Report of Guru Puja Diwas, March 2013
Written by
Aman Sareen
On Sunday, Feb 24th, the Phoenix Branch of the Sant Nirankari Mission celebrated H. H. Baba ji's birthday. The celebrations started with a Sewa Dal rally where sewa dal members prayed to our Guru, Baba Hardev Singh ji and sang songs in his glory. They also performed exercises to demonstrate they are ready to serve the Mission and the community. The rally concluded with sewa dal presenting Thaly (donation) to the Phoenix Pramukh Rev. Nandlal ji and he spoke to the sewa dal encouraging them on their efforts and importance to sewa in a disciple's life.
Sewa Dal rally was followed games where everyone from kids to adults participated in musical chairs and three legged race. This was followed by a dance where saints dressed in colorful and traditional dresses did the Bhangra dance. At the end of the Bhangra dance, the whole sangat joined them dancing in joy on this auspicious occasion.
During the congregation, saints talked about the life of H. H. Baba ji and how he is working tirelessly for the betterment of humans, sacrificing his comforts so he can shower love and blessings to the devotees and what we can do to truly revere our beloved Babaji.
On this occasion, the saints also played a "Jeopardy" type quiz between sisters and brothers. The questions in the quiz was based on H. H. Baba ji's family, education, important dates in his life and messages from him. It was great to see kids, youths and adults working together in answering the questions and having fun.
A discourse from H. H. Babaji was displayed on the large screen which the saints enjoyed. Even though H. H. Baba ji�s throat was very sore, he took the time to speak to the saints and said:
Even though it's raining so heavily here, saints have gathered to be in the company of each other and wish him on his 59th birthday. Last night everyone enjoyed the inauguration of the Oneness fountain. I thank the saints for their blessings and love that I have received since my young age. I got inspiration from the elders in my family, Baba Avtar Singh ji, Baba Gurbachan Singh ji, Jagat Mata ji and Raj Mata ji to be attached to Nirankar and serve the humanity. I wish that my life is spent in the service of the mankind and that God give me energy for that. May Nirankar also bless everyone with the energy to help humanity. It's said by some philosopher: �I cannot stop being old but I want to get old gracefully.� We cannot control us getting old, but we should be young at heart and be enthusiastic and willing in spite of our age to help fellow humans and make this world a better place. I express my thanks to everyone around the world for their wishes.
We also had the pleasure of the company of Vice Mayor of Mesa during this occasion and he joined us for lunch. He enjoyed the company of saints and thanked them for inviting him and sharing our cultural activities.
Following the teaching of H. H. Baba ji and the principles of the Nirankari Mission, the Phoenix congregation also conducted a food drive on this occasion.