Ladies Day Message 2004
by National Ladies Coordinator

Sai Ram Sisters, brothers and children

Do we know how fortunate we are to be born as a human being?

We have been given this human birth for a special reason and purpose.

I am sure we all have faced a situation where we have said to ourselves, "If only I could get another opportunity, I would do things differently". Why? Because we have become wiser for the experience. However, we do not know if we will get another opportunity at human birth. The only time we have is RIGHT NOW.

The Purpose of Life

So the first question we should ask ourselves is, what is, the purpose of our life?

I can hear you all saying, to awaken the inherent divinity within us. What does this mean and how do we know we are on the right path?

We have only taken a few steps towards awakening the divinity within us and we will know if we are on the right path when the within, is, same as without. When we love everyone without any distinction and as ourselves.

And so, the first step in the roles and responsibilities for the ladies wing is:

• To promote Love

These are simple words but very hard act to follow. We are somewhat prejudiced by our up bringing, traditions and cultures. We have not always stopped to think or rationalise the so called "norms" of our traditions and cultures and follow for illogical reasoning such as - It has always been done like this. My mother/father used to do it this way.

Dear sisters and brothers, please stop, think and understand the reasons for doings things and if, there is a better way of doing them.

We find it very difficult to acknowledge our love, and at times, even to our partners, let alone others. Not only this, the recipients themselves are uncomfortable/ embarrassed when someone expresses their love to them. Why? Because we have not yet understood love in its true sense. We have categorised love to a very shallow meaning which expands only to our immediate family, rather then something pure, divine and wholesome.

To understand love better, I will refer to a quote quite often used by Neville Fredericks, our Central Coordinator:

"The love you feel for others, is not your own, but God's Love, flowing through you"

If we can understand this and recognise love as God's love, we will have no problem giving or receiving love. We will definitely move closer to recognising the divinity within and without. Love from any source is God's Prasadam to us.

Moving on from Love, the other roles and responsibilities of the ladies wing are:

• To promote a broader understanding of Sri Sathya Sai Baba's teaching on the Spiritual role of women in the family and in society.
• To promote and value motherhood as the anchor of family and community life.
• To promote the advancement of self-confidence and leadership in women, through the application of Spiritual principles in family and professional life.
• To facilitate the dissemination of information relating to good parenting and to encourage the holding of workshops and study circles on all of the above topics.

You will see that each of these responsibilities end on a similar note. i.e. "in family and in society, of family and community life, in family and professional life.

Now the question is- are we extending our responsibilities to others in society and community, professional life or are we just stopping at family level.

No matter how valuable or precious a thing is, unless we use it, it is worthless. Similarly, God has endowed us with a number of divine qualities and if we don't use it, it is of no value to anyone.

Activities for the Ladies Wing

What sort of activates should the ladies wing undertake?

All activities organised by the Ladies Wing should aim to develop skills and knowledge to enable the ladies to realise their own divine qualities and thereby be of service not only to their families but the society and community at large.

One thing that I would like to clarify here is:

All activities organised by the ladies wing are open to all Sai Members irrespective of the gender and age. Having said this, I acknowledge that it will be necessary at times to have segregated sessions so that discussions can be open and members do not to feel uncomfortable.

Unity is paramount, in everything we do. We are not here to form or create a separate entity but are one part of a whole.

Dear sisters, as a woman, we have a lot to offer to the society and community. Let us not use our children and spouse as excuses for not fulling our life's purpose- Love and Service.

Lalit Karan
Ladies Wing Coordinator
Sathya Sai Organisation of Australia and PNG
19 November 2004

Sai Ram