Fw: Sai Samurai - Ryuko Hira of Japan .... Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - I have no life without Sai .....'Sathya Sai with Students' Blog Update - Week 75
Sangram Kondel
Posted on: Feb 20, 2014
Sai Samurai – Ryuko Hira of Japan
This Tryst with Divinity interview with Mr. Ryuko Hira of Japan explores the unique master-disciple relationship, based on the ancient Vedic tenets of utter humility and implicit obedience to the Guru.
Today, Mr. Hira's name is synonymous with the Sai mission in Japan, where he has worked hard to create a robust Sai movement and love for Vedic learning.
Within the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation, he has served as the Overseas Chairman of Zone B, that spans across Asia, the Middle-East and Africa, covering a total of 80 countries.
Despite his conscious effort to maintain a low profile, this spiritual seeker is also one of the most influential Indians around the globe. His vast business empire and commitment to philanthropy extend across continents.
Chairman of the Ora Group of Companies in Japan, Mr. Ryuko Hira owns and operates over 50 hotels and resorts in Japan, and provides management and advisory services to 90 hotels. He also runs many other businesses. He was conferred the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Government of India in 2010.
When he is not rubbing shoulders with the heads of states at G8 Summits, he is busy attending Imperial functions.
Interestingly, Mr. Ryuko Hira was born Kamlesh Punjabi, in Jaipur, India. He graduated in Gemmology from the Gemmological Institute of America. In the late 1970's, Mr. Hira opted for Japanese citizenship.
An article published in a prestigious compilation of the world's most influential Indians described him thus:“Hira has the characteristics of the 16th century Samurai warriors who were powerful yet gentle, strong as well as kind. A Samurai is always cautious, careful, prompt and accurate. Hira with his gigantic multi-operational business empire, remains calm and composed in his actions, equally dedicated to his activities of service to mankind.”
This Sai Samurai has also authored the book: The Study of Sathya Sai. Reproduced below are edited extracts from Mr. Ryuko Hira's Tryst with Divinity interview with Radio Sai's Karuna Munshi which was first aired on 6 Aug 2013
KM – Sai Ram Sir, let us start
with your journey from Jaipur to Japan that marked the evolution of Kamlesh
Punjabi to Ryuko Hira. It is most fascinating - almost movie material. When and
under what circumstances does the chapter on Bhagawan Baba enter the story of
your life?
RH – Sai Ram! The journey of Sai mission in
Japan began in Kobe in 1975 and in 2015, we will commemorate the 40th
anniversary of the Japanese Sai Organisation.
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I was in my twenties
then and today I am in my late sixties. So 15,000 days of my life I have had the
privilege of the physical presence of Bhagawan - by seeing God, by listening to
God, by talking to God and by directly learning from him the mantra - Be Happy.
The story begins with
the Lord entering Japan through the city of Kobe. What is fascinating is that
the word 'Kobe' in Japanese language means God's door!
The Lord did not come to Japan through a mega polis like Tokyo but through His
door proving to the Japanese that the Avatar is the Avatar. He came as God
through the door to God as the traditional name Kobe means just that.
Three pioneer Sai devotees - Brother J.T. Khubchandani, and his Chinese spouse sister Regina, late brother Ram Shivani and his wife Kamala, the present chairman of the Sai Samiti - brother Dayal and sister Hoorey - they came to Japan to introduce Sai and His teachings.
When the Master Beckons
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Due to my social status, I was approached by Mr. Khubchandani but I knew nothing about Sai. Mr. Khubchandani told me that Baba knows me and He has asked him specially about me. I told him that I have nothing to do with Baba. I do not know Him and I thought perhaps it was all a trap. So I persistently refused to do anything for the group of Sai coming from Kobe to Tokyo.
I was rather busy in
my work, those being the heydays of the Japanese economy. Nevertheless Mr.
Khubchandani was very persistent and he convinced me that his two sons who have
been devotees of Sai have been successful in business – namely Mr. Kishan
Khubchandani from Africa and Mr. Nari Khubchandani from Indonesia. And he
said if I listen to him, I too will be more successful in business. So I had
some interest, as a businessman to explore.
So they came to Tokyo and I invited all the Indians in Tokyo. I just said I will
only provide a hall and the rest you should take care of. They displayed the
pictures and they gave a talk on Baba and they introduced the books. And for the
sake of courtesy, I attended the meeting and suddenly at the end of the meeting
when the presentation was finished, Mr. Khubchandani stands up and tells the
audience that he wants to establish Tokyo Sai Centre and without asking me he
said that “I have appointed Mr. Hira as a convener”. Though I objected very much
and resisted, it just happened that the Indians started clapping and out of the
blue I was unwillingly placed into this new and unknown world of Sai. In
retrospect each of my 15,000 days since I came to know about Sai has been
fascinating, revealing the infinite power of Sai's grace.
KM – And, if I may point out, Mr.
Khubchandani's prophecy of greater business success did play out. The more you
worked for Swami, the more your business prospered!
RH - Absolutely. Yes, yes.
KM - Even though you reluctantly
accepted the Convener’s role for the Tokyo Sai centre, once Baba entered into
the picture, how did your life change?
RH - Frankly, it was a great mess because
transformation is the only hallmark of a Sai devotee. Perhaps I was a greater
sinner so it took a longer period to change. My observation is that the
transformation of a devotee varies from person to person and for some there is a
very drastic change in their thinking process, for some there is a life style
change and for some there is a change of career or family and some become very
studious scholars of His teachings.
Sai chooses an
appropriate path for each person which is most suitable for their uplift.
In my case a tremendous transformation took place even before my very first
darshan. The Kobe centre people had opened the Tokyo Sai Centre. They said that
Sai had sent a message that the all samitis must hold the twelve hour
bhajan for Shivaratri. And for me it was a great nuisance to inform all
the Indians in Tokyo as there was no email and the faxes had just begun - so we
had to send a lot of post mail. I sent about 200 invitations for the very first
Mahashivaratri in Tokyo, each post costing about 80 cents and I made all the
other preparations.
As I knew nothing about conducting
this twelve hour service, I asked Mr. Khubchandani and he said that all you have
to do is just sing the bhajans from 6 p.m. till 6 a.m. with a picture
of Baba or Shiva and you should fast all night. But I had no picture of Shiva in
my house and only one of Sathya Sai Baba, left by Mr. Khubchandani.
Extreme Spiritual Makeover, Overnight
Anyway, the day of Shivaratri came
and I had a busy day at office and I came in time to find that not a single
person had come to attend this Mahashivaratri bhajan in Tokyo. So I
thought that they will be late in coming. And I started the prayers and
bhajan. But I had never sung a bhajan in my life and I had some
experience of playing a piano which helped me to play a few keys of the
harmonium. When I started my life's first bhajan on Shivaratri day and
since no one came to sing, I was all alone singing and reciting the chorus
continuously, and I was singing the same bhajan over and over again
because I knew only one or two from that book! My voice became rather hoarse and
tired and as I was told to sing continuously, I could not go to the wash room
and had to just stay put. Well I looked at Sai's picture and I told him 'buddy I
can't do this anymore because I know only these two or three bhajans
and we are going to stop it now and I am going to sleep'.
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So I decided to give up and close
this bhajan when a strange thing happened. There were no push phones in
those days but the dial phones and the telephone bell rang in my house and I was
about 8 or 10 meters from the place where the telephone was kept. So I had to
walk from where I was sitting. As there was no one at home, I picked up the
phone and I just said “Hello, hello” on the phone but no one answered and
suddenly on the telephone a very sweet and melodious bhajan begins and
it goes on and on and on and the voice was so captivating that for the first
time I experienced tears in my eyes and I cried. The bhajan was
melodious and first I kept saying 'hello' thinking that it is a wrong number.
The bhajan was so captivating that my whole body, especially the head
which was exhausted by singing for few hours like an endless tape was
recuperated - that bhajan went on for a long time, about 8 or 9
minutes.
KM - Was it a male or a female
voice?
RH - It was a female voice and it was very
melodious.
KM - Do you remember what
bhajan it was?
RH - No Madam. If I go into my old books, I
am sure it must be written somewhere.
After it stopped, I felt very
different and I restarted the bhajan this time with more awe rather
than as an obligation to Mr. Khubchandani. As to who could have called me - I
was just awed by it. Anyway the clock started to show 6 a.m. and I was relieved
that I could now eat breakfast and I realised that I don't have the picture of
Shiva, so how do I finish the ceremony?
And again a strange thing happened. This time it was not the phone but the
doorbell that rang just a little before 6 a.m. A cousin brother Suresh N.
Punjabi came unexpectedly as an Air India flight was delayed and he had landed
in Tokyo on his way to Osaka. And as it turned out, he had brought a picture of
Shirdi Sai Baba with a lingam and snake on the picture. So we finished the
bhajan and started to eat our breakfast.
I used to be a
non-vegetarian - so my usual breakfast used to be eggs, ham or sausages and
bacon, but somehow that morning, I could not eat it. The body just would not
accept it even though I was very hungry. And the cook who prepared the breakfast
said I may have lost my appetite because of doing funny things by singing all
night and fasting.
So I just took some tea and after that I began to smoke. I was a heavy smoker,
smoking two or three cigars a day. And I would have about two packets of
cigarettes. But as soon as I smoked, the tongue started to burn and again a
strange phenomenon took place at lunch or dinner. Also I could not eat meat nor
could I drink alcohol or smoke.
Life Altering Shivaratri Night
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Suddenly I realised
that overnight a magical sort of internal transformation of lifestyle had taken
place. And because of my professional work I would usually eat two or three
dinners in a night with different groups. My assistants would take two or three
groups and I would attend each dinner for 50 or 60 minutes and they were very
large, banquet style dinners. With two or three dinners in the same night,
entertaining high level people, it was impossible to remain a vegetarian in
those days.
So all this lifestyle was gone in just one night, without any pain, by itself -
all the alcohol, all the tobacco and all the eating of meat, fish and egg - it
just stopped and my whole approach to life changed completely. This was the
first miracle and then I began to study books on Baba.
The first book that I read was
'Loving God' by brother Kasturi and other books which made me understand how
Baba respects India as a nation. Though I was born as an Indian, I had no
opportunity to study about India and its glory. And after reading 'Loving God',
I could respect and serve India as a motherland.
So to me as an overseas Indian, if the first experience was of the lifestyle,
the second transformation was that I became a true Indian, a belief instilled
firmly through His Summer Course lectures about the glory and pride of India.
Baba said that India is one of the most exemplary nations of the world. That is
what attracted me to Baba the most.
Journey from Kamlesh Punjabi to Ryuko Hira
KM - And in the process, I believe
you did go through a personal dilemma because you had to get yourself a Japanese
nationality and that required you to undergo a change of name. How did Baba
guide you in this?
RH - The change of my name, was not by my
choice but by necessity. I am the same age as independent free India and during
my primary and high school education, we experienced three wars with China and
Pakistan. The British rule had not provided enough schools and universities. So
even in big cities like Mumbai (then Bombay) where I spent my childhood, the
schools were open-air outdoor schools to be shared with street chickens or
street pigs and pigeons and dogs coming in and out of the class. And the rains
would really drench us all. Life was miserable and to ease the great
difficulties, the Communist Party of India would go to schools and they would
offer raincoats and gumboots and they would recruit high school students as
volunteers for the Communist Party.
In my own personal case during my middle school, a veteran Indian actor Balaraj Sahani and others would come to the school and recruit students on behalf of the Communist Party. So India's political situation that time was rather fragile and in the high school they had the National Cadet Corps (NCC) - that focussed on high school students to join the junior army and to serve 30 days in the camps.
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I was fortunate as my
family had some small overseas business which is now nearly 100 years of age. As
soon as I finished high school, the Pakistan and the Chinese wars were going on
and the ladies and the young ones at home were sent abroad for safety. So a
decade later in the 1970s, the situation in India got from bad to worse and the
government of India nationalised all the major businesses including the banks,
insurance companies, the airlines and others to stabilise the nation. And the
major business houses and their overseas assets were also being nationalised.
Being a stateless refugee family from Sindh, Pakistan where we had lost and left everything due to the partition (of India and Pakistan), we did not want to live in poverty once again. So my eldest brother said one family member should become a Japanese national to save the family's assets from being nationalised in foreign countries.
Being youngest of five brothers, and given some fluency that I had in the Japanese language, I was asked to become a Japanese citizen. But having intensely read Baba's books and teachings about the supremacy of the motherland, I had great resistance to change my name and to give up my Indian nationality. But due to shortage of time I can't state the whole story ... All I recall is that I went to the sacred Mount Fuji to meditate intensely on Baba for guidance on whether I should change my nationality.
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I came back with the
answer that a passport document of nationalisation or a register does not make
you an Indian or another national - it is simply a matter of convenience of
life.
As Baba said - a true Indian or Bharatiya is a person who carries the divine
values in his heart. So I stuck to that principle and I recall the stories of
five mothers - motherland being just one of the four and others were still with
me. So I finally decided to take up the Japanese nationality.
The reason for change of name is that less than one percent of Japanese population speaks English. So when a foreign person has a Japanese nationality, they can't write his name in alphabets because our script is calligraphic. We draw our characters. For instance, if you want to write a river you simply draw two banks and water in between.
Thus pictorial
characters make the Japanese script. If one had to write my Indian name in
Japanese language, it would be very funny if it was literally translated - Kamal
means a lotus and 'esh' means the king of the lotus and my last name Punjabi in
which Punjab refers to five rivers …... it is a bit too out of place in
calligraphy.
And at the bureaucratic offices there were no computers, and they couldn't write in alphabets, and we had to change the name by law and that was very trying. So there is a Hindu temple (of Lord Vishnu) on top of Mt. Hira in Shiga prefecture which is near Kyoto. At that temple there was a priest who calculated all my Indian names and ancestral names and gave me a name called Hira Ryuko. Hira is the name of the mountain on which the temple stands and in Ryuko, 'Ryu' means the dragon and 'ko' means tiger. The dragon as you know has originated in the Indian mythology and then gone to the eastern countries and 'ko' the tiger or lion sits next to Baba.
So the dragon represents prosperity
in the eastern culture and the lion or the tiger represents the strength,
neither of which I have. I don't have prosperity and I don't have strength.
Ultimate Shareholder Baba Blesses the Bangkok
Business Deal
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KM – Sir you are being way too
modest! Now as an eminent businessman and as a leading hotelier, you are in the
thick of the service industry. How has knowing Baba influenced or helped you to
get to where you are?
RH - It is my belief that Baba is the
absolute and the ultimate shareholder of our business empire, and of every
empire in the world. Some people realise that earlier and some will realise that
later. So the fortunate ones know and the others are yet to discover.
Since Baba is the owner of the business, business itself becomes a sadhana or a spiritual exercise. To discover the divine munificence in business is the real purpose of business. That realisation crumbles the ego of the greatest entrepreneur in all ages. Once you realise that God, that is Baba is the doer of all the achievements, which I experienced uncountable times whenever I had to make any important decisions, I would physically ask Him and He would guide more as master of my own business or the owner of my own business rather than as a God.
KM - Did the guidance He gave,
work in your favour?
RH - Well absolutely, I just cannot describe
to you a number of times it did. What is more important is not only the huge
amount of profits that He grants but how He protects you from the losses.
One of the most impressive incidents was one which I physically and personally asked him about in the early 1980s. Japan was very affluent, much more than now and it was investing heavily in foreign countries. And I had a small business of hotels and so there was a transaction which is rather well-known throughout the world. The property which belonged to the Standard Chartered Bank was located at #1, Wireless Road, in Bangkok, Thailand.
It is a huge property that the Standard Chartered Bank had acquired and now the bank was experiencing great difficulties. So they wanted to sell the land and being a bank they had to sell the land by a public auction. Our company was invited to the auction. The process is rather strict for very large auctions like this one.
The land was the prime location just near the imperial palace and one cannot have it again. It is a very precious piece of land for any development of multi-stories. And we were short-listed amongst the top five parties to bid for this asset at # 1 Wireless Road. We took a team of about 50 people to do the analysis and we made a bid of 800 million dollars for just the land because the bank had to be rescued.
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After making the bid for that land, we were short-listed amongst the best three and were invited to the regional head office of the bank in Hong Kong to negotiate the details. I had asked Baba that I want to do this transaction to build three huge towers - a hotel, an office block and a residential block. Each one would be about 100 stories and perhaps one of the most impressive developments. And He had said “Yes, yes you can do it”. So I had great confidence and I was proceeding full steam ahead with 50 people from Japan staying there months doing the analytical work and we came on the table to negotiate the final terms. But at that time, I was asked that the money should be paid in third countries to save taxes to the King of Thailand. And we couldn't do that because it was a very high profile public project. So I started to pray to Baba that how come you blessed the project and I am facing these impediments.
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They gave us one day and there were three buyers to make the decision whether you would like to accept the terms of an offshore payment. The reason for the offshore payment clause was that, as you know Thailand was being ruled by the allied forces of America and England. So the Standard Chartered Bank was established there for a long time and the book value of the land was only one dollar. So if they were to offer the land for sale, the entire amount would go into taxation and the yield to the bank would be rather small.
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I am talking this in due respect of
morality and ethics to all my friends in the Standard Chartered Bank. It is not
to raise the bank's immoral points. Much to my disappointment, we did
not bid. Another Japanese firm acquired the property and I was very dejected and
I thought that Swami's blessings are not the right thing to be asked in
business; He is more spiritual. We shouldn't ask him about these things in
business.
So this particular party, did this adharma of paying in the third country offshore and it was a huge and a high profile project. All the construction was completed and opened but after three and a half years, the promoters were arrested for doing the adharma of offshore payments and not only that, seven years later which means ten years from when the project started, the property market in that country crashed. So just the land alone was for about 700 odd million dollars and three 100 stores buildings combined would be about 2.5 billion dollars. Because of the Japanese boom which had contracted, the crash was so much that the value of all the assets went one third.
This just shows how Swami protects without asking. When he says 'Yes', he says so in terms of protection, not in human sense of greed and desire. So there is a firm belief of not to do anything in life without consulting the real owner of the business who happens to be God himself. That is just one of the experiences but I just want to mention that it just crumbles the ego of the greatest entrepreneur. One cannot only feel or think that Baba is the owner but one has to really practice the detachment from wealth and power.
KM - Is it hard?
RH - Yeah in the beginning it is hard but
once you become habituated it is much more easier to put the blame on Baba
because He knows what He is doing and you realise actually you start blaming but
the secret is a blessing as the responsibility is His too.
Taking Responsibility for the Master's
Assignment
One time, Baba gave us permission to talk about His influence and to visit the overseas countries to introduce the Super Speciality hospital projects and later the water projects. So brother Sri Indulal Shah, late Dr. A.N. Safaya, Justice P.N. Bhagwati and I went to London and we made a presentation at the Wimbledon Theatre about Swami's seva projects, talking about detachment and seva.
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For first time in my life I got a standing ovation for this talk about Baba and it was only due to Swami's grace. But the work was only half done. The main point of my visit was to bring the awareness of the primary duty to detachment from wealth and for the people there to make contribution to the worthy cause of Swami's projects. But the second half was to actually see the results in terms of the donations to implement these master projects in those days. Although the people listened to these talks but they were not moved enough to send as much as they could have. And I felt that I had let down Baba by failing in my responsibility to arrange those resources for the divine projects.
I was depressed and I
consulted my wife and I said we should sell our house in Tokyo and do our duty
to Bhagawan because He had given us the responsibility to go there and talk.
So I took the estimates of the most reputed real estate agents and they said
that the minimum price at which we could sell our house was about 20 million
dollars. Next I flew to Baba and He was most gracious to call me for an
interview. I told Him that I have failed in my duty of putting together enough
resources from other parts of the world and people have not made their
contributions. So I had decided to sell my house and we would transfer the money
for the divine projects like the hospital and such.
Then Baba looked into my eyes and with the greatest ease He told me -
“Do not sell your house...which mother will allow her son to stay in a
rented house”.
Wealth is only a spiritual tool of
divine seva for those who surrender everything to Bhagawan and the
other lesson from Baba's influence on one's business is that He does not want
anyone's resources.
Developing Detachment the Underlying Lesson of Sai Charity
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KM - How do you say that when all
the humanitarian projects here are funded by donations from devotees?
RH - Yes. He does not want their donations or
resources. He is only a giver, He never takes and He once said in the interview
room - If Bhagawan wills, there will be a rain of rupees. These are His words.
So we see that Baba's main message is complete and absolute detachment has to be
learnt and practiced by every businessman by keeping all the financial, human,
technical and other resources at the divine lotus feet. When He says or when He
takes up a project, He does not depend on anybody's donations or anyone's
contributions because He knows what is going to happen before He takes.
It is a well-known incident that Baba used to tell very frequently to move people to sacrifice for contributing to these various humanitarian projects. One day we were sitting just outside His room and a school student gave Him a letter. So He asked the student - “May I open this letter and read to everybody?”
The boy's letter
said - O Bhagawan, everyday you are giving discourses that people should make
contributions of sacrifice and detachment. However I cannot donate money because
I come from a poor family. My mother sends me one hundred rupees to pay to the
dhobi to wash the clothes at school. I will start washing these clothes
by myself and if you can buy one brick with those hundred rupees, then I have
done my seva or my duty. We were listening to Baba that a child had
written that. So we see the purpose of Swami informing the people about the
projects is not at all to collect donations. He moves us to a spirit of
detachment and that is a significant inner shift. God never takes, He only
gives. He is absolute.
The humanitarian projects are only
for the process of inspiring people to detachment and He gave a great message
about the definition of detachment. So what is attachment and detachment? He
said that deep attachment to God is detachment!
The only influence of Swami in business is to surrender - the business belongs
to Him. He is the chairman and the shareholder and we are just His humble
servants and are to continue working according to His teachings.
KM - Including following ethics
where you lost such a huge deal in Thailand for example, and in the process you
gained because you could have been a victim of the huge loss.
RH - Yeah, well I would be on the streets!
World's Finest Schools, Noblest Teachers in
Prasanthi Nilayam
KM – A person of your means can
easily educate his children in the most prestigious of private schools anywhere
in the world. Your daughter has studied in Baba's school in Prasanthi Nilayam
and your son continues to be a Sai student in Puttaparthi. Your children could
well be attending schools where royalty studies. How do you explain your choice?
RH - You have put two points in your
question. One is there are so many prestigious schools in the world and the
other is why I chose the Sathya Sai school...
The educational institutions of Bhagawan are the most prestigious, or
rather the only prestigious schools in the whole world. The prestige of a school
is comprised by academic standards or it is sports standards or by standards of
character building. If the Sai schools were to participate in the global grading
process of the world's best institutions, they will all have the highest ranks.
I have
seen, I have experienced and I have worked myself to receive my own satisfaction
and I am convinced that the Sai school is the world's most prestigious school.
The significance of the Sai school is that each teacher is a
guru in the true sense - I mean so in terms of
removing the darkness of ignorance. So the guru
draws from within the child the illumination of wisdom. In the present Sathya
Sai schools, Bhagawan has chosen teachers of no less calibre - they are saints
in trousers...
KM - And sarees!
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RH - And sarees, please pardon me.
Bhagawan has chosen the world's best teachers to be the gurus in His
institutions to carry His mission further.
His
teachers continue even today in the same tradition and I am sure this will
continue for ever in the Sai schools because that is His
sankalpa or divine will.
Take the example of Sage Valmiki - he was a transformed teacher and who taught the Ramayana to the divine children of Mother Sita - Luv and Kush. And later Luv and Kush sang the divine story of Ramayana during the 'Ashwamedha Yagna' congregation. And at that time Lord Shri Ramachandra confirmed what was sung by these two children is true.
Even today all the Sai students sing and extol the glory of the Avatar. There is no difference between Valmiki, Vashistha, Sandipani and present Sai school teachers. The only difference is that it is happening in the present age and we are able to witness this.
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But somebody has to academically study the process and analyse and scholastically put it in that framework. Then we have the similarity of the Sai teachers who resemble the highest ideals of the iconic teacher - Sage Vashishtha, the ideal teacher of Lord Rama. You see Sage Vashishtha established the system of gurukula - it starts from him - the residential college on the banks of river Beas and he was taking care of thousands of students in those days.
Today Sai
schools are similarly located on the holiest of the river Chitravati and each
Principal of the school is a sage who has undergone the penance of surrendering
their entire lives, 24 hours, 365 days only for the welfare of Sai children. The
Sai principals and the teachers have done more than the parents can do. They
have surrendered their entire lives to Sai mission.
I have no question in my mind that I have made the best choice for my children
and this will continue till I am able to deliver my promise to Swami that the
first Japanese citizens to become Sai students are my children.
I had prayed to Bhagawan that they
bring the Sai ideals to Japanese schools. It may take another 30 or 40 years but
I have chosen that school for my children because I prayed intensely to
Baba for 8 years to please accept them and for 8 years He couldn't accept them.
And only after that He blessed them with this highest boon one can get, which is
to become a Sai student.
I am quite sure of my own personal
reasons for not choosing a Japanese school because as you know Japan was
defeated in the Second World War and General McArthur wrote the new Japanese
constitution which prohibits spiritual or religious education. Even the Japanese
public schools cannot learn about their own spiritual or religious values. This
was done to maintain the supremacy over the defeated nation by suppressing their
national values and ethos. So the Shinto and the Buddhist and other religions
were prohibited from the syllabus. As a consequence the outlook is very
scholastic, very materialistic in the Japanese society with no spiritual base in
the educational system. Of course there were excellent private schools which I
could have sent them to, but there is nothing to match the requirement of an
ideal Indian school. So we prayed to Bhagawan and He granted our prayer.
Jyoti (Light) Meditation the Key to a Successful
Life
KM - Your family's commitment to
the Sai mission in Japan includes your wife Mrs. Kayoko Hira's involvement with
the Japanese Institute of Sathya Sai Education as its head. All this work is
very time consuming and requires deep commitment as does your vast business
empire. Where does this family of overachievers draw their inspiration from?
RH - We don't fit that comment of yours but
about how to draw inspiration comes from the very word 'inspire' which is the
motivation of the inner spirit as you know - the inner aspirations, the secret
of finding time and deep commitment comes from 'Jyoti or light meditation'. The
Dhyana Vahini is the theory of success because without concentration you cannot
take one step in life. So the Dhyana Vahini is the theory of success which helps
every entrepreneur.
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KM - Do you practice Jyoti or
Light meditation?
RH – Yes, everyday. And this Jyoti meditation
is for three things - it gives the breath, thought and the time. So when we do
the Jyoti meditation the life source of our breath is regulated which
involuntarily controls the thought process and it brings a tremendous speed of
action which saves a lot o time that can be used for Sai Seva.
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This simplest of
theories of Bhagawan (Jyoti meditation) grants infinite rewards. There are seven
steps involved. The first is the environment, as the breath comes from the
environment. If you are in good environment, good thoughts come, which is called
'Satsang' all the time, be in good place. Then the breath itself conveys the
thoughts and the thoughts themselves lead to the so called will power or the
Ichcha Shakti - to do something and from that Ichcha Shakti we come to the Kriya
Shakti that is to exercise the actual action power. And from that our habit or
character is formed and that habit or character decides the destiny of man.
These seven processes of Dhyana
Vahini, are one of the most handy tools for business, making it the easiest to
take care.
Researching Sai's Childhood and Youth with
Determination
KM - Let us talk about the
interview where Baba stressed upon the importance of youth and high ideals. This
in turn led you to explore Baba's childhood history. What can you share about
that incident?
RH - There was no youth wing in the overseas
Sai Organisation at that time. We had no youth wing till we started it at the
first Asian Sai centres and later the other countries joined. So we organised
the first international youth conference and a number of youth schemes were
started which were later on adopted by Indian Sai Samitis. And I believed that
the best way to see Swami's reaction for youth programme was to deliver Baba's
very own lifestyle as a youth.
Very little was known about His youth years, especially in English language at that time. So I asked Swami for three things - permission to hold the first ever exhibition on the theme of Mother Eswaramma and this exhibition was held at Whitefield in Bangalore which He inaugurated with His divine hands.
The second was a prayer to accept the life size photo paintings of Mother Eshwaramma and Father Venkamma Raju which He blessed and are decorated in the main hall of the Trayee Mandir and the last permission which we asked Him was to have the first international youth conference.
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After this youth conference I realised there was a tremendous need by the youth to see Baba's actual youth behaviour. And I decided to make the first ever live stage drama play on His youth. And I went to pray and seek His permission and He said “No Hira no”. He first said 'no' because I guessed our presentation may not be up to His highest standards and expectations. Nobody can play the youth of Sai and we can't expect Baba to watch the rehearsals but anyways He said 'no'.
But I was very adamant
and rather persistent so I continued to pray and I fasted till He would permit.
So on the day of my departure He finally said “Japan come inside”.
So we went inside and He asked “what is this fasting about the play?”
He then put several strict conditions - He said “if I allow you, I have to allow everybody”. I said Swami that is your business whom to allow whom you don't because you know who can do what and who cannot do.
Finally, He imposed several strict conditions. The first was to portray not the youth of Sai but the childhood of Sai. He said keep it as Bala Sai only during His school days. This was very difficult because very little was known of His school days. So we collected information and interviewed extensively because the presentation had to be perfect, which, by His grace proved to be most successful. All the rules laid by Baba were maintained, for instance all actors were girls who were dressed as boys and the name of the play was 'Raju'. He materialised several gifts for the actors in the end.
And after this I prayed to him for the Sai youth to be allowed to do the play on Eshwaramma - the first play. If He permitted a play on Mother Eshwaramma, He would naturally allow us to bring the youthful Sai.
So this play we showed that how Sai as a youth lived with mother Eshwaramma and practised the three ideals of respecting parents, teachers and elders. This play was held in the Kalyan Mandap in Trayee Brindavan and after the play was finished, Bhagawan stood in the hall for a long time, blessing all the few hundred devotees from Japan. He was immensely pleased. When I escorted Him back to the Trayee Mandir, He said that “the Japanese actor was so good that I am afraid the people will think that he is real Sai and they may go to worship him instead of Me”.
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KM – You did go about the matter
quite methodically, doing your research, and fasting to get your way with Him.
RH - Yeah it is not very easy to please
unless there is very firm determination. If people are half-hearted and if He
gives permission then you know God can be very chaotic. So He has his own
standards of granting permission which only He knows.
Golden Devotion Begets Golden Vibhuti
KM – Given your history of close association with Baba, if you go down memory lane, what are your fondest memories of His divine grace?
RH - That He is always there when you want
Him - that is the fondest memory. There was a time when there were no Bal Vikas
teachers in Japan and I couldn't learn to pronounce Hindi properly. But I had to
learn as a teacher first before I can teach.
The southernmost island of Japan
was Okinawa which was two and half hours flying time from where I lived (in
Tokyo) and the students said they wanted to have a class every week and they had
no teacher. So I used to go every weekend flying two and half hours each way to
teach over there.
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And then on the ending of the class
He showers all the students with the vibhuti. But one of the most memorable
incidences is that - there was a young Japanese boy - he is no more now - his
name was Mr. Hoshino from Kobe in Osaka. The vibhuti of about three and a half
inches appeared on the whole picture of Baba - full picture of abhaya hastha.
But this vibhuti was different from any other vibhutis - this vibhuti was golden
in colour. We had never seen anything like it before. So I brought the sample of
the photo and the actual vibhuti and I was fortunate when He called me in the
interview room, I asked Swami why this vibhuti was golden? And He said “silver
devotion - silver vibhuti, golden devotion - golden vibhuti”.
We distributed the pocket calendar photographs of that about thirty five years
ago in Prasanthi Nilayam at that time.
Sai's Focus – Sai Mission & Sai Message
KM - Baba must have spoken to you
and your family many, many times?
RH - In the last few years He was most
gracious. He would call home for dinner to Yajur Mandir at every visit.
He would very graciously give spiritual advice and what to do for the organisation. He was always concerned about the Sai work which was going on in respective countries. The key point He mentioned once is that when a child is born, the mother and father prepare everything from the cradle to the toys, baby's clothes and they make plans for her/his studies and they have hopes.
He asked “do you think when God is born that no plans are made when He comes on earth?” So He said that all the Sai organisations people including the ones who are yet to join are a part of the great divine master plan - we may be aware of that or we may be unaware of that. And therefore once that awareness comes that we are a part of the divine, we are His hands, we are His feet, we are His fingers, we are His eyes and the concept changes. And then He intervenes Himself because the question was of divine interventions.
So when I would visit the Bal Vikas class, I couldn't pronounce the Hindi words He would just at that nick of the moment bring the words which I had never learnt in my life. Many times I have experienced such divine interventions.
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KM – Here's a hypothetical
question. If you had just one moment to interface physically with Bhagawan right
now, what would you say to him?
RH - Silence is what He prefers usually. No
Avatar has given His feet so freely to the public. So if He was to appear
physically, I would just ask for His divine lotus feet. Nothing else.
Maha Samadhi, Ultimate Lesson in Detachment
KM - Do you long for the physical
form?
RH - Yes.
KM - So beautiful wasn't it!
Baba's Mahasamadhi - what does it mean to you Sir?
RH - I think the Mahasamadhi is the
symbol of detachment from the body and of the great awareness of one's own self.
KM - In your opinion, what is the
future of this movement in the physical absence of the Avatar?
RH - The Sai Organisation is still in the
evolutionary process like man's very own physical evolution which took a long
time. He said that the organisation will live for a thousand years. So far it
has only evolved for fifty years. That is a mere 0.5 percent. The evolution of
99.5 percent is yet to unfold.
I think the future of the Sai organisation is that it will be the only
force that can lead the world. It is much required and as time passes by, we
will see that it will happen more rapidly than most people expect it to happen.
Ignorance of the Self is the Sai Organisation's Greatest Challenge
KM - What are our challenges, in
the process?
RH - In the true sense, being a divine
organisation there really are no challenges at the moment. The challenges are
just an illusion of the people. A divine organisation of Sathya Sai has no
challenges.
But if one ponders deeply, the
ignorance of the Self can be one. We must have a very clear short, long and
medium term planning which is already in place but still Baba doesn't want any
numbers. He has always talked about high quality. And therefore the evolution
will be very slow but it will be in perfection and in that sense because it is
slow there are many people who are unable to catch with that because it is a
fast world at the moment. So I think that is one of the possible challenges.
KM – Why is Baba's message so
important in today's world?
RH – Our population has grown to six billion
and is likely to reach ten billion. That translates into more people, more
thoughts and more thoughts require more clarity. So the purpose of the Sai
Avatar is to simplify, to decode the divine message of the Vedam because He is
the Veda Avatar Himself.
Thus the relevance of the Sai Avatar has just begun in global terms. Now when we take the view of the six billion people and when we have a comparative study of the Avatars - we look at Lord Christ, we look at Lord Buddha. In Christianity, the first Bible came 500 years after Lord Christ. So we are nowhere near in terms of time frame. It is just so recent since Lord Sai has left the body and in case of Lord Buddha, it reached Japan 700 years after He left the body.
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| Swami posing for pictures after a play on Sankaracharya, by devotees from Japan, Oct 2009. You can read more about the events of that day HERE. |
Baba's message is so eternal that it will bring the change that is needed.
KM - Finally who is Bhagawan Shri
Sathya Sai Baba for you?
RH - Well, you got me a very difficult one.
Right at this spur of the moment I really do not know. I still have to find out
I believe because to find a word that befits His glory is beyond human
description. Human beings cannot describe Sathya Sai Baba. It is impossible for
me to describe His glory.
At times He is the father, at times He is the mother, at times He is a friend,
at times He is God, and at times He is a very strict teacher. So He has various
roles He plays in life but one cannot describe Him.
KM - Your final words for the
listeners of Radio Sai all over the world.
RH - I would like them all to visit Japan and
to see Sai's glory as much as possible and as soon as possible.
KM – Thank you Sir. Sai Ram
RH – Sai Ram to you!
- Ms. Karuna Munshi
sourced:
http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_12/01FEB14/Sai-Samurai-Ryuko-Hira-of-Japan.htm
Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - I have no life without Sai (experiences of S.Ravikumar)
His voice has enraptured a million souls worldwide and led them closer to God. The qawwali that he has solely been blessed to sing has been physically heard by Swami at least 500 times. There are tens of thousands who crave to hear him speak and sing. And yet, he just brushes aside everything to say, "It is all Swami and Swami alone."
He could possibly be Swami highest 'capped' singer, having sung bhajans for
nearly three and a half decades now. All his experiences with Swami teach us
lessons that we could imbibe in life to go closer to Him and attain life's
ultimate goal.
The story of Ravikumar's life, as he realized it, seems to completely summed in
the qawwali that his Swami always asked him to sing - Sai bin raha Na Jaaye. And
his experiences thrill us with the opening message of the same qawwali -
"Whenever you feel a lack of love (an emptiness) in your heart, (don’t despair),
just look within you and you will find Sai there."
Enjoy Part 1 of this beautiful story of God's love
http://aravindb1982.blogspot.in/2014/02/sai-bin-raha-na-jaaye-i-have-no-life-without-Sai-Ravikumar-mohabbat-ki-kami.html
The second part of Ravi's story inspires us to do whatever we do
1. to the best of our ability and
2. for God.
Read it yourselves at
PART 2 of the same story is at
http://aravindb1982.blogspot.in/2014/02/mohabbat-ki-kami-qawwali-story-sathya-sai-ravikumar-living-for-god-is-true-devotion.html
Sathya Sai with Students Blog Team presents articles for Week 75:
Sai Students Books: www.saipublications.com
Sai Students Books available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=saistudents
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