Once Saint Guru Nanak was moving around with His disciples from village to village. They were spreading God's teachings among the common people.

    After some time they reached a village full of thieves and other bad people who did not honor the Saint. They did not give food or drink to Him or His disciples. They were not prepared to even listen to Guru Nanak.

    While leaving the village Guru Nanak said, "O Lord, please let this village remain this way." Guru Nanak's disciples were very surprised at this. They wondered why Guru Nanak did not wish bad to come to the village, but they did not say anything.

    After some time they reached another village. The villagers welcomed them happily. They were gentle and well behaved. They were also honest and truthful. They gave them good food and drink, and treated them well. They listened to the Saint's advice with attention. Finally, they promised to follow his advice in life.

    The Saint was very pleased with them. Before leaving the village he prayed to God, “O Lord, may this village be scattered soon and may the villagers be forced to spread everywhere.”

    The disciples were even more surprised now. They asked Guru Nanak, “O Gurudev, You did not wish evil for the villagers that were bad. Then why are you cursing this village full of good people?”

    Guru Nanak smiled and said, “When we left this village, which was full of good people, I prayed to God so that the good villagers spread all over the world and teach others to be good like them. That way the good will spread everywhere. When we left the village full of bad people, I prayed so that the bad would remain only in that village and will not spread.”

Positive changes at ‘Abhinav Vidya Mandir’, a school in Borivali, India, after including the Sanatan’s programs in the school’s activities

    The ‘Abhinav Institute’ first came in contact with the Sanatan organization in July 2000. The Abhinav institute organized a lecture on ‘Morals and Values’ for its students’ and parents on behalf of the Sanatan. Later, various activities were held by The Sanatan organization at the institute, for example, Lectures, chanting sessions, satsangs, self-defense workshops, workshops for parents about interacting with their children. The school further offered The Sanatan organization their venue free of charge for the Sanatan’s activities.

     In this and the next few Issues we will see various experiences shared by staff, parents, students and seekers with regards to the changes in the school after coming in contact with The Sanatan organization.

Children doing well in studies after chanting* and prayers

     The Sanatan organization has started several spiritual activities in our school. They conduct lectures for our students, and teach them about various deities and how to worship Them. They also get chanting done from the students. The students chant the Name of their Family deity and of Lord Datta everyday. Every deity’s presence is more active on a particular day of the week, for example, Lord Ganesh’s presence is more on Tuesdays and Lord Datta’s more on Thursdays. Hence, students are taught to chant Lord Ganesh’s Name and His Holy verses on Tuesdays, etc.

     The children have also begun to pray to the Deity of the place (sthandevata), of the school (vastudevata), etc., and express their gratitude towards Them. All of this has created a very positive effect on the students, as well as the teachers. They are behaving better with each other and the students are faring better in their exams. Students are less boisterous. Parents have been reporting that people and other schools in this area are noticing our students as ‘calm and well behaved children’. During summer holidays too, these children attended the Children’s Moral education classes (balsanskarvarg) held by the Sanatan organization and have got into the habit of chanting every day.