend. The program involved music, singing, dance, acting, props and many more. Kudos all our Gurus, Parents and Volunteers who worked hard to put this offering of love together. We will share all the lovely pictures and videos of the program very soon.
This Sunday, May 12th – We will be celebrating Mother’s Day at Hovatter Elementary School with our lovely sisters offering Bhajans.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all wonderful Mothers in Our Center and Across the World 🙏.
We eagerly look forward to seeing all of you this SUNDAY, May 12th @ Hovatter Elementary School at 9:45 AM EST
Please Note and mark your calendars, We have major events lined up at the Center, Regional and National during the next couple of months.
See below for important details.
Please find this week's Centre Newsletter, updates from all wings (Devotion, SSSE, Seva & YA) along with Center Calendar for May 2024 and Zonal/National and Regional updates.
SSSCL – Devotional Session on May 12th (Mother’s Day) with Satsang followed by Ladies offering Bhajans @ Hovatter Elementary School from 9:45 AM.
Tentative Agenda:
09:00 AM – 09:45 AM: Setup (Please join if available)
09:45 AM – 10:50 AM: 21 OMs, Chanting 108 Names of Bhagavan Ashtothram, Swami Darshan Video, Satsang, Practice Shivopasana .
10:50 AM – 11:20 AM: Ladies Bhajans offering on occasion of Mother’s day and Closing Prayers.
In Person Bhajan workshop with Br. Krishna Prayaga has been postponed to September 2024 (Date TBD) from May 12th.
SSSCL – Bhagawan’s 99th Birthday Bhajans on Sat, June 1st: Please mark your calendars to join in offering 99 Bhajans as part of Bhagawan’s 99th Birthday Celebrations on Saturday June 1st, 2024, Timings – 10AM EST @ Sister Saradha & Brother Raghavendra Srinivasan’s residence. See below Flyer.
Tentative Agenda:
09:45 AM – 10:00 AM – Silent Meditation
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM – YA’s/Adults Assigned Bhajans
*Sadhana Hour – SSSGC USA – National Devotional Initiative for Bhagawan’s Centennial Birthday celebrations. Please participate by joining these sessions.
Sadhana hour is scheduled for Tonight Friday, May 10th. Brother Ravi Mariwalla will continue with the study circle session on the topic “Practice & Inspire”.
SSSCL – Regular SSSE Classes on Sunday May 12th @ Hovatter Elementary School from 9:30 AM EST onwards.
Regional Retreat Memorial Day weekend, May 24th – May 27th: If anyone is interested in joining Regional Retreat, please register and reach out to Sister. Sai Neeraja @ sse@loudounsai.org
Upcoming Events and Dates:
Regional Retreat Memorial Day Weekend : May 24th – May 27th, 2024.
SSSE Graduation Day : Sunday, June 2nd, 2024 @ Hovatter Elementary School.
Any questions on SSSE related activities please reach out to SSSE coordinator, Sister Sai Vajra Neeraja @ sse@loudounsai.org
SaiRam
SEVA UPDATES
Month of May 2024 Seva Activities
*Narayana Seva: Dinner at Reston Shelter (May 18)**
Desc: Prepare and serve dinner at Reston Shelter located at: 11975 Bowman Towne Dr, Reston, VA 20190 on Saturday, May 18th, 2024.
We express our immense gratitude to Dearest Swami in launching the “100 Acts of Kindness” National Sri Sathya Sai Global Council-USA Young Adult Service Project: a Heartfelt YA Service Offering to Our Dearest Swami, On Occasion of Swami's Holy Centennial Birthday Celebrations!
We envision every YA across the U.S. to fulfill at least 100 acts of kindness each, leading up to Swami’s Centennial Celebrations in November 2025. Partaking in this service sadhana is a special opportunity to offer our deepest gratitude to Swami through our unity of thought, word, and deed.
“Acts of kindness” could be leaving a kind thank you note, giving a small token of appreciation to the local fire station or custodial staff, spending time with the elderly, or just taking the time to smile and listen to others! It is any act of selflessness that promotes positivity and looking outwards to “see the Sai in all.” Each time you partake in an act of kindness, kindly log in your service experience through this brief Google Form: https://forms.gle/uVmgmYhhqGWdfK4b6.
Through this Google Form, we hope to collect an abundance of heartfelt reflections that can be compiled and expressed in a final offering for Swami’s 100th Birthday. It will be inspiring to read about the diversity of service projects and acts of kindness completed by all of us YAs, through a spirit of unity and teamwork.
The 100 Acts of Kindness Service Project is simply a goal, as the magnitude of our devotion and love cannot be quantified for our Dearest Swami! Let us all join together in offering these service acts of kindness to our Dearest Swami and may we experience His infinite love and grace.
Sri Sathya Sai Global Young Adults Conference will be held at the Divine Abode – Prasanthi Nilayam from 12th to 14th July 2024 with the theme is “Reconnect, Recharge, Rejoice in SAI Love”.
The link contains information about the program, the registration link and other relevant details. Additional information is contained in the attached flyer and video.
If you have any questions and (or) looking for more YA updates, please reach out to our Female YA Rep Varsha Rao @ yafrep@loudounsai.org and Male YA Rep Arjun Sundaram @ yamrep@loudounsai.org
Sai Ram
SSSGC's Regional, National and Zonal Updates
Updates from DMV & Region 2 Centers:
None
SSSGC (USA) – Region 2 Updates:
We are pleased to announce that our Registration for Annual Memorial Day Retreat – Final Deadline is 17th May 2024.There will be no walk-ins or onsite registration.
Huge Thank you to all members from our Center who have registered for this Year’s Retreat(89 members registered in total), those who are interested and available please do sign up.
Time and Dates: 5 PM 24th May (Friday) to 12 PM 27th May 2024 (Monday).
Location: Camp Green Lane (249 Camp Green Lane Rd, Green Lane, PA 18054).
See Below last year Retreat Memories video
Sadhana Initiatives for all devotees/centers in our region 2 as a collective/individual offering to our beloved Bhagawan on his 99th Birthday and Centenary celebrations. Our Region 2 Devotional Coordinator Krishna Prayaga in collaboration with Our SSSGC Region 2 Center Devotional Coordinators formulated the following.
Individual/Family Sadhana:
– Chant “Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavanthu” at least 9 times a day.
– Chant any or all of these Mantras at least 9 times a day
“Om Sri Sai Ram”, “Gayatri Mantra”, “Sai Gayatri” or “Mrutyunjaya Mantra”.
– Read Tapovanam once a month (Read the whole book in a day/week or a chapter a week, according to convenience/preference).
– Likhita Japa – Write “Om Sri Sairam '' at least for 9 minutes a day. ( The books will be collected and sent to Parthi to be used for Vibhuti Packaging.)
– Learn 9 New Bhajans before November 2024
– At Least for 9 minutes a day Read Swami’s Literature, Listen to Swami’s Speeches or devotees experiences about Swami