We offer our Humble Pranams at the Divine Lotus Feet of OurBeloved Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Sairam,Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First and foremost, we offer our heartfelt gratitude to Beloved Swami for conferringon us this honor and opportunity to be part of His Mission by serving the SriSathya Sai Organization of Canada in our roles as Chair and Vice Chair.

We would also like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Sister Myriam for her outstanding and selfless service to the Sathya Sai Organization ofCanada for over three decades. Although she did this with selfless love for Bhagavan, her dedication and commitment have been truly remarkable.

As spiritual aspirants, we are all fortunate to have the Avatar of the age as our Guru who not only guided us personally during His sojourn on earth but also left behind a divine legacy to follow while He watches us in His Formless splendor.

We begin by reminding ourselves of thetrue objective of the Sri Sathya Sai Organization. As our beloved Bhagavan said "This is an Organization dedicated to the promotion of Universal Love. All the organizational units are being activated by One Divine Force. All are activated by One Principle. Resolve to identify it and experience it; then, thepurpose of the Organization is served."

Bhagavan says that the purpose of the Sai Organization as a whole is to awaken people to the Divinity inherent in them,to realize the unity in all, to foster Love, and to help its people regain self-confidence and faith in God. It is not intended to promote any religion but to lead people toward the understanding of the underlying spiritual principles present in all religions; to make a Hindu a better Hindu, a Christian a better Christian, a Jew a better Jew, a Muslim a better Muslim,etc. – meaning Truth (God) is one. The unity of all faith is the main plank of Sai Organizations. Moreover, Bhagavan has mentioned in almost all His divine discourses that our goal in life is to experience God in one way or another.

As members of the Canadian Sai Organization we should ask ourselves – Do the current programs and practices of our organization contribute to achieving this objective? If not, what should we do differently to better achieve this objective? We are a spiritual organization, not a religious one, with the key goal to help each other on the path toward experiencing Oneness.

The purpose of a Sai Center is to practice and exemplify the divine teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in order to encourage and assist people to lead genuine spiritual lives. The Sai Center strives to provide an environment where spiritual aspirants, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, nationality or race can assemble and learn from one another. We accomplish this by engaging in devotional, educational, and service programs embodying universal values as recommended by Swami.

More importantly, today Sai Centers should focus on the essential truths in Swami’s teachings that are the foundation for all the world’s major religions and should express those essential truths in ways that are consistent with local culture. Centers must reflect the fact that all religions teach one basic discipline. A Sai Center needs to be culturally relevant to the community it is located in. Any member of the local community who walks into our Sai Centre should feel comfortable not just verbally by a welcome committee, but also by the ambience of the Centre that is devoid of religious bias and rituals.

Thus,here are some questions we might consider in our study circles.

• How does the community perceive our Sai Centre?
• What first impressions are a visitor or guest likely to get fromour Sai Centre or regional meetings?
• Would a spiritual seeker visiting our Sai Centre feel comfortable,no matter what religion or cultural background they came from?
• Does our Sai Centre study many religions with the goal of seeingthat, at the core, they all reflect Bhagavan’s teachings?
• How is our demeanour and attitude as active members of the SaiCentre an example to emulate by newcomers?
• Have we been role models to our youth who will be the futureleaders of the Sai Organization?

Let us ponder on these and similar topics to become culturally relevant centers of spiritual excellence that live up to the name of its Beloved Founder.

Swami once told a surprised group of devotees, “My connection with each of you is direct. I have nothing to do with the Sai Organization. But I have given the Sai Organization under my name to you all as a tool to practice my teachings.” How profound a statement from our Dear Lord! If we cannot practice His teachings with one another as children of Sai, what are our chances of succeeding with strangers outside the organization?

Brothers and Sisters, we need your wholehearted and continued participation in the Sai Organization. We are one family. Let us see Swami in each other by making use of His formulae for a spiritual life: Love all, Serve all; Help ever, Hurt never. Let us feel His Nearness and His Dearness and rejoice - He is with us now and always will be.

We are on the threshold of Opportunity – opportunity to show Swami our Love inAction (not just words) that we are ready to live His Message and take His Divine Legacy forward.

Let us all join together to offer our most humble and heart-felt gratitude to Bhagavan for always guiding us and showering His choicest blessings on us.

“Be a humble instrument and let Divinity lead”

Our Loving Sai Ram to all,

Thayananthan Thayaparan
Chair, Canadian Sai Council

Mayur Pandya
Vice-Chair, Canadian Sai Council