Sai Spiritual Education Conference 2015
The Sathya Sai International Organisation (SSIO) is holding the Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) Conference in Prasanthi Nilayam, during 1-3 August, 2015. About 500 delegates from nearly 50 countries, including SSE administrators, educators, trainers, Sathya Sai youth and SSIO officers have come together to share their expertise, experiences and best practices to further enhance the SSE programme worldwide.
This page has summaries of each day’s events as well as audio recordings from the conference. Please revisit this page during the conference dates for updates.
Use the links below to jump directly to a particular day:
August 1
Members of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation, and the Prasanthi Council opened the meeting by lighting a lamp. Mr. S.S. Naganand, Trustee of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust then addressed the audience, pointing out the importance of starting early with spiritual education.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Narendranath Reddy, Chairman of Prasanthi Council, emphasized Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s key teachings on Ideal Sathya Sai Education. Dr. Reddy also emphasized the importance of the ideal student, the ideal teacher and ideal parents.
Dr. Pal Dhall, Chairman of the Education Committee, clearly set the objectives of the conference, urging delegates to lay a solid foundation and establish a launching pad for the next phase of SSE.
The afternoon session was dedicated to workshops in seven core areas of SSE.
Audio Recordings from August 1
Introductory remarks by Mr. Alejandro Grana
Conference Theme Song by Dr. Srinivas Raghavan
Address by Dr. S.S. Naganand
Inaugural Address by Dr. Narendranath Reddy
Keynote by Dr. Pal Dhall
Introduction to Workshops by Dr. Suresh Govind
August 2
The morning of the second day of the Conference began with an address by Mrs. Geetha Ram. Delegates were treated to several delightful anecdotes describing her spiritual journey under the guidance of the divine Guru Himself from the tender age of five. Mrs. Geetha Ram stressed how Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was the ideal spiritual teacher in many ways.
Dr. Lalini Reddy, current director of the South African ISSE and member of the SSIO Education Committee spoke about the unique features of the Educare programme.
The next speaker was Mr. George Bebedelis, National Council President of Greece, and the Director of ISSE, South Europe. He expounded on the four core pillars of the Educare programme.
The morning session concluded with an overview by Dr. Rainer Benda about the expansion of the SSE programme in Germany.
The afternoon session was a networking fair for delegates to share their expertise and resources in SSE through creative and informational displays, and interactive sessions. The day ended with special interest group meetings.
Audio recordings coming soon!
August 3
On the final day of the Conference, Mr. R.J. Rathnakar, trustee of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, gave an uplifting talk and distributed tokens of appreciation to all the delegates.
Mrs. Berniece Mead, National Education Coordinator of the USA, shared how she was personally instructed by Swami to spread Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) in the USA.
Dr. Vijayalakshmi Ravindran from Malaysia stressed that Educare, as taught by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, was like the Vedas for education in the 21st century.
Mr. Avi Sarkar, a SSE educator from Laos, shared wonderful news about the opening of the second Sathya Sai School in Laos, and daily SSE classes for 250 students.
Ms. Vidyulatha Narayan, a SSE educator from the U.K., riveted the audience with many personal experiences of being a student in Swami’s educational institutions.
Dr. Art Ong Jumsai, a revered pioneer in the field of SSEHV, and founder of the Sathya Sai School in Thailand stressed how teachers were a vital force to bring about change in the world.
The morning conference ended with Dr. Pal Dhall stating the resolutions from the conference and next steps to be taken.
Eight workshops were held in the afternoon on various educational topics. In the evening, experienced SSE educators shared their thoughts about the conference in Sai Kulwant Hall, and entertained the audience with the theme song of the conference, “I see you.”
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