Walk For Values - Edmonton - News
The
following article was published on Saturday, May 31, 2008 in the
Edmonton Journal Newspaper.
Indian
guru's philosophy draws devotees keen on cultivating universal values
of peace, charity
Don
Retson, Journal Staff Writer, Edmonton
Saturday,
May 31st, 2008
EDMONTON
- Preeti Mathur beamed as she recalled how a complete stranger
approached her to ask if her group had created the good vibes at a park
on Edmonton's south side.
"What
are you doing?" a face-painter asked Mathur at McIntyre Park in Old
Strathcona early Saturday afternoon. "I feel positive vibrations today
coming from this corner of the farmers market."
Mathur's
comment drew smiles and approving nods at a worship hall on Whyte
Avenue last Sunday evening.
Members
of Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Edmonton made up a large number of the
aproximately 200 people who took part in Edmonton's fourth annual Walk
for Values. Mathur was chief organizer of the event, sponsored by the
Sai Baba Centre.
The
walk isn't a fundraiser. It's meant to create awareness of the
importance of practising positive values to bring about a more caring
and kinder world.
Participants
pledge to practice one of five values -- love, truth, peace,
non-violence and right conduct. They believe that when each individual
tries to change, there's a positive impact on their families,
communities and ultimately the world.
A
Hindu by birth, Mathur was educated in a Catholic convent in her native
India.
Today,
she's educational co-ordinator of the Sathya Sai Baba Centre of
Edmonton, a non-denominational spiritual and service organization, with
millions of devotees worldwide.
During
a Sunday evening devotional service, Mathur talked about some of the
positives that came out of the walk. Some passersby were so impressed
by the aims of the event they signed up on the spot and took part in
the three-kilometre walk.
"It
was a wonderful, motivating and energizing experience," said Mathur,
who added that many brochures of the centre were distributed during the
event, which included speeches, music and the decoration of a gazebo
and floats.
In
a later interview, Mathur explained she was attracted to the Sai Baba
organization by the teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba of India, in
particular his belief that all religions are facets of the same truth.
"It's
the belief of the universality of all the values," said Mathur.
"Basically we are all the same. We may be brought up in different
places and with different faiths, but in the end we are one."
This
respect for other faiths is one of the first things to strike a visitor
at the centre. Each of six major world religions is featured in a
glassed-in display that explains the essential teachings of each faith.
During
a tour, centre president T.R. Pillay explains that the elaborate and
artistic work was done by Sunday school students under the guidance of
elders.
"We
made sure that people of any faith that come in here will feel
comfortable and that's why we have these displays depicting the various
faiths," he said.
The
Sai Baba centre has been around since in 1983, at various locations.
Its first meeting was held in a rented classroom at Harry Ainlay high
school.
Wanting
a permanent home, devotees eventually bought a property at 9619 Whyte
Avenue. The building once housed Studio 82. An additional $150,000 was
spent on renovations to convert the old movie house into a place of
worship.
For
historical reasons, the facade of the building is unchanged from its
Studio 82 days. However, the words "Sai Sadan" (House of God) on the
exterior are a dead give away that movies aren't what's happening
inside any longer. There's also a message from spiritual leader Sai
Baba to "Love all; serve all," not your typical greeting at a movie
theatre.
At
devotional services, males in white or light-coloured clothing
(symbolic of the purity of spirit each is aspiring for) sit on chairs
or on the carpeted floor on one side of the huge worship hall. Females
in traditional Indian saris sit on the other side of the room.
Facing
all is a giant picture of Sai Baba, considered by millions of his
followers around the world to be an avatar or incarnation of a divine
being. Devotees revere him as a great spiritual leader, a humanitarian,
a man of miracles.
At
Sunday evening's service, Pillay lavishly praises Mathur for making
this year's Walk for Values the biggest and best ever locally.
Like
Mathur, who immigrated here from India in 1976, Pillay was also born
into a Hindu family in his native South Africa. Like Mathur, he was
also exposed to other faiths and philosophies. He became a devotee of
Sai Baba in 1982.
A
former vice-principal at high schools in Fort Saskatchewan and Sherwood
Park, Pillay in 2000 was the founding principal of the Sathya Sai
School of Canada in Toronto. The school was set up to put into practice
Sai Baba's philosophy of "educare," which balances academic excellence
of students with character development.
Pillay
talks about the various activities happening at the centre, like the
meals that volunteers prepare and provide each week for a native and a
seniors organization in the inner city.
There's
a great emphasis in the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Organization on service to
the poor, the destitute and the sick. "Help ever; hurt never" is one of
Sai Baba's famous quotations. Another is: "Hands that serve are holier
than lips that pray."
During
his announcements, Pillay mentions an upcoming study circle on
reincarnation and also a forgiveness workshop on June 7. The workshop,
which includes a lunch, is open to members of the public.
He
quotes his spiritual leader saying that forgiveness brings about a
change in both the person who forgives and the person who receives
forgiveness. "Forgiveness is the medicine that cures and totally
removes pain from one's heart," Pillay says, quoting his spiritual
leader.
For
more information about the local centre, phone 437-7243.
dretson@thejournal.canwest.co
©
The Edmonton Journal 2008
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