28 October 2004

Om Sri Sai Ram!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS, WINTER 2004 ISSUE
The True Meaning of Christmas and the Universal Message of Jesus Christ.

Winter is a time of holidays; of joy and celebration. It is also a time of religious festivals including Kwanza, Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali and many more. Religious holidays often mark the birthdays of the great teachers who founded those pathways to God. Swami has said that "the great teachers belong to mankind. It is wrong to believe that Jesus belongs only to the Christians and the Christmas is a holy festival for the west only. To accept one of them as one's own and discard the rest as belonging to others, is a sign of pettiness. Christ, Rama, Krishna--- they are for all men everywhere."

"These days, the world is deriving satisfaction in mere words, and in witnessing clever rules designed to cover up one's faults. The birthdays of the Great are honored by such hypocrisy and external pomp. There is no examination in the light of the message they gave, nor, any effort to practice it and derive the bliss it promises."

In the winter '04 issue of SYAN, we hope to explore with you, our readers, The True Meaning of Christmas, and the Universal Message of Jesus Christ.

Of Christmas, Swami has said that "it is therefore appropriate that the Birthday of Jesus, who felt the need to save mankind and who strove to achieve it, is celebrated; but, the celebration must take the form of adherence to the teachings, loyalty to the principles, practicing the disciplines and experiencing the awareness of the divine that He sought to arouse" (see references below for link to full discourse).

Please send in your submissions by Dec 02, 2004 for consideration in this issue. In addition, we welcome articles photographs, artwork, reports and stories from Sai youth on the following topics, but not limited to: 1. YA Regional/Group Reports
2. Personal Transformation - practicing Swami's teachings.
3. Service - experiences, ideas, examples
4. Personal experiences with Swami - in physical presence

Please write to contact@syan.org, or the mailing address found on page two. For SYAN writing guidelines and helpful ideas, please see our Writing Guidelines on the internet website, www.syan.org

Also, we would like to extend a special invitation to our sisters and brothers in other countries to submit their articles in keeping with our growing international audience.

Thank you again for your continued support and assistance.

In Humble and Loving Service to our Beloved Lord,
SYAN Team

References: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11, "He whom Christ announced," http://sathyasai.org/search/volume11/sss11-54.pdf